Summary: A Griffin who was supposed to be a Snake becomes a Monkey and a Lion at the same time. And he's the son of a Dragon. It's a little complicated. But when is his life not?
Disclaimer: Neither Harry Potter nor One Piece is mine.
Warnings: Language, others I'm not sure of, absolutely NO pairings
Rating: T
Word Count: 4555
Author's Note: I have no idea what I'm doing. Instead of studying (it's my final year at high school) I'm wirting and fooling around. And instead of writing my other fics, I start new ones. The ideas though! I just couldn't resist! Anyway, it's all a jumbled mess with no plot and no point. I have no idea what do do with it. Or any of my other fics. If you have some ideas about this or any of my other fics and where would you like them to go, write me a review or a PM. I'm not sure if I will use your ideas but they may give me some necessary incentive or something. No idea if it will be continued. If you see any mistakes, tell me.
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Chapter 1
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His mother was dead. She passed away after giving birth. Monkey D. Luffy was the name of his little brother and he could already feel a headache coming. He didn't know why but he could just tell that the kid will be trouble. Harry, or Monkey D. Leo now, sighed and looked at his sibling. Ugly, as all newborns were wont to be, and a loudmouth. Those were two most prominent characteristics of the kid.
He himself was four years old. He didn't really interact much with his mother, she was often busy and left him to his own devices, even when pregnant with Luffy.
He remembered that his own infancy was spent being in the care of some unknown caretaker and not in the presence of his own mother. That's why the news of her death didn't give him much to grieve over.
On the other hand, his father, whom he saw even less than his mother, was hit rather hard by her sudden absence. So hard, that he immediately drafted a letter to his own father with a request for the old man to come and get both Luffy and himself off his hands.
Leo wasn't impressed with the man's inability to cope. The man couldn't even look at them, they were too similar in looks to his dead lover.
And that was how they found each other on the giant Marine warship. Their grandfather, Garp, was as clumsy with children as he was with everything else, but Leo needed to give him some points because at least he tried. Something their father couldn't bring himself to. Hell, the man couldn't even look at them. He himself didn't need the attention but Luffy didn't deserve to be ignored! He deserved better! And Leo will make sure that he will get it. Just like their father will get his ass beaten by him, just as soon as his Magic stabilizes. Then he will go a after the man and cut him into little pieces which he will then throw into the sea!
... Aaaand he has a daddy complex. Fantastic.
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Their granddad was a giant of a man. He had his hair and moustache peppered with silver and the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth were really prominent, showing that he was truly becoming old.
It was the first time they met and Leo found that he was a good man, if a little thick. When he spotted them standing in the docks of some unknown to Leo island he grinned and waved. And when his ship arrived and he walked off it, as soon as he was near them he pulled Leo (and consequently Luffy, because Leo was carrying him) into a big hug, lifting them from the ground for a few moments.
And now here they were, sailing through the crazy sea surrounding them from all sides. Leo didn't even know how these waters were called. Like he didn't know many other things.
Everything was unknown to him because he didn't even know the name of his own home island and Dragon brought them here and grumbled something about 'wait for your grandfather' and 'he should be here soon' and 'he will take care of you', then he, for the first time since his wife died, looked at his sons. Hesitated. His hands swung by his sides uselessly and he suddenly looked unsure. He finally settled for awkwardly squeezing Leo's shoulder and brushing his finger down Luffy's cheek. A sad smile, with a hint of guilt, tugged at the corner of his lips and Leo found it hard to hate this man. Because when Dragon stood from his crouching position and looked at them, his eyes were filled with pain and it was clear that he was hurting but his eyes still flickered over their faces, trying to commit their features to memory. And when he was standing in front of them, face half hidden by the hood of the green cloak, he suddenly looked very lonely. Lonely and alone. And Leo felt understanding and compassion fill him. Because now that he looked closely, the man didn't seem inclined to let them go. He clearly didn't want them to go. At least he himself would be with Luffy but the man didn't have anyone so he would be alone.
