Here I'm back with a new chapter and the revised version of the betaed chapters. Now I'll let you to your reading and I don't own anything. Please don't hesitate to review.
Marco let Snape into his office and showed him to a chair.
"What really happened with the Troll?" asked Snape. "I don't know who beat it, but I don't trust the version given by Weasley at all."
He let himself fall on the chair and put his foot on a stool that Marco made appear.
"Luffy did it. He used his ability to do it, yoi." Marco mumbled, rolling up one of the potion master's pants' legs.
"So, the three others lied to cover him…"
"The three headed dog didn't miss you. I'll disinfect that for you. Brandy?"
"With greeeeeat pleasure." Snape let his head fall back, sighing.
Marco searched in his drawer and took out some potions and clean cloth that he used to clean and bandage the wound, after having served a glass of brandy to his colleague.
"Minerva told me that the agreement with Portgas has ended… why ?" Snape groaned.
"Do you regret that you won't have him in class anymore by tomorrow, yoi?" The blond asked bandaging the wound.
"I'm asking out of curiosity. I'm more than happy to not have to deal with someone who keeps falling asleep in his potions. Or someone who looked like that man."
"Roger never did anything to you, Severus, you only don't like the choices he made and the fact that they gave to Rouge, who you saw like a sister, troubles. I already told you a thousand times to not pick on Ace for that, he's not responsible for the choices of his parents, yoi."
Snape made a face when Marco pulled the bandage to tighten it.
"And for the reason of the end of the arrangement, it's simply because Ace became an Animagus, yoi."
"I see. He didn't give up. Thanks for the help."
Marco nodded and accompanied the potions master to the door.
"Thanks, but no thanks, Hermione," Harry refused, when, to distract him before Gryffindor's first match, she offered to let him read Quidditch Through the Ages.
"I wanted to do something to help you relax," the young girl mumbled with a shrug.
"It's nice but I'm doing something more important."
"Really? You're only reading, and it's not even a class book," grunted Ron, without lifting his nose from his homework.
Harry lifted his book permitting Hermione to see the cover.
"A japanse-english dictionnary ? You want to resolve the mystery of what happened this Halloween night?" Hermione wondered.
"I might be able to find something on how he stretched."
"I find it creepy… It was almost like he didn't have any bones…" Ron remembered with a shiver.
"And that is the reason why Luffy, who is a marvelous little guy, stopped speaking to you, little brother," George commented, joining them.
He took a chair and sat at their table with his twin.
"You knew about...?" asked Ron with surprise written on his face.
"Since the beginning. Since our first month at Hogwarts. If Ace didn't reject us immediately, and we're the only ones he told, excluding Professor Fushisho, it's because we didn't tell him that what he was doing was creepy or horrible, we said to him that we found it cool and wanted to know more about it.
"Ace told us what happened Halloween night. Very brave of you, lil' bro', to want to fight a troll to save a young girl in distress!" added Fred.
"He call himself Hiken, what does it mean ?"asked Harry. "Is it something you have the right to tell or not?"
The twins shared a look, and looked at the shorter boy with brown hair.
"It's his nickname. Fire Fist is the translation of Hiken. Fire Fist Ace, it's the name he wears," Fred finished to answer. "It's.. his signature, in a way. Everybody, muggle or wizards fighters, have one attack, a favorite move. For Ace, it's the Fire Fist."
"Fighters?" Hermione choked.
"Did you never asked yourself about your professors, Granger? Professor Fushisho has very great stories to tell, to those who want to hear them! When you hear them, you'll understand that the world isn't alright everywhere, and that the good guys aren't always where you think… any other questions?"
Harry put a parchement before the twins, who looked at it and grinned the same way at Potter.
"You, you know what you want! You kept trace of the words you judged important… But, panther and bird, they won't be of any use, that's just an inside joke. It's the hyou and tori word, just here.
"Ah… that word… he still thinks that," George sighed, losing his smile.
"Which word?" asked Ron.
"Kaibutsu. What did they say exactly?"
"Ore-tachi wa kaibutsu desu." Hermione repeated word for word.
The two teens looked at her with large eyes.
"You've got the shittier japanese accent I have ever heard. Even though it isn't true…"
"They feel it is because of who they are, and how people have rejected of people say this about people like Ace and Luffy…"
"…It means « we are monsters. »".
