Chapter Eighteen – The Summer Wind

The swim to James's ship wouldn't have taken as long if Remus's arm hadn't been so damaged, and if Caradoc and Lily hadn't both been exhausted, but they made it.

The rest of the crew shouted and lowered the rowboat as they approached. Lily and Caradoc pushed a delirious Remus inside first and climbed in after him.

The rowboat moved steadily up alongside the ship, and for the first time, Lily looked back. Large holes punctured the side of the Death Eaters' ship walls and sails, and a thick plume of smoke spiraled out of the forecastle.

Already James's ship was sailing away, the battle abandoned.

Won, technically.

Somehow Caradoc found the strength to carry Remus out of the boat and laid him on the deck in front of a waiting, stricken Marlene. She set to work at once, shouting at Peter to go grab her things from her trunk and Conjuring a pillow to set under Remus's head. Sirius leapt down half the staircase from the sterncastle and bolted over to them, shouting desperately, "Moony!"

James hovered around the edges, shifting his weight anxiously. There was little for him to do but watch.

Lily could relate.

She glanced down at her hands. All of Remus's blood had washed off in the swim, leaving her hands as clean as when she'd first boarded James's ship. In the literal sense, at least.

She climbed out of the boat at last, and suddenly found herself being thoroughly kissed.

"You idiot," James breathed, and then he captured her lips again.

Lily pressed a hand lightly against his chest, and he pulled back, a faint line on his brow.

"Not right now, okay?" she managed to say, her throat rough from seawater. "I'm just—"

"Right, right." He brushed a wet lock of hair out of her face. "You're probably tired."

Everyone else had vanished into their own tasks, Healing and navigating and sailing, leaving James and Lily alone by the rowboat.

No one else would hear. And she was safe now, and Remus and Caradoc were free, and her legs nearly gave out beneath her.

"James," she said, voice cracking, "I killed her."

His arms pulled her in tight, and she pressed her face into his neck, and she cried.

Sometime later—her mind had stopped functioning, stopped noticing anything other than James's presence, and how much she hurt—he drew her into his cabin. They lay together in his bed with their arms around one other, James murmuring platitudes in her ear, Lily whispering I'm sorry into the crook of his neck a hundred times or more.

James had delicately removed Algernon from the room, leaving them alone with the sound of waves trickling in through his open windows. But no matter how many times she apologized, she felt wretched, and hollow, and she cried until she finally, mercifully fell asleep.

She awoke to the afternoon sun on her face, James's blankets tucked tightly around her, and Algernon curled up at her side, purring gently.

Sleep was often the best healer of all, besides time. But sleeping for hours hadn't changed anything for Lily. Not this time.

James's bed was warm and soft, and she could easily have stayed there for days. But her throat throbbed, and her stomach growled, and she was not, after all, ready to die just yet.

She pushed the blankets off and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, her muscles twinging. Between rowing to shore and walking through caves and swimming to freedom, her body had got more use in half a day than in the previous two weeks combined.

Algernon stirred next to her, and padded across the blankets to cuddle in her lap.

Her stomach grumbled again while she pet his ears. Algernon meowed toward her stomach, annoyed, and she looked up to see a covered dinner tray on James's table. A few glass bottles filled with colorful potions sat in a neat row next to a pitcher of water.

Caradoc's cooking hadn't wavered in quality, but Lily ate mechanically. She managed enough to quell her stomach, downed most of the water, and finished with whatever remedies Marlene had given her.

Eating had at least given her mind something to focus on, and she wandered out of James's cabin to find some other distraction, anything rather than face herself alone any longer.

She passed through the library and felt like a stranger in there. All their notes and books lay exactly where they'd left them yesterday, quills sitting in inkwells.

It had only been yesterday that they'd solved the map. Yesterday that they'd arrived in the Azores.

This morning that they'd destroyed the prophecy.