Leo felt pity for him... But then Dragon turned his back on them and walked away, not turning around and Leo's pity and understanding vanished faster than one could say 'Quidditch'. Faster even than Snape could say 'Twenty points from Griffindor' or snarl his personal favourite 'Detention, Potter'. And Snape could say those fast.
The pity was replaced with rage and hate and loathing because how dare that man walk away from Luffy and himself. How dare he.
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Leo sighed, looked up and, seeing nothing but a beautiful blue sky with only a few white clouds. A few minutes earlier there was a snowstorm going, he frowned. How was that even possible? Was it Magic or something similar to that? He would like to know. And with that thought in mind he started towards the place he last saw his grandfather at, intent on asking the old man for some lessons about the world. Some history, geography and navigation would have been nice, too.
Leo's mood, which was lifted since his grandfather left him in the care of the ship's navigator, crashed back to the earth, shriveled and died a quick death as soon as the island that was to become their new home came into view. As a part of the Goa Kingdom, Fooscha Village of the Dawn Island was generally quite a nice place but Leo couldn't really take the time to appreciate it. The only thing on his mind was the fact that Garp was going to leave them here and take the only source of information (the navigator and the rest of the crew which had some interesting bits and pieces, and sometimes even stories, to share), never to come back.
And Leo would suffer because from what he pieced together, the world was a great and dangerous place and his Gryffindor senses were tingling, yelling at him that it would be great idea to go and see what's out there. But on the opposite side, his Slytherin senses were hissing about not going and if they were going then acquiring information should be on the first position of their to do list.
And the only reliable and relatively cheap information sources were people. Books would have been great but they costed money. Money which Leo didn't have. And as books needed to pass general inspection of the government (from what the navigator told him) if they are to be printed, those that actually had some good information were most likely full of censuses.
It was a shame but there was nothing Leo could do about it. Although it didn't stop the feeling of annoyance and slight apprehension because if he didn't know anything about the world, then he was practically going into life blind. And after his first life of just forging on while having no idea what he was doing, he decided not to ever do that again. He was older now, his inner Gryffindor quieter and his Slytherin side deigned to somehow voice his own input in his actions more often.
And so, he needed to find a school or a teacher or a relatively intelligent person who could show him the ropes of the world. He doubted he would find either of those in the small village his grandfather planned to leave him in. And so, a plan slowly bloomed to life in his little head. He would leave the village as soon as he was certain that Garp was far away so he couldn't scream at him and hit him for his stupidity. And then he would go to the capital or some other island and find some source of information, like a library for example.
Because he needed that information! He needed to know more about the crazy world he was dropped into! And he would get the knowledge even if it was the last thing he did.
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"Well, here we are! This is Fooscha Village! This will be your home for the next couple of years!" Leo's gaze quickly swept over the whole little gathering of houses. It was pretty pitiful, he thought, a few wooden cottages made up a village. Well, he was being a little spiteful, it was more than a few because definitely more than thirty but still! He could just feel that his development in here will be as stunted as his height was at the Dursleys (he was always bitter about that. He never forgot that when his friends were all about six feet tall, he was a five-foot eight. It was embarrassing and demeaning and the Dursleys deserved to spend a whole year with Snape for that and no, he wasn't petty or holding a grudge.).
"Ojii-san, are you sure it is a good idea? Surely, there are better places for–" a fist crashed on top of his head and he literally saw stars. He took a few seconds to reorient himself and then looked up with incredulity at the tall figure of his grandfather. It was abuse! It was disgusting! It was-
"Preposterous! Fooscha is a fine place! Builds character! And muscle! Bwahahahaha!" Leo knew that if he glanced in the mirror now he would have saw a gobsmacked look on his face.
"Ojii-san, please..." He didn't know how to say that the backwater hole the man planned to leave them in for years was a, well, a backwater hole.
