Frozen devotion (on hiatus😔)

Sirius woke with a throbbing headache and his hands tied together tightly.

The rope around them cut into their wrists as he tried to struggle free, their eyes opening slightly and adjusting to the lack of light in the room.

Where was he? Was it still night? Was it a dream? Is it a dream? Sirius heard a soft chuckle from someone else in the room and his eyes shot towards the mysterious person. Sirius couldn’t see him very well, but he could make out from his silhouette that he was sitting down on a chair.

As Sirius tried to speak to the stranger, they noticed that there was a cloth in his mouth, making it hard for him to say anything other than ‘mhmhmhm’. The stranger chuckled again and he stood up. He was very tall, taller than James was. Sirius looked up at him as his eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light. As Sirius tried to mumble something again, the stranger rolled his eyes.

‘You’re not very bright, are you?’ His voice was dark and mysterious, melodious but poisonous at the very same time. His hand moved towards Sirius’ face and Sirius tried to avoid his touch but the stranger grabbed their chin forcefully and removed the cloth from his mouth.

‘Where am I? What did you do to me? What are you going to do to me? What do you want?’ Sirius fired question after question to the stranger who looked at him blankly and sighed. ‘Shut up or I’ll make you, please. It’s too early for this,’ he said as Sirius’ cheeks flushed pink and he looked at the stranger's eyes. They were two different colours. One was very dark brown, almost chocolate like. The other was hazel, almost golden. Sirius noticed a scar running from his eyebrow to his cheek on the left side of his face. He was stunningly beautiful in a scary way. His hair was messy and brown with hints of dirty blond in it, Sirius assumed from sunlight. He had more scars on his face, one on the right side of his face above his eyebrow, one right beside his lips and one tracing from his cheekbone all the way down to the collar of his black blouse.

He was wearing a grey sweater on top of it, with brown pants and black boots. A sword was hanging on the right side of his body and golden chains were littered on his neck and waist. He looked too good to be real. He looked dangerous but stunning and so, so beautiful.

‘How would you make me shut up?’ Sirius asked, cocking an eyebrow and grinning slyly. ‘I’ll put the cloth back in your mouth and hit you until you’ve passed out again,’ the stranger said as Sirius looked at him. Beautiful. ‘Will you now? That’s not very kind is it?’ Sirius asked him as the stranger laughed humorlessly and crouched to get eye level with them.

‘Kind isn’t a word many would use to describe me. You really have no idea who I am?’ He asked as he turned around and grabbed a pirate hat from his desk. It was brown and littered with golden chains too. There was a golden name embroidered on the side in small, elegant loops. Captain Remus Moony Lupin. ‘You recognise me now, right? When I wear my hat?’ He said, a smirk forming in his lips. Sirius stared at him in horror and recognition.

‘No. No, you can’t be, you’re not. You’re lying!’ Sirius exclaimed as they started trashing again. They never knew Remus Lupin was so hot. It’s impossible. He’s not Remus lupin. He’s not. But something in Sirius said that he was. And that very same something said that he was in terrible danger.

‘Oh but I am not lying, Sirius Black. Or should I say, your highness?’ The pirate said as he walked back to Sirius and crouched before them again. Sirius’ gaze flickered to Remus’ scar on his neck and he wondered how it would feel to touch it. No, he’s a pirate, stop it.

‘What do you want?’ Sirius snarled as Remus’ eyes found Sirius’ and he smiled dangerously. ‘I just want a blessing to get out of the isles, nothing more,’ he said as he grabbed a dagger from his boot and started to play with it, twirling it around and looking at the dagger. Sirius’ eyes were caught by the small, golden sword. ‘Why are all your weapons and jewels gold? Not silver or metal?’ Sirius asked as Remus glared at him. ‘Answer me and I’ll answer you. Can you get me what I want?’ Remus asked Sirius as they shook his head. ‘I can’t. You need to have my parents for that, not me,’ Sirius said sharply as Remus gave him a look. ‘Why do you think I’ve kidnapped you? They can’t very well move on with life when their lovely crown prince is kidnapped a month before he turns 18.’ Remus’ lips formed a cruel smile and he held the dagger out towards Sirius.

