"Considering she's never been camping before in her life; the bloody woman should have reused some of the campsites we brought her too!" Ron grumbled as he paced in the forest clearing he and Hermione were standing in. Nearby Hermione knelt on a transfigured carpet with a detailed map in her hands, with a furrowed brow she inspected the map and muttered to herself. Personally, Hermione agreed with what Ron had said. Yet after a dozen campsites visited and tagged so they'd know if Holly camped there, they were still coming up empty. Which unfortunately meant locating Holly was becoming extremely difficult.

The past few months had not been kind to Hermione and Ron, not since the very moment Ron apparated in an uncontrolled rage. The instant Ron landed away from the girls, he realized his mistake; the reason for his twisted thoughts and emotions had been the locket.

Ron had intended to go right back when Hermione landed beside him, tracking his magic to the location he'd chosen to get away from them. They'd stared at each other, continuously drawn in a way neither of them could explain. Then Ron had blurted out a desperate apology, and Hermione had thrown herself into his arms, forgiving him for what he'd been unable to defend himself from. Ron did not have occlumency, he had no defenses against the Horcrux's poison, and his more emotional mind, unlike opposed to Hermione's, had ensured he'd been corrupted quickly.

With Hermione in his arms, Ron had confessed his biggest fear that he'd messed up for the last time, that this time Holly wouldn't forgive him. And Ron honestly didn't believe he deserved forgiveness, not that time. He'd abandoned Holly in the middle of a war, there was no going back from that he thought.

Hermione took him by the arms and leaned back with a watery smiled before she said: "Oh Ron! It's okay. Holly sent me to get you. She knows what the locket was doing, and she doesn't blame you. Now, let's go back to her." As she spoke, Ron was not comforted. He'd always been the emotional one in the group and frankly, understood his emotions far better than the girls. Which often meant Ron knew what the girls felt before they did. Which is why he understood immediately what Holly had done.

By the time they arrived back at the campsite, Holly in the tent was gone and Holly's magical signature had been wiped from the area. She had fled ensuring that they could not follow even if they wanted to. Ron and Hermione had certainly tried regardless of that. They'd spent the next fourth months scouring the countryside for her. Occasionally they stayed with Bill and Fleur in their home and sometimes pitched with a muggle tent that Hermione had been enchanting. Otherwise, they grew closer, though as Bill would say, perhaps too close.

Ron and Hermione's relationship had built, and they had realized their feelings for each other, which was positive. However, trapped in a small muggle tent for months on end in the middle of a war, after seeing no one but each other for that long, and after worrying endlessly about Holly the entire time; a toll had been taken out of their patience.

Eventually, something had to give. Ron and Hermione's souls screamed of stress, their bags had bags, their bodies were growing weaker and weaker with the lack of food. And the constant wariness of the war and the knowledge of the deaths building up around them hit them harder every day. Then it happened; an explosion built from being too close to each other, a fight growing from the stress and the fear, and a single mistake.

"Oh god." Hermione suddenly breathed as she stared down at the map, "no no no no!" she'd finally put two and two together. It had bothered her endlessly for the last few months, why had Holly sent them away? Why had she fled without a word? Why Holly had kept trying to escape them after turning seventeen? Hermione finally realized the truth, about the connection, about Holly's silence and anguish when Dumbledore had left them, the facts she must have already known-

"What," Ron asked, stopping his pacing to stand beside Hermione.

"It's the only thing that makes sense! The reason she chased us off Ron! Holly must know! She knows!"

"Knows what?"

"She's a Horcrux…" Hermione pressed her hand to her mouth, "her scar, the connection! Holly is a Horcrux. That's the reason she can see Voldemort's memories, the reason occlumency doesn't work on her dreams, it's why she saw Nagini when it attacked your dad. They're both living Horcruxes!"

"No," Ron said firmly taking a step away from his girlfriend, "no, because if that's true, the reason she left is-"

"She's going to kill herself." Hermione felt her eyes burn as she staggered away from her map and from Ron, "she probably already has."

"NO!" he fisted his hands and roared out the word, "How could you say that! Holly wouldn't just kill herself!" His distant mind screamed denials. Holly still had things to do; she wouldn't do it until the locket, and the other Horcruxes were destroyed. Holly was the type of individual who would not leave a job unfinished. She'd be the last one to go, the last Horcrux, and they'd-

"Of course she would!" Hermione's mind worked ever on, realizing those little things and those huge hints that everything, everything had been a giant set-up. A trap designed to kill Holly. "She's a self-sacrificing moron, and it's Dumbledore's bloody fault! All our lives he's been training her to do exactly this! Don't you think it's a little suspicious that he kept sending Holly back to those Muggles and rewarding us for risking our damn lives year after year!"

"Dumbledore wouldn't-"

"He did!" Hermione grabbed her head, "he did! Everything has been leading up to this. The stone in first year that just so happened to be guarded by traps an eleven-year-old could get through. The basilisk, how had it taken us to figure out the beast was a snake and in the bathroom! Someone should have asked Myrtle years ago she was right there! And Sirius, Dumbledore was the one who performed the Fidilous charm, how did he not know the secret keeper was swapped!" she was growing increasingly panicked, "everything was for this, he knew. He's been twisting Holly's life and our lives to ensure this happened!"