How strange, that she'd killed someone in the morning. Killing seemed like something that should have happened at night, when darkness obscured faces and bloodstains.

She hurried through the library, Algernon at her side, and stepped out into the warm air on the main deck.

Peter stood in the crow's nest, Sirius cast spells at the foresails, and James manned the helm. It was all so utterly normal, and unchanged.

She joined James upstairs, but Algernon lingered behind her, hissing softly.

James smiled sadly at his cat, and then looked up at Lily. "Hullo."

"Hi," she managed, and at least Marlene's elixirs had cured her throat.

"Can you keep an eye on Algernon for a while? He's a bit angry with me."

"Of course he is. You didn't say goodbye."

James averted his eyes, hands gripping the helm tighter. "I couldn't," he said in a low voice. "He would've demanded to come with, and I would've had to lock him up and—and I'm a terrible coward and he deserves better."

Algernon made a contented noise. Lily bent down to pick him up, cradling him in her arms, and he licked her hand.

"Marlene can get you some fresh clothes when she wakes up," James said. "I'd have got you some already, but she took care of Remus and Caradoc and then she sort of passed out."

Lily looked down at Algernon, suddenly deprived of words.

"What happened in the caves?" she asked. That would not require her to talk, or to think.

She leaned against the railing and listened as James explained. Apparently the Death Eaters had seen little point in hanging around if the prophecy was lost, and they'd made off with Lily and Remus as soon as possible. Sirius had sent a Death Eater into prophecy-induced madness, and Dorcas had killed another when the Death Eaters began their retreat.

"Peter's leg got a bit messed up, and Sirius got knocked out for a few hours," James said, "and Dorcas's hair—er, best not mention that—although actually she's dead proud, so go ahead, I s'pose—and Marlene's down a finger. But that's not bad, all things considered. I mean, except for you and Remus and Caradoc."

"Caradoc was just a little beat up," Lily said. "Remus had only got his shoulder hurt until Malfoy—" She broke off, hugging Algernon closer.

"Caradoc told me," James said gently. "Malfoy—he's a whole breed of pureblood arse unto himself."

Lily nodded, biting her lip.

"He didn't," James began, and then stopped. "I mean, I thought we'd be quick enough after he talked to me—you didn't get…."

"Nothing happened to me. Just to Remus."

"Good. I mean, good that it wasn't worse. Remus's going to be fine, you know. His arm might—well, I'm not sure. Marlene said it's hard to know what'll happen, what with his furry little problem, but she still patched him up as best she could."

Words still eluded Lily, and she bobbed her head again. That was good news. It just didn't feel like it. Nothing felt like good news.

"Caradoc told me…." he said. "He told me Snape was on the ship."

"He was."

James waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, he added, "But he didn't say anything?"

"He said it smelled like Mudbloods."

James did not look surprised. He looked sad instead, mouth twisting. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't make him do it. He chose to do that. He chose to pretend he didn't know me."

"He might've. I mean. I don't—he's kind of a terrible person. A lot a terrible person, really. But that's low, even for him."

"It doesn't matter." Lily's hand came up to play with her pendant, and then dropped. Her necklace was gone. It was probably caked in dried blood. "I hope I never see him again," she said, and damned if her voice wasn't breaking again.

"Oh, Lily."

He stepped toward her, and Algernon hissed, but Lily set Algernon down and stepped into James's waiting arms.

He did not kiss her. He did not speak. He ignored the wind, and his ship, and his cat, and he simply held her close.

She could barely stand to be contained within her body at the moment, but with James's arms warmly wrapped around her shoulders, and one of his hands on the back of her neck…it was almost tolerable.

Finally, when her legs had grown tired from standing, she pried herself away. Even though she trusted James and Marlene, she had to see Remus for herself. James kissed her once on the forehead and let her go.

She waved at Sirius from the main deck, and he waved back, wand still aimed high above him.

"Welcome back aboard!" he shouted.

