Name:Harry Potter's Vegas Vacation Challenge issued by Blood Brandy

Category: Harry Potter & DC Comics and/or Animated Universe (Because I like DC)

A little idea I had.

Sirius fakes his own death (Hey, if a rat like Pettigrew can do it on his own, why can't Sirius when he can enlist pretty much anyone in the order to help?), and has his will enacted, emancipating Harry for one good reason.

To send Harry to Las Vegas (With Moony as a 'responsible' chaperone).

With fake muggle ID in hand (Perhaps a glamor or two), the two take to the town. But in true Hangover fashion, Harry has too much to drink and blacks out, waking up a day or two later...with a wedding ring.

Requirements:

-Harry has to go to Las Vegas, Nevada (If you want, you can do a Fem!Harry instead)

-Moony has to travel with him as chaperone (If you do Fem!Harry, you either have to have a Fem!Remus, or choose McGonagall or Tonks as chaperone)

-Harry has to get married to a super, Villain or hero is your choice, but has no memory of the wedding.

-He does NOT get a divorce for whatever reason (Wife talks him out of it, he really falls for her, magically binding, whatever reason you want)

-Magical law is different outside Europe to allow for Magical Supers

-Harry wakes up with no idea where Moony (Or Fem!Harry's chaperone) is, but his wife says (s)he was at the wedding.

-Harry's wife was completely (or at least mostly) sober when they were married

-Harry gets married by an Elvis impersonator

-The Potter Luck strikes, Harry, while drunk, won a LOT of money at the casinos, and is in a comp-ed room when he wakes up.

-The Potter Luck strikes again, Harry and his wife have to fight someone before they even leave Vegas, and win quickly thanks to Harry

Forbidden:

-No Slash for Harry(Nothing against Homosexuals, but it seems a lot of HP/DC crossovers are guy on guy)

Recommended:

-Takes Place either in August of fifth year, or during winter break, which I think would be easiest to work it in

-The Statute of Secrecy was signed in before the Revolutionary War (Which is true, according to HP wiki it was signed in 1692), so it at least doesn't apply/isn't enforced in America outside the 13 original colonies or not at all in America.

-Harry's wife should probably be at least aware of magic

-Remus (Or Fem!Harry's chaperone) gets drunkenly married

-Probably easiest to stick with one wife, but if you can make more work, I won't stop you.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The first girl pops into my head for this is either Raven or Jinx from Teen Titans. Zatanna would probably be easy, but maybe too easy.

Disclaimer:

I don't own anything concerning the rights to anything you might recognize. If I did, Harry would have never ended up with a flippin' fangirl.

Author's note:

This is a story based on Blood Brandy's Vegas Vacation Challenge. I stumbled on it a while back and had a few bits in mind for when I did decide to start it, but never really had the motivation to do it. Unfortunately, my muse for The Next Great Adventure decided to run away for a while and left me with a couple of her sisters as a distraction, one of which is this one.

In fact, there were times where I've been forced to get up in the middle of the night just to write a small scene that refused to leave me alone until it was in print. I'm not sure how often this particular project will be updated, seeing as what story I'm currently working on is at the whims of forces greater than myself, but I promise that none of my stories are being abandoned.

The only requirement that Blood Brandy set that I didn't use was the fact that whomever Harry married was sober the entire night. I honestly thought it would be more amusing to have them both trying to puzzle out what they had done separately.

Seeing as I've had quite a few problems from my other stories, I'm going to say this now:

THERE WILL BE CHANGES TO CANON!

You all have no idea how many messages I've gotten telling me that I should stop writing anything because I change stuff. It's my story, and I'll change what I need to suit the story. If you don't like it, tough. No one's putting a gun to your head and forcing you to read this.

Sidenote:

If anyone wants to do a 'Remus Lupin's Tour of Vegas' story, let me know. I'd definitely like to read it!

Publish Date: Aug. 22nd, 2013

Update Date: N/A

Chapter One

The Morning After

JUNE 18th

Harry landed in Dumbledore's office and immediately, somehow, ended sprawled out across the floor. He didn't get up right away, preferring to just lie there for a moment. His godfather was dead.

Sirius was dead.

That thought didn't really have time to register before Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace, saying, "Harry, I know how you must feel at the moment, but there are things we need to discuss, and time is of the essence."

Harry sighed tiredly and climbed to his feet, wiping his face and taking a deep breath. He still couldn't believe his godfather was gone. He flopped down in a chair across from the aging headmaster's desk, silently waiting for Dumbledore to speak.

