Chapter 7

Ron was groaning on about how much homework they had yet again. Ed and the others had grown used to this by now. However, Ed was also not very happy with the amount of homework they had. Winry and Al seemed really interested in the classes they had seen though. When Winry went to the Divination class with Harry and Ron, she talked about how that lady had no idea what she was talking about. Al went to one of her classes to see for himself and even he had to agree.

Al really liked Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Hagrid's classes. Al and Flitwick got on well, with their nice and friendly attitudes and that Al seemed to have an interest in charms. Al also liked learning about the different magical plants and their properties, especially in medicine considering before he came here, he went to Xing to study Alkahestry. Of course he would like Care of Magical Creatures since Al absolutely loves animals. Animals seem to always like him as well. Hell, he even got Mrs. Norris of all animals to like him, which was a shock to everyone but Ed and Winry. Al also liked Hagrid, but was also worried about his habits and gullibility.

He also liked Transfiguration although he was definitely scared of Mcgonagall. It wasn't surprising however. She gave that same menacing aura as Teacher. Al liked the Potions subject, but even he couldn't find much good in Professor Snape. Although, even Snape had to admit he was impressed at how well he did in potions when he went to one of Ed's classes. Since Al was almost as smart as Ed, he also found Arithmancy to be interesting and also Ancient Runes.

Winry had pretty much the same opinions as Al on the subjects and teachers. However, she would always pester poor Professor Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher, to teach them the wonders of automail. She would also complain that their curriculum was very poor and Ed had to agree with that. Ed knew that wizards did not like to keep much contact with non magicals, but they really should know them better! They shouldn't underestimate them. The Amestris Military, especially with the Briggs soldiers, would crush them.

Overall though, Al and Winry were enjoying their time here and that made Ed glad as well. He had also met this Luna Lovegood and definitely understood what Al meant when he said she was always in a dreamy manner. Ed liked her, even though she was weird, but then again, maybe that was what he liked about her. After hanging around with her for a bit, he saw more in her words than when he first met her. At first, he took it as strange comments, but eventually, he saw the messages in her words. She also seemed to possess seer blood. She would definitely make a better Divination professor than Trelawney.

Ed had also taken to helping Fred and George with their products. Their Canary Creams were a huge hit and they planned to develop more things. Ed wasn't sure if he should be amused or nervous at that. The twins would ask him about spells and items to help them for a big project they have called skiving snackboxes. 'I swear, these guys are gonna make it big, even if they're not in the Ministry. They may be huge jokesters, but damn they're ambitious.'

The house elves outdone themselves with the food and no one but Fleur Delacour had complained about it. Although, it wasn't that surprising to Ed. He found he didn't like Fleur that much.

"It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening (Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). "I will not fit into my dress robes!"

"Oooh there's a tragedy," Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"

"Hermione — who are you going to the ball with?" said Ron. He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it.

However, Hermione merely frowned and said, "I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me."

"You're joking, Weasley!" said Malfoy, behind them. "You're not telling me someone's asked her to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?"

Harry and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione said loudly, waving to somebody over Malfoy's shoulder, "Hello, Professor Moody!"

Malfoy went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the staff table, finishing his stew.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" said Hermione scathingly. And all of them walked back to the Common Room, laughing.

"Hermione," said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, "your teeth . . ."

"What about them?" she said.

"Well, they're different . . . I've just noticed. . . ."

"Of course they are — did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me?"

"No, I mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you. . . . They're all . . . straight and — and normal sized."

Ed now noticed what Ron was talking about. Hermione's teeth did seem small and, as Ron put it, more normal sized. Ed couldn't blame her too much for wanting to have smaller teeth.

Hermione had a mischievous smile on her face. "Well . . . when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were," she said. "And I just . . . let her carry on a bit." She smiled even more widely. "Mum and Dad won't be too pleased. I've been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. You know, they're dentists, they just don't think teeth and magic should — look! Pigwidgeon's back!"

Ron's tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, "Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn't he cute?"

"Stupid little feathery git!" Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. "You bring letters to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!"

"Don't be mean!" Winry snapped.

Ron shut up immediately, as he did not want to get hit by the wrench again.

"Here — take it, Harry," Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalized. He pulled Sirius's reply off Pigwidgeon's leg, Harry pocketed it, and they hurried to the corner to read it.

Dear Harry,

Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitis Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point — ("That's what Krum did!" Hermione whispered) — but your way was better, I'm impressed. Don't get complacent, though, Harry. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open — particularly when the person we discussed is around — and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble. Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything unusual. Say hi to Ed for me too and tell him the same.

Sirius

"He sounds exactly like Moody," said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. " 'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls. . . ."

"But he's right, Harry," said Hermione, "you have still got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means. . . ."

"Hermione, he's got ages!" snapped Ron. "Want a game of chess, Harry?"

"Yeah, okay," said Harry. Then, spotting the look on Hermione's face, he said, "Come on, how'm I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot."

"Oh I suppose not," she sighed, and she sat down to watch their chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop, while Ed, Al, and Winry had a conversation.

Ed suddenly remembered, "Al, what happened to you and May?"

Al looked sad while Winry looked sympathetic and patted his shoulder. "About two months ago, we decided to break up. We weren't doing so well in a relationship. May admitted that due to her young age, she would simply fantasize about Prince Charmings that would come to her like in a fairy tale. Obviously she's older now and more realistic."

Ed was worried. "I'm sorry, Al. I thought you and May were really good together."

Al sighed. "I thought so too, but at least we ended on good terms. We're still friends and we've agreed to support each other in any way."

Ed smiled. "That's good."

"I think you and Luna make a better match anyways," Winry said. "You both look so cute together!"

Al blushed. "W-we're not even dating yet! It's j-just a friend date."

"That will eventually turn into... Lovvveeee," Ed teased him.

"Oh, shut up, the both of you!" Al said, his ears now turning red.

Ed and Winry laughed and eventually Al joined as well.

Timeskip

Ed woke up on Christmas day with Celosia singing to him and nudging him. He affectionately petted the feathers on her head, which she gave a trill at.

"Hey," Ed murmured to her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw Dobby pounce on a sleeping Harry, waking him up.

"Dobby!" Harry yelled, scrambling away from the elf so fast he almost fell out of bed. "Don't do that!"

"Dobby is sorry, sir!" squeaked Dobby anxiously, jumping backward with his long fingers over his mouth. "Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter 'Merry Christmas' and bring him a present, sir! Harry Potter did say Dobby could come and see him sometimes, sir!"

