"John where are we going?" demanded Sherlock as his best friend John Watson dragged the Slytherin across the school ground towards the Lake.

"It's a surprise!" laughed the other boy smiling like an idiot.

Sherlock pouted as he was dragged along, he didn't want to be outside, he wanted to go back to the Room of Requirements. It was there that nobody could bother him or call him Freak like Donovan and Anderson did. In fact John had pulled him away from a very important potion that would have allowed him to extract his revenge on them. But the smaller boy wouldn't be dissuaded; he practically dragged Sherlock by his robes outside.

Suddenly they came to a stop and John turned to Sherlock. "I want you to close your eyes."

"Really John," Sherlock demanded crossing his arms in front of his thin chest.

John just kept grinning and nodded his head.

With a huff Sherlock closed his eyes. His hand was grasped by one of John's slightly calloused ones. John was the only one Sherlock would ever allow himself to be lead like this.

They got closer to the lake, the sound of the waves lapping the shore getting louder in his ears. John was a steady presence in front of him, Sherlock knew he could trust him. Knew with John leading him, there was no chance of falling.

"Alright open them," John said with excitement his whole body practically vibrating from it.

Resisting the urge to sigh, Sherlock blinked his eyes open and couldn't believe what he saw.

It was one of the boats first years used to cross the Lake to get to Hogwarts, but it had had a complete make-over. It now looked like a picture from one of his favorite pirate boats, painted and charmed it sat in the water, just waiting for its Captain to start its maiden voyage.

Sherlock surveyed the ship not missing a single detail, from the anchor, to the sail that looked suspiciously like one of his bed sheets with a skull and cross bones painted on, to the name printed on either side of the hull in gold letters, Red Beard.

Sherlock managed to tear his eyes away from the sight and look at John who had an ear to ear smile on his face.

"Do you like it Sherlock? I know that your birthday isn't until next week but I wanted to surprise you. You can't be a pirate unless you know how to sail, and this lake is perfect place for a beginner pirate captain, with the merpeople and a giant kraken. And who knows what else we will find out there Captain."

John couldn't help but giggle at the gob-smacked look on Sherlock's face as he processed the new information. Sherlock couldn't understand it, John Watson, a boy that he had only knew for a few months knew Sherlock better than any other person in the world. Just a chance meeting on the Hogwarts express had changed Sherlock's life forever, it didn't matter that he had been sorted into Slytherin and John into Gryffindor. John hadn't let century's worth of rivalry stand in his way, putting up with insults from his fellow housemates and from Sherlocks. Never letting their words get to him as he stayed by Sherlock's side. John stood up for him; protected him from the other students and was the only one who didn't laugh when Sherlock accidently said he wanted to be a pirate the last month. No he had scowled at the people who laughed, and led Sherlock away when they started to say nasty things about the Slytherin.

Mycroft had told him many times to grow up, to forget his ridiculous dreams, wanting the younger Holmes to follow his footsteps and find a career with the Ministry. When Mycroft graduated from Hogwarts next year he was already slatted to have a job thanks to their Father's influence. The older Holmes had also tried to get Sherlock to cut ties with John, stating that sentiment was not an advantage. When that hadn't worked Mycroft had switched tactics and tried to bribe John into spying on Sherlock; this had ended with Mycroft being hexed with jelly legs. Sherlock had never laughed to hard as he watched his fat brother fall on his arse, the look on his face was priceless.

"Well what are you waiting for?" John prompted.

Sherlock didn't need to be prompted again as he scrambled onto the boat. His eyes going over every detail. Someone had obviously used an enlargement charm on the boat, it was fairly larger than the boats they used their first night. Everything looked like something out of one of his books down to the ships wheel.

Sherlock ran a hand over the wheel, wondering how John could have managed all of this, but looking at his friend he knew that he wasn't going to get any answers.

"Ready to go on an adventure?" asked Sherlock instead with a large grin stretching his face. "Fight the kraken, talk to mermaids, and find some treasure all the main things to do in a pirate's day you know John."