The Headmaster walked to his cabinet behind his desk and pulled out a stone bowl, setting it gingerly on the desk between Harry and himself before sitting down and opening a drawer and pulling out a small vial filled with a silvery fluid and a letter. As he was doing this he spoke, "This is called a pensieve. It allows the user to view memories, either their own or someone else's." He handed the letter to Harry and said, "Read that first, then take a look at this memory. I promise you that you will feel much better afterward."

Harry numbly took the letter and opened it, his eyes widening at seeing his own handwriting.

To Myself,

I know what you're probably thinking, but you- I- Exactly what pronoun are you supposed to use when you write a letter to yourself? Things aren't so bad. I know it seems like it is, but it isn't. Seriously. Anyway, Sirius faked his death, with the help of Dumbledore, Remus, and me. You. This is confusing, So I'll just state the facts.

Sirius isn't dead.

We agreed to be oblivated so the plan wasn't at risk.

We don't have to go back to the Dursley's. Ever.

Take a look at the memory I- You- We provided and you'll have your proof. And no, this isn't some sick joke. Marauder's Honor.

Harry Potter. Yourself. Myself.

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, who just nodded and pointed at the stone bowl in front of him, saying, "Simply stick your face in the pensieve, Harry, and you'll have more proof."

Harry just nodded in reply, not saying anything and followed the instructions. After a brief and slightly disorienting feeling of falling, Harry landed in the Black Library.

CHRISTMAS BREAK, 5th YEAR

Harry just stared, slack-jawed, at his godfather before saying, "You can't seriously be serious, Sirius."

Sirius Black grinned widely and replied, "I'm quite seriously serious."

Harry shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around this insanity. Insane even for his godfather, which was saying quite a bit. "Seriously?"

Somehow, his godfather's grin grew even wider. "A grim kind of serious. Seriously."

Harry just stared at his godfather for a moment, waiting for the inevitable 'got you!' to happen. After a moment, Harry gave in and realized that Sirius really was serious. He dropped into his chair numbly and muttered, "You're seriously serious."

His godfather preened and puffed out his chest and replied, "Of course I'm serious, I'm always serious! Seriously!"

Remus sighed in exasperation. He put on his best 'serious face' and said, "Okay, that's enough with the serious/Sirius jokes. I'm serious."

Out of habit, and before Sirius even had a chance to open his mouth, Harry muttered, "No, he's Sirius, You're Remus." The Marauder in him couldn't help but tack on, "Seriously."

Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Somehow, and no one present was really sure how, a serious conversation had turned into a Sirius Conversation. "Look, cub," Remus began, trying to get everyone back on track. "We honestly think this is for the best for all parties involved. Hell, even Dumbledore agreed to this insane plan."

That little tidbit shacked Harry out of his mild stupor. "Wait a tic," he said, shaking his head and clearing out the cobwebs that had developed over the last few moments. "Dumbledore agreed to this? I knew he was a bit barmy, but this just proves he's not only off his rocker, he flat out destroyed it."

Sirius shrugged and replied, "A lot of things have been going on, pup, and some not so good." He sighed and ran his fingers through his long hair before continuing, "This is the only real way to keep the Black title and fortune out of Malfoy's hands, and I agreed on the provision that I get to ensure you have at least one good vacation before things start getting worse. You'll come straight here after getting off the train, get some supplies and some new clothes, and then it's off on a real vacation for you."

"And you're telling me this just to oblivate the information from my mind," Harry replied flatly. "What's the point in that?"

Remus decided to field this answer and responded, "Because we wanted you to write a letter to yourself for later, along with a copy of this memory. That way, you don't think that this is all some sick and twisted joke." He shrugged and continued, "And also, we won't be the one's doing the oblivation, Dumbledore will. He's far better at it. We also wanted to see if you had anything you wanted to add to the plan."

Harry sighed and ran his hand down his face. After a moment, he spoke, "Alright, I'm in."

JUNE 18th

Several minutes later, he found himself back in the Headmaster's office, stunned speechless. After a moment he collected his thoughts and said, "How?"

Dumbledore smiled and said, "The how is rather complicated, and quite ingenious if I do say so myself, but that is neither here nor there. We still have much to discuss and many plans to make in order to get you properly prepared for your vacation."

Harry nodded dumbly and replied, "Alright then. Where do we start?"

PRESENT DAY

Harry Potter woke up slowly, groggy, in horrendous pain, with no recollection of where he was, how he got there, or even what day it was. There were two things he was absolutely certain of at the moment, however.

One, hangovers sucked more than a toothless two-knut whore in the depths of Knockturn Alley.

Two, he was never drinking again. Ever.

