Birds of a Feather
Chapter 8: Fish and Chips
Summary: After Fawkes resuces Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
Fawkes was sleeping when the cabin door swung open. It was night by ship's time, but with the vessel jumping magically between time zones and latitudes, daylight and darkness came at random. Fawkes tended to make a racket whenever it got light, and no one appreciated being awakened at odd times by a crowing bird, so Severus had hung a curtain in front of Fawkes' perch to keep it dark for him.
Fawkes yawned, stretched his wings, and peeked around the edge of the curtain. What was this disturbance? Severus usually came in quietly.
Fawkes watched as Severus and the seafarers entered the cabin, followed by four strangers. He didn't like the look of the strangers. The oldest one had a long face and was heavily built, and reminded him of a baboon. He was being very bossy. There was also a big blond one, a tall one, and a sullen young pup.
Before they could notice Fawkes peering at them, Severus walked over and stood in front of him, blocking him from view.
Fawkes was annoyed. How was he to see with Severus standing in front of him? He was being ignored, and he was not going to put up with it. Maybe he should give Severus a peck. He craned his neck to see around the wizard, but fortunately the Death Eaters didn't notice. They were busy joking about a pirate hat that they'd found in Kat's sea chest.
Furtively, Severus reached behind him and shoved Fawkes back behind the curtain. The bird promptly bit him. Severus didn't flinch. He'd endured Crucio from the Dark Lord, after all, and a phoenix bite was nothing by comparison. None the less, it hurt more than he would have thought, and it was probably bleeding. He thrust the wounded hand into his pocket. Stupid bird!
There wasn't much to search in Severus' cabin. Stan sneered at a pair of the now-black briefs from Wal-Mart, and tossed them back into the locker. "Nothing here," he said.
"Let's get on with it then." Dolohov was getting hungry, and they still had to search the cook's quarters and the kitchen.
Fawkes considered emitting an ear-splitting shriek to show his displeasure. This was not how a phoenix expects to be treated. Then he realized that he was in the dark again, so he did what any sensible bird would do: he fluffed his feathers, closed his eyes, and went quietly back to sleep.
~~~~~
Seabiscuit cooked fish and chips for everyone, while Yaxley watched over him to make sure that he didn't slip any poisons or potions into the food. The cook smirked, knowing that they hadn't searched his kitchen thoroughly enough to find his charmed liquor cabinet. He didn't want to see any of his good wine and brandy wasted on this nasty bunch of pirate-wannabes. It was too bad that he didn't have a spare wand or two stashed in there along with the booze.
Dolohov eyed the crew while he ate. He was ready to strike them down if any of them made a suspicious move. They all seemed to be Americans, except for Snape, of course. There probably wasn't a single drop of pure blood in any of them. The captain was obviously part African, and there was no telling what the other two were. They were just a pack of mongrels. Pirates were supposed to be like that, he supposed, but really, it was rather distasteful. Dolohov himself came from an old Eastern European pureblood family, and he was a graduate of Durmstrang.
Captain Clark poured some ketchup on his fries and made sure that he looked unconcerned, even though he was seething inside. In his many years at sea, he'd fought off his share of sea monsters, and pirates, too, but these guys had simply strolled onto his bridge, disarmed him, and hijacked his ship. The nerve of them! He felt like a fool. He'd find a way to take back the Knight Boat, or he'd die trying. They'd regret the day they'd set foot on his ship.
Rowle helped himself to more fish. Things had been so good before the Dark Lord had got himself killed. Rowle had loved all the torturing and killing. There had been lots of loot, too. The Dark Lord always let them keep whatever they stole from their victims. But now they were on the run and they had nothing. He hoped Dolohov would let him kill someone soon. Snape, for example. He needed to take his pent-up anger out on someone.