"It's okay," said Harry, still breathing rather faster than usual, while his heart rate returned to normal. "Just — just prod me or something in future, all right, don't bend over me like that. . . ."

Due to that, the others started waking up. Al immediately got up and stretched. The other boys in the dorm were still jealous of Al, but they couldn't bring themselves to be mean to Al, who was too sweet to them.

"Someone attacking you, Harry?" Seamus asked sleepily.

"No, it's just Dobby," Harry muttered. "Go back to sleep."

"Nah . . . presents!" said Seamus, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed.

Ed noticed a pile of presents on the foot of his bed as well. He grabbed a large lumpy one that was apparently from Mrs. Weasley, to Ed's surprise and delight. He opened it to reveal a red sweater with a phoenix knitted onto it. Ed put it on and immediately felt nice and cozy. He also noticed some homemade mince pies in the present as well.

Ed saw Al, who also got a present from Mrs. Weasley. He looked absolutely delighted at the sweater, which was blue with a cat on it. (Ed mentioned to Mrs. Weasley that Al liked cats.)

Ed opened his next present, which was from Hagrid. It was a nice moleskin pouch that he assumed Hagrid made himself. Ed found himself feeling very fond of the giant man.

His next present was from Mustang, to his surprise. He opened it to find, to his shock, a pair of ignition gloves like the ones Mustang wore. There was also a note attached saying 'Merry Christmas Pipsqueak'. That made Ed's eye twitch, but even he couldn't find himself being too mad at the moment at him.

He opened the present from Winry, which was a book on different automail and also an automail repair kit. As expected from Winry, but he was grateful anyways.

The next present was from Harry, who had given him a quidditch book and also a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Ron gave him a poster of the Chudley Cannons and also some chocolate frogs. Hermione, as expected, gave him something educational related. It was a magical calendar that he could put events on and when the event happened, the calendar would alert him of it. From Fred and George, he got a box of Canary Creams and fake wands, along with some Filibuster Fireworks.

He opened his last present, which was from Al. He saw a fancy looking flute inside of it. He blew it and it made a phoenix song which Celosia sang to. He gave a smile to Al, who returned it. Ed was very happy that Al saved his present for last as well.

Al gasped when he opened it. Everyone turned to look at him. Al reached into the box and pulled out a kitten with snow white fur and blue eyes.

"Thank you, Brother!" Al exclaimed hugging Ed. Ed chuckled, hugging him back.

Dobby was practically crying when Harry gave him socks and Ron gave him his maroon sweater.

"Yous sirs are kind!" Dobby squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. "Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is Harry Potter's greatest friend, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless —"

"They're only socks," said Ron, who had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same.

Dobby then gave Harry his Christmas present, which was… you guessed it, socks.

"Dobby is making them himself, sir!" the elf said happily. "He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!" The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches.

"They're . . . they're really . . . well, thanks, Dobby," said Harry, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again.

"Dobby must go now, sir, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Ron and the others as he passed.

"That elf is really growing on me," Ed commented.

Harry, Ron, Ed, and Al then put on winter gear and met up with Hermione and Winry in the Common Room. Together they went to the Great Hall for breakfast then returned to the Common Room, looking at each other's presents and leaving for a magnificent lunch back in the Great Hall.

Getting closer to the Yule Ball, the weather was even colder. It also snowed a ton, much to Al's surprise and happiness. This would be the first time Al made contact with snow with his actual body. They had a giant snowball fight that day. At first, it was just them, the Golden Trio, and Winry. However, their fight attracted a lot more people, including the twins and Lee Jordan, the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and Ginny with her friends.

Ed and Al dodged the snowballs with ease, making the others students, especially the twins, determined to hit them. They were too fast for them though.

"Damn guys!" Seamus said. "You sure are fast!"

"Yeah," Dean agreed.

Ed just laughed it off, albeit a bit nervous for showing off his skills.

At around 5 o'clock, Hermione and Winry went back inside to get ready for the ball.

"What, you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at her incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head.

"Don't question it," Ed said. "I gave up on doing that a long time ago."

"Who're you going with?" Ron yelled after Hermione, but she just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle with Winry.

There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back to the common room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the bottom of her picture.

"Lairy fights, that's the one!" she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside.

Ed and the other boys in his dorm went to their dorm to change into their dress robes. He put on his dark blue dress robes and decided to put his hair in a braid like he used to instead of his now typical ponytail. He put on his white gloves to finish the look.

After finishing he saw the other boys. Al was looking good in a pair of red dress robes and Harry in his bottle green ones. Poor Ron was trying to get rid of the mold and lace off of his while Seamus and Dean were in respectable black and teal robes. Neville had some black ones on as well.

Seamus, Dean, and even Neville looked jealous at Ed.

"I swear Ed, you are just too perfect," Seamus complained.

'Far from it actually,' Ed couldn't help thinking.

They soon set off downstairs, Ron still pulling loose threads out of his cuffs.

"I still can't work out how you two got the best-looking girls in the year," muttered Dean.

"Animal magnetism," said Ron gloomily.

In the Common Room, they saw Parvati in pink robes looking at Harry.

"You — er — look nice," Harry said awkwardly.

"Thanks," she said. "Padma's going to meet you in the entrance hall," she added to Ron.

Meanwhile, Ed looked shocked at Winry. Winry was in dress robes of a deep plum purple. Her hair was down instead of in her usual ponytail and also slightly curled at the bottom. She had light makeup one and a silver necklace and earrings on.

"Wow," was all Ed could say. Then he started glaring at people who took a peek at her.

Winry giggled. "I guess that's a good sign."

Ed nodded. "Yep, definitely."

"You look rather handsome yourself," Winry replied. "I think blue is definitely your color."

"Thanks," Ed said, blushing slightly.

He, Winry, Harry, Parvati, Al, and Ron went downstairs to the Great Hall. At the entrance they saw Padma, Parvati's twin, in robes of bright turquoise, not looking too happy at having Ron as a partner. Al also met up with Luna, who appeared in robes of a pretty sky blue, and her radishes out of her ears and even had a bit of makeup on. She looked really pretty, to put it short.

Ron hid behind Harry as he saw Fleur Delacour, in robes of beautiful silver, with her partner, Roger Davis, walk by.

"So… where is Hermione?" Ron asked after they left.

"Don't know," Ed said. "Guess we'll see her later."

A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which made him look like a vicar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them seemed to have found a partner.

