The Pirate
Sirius opened his eyes.
He didn't know how much time had passed since the shipwreck. All he remembered was the raging storm, the splintering wood of his beloved ship, the waves towering to the heavens.
Then silence.
He woke now, aching and disoriented, and green foliage came into focus above his head.
Sirius shot upright, just as a voice said,
"Don't move so fast."
Heart beating, Sirius scrutinised the figure before him. A boy, or a man, Sirius couldn't tell, his face ravaged by scars, eyes tired, pointed elfin ears poking out from his wild brown hair.
"Who- who are you?" Sirius croaked.
"I could ask the same of you. I mean, who washes up on an island bearing a rapier and a pirate hat?" The man, the creature said.
"A pirate," Sirius deadpanned.
"Fair enough." The elf- that's likely what it was- sat abruptly on the moss-carpeted floor. "You've been out cold for three days. What happened?"
Sirius swallowed. "There was a storm... did anyone else wash up?" A slight hope that his ragtag crew was still alive.
The elf shook his head, his eyes brimming with pity.
Sirius let this stew in silence.
"I'm... I'm Remus." He said softly.
"Sirius. What are you, exactly?" Sirius frowned.
"I'm a moon elf. Like an elf but nocturnal, I suppose."
"Moony, then," decided Sirius.
"Wh- what?" The elf stuttered.
Sirius laughed. "It's a nickname, of course."
"Well, what's your nickname then?"
"My ship was called The Padfoot. My crew, they called me Captain Padfoot," Sirius confessed. Remus grinned a little cryptic smile. Then he stood, offering a hand to Sirius. Hauling himself to his feet, Sirius glanced around. He appeared to be in a forest, trees lacing together branches of dark green, dappled patches of light filtering through the leaves.
"I... I need to get to a ship. Where's the nearest port?"
Remus looked at him curiously. "There's no port here."
"On a nearby island?"
"I don't think you understand," Remus shook his head, "nobody knows about thus island. We are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There is nothing but open sea for miles and miles and miles."
"What-" Sirius stuttered. "What does that mean?"
"You're trapped here, Captain Padfoot. There is no ship coming by here. There never has been."
Sirius tried to grasp this.
You're trapped.
No, it couldn't be.
Sirius was destined to adventure, to travel the seas as a fearsome, swashbuckling pirate, winning treasure and the adoration of his crew. He couldn't... he couldn't be stuck on this island.
He couldn't.
"Here, you must be hungry," Remus said hesitantly, watching with uncertainty as Sirius tried to digest his terrible fate. "I can get some food."
The elf returned with a plate of herbs and mushrooms, smiling hopefully.
"What is this shit?" Sirius glared, disgusted, at the pile of fungi.
"It's... it's Sorrel. A bit of a delicacy round here." Remus looked close to tears.
Reluctantly, Sirius took a bite of the mushroom, and his eyebrows soared.
"God, this is delicious. Give me all of them."
Moony relaxed.
"Sorry for being grouchy," Sirius said sheepishly, offering the platter to Remus. They sat munching mushrooms for a while, contemplating. Then,
"What do you do as a pirate?"
Sirius chuckled. "Explore. Drink alcohol, play cards, have a laugh. Loot. Rip eyeballs out."
"You don't really rip eyeballs out?" Remus gasped.
"Not me, personally," Sirius confessed. "But I heard of a pirate who did. Prekker, or Brekker or something. What about you? What do you do here?"
"Anything I want," Remus grinned.
"Like what? Foraging? Climbing trees? Rolling with gorgeous lady elves in clearings under the moonlight?"
Remus flushed bright pink. "N-no!"
"Rolling with gorgeous manly elves in clearings under the moonlight?" Sirius amended.
Remus scampered to his feet. "You're a pig."
"Is that a yes or no to the rolling?"
"Shut up!" By now, the tips of Remus's pointy ears were a terrific crimson colour.
Sirius let out a hearty laugh.