"Hermione, not everything is a conspiracy! Dumbledore is a great man, and he loved Holly! He wouldn't do this-"

"HE DID! He wanted Holly dead, wanted the Horcrux dead. Anything to kill-

"-NO WAIT-"

"-Voldemort!" Their eyes flew wide in horror, and cracks from snatchers sounded around them, as they were out-numbered in an instant and forced to flee.

"Holly." Ace stepped toward her and forcefully put his hands on the folders. He understood what she was thinking, what was going through her head at that moment, he'd done it himself countless times. He blamed himself, for Sabo and for Thatch, for every crew member that died at the sea. He understood, he did, which meant he knew how to prioritize. He knew when to feel, and when to fight tooth and nail to ensure the people he cared about were given the opportunity to live. It had been why he'd ran for Marco when he'd found Thatch, instead of after Thatch's killer, until he'd known without a doubt that Thatch wasn't going to make it.

Black rushed up Ace's hands as he snatched the folder from Holly's limp fingers. Without it in her direct sights, she sank to the ground staring at her empty hands with a blank emotionless gaze. Ace temporarily left her there as he hurriedly flipped through the parchments to find the information he needed. It was possible, very possible, that Ron and Hermione were not yet dead. And it there was a chance he had to take it for the good of Holly's sanity and his own future.

Ace's teeth ground together, where was it, where was it? A symbol, a single sign- please let her siblings be alive; there! "Holly!" he slammed the papers together and squatted beside her, "Holly! Who are the Malfoy's?"

"My fault- Ron and Hermione are- no no no no- I sent them away- my fault, I sent them away, I did that, they're- they're- my fault, I…"

"HOLLY!" Ace dropped the folder and slapped his hands on each side of her face and wrenched her chin up to force her to look at him, "they might be alive, but they won't be so for long, you need to focus and shove that shit back. Focus on me, and tell me who the Malfoy's are!"

Her eyes might have cleared slightly at his words. It was hard to tell with those damnable blue contacts which he was profoundly regretting at that moment. "The- the Malfoy's… that's, that's Draco, Lucius and… and Narcissa. They're death eaters, Draco… he let them into the school, Dumbledore died because of him… him and Snape-"

He shook her to refocus her, "can you find them?"

She lifted her head more, and Ace saw a green glow grow to life behind the blue of her contacts. As Holly locked her gaze with his and snarled out a furious and hissing: "Yes."

She didn't feel it when the locket heated up victoriously, or when it started to burn. It's voice hissed in the back of her head egging her on, twisting her fear into something far more violent and panicked to get back to its true owner-

"Lead the way."

Holly and Ace stood together, he snatched the folders from the table and collected them together in a rush. He knew if Holly were more focused, she'd want to bring them to ensure everyone who passed through the building was saved and he had a feeling if he left them they'd permanently lose that information. Ace had guessed right when they reached the stairs, and Holly hurled a bright red spell behind them. Glancing back he witnessed the interrogation room, and the office burst into flames, Holly was burning the building down as he'd desired to do already. Ace smirked, he basked in the familiar heat not wondering if he could be burned by flames while wearing sea-stone, and he followed Holly up the stairs toward the bar area.

She strode ahead of him like a warrior on a warpath. Holly had accepted her furious mission and was going to destroy anything in her way. Ace watched her in quiet awe, wondering what she'd look like sailing a ship. What Holly would look like free of the pressures of war on her shoulders. When she could just do and enjoy as a pirate would. He had a feeling it would be a glorious image matching the one she held right then.

Holly made a straight line for the bartender and didn't waste a moment yanking up the man's face and forcing herself into his mind. She cast the spell without a single word, without even her wand in her hand and proved then that she didn't need it. Ace had already suspected that was the case, that the stick was a tool and nothing more, now he had his proof. However, that wasn't the time to talk about it or to reveal he knew she could use magic without it. That bit of information he'd still hold close, for as must as he was beginning to believe this was real, he was still unwilling to put his family's life on that belief.

Regardless as Ace waited for her to scour the man's mind for the information they needed, he gave a considering look around the bar. There were half a dozen people laid out, stunned and unconscious for the extended future. There was also smoke already escaping the basement as the flames below built, and should he and Holly leave these people where they were, they'd be soon be burning alive.

As he'd told Holly several times already, he was a pirate, one that controlled the power of fire. He'd killed before; he'd burnt someone alive before, he couldn't have helped it considering he was made of flames. Still, he wasn't entirely indifferent to all these people dying, but Holly would be the exact opposite of apathetic. When she was calmer, when she realized what she'd done, the knowledge would hurt her. So clicking his teeth together, Ace strode across the bar and started to drag, carry, and cart the snatchers out of the building where he dumped them in a heap. No one so much as blinked an eye as the people moved past by an invisible force, assuming automatically it was a spell.

