Previously! (because it's been a while)

Ron, Holly, Hermione, and Sirius all travelled to the one piece world looking for their soulmates. Ron was quickly turned into a stuffed lion toy and left without supplies. Unable to remember he ever existed, Hermione arrives near Vivi whom she believes is her soulmate, but Vivi is avoiding her. Meanwhile, Holly and Sirius end up in Nami's home-town and accidentally revive her dead mother, who, as many guessed is, in fact, Sirius' soulmate.

"Point-me: north."

Hermione stood with her wand in her palm and felt herself blanched as her wand spun, and spun, and spun. Crocus, the doctor who owned the whale, had told them a regular compass would fail in the ocean they were currently in. Nami, the girl with the orange hair, had freaked and revealed it was true, but Hermione hadn't thought that meant her directional spell was also useless. And it was. Her point-me couldn't even point to her, let alone north.

As it turned out, Hermione had believed she would have magic in a new world, and she'd been wrong. Magic apparently worked differently when introduced to a new environment. Hermione just hadn't expected it to happen so fast.

Heaving a sigh, Hermione pondered why her wand was acting so oddly. Her regular magic worked well enough, so why did the point-me spell act so differently? Perhaps it had something to do with the material the islands were made up of? Or the design of the planet itself? She grabbed for her journal as she wondered and started to theorize to herself. "The point-me spell should work off the desire for what you want. But suppose it takes into account an actual compass from which the spell is copied. In that case, it's entirely plausible that anything that could interfere with a compass, can likely interfere with the spell." She made a face and looked to the 'log-pose' that Nami was currently inspecting. It was a form of a compass that existed solely in this world. In theory, if Hermione could study it, she could then alter the point-me spell to copy its effect. Unfortunately, Crocus only had one, so if she wanted to study it, she'd have to follow the pirate crew.

Thankfully, the idea worked well enough with her intentions. From what it seemed, her soulmate 'Miss Wednesday,' which was obviously an alias, was going to be escorted to the next island by Luffy and his crew. Therefore, Hermione would simply have join them, if only to gather information on Miss Wednesday and the odd compass.

Truthfully, Hermione was relatively confident Miss Wednesday was indeed her soulmate. The feel of the woman when they'd first met, the fact that she'd travelled right to where Miss Wednesday was, and the blue hair were dead give-aways. But Miss Wednesday herself was either in denial, hadn't bought any hints, or intended to refuse to acknowledge Hermione. Clearly, if it was the latter, Hermione would just have to out-stubborn the woman. Being friends with Holly made that relatively easy in practice. While if it was one of the former, then Hermione would just have to prove herself somehow.

Sooner or later, Hermione would win the woman over, which started by ensuring she stuck by her.

"And what do you intend to do then?" Hermione snapped her journal closed and turned her attention to Crocus. The old man who had one of the more… bizarre hair-styles she'd ever seen. Hermione had actually snapped a photograph of him on top of the enormous whale for scientific purposes when she'd spotted the hair. He looked like he was part flower, and Hermione couldn't get over it. Mainly because at the current rate, it was actually her that was odd in appearance when compared to these people.

"Well-" Hermione opened her mouth to answer when Luffy loudly spoke over her. His body stretched far beyond the norm and snatched hold of her arm. Then, before Hermione's fascinated eyes, his arms looped around her nearly six times before he fully latched on and stayed in place. Wide-eyed Hermione stared as she felt the texture of his skin on her own and came to an utterly impossible conclusion: that Luffy was made of rubber.

"Hermy-ony is joining my crew!" Luffy said as she grabbed for his skin and stretched it in her fingers. It was rubber; he was made of rubber. How did that happen?! How was a living human feeling like that?!

"How does your skin do that?" she demanded, stretching it more while failing to deny his claim. It caused Luffy's grin to spread out far past where a normal smile should, then he shot a look at his crew pleased and triumphant because this was their witch now. He decided it right then; he definitely needed a witch on his crew! And Hermy-ony was going to be it!

"It's rubber; I'm a rubber human!"

"But how?" Hermione extricated herself from Luffy's arms. "are all of you like that? Are people just rubber here?"

"No, that's a Luffy thing." Zoro, with the bright green hair, explained lazily. Seemingly he'd accepted her presence just because Luffy had claimed her.