"Thanks!" she called back, and it hurt, somehow, to be that loud.

She stuck her head in the door to the common room to find Dorcas lounging on the sofa, staring out the windows in the front of the ship. Dorcas sat up a bit when at the sound of the door opening, flashed Lily a thumbs up, and flopped back down. Her red scarf had disappeared, as had half her hair. The little that remained on one side of her head had been shorn down close to her scalp.

"Nice hair," Lily said.

"Good work not dying."

Lily almost smiled at that, and made for the gun deck.

Remus was awake when she found him, his good arm propping up a book on his chest, a candle bespelled to hover near his head. She sat down at the foot of his bed and rubbed his shin by way of greeting.

"Hi," she said.

He set the book page-down on his chest. "Hello."

She couldn't see his injuries beneath the thick gauze Marlene had swaddled his arm in, but at least he still had the arm, even if it lay stiff at his side.

She glanced toward Marlene's bed. "Is Marlene…."

He followed her line of sight, and smiled. "Deafening Charm, and just as well. She needs the rest," he said. "How are you?"

Lily let out a dark laugh. "How am I?"

"It's a reasonable question."

She resisted the urge to slap his leg for sheer stupidity.

"We're not talking about me," she said. "I'm only interested in your health."

"My arm will recover. I'm more concerned about your sanity."

"I'm fine," she lied.

"You killed someone. Your first, I believe."

She inspected the cannon at her side, which smelled strongly of gunpowder.

"Lily," Remus said softly.

She did not offer an excuse, or apologize, or cry.

"I killed someone," she said, and her skin nearly crawled with the truth of it. "I wish I hadn't."

"Do you really wish that?"

Really she wished Algernon were there to give her hands something to do, but for now she wrung them together, nails broken and scratched from battle.

"I don't know," she said.

His mouth curved into a wry smile. "Welcome to war."

"How can you—" She folded her arms.

"I've killed four people, Lily. They weren't good people. Only one of those deaths happened while she was actively attacking me."

She closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry you had to be put in that position," he said. "I should have done it."

"You couldn't."

"Regardless. The world is safer without her in it."

"That doesn't help."

"I know it doesn't. Nothing will."

And she'd suspected that was the case, but it did not help to hear it.

"Why did Malfoy do that?" she asked instead. "Even if you knew the prophecy, you'd never have told him."

"Because he could," Remus said simply.

"It would have been easier if it had been him."

"No," he said. "It wouldn't have."

It wouldn't have been. It might have been easier to kill Malfoy instead of Kipling at the time, while anger and revenge coursed through her veins, but she would have felt equally remorseful and desolate at the end of it. Equally broken.

"At least you destroyed the prophecy."

"At least I destroyed the prophecy," he agreed.

"Did…. Did you lie to Malfoy?"

"Are you asking if I heard the prophecy?"

She nodded tightly.

"There was a ghostly figure speaking, it's true. But no, I didn't hear what she said, and it's best I didn't."

He sounded like he was telling the truth, but he could be convincing when he wanted to be.

It was irrelevant, though. Even if he had, she didn't really want to know.

"We'll never know his downfall until it comes, I suppose," she said.

"Not quite. There is still the person to whom the prophecy was initially given."

"Is that what those initials were on the labels?"

"In addition to the Seer, yes."

All this work and misery, and it wasn't even over.

"You Know Who just has to find that person, then," Lily said with dawning horror.

"Oh," Remus said, nearly smiling, "I'm fairly confident that You Know Who will never succeed in that endeavor."

"You recognized the initials?"

"It's the one man I trust to make the best use of the information, and the one man You Know Who has always feared. Fortune favors us, every now and then."

Lily glanced down at his arm, and at her blood-free hands, and marveled at Remus's optimism.

He reached down with his good arm and clasped her hand. "I can't pass judgment on what you did. I can't tell you that what you did was right. But I do believe the world is safer without her in it."