"Perhaps I can give you a hand if you're lacking in that sector."
"Perhaps I can give you a hand if you don't understand the words, 'shut up'. Or are pirates not educated?" Remus retorted.
"Rude!" Sirius elbowed Remus lightly.
It took Sirius some effort to remind himself that this man- this elf- was not a member of his crew. There was a kind of easiness in talking to him.
"How do you prefer to sleep? Indoors, or under the stars?" Remus asked softly.
"With the gentle lulling of the sea rocking me to sleep," Sirius replied.
"The beach, then?" suggested Remus.
Sirius lay back on his matt, his fingers sinking into the sand as he listened to the waves. He tried to imagine he was on the deck of his ship, the water splashing against the sturdy wood.
Beside him, he heard Remus shift and get to his feet. The elf slipped across the sand.
"Moony?" Sirius whispered, using the new nickname.
Remus froze.
"S-Sirius-"
"Where are you going?"
"I'm just... taking a piss."
Remus's whole body was rigid with tension.
"O...kay..." Sirius said.
The full, porcelain moon hung tauntingly in the sky.
"Bye..." Remus said, but his voice trailed off into a grunt of pain. He put out one hand and staggered forwards.
"Remus?" Sirius was worried. Another groan tore from the elf's mouth, and he stumbled to the floor.
"Uarghhrr..."
A strange tearing sound split the air, and to Sirius's horror, coarse, brown hairs began to bloom along Remus's back.
What the hell...?
The rending of flesh forced Sirius to his feet, terrified.
"Remus!" Sirius shouted. "What's going on?"
Remus's skin became gnarled and furry, his teeth beginning to sharpen. Panting uncontrollably, Remus managed a strangled, "Run!"
And then his legs grew claws and his arms lengthened.
Sirius backed away. "Remus...?" He whispered again.
The creature before him was not Remus.
Unfurling to a monstrous height, the beast blocked out the full moon, eyes slitted and fangs gleaming, mousy fur prickling across its broad chest.
The monster let out a huge howl.
And then it's eyes fixed on Sirius.
Sirius ran.
He ran down to the water- did wolves mind water? And threw himself in. Behind him, the creature snarled, a deep, malevolent growl at the back of its throat.
Sirius swam like there was no tomorrow. The water was icy cold, biting into his flesh with deadly teeth. Memories of the storm welled up, but Sirius forced them down. He couldn't afford to panic now.
His body cut through the water, unsure if the wolf was following him or not. But his limbs grew heavy with exhaustion and his teeth chattered.
A gleaming strip of beach lay before him, and Sirius pressed on towards it.
Collapsing gratefully on the sand, Sirius exhaled and glanced around. The wolf was nowhere to be seen.
What had just happened?
Remus had... what, exactly?
A nocturnal elf. A moon elf.
A... werewolf?
Sirius processed this, but his mind was too tired to try and make sense of it.
His eyes flickered shut.
Lightning stabbed the navy sky, reflecting in the scared eyes of his crew. Wood was splintering all around them.
Another jolt shook the ship, and The Padfoot listed sideways dangerously. Bigger than the sky, a wave crested over the prow, towering monstrously over the pirates.
"Get down!" Sirius roared.
Water plugged his senses, filling his ears, his nose, his mouth. His eyes could only see darkness.
Regulus.
Regulus had been here before, Sirius thought. Dragged beneath the water, flailing, to his death. His brother's cold face, eyelids purple and bruised, surfaced in his memory.
He would befall the same fate as his poor, poor baby brother. Who he swore he'd protect.
How ironic, how terribly ironic. Him and Regulus, reunited at the bottom of the ocean.
But his crew. His pirates. James.
Regulus's voice returned to him.
"You're lucky to have James. You should look after him."
Sirius had laughed. "Baby brother, don't tell me you're falling for my best friend."
"I never said that."
He had to protect James. His best friend, his admiral, his right hand man.
Regulus's first, and last, love.
Protect James, the way he had failed to protect Regulus.