He groaned as another spike of pure agony attempted to liquefy his brain and pour it out of his ears. It felt like Dobby had decided to release a million bludgers in his mind, all intent on 'saving him'. His tongue felt like sandpaper and he was debating whether or not staying still or attempting to bury his face into a pillow was the best course of action.

Deciding that he was fine right where he was, he groaned again and buried his face into the back of the neck of the person he was in bed with.

Wait... What?

'Please be a girl, please be a girl' Harry thought to himself as he cracked open one bleary eye and was met with a tangle of inky black hair. He couldn't see much more than that, so he decided to attempt to use his other senses to determine the gender of the bed-mate he was currently cuddling. He felt soft, smooth skin and gently squeezed his hand, eliciting a quiet moan from the now confirmed female in bed with him as she pushed back against him. After a confused moment, Harry gently lifted the sheet covering both of them and looked down to confirm that yes, they were both naked.

That immediately gave way to Harry wondering where his boxers went.

He mentally slapped himself at that thought. Where his boxers were was the mildest of issues he was dealing with at the moment. Starting with the fact that the bed he was in was far bigger than the one in the room he had first checked in to when he arrived in Vegas. He lifted his head, careful not to disturb the girl sleeping next to him, and his mind was immediately diverted but the state of the room he was in.

The absolutely trashed room that he hadn't checked into when he first arrived in Las Vegas. The room with the tie-died walls, a gryffindor red carpet with swirls of deep indigo and bright green and scorch marks all over the patchwork ceiling complete with still-moving snitches fluttering between all four. The wooden four-post bed had somehow grown branches and leaves, and apparently birds were flying in and out of the completely blown out sliding glass door leading to the balcony to roost on them.

None of the furniture in the much larger room looked like it was in the right place, and some of it looked like it had been thrown around the room and into the walls, a few items dashed to pieces. There were clothes scattered all over the room, and it took him a minute, but he was able to confirm that, yes, there were a pair of knickers hanging from one of the branches on the tree-bed, and yes, those were his boxers on the lampshade.

'Well there's that question answered.' Harry thought as he continued to look around the room.

Apparently there was also a nundu cub in the corner, curled up and fast asleep.

Considering that there was no possible way that one of the most dangerous magical creatures in the world was in the same room as him, as he knew that the climate was all wrong, he concluded that this had to be a really weird, alcohol-induced dream. Nodding to himself in satisfaction at solving that particular mystery, he decided to enjoy it while he could and pulled the sleeping girl tighter against him before slipping back into slumber.

Rachel, also known as Raven, groaned, waking slowly, head throbbing uncomfortably, and in a bed that wasn't her own. That much she noticed quite quickly. She also quickly noticed that she wasn't alone in the bed that wasn't hers, the proof of that was currently pushing into her lower back.

'Quite a bit of proof.' a small part of her mind noted absently.

She pushed the thought away and cracked open one eye. Both snapped open at the state of the room. She clenched her eyes shut for a moment before opening them again to confirm that yes, the room really was in such a state. Knowing her powers could only account for part of the damage, she wondered just who had the power necessary to do the rest. She wasn't trying to be vain, but she was quite powerful, but even she didn't have the ability to change the colors of a carpet or walls, and she had never seen anyone able to make a wooden bed frame grow branches and leaves. Even Poison Ivy couldn't pull of such a feat.

She turned her head and looked at her bed-mate. The first thing she noted was the wild mess of dark hair that somehow seemed to make him far more attractive. The second thing she noted was the fact that her bedmate was currently groping her. She looked down at the offending appendage and her eyes widened in shock at the wedding band on his finger. Taking a deep breath to calm racing mind, she considered what she knew to be true.

This wasn't the room she had checked in to when she first arrived in the city. That much was obvious. She groaned in the realization that she would likely have to help pay for part of the damages, considering her powers had likely caused some of it.

She and her bed-mate were both naked. Her panties hanging from a branch on the bed frame and his boxers hanging from the lampshade, along with what she could feel pressed against her proved that.

Her bed-mate was married. She slept with a married man. She gave her virginity up to a man that was already taken! Scowling dangerously at that thought, she turned and acted on the first impulse that came to mind.

She shoved him right over the edge of the bed.

The sudden sensation of falling caused Harry to snap wide awake just in time to crash to the floor. He groaned at the sudden forced movement before sitting up and looking around. Spotting the rather angry looking girl sitting up in the bed he had obviously just been pushed out of and holding the sheet against her to cover herself, he asked, "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"You are married!" she hissed scathingly. "And apparently unconcerned with cheating on the poor, stupid girl who was willing to tie themselves to you!"

