Dudley reached over and shook Harry's arm lightly. "C'mon, freak-a-zoid. We're almost to London now."

Harry yawned and scrubbed at his eyes. He'd gotten almost no sleep the night before, and the moment they'd gotten on the train he hadn't been able to help but nod off. Even now, his eyes felt caked with sand. His fingers went to that scar at his wrist again, though, and he knew he had to keep going.

"Is Liam awake?" Harry asked, peering over his cousin's head.

Dudley said, "He went to the loo."

To wash up, probably, Harry thought. Liam was one of the dirtiest kids Harry had ever seen, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He was always washing up whenever they went anywhere, or at least pretending at it. Frankly, Harry didn't understand the point. No one would mistake Liam for a well-kept kid.

The train began to slow down. Harry frowned, looking over Dudley's head towards the back of the train car. "He'd better hurry up. We'll be there soon."

"He'll make it," Dudley said. "Hah. If he doesn't he'll just jump off the back while the train's still moving. Can't be any harder than jumping on."

Harry glared at his cousin. Just then, however, Liam emerged from the bathroom, wiping sopping hands on his jeans. Harry rolled his eyes. The kid was still filthy.

Severus crouched outside the foundation of the sub shop and glared down at the scuffed marks in the dirt by the window. According to Gibbs, that was the way the boys had slipped out. DeLacey's people had confirmed the fact that was the way the children had been seen getting in and out in the preceding days. The fact that none of the ministry workers seemed perturbed that three children were sneaking in and out of an abandoned building through a basement window only served to fuel Severus's anger at the entire situation.

A few feet away, DiNozzo was on the phone with Wilson. He was saying, "Just tell the boys we're running late. There's no need to give them any details at this point; you'll only worry them unnecessarily."

Severus rolled his eyes. It wasn't as if the boys wouldn't find out the truth eventually. They'd be bringing these kids home, after all, and children tended to talk even if they were instructed not to. Frankly, Severus didn't understand why Gibbs and DiNozzo tried so hard to shelter Zachary from the bad things in the world. They knew, perhaps better than anyone, the challenges Zach would face later in life. Wouldn't it be better to prepare him for it now by teaching him to accept challenges?

Severus turned suddenly on the inept ministry worker. "Where are they?"

"I'm sorry," DeLacey said. "He hasn't one any magic. As long as he doesn't, we can't Trace him."

Severus growled under his breath.

Gibbs laid a hand on Severus's forearm. "Don't worry, Sev. Tony and I have plenty of practice with this sort of thing."

Severus snorted and turned away.

"Alright, Harry," Liam said, grinning up at him expectantly. "What now?"

Harry frowned and glared around the city. The streets seemed similar to the ones he'd seen in his dream, but none of the stores nearby were the exact ones from his dream. He certainly didn't see the little pub he'd dreamed about. Harry scratched the back of his wrist and twisted his lips.

Dudley glared at him. "You don't know, do you?"

Harry's jaw tensed. He said, "I know. At least, I think I do…"

Liam and Dudley both stared at him.

"I'll know it when I see it," Harry said. "C'mon. This city can't be that big."

"Hah," Liam said. "It's London. It's huge.

Gibbs snapped his cell phone closed. "Three boys matching their descriptions bought train tickets this morning."

"To where?" DiNozzo asked.

Gibbs frowned. "London."

"That's hours from here," Severus said.

DiNozzo said, "Do we have time to head them off at the station?"

"The train got to London about twenty minutes ago," Gibbs said.

Severus scowled—that was just their luck—but then forced himself to give a curt nod. "At least it's somewhere to start."

"It's curious, isn't it?" Dumbledore asked.

Severus glared. Dumbledore had gotten them into this mess; the last thing any of them needed now were his stupid riddles.

"That they should go to London," Dumbledore clarified. "There is, I think, only one place in London that would hold interest for a wizarding child."

"Diagon Alley?" DiNozzo said. "You think they went there?"

Severus snorted. "Please. Leaving aside the fact that only one of the boys is a wizard, how would they even know about Diagon Alley? Harry was a toddler when Lily and James passed."

