Pain.

The first thing that registered in her foggy mind, clouded by dark clouds of confusion, was the overwhelming pain. A burning fire, liking every inch of her body thoroughly, so slowly, so painfully. It was everywhere, in every fiber of her being, eating her away. Sometimes, it intensified, sharp claws against her skin, as something impossibly cold touched her burning skin. She wished she could scream, beg for it to stop, for the torture to end… because it could be nothing more than torture, the coldness against her skin, the painful licks of flame.

How long she laid, bathed by furious flames, was something she could not measure. It could have been simple minutes, or an endless eternity, since there was no time to her pain. Only the flames, burning stronger with every moment.

Her mind was clouded, the pain, confusion and fear bringing her demons forward to play a wicked game. Stuck in her own mind, unable to escape, to run, to cry for help…

Ace was looking at her, grinning wildly as she fought against Luffy, the little brat refusing to go easy even though he had been sick just the night before.

Ace lying on the ground, blood surrounding him as his eyes slowly lost the shine in them. With one last push, he looked into her eyes, pulling her into a tight hug. "I´m sorry…".

They were clothes together after Sabo accidentally dyed them green.

The fist connecting with Ace, scent of fresh burned skin assaulting her senses…

No, no, please, she wanted to scream, wanted to beg, to run away from those never ending memories. Her worst moment, playing against the best days of her life. A cruel film, to remind her that she failed, why she deserved to burn.

They were sitting on a branch, high up the tree, looking at the blue see that extended beyond what their eyes could see. Sabo and Luffy had already said their goodbyes, but Reina just couldn´t let go, afraid she would lose him forever.

"Reina, you know I will be careful. And I will write, as I promised." Ace stated, grinning as she refused to look at him, stubbornly staring at the wide sea. "You will be fine here with Luffy, and once you are of age, you can join my crew! You´ll see, it will be the best ever!"

However, the girl didn´t budge, her eyes never leaving the sea. With a sigh, Ace relented, just sitting there alongside with his little sister as they both watched the sea. Sometimes, Reina got all quiet, either staring at the sky or at the sea, never bugging despite their attempts to make her talk. He didn´t mind, however, such moments were nice too.

"Will you be careful?"

Reina finally asked after a moment, clutching his hand tightly. She worried so much, the sea was not as kind as he tied to paint it.

"Of course. After all, we have trained hard, all of us. Do you really think I am going to lose?" Smiling slightly, Reina finally relented, turning around to look at her brother. "You´ll see. I´ll be in an excellent condition when you see me next time…"

Ace was smiling, assuring her he would be perfectly fine, but the red running down his skin, the burned hole in his chest… The dead eyes…

She screamed, from horror, fear and pain.

It was impossible to pinpoint exactly when everything became better, but at some point, her mind cleared enough to ignore the pain, to escape the nightmares. Probably because the pain eased, slowly transforming into a tolerable ache, something known. It was sufficient for her, however, to finally escape the strange thoughts that polluted her head. Obviously, she was not burning, there was no flame eating her away from the inside, even if it had certainly felt like it.

Fighting against her own body, the cage of useless muscles restricting her movements as they refused to move, the girl tried to wake up. She knew that while her mind was lucid, as much as it could be, Reina was not awake yet. The nightmares still polluted the back of her mind, never ending darkness that threatened to envelop her once again.

Yes... there was once a time she had felt like this, when she had been still a little girl, unable to control the strange power she possessed. It had exploded, she still couldn't remember why, and she spent the next week unable to move, the pain had been excruciating...

It felt the same. Perhaps not as powerful, since she could somehow ignore it, but still the same. Like there was something missing inside her, an aching for something more she could not understand.

Rolling to the side, Reina sighed loudly once she noticed her body was once again hers to control, not paying attention to anything else. It was rather unfortunate, however, as in her faint celebration, she forgot to check were she was lying. While the fluffiness certainly meant a bed, it ended being not wide enough, as it ended suddenly beneath her, coming to an abrupt end. Unable to react in time, violently caught by surprise, the girl felt on the hard stone ground. On the hard, cold, made of pure stone, incredibly painful to hit, damn floor. If she hadn´t been hurt before, after that she certainly was.

Groaning in pain, so much more than before, as now her muscles joined the party, Reina shut her eyes violently. Everything was just swimming, blurred colors joining the light in a head-blowing party. It was almost amazing, how her own body could torture her and do an excellent job at it. For once, she seriously regretted moving, preferring the fluffy bed to the cold ground.