Harry frowned in confusion and looked down at his hand. The ring from his strange, alcohol-induced dream was still there. He looked back up at the girl when a glimmer caught her eye. Recognizing the pattern as the same as his ring, he quickly decided a touch of payback was in order. "And I feel sorry for the poor bastard that married a girl with such a bitter morning disposition."

The girl scowled and spit back, "I'm not married!"

Harry snorted. "Well that ring on your finger would indicate otherwise," he retorted, pointing to the offending piece of jewelry on the girl's hand.

The girl looked at her hand in confusion for a moment before everything registered and her eyes widened in shock. She was about to lay into him about that fact that it didn't excuse the fact that he was married as well when he raised his arm and clearly showed her his ring.

The ring that matched hers. The matching wedding bands.

The now wide-eyed girl blinked once, twice, thrice before saying, "Well, hell."

After getting dressed (and having several covert looks that neither would ever admit to) and downing a couple hangover potions that Harry had in his pants (that were somehow stuck to the ceiling), both teens were sitting at a table in the living area of the rather extravagant and quite spacious suite they found themselves in. After several moments of tense silence, Harry took a deep breath and stuck out his hand, saying, "I'm Harry. I really hope you don't mind me asking, but may I have your name?"

The girl snorted and muttered something that he couldn't quite make out before speaking up and asking, "And what's your last name?" She questioned, thoroughly ignoring his hand.

Harry sighed at the casual dismissal and replied, "Potter." Half of him hoped for the usual reaction he got, because if she didn't recognize the name, then it likely meant that she wasn't magical, which was an entire situation that he was truly hoping to avoid.

"Then I suppose my name is Rachel Potter," the girl replied acerbically.

"Untrue," Harry retorted immediately, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow at him in a silent demand for an explanation to that. "Names don't change after you get married. You have to go to a separate office to legally change names, and I somehow doubt that we did that between the marriage and this morning." He shrugged and added, "Or at least, I haven't found the paperwork indicating such."

An arched eyebrow was his only response for a moment before he said, "I have a friend that does a lot of research about some of the most random things." He seemed to lose focus in thought for a moment before muttering, "She's gonna kill me when she finds out I got married."

"Girlfriend?" Rachel spit out bitingly, tensing further.

Harry wrinkled his nose and shook his head rapidly. "Eww, no. We've been best friends for years and she's more like a sister than anything else." He snorted and clarified, "No, she's going to kill me because we were both supposed to stand for each other at each other's wedding. She's going to be mad that she didn't get the chance."

Rachel tentatively reached out with her empathic and telepathic abilities, making a light connection with the boy across from her. From her empathic senses, she could feel a slight revulsion at the idea of his friend being his girlfriend, as well as a large amount of humor and exasperation, as if he had resigned himself to the fact that everyone thought that they would or have gotten together. Underneath all that was nervousness and... hope? She mentally shook her head. Nothing nefarious there in the least.

Her telepathic senses, however, got nothing but truth in his words, but there was something... Off about it. Not necessarily a lie, more like he had been keeping a secret for so long and worded his responses to give truth but not the whole truth that it was just habit to do so now. She tried to look deeper and hit something, a barrier or shield of some sort around his mind, and her telepathy just slid off of it like water. She looked at him closely. He wasn't tense or distracted by something else, as if he was keeping his mind protected. In fact, his entire concentration seemed to be solely on her. His bright emerald green eyes bored into her own deep indigo ones, almost as if he could read her soul. She doubted she had ever been on the receiving end of such intensity before, and it sent a pleasant shiver down her spine.

She shook it off and relaxed slightly. So far he had been somewhat pleasant company, and he didn't seem to have any kind of nefarious agenda, but the fact that his mind was protected was something that shocked her. She had only met a few people that could block her telepathy, and those people were either so alien compared to her that the ability simply wouldn't work, or they had superior technology or magical artifacts that blocked it for them. He had nothing technological on him, not even a cell phone that she saw, and he didn't seem to be very alien, so that left artifact, which she couldn't check for at the moment. Suddenly, a voice from his pocket interrupted her thoughts.

"Harry! Harry, pick up!" Harry froze for a second before smiling stiffly and saying, "Just a tic, really need to get that." She watched him stand swiftly and walk into the other room, reaching into his pocket and pulling out...

A Mirror? What?

She shook off her confusion and decided that now would be a good time to get in touch with her friends as well. She was likely overdue for a check-in anyway and they were probably worried about her. Rachel sighed heavily and activated her communicator. "Robin, I need you to do me a favor."

"What's the favor pup?" Sirius asked seriously. Contrary to popular belief, he knew when it was a bad time to joke around, he just didn't care most of the time. But this was his godson, and his godson needed something, and it was serious from what Sirius could tell from Harry's expression.