Finishing with his self-assumed mission, one that resulted in a couple of strangers receiving a few broken bones and noses - which Ace might have purposely ensured - Ace turned to Holly's side just as she yanked her mind from the bar-tenders head.

"Two days ago," she told him, "they were brought in two days ago and delivered to the Malfoy's manor yesterday, and I know exactly where that is now." She straightened as fire licked at the back door and smoke billowed overhead.

"Then what are we waiting for?" he offered his hand to Holly. She lifted her head and suddenly reached up and wrenched the wig off her head, he watched her pull out the contacts in her eyes with minimal success, it ruined the badass image she was throwing off and made him chuckle. Then she returned her glasses to her eyes and swiped away the makeup on her forehead, smearing it slightly into her hair. Finally, she offered her make-up covered hand toward him, grasping it firmly.

"Let's do it." She stated, and together they twisted away with a crack.

The Malfoy Manor was extravagant and as obnoxious as the building Sabo's family had lived in. The building itself was the most definite sign that even in another world, the rich like to show off and dismiss the poor. According to Holly, it used to have white columns, too many windows to count, an extensive back yard with a maze of hedges - that made Holly beyond twitchy, a crystal clear pool, and honest to god peacocks running around. Now however much of that was marred by Voldemort's presence in the Malfoy home during the previous year.

"This is something out of a horror story," Ace muttered. The hedges were growing out of control twisting around them like grasping arms, the pristine white of the manor was blackened by spell damage, the peacocks were nothing more than rotting corpses, and the pond had a body in it that Ace did not want to see more detail of. The area was a disaster and did not resemble its former looks at all.

"Malfoy, err… Draco, he used to brag about this place all the time. By the time I was twelve, I could probably describe it better than I could my own house." She carefully slammed her heel into a vine attempting to grab her. A similar plant had been something she'd had considerable trouble with in her fourth year, it had tied her up and nearly choked her to death before she'd escaped. Now however Holly had no problems with something so simple. It was true in the end, the twi-wizard tournament had not been intended for a fourteen-year-old. "By the time we were sixteen, he stopped talking about it entirely." Holly rolled her eyes skyward, "I told Hermione and Ron that was suspicious, and I told the Order that Vo- you-know-who and the death eaters had to be staying there. But no one believed me about it."

Ace snatched out his hand and snatched a vine charging toward Holly's head and ripped it in half: "Why haven't we checked this location for the sea-king then?"

Holly made a face, once again she'd been given the opportunity to tell Ace about the Horcruxes, and yet she knew she absolutely could not. She dared not speak of them around this place, and even if she was beginning to trust Ace with their knowledge and why they had to be destroyed before Voldemort, she was still heavily hesitating.

Not looking Ace's way, Holly hedged her answer a bit: "He's got control of the magical world now, beyond a few bits of resistance; there's little reason to remain at the Malfoy Manor when he could live anywhere he wanted." Which was true, she was reasonably certain Voldemort was not at Malfoy manor.

Ace hummed a non-committal response to that loosely accepting it, if he were an evil overlord bent on mass-murder he'd probably have his own place too.

They walked passed a break in the hedges, through the vines was a small pale body with its throat slit. Holly paused, giving it a saddened expression.

"What is that?" Ace whispered, trying to give the deceased creature some respect as he spotted it as well. Ace had seen strange being all over the Grand-Line and knew not to judge appearance, anything could be intelligent enough to take offense, but he'd never seen anything quite like it.

"A house-elf." Holly stepped forward and grabbed the vines, yanking them apart so she could step through. She could have used magic, but Holly wasn't sure if there were any wards on the property to track magic use and she'd rather get in and out of the manor without being noticed. "They're servants to wizards, slaves really depending on who owns them." Kneeling beside the too-small body, Holly reached up and closed its tennis-ball sized eyes. It was a recent death, the poor thing had bled out, leaving behind a long bloodied trail while trying to find a quiet place to die. "I wonder if Dobby knew him…" she immediately made a face as she spoke, she'd forgotten about Dobby in her panic, he could have helped her and Ace sneak in and find the manor.

"Who?" Ace squatted beside the 'elf' and wished he had a bit of flame to use. He'd like to give the creature a proper burial, but they didn't have time to dig a hole, cremation would have been far faster and still respectful.

"Well, Dobby was the elf attempting to warn me about the basilisk, I mentioned it before right?"

"I vaguely remember that." And the enormous scar marking her upper arm.

"So, Lucius Malfoy was his owner, and he crooked up an actual 'plot' with a diary-" There was her in to tell Ace about Horcruxes once more, "-which possessed a girl at school, and unleashed the bloody thing. Long story short, I tricked Malfoy into releasing Dobby, and he's been eternally loyal to me since then. In retrospect, I probably could have asked him to bring us here."

Ace flapped a dismissive hand as they continued on their path, leaving the small creature behind. "We made it here, it doesn't matter how."

"I suppose."

