Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin or Harry Potter...otherwise I would have made a second season of WHR..

Chapter 3: Mistakes and Consequences

Robin watched some of the children peer curiously down Knockturn Alley and bet each other who could get the closest or even touch the wall. Even though Amon had been gone for half an hour, she hadn't moved away from the original spot where he left her. She also hadn't really observed any of the children closely. It's not like she was obsessed with Amon, but she couldn't think of a more appropriate word to describe it.

To say he was nice to her would be an outright lie, and he didn't seem particularly interested in her either. Even though he was cold to her, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something beyond the icy exterior. Amon was far too enigmatic to concretely say one thing or the other.

In the beginning he had been harsh to her, though she didn't know if he was always like that to new recruits. She was young and inexperienced, and Amon seemed to prefer methods that were direct. After the first few hunts, she began to respect his decisions, even if she didn't see the value of those glasses he always made her wear. He in turn seemed to respect her a little more. When she had been so fervent about the girl Chie being a witch, Amon had been the only one to help her and keep helping her even after Chief Kosaka had yelled at everyone.

Robin sat down on a bench and gracefully folded her hands together. Recently Amon seemed more reclusive than usual. He always seemed so confident about everything. Now he was talking even less than what she thought could be possible and not confiding in either Karasuma or Michael about his plans. He had been spacing out at STN-E headquarters, and he hadn't even registered her proximity until she said his name.

In other words, she was worrying about her partner, and, like the children, her mind and eyes were wandering toward the alley. He'd be mad that she hadn't found out anythingor even attempted to find any information, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything else but sit there and worry. She couldn't lie to Amon, but there was really no excuse she could think of that could pardon her failure to execute her assignment.

She put her feet up on the bench and hugged her knees. She was hopeless. She rested her head on her kneecaps. Maybe obsession was an accurate word for her feelings.

"Robin." Automatically standing up in attention, Robin managed to stare directly into Amon's chest without too much embarrassment. "We're going."

Without waiting for a response he started walking ahead. Trying to catch up without appearing as though she were running, Robin barely managed to keep in tow.

"Do you know where the others are?" Amon said, not even turning his head to glance behind him.

"No, I haven't seen anyone." Amon continued walking while scanning the crowd. Robin followed suit and realized that despite many people wearing black cloaks, none were wearing completely black robes that both Amon and Robin were donning. Their eager paces and searching stares were drawing attention.

Not knowing what else to do, Robin ran up to Amon and grabbed ahold of his arm both slowing his pace down and earning her an angry and semi-confused look (for Amon anyway).

"Everyone's staring," Robin whispered. Amon looked as though he were going to object but suddenly stopped. He looked back over the crowd then down at Robin's face.

"We'll start by going to the main clothing store and see if Doujima is still there." Amon secured Robin's arms surrounding his own left arm and walked in a more casual manner toward his destination. Robin encircled her arms tighter around Amon's until she was literally hugging it. At least this way she looked more like a child than a lover, which was earning the two completely different stares and murmurings than before.

Amon, unwilling to acknowledge what part of the body Robin was pressing into his arm, started walking at a faster pace without resorting to an all-out run toward the clothing store.

"Why, don't you two look cozy?" Doujima seemed to enjoy the predictable reaction from both parties. Amon sent her a death glare, while Robin blushed, hiding her face in the back of his robes.

"You bought a new outfit," Amon stated rather than asked. "I hadn't realized you had any money."

"I don't," Doujima said while twirling around once in her new robes. "But you'd be surprised about how much charm can get you. I'd suggest you try it...if you had a personality."

"Doujima," Robin scolded as best she could, though she regretted that it sounded more like a soft reminder that Amon was still present.

"At any rate, we need to find Sakaki and Karasuma and leave as soon as possible," Amon said, again scanning the perimeter for the two hunters and the slight chance for danger.

"Why are we in a hurry?" Robin asked. Amon looked down at her, and she instinctively hugged his arm tighter, inciting an odd jerky movement of Amon's head to the other direction. He was definitely acting different than usual.

"We'll hold a meeting later. Right now just do as I say."

Robin buried her head into Amon's arm or the part of his robe that contained his arm. She seemed to be offending him in some way. For some reason he seemed to react this way to a lot of the things she's said recently.

