Heart Fire Burns Brighter

Summary: What is Crocodile's long time prisoner to do when a motley pirate crew falls down right into the cell across from hers? After so much suffering, will she find the will to leave? To live? Will the Straw Hat Pirates give her the hope? A fire can't burn without fuel, even a heart fire. FemHP. AU. First Fic.

Warnings: Alternate Universe for One Piece. Alternate Universe for Harry Potter. Female Harry Potter. Mentions of violence, torture, rape and killing. Swearing. Author's First Fanfiction. English not Author's first language. Author is new to the One Piece Fandom.

Storyline: The differences in the storylines start around 9 months before Crocodile Saga for the One Piece world; and around Deathly Hallows for Harry Potter (Without counting the obvious AU fact – FemHP). This fic starts around the middle of Crocodile Saga and around three years after the end of the seventh HP book.

Parings: Surprise, if any.

Author's Note: Welcome to my first fanfiction ever. This is the first plot bunny I put to words. My initial idea had a beginning, middle and end, with three chapters at most, without much detailing or dialogues. However, what is coming out is a little different, with my initial idea as a guideline. I welcome your reviews. Especially positive criticism. People who complain or flame me or my work, concerning subjects I warned you about, will be totally ignored. If it bothers you, please don't read. Ah, I just want to say that I reserve the right to make changes and corrections even after I already posted a chapter, but I will give proper notice of any changes.

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece or Harry Potter.

A thousand thanks to my wonderful beta-reader, BetterWithThree101, who has agreed to help me whip this fic into shape.

Chapter 1

After the long trek through to desert, the Straw-Hat crew finally made it to Rainbase, the Baroque Works' HQ. Now, they needed to find Crocodile quickly, before his men realized who they were.

Right in front of them was a fork in the hallway with a plaque directing who goes which way. Luffy was leading, Nami, Vivi, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and Usopp following*. To the left it said VIP and to the right it said Pirates. It is no surprise which way Luffy chose to go.

The others had no other option but to follow right into the trap. The floor opened and they all fell into a large cell with a stone floor and metal bars on all sides.

The moment they landed in the cage, Zoro jumped to his feet and immediately checked out the cell, the lock, and the room around it. The metal that the bars were made of could not be cut with his swords, not even with all of his strength. The room around the cell seemed to be empty. It was a big room with lavish furniture, and glass walls. Through them, it was possible to see a lot of water and what appeared to be gigantic crocodiles swimming around.

He was so distracted by them he almost didn't notice the smaller cell in the wall across from theirs. It seemed to be empty, except... 'Is that a woman?'

The first thing he notices is her eyes. Big emeralds that must have been stunning once but were now nearly dull and lifeless, except, perhaps, for a small sparkle of what appeared to be… curiosity?

'Maybe she was startled by our brilliant entrance.' She was sitting in the center of her cage. Hugging her knees and laying her head on top of them, she observed her new comrades in captivity. Her hair was dirty and matted, and could have once been red or bronze, but was now a limp brown.

As Zoro examines her, he wonders what has happened to her. 'Nothing good, that's for sure.' She was completely naked, for one, except for the thick, metal restraints around her ankles, wrists and neck. Secondly, her pale skin was covered in scars of all kinds, as well as old blood and dirt.

She turns away from them and closes her eyes. 'She seems exhausted.'

He was startled out of his examination when suddenly, their air-brained captain screams.

I gaze at the blood splatter on the floor in front of me and think for the millionth time 'why?'

'Why?'

I was so tired. These Merlin damned restraints drain so much of my magic I can hardly move.

'Why?'

I was so cold. Without the warmth of my magic I am always so cold. All the magic left in me was too busy keeping me alive from the injuries and starvation to warm me.

'Why?'

I look out the glass, to the water around the room. 'There goes Jacky with his piss-shade of yellow.' I still can't believe I named the crocodiles. I guess being alone for such lengths of time can drive one to insanity. 'Better to be left alone for days or weeks at a time than having to suffer His loving care more often.'

'Why?'

I look down at my arm and touch one of the scars there, not really seeing it, suddenly overwhelmed by all the pain that monster had inflicted upon me.

'Why? Why? Why?'

'WHAT?!'

Suddenly, there is so much noise in the room, I can hardly think! The trap door in the ceiling over the other cage opened and down fell five, no, six! Seven people! All falling on top of each other and complaining about the landing and someone or something named Luffy.

