Sorry about the long update, going through rough times. I don't own.

Concerns about Harry being a 'wimp': Not a wimp, simply going through extreme emotional…difficulties…let's get on with the story.

Hang on, I lied: a very special thanks goes out to Milarqui, who has given me fabulous ideas for both "Learning to Love" and "Resistance Plan" (for those of you who haven't read it, it's more humorous and involves taking on Umbridge) and is responsible for killing my writer's block. Kudos to him, and if you haven't already check out some of his stories; I greatly enjoy "Prodigy: Born Again". Now onto the story.

Learning to Love

Two days had passed since Daniel sent the aurors and mind healers after the woman from the hotel. They had apprehended the woman with relative ease, though once they got her to the hospital it was a different matter entirely.

At first she had been rather mild, a slightly frightened old woman who simply wanted her family. However, she soon became violent as they began the treatment to help counteract the negative effects of the poorly-applied Imperius curse. It took restraints, an extremely accomplished Legilimens, and many hours before they managed to keep her lucid long enough to get any information from her. At first it seemed as though she didn't know anything; it turned out that she was just an elderly Muggle woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fortunately, they were able to extract an image from her mind that was extremely valuable to the investigation—an image of Jasper Torin.

The Torins were an old pureblooded American wizarding family, very similar to the Malfoys (in fact, it was almost guaranteed that they shared a common ancestry). A squadron of aurors was dispatched to arrest Jasper on account of Muggle-baiting and suspected use of an Unforgiveable Curse. Naturally, Gibbs demanded to interrogate him, along with Auror Amanda Ashcroft (known jokingly among her fellow aurors as "Triple 'A'").

Amanda was attached to the MCRT by the American Auror Office, as NCIS was claiming jurisdiction on the Levine case. The thing was, even Gibbs had to admit that they needed some sort of connection to the magical world, and Daniel wouldn't be able to arrest anyone Torin named. So, with a few calls made by Vance, Amanda was brought in.

"Are you sure that you don't want to use Veritaserum?" Amanda asked Gibbs skeptically on the eve of the interrogation as they sat drinking tea, coffee, and, in Abby's case, Caf-Pow in Gibbs' living room. The place had become a sort of meeting area for the strange group, somewhere they could discuss magic without having to worry about being overheard.

"Victim was nonmagic—"

"And killed by magic—"

"Found by a nonmagic family—"

"Well technically Harry's a wizard—"

"My team began the investigation—"

"And you're lucky that you all weren't obliviated on the spot—"

"We got jurisdiction—"

"Only because the bureaucracy didn't want to deal with the death of a squib—"

"And I'll damn well be interrogating my suspect my way!" Gibbs finished loudly, not paying any mind to Amanda's protests. The rest of the group just watched as though it were some sort of bizarre tennis match—not that the argument was anything new. Gibbs and Amanda had bashed heads since day one, though not in a bad way, as one would see if they examined each argument carefully.

Amanda, with her brown hair, deep brown eyes, and knows-what-she-wants attitude was unafraid to voice her opinion, even to the silver-haired Marine who headed the MCRT. This had earned her the respect of said Marine, combined with her deep caring for others that shone through especially when she interacted with Harry. So, despite the frequent clashing between the two, the group had a high morale and were convinced that the case would soon be done and over with.

"I originally wanted to work with kids," she had told them, "but then I went over to Britain on an exchange trip during their war and saw firsthand how much the aurors helped the children. When I came back home and my little sister was killed by a "minor" dark wizard here in the States, I knew what I had to do."

Her background in childcare along with Daniel's involvement proved to be a blessing when the adults had decided to go over all information that was to be had on the Torins. As it turned out, they had a little girl of about three years of age, who would likely be lost into the system if Jasper Torin was tried and found guilty of the charges against him—unlike the Malfoy matriarch, her mother wouldn't be able to stand on her own two feet if her husband were taken from her. It was, they supposed, a blessing that little Amilie Torin was so young, far too innocent to be corrupted by the cruel, prejudiced ideals of her father…

"Fine!" Amanda exclaimed, throwing up her hands, though she turned and winked at Harry as she did so. "Have it your way."

