I've made a small change to last chapter in regards to how wands work; this probably won't affect the rest of the story, so if you don't care, don't worry about rereading it. Also, any Dumbledore fans in the room? Fair warning: it's not pretty.

Disclaimer: Did Dumbledore ever work together with the larger and presumably better-supplied DMLE, even after the Ministry admitted that Voldemort was back? If not, I own neither the Harry Potter nor Teen Titans franchises; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

Chapter 7
Culture Clash

Albus cursed softly as his fourteenth attempt at a tracking device spat out yet another useless set of coordinates. Had he known in advance that Nymphadora was going to steal away Willow like she did, he would have placed an appropriate charm on the younger girl's glasses, which would have told him her location anywhere in the world; unfortunately, divination was a field he had never had much skill in, and one that even now he did not lend much credence. The truth of prophecies did not grant justification to reading tea leaves or peering into crystal balls, at least not in his not-inconsiderable opinion.

I know that she is in the States, but that is all, he thought as he turned again to the map of the world he had hung upon his wall and plotted the new location. It lay squarely on the line he had drawn earlier after taking all the other results into account, and it was farther out than the previous attempts, but the destination given was still in the middle of the Atlantic. Another glance at the line that cut across the entire width of North America, and he sighed. He did not want to involve anyone else in this, but it seemed he no longer had any choice. Dragging himself to his office fireplace with a grimace, he threw a pinch of Floo powder inside. "Ministry of Magic, DMLE Headquarters."

The old wizard stepped through into the office; one of the few benefits of being the Chief Warlock was his authorization to access any Floo gate in the Ministry building or Wizengamot Chambers. Whether that offset the irritation that came part and parcel with forcing the various Houses at least to pretend to cooperate was something he was still debating. He gave the guards standing next to the fireplace quick nods as he walked deeper into the complex.

The office he was searching for was easy to find, and he opened the door. "—and that's not even the worst of it!" Amelia Bones was saying as she yelled at a pair of blue-clad Magical Law Enforcement Patrolmen. She turned burning blue eyes on Albus and growled, "Dumbledore, out."

"This is incredibly important, I assure—"

"I don't care about your assurances. Get out before I have you arrested, Chief Warlock or no."

Arrested for what?, he was tempted to press, but considering that the witch had just spent a year, if not actively cooperating with Cornelius's smear campaign, then at least not protesting it, he nodded genially and stepped back while closing the door behind him. After several more minutes, the door was pulled open and the Patrolmen gingerly exited, looking much the worse for wear. He reentered and chastised, "That was quite rude, Amelia."

"Ruder than walking into my office unannounced without an appointment or even knocking?" she retorted sharply. Leaning back in her chair, she sighed. "What are you doing here, Dumbledore?"

Albus swallowed his displeasure and admitted, "I need your… help. I have reason to believe that Auror Tonks left for the States a week ago." He was unsure if the woman would consider the matter of Willow's disappearance of great concern, regardless of her status as the Girl-Who-Lived, but mentioning one of her subordinates would surely get a response.

"And?" was Amelia's bored reply.

"'And'? Surely with Voldemort's return, we need all the Aurors we can find. If one of our protectors has chosen to flee rather than face the Darkness…" He let the rest of his warning hang hauntingly in the air.

Contrary to his expectations, Amelia did not leap into action. She laughed. "You old fool. Tonks didn't run away; she's on vacation. I'm not going to keep my people from using their well-earned time off. A stressed, burned-out Auror all too often becomes a dead Auror. Honestly, I thought she was requesting a break to do a side-job for the Order, so I'm quite happy to hear that she's gone off to enjoy herself."

Her words made his heart freeze inside his chest. "You know?"

"About your precious Order of the Phoenix? My brother was part of your group in the seventies, and you've snatched up three of my best men; I'd have to be blind not to notice. Despite what you may think, just because other people don't go by the name 'Albus Dumbledore' doesn't mean we're idiots."

"I take great offense at that, Amelia; I have never thought you were an idiot." Misinformed, unforgiving, and paranoid, yes, but not stupid. "And while I would not begrudge her this break, it is not just her who has disappeared. She took Willow Potter with her as well."

"Still not seeing a problem, though that would explain why the Keepers in the Hall of Records said she was looking into laws regarding the Trace. I had wondered about that."

"Aren't you the least bit concerned for a young witch's safety?!" he thundered at the other woman's nonchalance. "Her life could be in danger! She needs to be returned here, her home!"

