Chapter Text
'Captain... Captain? Captain! James, wake the fuck up!' A boy with long black curls shook the sleeping man.
'Sirius what the fuck...' the short dark haired man slowly woke up, coming face to face with his right hand man, best friend, brother in arms, love of his life, Sirius, which decided to just shove some scroll in his face. With a sigh, he sleepily opened the scroll and looked for his glasses, which Sirius was kind enough to hand to him. James looked over it, confused. It was a wanted poster, for some pirate under the name of 'The Moonwater Wolf' with a reward of 30,000,000 golden coins. The man in the picture had short brown hair and multiple scars on his face, some looking new, some old. His intense dark eyes sure were enough to instal fear, gaze sharp and intimidating akin to a wolf. For whatever reason, he looked weirdly familiar... Wait, 30,000,000 GOLDEN COINS?! This sure was enough to wake him up.
'DANG-- Thats a lot of money...' the captain mumbled.
'Do you know who this is?' Sirius looked at him as he got comfortable on the bed.
'He looks familiar...'
'Its Remus. Remus fucking Lupin' the blue eyed man said deadpan.
'REMUS?! OUR REMUS?! What the FUCK did he do?! Mr. 'Goody-Two-Shoes' didn't even want to join us in pranks just to focus on his studies, how the FUCK did he get a bounty almost as big as yours?!' James was, to say the least, shocked. Back when McGonagall took them in as their teacher, Remus was just... So quiet and well-behaved. Well, at least in front of her, he still liked tagging along with him, Sirius and Peter (another friend of theirs, he currently works as a spy on some other big ship) to pull pranks on the towns' people. Even then he didn't really do much other than the occasional purely genius ideas. Still, James loved the guy, he helped them do their homework and in exchange James secretly payed for everything he needed. He was a good kid. But true, guess whoever ends up in a pirate school can't be expected to be all that sane.
'So what did he do?'
'He killed five people'
'...Oh.'
'Then robbed the Capital's bank.'
'Oh.'
'Yup... I heard rumors that he'd managed to get to Lily's ship' Sirius explained as he laid down next to James, looking melodramatic.
'Oh. Thats great. ... Whats with that face, Sirius' the brown eyed man asked with a small grin.
'... He's gotten hotter...' The black haired man mumbled with a long sigh, looking out the little cabin window.
'You one of 'em queers, mate?' James asked jokingly. It's not like he wasn't the one who had to hear him cry about Remus during their 'school' years and how he never 'seemed to return his feelings' and shit... Which was proceeded by a gossip session with Peter who had the exact same experience with Remus.
'As if you are not' Sirius mumbled and threw a pillow at his face.
'Shut it already' James joked and hit him back laughing.
After a few minutes of hitting each other back and forth with the same pillow, a knock on the door was heard.
'Captain? You up?' A young voice rang on the other side of the door.
'Yeah, whats up?' James asked cheerfully as he went to open the door, still in his sleepwear, all disheveled and with Sirius, not looking any better, still lying in James' bed.
'We are almost on land' the young boy reported, not fazed by the site. The whole crew was used to the Captain and his right hand man's co-depended friendship. Hell, they were even known as a duo by whoever ever came in contact or heard of their crew. Its VERY rare to find a bounty poster with only one of them on it. 'The Stag and the Dog' here, 'Captain Prongs and his right hand man' there... They are almost inseparable.
'Got it, thanks, kiddo!' He replied happily as he ruffled the young boy's hair then closed the door then turned back to Sirius.
'Sirius, get off my bed.' James commanded as if he was talking to a dog. He took off his sleep wear and started looking for his usual crimson shirt.
'And if i don't?' Sirius said mischievously.
'I'll throw you off the board. Hey- Is that MY shirt?!' James exclaimed.
'Mine was dirty...' the black haired boy mumbled.
'Sirius, your wardrobe is literally bigger than my cabin!' The captain said annoyed.
'I wanted to wear THIS shade of crimson today though. And you have to admit, i look fabulous~'
'You look fabulous in everything! But this is my only shirt!'
'Too bad' Sirius shrugged and let his tongue out.
'Then you have to let me wear your black shirt. You know, the one you got from Bowie the Lighting Queer.' James stated. They sounded like kids.
'Don't. You. Dare.' Sirius said, suddenly serious (pun intended).
'Too bad' James imitated Sirius as he ran out the cabin to the room in front and locked it from the inside. Despite Sirius having his own cabin, he preferred to sleep in James' most of the time, which turned Sirius' cabin more into a wardrobe for the other pirate.
With Sirius aggressively knocking on the door and trying to get it open, James calmly looked for the shirt and put it on. He also helped himself to one of Sirius' corsets. 'He anyways doesn't wear them' the captain thought to himself. The corset was crimson with golden lacing and silk padding on the inside. It's one of James' favorites.