He carefully placed it underneath Sirius’ chin and tilted it up. Sirius’ breath hitched and they tried to grab the dagger, realising that his hands were still tied together. ‘Now now, sit still. You want an answer to your question, right?’ Remus smiled cruelly as Sirius muttered ‘yes’ and Remus carefully observed Sirius’ face for any flaw.

‘I use golden weapons because it brings a sense of power over. No one uses gold because it’s pricey. I have the money for it, so why wouldn’t I use it?’ Remus asked Sirius, his gaze challenging. ‘That’s a stupid reason. You’re too smart for that. So tell me a better lie or tell me the truth,’ Sirius taunted as Remus inspected Sirius carefully, a raging look hidden behind a mask threatening to fall. ‘I don’t like silver.’ Remus stood up quickly and walked away from Sirius. He opened his door and slammed it shut.

‘MacDonald! Do something about Black's mouth or I’ll sew it shut for good!’ Sirius could hear Remus yell as another voice, a girl, yelled back ‘anything for you captain Moony!’ Then Sirius heard another bang, but this one was sharper. Sirius guessed someone hit a wall and it didn’t take a genius to know it was Remus.

Sirius waited until the door flew open again, this time showing a pretty girl with bronze skin and brown curls. She was wearing a red kerchief in her hair, to keep it out of her face presumably, though it did a bad job at that. There were small curls falling over the front and on the side of her face, though the girl didn’t seem to mind them much. She had beautiful, brown eyes with hints of hazel in them.

‘So you’re Prince Sirius Orion Black, huh? You don’t look very impressive tied up,’ the girl said as she crouched in front of him and he spat at her angrily. ‘Let me go,’ he said as the girl looked at them unimpressed. ‘Now now. You don’t want Lupin to actually sew your mouth shut do you? Be nice and I’ll loosen the ropes a bit so your wrists won’t be hurt so much,’ she said as she grabbed a small knife strapped to her side and started cutting Sirius’ ropes around their wrists. ‘Why are you freeing me?’ he asked her, genuinely confused. She chuckled.

‘Oh I am doing nothing of the sort, Sirius Black. I am only changing the ropes because Crouch tied them wrong. Lupin wants you to be tied to the wall too, so you can’t wander around on the ship,’ she explained as Sirius glared at her and she smiled swiftly, not meaning it at all. It looked too genuine to be entirely fake though. ‘I know Remus can be a lot to take in at first. He’s scary, yes,-’ ánd murderous and dangerous. Oh and if I remember correctly, the one who kidnapped me!’ Sirius interrupted her as she shrugged. ‘He’s not as bad as he looks. He’s only like that to his enemies.’ Mary started tying another set of ropes around his wrists.

She tied them looser than this Crouch boy did, but not loose enough for Sirius to get out. ‘I don’t plan on making Lupin my friend though. If my parents find out what he did to me, they’ll have him hanging without a doubt,’ Sirius said as the girl tied them to a shackle on the wall.

‘Ah yes, I’m sure they will. But Remus won’t let you go before he gets what he wants, and if he has what he wants he’ll be gone,’ the girl explained calmly. She stepped back to admire her work and bowed down to Sirius to whisper something in their ear. ‘Just be easy and give him what he wants. You’ll be free within a week,’ she whispered as she straightened up and smiled at him softly. Her lips were a muted red and Sirius only now noticed there was a small, black tattoo in her neck. A crescent moon with the letter ‘M’ behind it in curvy lines.

‘He brands you?’ Sirius asks as the girl’s hand shot to her tattoo and she nodded grimly. ‘I got to choose where to put it. It wasn’t fun getting it, but it was worth the family he gave me in return,’ she said as a boy stumbled into the office, seemingly drunk.

His hair was messy and dark brown. He had glittering blue eyes and a black hat on his head. His white blouse was loosely tucked into his dark grey jeans and his sword was dangling on the side of his right leg. ‘Oi MacDonald, did you see Moony anywhere?’ he asked, ignoring the presence of Sirius. ‘Oh, go take a piss and dunk your head in some water Crouch. Lupin will kill you if he sees you like this again.’ Sirius had made his judgement of the two fairly quickly. Sirius liked the girl, she was surprisingly nice. Sirius did not like the boy. He looked dangerous, like the type of pirate to kill and enjoy it. And he seemed surprisingly close to Remus, according to what he just called him.

