Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin or Harry Potter

A/N: Finally another update after way too long of a break. I'm currently being flooded by papers and reports, but hopefully I'll get down to more writing soon. Let's hope this chapter is worth the wait for you readers. Apologies ahead of time if you don't like my somewhat alternative pairing.

Chapter 10: Revelation

Karasuma had never seen anything like it before. She stood in the Great Hall where the ceiling changed, candles floated and banners fluttered in the non-existent wind. She never really grasped the concept of how big the world of witches was, and now she had a hard time concentrating on what anyone else was saying.

Amon reasoned that following the witches to their school would not only give them more information about how different these witches were, but also would give them a little more privacy. At least they had thought it would. The eery man in the painting that seemed to stalk Robin was no longer there, but he instead was replaced by thousands of other portraits, who took equally great interest in them. Privacy was most likely not going to be had in this school.

On top of the portraits and moving inanimate objects, ghosts and goblins appeared to either humor them or serve them. Every one of the hunters were scared witless. She bet even Amon felt something akin to fright, despite not showing anything on his face. Karasuma hoped that the nearly headless ghost would not make a second appearance during her stay. The entire school reminded her of every horror movie she's ever seen, and she was sure any more surprises would freak her out completely. She half-expected a bloody girl to emerge from a mirror.

The children seemed to enjoy it though. They were talking animatedly again and even one new kid showed up, apparently ready to aid his friends at any given time. She guessed that when he was younger, he was probably short and a little overweight. The boy seemed to be slowly and awkwardly growing out of that phase. He still had the cherubim cheeks and wide eyes, but he was growing taller than some of the other kids. He also had a more severe case of buck teeth than the girl Hermione and probably suffered a lot of jokes for it. By looking at his behavior around the other children, Karasuma guessed his looks wasn't the only reason he may have been picked on in school. She fought the motherly urge to go give the boy a hug.

"Karasuma-san?" She turned to Sakaki, who looked at her worriedly. He was obviously still upset at himself for calling her an old maid, which made her sadistically happy. She couldn't quite understand why he was so upset, though. After all, he's called Yurika worse, and "old maid" probably was an accurate description of her clothing. She'd forgiven him some time ago, but he still chose his words carefully as if she were a child. It was almost more upsetting than his original backlash.

"What is it?" Karasuma asked.

"Nothing...really...you just seemed to be...spacing out is all."

"I'm surprised no one else is. It's not like we've seen anything like this before."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sakaki looked at the ceiling with feigned interest. Yurika was being quiet, Michael wasn't complaining about the lack of computers, Robin wasn't sitting next to Amon, Amon acquiesced to the witches' orders and now Sakaki wasn't asking questions. What the hell was going on?

"I can't believe Dumbledore did this!" Karasuma looked over at Sirius Black who was standing near their table and yelling at Remus Lupin and another witch with pink hair. "Why didn't you stop him, Remus?"

"It was out of my hands. I couldn't do anything, Sirius."

"Lay off Remus, Sirius," Tonks added. "It's not his fault Snivellus has gone on his own."

"This is ridiculous! How could he trust Snivellus of all people."

"Dumbledore has his reasons, Sirius."

"I don't care what those reasons are. Snivellus is a back-stabbing git. You know he's going to sell us out to Voldemort the first chance he gets."

"If Snape didn't do that before, why would he do that now?"

"Snivellus doesn't have to answer to Dumbledore anymore. He has the freedom to do whatever he desires - and that's going to be bringing us down."

"Sirius-"

"Once he does that, who knows what will happen next. I know you and Kingsley won't be safe anymore, Tonks. Voldemort may even send the dementors on us."

"Sirius, calm down."

Karasuma looked over at the children, who had stopped chatting and now looked as glum as they did when their school was cancelled. The other witches were silent as well. She sighed and stood up. She'll have to stop them from arguing.

"Karasuma-san?"

"I'm just going over to tell them to take it outside," she said, ignoring Sakaki's confused look.