"Unless his aunt said something to him about it," Gibbs suggested. "The Hogwarts letters are already out, aren't they? Maybe she mentioned taking him there to shop for his school things."

"I'm hungry," Dudley said.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're always hungry, mate."

Liam shook his head. "Nah. This time he's right. I mean, I'm hungry, too."

"Well, you've got the money," Harry said, nodding at Liam. "Go buy sandwiches or something if you're hungry."

"I've told you before, it's stupid to waste money on food," Liam said. "Can't we just take a break to get some food and rest? I mean, you don't even know where we're going, Harry."

"I'll know it when I see it," Harry said again. He felt like he'd said that phrase a hundred times since they'd gotten there. Maybe he had.

"It's been hours, mate," Liam said quietly. "How much longer are we gonna go on?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but just then they went around the corner and he saw it: the pub from his dreams. A crooked sign over the top of it read the Leaky Cauldron. Harry grinned and pointed. "There! Right there!"

Dudley squinted in the direction Harry was pointing. "Starbucks? Harry, we've passed like a hundred of those since we've been here."

"What?" Harry shook his head. "No, next to the Starbucks."

"You wanna go to a boutique?" Liam said. "That's a bit poofy, Har. Not that I'd care or anything, but it's also way out of our price range."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Not the boutique. Between the two, you dimwits."

"Between," Dudley repeated.

Liam shook his head. "Mate. There isn't anything in between."

Harry stared at the pub from his dreams. It was there, a solid building as plain as anything. He turned from Dudley to Liam and back again, sure they were screwing with him. "You… you guys can't see that? The pub?"

Their expressions remained blank—and Dudley, at the very least, was not that good an actor.

Tony stirred his tea with the handle of his spoon and checked his watch for the hundredth time since he'd been here. He felt so useless, sitting in the pub like a complete dolt while Gibbs and Severus were out looking for the kids. Of course, he'd always felt useless during stakeouts, even though Gibbs insisted that they were one of the more important roles in an assignment. He was an active man, damn it. He wanted to be doing something.

All he was doing now was observing the pub, waiting in case by some miracle the boys managed to stumble in. It seemed more than a little unlikely to Tony. At first, it hadn't been a bad idea to check around Diagon Alley for them, but enough time had passed by now that Tony felt sure the boys had come to London for some other reason. The novelty of it, perhaps…

Just as Tony was ready to give up, call Gibbs, and tell him that he was sure the boys weren't coming, the door to the pub jingled. Tony turned to see three boys step through the door, holding hands. The one in the front was a scrawny boy with messy black hair and green eyes. The two boys trailing him—one fat boy and one teensy, long-haired devil—both looked absolutely terrified, but once they stepped through the door they're fear seemed to adjust and they relaxed slightly. Muggles, Tony decided, remembering his own first entrance into the Leaky Cauldron. The anti-muggle wards on the place made coming into it anything but pleasant for non-magical persons.

"This is amazing," the littlest of the three boys whispered under his breath.

The fat boy said, "How'd you know this place was here?"

"I…" The green-eyed boy shook his head. "I had a weird dream about it."

Tony pressed the speed dial on his cell phone to summon Gibbs, and then he stood up and approached the three boys. He crouched down in front of them and said, "We have been looking everywhere for you."

Three sets of terrified eyes landed on him. The youngest one took a couple of steps backward.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Tony said, nodding at the door. "This place is surrounded by cops."

The small boy paled. He shot the green-eyed boy a glare. "Some dream, Harry. You went and got us in trouble!"

"I'm sorry," Harry replied. "I didn't mean to."

Tony raised his hands up in a gesture of peace. "No one's in trouble here, boys. We just can't have you living on the streets."

The littlest boy snorted. "Good luck with that. I'm not going back to any putrid orphanages. I'll just run off again, y'hear?"

"No one's going to orphanages, either," Tony said.

"Oh, no." The fat boy shook his head and gave Harry a horrified look. "Aunt Marge."