The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in periwinkle robes. Ed couldn't recognize her from where he was, but he was sure that it was Hermione. And boy, did she look amazing.

Over their heads he saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights — meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rose bushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

Ed, Winry, Harry, and Parvati said bye to the others before going to Professor Mcgonagall.

Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her.

Cedric and Cho went right behind them. Cedric in black dress robes, while Cho's was unique, being white with Asian accents to it. Harry did not look too happy.

Krum and Hermione came afterwards, making Harry and Parvati shocked as they saw her.

"Hi, Harry!" she said. "Hi, Parvati! And hello to you too Ed and Winry!"

Parvati looked a bit put out at the fact that Winry and Hermione looked prettier than her. She wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at Hermione and Winry as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at them. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.

Ed and Winry were at the back but they got a lot of attention as well. The girls swooned over Ed while the boys ogled at Winry. Both Ed and Winry shot them withering glares.

Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting.

The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

'Damn, they really went all out on this.'

Ron seemed to finally notice Hermione and narrowed his eyes. 'Uh-oh. This isn't looking good. Although, it's pretty amusing. He probably doesn't even know that he's jealous, or would admit it if he even knew.' Padma was sulking next to Ron.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely.

Ed narrowed his eyes as he realized Crouch was not present. That was very unlike him, a senior Ministry employee, to miss out on an event like this? Ed hadn't thought about Crouch for a while, due to the tournament. Come to think of it, when he saw Crouch the night his name came out of the goblet, he didn't look so good. Ed wondered why. And then there were the secrets that Winky talked about.

He then noticed Percy sitting in navy blue dress robes. He must be here to replace Crouch. Al and Luna met up with them and together, the six of them went to Percy.

"I've been promoted," Percy said as soon as they arrived, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Why didn't he come?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising — overwork. He's not as young as he was — though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called. Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but — well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with — that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around — no, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."

'He does seem overworked… but surely he's dealt with worse in the days of Voldemort? Although, yeah, he is getting old. Still…'

He was interrupted in his thoughts when Dumbledore said, "Pork Chops!" and they appeared in front of him.

The others quickly began to do the same, looking through the menu. Ed was shocked at the variety of foods and knew that Ling would explode with happiness. Speaking of Ling… Ed looked around and finally saw him with Lan Fan in red dress robes with Xingese patterns. She must be Ling's partner, though that isn't surprising.

Ed ordered what he saw was interesting, not really caring about what to eat. Although, he shot a glance at Hermione to see how she would react to this way of getting food, considering it meant more work for the house elves. To his surprise, she hardly even seemed aware of what was on her plate, being busy with talking with Krum.

"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these — though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains —"

"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy . . . one would almost think you didn't want visitors."

"Probably fucking with his students," Ed muttered so that only Winry and Harry could hear. They both snorted into their food. Percy frowned at them.

"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"

"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon — or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."

Harry, Ed, and Winry all snorted this time. Although, Ed stopped when he realized that Dumbledore must be talking about the Room of Requirement. 'So he knows it exists, but doesn't know what it really is.'

Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies. "Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course . . . zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armor in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat." She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.

Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Davies was obviously too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying. "Absolutely right," he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. "Like that. Yeah."

They continued eating until all of them had their fill. Dumbledore stood up and motioned for everyone to do the same. With a wave of his wand, he made the tables and chairs disappear and conjured a raised platform along the right wall with a set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes on it.

The Weird Sisters went onto the stage with wild applause and began playing a slow song. Ed looked at Winry and asked, "May I have this dance?"

Winry rolled her eyes. "Do you even have to ask?" And with that, she pulled him onto the dance floor and together, they danced.

Ed saw Harry and Parvati in the corner of his eye. Poor Harry was practically being dragged by Parvati. Both Ed and Winry danced elegantly on the floor. Ed of course would be good at it since learning martial arts requires being quick and flawless. Ed however, was surprised at how good Winry was at dancing. She was a tomboy so Ed didn't expect it. Guess you learn something new everyday.

Some people wolf-whistled at them when Ed felt daring and dipped to kiss her. Winry was shocked and Ed was a bit afraid he was gonna pay for that later. However, Winry didn't seem to mind it after a bit, and kissed back.

Others were joining the champions on the dance floor. Dumbledore waltzed with Madame Maxime and Moody with Professor Sinistra. Neville kept stepping on Ginny's foot. Poor them.

Suddenly, the Weird Sisters began playing a more upbeat song and all of them began dancing along with it. Ed saw Harry and Parvati going to take a break, despite Parvati's sour look on her face.

A lot of muggle borns were doing dances that are popular with muggles such as the YMCA and the Macarena. Of course, anyone who was raised by a wizarding family looked at them weirdly but some half-bloods did join them.

After dancing for a bit longer, they both decided to take a break and grab some drinks. They grabbed some butterbeer and found Harry and Ron together. Both Patil Twins were not present. They talked for a little while, every now and then rejecting someone's request for a dance.

Eventually, Hermione joined them, a bit pink in the face from dancing. "It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."

Ron gave her a withering look. "Viktor?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"

Ed and Winry rolled their eyes. God, could he be less subtle about his jealousy?

Hermione looked at him in surprise. "What's up with you?" she said.

"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."

Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged. Then at Ed and Winry, who still stared at Ron like he's a prat. "Ron, what — ?"

"He's from Durmstrang!" spat Ron. "He's competing against Harry and Ed! Against Hogwarts! You — you're —" Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, "fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"

Ed snorted. So that's the excuse he's going with? And besides, wasn't he the one who practically wanted to marry him? Now he hates him for going with Hermione.

Hermione's mouth fell open. "Don't be so stupid!" she said after a moment. "The enemy! Honestly — who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"

Ron chose to ignore this. "I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?"

"Yes, he did," said Hermione, the pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly. "So what?"

"What happened — trying to get him to join spew, were you?"

"No, I wasn't! If you really want to know, he — he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!" Hermione said this very quickly, and blushed so deeply that she was the same color as Parvati's robes.

"Yeah, well — that's his story," said Ron nastily.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with. . . . He's just trying to get closer to Harry and Ed — get inside information on them — or get near enough to jinx one of them —"

Winry once again, hit him with the wrench. Ed was surprised. He didn't even know she could fit a wrench anywhere on her person. Then again, this was Winry.

"Ron, would you shut up? This is supposed to be a night of fun! So what if Hermione didn't go with you? At least Viktor treated her like a decent person!" Winry snapped after putting her wrench away.

"This whole tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!" said Hermione hotly. "Not about matchmaking!"