Well, not everyone is complaining now. There is a green haired guy trying to cut the bars with his swords. 'Who needs three swords?! Is that a deer?' Now there's a crazy guy banging on the bars with his bare hands. 'Oh.' I guess he must be a Devil Fruit user to be able to stretch like that. He shouldn't touch that metal, then.

I'm getting tired just from watching their energetic movements. I turn away from them and close my eyes again. 'What an interesting bunch. Pity they will die soon.'

Nami's rant at Luffy about his habit of running ahead without thinking was rudely interrupted by the guilty party.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIII!"

'What is Luffy screaming about now?!' He's not even looking at any of them. 'Is there someone else in here? Why is he looking at that other cage across the r…? Oh!' There is someone in there! A naked woman. She appears to have been sleeping with her head in her arms, but now she's looking at them with a startled look in her eyes. But Luffy isn't done.

"Hello! My name is Monkey D. Luffy and this is my crew! We need to get out of here! Do you know how we can get out of here, Lady?"

The Lady sure doesn't seem to know what to make of our idiotic captain. Nami looks a little more carefully at their neighbor, and feels a deep chill go down her spine and through her heart. She can't help but put the clues together. The woman is naked and has blood and scars all over her body. She has been tortured and…and worse.

'Is that what awaits us here?!'

"You need the key." A slight voice rasps, before painfully coughing. 'The woman is talking!' After her body-jerking coughs stop, she looks back at them while yet again resting her head on her knees. Her body language and her voice scream exhaustion. Even through this, Nami can't help but sweat-drop a little. 'Of course we need the key!'

"Can't we break the bars somehow? Or maybe slip through the door when they open it to feed us?"

Nami knows Luffy's questions are surely useless, considering that if the woman knew some way to escape, she would have used it herself long ago. Judging by the number of scars and her raspy voice, she must have being here for a long time.

"Can you?" Is the woman's whispered answer, followed by stunned silent from the pirate crew.

"If I were you…I wouldn't wait… to be fed… here… They hardly ever do… and if they do… it means they will… keep you here… longer… You don't want… that." She continues into the silence, sounding breathless and exhausted, pausing frequently to take deep breaths.

Nami notices how she can see the woman's every ribs and knows it has been a long time since the other last ate. Merry's Navigator feels frozen and terrified, hearing the resignation in the lady's words.

"NO FOOD?! We can't live with no food! Sanjiiii!" The captain despairs at their cook, holding the chef's suit and moaning.

Nami feels like hitting something. Or someone. 'How can he think the worst part of the woman's words is the food part?' She was much more concerned about the other visible risks of a long stay in this hell hole.

Usopp, for once, seems to be thinking along the same lines as her, for he asks a potentially useful question.

"Please, do you know where we can get the key?" His voice sounds desperately hopeful.

The woman eyes Usopp, and the rest of us, thoughtfully. She looks around the room slowly, at the desks, the drawers, the cupboards, even the glass walls, seemingly lost in thought. When her eyes come back to us, there is regret in them. Her voice is even quieter when she answers.

"I don't know where… your key… is… There hasn't been… another prisoner here… besides me… in a long time."

Her voice sounds painful now. Her breathing sounds painful now. Slow, deep and raspy. Chopper, always the dutiful doctor, must have noticed also, for he can't help but ask.

"Are you alright, miss? Your breathing sounds troubling." 'What a naive question. What isn't wrong with their neighbor? And even if she were dying right in front of them in that cell, what could Chopper possibly do while locked in here, except watch?'

Nami thinks she can see some curiosity in the otherwise dull eyes, as the woman looks at Chopper. 'I guess she never met a talking reindeer doctor before.'

"I have been… far worse… in the not so distant past… little deer… Don't worry about… me… I just need some… rest."

She sure looks to be planning to rest right now, as she turns her head away from us, closing her eyes, and breathing deeply. Nami can't blame the woman. Her crew can be a handful even to completely healthy people.

All she can think now is 'what are they going to do?'

* I am ignoring the roll charter for the Rainbase visit. I plan to ignore the Marines and Smoker for now. And I changed the fact that Vivi and Sanji only come later, and that Chopper wasn't even there. It is one of the reasons this fic is an AU. Please don't bother me about that.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter beta-read and fixed 06-26-15.