The three witches stared at her as she walked up to them. "It may not be up to me to tell you what to do, but I think you should argue somewhere else."

Sirius walked up straight in front of her and looked down. "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting your dinner with your other murdering friends?"

Karasuma sighed at the predictable response. "Actually, I think you're upsetting the children."

"The 'children' have been through more than you can possibly imagine and can take care of themselves. They should be exposed to all of the information."

"I don't think information includes your gripes about your leader's decisions."

"Well, unlike you, we don't follow people blindly without asking questions." Karasuma coughed back a laugh at the irony. Sirius apparently misconstrued her reaction. "Dumbledore and Harry saved me from going back to Azkaban, but that doesn't mean I'll mindlessly do whatever he tells me to do."

Karasuma furrowed her brow at "Azkaban."

"Never heard of it, darling? It's quite unpleasant. Would you like me to describe it to you?"

"Sirius, c'mon," Lupin said, trying to pull him away.

"No. I'm sure the girl wants to know everything about the wizarding world. After all, what's not to love about soul-sucking creatures."

Karasuma rolled her eyes and turned around. Maybe she could lead them outside of the Great Hall.

Sirius grabbed her wrist. "Too afraid, sweetheart?"

The lights suddenly shut off, or she supposed in this case, the candles went out. It was pitch black except for the light in between the bars. A cell? Karasuma turned hurriedly to each side - all concrete walls. When did this happen? Sirius had touched her, but she wasn't actively using her powers. She wasn't even able to get out or let go. What was happening?

A figure appeared at the front of the cell. It was cloaked, but looked different from the witch she saw before. There were no feet. The body wouldn't have seemed corporeal at all if it weren't for the disgustingly long-fingered hands and a catfish-like mouth protruding from the head of the cloak. With a gesture of its hand, it opened the cell.

Even though the rational part of Karasuma's brain was telling her that this was an opportunity to escape, every one of her limbs were frozen in place. No matter how hard she tried to convince her body everything was okay, nothing moved. An oppressive amount of fear was consuming her. It wasn't like the time with the green light at STN-E headquarters. She knew exactly what was happening and what will happen to her. She not only felt every wave of emotion from this creature, but every bad thing that's ever happened to her was passing before her eyes. Scoldings, arguments, parents dying, colleagues murdered. Where were her friends? Why weren't they helping her? She did the only thing she could think of - she closed her eyes and screamed.

Two arms surrounded her. It felt like her life was being drained by the demon behind her. Karasuma struggled to get free from its grasp, kicking and elbowing the figure, using as much self-defense knowledge that she could remember. She successfully knocked down the attacker, but was quickly captured by another who was in front of her. The new one was stronger, and her arms were trapped between her body and the monster's. The demon's arms were gripped around her in a bear hug, and it tilted its head down to her ear. Before she could scream again, she heard the monster whispering something incoherent, until she recognized her own name.

Opening her eyes, Karasuma saw her hands in front of her against Amon's chest. "Karasuma." She looked up at him. Amon's face was a mixture of sympathy and dread at what just occurred. Karasuma's eyes widened. Her sudden outburst must have garnered a lot of attention, and there was going to be a lot of questions. They don't know about her power, and everyone had gone to great lengths to keep it that way. Karasuma sank into Amon's arms. She had just cost them the upper hand.

Amon kneeled down to the floor to let Karasuma sit somewhat comfortably on the stone floor. Sakaki ran over and knelt beside her. "Are you all right, Karasuma-san?"

She looked over at her younger partner. His cheek was bruised and his clothes were messed up. He must have been the one who grabbed her the first time.

"I'm sorry," she choked out. What else could she possibly say? Not only did she try to brutally assault her partner, she may have led the other hunters into more danger. If the witches realized that the hunters were similar to them, they could become angry and attack her friends, or even worse, they could try to recruit them.

Because they were hiding this secret, the witches would realize that there are other things they weren't being entirely truthful about. The witches could potentially freeze all information until they received the facts behind their circumstances, which means they'd realize that no strong organization was actually backing their activity or looking out for their well-being. The witches could easily dispose of them with little consequence.