"I don't think I'm supposed to judge people. I don't want to. But…I think you're right."

"What d'you think?" Marlene asked groggily, sitting up in bed across the deck.

"That you've done a marvelous job Healing everyone," Lily said.

"Ta." Marlene stretched her arms over her head, twisting her back. Her right hand bore a thick bandage where her smallest finger should have begun. "Remus, dear, how many times do I have to tell you to rest? Do you want me to force a sleeping potion down your throat?"

"Orders duly noted," Remus said, and he reclaimed his hand from Lily to move his book aside.

"I'll leave you to it." Lily stood up and brushed off her trousers. "Marlene, I don't suppose you've got another outfit for me in that trunk, do you?"

Marlene looked like she was going to say something cheeky, based on the smile that twitched at the corners of her mouth, but then she caught herself and cleared her throat. "Of course."

Adorned in a fresh set of clothes, and with Remus at least feigning sleep, Lily followed Marlene up to the common room. Dorcas had moved elsewhere, and they settled in across from each other at the table, a bowl of fruit from Caradoc between them.

Marlene didn't move her hand differently now – she opened the door and picked up an apple with her injured hand as normally as she would have with five fingers.

Lily had heard of people feeling limbs even when they weren't there anymore. Maybe Marlene couldn't even tell the difference. It was just the little finger, after all.

Marlene cleared her throat, and Lily realized she'd been staring.

"Sorry," Lily said.

"It's all right, really." Marlene gave an affected shrug. "Could be worse."

Lily gave her a plaintive look. "You don't have to lie to me. You have just lost a finger."

Marlene glanced at Lily and then studied her bandage for a moment. "I don't think I've quite—it doesn't feel gone. Not yet."

"But it will."

"Probably. But after everything else…I can handle it." Marlene took a small bite of her apple. "And you…that is, I heard what happened so you could escape. Are you…."

"I'll live," Lily said, though her mind whispered, Kipling won't.

"Hopefully we all will, to a ripe old age."

Lily did not say what immediately came to mind, that that seemed very unlikely. But it looked like Marlene was thinking the same thing, and it did not need to be said.

"Remus's arm will be okay to use, right?" Lily asked.

"Yes. Whether it'll hurt—I think we'll know better after the next full moon. Werewolves are damned good at healing, except against themselves or really Dark curses."

Marlene's healing had seemed to help Remus the day after the full moon, though. Particularly when she'd brushed the hair off of his face.

"He seems to appreciate what you do to help him recover after his transformations," Lily said. "And it's not just the salves."

A blush stole across Marlene's cheeks. "He appreciates it, yeah, but he keeps doing idiotic things like getting captured."

"Well, that's not exactly his fault."

Marlene quirked her mouth to the side, but didn't reply.

Malfoy had said Remus's chivalry had got the best of him….

"If you don't want to tell me what happened," Lily said, "you don't have to—"

But Marlene shook her head. Then she set the apple down and folded her arms on the table in front of her, ducking her chin.

"He took that spell for me, Lily," she said. "It was meant for me and he stepped right in front of it, and look what happened to him."

"I did the same thing for him."

"That was for the mission. That was—thank you for that, by the way. I dunno if anyone's said it, but thanks. Remus—he didn't do it for the mission."

He did it for you, Lily wanted to say. Instead, she said, "It would've been you in the brig instead, if he hadn't done it."

"I wouldn't have been tortured," Marlene said, voice running a bit ragged. "Not like that. I'm not a werewolf and I didn't have any chance of hearing the prophecy. We all would've been better off if he hadn't been so ridiculous, but he was, and he was tortured, and it should have been me in there with you."

"It shows he cares about you, though, doesn't it?" Lily tried. "That he did it for no other reason."

"You haven't known him long enough—he's just—it doesn't mean he cares about me because he'd do the same for nearly anyone because he's so—I can't take someone like that, someone willing to give up everything at the drop of a wand because he thinks he's not as good…."