They rounded a corner while keeping the building in sight and paused; an enormous snake lay in the middle of the overgrown path. For a moment Holly's heart jumped, not because of it's size or danger, but rather because for a single moment, she thought it was Nagini which would have been extremely lucky. Nagini, she knew, was a Horcrux, and the creature was something she'd eventually have to kill. Unfortunately, this was a regular snake. To Ace used to the snakes of the Grand-line and Dawn island, and to Holly used to Nagini and a basilisk, it was a bit… boring.

The snake upon noticing them attacked. It struck out toward the single visible individual before it, snapping at Holly's head in response to being startled. Ace snapped out his hand instantly aware Holly wasn't nearly as fast as he was and might not be able to avoid the strike. His fingers locked around the beasts head and he yanked it away from her ready to kill and eat it. When Holly started to hiss.

Ace shot her a surprised look that grew intrigued when the snake started to hiss at her in return.

"You speak snake?" he asked incredulously. That was perfect, Haruta was terrified of snakes, he could already see the pranking material.

"An unfortunate side effect," Holly grumbled slipping out of parseltongue for a moment, she was getting better at telling which language she was speaking lately. Holly, however, was unaware of the large hint she'd just given Ace, a sentence he'd use later when all the small comments came together to make a clear picture. Instead, she was focused on bribing the snake into giving her information. Then, when that failed, threatening its death, which went over better, for her.

Ace stood silently by as Holly had a full conversation with a snake, it was as entertaining to him as Luffy attempting to communicate with a group of monkeys after Sabo tricked him, or when Namur had spoken to fish trying to convince them to offer themselves up for dinner. When the conversation ended, Holly nodded and explained what had been talked about, giving him information about the situation, from a snake.

"Hermione and Ron are in there, but so are the Malfoy's and Bellatrix. They've called you-don't-know-who though, so we need to be fast. They're dead the moment he arrives."

"Or he is." Ace commented reeling back his arm and hurling the snake away from them at full strength, figuring they were done with it, "we could always just kill him now?"

There it was again, Holly grimaced and tried to change the subject once more. Holly couldn't tell him the truth, she couldn't tell Ace that she couldn't fight Voldemort until the Horcruxes were destroyed, nor could Holly tell him she wouldn't survive the fight either. Ace didn't know that he'd be free and back in his world permanently before that battle occurred.

"Maybe." Holly said, feeling guilty as she avoided telling him again about the truth, "let's get in there."

Holly strode forward toward the building, eying it to distract herself, she didn't turn to look back at Ace who took a moment to watch her. His suspicions about her were growing once more because he knew now that she was hiding something from him. Holly was avoiding fighting Voldemort that was plain; Ace knew without a doubt that she was, what he didn't know was why. Ace wanted to say it was because his original theory was correct. If this were a story designed by a marine, the idea would be to keep him inside it, and Voldemort's death would end the war and therefore end the story. In reality however, as much as Ace wanted to believe that theory, he also didn't. He was slowly beginning to trust in Holly, and he knew her avoidance of Voldemort might be something as simple as fear.

He'd have to wait and see.

"Ace, can you give me a boost?"

Ace stepped forward, joining Holly beside the manor as she peered up at a window above them. "Sure," he said, as he stood beside the window itself and linked his fingers together. Holly gave him a smile, the one that made his stomach twist with nervous energy and made him want, and she rushed toward him. Holly's booted heel hit his hands, and Ace hurled her upward. Her fingers caught the end of the window, and she boosted herself up with pure arm strength before she opened the window and slipped inside.

Eying the distance himself Ace gave himself a small space to run, he could handle the jump without problem he knew, and he charged ready to launch up and grab the windowsill to pull himself in; when Holly reached out her hand and caught his own. They paused there, Ace holding the window and her hand, Holly leaning out of it while bracing against the inside so she didn't fall out. Both of them thought it at that moment, thought of the desire and want. They wanted to trust, they wanted to explore what was before them, they wanted. Holly wanted to lean forward and kiss him, Ace was already leaning toward her in the same mind.

The moment broke when Holly winced, not from Ace's weight, but from the locket at her neck searing into her skin causing her to flinch. Seeing it, Ace assumed it was because of his weight and hurried to climb into the window. He moved swiftly, and Holly didn't have the time to back up; they ended up pressed right up against each other, almost chest to chest as Ace looked down and Holly up.

"We… we should go find them." Holly managed to say as she backed off and turned around. Her hand automatically reached up, rubbing her chest to alleviate the burn as a pair of ghosts groaned in disappointment. "We need to find the basement, it has a dungeon where they should be. But I'm not sure which door leads down there. So-" she glanced back at Ace who was staring at her chest intensely, and she blushed rushing to turn around again. "So… err… er- let's try um… every door we can… find, yeah." She sped walked away.

Ace caught up quickly his eyes lingering on her neck where he could only just make out the chain of the locket he knew she wore under her clothes. The same Locket that continued to cut into her neck, the one that was causing her pain and yet she still wore the damned thing. Why? Why did she do it? What was it's importance?

"So we open every door, and fuck up anyone who sees it." Ace gave Holly a thumbs up as she opened the door of the office they ended up in to reveal a long hallway.