"I need you to tell me about magical marriages, because there's blood on my wedding certificate and I somehow doubt that non-magicals do that sort of thing," Harry said quickly. "And I need to know the information now."

"You got married!?" Robin screeched over the communicator. "That's it, we're coming to get you, and I'm gonna beat whomev-"

"Robin!" Rachel interrupted. "Now is not the time. I just need to know what I did last night, so could you find out?"

There was a pause and then, "Give me a few to piece things together," Robin replied with a sigh.

"Well hurry it up, I need to know as soon as possible." Harry seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Actually, give the mirror to Hermione, she likely knows more than you could possibly find out in a short amount of time."

"You know you'll be on the receiving end of quite the tirade if I do that, you know," Sirius replied.

"Tell her that chastising me will have to wait, and that doing so would be bad at the moment." Harry seemed to think for a moment before adding, "Ask her if it wouldn't be more satisfying and have a larger impact if she waits until she can do it in person after she has a chance to get her facts together or if she just wants to jump into the deep end with no information like she did with S.P.E.W." After a second of further thought, he said, "Don't tell her that was my idea, though. Let her think you're doing it on your own because you think it would be funny."

Sirius grinned and said, "That's a good idea pup, but you know you'll be in for worse the next time she sees you."

"I know," Rachel sighed. "But I really don't think I can deal with Starfire's upbeat attitude at the moment."

Robin snorted and tried to smother his laughter. Upbeat was rather kind, all things considered. The Tamarian girl had rarely been down, and even when she was, it wasn't for long. In the sanctity of his own mind, he believed that some of the events in her life gave her some severe insight into sadness and depression, enough that anything else just didn't compare. "Alright, I think I've pieced this together. Thank god it was in Vegas, that place has enough security cameras to cover the entire city nearly twice over."

Robin continued, "Seems your 'not-a-vacation' began with you shadowing Donna Troy as planned. That continued all day until around seven that evening, when she somehow managed to get into a nightclub. You followed her in and kept an eye on her and the place before it looked like she started to get suspicious, so you just struck up a conversation with the person next to you." Robin paused for a second before saying, "Huh. This is interesting."

"Define interesting," Harry said cautiously, thinking that he really did not want to know the answer.

"You're bloody buggered now, you poor, stupid bastard," Hermione responded levelly. "If those vows are accurate-"

"Hermione, language," Harry interrupted flatly. She may be Ms. Prim-and-proper and chastising Ron and him for their language in school, but that was because she was at Hogwarts on a scholarship. She simply couldn't afford to be anything else and risk loosing it. Outside school, however, she was far more relaxed about 'proper behaviour'. "And they're written on the marriage certificate, So I'm fairly sure it's accurate."

Hermione snorted and replied, "Then there are terms and conditions on a piece of parchment that you signed and freely put blood on. It's now more a contract than a true marriage certificate as you would see in the non-magical world." She sighed in exasperation and ran her fingers through her hair, biting her lip in thought. After a tense moment she finally said, "I don't see any loopholes here, Harry. The terms are rather clear in the whole 'Til Death' thing." She sighed sadly and concluded, "So you might as well get used to it."

"Get used to it?" Rachel asked darkly. She took a deep breath and sighed, trying to calm herself down. "You know what, never mind. What happened next?"

"Well, after you got married, by Elvis of all people, the two of you decided to try your luck at gambling," Robin said, getting back on track. "You hit the slot machines first." After a slight pause, Robin continued disbelievingly as he stated, "And hit five jackpots on five consecutive machines inside thirty seconds."

Rachel's eyes widened in shock. "What?" she asked, her tone now matching Robin's.

"I said," Hermione stated calmly. "I think you should come clean with her, Harry, about everything." She shook her head and smiled, saying, "Not immediately of course, but for better or worse, she is your wife now. You're going to have to learn to trust her at some point."

"You don't think she's a Death Eater or something?" Harry asked confusedly. He knew that's how Ron and likely Mrs. Weasley would react at first.

Hermione grinned and said, "You told me earlier that you pointed out her ring to her while she was holding the sheet up against her, meaning you saw her left arm naked, and if you of all people didn't notice a mark, then she's definitely not a Death Eater. As for the 'something', there's no way to tell right now, so why worry about something you have no knowledge of at the moment, especially when you can't change that fact. Definitely be cautious, but stressing out about it won't do any good. But that's not the question I want you to answer right now." Her grin turned wicked and she asked, "So, is she hot?"

Rachel sighed tiredly. "Starfire, you just find out that I'm suddenly married, and the first thing you ask is 'is he hot?'" She shook her head at her friends thought processes as she tried to change the subject. "Robin, why did you let her in on this conversation?"