"Well, it's not as though Veritaserum would hold up well in court, anyway," Daniel threw in carelessly, not at all thrown by the arguing alphas. "Torin could probably find a way around it."

"That argument doesn't work as well when the person is admitting to being guilty as opposed to saying that they're innocent," Emmeline pointed out. They had gone over the idea of Veritaserum while considering what to do about Sirius Black, and had eventually discarded the idea; the fact that an accomplished Occlumens or someone who could get their hands on the potion could possibly get by it made it a flimsy defense at best and it was likely that the courts wouldn't believe that someone from such an old pureblood family would lack the training or the funds for either.

"Doesn't matter," Daniel shook his head. "The magical government here may not be as corrupted as across the pond, but they're still…"

"Politicians," Harry supplied, sipping at his tea, fervently glad that he was allowed to attend the meetings. The adults had decided that, as he was so involved anyway, he may as well listen in—it was better than having him try to pull some harebrained stunt.

"Exactly," Daniel approved, taking a swig of his coffee to emphasize his point. "They might give him a fairer trial than the Malfoys would get with your Ministry, but the fact remains that Torin has the lawyers and the money."

The group elapsed into silence, each sinking into their own thoughts. Finally, Ducky decided to speak up.

"Have you had any progress on Harry's schooling situation, Jethro?" he asked. Harry stiffened.

"I'm working on it, Duck. Hey," Gibbs turned to Daniel, Emmeline, and Amanda, "what if we got one of those port-key things that you mentioned? Could that get him to Hogwarts?"

Harry straightened up immediately. Would it work? Just before the arrest on Torin the other witches and wizard had brought up the problem of their suspect apparating or "portkeying" away—terms which they then proceeded to explain. It hadn't occurred to him then, but now…

"International portkeys are tricky things," Daniel began hesitantly, exchanging glances with Emmeline and Amanda. "You would need approval from our government as well as the Ministry if you wanted one, and they're downright expensive, too. So many restrictions on them and such…not to mention that they're just plain unpleasant to use. Worse than a normal portkey, and those'll knock the wind outta you any day."

"So they're not a good idea?" Harry asked, trying to hide how crestfallen he was.

"'Fraid not, kiddo," Daniel grimaced in sympathy. "Are you sure that you don't want to try a school here? I went to Salem Wizards Academy—it's right by the Witches Academy—and it was a great school." Harry shook his head firmly.

"I belong at Hogwarts," he said, though he allowed no petulance to seep into his voice. Even when he thought back on everything that had happened over all his years at the school, he still couldn't think of himself attending anywhere but there. It was his first home, and nothing these people said would be able to change that.

"You have said that the Potters have quite a bit of money," Ziva began cautiously. Everyone turned to her. "And factoring in Gibbs' salary Harry would easily be able to fly from here to England at the ends of breaks and back at the beginning."

"And you think I want him on a plane alone?" Gibbs immediately jumped on the defensive.

"I'm not a child," Harry huffed under his breath.

"Maybe, but from what I've heard you sure do have a habit of finding trouble everywhere you go," Gibbs shot back. "And alone in an airport—who knows what could happen?"

"Death Eaters would probably attack, kidnap me, and then bring me to the spirit of Voldemort," Harry replied, only partly sarcastic. Gibbs' eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, but Daniel cut him off by grabbing his arm. Everyone stared, both at his audacity and Harry's disrespect.

"Can I talk to you? Alone?" he asked, meaningfully eyeing the kitchen.

"Fine," Gibbs said gruffly, standing up abruptly.

"Harry, why don't you go wait in your room and calm down a bit," Daniel ordered the teen.

"What? But—"

"Now," the older man said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Harry stared at the usually care-free man, surprised by the authority in his voice. A flicker of anger rose inside him—who was this man, to order him around? Almost like a parent…No, don't go there, he sternly reminded himself. But he truly wasn't used to adults treating him like this…Professor McGonagall did so on occasion, but she was his teacher, not like them…It almost reminded him of Sirius, or how Sirius should have been, would have been if they had managed to catch Pettigrew…"Fine," he snapped, sharper than he had intended, and stalked out of the room. Daniel sighed and turned to Gibbs, jerking his head toward the kitchen. Ducky and Vance rose and followed them.