'There, got you..' the second James got out, Sirius tried to pounce him. Luckily, James was known for his speed and managed to run away. The two chased each other for awhile, and by the time they realized, they were in the middle of the ship when Sirius finally managed to get him. They were now laying on the wooden floor of the board, Sirius laying on top of James.
'Got ya'' Sirius exclaimed victoriously.
'Fuck you' James mumbled, annoyed. None of them seem to notice how awkward the sight might be, Sirius on top of James, both of them looking fairly disheveled, wearing each other's favourite shirts.
'Captain, we're almost there!' The helmsman reported loudly.
''Aight, thanks mate!' James yelled back and carefully picked Sirius up, stood up then helped the black haired man stand as well. The brown eyed pirate climbed the stairs to the helm. He stood beside the helmsman and looked over at the horizon. The town was just... There. All the buildings, the fishermen in their boats, the Lion's Inn, all there exactly like when they left. The familiarity was comforting.
'Thank you, you've done a great job. We will stay here for about a week, so you can have enough time to rest before we go back on sea.' The captain let the helmsman know and the tall man which was missing both a hand and an eye nodded, grateful. The exhaustion was clear on the man's face and James felt guilty about it. He loved his crew and wanted everyone, from Sirius to the slaves they rescued that were in charge of keeping the ship clean, to be safe and healthy.
The captain stood there until the ship arrived at the port and it was secured then climbed down from the helm.
'C'monn, let's go!' He said cheerfully as he grabbed his sword, Sirius and jumped out the ship.
'Lion's Inn, here we come! Loser pays for the first round of drinks!' Sirius yelled as he bolted.
As if James would ever let him win. Despite it being around 10 in the morning, it has been awhile since they got to drink together in their hometown, and it was easier to steal at night, so if they got drunk now, by midnight they will get sober and be able to steal whatever resources they need and so they can spend the remaining days having fun, relaxing and catching up with their old friends, maybe even getting to see his parents. Call it pirate math.
And so, to no one's surprise but to everyone in town's annoyance, James won. He bursts through the door and yells back at an out-of-breath Sirius: 'Ha! I win! Now you pay!'
'As if its not still YOUR money-!' Sirius yelled, catching up, clearly pissed. Fair point, all the money they get is technically James' since he's the captain. But it's not like anyone's complaining either. He makes sure everyone's culinary preferences are accommodated, they get health care whenever they need and he even has a few bards and jesters on board which he rescued at some point that act as free entertainment in exchange for him saving their lives. Not even to mention the emotional support he provides for everyone, listening to their problems and going all out in helping each of them. He gives them everything they need and in exchange, they swore their life to him.
'Well, well, well... Look who's back in town... Hello, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black. Oh, sorry, Captain Prongs of the Euphemia and his right hand man, the Blue-Eyed Crimson Dog.' An older woman, around 55, greeted them from behind the counter.
'Minnie!' Both pirates exclaimed happily, like dogs seeing their owner come home from work. They basically jumped over the counter to hug her. With a content sigh, she hugged them back.
'It's nice to see you two again.' She said calmly. 'How long are you planning to stay this time?'
'One week' James replied as both Sirius and him sat on the counter, the Inn owner already pouring their drinks, not even having to ask what they want.
'How have you been, Minnie?' Sirius asked happily as he took a sip of his drink.
'Same thing, same thing...' She looked around, making sure no one else could eavesdrop. 'I heard from Peter.' She said, suddenly serious.
'Really? What did he say?' James asked, understanding that they might be getting bad news.
'Well, for one, the Death Eaters are recruiting people, their influence also growing in the shadows. Their next big plan to have some more control is to... uhm...' she seemed a bit hesitant as she looked over to Sirius.
'Its about my family, isn't it' the black haired man took a guess, clearly not happy.
'... They arranged a marriage between Snivellus and Reyna.' McGonagall said with a defeated sigh.
'WHAT!?' Both pirates yelled in the same time.
'Good news is, the wedding will be in 6 months...' she said subtly as if she was hinting at something.
'... That would give us more than enough time to go and rescue her. I mean, we are pirates, nobody will judge us for kidnapping a princess' James realized.
'Then we have to go as soon as possible! I am NOT letting my sister get close to that filthy freak!' Sirius stated and downed his cup.
'I know, and that is completely understandable. For now, you should probably rest during your stay. I have a feeling that a lot will happen in the near future, and I'd recommend enjoying the little time of peace you have' Mcgonagall advised calmly, with a caring look as she poured them another drink.
But James' mind was racing. How could they rescue Sirius' sister from that crook? Snivellus was part of the royal family of the Emperor's and he also has ties to the Death Eaters. Not only that, but they would also need to construct the plan in such a way that they won't get Peter discovered. Minnie was right, there WILL be trouble soon. But he was sure it will all finish good. After all, he's the Captain. He NEEDS to insure his crew's safety and well-being even if it kills him. And if that means going to kidnap the sole princess of the Black family to get Sirius some peace of mind, he'd not regret a thing.