Moony. Moony. It sounded weird from the pirate’s lips. Easily spoken like he said it a million times before. Sirius couldn’t stand it. ‘Moony loves me, he wouldn’t dare kill me,’ Crouch said as his eyes fell on Sirius and he grinned, revealing surprisingly clean teeth, just a little crooked. Almost perfect.

‘Ah, so you’re his beloved prisoner Sirius Black? Well well well…’ he drawled. Sirius glared at him and Crouch’s grin spread wider. He missed one of his teeth, which was replaced with a silver-like one. ‘Beloved?’ Sirius said as Crouch’s words started repeating themselves and he tried to ignore the angry feeling bubbling up inside of him.

‘Oh yes. He never shuts up ‘bout you. His prince, his price, his great plan to get what his tiny, black, broken heart most desires,’ Crouch told Sirius, using his arms to accentuate the words. ‘I am not some object he gets to call his possession,’ Sirius started, but Crouch interrupted him. ‘Oh but you are. You are worth nothing on sea, your highness. Here we are the kings and queens.’ Crouch’s gaze flickered towards MacDonald and she gave him a bored look. ‘Let’s go Barty, that’s enough for today,’ MacDonald said to him, her gaze strict and warningly.

‘Alright then. It won’t be long before he gets free of those anyway,’ Crouch said, motioning towards the ropes, tying Sirius to the wall. ‘Pay me a visit once you’re free, yeah?’ Crouch said as he grinned and Sirius’ hand balled into fists. ‘Oh wait, one thing.’ Crouch shuffled forwards and grabbed a piece of cloth from Mary’s hands. He smiled menacingly and stuffed the cloth into Sirius’ mouth before turning away and walking through the door. Sirius tried to kick his ankles, but he was too late.
†
Remus’ temper was terrible.

He felt as if Sirius was toying with him, asking all these things about him and proclaiming they couldn’t give him what he wanted. Sirius was the heir to the throne, surely he would be able to give a simple blessing.

‘He’s getting on your nerves,’ Regulus said, suddenly appearing beside Remus. Remus looked at him with an eyebrow raised. ‘He’s not. They’re just incredibly annoying,’ Remus responded. His eyes were furious and he was glaring at the ocean as if it ruined his life. ‘They have a way of doing that. Getting on your nerves. Don’t let him get to you though, it’ll ruin your plans,’ Regulus said, before walking away again.

Regulus did this often. Just coming to say something utterly useless and disappearing immediately after. Remus didn’t like it when Regulus did that, but he never listened whenever Remus said something about it.

Remus’ gaze focused on the calming waves of the ocean as he gripped the side of the boat. He stood there for a while in silence, not wanting to return to his room where Black was still locked up. He stood there for a bit longer, before returning and finding Sirius asleep. His hair messy and their hands tied up. They looked too beautiful to be normal, with his head leaning against the wall in a surely uncomfortable position for Sirius.

Remus tried to tell himself he didn’t care. He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter that Regulus had described his older brother way less beautiful. He fell asleep surprisingly easy that day, but found his dreams littered with Sirius’ face and his sharp blue eyes.

†

James was woken up by someone knocking on his door rapidly.

He reached for his glasses on his nightstand. They would knock the door down if they didn’t stop soon, he thought bitterly. He stood up and opened the door, glancing wearily at Peter who was looking worried. ‘Peter? What’s wrong?’ He asked as Peter’s eyes took in James’ messy room.
‘Sirius isn’t here? Fuck, James I think Sirius ran away,’ Peter said as James frowned. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. He wouldn’t run away without telling his friends about it. Have you gone to the beach to look for him?’ James asked as Peter shook their head. James sighed softly and put a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

‘I’ll check his room, you can go to the beach to look for him,’ James said, pulling on a pair of grey pants and a navy blue blouse. ‘Yeah, sure. Meet in the gardens in thirty minutes?’ Peter asked him as James nodded before they both walked off in different directions.