"Watch out for the paintings too, they can actually communicate with the Malfoy's," Holly added spotting one right off the bat, which was thankfully empty.

"Can do."

Together they left the room heading to the right. Every door Ace and Holly passed, they opened, and peered inside. Quickly they grew annoyed by how large the building actually was. There were rooms upon rooms, dining rooms by the dozens, offices, bedrooms, two kitchens, entrance rooms, and beyond. But there was no way to the basement. And as they searched on, two figures floated behind them debating heavily on what to do.

"We need her to duel the kid!"

"I know but think about who is around right now. If we do this wrong, our fawn will end up facing Voldemort instead and-"

"We have to take the chance, she needs that wand Prongs, without it she's dead."

"I… I know… I know. Fine, let's do it."

Ace and Holly had found another dining room when it happened. In the middle of the hallway lay an entire suit of armor, and as they passed it, the whole thing collapsed. They both froze in surprise, giving each other a look in blame for the incident even though Holly had been nowhere near it and Ace couldn't have touched it without actively using haki.

"What did you do?" Holly gasped in alarm.

"I'm not using haki, it had to be your magic."

"Magic doesn't do that!" No, that was a lie, it did around her. But why would that strange magic want them discovered-

"Potter?" Holly and Ace spun on the spot. Behind them stood Draco Malfoy looking pale, haggard, and frankly more sickly than he had during their sixth year, and he wore an expression Holly couldn't begin to read. Oddly enough, Holly's first thought was to wonder why Draco was in the manor, he should have been in Hogwarts for his last year. It seemed she truly had lost track of time. "What are you doing here?" Draco didn't act as though he was furious about her appearance, but rather… worried that she was there at all?

"Ah, good a guide, think he'll show us to the dungeon? We are guests, after all." Ace said causing Holly to snort quite randomly in Draco's eyes.

"You idiot! You need to leave-"

A form grew from behind him, a mess of curls, haunted purple eyes and a crazed expression. Bellatrix Lestrange burst into delighted cackles as she screamed out a delighted: "Itty Bitty Potter!"

"Fu-" Holly caught herself using Ace's swear as she turned on her heel, and bolted. There was little reason for it, Holly likely could have handled Bellatrix in a duel on top of Draco, especially with Ace assisting her. But something about the woman unsettled Holly's instincts, just as being chased made her mind panic. A crash sounded as Bellatrix launched over the fallen suit of armor to give chase, and all control left her.

"You idiot!"

"I didn't know the bitch was that close!"

"Holly!" Ace watched her flee, and the bitch give chase, he swore and went to follow her when the blond jerked. Ace gave the man a look as his eyes darted toward a nearby door, one they hadn't yet checked. Draco reminded Ace that he and Holly still needed to find Ron and Hermione, and now that they had been discovered that would become more difficult. Especially if Voldemort was called.

He'd have to find them. But first, he could deal with the blond

Smirking to himself, Ace charged toward the man, he kicked the wall and threw all his weight into his fist to knock out the blond in one single strike- and something slammed into his solar plexus. Ace choked losing all the air in his lungs as he hit the ground hard. He knocked into the suit of armor and sent pieces in every direction in a cacophony of noise. Ace wheezed out of breath as he tried to regain his breathing from the sudden and violent strike, and wrenched open his watery eyes as he sought out the source of the blow.

Draco was gone, in his place was a shadowy figure hovering above Ace with lanky black hair and an apologetic smile. Ace sneered in its direction: "who the bloody-" it vanished like the wind before he finished his sentence leaving Ace alone in the hallway. "…what?" he pushed himself up and waved a hand where it had been, nothing was there, but the air was chilled, like- " a ghost?" his eyes narrowed recalling Holly's theory about why he was there, but if it was a ghost and was trying to help them why had it stopped him from knocking out the enemy?

What was happening to him?

Ace swore and ignored it as a distant crash, and a cackle sounded. He didn't have the time for it, he didn't have the time for anything really. Ace had to find the dungeon, get Holly's friends out, then return to Holly's side to deal with the insane woman. He strode away, this time, toward the door the blond had been eying before everything occurred.

At the same time, Holly was two rooms over as she fled into the kitchen as she threw spells behind her at a frantic rate. She dove through doorways, over couches, behind chairs, and passed the destroyed remains of furniture as Bellatrix missed her over again and again. Had she been calmer Holly might have noticed that Bellatrix hadn't once managed to hit her, and her dodging had grown in leaps and bounds because of the training she was doing with Ace. But Holly was anything but calm.

Bellatrix dueled without a pattern, and that was precisely what made her so dangerous. She dueled with force, power, and madness. Throwing spells you'd never expect and others you'd have no idea how to defend against. Someone like McGonagall or Hermione who dueled with focused logic could never handle an opponent like Bellatrix. Only someone who fought with instinct, who could adapt in an instant could handle her. Holly was the sort of duelist who could handle it, her only weakness being her inability to dodge was already being fixed by Ace's training. Unfortunately, while she was panicking as she was, Holly would have no chance.