Amon let go of Karasuma, and Sakaki jumped in to take up the job. "I'm okay, Sakaki," Karasuma said weakly. Sakaki only hugged tighter.

"Miho." Yurika settled down next to Karasuma. Michael was standing in shock nearby, and Robin was hovering near Amon.

"Is she alright?" Lupin asked.

The hunters looked at one another. "She'll be fine," Amon said standing up.

"Look what you did, Sirius!" Tonks exclaimed.

"I didn't do anything, Tonks." Sirius looked down at Karasuma and back at Amon. "What happened to her?"

Karasuma tried to hide behind Sakaki's shoulder. Any sort of psychosis was not going to cut it. Her usual behavior was too controlled to say that she suffered from a mental illness. Maybe some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder could explain her behavior, especially since he had grabbed her wrist. However, it was doubtful that Solomon would risk employing someone who had any sort of painful background, unless they were exceptionally skilled like Amon. In other words, they didn't have a good enough explanation to lie.

Lupin walked up to Karasuma to see if she was okay. He rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch her," Sakaki blurted, hitting Lupin's hand away. He hugged her tighter and put his back to Lupin protectively.

"I didn't do anything!" Sirius shouted again. "There's something wrong with your girl."

"What's going on here?" Dumbledore said. The rest of the witches in the hall were all staring, too afraid to move from their seats. "What happened?"

"I just grabbed her wrist, and she goes psycho," Sirius explained. "I mean, I was trying to scare her, but I didn't do anything that would have warranted that kind of response. I didn't even say anything."

Dumbledore looked cautiously at the group of hunters. "Does she need to be taken somewhere?"

"Like a closed ward." Tonks hit Sirius in the stomach with her elbow.

"No," Amon said. "She just needs a little space. Sakaki."

Sakaki lessened his hold on Karasuma. "Are you okay to walk, Karasuma-san?" She nodded.

Sakaki stood up and started walking alongside without letting her go. "Sakaki, you don't have to-"

He held on tighter and pushed passed the other witches and out of the Great Hall. Wordlessly walking through the hallways, the two partners managed to arrive at their destination - the Ravenclaw common room, where the group was assigned to stay during their duration.

Judging by Sakaki's uncomfortable shifting and muttering of various words under his breath, Karasuma gauged that he probably didn't remember the password that Amon reported to the team before they arrived. Karasuma sighed. Sakaki really needs to pay attention to the briefs.

"Saturn," Karasuma said. The painting swung open reluctantly. The man's portrait seemed perturbed that a group of foreigners were using his chamber. The hunters seemed to be getting similar reactions from all of the paintings nearby.

Sakaki and Karasuma stepped forward, and he placed her on the couch. Finally letting her go, he didn't move far and instead chose to sit right beside her. "How are you feeling?"

"Guilty. Amon won't be able to hold them off forever. We'll have to tell them about craft-users."

"So what?" Sakaki blurted, trying very hard not to offend her. "We don't have to protect Solomon's secrets. We're not a part of them anymore."

"That's why we need to protect ourselves. This was our trump card. If worse came to worst, then at least we could take the witches by surprise, or at least Robin could."

"We'll find another way to protect ourselves. Amon-san always thinks of something."

Karasuma smiled and turned to Sakaki. "Don't put too much pressure on him. He's placed enough weight on his shoulders as it is."

Sakaki looked confused. He turned his head to the direction of the unlit fireplace. "Am I being kept out of the loop about something?"

Karasuma bowed her head a little. "No, not really. Amon hasn't said anything to me directly. It's just something that I can feel." Sakaki looked at her expectantly. "I don't think it's something I can just say to everybody, though."

"Oh." Sakaki sat stiffly on the couch and stared at his feet. He bit his lip. "You can't even tell your partner?"