"No it isn't!" shouted Ron. "It's about winning!"

Winry was once again about to hit him, but Ed stopped her, giving her a look that said, We should let them solve this on their own.

People were starting to stare at them. "Ron," said Harry quietly, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum —"

But Ron ignored Harry too. "Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," said Ron.

"Don't call him Vicky!" Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Ron watched her go with a mixture of anger and satisfaction on his face.

Both Ed and Winry glared at Ron, while Harry looked awkward and out of place. Ed stopped his glaring when he saw Ginny walking tentatively towards them. She turned to Harry and nervously asked him for a dance. Harry looked surprised but agreed, blushing slightly. Ed had a feeling he agreed to just also get away from this awkwardness.

"Vare is Herm-own-ninny?" said a voice. Krum had just arrived at their table clutching two butterbeers.

"No idea," said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. "Lost her, have you?"

Winry intervened. "She went somewhere on the dance floor. Probably looking for you."

"Tank you," Krum said, slouching away.

"Made friends with Viktor Krum, have you, Ron?" Percy had bustled over, rubbing his hands together and looking extremely pompous. "Excellent! That's the whole point, you know — international magical cooperation!"

Ed and Winry smirked as they remembered that was what Hermione said earlier and that Ron looked even more sour. Although, they stopped when Percy took Harry's vacated seat.

Ed decided to just watch the others dance. The top table was now empty; Professor Dumbledore was dancing with Professor Sprout, Ludo Bagman with Professor McGonagall; Madame Maxime and Hagrid were cutting a wide path around the dance floor as they waltzed through the students, and Karkaroff was nowhere to be seen, which made Ed suspicious.

Ludo Bagman kissed Professor McGonagall's hand and made his way back through the crowds, at which point Fred and George accosted him.

"What do they think they're doing, annoying senior Ministry members?" Percy hissed, watching Fred and George suspiciously. "No respect . . ."

Ed however, knew exactly what was going on with them.

Ludo Bagman shook off Fred and George fairly quickly, however, and, spotting Ed, waved and came over to their table. "I hope my brothers weren't bothering you, Mr. Bagman?" said Percy at once. "What? Oh not at all, not at all!" said Bagman. "No, they were just telling me a bit more about those fake wands of theirs. Wondering if I could advise them on the marketing. I've promised to put them in touch with a couple of contacts of mine at Zonko's Joke Shop. . . ."

Ed saw Harry dancing with Ginny. They were both blushing, and Harry looked at her in a way that Ed never had seen him do with her before. He wondered if this was the start of a relationship. Although, Harry seemed to become a Ron, as he said he was tired and waved Ginny goodbye. She looked disappointed, but went with it, looking for someone else to dance with.

When Harry made it back to them, Ed suggested, "Why don't we take a walk outside? It's getting a bit stuffy in here."

"And we can get away from Percy…" Ron muttered.

They set off to the grounds, where it was brightly decorated and friendly little fairies flew around.

They walked in silence until suddenly, they heard a conversation nearby. Ed and Winry pulled Harry and Ron behind some bushes and shushed them.

After listening for a bit, they recognized the voices as Karkaroff's and Snape's. Ed was curious. They were both former Death Eaters, although Dumbledore vouched for Snape and so far, he trusted Dumbledore's judgement.

". . . don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."

"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it —"

Ed stiffened. Is he talking about their dark marks? It makes sense.

"Then flee," said Snape's voice curtly. "Flee — I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."

Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rose bushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them. "Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her.

The four of them secretly hoped Snape did not find them. Luckily, Snape did not blast their rose bushes.

"What's got Karkaroff all worried," Ron muttered.

"Probably his dark mark," Ed said without thinking.

"Wait what did you say?" Ron asked.

Ed hesitated. "Nothing."

Harry narrowed his eyes at him and Ed did his best to try and ignore him.

They went out from behind the rose bush and saw Hagrid and Madame Maxime in the distance.

"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," Hagrid was saying, in an oddly husky voice.

Harry, Ron, and Ed looked embarrassed to be eavesdropping on this kind of conversation. Winry snorted and rolled her eyes at them.

"What did you know, 'Agrid?" said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.

Ed knew exactly what Hagrid was talking about, but decided to focus on a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back, but the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Hagrid's next words. "I jus' knew . . . knew you were like me. . . . Was it yer mother or yer father?" "I — I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid. . . ." "It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well . . . she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort."

Ed decided he heard enough and grabbed Winry's hand and quietly walked away, waving goodbye to Harry and Ron, who looked confused at him.

They both walked quietly to Gryffindor Tower and stayed in the Common Room for a bit, sitting on a couch. Ed put an arm over Winry's shoulder and she leaned into him. They stayed like that for a bit until Winry started talking.

"Why did you not tell Harry and Ron about your thoughts on Karkaroff?"

Ed bit his lip. "I don't want them getting in my business."

Winry narrowed her eyes. "Well they are kinda already in it. I mean it's Harry Potter, for crying out loud!"

"God, you're being like Ling," Ed mumbled.

"Then he's right," Winry replied. "It's ok to rely on others Ed."

"That's not the problem!" Ed protested.

She raised an eyebrow, skeptical at him. "They're already suspicious of you, Ed. If you don't confide in them, you might find that they would leave you."

Ed didn't respond, instead taking a liking to cuddle with Winry. Winry didn't seem to not like it, but she was still upset at Ed keeping secrets.

"At least think about it Ed," Winry pleaded.

Ed sighed. "Fine."

They then shared a kiss, only breaking apart for air. They were so intent on it that they didn't notice how long they were doing it for or anyone that came in until they heard wolf whistles. They immediately broke apart to see the Weasley Twins grinning ear to ear at them.

"Get it mate!" Fred said.

"So when's the wedding?" George added.

"Fuck off," Ed said. He waved goodnight to Winry and headed to his dorm and Winry did the same.

"Aw come on mate!" Ed heard one of them yell.

Timeskip

Both Ron and Hermione seemed to have come to a silent agreement to not talk about the argument they had last night. The others also made sure not to mention Krum in front of Ron for a while.

They all told Al and Hermione about the conversation with Madame Maxime and Hagrid. Al looked intrigued while Hermione had a confirming look on her face.

"It's not that surprising. Giants are at least 20 feet, so Hagrid's not a full giant, but he's also way taller than the average human, so he had to have giant blood," Hermione said in a matter-of factly way.