Holly sprinted into a large music room with only one entrance and exit, she skidded to a stop throwing her weight to the side to avoid the sickly looking spell that weaved past her head. She stared at Bellatrix, who had stopped in the doorway and was laughing.

The wards shook around her, twisting around the house until the magic involved was physically visible in the air. Colors danced as the air grew heavy, and an almost smog-like effect started to twist into being. Magic so black it could be seen wrapped around her body and the locket on Holly's neck burned as she gave a pained cry. Her free hand rushed upward and grabbed her scar as it burst open and she screamed-

"He's come." Bellatrix sang with glee.

Voldemort had arrived.

Ace froze on the steps toward the dungeon when power fell over the building. It was like conquerors haki drowning out everything and making a weaker individual freeze in terror. But it was not at the strength Ace was used to. He had felt Whitebeard's haki on several occasions, casual use of which had knocked out many of their own number and every marine on an attacking ship. Few had kept their feet, let alone their consciousness. Only the commanders had remained up, and of those only Ace, Jozu, and Marco had been unruffled by it.

Voldemort's magic was substantially similar to conquerors haki, but it was unpracticed, it was weak in comparison to Edward Newgate, and Ace sensing it for the first time was able to accurately sort Voldemort in a proper strength level. Voldemort, Ace decided, was akin to his own level of strength.

Paused on the stairs, Ace made a few realizations. One, Holly had the power to match Voldemort but lacked the experience. Ace knew from their training that Holly had the potential to handle weak opponents with a flick of her wrist, but not the finesse needed to fight someone of equal or greatest strength to herself. Holly was learning but wasn't there yet, and that thought led him to his second realization. Holly was not yet a match for Voldemort in a one on one fight, just as she wasn't a match to Ace either. Therefore, at three, Ace had to be the one to kill Voldemort, before Voldemort killed Holly.

It was no wonder she was avoiding the fight, she wouldn't currently survive it.

Holly would die-

Ace was taking a step up the stairs, preparing to abandon her friends in an instant, was ready to rush to her side- when he heard a childish whimper from below followed by a comforting whisper. His teeth ground together as he hovered between paths, up or down, Holly or the prisoners. Ace swore and turned once more to head downward, he had to believe she could handle it, that she'd survived long enough for him to free her friends.

He hit the bottom step and strode toward the wooden door before him. Black raced up his arm as he swung his fist back, and in a single brutal move, Ace pulverized the door. Wood splitters went through him and bounced off the ground. And as the dust cleared Ace triple checked the people he needed to rescue were in the dungeon itself. In the large basement area were several people, an aged man with wispy hair, a girl with platinum blond hair and odd eyes that were locked right on his own, and the huddled forms of Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

The group was bruised, they were hagged, starved, and tortured. But they were alive.

The girl with the odd eyes smiled as Ace scanned them, and without reason, she suddenly said: "See Ron, I told you, the 'D' wouldn't leave us down here. They're kind people… or most of them are." Ace recoiled slightly as she grinned his way with a smile that had a tooth missing, the last part of her sentence echoed unpleasantly in his ears and soured his mouth. He could hear it, a familiar laugh that curled his lip.

"You know," The girl continued, "it's not pyrite this place."

"Luna what are you talking about-"

"Hermione, you need to stand, the door is opened I think-"

A pained scream cut them all off. It bounced along the walls and rattled against Ace's eardrums- he was out of the dungeon and flying up the stairs toward Holly before his mind had even realized his body had moved.

Ace passed through walls as if they were minor inconveniences, he slid through furniture without care and sprinted until he found himself in a large music room. A grand piano, a harp, and countless other instruments left for decor rather than use layered in the room in splintered heaps. Huge gaping holes were missing from the walls. And Holly, his Holly, was on her hands and knees in the middle of the room while Voldemort himself stood over her.

Holly spat out the iron taste in her mouth as she stared at the floor below her, the floor splattered with her blood and the wood chips from the wand she'd called her own. The wand made from her namesake and the creature that had saved her life had been shattered; destroyed like the hope Holly had of living another day. Her battle with Voldemort had happened too soon. Above her death loomed almost poetically, the Horcrux within her would be destroyed by Voldemort's own hand. It was how Dumbledore had designed it, how he wanted it to happen, how it should have from the prophecies words.

Her time had come, the moment Voldemort arrived at Malfoy Manor she'd known. She'd hoped he wouldn't come, hoped she could have put it off. Hoped that she could have kept the Malfoy's and Bellatrix busy long enough to save Ron and Hermione and avoid Voldemort entirely. Holly was a fool. She knew what hope got her, nothing. It hadn't freed her from her cupboard or her relatives, hadn't saved Sirius, Cedric, Hedwig, or Moody. It hadn't helped her escape her destiny at all.

She was a dead woman walking, living on borrowed time that had cost countless people their lives. If not for her existence Dumbledore would have already found the Horcruxes and ended the war and all the people now dead would be alive. Holly needed to die, she knew it, knew it, knew it-

And Holly couldn't breathe from the fear of it. It burned like the locket searing a hole in her chest desperate to get back to its creator. It burned like the way her hands dug into the floor and shards of wood under her palms. The acceptance of her face was a bald-faced lie she told herself. The resolve to do what was needed, the determination to ensure the job was done, it was bullshit. Holly didn't want to die.