"You're a smart little bugger! Just like your father!" The tanned, wrinkled face soured, mouth twisting under the moustache as if he had a whole lemon shoved in his stupid maw. "You will be alright, I'm sure of it! And in a few years, I will be back to check in on you and your brother! And start you on your Marines training!" He started laughing again. The bastard. Leo's teeth ground together and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He could feel his hair–trigger temper ready to snap. He barely restrained his magic from lashing out at the man, it was still unbalanced, he needed to train with it more. He had no idea what it would do if he let it run wild now. It could turn his grandfather into a frog or something… On the other hand it didn't sound like such a bad idea right now…
"Sir?" The second in command who talked to Leo and told him about the world and Grand Line and so much more, prompted. Leo turned a pleading and demanding look on the man, hoping that maybe he would convince his grandfather that it was a bad idea to leave them here, "I do not want to question your decisions regarding personal matters-"
"Then don't," was the simple reply of the vice admiral. Coupled with the hard look Garp levelled at his subordinate, it had the desired effect of having the younger one shut up. Leo turned betrayed eyes on the now silent man who shrugged and looked away from his desperate gaze. The traitor.
Leo's lips thinned and he opened his mouth to argue, to question, to beg, to say something, when his grandfather turned his gaze onto him. The giant of a man grinned hugely at him, picked him up and hugged him (almost breaking his spine), dropped him (almost making him twist his ankle) and pounded him on the back (almost bowling him over).
"My grandsons will become great Marines in the future! They know how to take care of each other! I trust you with Luffy, Leo! I will be back in a few years!" Leo was too stunned to do anything but accept the bundle with his brother in it from the nearest apologetic Marine and watch the ship slowly set sail.
How could that be? How could their grandfather leave them like that? His own family. His own blood. Leo tightened his grip in his sleeping brother. He... Wasn't like that, was he? He wanted to gather all the information about this world and then set out and live his life. He wanted to leave for the capital to get to the library as soon as Garp left but he didn't even think about what he would do with Luffy. He didn't count his brother in his plans at all, did he? He completely disregarded his presence.
Was he like their father? Getting rid of them and all but throwing them at their grandfather because he didn't have the heart to raise them on his own. Or like their grandfather, who left them on their own in some poor little village with little to no contact with the big world because he didn't have time to raise them himself.
But no. He caught his mistake and stopped before doing anything like that. He wasn't going to be like them. He wouldn't leave Luffy alone, he wouldn't leave him behind. The kid was his responsibility now. He would be the best older brother anyone could hope for.
But in the meantime...
"What is going on here?... GARP! YOU IDIOT, GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT, YOU IMBECILE!" Leo looked at the little man that was standing a few feet away from him waving his cane in the air and screaming (creative, he had to admit) curses at the warship that was sailing away. The only answer the tiny old man got was a distant 'bwahahaha', that Leo recognized as his grandfather's signature laugh.
And Leo suddenly found himself a plan. His new goal in this world (besides protecting his little brother) was being an uncooperative and annoying little shit to his grandfather. And since all his grandfather wanted was for him to become a Marine, his best bet was to become a pirate. Or something. Watching with morbid fascination as the small man next to him flipped a bird in the ship's direction and swore some more, another idea formed in his head. He was definitely learning how to curse like that, too, and from what he knew from his previous life, pirates definitely knew how to curse.
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The small man that cursed Garp's very birth to hell and back, was the Mayor of Fooscha. He introduced himself as soon as he stopped swearing at his grandfather's (and therefore his own) ancestors forever thinking that copulation would be a good idea. The man's name was Woop Slap. Leo's reaction to that name was the greatest deadpan expression his face ever formed. For which he got a cross look and a huff but nothing more.
When he introduced himself and his brother and their situation, the man started cursing all over again, still vicious, although quieter. Then the man took him to one of the houses in the village, where he dumped them muttered about arranging something for them and ordered Leo to go to sleep. The old man also told him that he would take care of everything and not to worry. Then he left in a hurry (hobbling on his cane, so while the walk was supposed to be hurried, it really wasn't).
Leo laid his brother on a bed (which he pushed to the wall) in one of the bedrooms (there were four), shrugged off the backpack with all his possessions and left it by the door of the room along with the bag with all of Luffy's stuff. Then he scrambled onto the bed himself, made sure that Luffy was closer to the wall and wouldn't fall off and laid there for the rest of the night, thinking.