Lily fell silent; she had no quick retort to the truth.

"But damned if I won't Heal him all the same," Marlene said, "because that's my bloody job, and I'm good at it, and I'm going to get him his arm back, and then he'll go mess himself up somewhere else, on some other mission, and I'll—I'll fix him, afterwards, and that's it."

Marlene took a deep breath and mournfully considered her hand.

"I'm sorry," Lily said.

"It's fine." Marlene straightened up. "You can't change someone. Not like that. I've got my job, and I'll do it, and he'll…be him, and I'll deal with—this."

No consolations could be made on that front, no apologies made. It was a completely reasonable position to take, and a completely reasonable response.

And yet it still seemed like such a waste.

"You realize you're wonderful, right?" Lily said. "Healer or otherwise."

"Thanks." Marlene smiled grimly. "You're pretty wonderful yourself, you know. You helped with the map, and helped them escape, and just…thanks. You know. Because it's my fault you had to do that, because I didn't do it—"

"Don't." Lily kept her hands from tightening into fists, but she still grabbed a pear from the fruit bowl to occupy her hands. "I made my choice. And you would've—it would've been different if you'd—I'm not sorry you didn't do it."

A part of Lily was telling the truth. It would have been different somehow.

But another part kept circling around that moment in the magazine with Marlene, when she'd tugged the sword away from Kipling's neck. She'd let Marlene draw only a few drops of blood instead of—

Lily wrenched her attention back to Marlene, who looked mulish.

But Lily could not force Marlene to feel differently, just as she couldn't force herself to feel better about what she'd done to Kipling.

"As long as we're doing thanks," Lily said, "thanks for Healing me. Again. And trusting me, when in hindsight you really shouldn't have."

"Well, we all do stupid things, don't we?"

"Yeah." Lily's broken nails picked at the skin on the pear. "We really do."

Remus was disabled and Lily was wrenching herself apart, but the crew celebrated that night anyway, and Lily didn't fault them. She let Marlene wrangle her into a yellow dress only because it was easier than arguing, and joined everyone else on the main deck once the stars had begun twinkling overhead.

Caradoc had baked a spectacular, three-layer cake, Marlene had spelled colorful balls of light to hang in the air, and Sirius had even offered to play the violin. Remus volunteered to go on watch, but the rest of the crew clamored to shut him up, and they settled him in a chair next to the dance floor.

"No watch," James said. "Not tonight."

Under the guise of needing to make Remus feel comforted, Lily brought out another chair and sat with him through the first dances. Sirius had played well during their first party, but tonight his music flowed even better, the notes loud and triumphant.

The others took their turns dancing with one another, eating and drinking and teasing in between. Mostly Lily watched James. He made faces at his crew and invented silly dances and kept shoving food at people. He tried to dip Dorcas, but she stepped out of his grasp and whacked him on the head.

"I don't dip," she said.

But through it all, James wore an irrepressible smile, one that any other day would've drawn one out of Lily in return. Watching him throw himself in among his mates, looking more perfectly pleased than Lily had ever been in her whole life…. He wasn't made to take long shifts on watch with no company, to lock himself up in his cabin, to eat every meal alone.

But he would if needed, and he had.

James twirled Marlene, her long hair streaming around, and she winced when he accidentally grabbed her bound knuckle, but it was soon forgotten. Even Dorcas was apparently feeling generous: she accepted Peter's invitation to dance, and barely even scolded him when he lost the beat.

Halfway through the song, Caradoc turned to Lily and offered her a wand.

Kipling's original wand.

"Marlene asked me to give this back to you," he said. "I borrowed it today for cooking, but by all rights it's yours."

Lily shook her head. "I don't want it."

"It's customary for you to take it, since you…."

"You need it more anyway, and I just—I don't want it. You take it."