"Fascinating, how does it happen?" she tugged it more and watched it snap back into place, then she did it again and again. How would Luffy grow? Did his organs stretch? How far did it go?

"I ate a fruit!" Luffy answered, which explained literally nothing for her. But she couldn't follow up; the rest of the group had already gotten distracted.

"Alright. Then we're setting sail for Whiskey Peak to return… them." Nami spoke up gestured to the pleading pair, Miss Wednesday and her partner Mister Nine. The two had given some manner of sob story while Hermione had been distracted. Something about the starving town, though Nami didn't put any measure into the tale, the pair were blatantly lying. Of course, Luffy certainly believed it, and since Luffy was their captain, they went where he decided. "Are you sure about that, Luffy?"

Luffy's skin snapped back again as Hermione tugged it, and he nodded, he'd decided. Sure he didn't like Miss Wednesday or Mister Nine because they'd tried to hurt Laboon, but Whiskey Peak was as good a location as any, and he wanted to see it. "Yeah, let's go."

Snap. Snap. Snap. Went Luffy's skin as Hermione inspected it.

"May I take a picture of this?" Hermione asked, stretching the skin again.

"Sure!"

Luffy's head cocked, and Hermione backed off, directing him, "okay! stand there and stretch out." She stepped back, and Luffy obediently did so. Then, Hermione lifted her Polaroid and snapped a quick photograph. She took the photo as it shot out and started to wave it in the air while the Straw-hat's started to move. They were preparing to sail already, so Hermione stashed her supplies. Things were moving fast, but Hermione was Holly's friend; she had no trouble adapting. After all, she'd expected to have to react quickly when she arrived; it was why she'd prepared so extensively with… with Holly? That didn't feel right… what?

"Come on, Hermione, I'll show you to the room you can stay in," Nami called as she moved toward the little ship. Hermione shook herself and offered her a quick thanks. She tucked Luffy's photograph inside her journal, put away her camera, and followed up the gangplank. As she did, she shot a subtle spell at Miss Wednesday. The woman didn't notice it settle onto her skin; the magic was a rather powerful tracking spell and only had to be reapplied every few weeks. Hermione had no desire to lose the woman so soon after finding her, and who knew what would happen moving forward.

"You're quite accepting," Hermione pointed out as she put her feet on the ship for the first time. She felt the sway under her and hoped she wasn't the type to get sea-sick.

"Luffy is a force of nature," Nami sighed, "he won't take no for an answer, so… yeah, we are." That and Nami felt oddly… secure with the bushy-haired girl. Something about Hermione made her feel calm, but she couldn't begin to explain why. It was something alien, something deep within her and Name had no desire to look too deeply into the thought, not yet.

Hermione laughed, "I have a friend like that; she's as stubborn as they come when it comes to things she believes in."

Nami shrugged a bit as they moved toward the 'girls bedroom.' She would only later realize she likely should have asked Hermione to elaborate because at the time, Nami had no idea what that friend would come to mean to her.

"What do we do?!"

"She's unconscious!"

"Help- we need help-"

"Magic?! Somebody!"

Sirius and Nojiko lost their collective minds as the light-show Sirius' points had caused over Bellemere died down. It left Nojiko gaping and Sirius on his knees making a noise that was more canine than human. Simultaneously, Bellemere, utterly and unfortunately naked, was laid out in the dirt, slowly breathing. While Holly, brows hitting the sky, thought to herself…

'Huh'

Scanning the woman and avoiding certain areas, Holly quickly established to herself that the woman had been physically healed from whatever had killed her. Her body was whole and hale - and naked - and seemed to be… asleep. She was, in fact, sleeping through Sirius and Nojiko's panicking. Bellemere seemed fine but, it would probably be best to find a doctor to check on her. This was after new to them all, people didn't… actually people came back from the dead all the time, she had.

Holly made a face and corrected her thought. People didn't come back from the dead after a decade of being dead. There, that was better.

"Calm down," Holly spoke up, patting Sirius on the head, "let's get Bellemere into the house first, on a bed and dressed. Nojiko, can you contact a doctor?"

"Doctor?"

"Bed?"