"Her life could be in danger? While she is under the protection of one of my rising stars, a witch in whose care I would confidently leave my own niece? She is likely safer now than she has been for a long time." The head of the DMLE shook her head. "No, you'll have to find something better than that if you want to manipulate me into doing your dirty work for you."

"She should still be brought back, not left over there. There is no telling what could happen to her," he grumbled.

"I will have you know that Edgar's wife was an American immigrant. The girl's in no more danger there than she is here; it isn't like they're uncouth barbarians." Her smile was predatory. "Besides, you aren't part of Potter's House, are you?"

"No."

"Or her guardian?"

"I am someone intimately concerned with her well-being," he protested.

"But not her legal guardian. If whomever she lives with when she's not at Hogwarts isn't worried enough to report her as a missing person, there's nothing I can do to look for her even if I wanted to, which I most certainly do not," she added.

"You don't care about the girl who defeated the greatest Dark Lord of the age?" he demanded in shocked astonishment. He knew the woman in front of him was unwilling to offer even those who desperately needed it a chance for redemption, but never had he thought she would be so cruel and callous.

"I'd hesitate to use the word 'defeated' considering whatever happened to him in '81 doesn't seem to have stuck," she replied with a mirthless snort. "Not to mention, I have yet to see any proof that it was Willow Potter and not her mother who gave us over a decade of peace. So no, I don't care about her any more than I do every other fifteen-year-old witch."

"Proof? Her scar—"

"Clearly could not be the result of the Killing Curse, as that spell has not once before in all of its recorded history left a mark on its victims. I agree completely. I have to wonder, though; if you are truly so concerned about her safety, why don't you send your pet phoenix to her instead of bothering me?"

His fingers clenched tightly on his wand as he restrained his anger, he ground out, "I would have done that, but Fawkes is unfortunately still recovering from his death in the Atrium last month." Which was true but not the whole truth. Though weakened considerably and unable to carry large loads effortlessly as he normally could, Fawkes had regained the abilities both to fly and to Apparate wherever he wished in a ball of fire. Albus had asked, cajoled, and even begged the incredible bird to ferry him to the girl, but the phoenix had refused his every entreaty.

Honestly, his familiar's behavior was extremely concerning. Fawkes had been surprisingly quick to develop a fondness for the young witch, as evidenced by him abandoning Albus's side after being removed as Headmaster to deliver Godric Gryffindor's sword to her. He even shed his tears for her wounds, an action that had temporarily bestowed upon her some of his own regenerative powers.

That was without a doubt the greatest loss on that day. Had Willow perished, it would have been a tragedy, but Tom's final Horcrux would have been destroyed at the same time. The serpent was his servant, so death by its venom would have counted as dying 'at his hand'. Instead, she must now be kept safe; if some horrible occurrence befalls her that is not of his making, there is no telling what could happen. She could be left injured but alive, she could even die as a normal witch might, but it is far more likely that the shard of soul left behind in her scar would possess her lifeless body and force us to stand against not one but two Voldemorts.

Without a sign of his thoughts on his face, he demanded, "So you will only deign to help if the Dursleys report her as missing, then? What about the fact that they are Muggles and therefore have no means to contact you?"

"Just because they don't have magic doesn't mean they can't use an owl. Or conversely, since you are so interested in this, you can serve as their errand boy. It doesn't matter a whit to me." She sat forward and directed her eyes to the forms littering her desk, a quill twirling in her fingers. "Now, if that is all, I'm sure you have somewhere else to be. Leave the door open when you leave."

This is not over, Amelia, he thought as he departed. I guarantee that.

"You two don't have to rub it in, you know," Willow protested while an elderly wizard in a grey robe poked and prodded at her and Raven. Her glare was firmly locked on Tonks as the older witch leaned against the wall and tossed a white ball back and forth with Cyborg.

Who was standing on the opposite side of the room.

Tonks laughed. "Ah, but it's so much fun."

"Dudette's got a point," growled Beast Boy, who had already been examined. "This is not cool at all."

It had been seven days exactly since their bonding period as of early that morning, and when they all woke up, Tonks and Cyborg had been overjoyed to at long last be able to step more than a few paces from each other. Raven and Willow had not been so fortunate. Nor had Lupin and Beast Boy, but at least the married girls ignored the suggestion that the two men try running as fast as possible in opposite directions in the hope their bond might snap like an overstretched rubber band. That had worked about as well as expected.