With great difficultly, while fighting the salty tears that threatened to fall, Reina somehow managed to lift herself slightly, relying on her shaky arms. All she wanted was to rest, but Ace´s unknown fate kept her going, every single second counting.

Moving slowly as not to make things even worse, Reina carefully accessed her situation, green eyes scanning the room. Which would be easy, incredibly so, if not for the fact her head was doing synchronized swimming competition and the room decided to join it. Well, perhaps there was no swimming competition, but it certainly felt like it… Probably a concussion, she needed to be careful with those…

Once again, she focused with all her might on the black wall in front of her, frowning as it seemed to be moving towards her. Last time she checked, walls couldn´t move. Unless the wall was actually a person pretending to be a wall and trying to scare the life out of her…

Wait. That was not a wall! And not only because she was certain that wall-pretending bastard was long in prison.

With one last push, Reina forced herself to sit with her back against the bed, eyes narrowing dangerously as she tried to make out the strangers features. It was difficult, as her eyes simply refused to focus on anything, but somehow she managed to determinate that it was a man, with dark hair. Obviously, he noticed her as he suddenly stopped, his eyes on her. Not that she could see them, but the feeling was there, that someone was watching her.

The stranger was silent, observing without saying a word. However, Reina had to thank him for that, as she barely had enough strength to stay awake, not to mention fight should it be needed. If he had approached further… well, Robin had taught her well, it would be quick and deadly.

"Where is he?"

The man looked at her without blinking, his gaze intensely searching for something Reina feared she did not possess. Somewhere, in the back of her head, she felt like she was forgetting something important, about the strange dark haired man, the cold infirmary room, the endless stone floors... It felt strangely familiar, and yet she could not place it, the worry about Ace´s well being too much at the moment.

"Where is he?" Reina inquired once again, finally managing to lift herself from the icy stone. Even though her body protested with every move, she knew she had to know before giving in to weakness once again. "I need to see him. Please."

Giving her one last long look, the man nodded, perhaps reading the desperate tone all over her words. "Your companion is well, not healed yet, but his life is no longer in danger." Leading her to a bed covered in white sheets not too far away, while making sure he was not too close to her, the stranger opened the curtains.

Compared to the last time she saw him, Ace had a healthier undertone to his skin, the blood all but removed, along with his bloody clothes. There was only one thing that showed what he had been through just the day before: the angry red wound in his chest that was barely healed.

Leaning painfully on top of his bed, while staring at him in silence, the girl thanked every imaginable gods out there for his good fortune. To be honest, she had given up hope of his recovery, aware it was too much for her to handle. To think they would land somewhere where Ace could be healed... Even if it meant that she had used up all her luck, the witch didn't care, as long as Ace survived.

As his well-being was confirmed, Reina suddenly faced another dilemma, one that was probably as important as the first one.

Where did they land?

When she had used her recently acquired power to teleport, she hadn't thought of a specific location, wishing to go somewhere they would be safe. Was it too much to assume that no harm would befall them? Honesty, with her luck, probably.

Turning around to face the silent man, honestly he was too silent; she prepared herself mentally for all answers possible. A marine facility, a secret research company, a pirate castle... yes, she could do it, she needed that answer in order to plan their next moved after all.

"Thank you for helping him." Bowing slightly, while bracing herself, Reina looked right into his eyes. "I am afraid I don't know where we are... could you please tell me? Where are we?"

For a moment, she read surprise in the stranger's eyes, whom, now that she though well, hadn't introduced himself yet. Well, not like she had done it either, so they were even. However, the surprise meant the location was famous. They hadn't been caught by slave merchant... right? Oh man, she sure hopped not.

"It is understandable." The man finally spoke, his voice deep now that she paid attention. Not that she was surprised, everything about him screamed serious. "Judging by how I found you yesterday, I don't believe you were in any condition to pay attention to your surroundings. For now, I believe both of you can relax, this castle has been offering sanctuary for those whom requested it for years. Perhaps I am not the right person, but welcome to Hogwarts."

Hogwarts? That name rang a bell. Rather, it rang a LOT of bells, all of them accompanied by dull, almost forgotten memories, most of them rather painful. After all, Hogwarts meant magic, meant a world she had been forced to join... it meant years of neglect, abuse and starvation, because she was different. However, more than it all, it meant having a killer after your head.