Sirius and Nojiko exchanged a look, then abruptly and frantically moved. They flew for the house with Bellemere in Sirius's arms and left Holly standing at the grave-sight with a deadpan look. Here she'd thought Nojiko was a level head, but apparently not. Then again, considering the situation, Holly shouldn't have been surprised. She would have done the same thing for her own parents' sudden and unexpected revival.

Holly pulled out her wand as the door to Nojiko's home slammed closed and flicked it at the dirt to Bellemere's grave. She returned to ground to its proper position before brushing herself out and heading for the house herself. She strode in just in time to see Nojiko hang up a… snail shell? And rush off toward a nearby bedroom. Sirius was already out of sight, so Holly watched where Nojiko vanished and followed slightly; she opened the door and poked her head in.

She gave no real thought to the room's decorations or that it was likely a teenager's room, though the teenager seemed to spend very little time there. Instead, Holly focused on her god-father, placing Bellemere carefully in the bed and Nojiko rushing to her mother's side. The two knelt together, staring at Bellemere's slow breaths, she'd been tucked under the blankets, and her hair was splayed across the pillow. And Holly felt… something in her chest. Something painful.

"I'll just… wait for the doctor then," Holly mumbled and pulled back to close the door and leave the door. Nojiko didn't give her a second look, but Sirius offered a soft 'thank you' even though his eyes never once left Bellemere's shifting chest.

With the door closed, Holly allowed herself to sink to the floor with her back to the wall. Feeling the floor under her palms, Holly took in a long deep breath. This… this wasn't what she'd been expecting. Merlin, this was unreal, Sirius had revived his long-dead soulmate from the grave, and he'd…

"Oh." Holly lifted her hand to her chest. That's what that feeling was… it was pain. Holly was apparently, disgustingly human, and she was… she was jealous. Oh, don't get her wrong, she was happy as well, but… Sirius had found his family. They'd crossed worlds looking for Holly's soulmate, and instead, they'd found Sirius's. Instead, they'd discovered the woman who would be his mate, and that woman's daughter and Holly was jealous.

She was jealous at how comfortable Sirius was suddenly acting, how his eyes lingered on Bellemere without faltering and Holly couldn't help but worry. She wasn't precisely Sirius' real daughter; they were family, yeah, but now he could…

No.

"No," Holly repeated out loud. No, she wasn't doing this; she wasn't going to be the jealous kid like one of Petunia's silly dramas. Holly would be happy for her god-father and was going to get to know both Bellemere and Nojiko with eagerness and an open mind. She was not going to be a Dudley, or worse, a Petunia!

Exhaling, Holly forced herself to her feet. First, she'd support her god-father and new potential sister by making sure the doctor didn't waste any time when he arrived. Holly would send the man… or woman right to Nojiko and Sirius, right to Bellemere the moment she could. Otherwise, she'd wait and… explore, she supposed. This left Holly to glance around the area and wander the small home the Sirius would likely be making his long term home. And Holly had a feeling she ought to give Sirius and Nojiko a bit of space for the time being.

Holly wandered the small home. She took in the photographs and trinkets in the room. She paused when she spotted one with Nojiko standing beside a girl with bright orange hair and stared. The girl was adorable, with bright orange hair and a brilliant smile on her face. Orange hair… that was coincidental. But no, that was too much so, there was no way, no way Sirius' soulmate was the mother of Holly's.

Shaking off the thought entirely, Holly set her bag to the side and heard a distant clink. She smiled. Holly had forgotten she'd brought her mirror; it meant she could call Hermione. The mirror had been Sirius' design, though Holly was uncertain if it would work across worlds. She and Hermione both had one, so she hoped it would work, but it was a long shot. Holly fished her hand into her bag and looked around until she got the mirror in her hands and lifted it up.

It was worth a shot.

"Hermione Granger."

Then. She waited.

And waited.

She scanned the kitchen, wondered if she should make dinner for Sirius, Bellemere and Nojiko since they weren't about to leave Bellemere's side anytime soon. Would the woman wake up? She had been alive and had been uninjured, but how much damage had her soul taken been dead for that long?

"Holly!" Hermione's face appeared in the reflection, and Holly exhaled a deep sigh of seeded relief. It worked; the mirror worked. She wouldn't lose her friend now; they could talk. "It works!" Hermione exclaimed, absolutely delighted and speaking Holly's thought, "that's brilliant!"