"The key to this riddle is… akuma no mi. Search in a botany book, even though I doubt that you will find anything in Hogwarts. When you think you know everything, see Professor Fushisho."
"What are those? the younger Weasley asked, curious.
"...It's better if you learn about it yourself," Fred announced. "However, their known in only some areas, by both muggles and wizards. And it's at the docks that you'll get information on this subject."
"The docks? Is it something illegal?" Asked the boy with the bolt scar.
"No… it's just a present from Davy Jones."
And the twins were gone.
"A present from who?" Harry and Ron repeated.
"Davy Jones. In the folklore of the sea, it's the demon of the depths. Davy Jones' locker is an expression used to talk about the deaths by drowning or accidents on the sea. The sailors talk about him carefully," Hermione explained.
"Now that I think about it, everything revolves around that for them," Ron commented, setting his chin on the table. "Whenever they talk about themselves, it's always about crews, sea and ships."
"I'll search for information on that in the library. Can I see your dictionnary, Harry?"
Harry gave his book to Hermione, who began to consult it.
"Are you sure that it's what they talked about?" finally the miss asked.
"Yes, and Ollivander seems to interrogate them on this subject. I think that it's for this reason that Ace's wand is nonflammable," Harry said.
"We'll have to do more research. Akuma is simple enough, it means devils. For the rest, there is more translation possible" Hermione said.
The following day, the trio found themselves in the office of Professor Fushisho, after the Quidditch match. There was almost nothing in there, but some piles of paperwork and books.
"You wanted to see us, professor?" asked Ron.
Marco put away his feather and glasses before standing up and walking around his desk to lean against the front.
"Exactly, yoi. First, miss Granger, even if what you did was to save mister Potter's life, it would be wise if you left it to the teachers, and avoided setting Professor Snape's robes on fire."
"So-sorry?" Harry stuttered.
"Oh, but she understood me very well. Even if it was very beautiful magic, I had just found the source of the spell and was going to intervene, yoi. But it's not for that that I asked to see you."
Hermione had blushed very hard and was looking at her feet when the teacher told her that he knew what happened. She looked up with curiosity and fear when Marco told that they weren't there for that.
"I sincerely want you to stop your research."
"What research?" asked Ron, frowning.
"On akuma no mi. The less people who are in the know, the better it will be for those concerned. There's no need to tell you where I got the information, you're intelligent enough to guess alone, yoi."
"But why?" Hermione, indignant. "We didn't do anything bad!"
"Maybe, but what will you do when you find out what it means when one combines this and a living person? If we put aside the recent advances on the so-called secret research in this domain, yoi..."
"It's studied by muggles?" Hermione inquired.
"And by wizards. I think it's the only magical thing to be known by only some circles and shared by our two communities. Seriously, don't search any longer."
"If we don't know what all this is about, Luffy will continue to stay away from us, and we don't even know why, but if we can do something about it...!"
"It's normal, we often have been hurt because of it, in the past. And yes, Granger, I really said 'we', since I have one, too, yoi. I spent six long years of my life in a cage because of this. A very little cage. The kind where a ten year old kid can't even stand up, and being treat all the time in a less than human way, and barely as a bird, yoi." Marco's voice hardened and his gaze veiled. "Believe me, if I hear that despise my warning, you continued your research and that you used what you learned against Ace and Luffy… you won't be staying at Hogwarts to speak about it for very long, yoi."
"Will you expel us? Asked Hermione with worry.
"That would be much too nice of a punishment. Maybe I should have worded my death threat in another way, yoi. Now, go back to your dorm."
The door of the office opened with a simple look from Marco and the three Gryffindors went out without any other pressing. They jumped when the door slammed behind them.
"Is he serious?" asked Ron, looking at the door, so pale that his freckles seemed to have disappeared.
"I think so," Harry breathed. "But I'm still going to."
"Me too," added Hermione determinate. "That means our new subjects of study are Nicholas Flamel, and the akuma no mi."
Ace grabbed the twins by the collar when they passed by him in the common room.
"A moment, you two," said the dark haired young man with a dark voice.
Luffy, who was reading a letter, looked up in his brother's direction to know why he was in a bad mood.
"Are you two crazy to talk to them about that?" Ace growled when the two red haired teens turned to look at him.