A slap on the back brought her attention back to the real world. "C'mon, Robin, let's get moving." Doujima smiled encouragingly. Robin smiled back and continued to follow Amon who had tried to move earlier and failed when she didn't budge. Doujima walked alongside and gave Robin insinuating looks toward her and Amon until Robin ignored her completely by looking in the other direction.

Doujima's flashy attire was creating a stir among the men in Diagon Alley, and Robin was grateful that the attention slid off of her and Amon, though she still refused to free his arm. Doujima's new robes also caught the attention of someone else.

"Yurika," Karasuma yelled getting their attention. She and Sakaki caught up with them. "We gathered some information - "

"Good," Amon interrupted. "We'll talk about it later. We're leaving."

Karasuma gave Robin a confused look, to which Robin responded with an equally confused shrug. All five hunters made their way to the exit through one of the hotels. Loitering outside the hotel, a group of rowdy boys wearing silver and green laced robes bumped into the group and knocked Sakaki over. Acting on autopilot, Sakaki jumped to his feet and reached for his gun under his jacket. Both the jacket and the gun were not there, but the movement had not gone unnoticed by the boys.

"You were just about to draw your wand on me," said the lead boy with slicked blond hair.

Robin looked quickly at Sakaki and Amon, both of whom seemed to recognize the child in some way.

"What? Changed your mind, coward?" the boy taunted.

Sakaki, seething because of the magic word that seems to incur the wrath of every boy his age, blurted, "A witch like you would be the coward if I had my gun."

The boy raised an eyebrow, and the other hunters suddenly became very rigid.

"Gun?"

"We're leaving," Amon said, roughly grubbing Sakaki by the collar and making his way through the hotel as quickly as possible, almost literally dragging Robin as her feet tried to keep up with the rest of her body. Doujima and Karasuma followed, and the group didn't stop until they reached the safe building Solomon had bought for hunters who needed close quarters to Diagon Alley.

Amon threw Sakaki onto the couch and disentangled himself from Robin's arms. For the first time since she's met Amon, Robin became very scared of what he planned to do next. She's never heard him yell, though his vault of insults never seemed to run dry. Robin desperately tried to read Amon's face which was hidden behind a curtain of black hair.

Though she could not see his face, Sakaki looked like he could and his expression worried her greatly. She was about to step forward when Karasuma grabbed her shoulders and forced her to stay in place. Robin whipped her head around to see if either Karasuma or Doujima were going to help, but neither were moving. Karasuma gave her an understanding look but shook her head. Robin refocused her attention on Amon and a very scared Sakaki.

"Change your clothes, and we'll head back to STN-E headquarters." Amon's voice was incredibly even and as he went into one of the rooms to change out his robes, he hadn't stomped or slammed anything. Robin wasn't sure whether the lack of a response was better or worse than blowing up at Sakaki. The two women seemed relieved, though.

"I thought he was really going to give it to you this time," Doujima laughed as she made her way to another room. Sakaki remained speechless and motionless even at Doujima's remark.

"Why don't you get changed, Sakaki," Karasuma gently suggested guiding him toward another room.

"Yeah, and if you need clean underwear, I'm sure you'll find some in the closet," Doujima added.

Karasuma gave her a reproving glare, helped Sakaki into his room and closed the door after him.

Without Karasuma's hands holding her shoulders, Robin had slumped to the floor. She looked at Karasuma when the woman kneeled down in front of her. Even though she was only 19, Robin looked to her for the kind of support a mother would give her. She always took care of the team after they were battered down by Chief Kosaka or ignored by Amon. Karasuma had been the one to make her feel better when Amon had taken Sakaki on patrol over his own partner. Her powers had grown into understanding human thought as well as emotion, but she didn't seem to use either in guessing what was wrong with Robin.

"Sakaki has messed up before," Karasuma said soothingly. "Other hunters have also while under Amon's command. I've never seen nor heard of Amon ever losing control and physically hurting another hunter." Karasuma smiled and brushed away some of Robin's hair that had fallen in front of her eyes.