James found no Sirius in their room, but he did find a note written in a messy scrawl.

Come and get your pretty prince.
Xoxo The Marauders.

James’ eyes went wide while he looked up at the window. Open. Shit. They kidnapped Sirius. The marauders kidnapped Sirius. James was out of the door quickly, running to the gardens and almost bumping into Lily who was trying to help a few servants clean the windows. ‘Oi, look out, Potter!’ she yelled angrily. James stopped and muttered sorry to Lily and the servants. ‘Why are you in such a hurry anyways?’ Lily asked him as James gave her the note. ‘It’s Sirius. The Marauders they- they got him,’ James started rambling. Lily’s eyes flew over the paper before she gave a short wave to the servants and pulled James along with her on his arm.

‘Where are you going?’ Lily asked him, stopping just before the door leading outside to the gardens. ‘The gardens. I wanted to tell Pete,’ James said while Lily nodded softly. ‘Yeah, that’s… That’s a good idea. Jesus fuck james you lost the crown prince of fucking Godric's Hollow!’ Lily yelled as James put up his hands in surrender. ‘It’s not my fault fucking pirates took him!’ James yelled back, opening the door and walking into the gardens. ‘It is James! You’re supposed to protect him!’

They went back and forth like that for a little while.That was until Peter saw them and they hit both of them on their foreheads. ‘Stop bickering! There’s more important shit to think about now. I’m guessing you didn’t find Sirius?’ Peter asked James as he shook his head. ‘We found a note on his bed though,’ James responded to Peter. He stuck the note out which Peter grabbed. They read it through and their mouth fell open from shock. ‘Sirius… Kidnapped,’ they muttered softly.
‘Well too bad. They’ll have to produce a new heir because we’re never seeing Sirius back ever again,’ Peter said, shrugging as Lily glared at them. ‘Peter you can’t say that! We will find Sirius back I’m sure of it.’

‘Well I’m just saying I am not sure of it at all. I mean we’re talking about the Marauders, right? They obviously want something and I’m doubting if we can give it to them. So Sirius is a dead man. And we’re too if we go there,’ Peter said, gesturing wildly with their arms in the air. ‘I think we should go James. Look for Sirius? And at least try to get him out of there,’ Lily said, looking at James who was frowning.It would be incredibly dangerous for them to go to this unknown pirate ship which belonged to the Marauders. But it would give them a thrill of a lifetime, going on this adventure. There would be a chance that they could save Sirius and finally catch the Marauders for good.

‘Let’s do it,’ James decided finally. Peter looked at him as if he was going crazy and they couldn’t care less, but Lily was watching him closely. ‘Are you sure James? It’s not just some quick trip we’re taking. We’re talking about ruthless pirates who could slice our throats any second we set foot on their territory,’ Lily said. She didn’t seem opposed to the idea at all, but she wanted to see every side of the idea before deciding what to do. Typical from Lily, that was.

James loved that about her. She was so incredibly smart and sweet and witty, but she always took the time to go over details. She wanted plans to be clear and she needed to know every side of a story before she judged anyone. There aren’t many people who can do that.

‘I am getting him back whether you’re coming or not. I won’t judge you if you won’t come along, but I’ll go no matter what,’ James said firmly, looking at Peter and Lily. ‘Fuck it, I’m coming too,’ Peter said after a moment of silence from Lily.

‘Were you going to tell me about this or was I meant to stay behind alone?’ James recognised Evans' voice almost everywhere. He turned around and met the dark hazel-green eyes of Evan Rosier. His blonde hair was untidy and pushed back a bit too much by his hands, though it still fell over his forehead. ‘Hi Evan,’ Peter said, saluting him and looking at James. ‘So you’re coming?’ James asked Evan as Evan nodded and looked at Lily. Lily was taller than Evan, not by much though.

‘Fine, I’m coming too,’ Lily said finally, sighing deeply and massaging her forehead with her hands. ‘Great. Pack your bags because this will be the ride of our lifetime,’ Evan said, already walking away again, a grin on his face.

†