"I had to use the monitor room to piece all this together, and she walked in," Robin stated. "I don't usually lock this door because we're the only ones that get this far and then finding out you were married kind of threw everything else out."

"And you did not answer my question, friend Raven," Starfire stated.

"Yes, she is, but that's not the point. Why do you even want to know?" Harry asked confusedly. This was a bit unlike Hermione. Should he have her give the mirror back to Sirius so he can have his godfather check her for polyjuice or something? He shook his head. He was starting to get as bad as Mad-Eye.

"Because, Harry," Hermione huffed. "Let's face it, I'm waiting on Ron to make the first move." She stared at him pointedly through the mirror for a second before continuing, "We both know that's going to be a very long wait. As such, I've decided that it's a good idea to live vicariously through you."

"Let's just get back on track here. I really need to find out what happened last night," Rachel said quickly, not really wanting to hear Starfire go any further down that train of thought.

"After the slot machines," Robin started quickly, just as disturbed as Rachel was and trying not to give a chance for Starfire to interrupt. "Came the roulette tables. Everything you won from the slot machines, which totaled out at just over fifteen thousand dollars by the way, your husband bet on number thirteen." After a second of silence, he said, "And won." Quieter, he muttered, "Why am I suddenly not surprised?" He spoke up again and continued, "Your husband won the next four consecutive spins before deciding to try his hand at cards. After finding the highest stakes table the two of you could find in the entire casino, you apparently sat on his lap while he proceeded to clean house for the next three hours. All total, you two managed to win just over twenty million dollars before the staff politely asked you to leave the casino," Robin said.

"Which means they kicked us out," Rachel translated.

"Yup." Robin continued with, "So, it looks like you two seemed to have decided to see how long that luck would hold out, and made your way to a different gambling establishment. And when you got booted from that one for winning too much, the two of you went on to the next."

"Somewhere along the line, you two managed to pick up what looks like a leopard or jaguar cub." After a momentary pause, Robin continued narrating. "Four casinos later, you were up by quite a bit," Robin frowned in thought before finishing, "To be honest, I've never seen such a long run of such good luck." Robin sighed. "I'm still at a loss as to how he managed it, but your husband somehow found his way into more than one Owner's Game," he shook his head. "It's likely because the casinos had lost so much money in such a short time they thought it would be a quick and easy way to get it back and line their pockets at the same time."

"I can see where the other players in those games were cheating, but somehow it never worked." Robin shook head head again in disbelief. "I don't think he lost a hand all night." After a moment, Robin continued, "It looks like quite a few businesses changed hands last night. Now your husband owns eighty-seven percent of the Bellagio, sixty-three percent of Caesar's Palace, fifty-four percent of The Mirage, and fifty-two percent of the Monte Carlo, along with major, if not majority shares in several other companies. By the way, you finally checked in to the Owner's Suite at the Bellagio. Top floor apartment that spans nearly the entire top floor and has roof access. Oh, and apparently you two won a car from a drawing, looks like a nice one at that." Robin added appreciatively.

"How can you tell it's a nice car?" Harry asked. His knowledge of automobiles was severely lacking.

Hermione sighed and said, "Because you said the fob said 'Jaguar', and those are universally considered to be 'nice' cars."

"Oh," Harry replied quickly. "That's everything in my pockets, Hermione."

"Okay, look around the room. Notice anything new? Most likely a briefcase or maybe a duffel bag in extreme cases," Hermione coached. "If you find something like that, open it and tell me what's inside."

Harry nodded and spotted a veritable mountain of black duffel bags in the corner of the room with a now collapsed table next to it, a slim silver briefcase leaning against it. Harry walked over and opened the bags first. His experience with the stone told him that the smaller an object was, the more dangerous it was, and he was hoping to have fainted by then to stall that particular revelation. He peeked inside and saw money.

Lots of money.

He swallows thickly and looked more carefully at the bag, finally noticing a casino's emblem on the black canvas material. "Hermione?" he asked, far more calmly than he felt. "How much cash do the casinos themselves put in these black duffel bags?"

"Around five million dollars," She answered. "Why?" she asked, suddenly hesitant of the answer. It would be just like him to go to the city famous for robbing tourists and proceeding to rob the city blind in a somewhat legal fashion without ever meaning to.

"Twenty-five." Harry said squeakily.

"Twenty-five million dollars?" Hermione attempted to clarify. She was really hoping that she was correct in that assumption. It would be far less troublesome if it were.

"Twenty-five duffel bags."

And there went that assumption, viciously killed before it could even take root. "Well, that's a lot of money." The shocked girl finally stated.