"But why so against giants?" Al asked. "Sure they apparently were on Voldemort's (Ron shivered) side, but not all of them are bad? Like us humans. Some of us are good while others are bad. We're not all the same. It's prejudice!"

Ron looked at him with exasperating eyes but did not say anything due to Ed and Winry glaring at him.

At that moment, Ginny walked over to them and sat next to Harry. Both of them were blushing. Ed, Winry, and Hermione had smirks on their faces while Ron was completely clueless.

At the same time though, Ed was exasperated at Harry. 'Do you like Cho or Ginny? Make up your damn mind!'

Since the Yule Ball, Harry and Ginny did seem to get closer. Although it was also obvious Harry still had feelings for Cho. At the moment though, she was with Cedric. Ginny seemed more nervous around Harry before the Ball, but since their dance together, she seemed to have gained more confidence.

"Madame Maxime wasn't too happy when he said that she must have giant blood too," Ron said.

"Of course she wouldn't," Winry snapped. "I like Hagrid and all, but he can be really stupid. Why would he say that in public where anyone could hear him? He knows how people are prejudiced against giants. Those with giant blood wouldn't be an exception."

"It was in a somewhat private area," Harry tried defending Hagrid.

"What if there were people hiding in the bushes like us?" Ed pointed out. "We already know we weren't the only ones with that idea, with the couple Snape caught."

No one spoke for a bit as they took that in. One of Ginny's friends called her over, so she waved goodbye to them and went over to her friend.

Hermione decided to change the topic. "So Ed, I'm curious about your work for the military," she said in a quiet voice, making sure no one heard.

Winry and Al looked shocked at Ed.

"Don't worry. They can be trusted, and Dumbledore and Mustang approved of it," Ed reassured them. Although, internally, he was annoyed. Couldn't they mind their own business? Or at least pick a different topic?

"Anyways," Ed continued, "I mainly did research when Al and I-" Ed stopped abruptly.

"When you and Al what?" Ron asked.

"Never mind that," Ed snapped. The three of them looked shocked. "Well, I mainly did research back then, but after the civil war, I've been investigating crime and other illegal activity and helping to rebuild Central, but that's pretty much done now. I did investigate crime as well back then, but not as much."

"So why the name Fullmetal?" Harry asked, fascinated.

"State Alchemists usually specialize in one area of alchemy. Take General Mustang for example: he's known as the flame alchemist because he specializes in flame alchemy. I'm an exception since I pretty much do any kind of alchemy, but I mainly deal with metal," Ed explained.

"So you're called Fullmetal because of that? I thought it was because of your metal limbs," Ron said.

"Well, that might have to do with it, but it was also because I was a little hot headed back then," Ed said sheepishly.

"A little?" Al said.

"Now that's an understatement," Winry snorted.

"Shut up," Ed grumbled.

"How'd you learn alchemy?" Hermione asked. "Are there also schools in Amestris for it?" Clearly, she wanted to see if she could learn it.

Al shook his head. "If you want to learn alchemy, you have to find a private tutor. Brother and I learned from a woman named Izumi Curtis."

Al and Ed shivered.

"Why do you look like you're about to piss yourself?" Ron asked.

"Our teacher was practically the reincarnation of the devil," Ed shivered.

"You say that about every woman," Winry said, unimpressed.

"It's true though," Ed muttered. "You, Teacher, Hawkeye, General Armstrong- all of you are terrifying. Even Hermione can be scary at times. I think the only exception is Sheska."

"Who's that?" Harry asked.

"She's a friend from the military. She doesn't really do field work. She's an absolute bookworm. She also has an amazing photographic memory. Makes her excellent for office work," Ed said. "Her and you would like each other," he added to Hermione.

"How much do you get paid?" Ron asked. "I heard that State Alchemists are loaded."

"Ron! Don't tell me you want to be a State Alchemist for money!" Hermione scolded.

"I'm just curious!" Ron protested.

"Well, it depends on your rank of course. All new State Alchemists have the rank of a major, which is pretty good. Already, you get a good amount of money. Your income as a major and your income as a State Alchemist. Being a higher rank gets you more. I'm a colonel, so I get a lot," Ed explained.

Ron looked confused by the ranks. Of course, he is a pure blooded wizard so he would know next to nothing about anything muggle related, including the military.

"Why did you join the military at a young age?" Harry asked.

Ed and Al were silent. It was quiet until Al spoke in a soft voice. "It's personal."

"We understand," Hermione interjected when she saw Ron open his mouth.

'Can I trust them with my- our secret? No. At least not yet.'

"So… now that we know your secret… are you a muggle-born?" Harry asked.

Ed shook his head. He hadn't told Al this, so this would be news to him. "Our father was a wizard."

"Was?" Ron asked.

Hermione kicked him.

"Yeah, you guys probably have heard of him before," Ed said with a slight bitter tone. Ed still hasn't truly forgiven him and maybe he'll never. But he does understand why he left. With the whole thing about him being a wizard though… Ed was pretty pissed at him for that.

"Who is it?" Hermione asked, now curious.

"Van Hohenheim," Al said.

Harry and Ron looked confused while Hermione looked shocked.

"The famous alchemist that worked with Flamel and Dumbledore?! But how? He's centuries old! And he has kids?"

"Nicholas Flamel did have a philosopher's stone," Harry pointed out. "Maybe he had one too."

"He did," Ed muttered. 'More like he was one.'

They heard the bells ring.

"We better go to Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione said.

"And we can give Hagrid a piece of our minds for being an idiot," Ed muttered.

"Don't be mean, brother," Al said. "You know he has a big mouth."

"Then he should control it," Ed muttered.

"Hey!" Harry protested. "That's just how Hagrid is!"

"And Hagrid should know that having a big mouth is going to bite him in the ass one day," Ed snapped.

"Ed's right," Winry said.

"But you don't have to be so harsh!" Hermione said.

"It's reality, Hermione," Ed said. "You guys know my job. I know how harsh reality is, and I'm sure Harry has some sort of grasp on it." Ed knew what Harry has been through, but he hasn't truly gone through hell yet.

They walked in silence as they went to Hagrid's cabin.

'God damn it. Are all wizards this nosy? What a stupid question, of course they are. Can't they mind their own business? Why did I even tell them about my job? They could have just asked me about anything else. Well, maybe not my upbringing, but pretty much anything else!'

However, when they went to Hagrid's cabin, instead of Hagrid, they saw an elderly witch with a very prominent chin. Ed grimaced. He had a feeling that it had to do with last night.