It was why she'd worked so hard to repair the holes in her defense with Ace. Why she'd accepted his company so quickly. Why she worked every night to figure out that damned Horcrux and how she could live through its removal. She wasn't ready- she wasn't! But she had to, it was her destiny, her fate etched into being before she'd even taken her first breath. She had to die but-

"You need to focus and shove that shit back!"

He'd changed her mind without even doing anything, changed everything by showing her what? Nothing? He'd changed her entire life, and she couldn't describe how.

She didn't want to die and it was entirely Ace's fault.

Ace froze, seeing Holly lift her head, as she lifted her eyes from the floor, froze as blood dripped from Holly's mouth where her tooth had gone straight through her lip. Bruises were forming along her body, and her arms shook as though she'd been running a week-long marathon. As Ace arrived, the spell making her scream ended as the snake-faced beast laughed and laughed as she struggled to just lift herself off her knees.

Red.

Red as the fire he was made from, red as the vest Luffy wore, red like the anger dancing at the surface all through his childhood.

Fury burned through him-

"Now, you die." Voldemort taunted, as the ice white wand he held lit up a sickly dangerous green- 'watch out for the green one though, it's a one-hit kill, and I have no idea if it will actually kill you or not. The words are-'

"Avada-"

"NO!"

"HOLLY DODGE!"

"PUP-"

"-Kedavra-"

A freckled, black coated form tackled Holly from the side sending them careening from the spot. Where she had just been laying, a green spell splashed as it missed her and her savior by a hair's breadth. Holly's head cracked against the ground, as Ace rolled them until his back hit the wall where he landed on top of Holly, his arms wrapped protectively around her middle. Holly had her eyes pinned closed as she pressed her head to Ace's chest, her body shook, and her hands grasped at his shoulders since he wore no shirt for her to clutch. Ace was the opposite, his eyes were wide as he stared at the dispelling green magic on the spot Holly had just been laying.

She'd been that close to death, that close to leaving him. If he had wasted a single second, if he'd hesitated a moment, then Holly would be dead, and he'd be alone trapped in the darkness again. His fingers flexed on her back as he exhaled a shaky breath while he cursed his slow realization. He actually cared, and yet he'd been telling himself again and again that he didn't, that he could just leave her without looking back. Gods above, he was doomed.

Voldemort turned toward them both, seeing Holly alone and his wand lifted again, a sneer among his lipless mouth. Ace growled and quickly retook his feet, dragging Holly along with him.

"Holly, we're not in the clear yet. Focus." Ace demanded of her even as he shoved her protectively behind him. His free hand cracked as he wondered if he could handle Voldemort; ordinarily, it would be fine, but in this world, he didn't have his fire. And while Ace couldn't be seen, he was well aware Voldemort would be actively attacking Holly, making things complicated for him.

"My wand…" Holly was reeling. She had no idea what she was doing, no idea what she should do. Holly had to die, she knew that but- but she didn't want to, she was scared, and she had unfinished business. She wasn't ready-

"Please," Ace scoffed at her just as he'd done countless times before while they dueled; it snapped her into that mindset, a familiar one that helped her to focus, "you don't need that damned thing to fight," there was an opportunity there Ace realized, if she focused on a secondary opponent- "but… if you insist. You could always steal one." He wiggled his brows at Holly and shot a look toward a nervous Draco standing beside his parents at the side of the room. "I'll get the big guy." He'd have to, there was no other option, Holly was not in the right mindset for this.

Holly followed his gaze to Draco, heard Voldemort distantly taunting her. But it no longer held the same effect, this too she blamed on Ace… or thanked him she reasoned. "Okay."

They stepped forward together, charged together. Holly with full intentions of diving past Voldemort toward Draco, while Ace on covering her and snatching hold of that nasty little stick between Voldemort's fingers. In a moment, Ace had his hand up as he placed himself between Holly and Voldemort, as he deflected a sickly looking spell with haki that Voldemort directed toward his girl. Ace saw the shock appear on Voldemort's face and cackled while Holly rocketed past. She wrenched Draco's wand brutally from his fingers and used it to attack him and his parents before they reacted or tried to attack her. At the same time, Ace deflected three more spells and wished deeply he could have taunted the snake-faced freak of a man.

Ace couldn't charge Voldemort and snap his neck like he wanted to. The man cast too quickly for Ace to act, and while Holly's back was turned, he dared not allow a single spell past him. Forward motion was awkward, he'd need Holly to defend herself if he was to do anything- a spell in bright red clipped his fingers and Ace gasped. Pain rushed through him, stronger than anything he'd felt before. It was like every nerve in his body was being electrified- it was the same feeling he'd felt as Teach bared down on him and darkness licked at his body-

"Ace!"

Holly stood beside him, facing Voldemort, and he hissed a breath through his teeth. He'd fallen at one point, to a knee. Enraged at being taken down that far Ace rose up once again snapping out: "I'm fine."

