A Tale of Two Brothers

Chapter 1 ~ The Black Bella

Eighteen year old James Potter stood on the deck of The Marauder, his brother standing beside him as they watched the crew going back and forth, tying ropes, and climbing masts.

The smell of the sea and the light, morning breeze rustling his hair brought a small smile to James' face. He loved the sea. This, he thought, is where I belong.

He was brought out of his musings by a shout coming from the crows nest. "Ship on the horizon Captain! Starboard side!" He heard.

James and Sirius had always dreamed of finding a ship and sailing the ocean together.

The Marauder was their pride and joy and they both cherished every moment they spent on the sea.

Deciding on the captain had been easy for them. They both worked together as an excellent team. James had always been a natural leader, he had a knack for running a crew and making good decisions, while Sirius was a natural at ship navigations and numbers, but he had never enjoyed positions of responsibility.

When they had acquired The Marauder they had decided that James would become Captain, while Sirius would take the position of first mate. Technically they still shared all the decisions, but this way James could lead the crew, while Sirius took responsibility for the stuff like navigation, keeping track of the ships supplies and running the numbers.

It was a good system, and although they were both very young, they were respected and trusted by their crew, pirates or not.

"What's the flag?" Sirius shouted up to the man in the crows nest.

"Knockturn" came the reply.

James swore the growl that came from Sirius' throat was dog-like, and he knew his scowl matched his brothers perfectly.

"Turn us East. Use their winds to catch them." James shouted to the man at the helm. "Diggory, prepare the cannons, Fenwick, tell the crew to prepare the boarding planks." James continued to shout orders to certain members of the crew as Sirius did the same, and it only took them a matter of minutes to have the pirates ready to raid.

The Marauder was a fast, well built ship, and it easily gained on the ship in the distance. It wasn't long before James was able to make out the snake banner flying high, and the name The Black Bella painted on the side.

They turned The Marauder at the last moment and under the commands of James, Sirius and their long time friend and the second mate Remus Lupin, they were able to board the ship without having to release a single volley of cannons, which was good because they only had about four left thanks to Sirius' slightly pyromaniacal tendencies.

They were able to board the ship quickly, however the other crew was waiting for them and they were forced to draw their swords.

The fight seemed to be going in The Marauder's favour, however James didn't have much time to think about that because he was suddenly faced against a large man brandishing two swords, and wearing a sneer that would curdle milk.

James' instincts took over and his body completed the movements without having to think about it. Block, strike, parley, dodge.

He continued the strange dance with the other man, slowly moving over the deck, when he felt cold steel sink into his right shoulder.

He whirled around, barley missing the strike of the first man, only to find himself faced with a second.

He had to switch sword hands due to his injured shoulder, and he quickly discovered that battling two men at once with an injury and using his left hand was not easy.