What would come, would come, and he, the Great Sirius Black, would have to face it in the end.
Crimson Moon
Warnings: Male x Male be rampant!!
Disclaimers: Unfortunately, not mine but if it did…heh heh
Chapter Two: Scallywags and Buccaneers
Remus had given up within minutes of trying to pick the lock to the door of the captain's quarters. He fumed inwardly, all the while maintaining a cool composure. He may have have been a lowly blacksmith with a scholar's heart but it was unjust that he be subjected to such cruelty. Remus sighed, gingerly taking a seat on the bed. His hands caressed the luxurious silk spread. Piracy was obviously rewarding. Was it worth losing one's soul to reap the benefits of participating in a criminal act? Remus couldn't imagine being able to afford such fine linens, let alone the rest of the expensive items carelessly placed in the room that they owner probably didn't realize how much they worth.
The door opened, revealing the lanky figure of Sirius Black. "You gonna sit there all night and ignore me, eh?" Sirius chuckled, closing the door behind him. Remus refused to grant the pirate even a glance in his direction. "Ah, you wound me, love," he dramatically pressed his hands against his chest. "You could try and be a bit nicer to your captor. It'd make your stay much more pleasant."
Remus raised his eyes in time to see Sirius flash him a toothy grin. The cockiness of the pirate was astounding and grated Remus' nerves like nails on a chalkboard. "You've taken me hostage, scoundrel. What more could you expect?" Remus tensed as the black haired man with his dancing ice blue eyes sank onto the bed, a little too close for Remus' comfort.
"I've saved you from a life of mediocrity, have I not?" Sirius raised a bronzed hand to gently tuck a strand of hair behind one of Remus' ears. He frowned as he noticed the other man's rigid posture. Sirius was used to women and men giving into his desires. Of course, no one had ever refused him either. Most were terrified of him and never rejected the Great Sirius Black. But this meek mouse of a man was. "You will live a life of riches beyond your wildest dreams," he smirked, finger curling into a lock of hair.
"And I'm not your personal entertainment," Remus seethed, placing a hand on Sirius's to halt any further unwanted movement. "The second I can escape, I will. I'm not going to suffer this kind of abuse."
"Abuse? That's a bit harsh, love," Sirius said, rising to his feet. "You see everything in this room? It can all be yours if you take the chance." He grabbed a gold urn with beautiful Japanese art adorned in brilliant colors and handed it to Remus. The brunette only gazed at it blankly. "I don't even know what this thing's for. You, a learned man, might be able to tell me what some of this shit is. Hell, you could even take it with you to a museum or something."
Remus pursed his lips, surprised to see the sincerity in the pirate's blue eyes. What game was Sirius playing? Remus wasn't positive if he wanted to be a part of it but the urn was exceptionally lovely. He hesitantly accepted the offered vase. "If you have no need for all these things then why do you steal them especially when you have no idea what their uses are?" He ran a thumb along a drawing of a koi. "You have all these treasures. You want for nothing."
"Oh I wouldn't say that, darlin'," Sirius smiled wanly, "I'm a sea whore. I'm not cut out for livin' on dry land. Pirating's the only thing I know. It's all I've ever done. My parents, now they were land lubbers. Me dad, he was a governor in England, had a lot of power. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps." He laughed, gazing through the port hole window at the rocking of the waves. "I'm the kinda man that me mum and dad hated."
"You speak of them in a past tense."
"Aye, they died. Don't know when and I don't really care. They never liked me too much. I was too rebellious, always giving my tutors a hard time. I kinda think they suspected I was gonna take the wrong path." Sirius shrugged. "There's pen and paper in the desk," he said, nodding towards a meticulously carved table in the corner partially covered by silk fabrics. "I can't really sell it if I don't know what it is. Are you hungry?"
"…yes," Remus admitted, meeting Sirius's gaze tentatively. "But I-"
"But you don't want to accept anything from me? Think I might poison it?"
"The thought had crossed my mind."
"And spoil all my fun? Not bloody likely." Chuckling, Sirius ignored the glare sent in his direction. "I'm leaving the door unlocked. If you want to jump ship then I can't stop you but I think you're far too curious to even think about leaving."