Lupin looked at the representative the government of magical Oregon had finally gotten around to sending over. "Please tell me you have some idea of what happened here."

"I do have an idea," the old wizard agreed, stowing his wand away. "How much do you know about this Fidelity Bond?"

"According to the man who put it on us, it ties us together for the rest of our lives, prevents unapproved cheating on our partners, and should have ended this morning," replied Raven, her tone sharp as a blade.

The civil servant nodded and wheezed, "True, but what he forgot to mention was that this bond is only meant for humans. Other species have magic that is more primitive, less willing to release what is given to it. Conversely, it may be that creatures are simply meant to submit to the yoke and serve true wizards—"

"Okay, we get it. Purebloods for the win," Cyborg cut in. "Mind gettin' to the point and explainin' why it's actin' all weird with them?"

"I thought it was obvious. One in each pair is not human, and so their magics are holding more tightly to the bond than they would otherwise," the old man sniffed in disdain.

"That makes some sense, I guess," Robin mused aloud. "We all know that Raven's father was a different species. But Remus is completely human."

"He is human in fact, or only in seeming?" was the wizard's knowing reply.

Looking around at everyone staring back at him, Remus swallowed nervously. "I… I'm a normal man most of the time, just not at the full moon."

"A werewolf?" the representative asked in surprise. He turned to Tonks. "You are more lenient with him than you ought be. One never knows when a werewolf without a collar will wheel around to bite the hand that feeds it."

Recalling how they had received advice along those lines before, when they first entered this country, Willow asked, "What is this collar you're talking about, anyway?" Lupin looked at her with a betrayed expression. "What? I'm curious."

The elder peered at her with approving eyes, and in light of the man's earlier bigotry, she squirmed uncomfortably. Raven's hand coming to rest atop her own stilled her restlessness. "The Collars of Lune are the result of a collaboration between the wand-based magic of our forefathers and the shamanic arts of the primitive peoples they met upon their arrival to this land. When the natives first laid eyes on a rampaging werewolf, they proclaimed that he had been taken over by a raging spirit and could no longer think as a man; they then performed a strange dance that caused the werewolf's inner beast to retreat and sleep for a time. Realizing the benefit of such an ability, the settlers created first a spell with the same effect to stop the rages, and then one brilliant individual, Samuel Eisler, enchanted several dog collars and used those to permanently tame three beasts that had taken to attacking his town. In exchange for freedom from the moon's call, those three men were obligated to serve him lest he remove the collars and force them back into the cold grasp of their curse."

"I don't see how any werewolf who wears one of these collars receives a benefit," Lupin snarled. "It is a curse, of that we are in agreement, but I'll take being a monster over being a slave."

"There are indeed some benefits," the old wizard replied calmly. "Freedom from your monthly torment and acceptance into society are two of them, but there was also a modification made to the original enchantment that allows a werewolf to transform back and forth at nothing more than a single command."

Werewolves with collars can change at any time?, Willow thought in surprise, Tonks and Lupin looking the same as she felt. "If these collars let them change whenever they want, how are there still werewolves treated like servants? I would think they could just transform and revolt or something."

"Because the other enchantments on the collar ensure that the wolves behave their masters, as good guard dogs should."

Oh. That's… Let's not let Voldemort ever get wind of this. Him having a bunch of werewolves who can transform outside the full moon and are enchanted to obey him unquestioningly could not possibly end well.

Raven suddenly jerked upright. "Someone just—"

Bwamp. Bwamp. Bwamp.

"…appeared on the island," she finished with a sigh, only their proximity allowing Willow to hear the other girl's words over the blaring alarm.

Cyborg punched a few buttons on the wall-mounted console. "Looks like we got two strangers on the grounds. Some old guy and a woman." He turned around to look at the Brits. "Both of 'em are wearin' weird robes, kinda like you guys brought with you and that guy has on."

The government representative cleared his throat nervously. "Well, it looks like you have things to take care of. I'll just… go…"

"Wait a minute. How long are we gonna be stuck like this?!" Beast Boy shrieked.

"A month? Six weeks? It shouldn't be more than that, but between a werewolf and a half-breed, there's no way to know for sure." Before anyone could say anything else, the wizard immediately Disapparated.

Raven closed her eyes and muttered for a solid half-minute before looking up at the rest of them. "Teleportation wards are back up. I knew I should have restored them once he arrived."