"I'm glad," Holly admittedly, allowing herself to relax into the chair, thankfully positioned nearby. As she did, she observed Hermione's background. Behind Hermione were thick clouds and falling snow, a stark difference to Holly's bright sun and tropical island. She could also make out what seemed to be a ship's sail and a pair of teens about her and Hermione's age building… was that a snowman? No. It was a snow-mermaid. That was quite detailed.

"How are you? No, where are you? Did you find your soulmate? What's happened so far?" Hermione shot off eagerly, and Holly relaxed into her chair, relieved she could speak to her best-friend like this. Even though Hermione gave Holly no time to ask her own questions, it was a relief to see her.

"That's… a story." Holly brushed her hair from her face messing with her fringe as she always did. "Sirius ended up travelling with me… and we revived his dead soulmate... accidentally."

"…WHAT?!"

Holly laughed and explained what had happened, that she and Sirius had found the woman Nojiko and that they'd found Sirius' dead soulmate, and they'd accidentally revived the woman who was not seemingly asleep. Hermione listened with huge eyes and a gaping face, she should have expected something like this from Holly, but it was… unreal. Holly's Potter luck was insane. "What about you?"

"Well… I was swallowed by a whale, and the point-me spell doesn't work." Hermione scratched her nose, "and I… think I found my soulmate, but she's going under an alias and avoiding me."

"I…" Holly made a face, "don't know how to unpack that."

Hermione laughed as in the background a woman yelled, and the snow-mermaid was shattered into a thousand pieces by a flying body. Hermione's new friends were evidentially lively, like a bunch of collected Gryffindor's from what she was overhearing.

"So you ended up right where she was?" Holly asked as Hermione moved to a new spot, so it was quieter.

"Yes. Honestly, I theorize that particular option naturally does so, only… Sirius joining you likely meant…" she cut off, realizing what she was about to say. Holly didn't need her to finish though, she'd already figured that out herself. Holly had likely guessed right; bringing Sirius had messed up Holly's placement somehow, so instead of ending up with Holly's soulmate, they'd ended up with Sirius's. No matter, Holly was content enough with the out-come, and Sirius was happy not to mention Nojiko had her mother returned to her. All it really meant Holly had to put more effort into finding her soulmate in this world. Which was hopefully the correct one. Merlin.

"Anyway…" Holly tried to shift the topic, "you're soulmate probably won't resist you for long; you're a catch 'Mione."

I'm sure it'll work out; no one can resist you for long." Holly told Hermione soothingly when-

"TURN US AROUND!?" Screamed a woman's voice, "HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!"

"Oh, dear!" Hermione looked around as the woman panicked, "I think I may have to go and help them, somehow we got turned around. Honestly, the weather in this place is utterly mad; we have lightning now. It was snowing a moment ago!"

Holly shot a fond look at her friend and offered the best she could: "At least the language is understandable."

Hermione nodded that it was a good point. Then she gave a little wave: "Bye, Holly!"

"Bye!"

Holly was left staring at her reflection again and sighed. Moving to the side, she tucked the mirror back into her bag and sat up, glancing around the small home once more. The doctor still hadn't arrived, and now, while technically she felt a bit better that she could speak to Hermione, Holly was still floundering slightly.

She pulled up her options, looked and noted her soulmate was uninjured once more, and her 'travel worlds' option had completely vanished. So, hopefully, that meant she was in the woman's world. It was disheartening though, Holly hadn't realized, in the face of being in a different world, that she would actually have to follow her hints to find her soulmate. At least there was an upside, Holly could buy more hints… she could buy many, many leads with the points from saving the world.

Holly reached to do that and tapped her option, then… furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Mirror?" she asked, utterly perplexed.

What?

"I'M HERE?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Holly lowered her hand to see a rather frantic older man at the door with a suitcase and a doctors jacket. He looked at her, she looked at him and… then she gestured toward the nearby door. "There in there." She explained.

"Right…"

"Yeah." Holly nodded to herself as the man rushed off, and sighed. Yeah… she'd start on dinner first.

Hermione was laid up flat on the deck and panting.

Pirates and this world were insane!

