Princesses and Pubs
362 days since Princess Lily Evans was captured by pirates. 362 days since she was excited to get up in the mornings. 362 nights ago, she had a whole kingdom and now she had nothing. She knew all her fortunes went to her sister, Petunia, and she knew that her sister certainly wasn't still sending knights to find her. She was losing hope, and hope was all she had these days.
This particular morning, Lily woke up to her “fiance” Severus Snape banging on her door and demanding she open it. She slowly dragged herself from her cot and opened the door to find herself face to chest with her soon to be husband. He had long dark hair that was slicked back with so much grease it shined, a large nose that had such large pores Lily swore she could fit her finger in one, beady black eyes that reminded her of a crow, and a slimy voice that made Lily want to jump off of the plank, willingly.
“I told you to wake up! You can't make my babies with an empty stomach.'' Snape said, the moment her eyes flit up to him.
“I told you, Severus, I can't have a child at all until I'm married.” Lily groaned, running a hand down her face.
“Good thing for you, as we just met land and are getting ready to offload. We can get married as early as tonight! Aren't you excited, my gorgeous flower?” Snape was practically bouncing on his toes, Lily wanted to die right there and then. She felt herself pale as she forced a smile and nodded.
“Sounds lovely, Severus. I can’t wait.” Lily was about to lose it.
As her day went on, Lily just found she couldn’t take it anymore. She decided, there and then, in the middle of her lunch, that she was going to kill herself that night. She told Severus that they should get married the next day as today was her great grandmother’s death anniversary and she was overcome by grief. Severus believed her obvious lie and let her “mourn” her great grandmother she didn't even know she had. In her room, Lily prepared a potion that, hopefully, would kill her. She took rat poison from below deck, a cup of salty water, and a large chunk of this mysterious powder and mixed it into a bright green drink. That night, she took it and went to bed, and fell unconscious, or better yet, dead.
~
Finally, she has found the Princess. General Mary Macdonald has had one mission for the past year, and it was to find the missing princess of house Evans. Finally, she could say she found her. It was risky of course. She had to safely put a lot of sleeping gas in the ship and sneak aboard, but if you asked her, Mary would say it was worth it. As Mary gazed upon the sleeping body of the princess, all her troubles disappeared. No other words could describe her, Princess Lily Evans was gorgeous.
Mary had to work fast. Quickly, she took Princess Lily’s arms and draped her on to her back, making sure she was as comfortable as she could get and tied her securely. Then she took off. She ran fast and quietly through the ship, making sure to leave no trace of her time on board. She ran across the beach and into the busy night streets. Lily was still asleep, and Mary made sure it stayed that way. She moved slower, held Lily tighter to make sure she was warm and tried her hardest to not jostle her at all. Slowly, they made their way into the busy night streets.
Now that she was here, Mary wasn't quite sure what to do with her. She had no money, she was far from the kingdom, it was the middle of the night, and there were pirates everywhere. Mary didn't know what to do and was fretting when suddenly a short, blond man ran up to her and begged.
“Please help me! There's a man chasing me! I don't know what to do, do you have a house near here or something? Please help me!” Mary was thoroughly confused. How had the night turned to this? She seriously needed to start thinking these things through.
Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw a tall man walk up to her. He had dark hair and a fierce expression and an eye patch. All Mary could mumble before the man's long strides met her was “why me?”
~
Barty was enjoying his night at the pub when a pale, blonde man approached him. Let's just say, Barty was not complaining. The blonde guy bought himself a drink and sidled up beside Barty.
“What's a man like you doing here all alone?” Blondie asked.
A smirk climbed up Barty's face, “Wouldn't you like to know? And you? What are you doing here all alone?” Barty replied.
The man flushed a little, but it was probably from the drink he was sipping. “Oh me? I just got a promotion at my work. Do you have a name, gorgeous? Or should I just keep calling you that?” The man was leaning closer now, eyes getting hooded as the drinks started kicking in.
“As much as I'd like that, I don't think I would be able to keep my hands off of you if you call me such pretty names. Barty, you can call me Barty.” Barty leaned in closer, mere inches from the man's face. “And you? What can I call you, pretty boy?”