Unable to cope with it all, as the memories assaulted her violently, Reina fainted.

The last thing Severus had expected once he told the girl about Hogwarts, was for her to faint, falling on the floor like a sack of potatoes. It was, in some way, rather funny. Usually the mention of the magic castle made people smile and recall their school days. It certainly was more than unusual for someone to go white and just fall on the ground. As much as he recalled from Potter's short stay in the school, it was not bad. A group of friends, passable grades... though the troll and whatever happened in the forest left a mark on her.

Picking her up with care, still surprised that after all this time she had returned, he carried with ease. Even though the girl had grown up, she was rather light for her age, her features rather delicate. However, he knew that wherever she had been, Reina had grown up to become someone whom could take care of herself.

Honestly, Severus had been unable to sleep all night, his mind trying to understand how she had managed to return, and with a companion. Someone she clearly cared about, judging by the way she put her own life on the risk. As one of the teacher that reinforced the barrier around the school every year, he would have felt if the barrier had been ripped once she appeared at the school. However, it remained unchanged, not even a small crack. To be honest, her sudden appearance was baffling.

Therefore, thinking about that, he had been unable to rest. A part of him believed it had been just a strange dream, created by desperation. There was also the issue of how he would treat her from then on. Once Dark Lord knew of her return, the hunt for her head would commence immediately, something he wished to delay to as later as possible. After all, they needed to figure out where she had been all those years, whom appeared with her, how much magic she could use...

It was with a heavy heart, and even heavier head, that Severus had slowly made his way to the infirmary. The potions, made perfectly as always, were handed immediately to the medwitch, whom used them right away. The man's condition had been slowly worsening. According to Poppy, he couldn't have had a better timing. Good, obviously, because he didn't even want to imagine Potter's reaction had he arrived late.

Retreating to her personal quarters, Severus and Poppy sat heavily at the table, a glass of whiskey in their hands. It was obvious, both were exhausted fiscally and emotionally.

"Who would have though... that after all this time?" Poppy mumbled as she took a gulp to steady herself, once again feeling her age. "To be honest, I had given up on ever seeing her again. I mean, it has been so long..."

"I know Poppy, I know. I doubt there was anyone whom hadn't lost hope at least one. It has been long five years." And so much had happened, not everything of it good. "However, we need to focus right now on the fact she is here, with someone accompanying her. What are the status on both of them?"

"Indeed. The young man is going to recover, however I am afraid a scar will remind, no matter how much we try to heal it. The wound itself seems to prevent healing to some point, which has been making my work hard. The potions you brought, however, seems to have taken care of the problem. In five days he will wake up, but I estimate about a month to fully recover." Severus was truly surprised, there were few wounds that prevented healing, and most were a result of cursed spells. "As for Reina, she is completely drained magically. It is a miracle she hadn't entered a magical coma to recover. Anyway, five to six days to wake up. However, I will only be able to tell when she'll regain complete use of her magic with further analysis."

As expected, the girl was as reckless as he recalled. It was dangerous enough to pump her magic into her friend's body, the extent she went to keep him alive truly scared them, such dedication was frightening. "Where you able to collect other information about her?"

"Not much, I am afraid. There is something interfering with my scan." Which clearly annoyed the medwitch. "However, it is clear she was involved in some short of struggle, and I am certain she fought back. I found three daggers on her body, hidden from sight."

"That is worrying..." What was she, of all people, doing walking around with daggers? Severus wasn't sure he wanted to know. " Better leave you to rest now, you look like you need it."

"Don't we all, my dear." She laughed slightly, closing her eyes as if in pain. Lately, the nights have been as long as the days, a never ending cycle. "However, you are right. Don't you mind keeping an eye on them for a while? I have spells, but with the condition of the young man, even now I fear should I close my eyes, I won't be there to react in time."

Nodding, Severus took in the paleness of her skin, the wrinkles that showed more each day. Poppy was not a young woman by any means, however, with the return of the Dark Lord, the medwitch has been pushed to her limits, more than once. Taking care of the children, healing the wounded when requested help, trying to keep herself together as another war started... Poppy was not a young woman, nevertheless, she was a true warrior.