"Aunt Marge wouldn't take Liam," Harry said. "Or me, for that matter."

"It's nothing like that," Tony said, though in truth he had no idea what they were talking about. Who was Aunt Marge? Dumbledore hadn't mentioned her. Tony pushed the thought from his mind and forced himself to continue, "Homes have been found for the three of you already."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "You must have the wrong kids, then. 'Cause no one would've known to find homes for the three of us specifically."

"Is that a fact?"

The words came from behind Tony, and he turned to see that Gibbs had arrived, closely flanked by Severus.

The three boys stared up at the new men uncertainly.

"Drop the cop routine," Severus said, glaring at Gibbs. "They're taking you seriously."

Gibbs glared. "They should. Wandering all around London is dangerous."

Tony rolled his eyes. It was dangerous, but since the boys didn't even know who they were, he was sure the lecture was falling on deaf ears. He turned to the boys and said, "You are okay, aren't you?"

"We're fine," Harry said. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Anthony DiNozzo," Tony said. "This is my husband, the esteemed Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and, uh, my brother's brother-in-law, Severus Snape."

"Your brother's brother-in-law," Harry repeated.

Tony inclined his head. "And you are Harry Potter… and that makes the two of you Dudley Dursley and…"

"Liam," the little one supplied. "Liam Billows."

Dudley said, "What was that you said about finding homes for all of us?"

The three men exchanged looks. The PWAC program was hard to explain to most kids. To these children in particular, who'd had almost no experience with the magical world, it was nearly impossible. In the end, it was Severus who stepped up to the plate.

Crouching down in front of the boys, Severus looked Harry in the eyes and said, "I was a close friend of your mother's, Harry."

Harry frowned. "You were?"

Severus nodded. "When she passed, I asked if I could have custody of you, but the courts decided that you'd be better off with a blood relative. However, recent circumstances transpiring as they have, I am next in line for custody of you."

Harry took a moment to observe Severus, and then he turned to the other boys. "What about Dud and Liam?"

Tony stepped forward then. "They'll be coming to stay with Jethro and me."

Severus said, "I just adopted a son, Brinley. He's twelve. The situation being what it is, however, I think it would be unfair to him if I were to bring in three new kids right away. But Tony and Jethro live just down the road from me, so you guys would be able to see each other all the time. And that way, we can make sure all three of you are getting the attention you deserve."

Harry considered the statement for a moment, and then he shook his head. "No."

"No?" Severus said.

"It sounds great the way you're saying it," Harry said. "I'd love to get to know someone my mum was friends with. But no way I'm getting separated from Dudley and Liam."

Dudley shook his head. "Harry. It'd be fine."

"It would for you," Harry said. "You know all about parents who are okay blokes, and anyway, you and I are cousins. We're supposed to live down the road from each other. But Liam's never had decent folks, not really. The closest thing he's ever had is me, and I told him I'd be like a brother to him, and I only just moved in with him, and I'm not gonna move away from him now."

Liam said, "Harry…"

"No," Harry said, shooting Liam a look. "You've been helping me out ever since Dud and I moved in with you, Liam, but being a brother… It's not just about teaching you how to read, you know? It's about everything, including making sure you don't feel like you're being pawned off a new family all of a sudden."

Severus, Tony, and Gibbs exchanged silent looks for a moment and came to a silent agreement.

Severus nodded at Harry. "Okay. I'll take you and Liam both, and Dudley can go with Tony and Jethro. Is that okay?"

Harry swallowed. "Okay."

Severus turned to Dudley. "Son, I'd take you if I could. Do you understand that? It's not… You're not wanting in any way. You're just as special as Liam and Harry. There's just a limit to the number of kids I can take in at one time."

"S'okay," Dudley said. "Harry's right. I had good parents who spoiled me and treated Harry like junk. It's good that Harry's getting to be a priority this time around."

Tony shook his head and crouched down next to Dudley. "You misunderstand. You're a priority, too. My priority. Mine and Jethro's."

A/N: So, this is this story complete... Let me know which character relationships/situations you're most interested in for my next story!