She sighed and gently placed her hand on his arm. "It's a kink in Amon's personality. He doesn't want people to know he may be struggling with something. That aside, I'm only guessing at what he's feeling based on how long we've worked together. He's a very hard man to read, and I can't use my powers on someone who's almost always covered from the neck down."

"You always do that," Sakaki said, closing his eyes and gripping the material of the couch. Karasuma recoiled her hand. "You always try to make others feel better or make light of the situation so it doesn't seem as serious. Why don't you just tell me it's none of my business or that I'm depending on others too much. Why don't you just tell me how you feel?"

How she feels? Karasuma looked blankly at Sakaki, who was preoccupied with his shoelaces. She wants to make others happy and keep them safe. Beyond that, Karasuma didn't believe anything else existed. To others, she was an ice queen, holding back emotions and doing whatever was necessary to get the job done. She pushed them back so far, she doubted that those feelings could ever resurface.

She knew she put space in between herself and everyone she's ever known. Touching their skin and knowing what they feel and think has never been a pleasant experience. Lust from men, jealousy from women and anger from criminals. She hated learning the dark sides of her former friends and colleagues, even if it were only for an instance and purely accidental. Therefore the imaginary bubble was a friendly formality. They liked her and appreciated her work, but she was utterly forgettable outside of the job. She was non-existent at office parties or employee get-togethers. Why should she change now? Just because someone wants to be closer?

"I don't mind you know, if people make fun of me," Sakaki said barely above a whisper. "I get it. I mess up a lot. You don't have to make me feel better. Sometimes...sometimes it's worse, because it doesn't feel genuine. It doesn't feel like we're partners. It doesn't feel like we're anything."

"After this, we won't be together, anyway," Karasuma said, avoiding eye contact with Sakaki, who quickly turned his head to her. "We all have to split up so it is harder for Solomon to find us."

She looked back over to see Sakaki appear more frightened than she's seen him before. His eyes widened.

"Sakaki..." Before Karasuma could register what was going on, she was pushed against the couch by Sakaki, who currently wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in the crook of her neck.

"Karasuma-san...please let me go with you, wherever it is you plan on going."

"Are you afraid of being out there on your own?"

"I don't want someone to take care of me..but...I do need someone."

"Michael will probably feel the same."

Sakaki coughed. "That's not really...that isn't...what I meant."

Karasuma blushed, belatedly realizing that no part of his skin was actually coming in contact with hers. Sakaki pushed himself up, and upon seeing his legs awkwardly surrounding hers, he became bright red and tried to help her back into her original position. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"That's okay." Karasuma tried to smooth out her skirt, which was hitched up more than she would have liked. Standing up, she leaned over and took one of Sakaki's hands, pulling him up. "I don't think I want to have to start all over, either," she managed, ignoring the other voices telling her not to get close. "When this is all over, we'll see what happens next, Sakaki."

"Haruto."

"What?"

"You can call me Haruto, if you want Karasuma-san."

She paused. "Miho is fine for me...Haruto."

Sakaki brightened and tightened his grasp on her two hands.

The witches stared at him. Being a leader required finesse and the ability to avoid telling the whole truth in any give situation. Amon on the whole preferred to not talk at all, but that apparently was not going to cut it this time. From his experience, lying only makes things worse. Right now, he had very few options left.

"I'd like to know what happened," Dumbledore said in the kindest way of ordering someone Amon's every heard.

Michael and Doujima were glancing at one another, trying to communicate using very rough and blatant hand signals. Robin was keeping her distance from him, but she was still closer than his concentration needed.

"Karasuma is very empathetic toward other people's feelings." The witches still stared straight ahead. "If the witch had experienced and was remembering something terrifying, then she must have tapped into that fear."

"Tapped into it?" Lupin asked. "How can she do that?"

Amon mulled over his next words. Telling them Solomon's greatest secret was no longer his concern, though he didn't want the information to fall into the wrong hands, leading to one of the witches going on a Solomon rampage - however entertaining that may be. He covertly glanced at Robin and looked back at Lupin. He still wasn't sure if Robin wouldn't convert if the witches knew she was the same. It's not that he was afraid to lose her, it's just she'd be a hard opponent to face.