"Do not worry. I won't be getting sleep any time soon anyway, I can at least use the time I would have spent brooding doing something useful..." Smirking evilly as Poppy shook her head, he continued. "I wonder how many Trolls will be given tonight to those dunderheads."

"You, my dear, have a wicked sense of humor few understand. Now, shoo, my beauty sleep won't wait for me. Goodnight."

Mumbling a goodnight back, Severus left the private room with a grin, wondering why there weren't more people like her in school. Should he have said that to Minerva, the old head of house would have started lecturing him. Not that it happened much anymore, as everyone was too busy to care just how horribly he was treating his students, those stupid dunderheads.

Sighing slightly, the potion professor made his way to the infirmary main room, while summoning some papers that he needed to grade. With his current mood and lack of sleep, there surely would be more than five Trolls. And even some of his Slytherin, there was a bunch of them that seemed to have forgotten his rules even though he repeated them every single year.

As expected, the infirmary was quiet, as it was occupied only by two, both unconscious. Poppy had considered putting them in a private room, but since no one else needed her services, and she was too tired, she left them in the common part. And that lead him to think about the information he had received.

Daggers.

Honestly, it was the last thing he expected, for Potter to be carrying daggers. Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised, whom knows where the girl had been for the last years. Judging by the fact they both barely made out of wherever they were alive, he considered carrying weapons as a means of protection a wise move.

No, to be truthful, what worried him was the number of them. One dagger meant protection, a way to defend one self. Many, however, indicated proficiency, the expectation of fighting with someone whom could knock the dagger away. Arg, what a pain, his head hurt too much already.

A sudden sound caught his attention, the wand in his hands ready to be used in seconds. If it was one of those dunderheads, he was going to give them the worst detention, reserved usually for those Wesley twins.

Carefully, he analyzed the room, dark eyes scanning with ease. The door was closed, the locking spell in place. The charms on the windows seemed to be working, not allowing people to enter or leave through them. Therefore, it was not an outside intruder, what made him frown, since aside from him, there were only two unconscious patients. Peeves perhaps?

Going around the corner, ready to cast the damn poltergeist out, Severus came face to face with a surprising picture. At the back of his head, he wondered when those would end, as he hated surprised.

Sitting strangely on the floor, hands supporting her body as she tried to straighten herself up, sat Reina Potter, more than obviously awake. Which, honestly, was perhaps as surprising as finding her in a corridor all bloody, because SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE UNCONSCIOUS FOR DAYS!

Hiding his wand, Severus stood there, watching silently as the girl obviously struggled against her own body. It was so confusing he just didn't know how to react. He had experienced magical exhaustion once, and he knew, it was not something easily dealt with. The fact she was moving, just hours after completely emptying her core... was actually awe inspiring. And scary as hell.

Suddenly, green eyes focused on him, slightly gazed by confusion. Those eyes... emerald gems, so similar to Lily's, and yet... Yet when he looked at them, he couldn't see it. He couldn't see Lily, like he had seen every single day in the past as he looked at Potter. Not because the color was different, or the shape. It was something different, as Potter's eyes shone brightly, greener than ever.

"Where is he?"

Even now, as he silently put her back in her bed, Severus marveled that her first question was about her companion. He had met many teams that prided themselves on being close, and yet, when in a hospital, wounded, their first question was always regarding themselves, their broken memories... The teammates were always secondary. Not for Reina, apparently, as she fought against her own body to make sure he lived.

Such behavior he had seen only few times, Severus reflect as he watched her sleep, in bonded couples. As if the events of the day weren´t worrying bough, he just had to plant the possibility they were lovers in his mind. Great, amazing... signing, Severus finally turned around, deciding to concentrate his attention on the stupid papers. At least those didn't make his head hurt, unless he needed to read the young male Wesley's homework. That boy's hand writing was horrendous. At least for a few hours, he would ignore the pain that was Reina Potter.

Declaimer: I don´t own Harry Potter nor One Piece

A/N: I found it! To be honest, I have found it two weeks ago, but I though I have already published it, so... was looking for something that didn´t exist, apparently.

Warning: I reread it late at night, after spending two whole hours on my stupid anatomy assignment. Every mistake you notice (and there will be, trust me), PM me and I´ll fix it.

Answer to review will be done in PM form from now on (hopefully on the day I receive them)

And, also, does someone know how to work with Matlab around here? Looking for someone to help...

Thanks for reading!

Kaggami-chan