Their grandfather left them. Luffy was wailing. Leo was staring blankly at the wall of their new room and didn't move. How could someone be so irresponsible and imbecilic, he didn't know. Garp left them on their own. Said that since Leo was such a smart little bugger, he would know how to take care of himself and his younger, few weeks old brother.
And when he tried arguing, Garp shut him up and screamed that his grandsons are future Marines and so they can, and will, take care of each other. Then he left. And the responsibility of making sure his brother survived fell on his tiny shoulders. And he won't fail. He won't be like his father or his grandfather. He would be someone Luffy could count on, because he was all the kid had. And the kid was all he himself had. The two of them could count on each other and only each other but that was okay. It was all Leo needed and he would have to make sure that he was all that Luffy ever needed.
Except.
When they met the Mayor again, he had some bad news.
"What do you mean he didn't leave us any money." Leo felt the need to scream. Scream and stomp and cry and rage at the idiot man because. Because he left them here without money. How were they supposed to live?
He exhaled, the air leaving him quickly in a great sigh. Well, he would just have to make the best out of this situation. That meant that Leo would have to man the fuck up and start working to support his little brother because he wasn't leaving the kid by himself. He wasn't heartless, he wasn't like Dragon or Garp. He would be the best fucking older brother, father and whatever else Luffy needed. Because their real father and grandfather sure as hell won't be welcome in their family after that stunt they just pulled. They could go eat dirt for all he cared. The bastards.
"Exactly what I said," The Mayor rubbed his forehead, an agitated air around him. He looked older than he did just yesterday, the wrinkles more prominent on his face, there were dark smudges under his eyes, as if he didn't really sleep all night, "Garp has a house here, yes, you slept there. It is paid for for the next few years but he didn't bring any money for you to use on basic needs such as food and clothe," Leo felt the beginnings of a white-hot fury at that. Their grandfather left them here, alone, without explanation and without money? The question now wasn't if he was stupid but how stupid was he, exactly.
The old man looked at his blank and pale face in concern, "Of course, we could just put it on his tab but it will be a little hard. Knowing the Ds and Garp especially, I expect you to have quite an appetite and the village is a bit small with not the best trade..." He trailed off, looking troubled but resigned, as if the outcome of this situation was sure. As if he really expected only the worst of his grandfather. Leo thought it was quite smart because that way, he won't feel disappointed when Garp, inevitably, well, disappointed him.
"I will pay for it." He suggested suddenly but it wasn't as much a suggestion as it was a statement. He will pay for this. It was his duty as an older brother. He was the head of their family of two now. He must do what is necessary for the survival of his family (Luffy). And he will.
The mayor looked at him with wide eyes. He sputtered, looking surprised, "Do you have any money, then?" He asked, sounding hopeful but trying to hide it. Leo could understand. Luffy and him were kids, they needed clothes (taken in consideration must be the Ds family tendency to go on adventures which aren't clothes friendly and the fact that children grew fast), food (a lot of it, if his previous meals, which were as big as a grown man's, we're to be believed, and some food for baby-Luffy, too) and attention (though Luffy needed it a lot more, because he was a small baby and Leo was, well, really not). All of that cost money. Which he didn't have. So.
"I will work," he proposed instead, a glimmer of determined resolve entering his dark eyes.
The mayor knew better than to argue, he knew Garp long enough to be aware that it wouldn't have changed anything. Because when one of their family is set on something, they won't listen to reason.
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It was easier said than done, indeed. Leo was red. Not from embarrassment or rage. No, although he felt both. And humiliation, that too. No, he was sunburnt. It was not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.
Leo was also tired. He really wanted to work and bring home some money to feed Luffy and himself with but well. It was hard.
The only thing he could think of to do was help around and maybe try to see if some fishermen needed his assistance. Apparently, the old men from the docks decided to give him the benefits of the doubt and actually took him with them on board. Maybe they were convinced by the mayor that he would be a hard worker and a good cabin boy or something. Maybe they just took pity on him after hearing the truly sorry financial situation he and his brother were left with.