Kat sipped his coffee and looked over at Seabiscuit. These jerks must be some of those Death Eater guys that Slade had spied on. Yeah, he and Biscuit knew about that. Biscuit had picked up a Daily Prophet to get the Wizard's Weekly Word Puzzle, and even though he didn't usually read the thing, it was hard to miss the picture of Slade scowling from the bottom of the front page. There was a full-page story inside about how his name was Snape, how he'd been a professor and a double agent, and been killed, and been given some medal, and all that. They hadn't mentioned it to him, of course, because he obviously didn't want to talk about it, but they showed the story to Captain Clark.
Yaxley poured some vinegar on his second helping of chips. He was looking forward to some action. He wasn't sure how much shipping the wizarding world was doing these days, but he'd read stories about muggle sailing ships that carried rich cargos of gold and jewels. They would be easy prey. Being a pirate would be even more fun than being a Death Eater. He could hardly wait!
Stan Shunpike gobbled down his food and then sat staring at his empty plate. How had he gotten himself into this mess? His family was very poor, but they were purebloods, none the less. The Dark Lord's minions had promised him a better life (and maybe a Veela or two), and Stan had believed them and joined up. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that he'd made a terrible mistake, but it was too late. After he'd botched a simple courier mission, they had told him he was a useless bungler and then they'd Imperiused him. He wasn't sure what had happened after that. He'd better owl his mom and dad and tell them he was all right.
Severus watched the Death Eaters out of the corner of his eye while he ate. Dolohov was the most dangerous. He'd served the Dark Lord since the early days. He was cunning, ruthless, and powerful. Yaxley was a bit crazy, Rowle was a brainless thug, and Shunpike was a desperate kid who'd gotten in over his head. Shunpike was the weakest link, but it would be a mistake to underestimate any of them. Severus would have to bide his time and wait for one of them to make a mistake. At least they hadn't found Fawkes. If they harmed the phoenix, he'd make them pay. When he was done with them, they wouldn't wake up until the millennium, if then.
He sighed inwardly. His life certainly had changed. After years of trying to protect the Potter brat, now he was trying to protect a bird. It was definitely an improvement.
Summary: After Fawkes resuces Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
Fawkes was sleeping when the cabin door swung open. It was night by ship's time, but with the vessel jumping magically between time zones and latitudes, daylight and darkness came at random. Fawkes tended to make a racket whenever it got light, and no one appreciated being awakened at odd times by a crowing bird, so Severus had hung a curtain in front of Fawkes' perch to keep it dark for him.
Fawkes yawned, stretched his wings, and peeked around the edge of the curtain. What was this disturbance? Severus usually came in quietly.
Fawkes watched as Severus and the seafarers entered the cabin, followed by four strangers. He didn't like the look of the strangers. The oldest one had a long face and was heavily built, and reminded him of a baboon. He was being very bossy. There was also a big blond one, a tall one, and a sullen young pup.
Before they could notice Fawkes peering at them, Severus walked over and stood in front of him, blocking him from view.
Fawkes was annoyed. How was he to see with Severus standing in front of him? He was being ignored, and he was not going to put up with it. Maybe he should give Severus a peck. He craned his neck to see around the wizard, but fortunately the Death Eaters didn't notice. They were busy joking about a pirate hat that they'd found in Kat's sea chest.
Furtively, Severus reached behind him and shoved Fawkes back behind the curtain. The bird promptly bit him. Severus didn't flinch. He'd endured Crucio from the Dark Lord, after all, and a phoenix bite was nothing by comparison. None the less, it hurt more than he would have thought, and it was probably bleeding. He thrust the wounded hand into his pocket. Stupid bird!
There wasn't much to search in Severus' cabin. Stan sneered at a pair of the now-black briefs from Wal-Mart, and tossed them back into the locker. "Nothing here," he said.
"Let's get on with it then." Dolohov was getting hungry, and they still had to search the cook's quarters and the kitchen.
Fawkes considered emitting an ear-splitting shriek to show his displeasure. This was not how a phoenix expects to be treated. Then he realized that he was in the dark again, so he did what any sensible bird would do: he fluffed his feathers, closed his eyes, and went quietly back to sleep.