"Should I open the briefcase?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Hermione sighed in finality. "Go ahead, it can't be any worse than this."

"You just had to say that, didn't you, Robin?" Rachel asked bitingly. "Now it's most definitely going to be worse."

Robin sighed and said, "That's just superstition, Rae. Things aren't going to get worse just because I said that."

Rachel frowned and asked, "Is there anything else I need to know, Robin?"

"You're husband has the alias of James Evans Black."

"James Evans Black?" Hermione asked. "That's the name on your fake I.D. How did that even go through? There's no way it could be that thorough," Hermione said disbelievingly.

"I went through the goblins to make a second identity. It seemed like a good idea at the time," Harry replied defensively. "Looks like it really was."

A sudden movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he spun, snapping his wand from his holster and into his hand and pointing it at-

A nundu cub.

He knew a nundu cub when he saw one. He studied all sorts of dangerous creatures preparing for the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, so he was positive that the feline cub was most definitely a nundu. The head and paws were far too big compared to its body to be a jaguar or leopard.

"Hermione, there's a nundu cub sleeping in the corner," Harry said, trying his best to smother his fear. The poison was far more concentrated in the cubs compared to the adults. Luckily, they didn't have the poison breath that young.

"You're joking. There's no way you would find a nundu cub in the middle of a desert." Hermione stated, shaking her head. "Your luck can't be that bad. Or good depending on your perspective."

"I am most definitely not joking here Hermione," Harry stated calmly. "There's a nundu cub here curled up in the corner. And how is this a good thing from any perspective?!"

"Harry, are you ever going to drink that much again?" Hermione asked levelly. At Harry's head shaking side to side rather vigorously, She stated, "Then it's a good thing from my perspective because it really drives in the lesson that drinking enough to black out is bad for you." After a second of thought she asked curiously, "Where did you find, let alone acquire, a nundu cub?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be here nearly messing myself wondering the same thing, as well as when I'm going to be dinner!" Harry hissed quietly, trying not to disturb the beast. "What do I do about it?"

"I'd recommend backing slowly out of the room and closing the door," Hermione stated as if speaking to a small child. "Then I'd call the authorities and let them deal with that particular mess."

"Good idea," Harry stated quickly. "I'll talk to you later, Hermione. Bye."

Rachel switched off her communicator and sighed. This whole situation was beyond messed up. She looked at the door her husband had disappeared through and idly wondered what was taking so long.

Appearing as if by her mental command, Harry slowly backed out through the doorway, shutting the door carefully behind him with an almost inaudible 'click'. He turned on his heel swiftly and let out the breath he was holding. He spotted Rachel looking at him curiously and he just grinned and asked, "What do you know about nundu?"

The phone rang suddenly, startling the duo. Harry walked over and quickly snatched up the receiver before it could ring a second time. He put his ear to the device and said, "Hello?" He frowned and then scowled in confusion and replied, "This is he." A few moments later he muttered, "Figures." Louder, he said, "I'll be down as soon as I can. One question though, is he still unconscious?" Harry suddenly grinned and replied, "Thank you," before hanging up the phone.

"What was that about?" Rachel asked curiously.

"My uncle is in jail at the moment," Harry said with a shrug. "To be honest, I half expected it. With no one here to keep an eye one him and being so far away from England, he could finally cut lose and let his marauder show." He grinned before asking, "Want to accompany me?"

Remus Lupin was suddenly and quite violently awoken with the sound of loud, obnoxious banging. Mind-shattering agony spiked through his brain as he groaned and attempted to roll over, only to come crashing to the floor.

"Rise and shine, Moony! Time to get up and face the day!" Harry yelled over the sound of the metal trash can lids he was banging together. As Remus groaned in agony, Harry nudged him with his toe. "Oi! Remus, wake up! And next time you think Padfoot has a good idea I want you to smack yourself until you're sober and consider it again then."

"Cub? Is that you?" Remus groaned. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in the drunk tank in the Las Vegas police department," Harry replied flatly. "Have you heard the list of charges?"

Remus paled as he asked, "What charges?"

Harry smirked as he listed off, "Fourteen counts of indecent exposure, twenty-three counts of harassment, eighteen restraining orders, six counts of evading arrest, one hundred and three counts of vandalism in various forms, twenty counts of petty theft, five counts of animal theft, nine counts of speeding, three counts of grand theft auto, ten counts of defacing government property, thirty-three counts of vigilantism, and a single count of public drunkenness." Harry grinned widely and said, "Someone had a busy time."

"Oh," Remus said weakly. "Well that's not good."