"It's fine; now at least we know these two can't just jump wherever they want to go," Robin replied. "Anyone know who they are?"

The screen serving as the middle pane of the window displayed the feed from the security cameras, and Willow would have had to be blind not to recognize Dumbledore, though the eye-searing orange robes he wore made that situation more likely than not. The woman also looked familiar, though she could not place the face. Tonks gasped at the picture and answered, "That's Dumbledore and Madam Bones."

"Isn't Madam Bones head of the DMLE?" Lupin qualified.

"Yeah. She's my boss's boss's boss," the metamorph explained to the bewildered looks on the Titans' faces. "I don't like that they're both here. Don't like it one little bit."

"Why not?" asked Cyborg.

"Because of me."

Tonks nodded at Willow's statement. "Yeah, I kinda, maybe, sort of dragged Willow out of her house and shoved a portkey into her hands without letting anybody else know. In hindsight, that wasn't my greatest idea, and I might be looking at kidnapping charges."

"But I was okay with it, so they can't call it kidnapping if I went along willingly, can they?" the black-haired girl protested. Over the previous week, she had gotten much closer to the elder witch; she would not be able to bear it if Tonks was punished for simply trying to help her.

"You forget how much power Dumbledore has. If he wants to see me hang, he could very well make it happen, regardless of what truth. He… probably wouldn't, but considering how I completely ignored what he said we were supposed to do in regards to you…" Her gulp told the room just how nervous the Auror really was.

Swiftly making a decision, Willow scooted away from Raven and patted the space she had just vacated. "Sit here and try not to panic. Now that everyone knows Voldemort's back, maybe Bones will be willing to listen to the Girl-Who-Lived. She seemed fair enough at my hearing last summer." The end of the previous school year, Sirius falling through the Veil and Dumbledore revealing how much he had really known about what was going on in her life, flashed before her eyes. "And let me handle Dumbledore, too. I'm still not very happy with him."

"Can you control the door and elevator remotely from here?" Robin asked Cyborg after another moment.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Guide those two up here. If we're going to be looking at a potential conflict, better we start off with the upper hand, and it's hard to feel in charge if someone else is controlling what's going on around you. Besides, considering how out of their depth they"—he nodded at the witches and wizard—"were when they first got here, those two might not know how to operate anything, anyway."

"What I'd like to know is how they found us in the first place," Beast Boy muttered as he watched the pair on the screen.

Tonks shook her head. "My fault. I brought my Auror badge with me – it never hurts to be prepared, you know – and every badge has tracking charms the Head Auror and the director of the DMLE can use to find us anywhere in the world. It's a countermeasure to prevent us getting trapped somewhere or a dark wizard from hiding a dead Auror's body."

The next minute saw everyone sitting impatiently, and then the elevator doors ahead of them whooshed open. Bones and Dumbledore looked at the space where the doors had previously been with trepidation before stepping inside the room.

Unfortunately, spotting the presumable object of his search quickly sobered the old man up. "Ah, Willow, there you are. Your sudden disappearance had quite a few people worried."

"I don't see why. Am I not allowed to go away on a vacation?" she bit out, anger beginning to bubble in her gut.

"Of course you are, but I would have liked to be informed beforehand, and leaving the country just isn't safe in these dark times," Dumbledore replied, his blue eyes sparkling.

She snorted. "I'm probably safer out of the country than in it. I haven't seen a hint of Voldemort or the Death Eaters anywhere near here. And I don't need to clear my plans about how I spend my summer with you, Headmaster."

"I seem to recall saying something to that effect myself, Dumbledore," Bones interjected with a less-than-cordial smile.

"Be that as it may, it still would have been better for you to let me know," he said, giving both witches sharp glances before returning his full attention to Willow. "I only have your best interests in mind."

"Ha! I'll believe it when I see it."

Dumbledore frowned, and by now even the Titans had joined Tonks and Lupin in giving her strange looks. The only one in the room not visibly astonished by her behavior was Bones, who merely grinned at the interplay. "Surely you don't mean that, my dear. What have I done to make you think I deserve such hostility?"

"'Ten dark and dangerous years'," she quoted, and the old wizard's eyes finally lost their twinkle. "Talk to me in a decade, and maybe I'll give you another chance. Maybe."

Immediately following her losing Sirius, he had portkeyed her to his office before all but admitting that he had known how the Dursleys had treated her throughout her childhood. He knew, and he had done nothing; even worse, he sent her back there every year, telling her it was the best place for her. That it was safe. And he expected her to just ignore that like it never happened?