He had to-
Sirius woke with a start, groggy from his dream. The bitter cold of the sea lingered on his skin.
The last night came back to him.
Remus.
Was Remus okay?
Sirius trudged through the forest until he reached the beach he and Remus had settled down on last night.
Down by the water, a small figure sat huddled, folded in on himself, arms around his knees.
"Remus!" Sirius dashed down to the shore.
"Remus, are you okay?" He put an arm around Remus's hunched shoulders.
The man's face was pinched and pale, bags under his eyes.
"Did I... did I hurt you?" He muttered. Sirius shook his head.
"Moony," Sirius sighed, the nickname now seeming more apt than ever.
From then on, there was a sort of unspoken bond between them. Remus taught Sirius the ways of the island, which leaves and mushrooms you could eat, how to climb trees. In turn, Sirius told him stories of his adventures on the seven seas. Another full moon passed, and this time Sirius let Remus wander off into the forest, seeking him out and comforting him in the morning.
One lazy afternoon, Remus asked softly about Sirius's crew.
"Oh, they were wonderful," Sirius said, allowing himself to indulge in his favourite memories. "There was Pandora, and Dorcas, and Severus and Peter, and Mary and Marlene and Lily. They were such fun. Everyone was always flirting with each other. Mary and Pandora wouldn't tell anyone they were in love with each other, but we all knew. And Barty, what about Barty? He was great. Everyone hated Severus, he was so snappy all the time. But we loved him really."
Remus watched him with a wistful expression.
"Evan, Evan Rosier worked belowdecks. And then there was my admiral... James."
Here he paused. Talking of James was painful.
"James was my best friend. We had such fun together. We played all these pranks. And... and I swore to someone I loved that I would never let him come to harm."
Interested, Remus said, "who did you swear that too?"
"Regulus," Sirius whispered.
He knew he should elaborate, tell Remus who Regulus was. But he couldn't bring himself to replay that.
"Regulus," he said at last, "was my brother. My little brother. At... at home, things weren't great. My parents were a bit mad. Probably a result of all that inbreeding," He went on bitterly. Remus looked disgusted. "We were, to them, disappointments. I think, no matter what, we would always have been disappointments. Even if we were perfect. It wasn't enough for my parents.
"I always had a spirit for adventure, you know? I wanted to run away, travel the world, live with no rules. I wanted to break free from the restraints of my parents. Regulus was different. All he ever wanted was to please them. He wanted them to love him. I told him, I told him, 'Reggie, you'll never be how they want you to be.' But he pushed to impress them anyway.
When I got the chance to leave home, I left as fast as I could. I just wanted to get out of there. I didn't... I didn't really think about what might have happened to Regulus." His voice was choked with tears. "He... had gone to such great lengths for my parents. I didn't realise... Reggie had gotten involved with some bad people. A secret society that my parents were part of. He was hoping, if he followed in their footsteps, he might make them proud.
And." Sirius closed his eyes, and a single tear slipped from beneath his eyelid. "The society asked something of him. An impossible thing. And my parents forced him to do it. They killed him, Remus. They killed my baby brother. They drove him to his death, and I wasn't there. I didn't save him. I could've- I could've saved him-" he broke off into suppressed sobs.
Remus rubbed his back gently, eyes sad. "I'm so sorry, Sirius," he whispered. "That's so awful."
Once Sirius had regained his composure, he continued, "My cousin, Andromeda, told me what had happened. She never liked my parents. And I... it was my fault. I wasn't there for my baby brother. I never was. Just so absorbed in my own dreams..."
"It wasn't your fault," Remus said. "It wasn't your fault."
Sirius gazed at Remus, and it hit him how beautiful Remus's eyes were. So sweet and kind.
A kind of warmth filled him. Remus was here, Remus was comforting him.
Remus, perhaps, was a redemption. A redemption for all the times Sirius had failed.
He had lost Regulus, he had lost James.
He would not lose Remus.