~~~~~
Seabiscuit cooked fish and chips for everyone, while Yaxley watched over him to make sure that he didn't slip any poisons or potions into the food. The cook smirked, knowing that they hadn't searched his kitchen thoroughly enough to find his charmed liquor cabinet. He didn't want to see any of his good wine and brandy wasted on this nasty bunch of pirate-wannabes. It was too bad that he didn't have a spare wand or two stashed in there along with the booze.
Dolohov eyed the crew while he ate. He was ready to strike them down if any of them made a suspicious move. They all seemed to be Americans, except for Snape, of course. There probably wasn't a single drop of pure blood in any of them. The captain was obviously part African, and there was no telling what the other two were. They were just a pack of mongrels. Pirates were supposed to be like that, he supposed, but really, it was rather distasteful. Dolohov himself came from an old Eastern European pureblood family, and he was a graduate of Durmstrang.
Captain Clark poured some ketchup on his fries and made sure that he looked unconcerned, even though he was seething inside. In his many years at sea, he'd fought off his share of sea monsters, and pirates, too, but these guys had simply strolled onto his bridge, disarmed him, and hijacked his ship. The nerve of them! He felt like a fool. He'd find a way to take back the Knight Boat, or he'd die trying. They'd regret the day they'd set foot on his ship.
Rowle helped himself to more fish. Things had been so good before the Dark Lord had got himself killed. Rowle had loved all the torturing and killing. There had been lots of loot, too. The Dark Lord always let them keep whatever they stole from their victims. But now they were on the run and they had nothing. He hoped Dolohov would let him kill someone soon. Snape, for example. He needed to take his pent-up anger out on someone.
Kat sipped his coffee and looked over at Seabiscuit. These jerks must be some of those Death Eater guys that Slade had spied on. Yeah, he and Biscuit knew about that. Biscuit had picked up a Daily Prophet to get the Wizard's Weekly Word Puzzle, and even though he didn't usually read the thing, it was hard to miss the picture of Slade scowling from the bottom of the front page. There was a full-page story inside about how his name was Snape, how he'd been a professor and a double agent, and been killed, and been given some medal, and all that. They hadn't mentioned it to him, of course, because he obviously didn't want to talk about it, but they showed the story to Captain Clark.
Yaxley poured some vinegar on his second helping of chips. He was looking forward to some action. He wasn't sure how much shipping the wizarding world was doing these days, but he'd read stories about muggle sailing ships that carried rich cargos of gold and jewels. They would be easy prey. Being a pirate would be even more fun than being a Death Eater. He could hardly wait!
Stan Shunpike gobbled down his food and then sat staring at his empty plate. How had he gotten himself into this mess? His family was very poor, but they were purebloods, none the less. The Dark Lord's minions had promised him a better life (and maybe a Veela or two), and Stan had believed them and joined up. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that he'd made a terrible mistake, but it was too late. After he'd botched a simple courier mission, they had told him he was a useless bungler and then they'd Imperiused him. He wasn't sure what had happened after that. He'd better owl his mom and dad and tell them he was all right.
Severus watched the Death Eaters out of the corner of his eye while he ate. Dolohov was the most dangerous. He'd served the Dark Lord since the early days. He was cunning, ruthless, and powerful. Yaxley was a bit crazy, Rowle was a brainless thug, and Shunpike was a desperate kid who'd gotten in over his head. Shunpike was the weakest link, but it would be a mistake to underestimate any of them. Severus would have to bide his time and wait for one of them to make a mistake. At least they hadn't found Fawkes. If they harmed the phoenix, he'd make them pay. When he was done with them, they wouldn't wake up until the millennium, if then.
He sighed inwardly. His life certainly had changed. After years of trying to protect the Potter brat, now he was trying to protect a bird. It was definitely an improvement.