"They wanted to understand what is going on- if they don't like what they know, a little Obliviate, and all will be alright!" The twins said.
"But even then! It's not something we talk about like that, even here at Hogwarts!"
"Relax Ace, you judge people too fast before giving them the time to express their opinions," Fred sighed.
"You'll have white hair before your time, if you continue to worry like that… or set the whole school on fire!"
Ace let himself fall on his chair and took a breath.
"Oyaji wanted to see me this holiday… I just received the order. I think that for now, Christmas on the Red Force will have to be for another time."
"Well, we'll pass Christmas here, since our parents went to see Charlie in Romania," George commented. "You'll sent our good wishes to Thatch?"
"I'll do it."
"And you, Luffy? What are you going to do?"
Luffy looked up from his letter and stared at them like they were idiots.
"I'm gonna go on an adventure with my nakamas! I heard that Salem exploded… so, since they won't have any school, I'll be seeing everyone!"
"Hey, if Salem is out of use by the next year…" pointed George.
The two brown haired boys shared a smile and slapped their hands together.
"We will all be together! Invasion of the outlaws!" Ace smirked.
"Who would be here?" asked Fred.
"Izou was teaching Transfiguration, so he will go back with Oyaji. That will leave Robin, Sanji, Nami and Zoro," Luffy thought aloud. "Yasopp will probably prefer that Usopp finishes his schooling under his watching eyes with the wizards on the crew, to make sure that he's still a good shooter. Chopper, I'll see if he stays in the US, but if he comes, he will be interning at St Mungo's or work as the nurse's assistant."
"Won't Franky take over Muggles Studies? Too bad, he's a good teacher."
"Nah, he can't with all the mechanics in his body," Ace commented.
"He was talking about Adam wood, too…"
"Yeah, he's going to build a ship to replace Merry."
"And Brook? Still on tour?"
"He's the ears on the lookout for possible destinations to conquer on the oceans of the world, to help me be the Pirate King!" Luffy cheered.
"We forgot someone, ne?" Ace said, thinking, even if his smile told that he knew who he was talking about.
Luffy fell off his chair dying from laughter.
"Of course! Sabo! Gred, you're an idiot!" George realized.
"Hmph, same to you, Forge," his twin told him.
"Next year will be interesting!" the two grinned.
Luffy was late.
He pulled his robe off, and put it in his bag. It was annoying.
He got lost going to his charms class and arrived at the opposite end of the school.
He jumped from a staircase to gain some time, and caught his feet on another
He had to avoid doing anything that could stretch his body, and it wasn't an easy task. He broke through a group of some students, jumped from another staircase, and arrived, short of breath, at the classroom door that he opened with a bang!, making the little teacher jump.
"I had your brother the class before, you're lucky that he warned me, young man. Come, quickly, and sit down, the class has already begun!" the short professor told him.
Luffy ignored Harry, Ron and Hermione to go sit down next to Neville, the professor continuing his lecture. The boy took his robe out of his bag to put it on and took out his things.
"Why did you remove your robe?" Neville whispered.
"It was getting in my way."
The door opened suddenly on Ace, who was deathly pale.
"With all due respect, professor, it's a matter of life or death!" gasped the boy.
"What's the occasion? Really, it's a conspiracy! After the little brother arrives late, the elder interrupts my class!" huffed the little man.
"Garp is here!"
All color disappeared from Luffy's face.
"I see. Don't forget to alert Professor Fushisho and get out of here. I want you here tonight after dinner, Mr Monkey, for you to catch up this class."
"I will ensure it," Ace assured him. "Come on, Luffy, move, if you don't want to be skinned alive, I just escaped by a hair!"
Luffy rapidly pick up his things and went running with his brother.
"If only their grand-father could leave them alone, one time, we could make them study calmly. As I was saying…" Ron and Harry shared the look of the totally lost, and looked at Hermione, who didn't understand it any more than them.
Hermione closed another book and sighed deeply.
Nothing. Still nothing.
She had gone over every book she could at Diagon Alley, and since she still didn't find anything, she had to search in a normal library, thinking that there, they would maybe have something. But no, still nothing. From Nicholas Flamel to Akuma no Mi. Will she have to go to Knockturn Alley to find what she was looking for ?!