The door closed behind the swanky figure of Sirius Black and true to the captain's words, he didn't lock it behind him. Remus removed the material from the desk, hands tracing the carvings in the wood, appreciating the foreign details. Yes, he had to acknowledge, he was interested in all the works of art around him; items that he would have never been able to inspect so closely in his normal life. Besides, he was just a little interested in the owner of it all as well.
Harry watched the pacing figure in his rooms. He hadn't spoken to the older man and to be quite honest, he was a bit frightened of him. Severus was a surly man with a temper that rivaled Sirius on his most terrible days. So far the man had managed to break several irreplaceable pieces of pottery that had originated from Italy. Harry almost wished they'd killed the man but he was attractive and Harry hadn't had intelligent company in months. He was used to moronic bar maids and idiotic seamen.
He came from a high born back ground and had only joined his uncle when his parents had been murdered in the middle of the night by an unknown assassin. They never discovered the assassin's identity or the reason for James and Lily Potter's deaths. Harry had been devastated. But once word had reached Sirius, the pirate captain had landed at Port Tulles and taken his nephew with him on the Crimson Moon. It hadn't taken Harry very long to love the life of a sea dog but in the back of his mind, the murder of his parents still haunted him and he desperately wanted to discover the identity of their killer in order to exact revenge.
There went a chest of jewelry across the room to shatter against the wall. "That's enough," Harry snapped, wrenching the door to his quarters open with violent force. "Look, I know you don't like being here but that doesn't mean you have to break my stuff! I could've let them kill you or let you be shark bait! Or, you could below deck with the some of the less moral of the crew that wouldn't mind having a go at you whether you want it or not!"
"Oh so I'm supposed to be thanking you for this?! You're absurd!"
"And you're impossible! Just stop flinging my stuff. Some of these things can't be replaced," he muttered, kneeling to collect the scattered necklaces and bracelets. He glanced at the man standing behind him. "What? Never mind. I have kitchen duties." He stalked to the larger wooden chest and placed the jewelry inside.
Severus stubbornly crossed his arms in front of his chest and clenched his jaw muscles tight. He wasn't going to give the boy the satisfaction of seeing him squirm or that he was actually a little grateful to him for saving him from the horrors of beating eaten alive by a shark or being taken against his will by the sharks of a different sort below deck. He fleetingly wondered how Harry, a young man that spoke as if he had an education, had ended up as a pirate in the middle of the Caribbean. Had something happened in his past that had turned him to a life of a piracy? Had he lost someone and this was his only option; to sail the high seas with his criminal uncle?
"You know, I don't appreciate you staring at me like you want to snap my neck," Harry commented dryly.
"And it's none of your business what I think. You may have taken my freedom but you damn well can't take my peace of mind!"
"You're just like all the rest of them. You see pirates and automatically think heathens and misfits. I'll have you know that Sirius is probably the most merciful pirate around. He won't let his crew butcher towns and he only takes the loot from those that have more then enough to lose. There are far worse pirates on the seas. You don't know us enough to pass judgment on us."
"Yes, that's exactly what I want to do, associate with known criminals and have my own place on the gallows," Severus snarled.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know how your friend puts up with you. You're a bloody son of a bitch. God, you're a piece of work. I just don't see how you've managed to stay alive this long with your complete disregard to social propriety. There has to be people you've offended that have threatened your life and yet you're still standing here. It's amazing."
"Aren't you observant? I know how to defend myself, boy." Severus took a seat on the bed and turned his back to Harry, clearly indicating that their conversation had come to an end.
"You'll come to appreciate me. I'm the only friend you have on this ship besides Lupin and trust me, once Sirius is finished flattering him, he won't even remember your name. You might want to start playing nice."