The man's face was red as a tomato, but his smirk never faltered. “Evan. Although, ‘pretty boy’ does have a nice ring to it.”
Evan and Barty kept talking well into the night. Evan suddenly remembered how Barty had dodged his question earlier that night.
“So, Barty, you never told me. What is a man like you doing here all alone?” Evan asked, once again.
“Oh, I got a day off from work. Decided I should spend it well.”
“And what do you work for?”
“I’m a pirate.” Barty replied automatically. The smile fell from Evan's face.
“A what?” Evan asked, backing away. “A pirate? Oh no.” and he ran. Evan ran out of that pub before Barty could get a word in.
Grumbling, Barty stood and walked out of the pub, then began to chase Evan, he couldn't lose him now.
~
Evan ran. He ran as fast as he could and then some. He heard feet slapping the ground behind him and risked a glance. He saw Barty giving chase, and all his stupid brain could do was appreciate how bloody gorgeous he looked, chasing him with his dark hair whipping behind him. Evan ran into the busy streets trying to lose the pirate when he caught sight of a girl.
“Please help me! There's a man chasing me! I don't know what to do, do you have a house near here or something? Please help me!” he all but begged. The girl was tall and had armor on so Evan assumed she was some sort of police. Upon closer inspection, he noticed another girl asleep on the police’s back.
Evan almost dropped to his knees when suddenly, Barty’s looming figure was behind him and his heavy breathing was filling his ears, his strong cologne was filling his nose and Evan was getting dizzy. Then, Evan was in the air and upside down. No, not in the air, thrown over the shoulder of Barty. How much worse could this night get for him?
A scream ripped itself from Evan's mouth before he could stop. Barty slapped Evans thigh, and muttered just quiet enough for Evan to hear, “Quiet down, pretty boy. It’ll be worse for you if you keep screaming.” Evan instantly shut up.
“Oi! Stay where you are!” Barty called for the girl. Evan couldn’t see her but assumed she stopped as Barty hadn’t moved to get her. A metallic scrape caught Evan’s attention. “Run, and this shiny toy of mine goes straight through your girl right there. Let me tell you, I've never missed a shot in my life. Be careful with your next moves. Follow me if you want to live, if not, choose your last words carefully." Evan was sure his face was flushed. Since when was threatening murder so attractive?
Barty began to turn and walk, keeping Evan in his arms but readjusting him so he wasn't upside down, but rather bridal style in his arms. Even if Evan wanted to run, he wouldn’t, and he was sure the threat was definitely directed to him as well as the girl.
Barty had walked down to the beach nearby and stepped behind a rock to uncover a ship. A pirate ship, Evan realized with a gasp. Barty set Evan down and took the knife out again.
“Down, below deck, quickly now. Don't want to get caught now do we?” He herded Evan, the tall girl and the sleeping girl below deck and put them in a cell together.
The fear was getting to him now, Evan’s brain had just now decided to start working and all the recent events flooded his mind. Tears began to stream down his face and the fear consumed him so greatly. He tried to muffle his sobs but couldn't, and he hoped he wasn't being too loud. Just yesterday, Evan had gotten the promotion of a lifetime and now, he wasn't sure how if he would make it to the next morning. He began to beg Barty, who was still standing outside their cell to let him free.
“I won't tell a soul, please. Please let me go, Barty! I have a job, I'm scared, please!” Evan's voice was getting louder but he couldn't help it, he was terrified. Barty turned on his heel, leaned in close and pressed his lips firmly to Evan’s trembling ones. As he pulled away, Evan realized it was a kiss.
“Quiet down, I'll get you in the morning.” Barty mumbled and then he walked away.
Pushing a trembling hand up to his mouth, Evan watched as Barty’s figure stalked away and closed the door. He “quieted down” like how Barty had told him to and leaned back against the walls of the cell. That's when he got to know Mary and Lily, his new cellmates. Evan was dreading the next morning, but that was a problem for future Evan. Currently, Evan was curling up in a ball on the hard floor and drifting off into a fitful sleep.