"You're doing some dangerous research."
Hermione started. Turning around, she could see a blond boy with blue eyes, approximately Ace's age, smiling softly at her. He had a strange scar around one of his eyes.
"I didn't want to scare you, sorry. But I heard you grumble something that really… surprised me. So, I couldn't stop myself from approaching you."
Hermione blushed.
"Can I sit down? Oh, and my name is Sabo. Sabo Silver."
"Hermione Granger. And yes, suit yourself."
Hermione made more room at the table in the public library and Sabo sat down beside her.
"So you're doing research on akuma no mi?" Sabo breathed, brusquely serious.
"Do you know what they are?"
"I do, but do you?"
"No. I've try to find information, but nothing shows up."
Sabo looked at Hermione's notes, which were mostly scribbled out entries. Le blond boy took a pencil and wortes down something in japanese juste before akuma no mi, before adding the translation.
Devil's Fruit.
"A fruit ? You're kidding ?"
"If only. It's a fruit, however, a single mouthful and you can become a monster in the eyes of almost everyone."
Sabo doodled in a blank corner of her notes: a strange fruit with swirl motifs, surely in relief, reminding her of little flames.
"There are a lot of Devil Fruits in the world, and all are different, be it by the form, the color or the power. I know that what I say can seem crazy, but for someone who's doing researches on alchemy, it's not so crazy," commented Sabo.
"Alchemy?" asked Hermione. "I'm not doing any research about alchemy!"
"Oh? Then why are you interested in Nicholas Flamel?"
"Do you know who he is?"
Sabo smiled and told her, "If you answer only one question, then, I'll give you a hint, when I'm done explaining devil fruits. Do we have a deal?"
"No problem. Ask your question, I'll answer without hesitation!"
"Why are you so interested in devil fruits?"
Hermione looked down, not expecting this kind of question. What to give him for answer…
"Tell me the truth."
Well, this boy will know if she lied.
She played nervously with the pages of a book open before her and whispered:
"A… a friend saved my life… while doing… something strange. When he saw that I had seen him do it, he began to avoid me. His brother, and even one of our teachers became threatening because of this subject. But what I want is to understand how he saved me and why he runs away from me. Even if I had a bad start with his brother, without knowing, they were… my first friends, I think. Well, the first ones to not call me 'a know it all' and make fun of me… I… I want to try fixing things, if possible."
"That's a great goal." smiled Sabo. "So, I will continue to tell you what I know. You've already seen a devil fruit in action, so, you can, I think, expect anything, can't you?"
"Yes, why?"
Sabo tapped his drawing with the pencil.
"This fruit contains an immense power, but also an important curse. Anybody who takes a single bite of this fruit will be given an ability, from the most ridiculous to the most dangerous. Slow down time, transform into a flying squirrel, be fire, or provoke earthquakes at will… It's simple, all that can be imagined, and even unimagined, can be an Devil Fruit. But there are some things to know… the first, it's that you can't know what will be the ability that this fruit contains. Either you found a fruit that is already known and listed in one of the rare encyclopedias, or… you can only guess and exclude all the powers already existing."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"It's a cycle. When a fruit user dies, his power comes back, in the form of a fruit identical to the one eaten in the first place. Each fruit is unique. If it already exists, you will never find it in the wild before the user dies. For some, it's more complex, but we won't enter in those details who are rather dark even for me."
"If each fruit is unique, then this is a possible power?"
Hermione put her finger on the drawing.
"This ability is already taken. It's the mera mera no mi, or flame fruit."
"So it gives fire powers?"
"Exactly, whoever eats this fruit become fire itself, with all its properties."
"It's… wow… it's fascinating."
"If only everyone could react like you…"
"Is there a problem?"
Sabo sighed deeply and put the pencil back on the table, passing his hand through his blond hair.
"My two brothers have Devil Fruits. It's my older brother who has the mera mera. We were nine years old at the time, and our younger brother was going on six the following week. The people from the town where we lived discovered their powers and tried to kill them. A rock went through the head of my older brother. If I hadn't been in the way, it would have blinded my little brother. They have been treated like monsters by the people who had seen them growing up, despite the protestation and help from those who still liked us. If we didn't die in a corner in a street… it's because Rayleigh came in time. He was trying to find our older brother for some years, since our adoptive grandfather refused to give him the custody, even with the fact that he is an orphan and that Rayleigh is his godfather. He saved the lives of the three of us, and let the two of them develop their gift without having to fear the others. He adopted the three of us, sort of. But it's etched in their memories. They fear the reactions of others if they learn of it."