"Oh, they dropped the charges," Harry shrugged. "Several of the officers were there at the start of your little tour of Vegas and saw how things spiraled out of control. They said they hadn't laughed that hard in years." Harry grinned, "Apparently, they're piecing it all together using various security cameras from across the city that caught the action so they can watch it over and over again." His grin widened considerably and he added, "Their sending me a copy as well. I just have to see how it all lead to this."

Remus hung his head and sighed. "I'm never going to live this one down, am I?"

Harry shook his head and replied, "Not a chance, Moony. Not a chance. Now, let's get out of here and I'll introduce you to my wife."

Remus' eyes widened as he sputtered, "W-Wife?!"

Harry tsked at Remus and shook his head in mock disappointment. "You were the witness for my wedding, your name is on the certificate." He sighed in mock sadness and said, "I can't believe you don't remember one of the happiest moments of my life that I can't remember either."

Remus rolled his eyes and said flatly, "Very nice, cub. You almost had me going there." He stood up and stretched, saying, "Now let's get out of here."

As the two walked through the halls of the police department, Remus noticed something odd. Every officer he passed was snickering, chortling, or outright laughing, and some were taking pictures. He just shook his head and sighed. He'd fix whatever the cub did later, and then he'd plot revenge.

It was the Marauder way after all.

Remus set down the parchment he had been staring at for the past ten minutes and looked around the spacious suite that the cub apparently owned now. "So you really are married," he muttered disbelievingly. "I didn't believe it at first, but here's the proof. With my signature." He sighed and shook his head, saying, "Molly is going to blow a gasket or twelve. She had her sights set on you marrying Ginny, you know."

Harry frowned and shuddered. "That's disgusting, Moony. She's like a sister to me." He shuddered again and added, "Not to mention the fact she looks a bit like my dead mum."

"Oh, that would just scream of a familial intimacy complex," Rachel muttered quietly.

Harry gagged and groaned. "I almost threw up. Thanks for that."

"What I can't figure out is where you got your wedding ring, Harry." Remus said, eying the piece of jewelry speculatively. "I mean, wood and metal is rather unique, and I doubt just any store would carry something like that."

Harry just shrugged. "No idea, Moony. I was hoping you did actually," Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Sorry, cub," Remus said, shaking his head. "I've got nothing." He sighed and looked around the room one more time before asking, "So have you two decided what you're going to do next?"

Harry froze. That was an issue, wasn't it. He had responsibilities and obligations in England, and he couldn't expect Rachel to just pick up and move with him. At the same time, he couldn't abandon everyone back home.

Rachel interrupted his thoughts by saying flatly, "Well, I'd assume getting an annulment would be quite simple in this city." Seeing the reaction that statement got made Rachel wonder just what was wrong with what she said.

Harry and Remus both flinched slightly and winced, looking at each other and wondering who was going to be the one to break the bad news. Finally Remus sighed and shook his head, saying, "She's your wife, cub. This one's on you."

Rachel narrowed her eyes and turned to Harry, asking, "What is it that I'm not being told?"

Harry winced again and replied slowly, "Well, what's your stance on magic?"

Rachel was rather confused at that statement. What did magic have to do with her and Harry being married? After a moment of rapid thought, her eyes widened in shock and then narrowed dangerously. "I'm a student of magic. Now, explain what that has to do with us being married."

Harry sighed and picked up the marriage certificate, handing it to Rachel. She took it from him carefully and looked at it, her eyes widening at what she saw. It was definitely not like any marriage certificate that she had ever seen, and she was hesitant to ask, but if her assumptions were true, then it was important to know. "Is that blood?"

Harry winced again at her tone and nodded. "Willingly given, apparently."

Well that makes a hell of a change on the landscape, Rachel thought to herself. She read and reread the parchment in her hands several times before stating with a sigh, "It's impossible to get out of this, isn't it."

Harry nodded hesitantly, not really knowing what to say.

Rachel set the parchment down and rubbed her temples, trying to stave off the headache she could feel building. Robin was going to have a fit about this, and she could only imagine Starfire's reaction, let alone the rest of the group's, but the two teens were tied together now, for better or worse. Finally she sighed and said flatly, "Well, I for one, don't really want my husband to up and disappear on me."

Harry relaxed slightly and finally released the breath he hadn't really noticed he had been holding. At least she seemed to want to make things work, that was a step in a good direction. He smiled slightly and replied, "And I'd rather not go through never seeing my wife again."

Raven frowned slightly and responded quickly, "Oh, you're still in the dog house, mister. I'm just not sure how long you're going to be there, yet."

Harry tensed again and hung his head. Okay, maybe not a full step in a good direction, but it was still better than he thought it would be. At least she wasn't trying to kill him.

Not yet at least, he amended in his mind.