"What the hell was that all about?" Gibbs asked, concern and anger warring for attention in his voice.

Leaning against the counter, Daniel gave a sardonic smile. "You said that you used to have a daughter," he reminded, ignoring the slight flinch the Marine gave. "You're telling me she never acted like that?"

"Well—no, but she—she was always like that, like her mother, and, well, me. Harry—he's been so quiet, he hasn't acted like this!"

"Honestly, Jethro, forgive me but you are out of practice in being a parent," Ducky said impatiently. "He's testing you!"

"My kids still do it," Leon butted in quietly. "But Harry's in a different position than them. He's never had proper boundaries, and now that he has someone who can give them to him he's trying to find out how much he can get away with."

"Not to mention that he needs to know what your reaction will be," Daniel added. "I've dealt with abused kids before—they don't know what to expect from a proper, loving environment. Oftentimes they've never known one before, or it's been so long that they can't remember what it feels like or how to act. Same with the kids who've been punted around from home to home, where the expectations constantly change. I suspect that Harry's dealing with a bit of both. The Dursley's expectations, standards, and rules probably shifted constantly. He put up with that for ten years of his life, then went off to Hogwarts where there was yet another set of rules and expectations to deal with, a set that was different than everyone else's due to his "Boy-Who-Lived" status. Now there's the culture shock, adjusting to a new home and rules, and also wondering if he'll be able to see his friends and be in that familiar environment again.

"The best thing you can do for him right now is to show him that you love and care for him, but that you also won't put up with any disrespect or defiance. Sit down with him once you're both calm, talk about what happened and why it did, and have the pair of you come up with a set of rules together—he'll probably follow them better if he has a hand in making them, along with knowing the reasons behind them."

Gibbs let out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding. Yes, he had been a father before, and he was a strong Marine and a damn good investigator, but he had to admit to himself that he didn't have the experience to care for an abused and neglected boy without help. Trying to do otherwise would only end up hurting Harry further, something that could only lengthen his list of things he could never forgive himself for.

"Alright," he nodded curtly. "I'll go talk to him. I trust you and the rest can show yourselves out?" The others agreed and returned to the living room, leaving him alone. He listened as they all filed out as he rummaged in one of his drawers for a pencil and a piece of paper.

Harry gazed out the window as he sat on his bed—his bed…it was such a strange thought. The title didn't imply that it was temporary, or that he was borrowing it, like in the dormitory at Hogwarts or in the bedroom at the Dursleys. The question was, did it still belong to him?

He knew that he shouldn't have spoken that way to Gibbs and Daniel. But…it was all so different. He knew, more or less, how he was supposed to act at Hogwarts and the Dursleys—a hero and a slave respectively. But here? A child? He snorted slightly—fat chance. Sure, he had a few panic attacks, allowed Gibbs to comfort him through physical contact, but he hadn't been aware that it had been signing some kind of contract. But…was he supposed to act that way all the time now?

He jumped as a soft knock came at his door, and was about to get up when Gibbs poked his head inside. "Can I come in?" the Marine asked. Harry gave a slight jerk of the head, not entirely sure himself what he was trying to communicate but Gibbs decided to take it as confirmation. He entered and settled himself on the edge of Harry's bed and watched intently as the boy quickly rearranged himself so that he was sitting in a criss-cross position with his back against the headboard.

Harry looked on curiously and with no small amount of apprehension as Gibbs laid a pencil and a pad of paper on the table beside the bed.

"We need to talk…"

A/N: Alright, please don't kill me or anything…I'm sorry that this chapter is so…lacking. I've been working on it forever and it just wouldn't happen. I'm sure the other writers out there'll understand. So I decided to end it there. I'm really hoping that it'll be able to pick up soon. Again, sorry for the long update time.