Though the probability was dwindling, there was also a chance that the witches may become hostile toward Robin and Karasuma, if not physically, then at least verbally. Amon instinctively shifted positions so he was slightly more in between the witches and Robin.

"Karasuma is what headquarters has labeled as a craft-user," Amon said.

"Craft-user?" Dumbledore asked. "Does that mean she's a wizard?"

Amon swallowed. "Similar, but not the same."

The room was silent, but Amon could feel the tension rising.

"But, wouldn't that mean..." Tonks began.

"They're hunting their own kind!" Sirius exclaimed, obviously not settled by the earlier commotion.

"Craft-users are not the same as witches," Amon said coldly, half reassuring himself on that fact. "Their methods are completely different."

"How so?"

The old man was asking way too many questions, but he supposed he would do the same if their situations were reversed.

"They don't use wands, but instead they concentrate on developing their innate gifts." Amon was sure he almost choked on the word "gift," but saying "curse" instead would have either resulted in more questions or an entirely new argument. "Craft-users also do not use their powers outside of work. They use it only to track down criminals."

The group of witches were slowly processing the information. Dumbledore breathed out of his nose. "Which of your other group members are craft-users?"

Amon narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to gauge how strong your team will be against Voldemort."

"We can handle-"

"I am," Robin interrupted. Amon glanced over his shoulder. She wasn't looking at him. "It's just me and Karasuma."

"And what can you do?"

"I'm a fire craft-user."

"Robin," Amon said, implicitly ordering her to keep quiet. No one ever seemed to listen to him when it was the most important time to do so. "Michael, Doujima, Robin. Go back to the room we were assigned."

None of them were moving, either afraid of leaving one of the team behind with a very large group of witches, or suddenly knowledgeable that they don't have to listen to him anymore. "Go."

The trio turned around and headed toward the common room. Instead of a foreboding fear that most people would have in that situation, Amon could taste a little bit of freedom without his team, fully realizing that his sidearm would unleash more damage than the witches would be ready for.

"You're quite hard on your hunters," Dumbledore said, peering at him through the lowered spectacles. Amon in turn glared back.

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"It's no business of yours."

"I heard of a story of a Solomon hunter who was captured by a group of wizards a long time ago." Amon turned around to face him. The old man resembled any other elderly man, obviously fascinated by the ability to jump into any past story with absolutely no warning. "He was the only one on record to have been captured by a wizard. You hunters are very elusive. The wizards interrogated him for days with no avail. He gave no scrap of information and was quite resolute in his loyalty to Solomon. Two weeks after his capture, he bit his tongue and bled to death."

Dumbledore walked over to Amon. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing not many hunters give away priceless information, especially when it deals with how they track wizards."

"The man the witches captured was not responsible for another group of hunters. It's easy to sacrifice yourself when there's no one else you have to protect."

Dumbledore smiled in the type of way a grandfather would, or at least what Amon thought some ordinary male familial relation would.

"We can discuss the matter further later on," Dumbledore said. "Right now, one of your hunters needs you."

Amon, slightly annoyed that a witch was giving him permission to leave a room, headed toward the door. Dumbledore's hand stopped his shoulder. Amon immediately put his hand on his holster underneath his coat. He half-turned to see Dumbledore still smiling, this time with a mischievous glint. "Don't be so hard on the little one," he said. "She's only trying to lighten the load."

Amon huffed and ripped his shoulder out of the old man's grasp. Storming out, Amon felt a little childish, but nonetheless relieved that he had dodged any sort of confrontation. Nothing was said about not attacking one another, but at least he had time to prepare. He stopped at the glaring man's portrait.

Saturn - the father of all the Gods. He was staunchly proud, believing himself to be the most powerful being in all the world. Yet, what destroyed him was the fear of his offspring - his own blood. Amon had a gut feeling that the old witch had a terribly ironic sense of humor.