Dumbledore could preach forgiveness all he wanted. She just wasn't that good a person.

The head of the DMLE cleared her throat to cut through the tension that had filled the room like miasma. "The reason we are here, Miss Potter, is that your relatives, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, recently filed a missing persons report on you. As such, it was my office's duty to discover your whereabouts and ensure that you are well. You appear to be perfectly healthy and in high spirits, so my concerns have been settled, but for the record, may I ask what caused you to leave your home and travel to the States?"

"Tonks came by and said that after everything that happened last year, I deserved a vacation, and then she told me that she had already made all the preparations," Willow began, Bones nodding encouragingly. "We Apparated to the travel office, where we met up with Professor Lupin, and came here to spend a weekend in Las Vegas."

"And at no point were there any threats or coercion?" The youngest witch in the room shook her head. "What about your relatives? Why did you not inform them of your plans?"

"The Dursleys and I have an informal arrangement: I stay out of their way as much as possible, and in return they leave me alone. I'm surprised they even bothered reporting I'm gone. Normally they'd be glad to see the back of me," she thought aloud.

Bones gave her a slight smile. "In that case, it should interest you to know that they only sent me a letter detailing the situation after I told Dumbledore that the DMLE wouldn't start looking for you without one."

"Was it really necessary to divulge that information, Amelia?" Dumbledore asked in a tight voice as he looked away from Willow's glare.

"Not really, but it's refreshing to deal with someone else who can see through your bullshit. You'll have to forgive my enthusiasm."

Lupin looked scandalized at that, and Willow had to hide her grin. Madam Bones had just jumped up several notches in her estimation.

Dumbledore visibly smothered his anger. "Yes, well. Now that you have been found, Willow, it is time for you to come home."

"That… might be a little difficult," Robin said.

Their two guests startled, the magicals having almost forgotten about the Titans in the room with them. "Excuse our impropriety," Bones said. "We forgot to introduce ourselves. I am Amelia Bones, director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in Britain, and this is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry among many other titles."

"Robin, leader of the Titans. This is my team: Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire," he replied, pointing at each individual in turn.

"A pleasure. Could you explain to me what you meant about Miss Potter leaving being a problem?"

The team leader raised one eyebrow at Tonks, and the Auror groaned before admitting, "Well, just before we were supposed to leave Vegas, we… might have decided to have a going-away party, and all three of us had a little too much to drink."

"I'd ask how a fifteen-year-old witch was able procure alcohol in the first place, but for some reason I don't think I really want to know," her superior remarked in a bland voice.

"Yeah, so, while we were under the influence, we each found ourselves with a companion, and then we made what was in hindsight a very poor decision."

Bones closed her eyes and shook her head. "Please tell me you didn't get married."

"Er…"

"Merlin and Morgana," the woman groaned.

"Just wait. It gets better," Cyborg added with a smile.

Tonks glared at him and growled. "Not. Helping. Yes, we accidentally went to a wedding chapel, and while we were there, the wizard running it performed a binding ritual without our consent."

Willow opened her mouth to correct the older witch, then realized that was a bad idea. Not only did the truth paint her in a bad light, she could not shake the feeling that Tonks would quite literally tear her head off.

"And just what did this 'binding' entail?"

"None of us could be more than ten feet away from our partner," Lupin explained, sparing Tonks from further embarrassment. "It was only supposed to last a week, and her bond settled this morning, but for various reasons, mine and Willow's will take another month."

"So you can see that taking Willow or Remus back with you carries some unavoidable complications," finished Robin with an apologetic shrug.

"Not to mention that when she does head back to England, there is no reason to place her under the 'care' of her relatives again." Willow whipped her head around to stare at Raven, who merely looked back calmly into her eyes. "Recall that I am an empath and therefore can read your emotions as if they were printed on a page. Returning you to that environment does you no favors and will only cause you greater grief."

Despite her surprise, the green-eyed girl felt gratitude welling up in her breast. Of all the people she knew, only Sirius had ever voiced even the suggestion that she be freed from the Dursleys' grasp. That Raven, a woman she had met just a single week ago, was willing to stand up for her like this…

I take back every bad thing I ever thought about you.

"I'm afraid that simply isn't possible," Dumbledore was saying in response. "The Dursleys' home is where she is safest."