Harry didn't connect the dots though and asked, "Where's Hagrid?"

"He is currently indisposed," the woman said curtly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Grubbyplank."

Malfoy and the other Slytherins sniggered. All six of them glared at them. Winry even gave them a little sneak peak of her wrench. Malfoy started sweating profusely. Before the ball, he pissed off Winry by claiming she was a muggle, which wasn't wrong, but of course not good to say. Winry didn't know what it meant then, but obviously could tell he used it in a bad way and didn't hesitate to hit him with the wrench. Since then, he kept a good few feet at least away from Winry.

"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering.

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry said, hurrying to catch up with Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"Never you mind," she said as though she thought he was being nosy. Ed couldn't blame her though because it was true.

The rest of the class followed her and at a tree at the edge of the forest, they saw where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered.

Many of the girls went "Ooh!", even Winry. Ed was intrigued as well, but made sure not to go near it, for unicorns prefer a female's touch.

"Oh it's so beautiful!" whispered Lavender Brown. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!" Obviously, this new teacher already has the class's favor.

The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look gray. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back its horned head.

"Boys keep back!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the chest. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it. . . ."

She turned to Ed and pushed him forward, clearly thinking he was a girl with his long hair. He was pushed right to the front of the unicorn, but to his surprise, the unicorn seemed to like him, also taking him as female.

Ed turned around to see Harry and Ron sniggering and even Al looking amused.

Malfoy was also looking quite smug. "Looks like the horse thinks you're more feminine than masculine."

"At least I don't look like a ferret more than a human," Ed shot back. That shut Malfoy up quickly.

"You're a male?" Professor Grubblyplank asked, looking surprised.

"Yes," Ed said shortly.

"I'm surprised the unicorn has taken a liking to you," she said as the unicorn nuzzled him. "That doesn't mean you're more female than male," she added when he opened his mouth. "It just means that they like you or trust you."

"That's nice," Ed commented. He vaguely noticed at the corner of his eye that Malfoy gave Harry a newspaper.

Ed went towards them and asked about it. "What did Daddy's Bitch give you?"

Harry looked furious. "This." He pushed it towards Ed.

Ed read the article. By Rita Skeeter no less.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the parthuman Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures. Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates. An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening." "I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything." Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creatures is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions. "I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not — as he has always pretended — a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of HeWho-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror. While many of the giants who served He-WhoMust-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature. In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power — thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend — but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.

Ed knew what it was about already, but that didn't stop him from glaring at the paper with such ferocity. "I swear, I'm gonna beat that Skeeter bitch black and blue someday! And she wasn't even allowed on the grounds anymore! She must have snuck in somehow…"

"What d'you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Malfoy. "What's this rubbish about him" — he pointed at Crabbe — "getting a bad bite off a flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"

Crabbe was sniggering, apparently very pleased with himself.

"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," said Malfoy, his eyes glinting. "Half-giant . . . and there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young. . . . None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all. . . . They'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha. . . ."

"I'd watch you and that hole you call a mouth Daddy's Bitch," Ed said in a quiet but deadly manner.

Malfoy looked scared but still pleased with himself. "What are you gonna do about it, Midget?"

It was deadly quiet.

Harry, Ron, and Al looked at Ed, scared he was gonna go ham on Malfoy. To their surprise, he chuckled darkly.

"Has he gone insane?" Ron muttered.

"You know Malfoy, I hardly think you're one to talk about, with terrorizing others," he then added even more quietly, "We all know what scum your family are, being Death Eaters after all. The only reason your father isn't in Azkaban right now is because of that lame excuse of being under the Imperius Curse and that he has loads of money. And calling me a midget? You couldn't come up with anything better? I think you lost your touch. Then again, you never had one. Clearly, it was a pisspoor attempt to rile me up and get me in trouble. You're gonna have to do a lot better than that, Daddy's Bitch. You know, I actually pity you"

Harry, Ron, and Al looked surprised when Ed said that last bit.

"Are you paying attention over there?" Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice carried over to the boys.

They all nodded.

When the professor turned away, Malfoy and his goons went away.

"Why'd you say that last bit?" Harry asked.

"It's true. I pity him. He reminds me of someone," Ed said absently. A flash of a being with dark green hair like a palm tree appeared in his mind. After that was of an ugly small lizard being in its last moments.

'He always acted like he was better than anyone else, but in reality, he was jealous of them. I bet Malfoy is like that too.'

Al nodded, knowing who he meant since Ed told him about the incident.

Harry and Ron just looked at each other in confusion.

"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like . . . proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters. . . ."

"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as they went up the steps.

"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

Clearly, she wasn't happy with Harry after what happened at the ball.

"I think the problem is that Hagrid forgets we're not like him. And how reckless he could be," Ed said.

"That is true," Hermione sighed. "He can be reckless."

"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor GrubblyPlank told us about uni —"

"Look at this!" Harry snarled, fed up, and he shoved the Daily Prophet article under Hermione's nose.

Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Winry went next to her to read it as well. Their reactions were exactly the same as Ron's. "How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"

Winry shook her head. "He may be a big mouth, but he hasn't told you guys. After all, you're really good friends of his! I bet she must have overheard him in the garden!"

"We would have seen her!" Ron protested.

"Like Ed said earlier," Al said. "She could have been hiding in the bushes like you guys. They weren't even being private."

"What really matters is how she still got onto the grounds," Hermione seethed. "She's supposed to be banned!"

"Maybe she has an invisibility cloak," Harry suggested. They entered the Great Hall and served themselves lunch.

"We should go visit him," Al said, clearly worried for him. "He'll need some cheering up. And we need to convince him to not quit!"

"I — well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once — but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's furious stare.

After they finished their classes for the day and ate dinner, all six of them headed for Hagrid's cabin.

"Does he really think we'll hate him for being half giant?" Ron said incredulously.

"That would be normal," Winry said. "It's clearly something he's not that proud of, with them being on the bad side during your kind's last war."

Harry knocked on the door but there was no response.

They kept banging until Ed had enough and shouted, "Hagrid! Don't sulk in there because you were exposed! We're here to comfort you, whether you like it or not!"

Still no response.

"I swear, I'm gonna bust down this door," Ed muttered.

"Don't brother," Al chided. "We'll visit later."

For the next week, no one has seen hide nor hair of Hagrid. Harry was the most worried about Hagrid by far.

"There's a Hogsmeade visit about two weeks from now," Ron said when they were all in the Common Room.

"Yeah, I'll think I'll go," Harry said. "Maybe we'll see Hagrid there."