Severus waited for the door to shut before he released the breath he'd been holding. There was absolutely no chance in Hell that Remus would abandon him for Sirius Black. Sure, Remus wasn't aware of how he felt for him, but that didn't mean Remus would fall in love with Black. The captain might've been easy on the eyes but Remus wasn't a superficial fool. He wouldn't risk it. Besides, he knew the two of them would escape the second they could; the next port they docked at preferably
"If I didn't find him attractive, I'd slit his fucking throat," Harry complained, slicing a slab of salted beef into sections. "He's the biggest asshole I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. Is yours any better?"
Sirius chuckled, popping a couple of grapes into his mouth. "He's warming up to me. So, he's a pain your ass, eh? Not surprising. But you like the tough ones." He winked cheerfully at his nephew. "The chase is what makes it fun. I know you. You'll have him panting for you before you're finished with him."
"I don't think so. Not this one. He's argumentative and irrational. He won't be giving into my charms any time soon. If he ever does," he added as an after-thought, recollecting the anger and fire dancing in the black eyes. "But if he does…well…I think it'll be worth the wait."
"You could make him help out in the bilge. He'd thank you then."
"Hah and sully his delicate hands?" Harry snorted, chopping with such vehemence that Sirius felt a momentary sense of sympathy for the beef. "He's probably never done a hard days work in his life. And he thinks that we're all a bunch of sinners going straight to Hell. Apparently he's never heard the stories of Tom Riddle and the Flying Fox. Then he'd think twice about us being the scum of the world."
"Yeah well, I ain't looking forward to a meeting with Riddle. Not in this life at least," Sirius self-consciously raised his hand to touch the scar on his throat. He was lucky he'd gotten away with his life and the lives of his crew. "The Devil's in him. Those eyes, the color of blood. You don't want to ever want to tangle with him. I'm glad you weren't there that night we came upon the black sails."
"You make him sound like he's unbeatable."
"He is. I've been told he has a witch on board. That's why he's never been stopped. The Navy's tried but it just ain't happenin'. They can't find him. He only lets them see him when he wants them too."
"I think you're exaggerating. He's isn't some bogey from a children's story. He's human just like the rest of us and I'm sure his blood's the color of mine and yours. Except, he's a lily coward for hiding in the shadows."
"There're rumors," Sirius commented, chewing thoughtfully on an apple. "He's been haunting the seas for twenty years, started back when he was just a lad about your age. He pirates for the pleasure of killing. He spares no one. He's laid waste to port towns and burned them to the ashes. You can think what you want, Harry, but he ain't somethin' that I wanna cross swords with again."
"Again? You mean you've fought him?! Why haven't ever told me?!" Harry demanded, eyes wide and alight with the thrill of adventure, the chase of the game, the reaping of glory sown. "That's unfair, Uncle."
"For this reason. It's dangerous. I don't want you taking any part in Riddle and his ship. You understand that?"
"Yes, Sirius," Harry scowled, bad-humouredly returning to his work.
I don't believe that, Sirius thought, remembering what it was once like to be twenty with dreams and aspirations. The notion of engaging in a notorious battle with the infamous Tom Riddle would seem like a grand idea but Sirius knew it was foolhardy. He'd been in that position, he'd stared down the blade of Riddle's sword, gazed into those inhumanly scarlet eyes, and nearly been lost to Davy Jones's locker. Through either tremendous luck or a twist in good faith, he'd managed to survive and vowed to never return to his former merciless pirate ways.
Sirius winced in pain for the poor carrots being mutilated as Harry sliced and diced menacingly. There were other reasons, of course, for Sirius's desperate pleas to anyone that would listen up above that Harry not attempt to find the Flying Fox. There were rumors that Tom Riddle had been the one to murder Harry's parents. Sirius knew of course that the Potter's were a target to anyone that wanted to send a message to the government. Sirius had been devastated to learn of his sister and brother-in-law's deaths. He'd hastily gone to Port Timney to take Harry underneath his wing and raise his nephew for he knew that there was a possibility that Tom Riddle would return to finish his work; Harry being the mark.
But Sirius would face his demons should that day ever come…
Fin
After a few years over due I've finally updated!! XD I'm still not sure where I want to go with this. Oh and the Flying Fox, is basically because of the whole Veela thing that somehow warped it's way in my head to be a kitsune.