Raven crossed her arms and tilted her head back. "And I'm afraid that I must most vehemently disagree."

"Hey, maybe I missed it, but what's the reason she's in all this danger like you're saying?" Beast Boy asked, eyes darting between the elderly wizard and the part-human witch.

Dumbledore turned to Willow in astonishment and… was that disappointment? "You did not tell them?"

"Sorry, I've had other things on my mind," she replied sharply. He would just have to excuse her for not making Voldemort her central focus every minute of every day. She was rather enjoying having a life apart from that, strange though it had been so far.

"Just over a year ago, a terrible Dark wizard by the name of Voldemort was brought back from the dead. Prior to his first demise, he spent eleven years terrorizing the country. None could stop him, and then he attacked the Potters. After murdering both her parents, he turned his wand on Willow, and because of the love of her late mother, she was able to turn his curse upon him and defeat him."

Bones stepped forward and qualified, "She allegedly defeated him. Considering the sole surviving witness was a toddler who, unless I'm very much mistaken, has no memory of the event, no one knows what really happened."

"Let me make sure I have this straight," Robin interrupted, his eyes narrowed. "Your country has police. You have a military—"

"Not really, but when it comes to dark wizards, the Aurors pull double-duty on that," Tonks explained.

"Either way, you have people who are trained for situations like this, correct? And it took eleven years and a baby to stop one man?" The vigilante leader shook his head in incredulity. "I have just a single question. Why?"

"In our defense, he had a large group of rich and politically well-connected supporters, which made prosecuting those we captured extraordinarily difficult," Bones answered in a hard voice. "Not to mention, for ten of those years my department was prohibited from using lethal force against the Death Eaters, who showed no such restraint toward us. Once we were given that authorization, we made slow but steady progress in eliminating them, and had the war continued and despite the fear of the populace, I have no doubt that eventually we would have succeeded."

"So if you have a strategy that was working last time, why do you need her?" Robin glanced at Willow for a moment and continued, "I'd be a hypocrite if I said she's too young to help – I was much younger than her when I became a hero – but I also had a mentor and a desire to be involved in this lifestyle. Based on what Willow has told me, even if she has the second, she definitely didn't have the first."

"I assure you, she has handled herself exceptionally well in her prior encounters with him," was Dumbledore's reply.

Bolstered by the support being given by Raven and Robin and reflected in the expressions of the rest of the Titans, Willow countered, "All of which were out of my control. Only once have I ever sought Voldemort out, and even that was because he made the first move. And each time, I survived based on luck, not skill or training. You expect me to defeat him again, and for good this time, but how can I do that when I have nothing to depend on but five years of basic schooling and he has five decades of practical experience with the darkest of magics?"

Maybe the previous year, she would have been more accepting of Dumbledore's attempts to persuade her that she could win that fight, but now? Her supposed grandfather figure was not the bastion of strength she had always believed him to be, as demonstrated by the Ministry's propaganda and ability to chase him out of Hogwarts; he was not even the good man he had portrayed himself as; and watching her closest friends nearly be murdered beside her and Sirius fall through the Veil had broken her of her ignorance and naiveté. Only after all that did she understand just how out of her depth she truly was.

Magical Britain wanted her to save them, but she could barely even save herself.

The old man's eyes narrowed, and he pronounced, "That does not change the fact that it is time you came home."

"Even if we were willing to let you take Willow back to that, which we most definitely are not, it would require Raven to go with you for an entire month. That is not going to happen." Robin crossed his arms and nodded at the purple-haired witch. "She is not only our primary healer, she's also the best ranged fighter we have, and her absence would leave a hole in our strategy that one of our enemies could take advantage of."

"You would sacrifice an entire country for the sake of one city?" Dumbledore exclaimed in derision. "And you dare to call yourself a hero?"

"If what they have told us about your society is true, yes, I would. What is the magical population of the U.K.?" he asked, striding toward the gigantic window and staring out at the city beyond.

The headmaster drew himself up, and Willow was sure he now felt he had the upper hand. "There are fourteen thousand wizards and witches living in Britain, all of whom—"

"Then you should understand why I can't risk Raven leaving without a very good reason."

"What are you talking about?" Dumbledore replied, aghast at the denial. "You would truly leave thousands of people without hope?"

"Honestly, they should have hope in those who are trained to protect them, but if we're going to treat this purely as a numbers game, yes, I would. Fourteen thousand people facing one man backed by, how many followers? Thirty, forty?" he asked Madam Bones.