"Amon doesn't feel it is his job to scold anyone," Karasuma continued to explain. "He plans out the strategies, leads the team during the cases and briefs us afterward. If anyone would directly scold someone it is usually the Chief or Zaizen, especially if it requires talking for longer than one sentence." Karasuma gave Robin another concerned look when the girl didn't respond to the obvious jab at Amon's loquacity.

Robin smiled as best she could, though failing to trick Karasuma whose job it was to read emotions. She laughed slightly. "There's no need to force yourself to suddenly accept all of what I've said. I've been scared before too. He's quite an ominous man, isn't he?"

Robin smiled genuinely. "Why don't you go and change. Amon seems to be in a hurry."

"I want to talk to Amon first," Robin said, summoning her courage. Karasuma blanched.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now, Robin," Karasuma warned. "Amon may not hurt you physically, but he's not very understanding of someone's feelings when he's angry. Well, less than usual when he's angry. Don't go looking for trouble, Robin. Get changed, and I'll get you some private time with Amon later."

"What happens if Amon doesn't want to talk later?"

"He will," Karasuma reassured Robin. Guiding her to a room in a similar fashion as Sakaki, Karasuma managed to get Robin to start changing.

Amon gripped the back of the wooden chair. Fully clothed and waiting for his other team members to get ready, Amon realized that the situation has gotten much worse - worse than any of the other hunters realized. Underestimating the knowledge of the boy or his father would be a mistake. As would staying in STN-E headquarters for much longer.

The boy would most likely tell his father about the odd boy who mentioned a human weapon. Amon was almost positive that Malfoy would already know about the Dark Lord's excursion to the STN-E, which he no longer doubted that this man was behind. There had been a dark magic symbol in the sky the night of the crime and the description fit that tattoo on Malfoy's wrist.

The information that new hunters have come to England would then be pieced together by Lord Voldemort or by Malfoy himself. If Malfoy were smart, he'd also realize that not many people in Knockturn Alley would have had the gall tomug him, which would leave him with one conclusion - the man who attacked him was a hunter.

Amon's grip on the chair tightened and some parts began to splinter. If Malfoy realizes that, he'll also know that the box is in the possession of the hunters. If the box is as important as Amon believed it to be, then nothing is going to stand in the way of this Lord Voldemort retrieving the box at all costs.

STN-E headquarters will be the first place they'd look. He'll need to get Michael to copy all of the files he can and then destroy the hard copies. The files on the computer should be safe as the witches in England seem to have no knowledge of computers or electronics. A simple firewall should protect the system. They'd have to evacuate to another STN-E hideaway, but there were no records of what buildings have been discovered and which are safe.

Amon bit his lip. If Zaizen and Solomon wanted to continue the investigation, the likelihood of the STN-J being killed off was high. Even if they were ordered to go back to Tokyo, there was still the problemof what to do with the box.

He could potentially leave it at headquarters, but then he'd be going against his own sense of justice and morality (whatever little he thought he had left). The only possibility is to send the others home while he himself hides out in England and takes care of the box. However, Lord Voldemort seems to be flashy in his killing style (assuming that he had some part in the murder of the other hunters) and it probably won't stop him from killing as many innocent people as possible to get to him and the box. Suddenly living like a hermit in some unknown desert was sounding very appealing.

Sakaki entered the room and looked torn between going back into his room and staying in the main room alone with Amon.

Amon couldn't directly blame Sakaki for everything. His action put everything else into motion, but Amon had been the one to take the box, and that will be the reason why they are being pursued.

Karasuma, as if sensing the possibility for hostility, emerged from her room and went over to talk to Sakaki. Robin was next and was pulled aside by Karasuma, though Robin looked like she was going to go to Amon. He always knew Karasuma was the most useful member of the team.

Doujima was predictably the last to get ready. They all looked to Amon for some clue as to what will happen next. He didn't feel it was necessary to break it to them all at once.

"We're heading back to headquarters," Amon said, releasing his hold on the chair. "We'll decide from there what to do next." He picked up his bag and looked for the others to do the same. "We'll all go out at once. It's no longer necessary to hide our numbers or our faces. Depending on how fast information has been passed on about us, the man we're looking for already knows who we are. Let's go."

With that, Amon walked out the door and four very scared team members did the same. Amon was never one for consolation.