Sabo lean on his chair, gazing at nothing.
"And in the places where slavery is still active and ignored, devil fruit users are very valuable. The rarer the Devil Fruit, the higher the price. You can be as outraged as you like, you know nothing of this world. I don't know the world really well either, but I think that I saw enough from the other point of view to pretend to know a little more than you about what is happening."
The hard and faraway look of the boy was explicit enough for the young girl to believe his words.
"Enough about troublesome topics. Did I tell you about the biggest weakness of devil fruits?" the boy with the scar asked.
"No, what is it?"
"The sea. Immerse a devil's user in water a little too deep, and he'll drown, even if before he was a good swimmer. The water takes their energy. Few people who know what a devil fruit is would throw away their ability to swim for an ability that could be ridiculous or useless. The majority don't know they ate one before they did it and can't come back in time."
"You only have to remain on firm ground, even if you have to say goodbye to holidays at the beach. I don't see where the problem lies."
"Unfortunately, sixty percent of the consumer don't spend their lives away from the ocean. You would ask them to renounce to something that is a part of them, for a handicap. This idea would make my brothers sick only thinking about it."
Sabo tried to hold back a laugh, remembering about something apparently funny. He shook his head, and continued:
"Getting back to the powers… there are three categories. The logias, who are principally elements or the derivatives… ice, fire, lava, sand, light… all that sort of things… we placed them general at the top, because they are, with one exception, intangible. Do you know what it means?"
"Yes, I know, thanks, I'm not an idiot!" Hermione huffed.
"...I never said that. Then, there are the zoans… it is said that they can transform in animals or take a hybrid appearance. In it, we have another classifying, by the level of rarity. The carnivores are said to be the strongest, but before them are the ancient zoans, like dinosaurs, or mythical, like Buddha or a phoenix… Well. Finally, we have the paramecias. It's the rest. The power to grow limbs at will, to create tsunamis, transform people into toys! My younger brother ate the paramecia gomu gomu no mi. The Gum fruit. He's like a rubber ball, walking elastic, able to stretch his body without problem, to inflate like a balloon, and then some."
This jolted one of Hermione's memories.
"Wait… the fruits are unique, aren't they?" asked Hermione.
"Yes… and?" inquired a surprised Sabo.
"Is there another fruit that can make you able to stretch your limbs?"
Sabo leaned his chin on his hand, thinking.
"You have me stumped this time, there. Maybe, maybe not. But not like the Gomu Gomu, that's for sure. Why?"
"The name of your little brother… wouldn't happen to be Monkey D. Luffy?"
"You know him?" asked Sabo, surprised.
Hermione stared at Sabo, astonished.
"It's… it's him who saved my life…" Hermione breathed.
Sabo face palmed and tried his best to laugh as low as possible.
"I should have make the connection! After all, I had entire paragraphs on you in the letters he sent me… coming from an idiot like him, it's surprising! Then you were involved in the Halloween incident, and you were scolded by the blazing Hiken no Ace and the fierce Fushisho Marco…"
Hermione had an embarrassed air.
"You shouldn't held a grudge on them, it's survival instinct. If you don't have a problem with having a bird as a teacher, a flammable upperclassman and a rubber classmate, things will go smoother rapidly, believe me. Even more than what you think…"
"You really are…"
"I am the second brother. We are adoptive brothers, so it's normal that I'm blond with two black haired brothers. And I'm their common sense. I study in Salem… well, studied, because the school exploded… officially, it's the potions professor who made a bad experiment. Unofficially… we think it was the Muggle Studies teacher and one of the first years who made an invention a little too dangerous."
It was crazy… meeting just like that with someone who knew that much on Akuma no mi, but, in addition, made her realize what was happening with Luffy... a miracle.
"Do you want my advice? When you see Ace the next time, jump on him, and tell him that you don't have anything against what he is. I won't see him, neither him or Marco. Whitebeard has Ace on his ship this winter… but… I can lead you to Luffy," Sabo smiled.