She nodded. "Closer to thirty, if our estimates are right."

"Meanwhile, the five of us are responsible for the protection of over seven hundred thousand people in this city alone, not counting the less developed areas nearby. We are all that stand between them and the two hundred supervillains that the police are simply not equipped to bring down. You're asking us to ignore their well-being, and I won't – I can't – agree to that.

"Contrary to what you seem to think about me, however, I'm not heartless," he continued, turning back to Bones. "If your… Aurors, right?… need help to take these terrorists down, I will happily send a message to Sister Superior and her Elite. They are a superhero team based in London, so not only would passing this task to them keep us from stepping on their toes, they are more familiar with the area and therefore should be able to move around without risking revealing your society to the world at large."

The older witch paled slightly at that, no doubt envisioning what could happen if knowledge of the Wizarding World spread any farther than it already had. "I appreciate the offer, but at the moment I believe we are capable of handling our current issue by ourselves."

"Amelia, you can't be seriously considering—"

"Strangely enough, I can, Dumbledore. Leave the peace-keeping to people who actually know what they're doing; that means us, not your Order."

"Without the Order, the Ministry would have fallen in the first years of the War," the old wizard declared, his entire countenance radiating fury.

"Without having to protect the Order from their own folly, our job wouldn't have been half as difficult as you made it."

Dumbledore turned to Willow again, and before he could say anything, she said, "I've already told you no. I'm staying here until this bond settles down."

"Any attempts at circumventing her wish, I will interpret as kidnapping," Raven added with a glare, "and let me warn you, I will not take kindly to them."

"Try to kidnap her, and I'll let them have you. That wouldn't look good for the Chief Warlock," Madam Bones warned. Seeing that he was outnumbered, Dumbledore drew his robes tighter about himself and stormed into the elevator.

This isn't over, Willow told herself with grim certainty. He'll be back.

"Robin," Bones began, "I have to ask. You mentioned that your team is responsible for defending your city against numerous 'villains' that your police cannot subdue. You are a specialized division of law enforcement?"

"Not exactly," answered the Titans' leader. "Technically we are not affiliated with them at all, but in reality they give us a call whenever someone with superpowers attacks, and we arrest the criminal and turn him over to them for holding until his trial. In return for our assistance, the mayor's office covers all our living expenses and pays us an appropriate salary."

"So you're mercenaries, then."

He grimaced as if her words left a bad taste in his mouth. "We prefer the term 'heroes', 'consultants', or even 'vigilantes', but I suppose some aspects of our contract with the city could be construed as such."

"I see." The DMLE's director strode to the window and nodded at the view. "And working outside the law like you do, you have found it to be effective?"

"Yes. We aren't perfect, and occasionally we'll run up against someone we can't subdue immediately, but on the whole, I believe Jump City is better off with us around. The government seems to agree; they've never told us to stop."

Bones pursed her lips for a moment before inclining her head to him. "Thank you for the explanation. It was… informative. Auror Tonks!"

"Ma'am!" the young woman yelped, hastily straightening.

"I have a new assignment for you. From now until she returns to Britain, you're on protection duty for one Willow Potter." Madam Bones smiled slightly at Tonks. "You understand what that means, I trust?"

"I understand. I'm to stay here until her bond stabilizes."

"And stay out of Dumbledore's plots. At the rate he's going, his scheming will soon be the end of him, and I don't need one of my Aurors getting caught up in his fall." The woman turned to Willow. "Miss Potter, it is nice to properly meet you, hearings notwithstanding. We should speak again, and under more pleasant circumstances next time."

Despite herself, the black-haired witch smiled back. "I'd like that."

"Very well." The elevator doors slid open, revealing Dumbledore leaning against the back wall and fuming. Bones stepped inside, and they again closed.

"Well," Cyborg said, breaking the lingering awkward silence, "that was a thing."

Beast Boy scratched his head. "Hey, guys? I didn't want to bring it up while they were still here, but did anyone happen to talk to that first wizard dude about annulling the marriages before he ran off?"

No, the delay in the bonds between Raven and Willow or Beast Boy and Lupin breaking is not a copout; that's been in the plans since before I typed the first word of the story.

I was, however, a bit (read: completely and totally) surprised by just how big a grudge Willow has against Dumbledore when I started this chapter. Clearly if I had been in charge of writing book 6, how Harry interacted with Dumbledore would have been quite different.

Silently Watches out.