The weather from the moment Hermione hung up with Holly had gone mad. There had been lightning, waves larger than the whale, snow, lightning again, a heatwave, and finally, the ocean had relaxed. It had left most of them dead to the world, except Zoro, who had been napping, and Nami, who was posed at the helm exuding determination. Thankfully, Nami didn't need it. They were there, Whiskey-Peak, the first island and the location Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine wanted to go to.

Sitting up and forcing herself to do so, Hermione peered at the island and made a face. It was… odd looking. The island resembled a giant cactus, and the sizes of them were as crazy as the weather. Hermione wondered if the cactus were alive or just mountain ranges that resembled them.

"Bye-bye, babies!"

Splash.

"Huh?" Hermione turned and stared at the railing and- "Ah!" she shrieked when she realized her tracking spell on Miss Wednesday was moving away from them toward the island. Her bloody soulmate had jumped ship! How dare she! Hermione hadn't even gotten the chance to speak to her yet!

"Don't worry," Zoro spoke up from her side as Hermione rushed for the railing to stare at the water, "they can only go to the island; we'll find them."

Hermione blinked and shot a look at the man who smiled sarcastically, but his eyes were oddly kind, "I… thank you?" why was he giving her such a knowing look-

Zoro scoffed: "You aren't subtle, and neither is she. Soulmates indeed."

"Oh." Hermione felt herself blush, so he was a smart yet lazy jock then. He'd figured her out, and Miss Wednesday… Hermione wasn't sure what to do with that information, so she elected to do nothing. Zoro was correct in this case; Hermione would simply have to go to Whiskey-peak and follow her soulmate around. With that in mind, she settled slightly and turned her attention to Nami, who was explaining that the log-pose would need to set so they could even travel to the next island. Hermione added that tidbit to her notes on how to develop her point-me spell; further research was evidentially required.

"Look! People are here to welcome us!"

Hermione glanced toward the shore and narrowed her eyes. The locals of Whiskey-peak seemed to be celebrating their arrival with suspicious intensity and quite a bit of alcohol and food being pulled out. "I thought they supposed to be starving?" Hermione murmured as the cheers began.

"Hm, I wouldn't let yourself be caught unawares with these people," Zoro said, overhearing her.

"They'll probably try to drink us into unconsciousness and then have us turned into the marines." Nami agreed, "still, we can enjoy their hospitality a little… can't we." And she smirked like a victorious little demon… or a Weasley.

Hermione, felting her tracking spell on Miss Wednesday moving away from the ship and deep into the crowd, heaved a sigh.

She really had gotten into it now, hadn't she?

Of course, while Hermione thought that she failed to notice Nami subtlety reach up and flick her options. After her soulmate's recent death, Nami had a habit of checking at least once a day on them, and she hadn't gotten a chance with their arrival to the Grand-line. She also hadn't with Hermione's appearance, adoption, and the mystery of Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine. Thankfully, Zoro seemed to have the latter well in hand. However, Nami had noticed Hermione spending a bit too much time staring at Miss Wednesday. Incidentally, Hermione had not seen the blue-haired woman staring right on back during most of their trip.

Something was definitely going on between those two, and Nami wanted to know what.

Nami turned her focus to her list and made a noise. Physically her soulmate was still alright, but something emotionally seemed to be plaguing them… it didn't seem too bad, though, so Nami left them to it. The death had made Nami far more appreciative of points, and she had fully intended to have a bit of a bank of points in case her soulmate died a second time. However, as Nami scrolled through her options - just to double-check - something seemed… different.

What was it? Oh… something had vanished. But what? What had been removed? What wasn't possible anymore… Nami couldn't place it. She knew it was one of the more expensive options, mostly because Nami paid very little attention to those, she'd never be able to afford them. But now that one was gone, it made Nami wonder why, how, and what? Had her soulmate bought something? Was it something that was timed?

"We're going to dock soon." Zoro commented at her side, and Nami dropped her hand like it had been burnt.

"Right, yeah… okay." She waved away her options, "lets… uh… the sails-"

Nami pulled her mind from her options and the mystery for now. Hopefully, she could figure it out later.