(He was a little concerned that they let a four-year old work in such a dangerous conditions but figured it was the cultural difference. In England, people wouldn't have hired a practically toddler to work on a boat. And the social services would have taken notice… He thought. But no one ever noticed an underfed and poor-looking boy, living in a cupboard under the stairs so what did he know about such matters.)
Anyway, he arranged (begged, really, but with dignity) for the mayor to take care of Luffy and the old man instead introduced a young woman who worked at the only bar in the village. The girl, she couldn't be older than sixteen, was nice and easy to get along with. She seemed quite taken with Luffy and himself, cooing over the baby and asking Leo all kinds of questions about his favorite food and drinks. He answered that whatever fresh and edible food was on the table, it would be his favorite. And, seeing that his guilt trip, even if unintended, worked, he rolled along with it. He told the lady all about his awful relatives (father and grandfather, so neglectful, they left him and little Luffy all alone) and she made gasps in all the right places. She may have even cried a little over his situation (he felt like such a scumbag but, hey, it worked).
And then he dropped the question on her, would you mind looking after Luffy, only when I work and only for a little. I will pay, how much would you say it would be? Ohh, I only hope we will have enough...
And how could she say no to that face? (Mastering his expression into a miserable but determined look had taken him about five hours of standing before the mirror, feeling quite stupid, making faces at it.)
He felt equally proud and guilty about manipulating the girl like that but that quickly faded in the face of the fact that now he had a suitable babysitter, one who was quite in love with Luffy. She would defend him if necessary, maybe even with her life.
But back to his work. It was a nightmare. It was hard. The waters were unforgiving and the sailors were harsh (but strangely softer on him than themselves for which he was both grateful – his kiddy body wouldn't handle the workload of an adult; and resentful – he didn't need to be coddled). His work was washing the deck, helping in preparing the meals, fetching something that was needed at the moment and basically doing everything that was demanded of him.
It was exhausting and he hated it. He wanted to quit as soon as he started. But the gods above rewarded him for all his troubles.
Their little boat stopped at some island north of his new home and he found something more interesting and with better pay than helping some old fishermen. That is, he pickpocketed a lot of people. And in the docks, there were a lot of fat wallets and bags to pick from (he rummaged through nearly all of them). A line on his right arm, a circle on his heart and a gigantic triangle stretching all over his small back, there from his birth. The only thing he could actually use successfully was the invisibility cloak (because unlike the other two, while he did need to feed it a little bit of his magic, he didn't need to mold it, as with the wand – right forearm. The stone was useless to him for now as he didn't know any dead people that he wanted to meet with.
So with the help from the cloak, he had enough money (was it berry, berri or berrie?) to feed two people for a year. Himself and Luffy, for about four months (it was incredible, how much his little body could stuff into itself, its metabolism was incredibly fast, eating more than three adult men).
He didn't actually buy food. Instead, he went and hid most of it in a chest. Then, he went into the forest, ventured as far away from the city as he dared and dug a hole in the ground (it was a chore to do it with his small body) and buried the treasure in it. He wanted to be a pirate, didn't he? And pirates hid their money from what he knew. It was a first step on the way to his future career. Garp would be furious.
The rest of the money he hid on his person and waited patiently for the ship to sail back home while mentally committing the place with his treasure to memory. Should he draw a map, maybe? He hummed to himself as he thought. No, he had good memory, besides, he wouldn't want others to find it…
He looked around at the rest of the small crew, he could use those small little adventures for a little while longer and then he could buy his own boat and sail wherever he wanted to (wherever there was money). That sort of job appealed to him, it was morally wrong but it was easy and well-paid. And Garp wouldn't approve. If he knew. Not that Leo ever planned on telling him. He shuddered, it would be a nightmare if the old man knew. He still wanted to live.
Then, a new plan started forming in his head. If he wanted to live, he would need to be stronger. Garp would definitely find out sooner or later and he would rather be prepared for the possibility of a beating from the Marine. So he would need to train. Not only his Magic but also his body. A Quidditch seeker's training wouldn't cut it. He would need to up his standards and start pushing his body to its limits and beyond.
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