Behind them, Draco was unconscious after Holly cracked her foot into his temple. Likewise, Lucius was down, while Narcissa bodily covered her son from further harm. Bellatrix alone was standing with the Dark Lord, but she dared not attack, Bellatrix was well aware Holly Potter was Voldemort's to kill.

As if to emphasis it Voldemort suddenly hissed: "Do not touch Bellatrix, the girl is mine," A viewpoint Holly did not share, he was more than willing to allow Ace to take Voldemort once the Horcruxes were destroyed; he'd already proven he was fast enough to catch Voldemort unaware. But until they were annihilated, Holly was fine being a distraction. She almost snorted, she was a distraction, that hadn't happened before.

Side by side with Ace staring Voldemort and Bellatrix down, Holly realized that she was going to have to let Ace into a few truths by the end of that day. "Ace, do you trust me?" Holly asked under her breath.

"Loaded question, let's go with yes." He said back; because the truth was, a part of him did, and that was an island shaking realization.

Holly exhaled in relief, this would go much better if he trusted her word and she didn't have to explain. "Okay, we can't kill Voldemort yet. There's something I have to do before he dies and that something requires information Bellatrix has."

Ace flicked his eyes to her, then to Bellatrix. He'd been right, Holly had been hiding something, and it involved Voldemort, and now it seemed she was finally ready to speak to him about it. He wished she had done so beforehand though, leaving Voldemort behind now was going to be annoying and meant they would have to find the snake once more at a later date, a later date that Ace might not even have.

Regardless Ace did tell Holly he trusted her, so for the moment, he kept his mouth shut. "Give me five seconds." He'd grab the bitch, and they'd leave, everything else they'd deal with after.

Still, Holly hesitated, she had one final thing tying her there: "Ace… Hermione and Ron?"

"They're fine." He assured her as they faced their respective opponents.

"Thank you." And together they rushed forward, Ace flying past Voldemort toward the crazed woman, and Holly spinning into a furious casting speed as she dodged. Holly took large steps actively moving as Ace had taught her to for the first time that day. Her hair swung as spells brushed passed her harmlessly. Her dueling wasn't perfect, she had a long way to go, but she was better, and that counted to Voldemort who had never seen her do anything but spam cast the expelling curse.

Lights and energy flashed between them, as Holly advanced, as she actually tried to win. As she fought far harder than she had that entire day, as she resisted the end and the fate that doomed her.

Nearby Ace threw wide an arm and braced his hand against Bellatrix's arm near her elbow. Then, in a painfully loud and brutal move, Ace grabbed the woman's dominate arm close to the wrist. With a sharp move that was all power and little finesse, he snapped the bone. Bellatrix screamed in sudden agony, she had no idea what had happened or why and Ace didn't let her figure it out either. He twisted the arm around dislocating the shoulder before he stole the wand right out of her limp fingers. Shifting his weight low Ace snatched the woman by the middle and tossed her bodily over his shoulder before he turned toward Holly standing face to face with Voldemort in the middle of the room.

Holly stood closer to Ace than Voldemort, giving her a perfect view of the single entrance to the room. Standing there were her best friends in the world; neither looked well, but in war, no one would. Hermione was shaking in a way that screamed cruciatus damage, while her eyes were amazingly clear, promising sanity considering who had done the torturing. There was a mark running up her arm, letters laying on the skin that infuriated Holly. On top of that, Hermione was leaning heavily on Ron, as if she could only just keep her feet. Holding her up was Ron with painful-looking bruises across his face, there were markings wrapped around his neck that screamed strangulation. While any other damage was hidden under his clothing.

They both stared at her in pure shock; at the ferocity she'd fought with, at the style they'd never seen Holly use before, at the man they'd glimpsed only for a second before he'd vanished before their eyes. Hermione and Ron looked at their friend, the one trained to end her own life, the girl they'd been so terrified for and saw the sheer amount of changes in her, enough that it made them breathless with hope.

It had been all of a few days, but as Lily had believed, the right person could change everything.

Then the moment broke as Voldemort returned to the fight, as Holly stepped back not giving him the satisfaction of it and apparated on the spot. Holly was well aware Voldemort would be too furious by her disappearance to notice Ron and Hermione also leaving in the same moment. While Ace, still gripping Bellatrix, vanished right along with her.

Together, Ace and Holly landed in the very same clearing they'd met, and together burst into a run for the forest edge. Holly's magic could be tracked, so they had quite the goose-chase to drag Voldemort and his people on. That, however, mattered less to Holly as she opened her mouth and laughed in pure joy.

Today she lived, Holly had one more day to find a way to escape her fate. She had another day to save Ace. To figure out the Horcrux in her head, to worry about the first degree burns the locket had put in her neck to get to Voldemort. She could worry about what she'd tell Ace about the truth and how. She could fight with him again, train with him again. She had the chance to see her friends and family, the ocean, or forests. She could have one more meal and-

And she was alive.

And Holly could enjoy that for a moment.