"Are you serious?!" asked Hermione.
"Yes. He's reunited with some friends in a park nearby. Well, some of his friends… those who can be seen without making all the people yell from fright. Call your parents, and I'll lead you to him, if you want. Oh, and before I forget… Nicholas Flamel, he is mentioned in your school's history."
"How could you tell I was from Hogwarts?" inquired Hermione.
"The way you swear. In my family, we swear by Davy Jones or by our hats, but you, you swear by Merlin's beard… and we're in England soil… So Hogwart."
Hermione blushed even more.
"If you'll do me the honor miss, I will take you to my idiot of a little brother."
Luffy fell from the bench where he was sitting, because he was laughing so hard. Rayleigh looked at him rolling around in the grass behind the bench and shared a smile with Zoro and Robin, deciding to let him be.
"It's not funny…" his friend Usopp sighed.
"It's your fault I lost one of my primary sources of income! I'm going to ask Yasopp for compensation." Nami yelled, hitting him over the head.
"Owww! I understand ! Don't hit me so hard!"
"I won't be able to train, either," grumbled Zoro.
"Marco isn't bad with a sword. Not as good as Thatch or Vista, and not like Mihawk at all, but good enough for you to learn some things from him. He'll give you some classes, if you end up at Hogwarts next year," Rayleigh pointed out.
"It will be interesting," Robin smiled mysteriously. "Almost all the crew reunited in one place."
"Luffy, stop rolling around in the grass please."
Luffy sat back on the bench, still laughing hard.
"But there's something to worry about anyway," sighed Rayleigh.
Luffy abruptly calmed himself, his mood darkening.
"You know it, Luffy, don't you?"
"Yes…"
"What?" asked Sanji taking a new cigarette from the packet.
"Nami. If she goes to Hogwarts, with her personality, she'll go directly to Slytherin. She's intelligent, but I wonder if it would be enough for her to enter Ravenclaw. But if she goes to Slytherin, she'll be in danger."
Rayleigh nodded darkly.
"Slughorn was forced to accept my transfer when I reduced all the idiots of my house to a bloody pulp, and I was sent to Ravenclaw… how I end up as partners in crime with a Gryffindor is still a mystery. Foremost, since we began on the train, and that my initial repartition didn't make him back down."
"There are some things that still are mysteries in this world," Usopp commented.
"But I'm supposed to run what sort of risks?" asked Nami.
"You're a muggleborn. Slytherin advocated blood purity. Try to bring this point up to the Sorting Hat".
"No problem, Nami-swan, I'll be there to protect you!" assured Sanji. Nami gave an annoyed sigh.
Luffy shared a look with Zoro, who nodded.
If Nami ended up in Slytherin, he'd be there to support her. Not that he miss anything to go into another house, but he was the only one with personality trait who could eventually take him in this house.
It was at this moment that Sabo arrived.
"Hey, the Mugiwara I would like to borrow the future Pirate King," smiled the blond.
"Why?" asked Luffy, curious.
Sabo sidestepped, letting Hermione who was hidden before by his stature, be seen. The young miss was nervously twisting her hands.
Luffy opened big eyes and, before he could do anything, his classmate threw herself around his neck to do a big hug, surprising him.
"I told her what was up, and here is the result. So, Captain Straw Hat, will you take your Gryffindor courage with your two hands and stop hiding?" Sabo grinned.
Rayleigh laughed at this.
"You could have told me that you started have some success with girls, Luffy! Ahahahaha!" The old man laughed.
Sanji growled and adjusted his tie.
"What did you do to this lady, shitty rubber?" he grumbled.
"Thank you for saving my life," breathed Hermione, still gripping Luffy.
"I… I don't scare you?" the astonished boy asked.
"We all are monsters about something. And you're one of my only friends… no, I'm not scared."
Robin had a little laugh.
"Congratulations, young man," Rayleigh said inclining his head with a proud smile in Sabo's direction.
"After explaining all the facts, smart people easily accept the things they are told," smiled Sabo.
"Thanks, Hermione," Luffy grinned hugging her back.
"Where did you find my brother?" Luffy asked.
"The library. It was a complete coincidence."
"Marco's threat was mostly hot air," Sabo explain. "He should have brought out the talons if he wanted to make it more efficient"
"I see," Rayleigh said while caressing his beard.