John nodded seriously before giggling and pulling a package from under one of the seats. "I'm ready but you first have to have this."

Sherlock quickly unwrapped the lump, once again shocked at what John had given to him. It was a pirate's hat, complete with a red feather.

"You can't be Captain without one of these," said John, taking the hat out of Sherlock's hands and placing in ontop of Sherlock's curls, before snapping to attention in front of Sherlock.

"What are your orders Captain Holmes?" asked John.

Sherlock smiled adjusting the hat on his head, "First Mate Watson, weigh anchor, raise the sail, and shove off!"

John crisply saluted him, "Aye, Aye, Captain!" John scurried around the tiny ship doing what he was ordered as a good first mate.

He snuck a few glances at his friend as Sherlock steered them away from the shore. The glow of happiness around the other boy made him almost unrecognizable. He looked like the 11 year old he actually was. It made all his hard work for the past few weeks worth it just seeing Sherlock so happy and excited.

Last week had been pretty bad for his friend, all the teasing that he had received and the following conversation with Mycroft. Sherlock already closed a large part of himself off from the world in order to protect him. John knew that giving up his last dream of his childhood to become a pirate would only close him off more. When he remembered how excited Sherlock had been when they crossed the lake on their first night he knew exactly what to do.

It hadn't been easy getting the boat, he owed the Weasley twins more than one favor, but in the end he had acquired one of the boats. From there it had been a matter of stealth to get the boat ready at the earliest convenience without alerting Sherlock to the fact and a lot of trial and error getting everything to work.

The breeze was in their favor as Sherlock steered them further onto the lake, but staying relatively close to the shore just in case.

For about an hour they chased the breeze around the lake, Sherlock getting a hang of steering the boat. At his spot at the helm, John was rewarded with an amazing view of the castle. The light of sun was causing the windows to shine brightly, almost making the castle glow.

But something moving towards the shore caught his eye.

Finishing into his pocket, he pulled out the brass telescope he had stashed there and brought it up to his eye. He was in disbelief at what he was seeing. Did he have some sort of radar that he knew when Sherlock was having fun?

"Captain, enemies off the port bow!" cried John, passing his telescope over to Sherlock. Sherlock quickly turned the scope to the shore line, not surprised to see the figure that was scowling at them.

"Blast it, we've been spotted by the Queen's royal navy, First Mate Watson prepare the cannons" ordered Sherlock lowering the glass and smirking at John he turned the ship so it was broadside to the shore.

"William Sherlock Scott Holmes you get back here this instant!" came the magical loud voice of Mycroft, the voice annoyed and commanding.

John gave a little cough, looking sheepish. "No cannon Captain, just a catapult and water balloons."

Sherlock sighed just a little disappointed, but he already had a plan on acquiring some and perhaps a few experiments on the blasting capabilities of black powder mixed with magic. "We will have to fix that for next time, load the catapults First Mate Watson, and prepare to fire."

John let out a cackle and quickly loaded the catapult, and released it as Sherlock yelled 'Fire!' The water balloon sailed in a large arch, flying smoothly until it exploded right on Mycroft's face. Sherlock whooped.

"Direct hit John, hurry before the shock wears off, you might be able to get another shot at the fat prat."

John quickly reloaded and as Sherlock predicted managed to hit Mycroft one last time before the older Holmes learned to dodge the flying projectiles that came hurtling at him.

Eventually the Queen's Royal Navy gave up leaving the two boys to sail the lake in peace.

The two boys whooped in victory at the retreating back of Mycroft, and in a surprising moment Sherlock threw his arms around John in a hug.

"Thank-you John," Sherlock whispered before letting go.

John couldn't help but grin like a fool. He knew that this was just the beginning. It would be the first of many adventures of Captain Sherlock and First Mate Watson on the high seas of the Black Lake in the years to come in Hogwarts.

Going through my laptop and found this gem so decided to post it.