He pocketed it. "If you want to keep practicing spells or anything, just let me know and you can have it back."

She watched Algernon trot happily around Sirius's feet. "Thanks."

"You're welcome to use it, too, Remus," Caradoc said. "You won't be on duty for a while, but when you do need a wand, please let me know."

Remus smiled. "I appreciate that. Thank you."

The song ended, and Peter took up with Marlene while Caradoc gave Dorcas's feet a reprieve.

"How are you, Smith?" James asked as he approached Lily and Remus, beaming.

"Evans," she said. "I'm Lily Evans."

"Evans." He nodded with mock seriousness. "I like it. Very well – all right, Evans?"

She shrugged.

His smiled vanished. "Sorry. I'm just—I'm really glad everyone's alive."

"So am I."

"No complaints here," Remus added.

"D'you want," James said quickly. "I mean, this was such a bad idea, you're probably still feeling like shit—"

"They needed it," Lily said. "That's the most important thing."

James looked like he might disagree, but he restrained himself. "D'you want to step away for a minute?"

She glanced at the dancers—and they were all radiantly happy, alive and victorious and mostly well—and nodded sharply.

She couldn't fault them their celebration, but participating….

James led her up to the forecastle deck, right up to the front where the wind tugged at her braid. The harsh air felt nice against her face; cleansing, in a way.

"You're welcome to—I mean," James said, "this isn't that invitation, but if you don't want to sleep alone…you can sleep in my bed."

"I'll wake you up."

"I know."

And she felt childish for it, but spending the night alone, down where she couldn't see the sun or the stars….

"Yes, please."

"It's all right to ask for help," he said gently.

"I know," Lily said, her throat tight. "Only I'm not…it's been a while."

He stepped in closer toward her, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "You were so clever getting yourself out of there."

"It was just my hairpin. You properly trained wizards think it's all about the wand, you know."

"That's why we did the cannons, actually. Dorcas thought of it – and I quote, 'Let's just blow them up.' I'd never have come up with that."

"Why do you even have cannons? If you're a refugee ship."

"They came with the ship when my parents got it, and, I dunno, I thought they were a bit…."

"Dashing? Rugged?"

"Swashbuckling," he corrected.

A laugh forced its way through her throat, and it was both a pain and a release.

"Your silly pirate obsession," she said fondly. And then she remembered. "Oh, no, your hat!"

"My hat?"

"I had it on in the cave, but it was gone by the time I woke up in the brig."

James waved a hand. "Oh, that. Marlene nicked it off the floor after—well, it must've fallen off you. I've still got it."

"Oh. That's something, at least."

"I'd've loved to have seen you in it."

"There's still time."

"Two weeks, I suppose."

Lily regarded him strangely.

"Until we get to Lisbon?" he said. "I mean, unless you've got somewhere else in mind you'd like to get dropped off."

The inkling of a good mood she'd been nurturing vanished, an anchor dropped into the sea.

Her mind had decided the issue somewhere in the past twelve hours, without conscious thought or deliberation. It was simply how things had to be.

"Yes." She looked up into his eyes. "I've got somewhere in mind."

He wasn't quite facing her, though, standing as though ready to receive the blow of terrible news.

Of course he would think that. She'd told him as much.

"Brighton will do," she said. "Or anywhere in England. Preferably wherever the rest of the Order is located."

He looked back to her, hope darting across his face. "You're not saying…."

"Of course I am," she said brusquely. "You Know Who's caused so much havoc in my life, you think I don't want the chance to bash his head in with a chair?"

And then his fingers were threading into her hair and he was kissing her.

And she was kissing back, heart hammering from relief—she was alive—and happiness—James was finally kissing her—and fear—what had she been thinking, she couldn't go back to England. But soon those thoughts dissipated like smoke, and she threw her arms around James, pulling him in closer, because as long as he was there and kissing her, nothing else mattered.

Her choices did not matter.