"Harry," Ed said exasperatedly. "You really need to find out about the egg! I'm already pretty much prepared for it!"

"Exactly!" Hermione said. "You only got five weeks until the task! And this is a good opportunity to figure out the clue when everyone's in Hogsmeade!"

"I've already figured it out!" Harry protested.

"Really?" Hermione asked, impressed. "That's good!"

Ed however, wasn't convinced due to Harry awkwardly shuffling and looking guilty. He decided to let it slide for now though. Later on, he'll really lay it on him.

Al and Winry were excited to go to Hogsmeade.

"I wonder if they'll have anything I'll need there," Winry said thoughtfully.

"I really want to try this butterbeer that Ron keeps on talking about," Al said.

"You'll definitely like it," Ed said, grinning. "It's not that strong and it'll warm you right up."

Wearing their winter gear, they all set off to Hogsmeade after Winry checked Ed's winter automail, making some tweaks here and there and adding more oil.

As they passed the Durmstrang ship, they all saw Viktor Krum in only a pair of swimming shorts on the ship. His fangirls would be dying to see him right now.

Viktor then made a perfect dive right into the freezing lake.

"He's mad!" Harry exclaimed. "It must be freezing!"

"It is cold where Durmstrang is though," Ed reminded him.

"Yeah, but there's still the giant squid," said Ron. He didn't sound anxious — if anything, he sounded hopeful. Hermione noticed his tone of voice and frowned.

Winry just rolled her eyes at Ron's stupidity. Ed wasn't sure if she even liked Ron or not. Maybe she just tolerates him for Ed's sake. Ed couldn't blame her though. Sometimes he couldn't stand Ron.

"He's really nice, you know," Hermione said. "He's not at all like you'd think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."

Ron didn't respond. However, Harry, Ed, and Al noticed soon after the ball that there was a broken Viktor Krum figurine on Ron's bed.

They all entered Hogsmeade and Winry and Al looked ecstatic as they looked around. Harry was also looking around, but clearly for Hagrid.

"I think we should split up," Ed said. "I'll show Winry and Al around."

"That's fine," Hermione said. "We'll meet up at the Three Broomsticks."

Winry held onto Ed's arm while Al walked on his other side. They met Luna there, who came with them. Al blushed as she held his arm as well. Winry and Ed found that a flustered Al was very amusing.

As Luna talked about Crumple something Snouts or whatever, Ed showed them Zonko's which he somewhat regrets doing, with Winry's mischievous look. Winry ended up buying something and even Al.

He also showed them the candy shop, Honeydukes, where they all bought bags of sweets. After that, to Al's happiness, he showed them the small pet store they had. Ed refused to buy him another pet due to Al traveling around a lot and his new kitten, which Al named Alba (Greek for white), is already hard to take care of. Al gave an adorable pout at this, but complied.

They also saw the post office, which took longer to show due to Al insisting on seeing all of the owls. They also went to Tomes and Scrolls, the local bookstore which ended up in Winry dragging all three of them away.

Winry huffed. "Can we go into a store without one of us dragging away the other?"

They went to the quill store, which was interesting to Winry and Al to some extent, but no one really wanted to stay there.

"What are those?" Al gestured to small creatures with long fingers and toes which Ed recognized as Goblins.

"Goblins," Ed whispered. "And they look like they're from Gringotts. Wonder why they're here… must be someone who needs to pay some sort of debt."

Winry wrinkled her nose slightly at them.

"Whatever you do," Ed said. "Don't insult them in any way or be rude. You'll regret it."

Winry and Al nodded, now taking the small creatures more seriously.

Al shivered. "At times like these, I still wish I had a suit of armor as a body," he whispered.

Winry and Ed looked shocked at him saying that in front of Luna.

"Don't worry," Al reassured them when he saw their faces. "She somehow knew on her own."

"I have my ways," Luna said in a serene voice.

Winry and Ed knew by now to not question Luna or her abilities. So they just went with it.

"I guess we better get to the Three Broomsticks to meet up with the others," Ed said.

"Please and thank-you," Al said.

They all headed to the Three Broomsticks. Al sighed in relief when the warm air hit them when they opened the door. The others didn't seem to be there yet, so Winry, Al, and Luna went to find a table while Ed ordered drinks for them. Butterbeer for the three of them and firewhiskey for himself. He knew Hermione was gonna chew him out, but he really needed a pick-me-up. While he was at it, he ordered butterbeer for the others as well and went to their table.

After a bit, Madam Rosmerta came over and gave them their drinks. Winry looked slightly disapproving of Ed's choice of drink, but knew that he was a responsible drinker (or at least somewhat able to handle alcohol) so she let it slide.

Eventually, the others came in and saw us. Harry looked dejected and it was too obvious that Hagrid was not here. Ed didn't see him either when he was showing Winry and Al around.

Winry gave them butterbeer when they sat at the table.

"Thanks," Ron said, gladly drinking his. His eyes widened when he saw Ed's choice of drink.

Hermione followed his gaze and saw the glass of firewhiskey. She immediately went on a rant, saying, "Ed! I know you're of age, but it will look suspicious if you just buy strong alcohol just like that!"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Relax, Hermione. Last summer, I was a regular here, so they're used to it."

"You were here for the summer?" Harry asked, looking slightly jealous. Ed didn't blame him.

Ed shrugged. "Yeah, I needed to catch up with you guys with your curriculum."

"I would have never thought that you would need to catch up," Ron said.

Hermione dropped her drink, almost spilling it. Her gaze turned dark. Ed shifted in his seat.

"Ed… when did you start learning magic?"

It was quiet until Ed finally responded with, "I didn't even know magic existed until the beginning of last summer."

Hermione was physically shaking now. "So… you're telling me, that you learned seven years of magic for not even a whole year?"

"Y-yeah?" Ed was sweating slightly now.

Hermione huffed, laying back on her seat. "I can't believe it!"

"Guess you've never stood a chance against him in the beginning huh?" Ron joked.

Hermione glared at him while Winry just gave up on him.

Al suddenly nudged him. "Look!" He whispered.

Ed looked to where Al was pointing. In a corner of the pub, Ludo Bagman was with some of the goblins they saw earlier.

"Guess we know who had to pay a debt," Ed whispered back.

"I don't like him," Al said to Ed's surprise.

"Really? I thought you would like his personality."

"Well, there's his gambling problem you told me about. Then there's also him playing favorites with you and Harry, which is unfair. Also, I'm not boisterous all the time like him. It gets annoying."