"Me, not at all, I think we missed something there," the boy with the long nose commented picking his nose. "Stop it, Sanji. Luffy only likes meat, his family, his friends and adventure. He won't be interested in love for a looooong time."
"Here, sit down, I'll introduce you to my friends, Hermione! This is Granger Hermione, one of my classmates! Hermione, you already know my brother Sabo. The guy with green hair is Zoro. The black haired woman, she's Robin, she'll probably be the new History of Magic teacher next year, but that needs to stay a secret… Then, the redhead, she's Nami, she likes money and tangerines!"
"Nice to meet you," the two girls said with a smile.
"Same here," blushed Hermione.
"The blond is Sanji, he loves to cook…"
"It would be my pleasure to cook for you~ !" Sanji assured, kneeling before Hermione to kiss her hand.
"Tch. Love-cook," Zoro grumbled.
"You looking for trouble, marimo ?!" Sanji growled, immediately sitting up straight.
"You shouldn't hold it against them, they are always like that," Robin smiled.
Nami cracked her knuckles and hit the two of them over the head, making everyone laugh.
"And he's Usopp! But he won't be at Hogwarts next year with everyone else."
"Captain Usopp is going to finish his education with his father!" smiled the young man with a long nose. "The great Usopp will destroy unimaginable monsters!"
"Yeah, yeah, meanwhile, Captain Usopp will make sure not to destroy the Red Force. I hold a lot of affection for Shanks," Rayleigh smiled.
"And him, he's my adoptive uncle, Rayleigh. He went to Hogwarts a looong time ago!" Sabo said. "The one who incidentally saved our lives…"
"Who could kill Ace?" Nami sighed.
"People who can use Haki or cancel out fire… and you know, once he's in the water, match-boy isn't so scary," snorted Sabo.
"Don't mock your brother like that. You should congratulate him!" scolded gently Rayleigh.
"For what? The fact that he angered the old man enough so that we can't spend Christmas as a family?" asked Luffy.
"I think that your brother will change his dress code very soon, and you'll understand why…"
"You probably aren't getting a lot of this," Robin smiled at Hermione.
"Ah, no. But even if I don't understand it all, the little I do is… funny," admitted Hermione.
"We're criminals," Luffy told her abruptly.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't just say it like that, Lu," Sabo sighed. "But yes, everyone here, Ace and Marco too, we play on the other side of the law. Rayleigh is a retired pirate with a still active bounty. Luffy is a captain, even this young, and them, they are part of his crew. And me, I'm in the Revolutionary Army."
"It's…"
"Surprising, isn't it… and even then, Salem took me knowing all about it, when they know that the entire world is looking for me, for a knowledge that I'm the last to hold," Robin smiled sadly, eyes closed.
"And Marco is the first mate of one of the Emperors of the Sea. As nonchalant and frail as he can look like, he could throw giants with little effort," Rayleigh sighed. Each of us chose to be criminals, for different reasons… for most of us, it's to be free."
"But for us, we follow Luffy, even with his stupid and dangerous ideas, even if the majority of us are minors, even if we are hunted actively, because he saved us at one time or another, and offered us a chance to realize our dreams," Nami smiled. "So, we wouldn't go back to our previous lives for anything, where we weren't criminals."
"Judge by your eyes, and not by what you hear," Sabo advised with a wink.
Against all expectation, Hermione burst out laughing.
"I don't ask for anything else! When I see something that challenges everything I know, I have to learn more!"
"Then, we will get along well," Robin laughed softly.
Rayleigh looked at the young girl, who was now smiling, and Luffy laughed.
Again and again, Luffy managed to be surrounded by unexpected people…
"Ne, you want to surprise Ace?" Sabo proposed.
"Sabo, your brother can't be surprised like that without consequences…" Rayleigh sighed.
"It's okay, Uncle!" Luffy assured. "He always has kairoseki in his stuff."
"Kairoseki?" inquired Hermione.
"Sea-prism stone. A mysterious stone which releases the same energy as the sea and cancels out the powers of the devil fruit users. Rather unpleasant," smiled Robin softly.
Hermione looked at her, perplexed.
"Yes, I have one, too. But to show you a demonstration of my power… you will be able, starting next year, try to guess."
And she gave a mysterious smile to Hermione.