Holly slipped into the room quietly and set two plates down for Nojiko and Sirius. Nojiko was sleeping, so Holly left hers nearby, but Sirius offered her a quiet thanks and dug in. As he did, Holly turned her attention to Bellemere, Sirius' soulmate and observed her.

"She's beautiful," Holly decided. Nojiko had cleaned her mother up, and they'd gotten her changed in comfortable pyjamas. Bellemere had dark red hair, almost purple in shade, and a sharp jawline that looked quite relaxed on sleep. She was breathing soundly, the motion showing again and again that she was alive. Seeing that, well, Holly was happy for her god-father even though she knew he probably had some work ahead of him. Bellemere would be out for an unknown time and had been dead for a decade. What happened next, it would be no means easy for any of them, Nojiko included.

"She isn't like I pictured," Sirius admitted to his god-daughter, "I… I don't know what I pictured anymore, but… I think I pictured blond?"

"Disappointed?"

"Haven't met her yet," he answered, "but no. This is… it's everything I ever dreamed of." And it was entirely because of Holly; she had made this happen, she'd given him this gift. Sirius couldn't have been more thankful if he tried.

"So… what's the verdict then? What did the doctor say?"

"It's a healing coma for the soul," Sirius said in between bites, "he doesn't know how long she'll sleep, a few days at least unless I had the points to speed it up… but I spent everything, so we're in for the wait instead." He scratched his head, "apparently, it's a lot like the aftermath of a dementor attack. Her body is physically fine… but she's been dead a long time, so the soul needs to adjust to being shoved back into the body."

"He knew that?" Holly asked, making a face, that was surprising. The guy was a lot more capable than she'd first figured.

"No, it's a guess actually," Sirius laughed lightly, "really all we can do is wait, and he'll keep visiting to check on her. We're also supposed to call him when she wakes up, the 'moment she does.'"

A wait then. Holly crossed her legs and observed her god-father, who was once again staring at Bellemere and a sleeping Nojiko. The doctor believed Bellemere would be out for days, and Holly, honestly, didn't want to sit still for that long. Which meant the thought she'd had while cooking may be one she wanted to bring up. She just hoped it wasn't selfish… "Siri…"

"You want to leave," Sirius said, giving her a knowing thing.

Holly was taken aback at the understanding in his gaze and bit her lip. "I… not… permanently?" she said, ducking her head, "it's just… after all this time I'm finally in her world and… I can't sit still." Her skill was all but vibrating with the desire to go flying out the front door. Holly wanted nothing more than to board her broom and go. It had permeated her entire being. She had waited so long to travel worlds. Holly had put her homeworld before her own desires time and time again. But now she was finally there and- don't get her wrong, she was overjoyed for Sirius… but she couldn't stay.

"Yeah." Holly finally said, "I guess… this will be the 'base of operations' and everything. I can… can call it home, and I can visit just by apparating… but…"

"But you want to find your soulmate, and you want me to stay with mine." Sirius set his plate to the side, looking at her with such fondness that it almost broke her heart. "You're so much like your parents, Holly. They would have done the same thing… I suppose that's why I'm not surprised."

"So, you're okay with it?"

"You're a grown woman Holly Potter, you've graduated… it's time to leave the den and all that. But-" he pointed at her nose, "you have to come back at least every other day. Apparate if you have to, but I want you checking in at least that often."

Holly laughed, feeling herself relax slightly. Sirius understood; he always understood. "I won't make any progress like that, and you have a mirror."

"Nope, that's my deal, missy!" he crossed his arms, attempting to seem parental, "take it or leave it!" truth be told, Sirius just wanted to see her. He wanted her to get to know Nojiko with him. Sirius also wanted her to know Bellemere when the woman woke and to have full-on family dinners. He wanted… god, he wanted so much, and suddenly he was able to have it.

Holly sighed, "fine! Every other day."

"Deal!" he clapped his hands softly, so he didn't wake Nojiko, "now, come over here and give me a hug. It's been hours since my last one!"

Holly snorted and stepped forward, accepting the warm hug. She hugged her adoptive father, missing the relieved smile Nojiko gave them from the nearby chair. Nojiko had been worried, especially after hearing some of Sirius' history… but it would work out. Like she'd already told Sirius, family was still family even if one wanted to find their soulmate or one wanted to be a pirate and travel the world.