When they broke apart, still clinging to each other and their foreheads touching, he giggled.

"I hope you bash in his head with a chair," he said, a bit breathily.

"I would give anything to have that opportunity. Just let me know when Dumbledore's wrapping up the war and I'll be right over."

"You'll already be there."

"I suppose I might be," she said, smiling faintly. She would feel wretched again in a moment, but for now there were more important things to feel than regret. "You might be there, too."

"I'll be at sea, I'm sure."

"Come with me," she said. "Wherever it is that I'm going – I'm relying on you to sort out those details."

"I've got to take care of my parents' ship."

"Dorcas can take care of it, if she can learn to be a little nicer."

He laughed. "That's an awfully large charge to ask of her."

"She can manage." Lily pressed a kiss to his nose. "You know she can. She'll love being in charge anyway."

"My parents—"

"It's your life. You deserve a little happiness." She kissed him again, this time chastely on the lips. "Come with me."

He searched her eyes, and then broke out into a smile. "I'll ask," he conceded. "But it's up to Dumbledore."

"Let me talk to him. I'm sure I can bring him around."

James kissed her again and picked her up by her arms to swing her around, her dress flaring around her legs. A laugh bubbled out of her, and she reluctantly let him set her down.

"Fancy a dance?" he asked, grinning like a fool.

"Just one," she said. "Just with you."

"As the lady wishes," he said, and drew her by the hand back down to the dance floor.

She didn't feel as though nothing awful had happened. The knowledge that she'd done something unforgiveable lurked in the shallows, ready to pop up at a moment's notice.

There was the worse knowledge that by returning to England, she might have to do it again.

But for now there was music, and dancing, and James.

And the crew, of course. Sirius smiling despite playing an instrument he hated. Remus tapping his foot on the side. Dorcas dancing with Caradoc but subtlety leading from the woman's position. Marlene smiling, less brightly than she used to. Peter trying his hardest to keep up with her and the tempo.

They were pirates, in their own way. They sailed. They stole. They rebelled against the government and searched for hidden treasure.

But they weren't like any kind of pirate Lily had encountered before. They were honest pirates, with noble goals.

Lily wasn't a true pirate either, when it came down to it. She'd never been able to take on the mantle left by her mother. But their kind of piracy….

She laughed as James whirled her into his arms.

That was the pirate's life for her.

A/N: I started writing this story nearly a year ago when I had a dream about James pulling Lily out of the ocean and then keeping her captive on his ship. Obviously the story has come a long way since then!

Thanks again to my stellar betas, Karaline and Stefanie. More than any other story I've written, I needed cheerleaders on this, and you guys stepped it up. This story wouldn't be what it is without you two.

Thanks to everyone who's left me feedback, either on FFN or Tumblr. Your comments and guesses make writing fifty times more entertaining than when I only write for myself, and encourage me to write more.

In particular, I'd like to thank the people who reviewed consistently - updating regularly means I get a bit of a different review pattern than WIP authors, but you guys didn't let the pace stop you from reviewing, and I so, so appreciate that. Miss92, thearcherballet, twilightstargazer, Karol Black, Ansy Pansy aka Panz, PortiaBennet, theinfalliblesnapsevans, GwenCThompson, Forbular, MaDDii-LeiGh316, Slytherin Rose Weasley, Erludovico, Kathleen Kelly, Mary Louise 1996, and Jess the Enthusiast - thank you so much! I really enjoyed talking to some you of through PMs and getting to know you!

And a final thank you to anyone who's read all the way through: I hope you had fun along the way, and that you feel your time reading was well spent. Remember to check out the Jily Pirate Fest tag on tumblr if you want to find more pirate fic (or contribute some!). This has been a bit of a crazy journey - thanks for being a part of it with me. :)

Make sure to check out my FFN profile for fun links to artwork (littlestarkbird illustrated that last big Jily kiss!) and an audiobook of this story and the story soundtrack.