"Wow Al," Ed joked. "Never thought I would see the day that you would actually dislike someone."

To his and Al's dismay, Bagman noticed him and Harry and walked over to them. They both collectively groaned.

"Harry! Edward!" Bagman said. "How are you? Been hoping to run into you! Everything going alright?"

"Yes," Ed interjected, wanting him to leave.

Unfortunately, he didn't take the hint and just continued talking.

"If you boys need any help, I'd be more than happy to give you some!"

"We're fine," Harry said.

"Are you sure, cause I-"

Ed decided to turn the tables on him. "So, what are you doing with the goblins? Didn't take them to be so friendly towards us wizards."

Bagman started sweating. "W-well they're looking for Barty Crouch."

Ed was surprised at that answer. "Why would they be looking for him?"

"Well… to be honest, I don't know where he is. Hasn't turned up to work in a couple of weeks now. His assistant Percy says he's ill. Apparently he's just been sending instructions in by owl. But would you mind not mentioning that to anyone? Because Rita Skeeter's still poking around everywhere she can, and I'm willing to bet she'd work up Barty's illness into something sinister. Probably say he's gone missing like Bertha Jorkins."

"Did you find Bertha yet?" Harry asked.

'Even if they did, they probably would only find a corpse. There's no way Voldemort would keep her alive now.'

"No," said Bagman, looking strained again. "I've got people looking, of course..."

'You're way too late for that.'

"And it's all very strange. She definitely arrived in Albania, because she met her second cousin there. And then she left the cousin's house to go south and see an aunt... and she seems to have vanished without trace en route. Blowed if I can see where she's got to... she doesn't seem the type to elope, for instance... but still…"

"Guess you should assume the worst then," Ed said nonchalantly.

Bagman was now looking very awkward and looking as though he might have regretted coming here. "W-well I'd better go now! Good luck on that egg!" And with that, he left hastily, the goblins following after him.

Hermione looked affronted. "I can't believe he offered to help you two! That's against the rules."

"Well, I'm pretty sure Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff already cheated when they told their champions from what Ed told me," Winry pointed out. "And you might as well consider Moody giving Harry a hint cheating as well. And also Harry telling Cedric about the task," Winry pointed out.

"Well at least one thing's for sure," Ed said. "They're not afraid to not go by the rules." 'And we should be prepared to go against the rules as well,' he added in his mind.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Ron said.

Every agreed, even Hermione, although due to her being a goody-two-shoes, she hesitated.

"What do you guys think about the whole thing with Mr. Crouch?" Al asked the others.

"Not much," Ed said, not willing to give away his suspicions. "All we know is that the whole situation is fishy."

"My whole life has been fishy," Harry groaned.

Ron shuffled awkwardly due to him remembering how jealous he was of Harry.

"Funny, goblins looking for Mr. Crouch... They'd normally deal with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," Hermione mused.

"Crouch can speak loads of different languages, though," said Harry. "Maybe they need an interpreter."

"Maybe…" Ed said thoughtfully. Ed honestly might have believed that if he didn't know that the goblins were after Bagman and not Crouch.

They had a nice and simple conversation with each other, with Al and Luna deciding to go to a tea shop that Luna mentioned.

"Trouble," Winry muttered.

They all looked to see Rita Skeeter enter in with bright yellow robes, shocking pink nails, and her crocodile-skin bag. Her photographer was close behind her.

"I wanna tear that woman apart for what she did to Hagrid," Winry muttered heatedly.

"That makes two of us," Ed muttered back.

"I think that would be all of us," Harry said, glaring at the woman.

". . . didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights . . . what nonsense . . . he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman . . .' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo — we just need to find a story to fit it —"

"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" Harry spoke up.

Ed groaned when she went towards them. "Really Harry? Bagman was bad enough…"

"Harry!" she said, beaming. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join — ?"

"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," said Harry furiously. "What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"

Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows. "Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my —"

"Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"

The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.

Rita Skeeter's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"

"Look here," Winry said icily. "None of us want anything to do with you bitching about everyone."

Rita looked very affronted.

Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade. "You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman —"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl . . . not that it needs it —" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.

"And you," Rita added to Winry. "Leave things to the professionals."

"And I suggest you back off," Ed said. "That's my fiancee you're talking to. Yeah, that's right. Fiancee. I dare you put that in your wretched article. You don't seem to be below dirty tricks. We're not either. And don't forget our lovely conversation we had with that little interview."

Rita physically shivered when she remembered.

"Come on," Hermione said. "Let's go guys."

They all stood up at once and left the pub with the majority of everyone else staring at them. Ed noticed Rita's Quick-Quote Quill writing furiously at the corner of his eye. Before they opened the door to leave, Ed decided to make a show and held Winry's arm.

Ed peeked at Winry's face and saw her blushing furiously but also looking pleased.

"I didn't take you to be the type to be flaunting your fiancee like that," Winry teased.

"Well you are my fiancee and that Skeeter bitch had it coming to her. No one threatens the girl I'm gonna marry," Ed said stubbornly.

Meanwhile, Ron was worried at Hermione. "Winry's covered because Skeeter's scared shitless of Ed, but she'll come after you next, Hermione!"

"Let her try!" Hermione said, her head up high. "My parents don't read the Daily Prophet and she won't dig up anything about me. I'm not gonna hide either! I'm so gonna get her back…"

"Looks like Hermione found her new obsession," Harry muttered. "First house elves, now this."

They went into the tea shop to get Al and Luna and headed back to the castle. Harry told them what happened at the Three Broomsticks. Al and Luna both disliked Rita Skeeter, but for different reasons. Al hated how she would spew false stuff in the newspaper and spread rumors. Luna however, hated how she was a reporter in the Daily Prophet. Her father is the editor of another newspaper, The Quibbler.

Suddenly, Hermione broke into a run. All of them had to hastily catch up to her, which was easy enough for Ed and Al. "You know what? Hagrid isn't hiding either. I'm sick of him sulking like this!"

They all ran towards Hagrid's cabin.

"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on his front door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being —"

The door opened. Hermione said, "About t — !" and then stopped, very suddenly, because she had found herself face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Albus Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, smiling down at them.

"We — er — we wanted to see Hagrid," said Hermione in a rather small voice.

"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"

"Oh . . . um . . . okay," said Hermione.

Ed couldn't help but snort slightly. Her demeanor changed quickly.

Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two large mugs of tea. He looked like a real mess. His face was blotchy, his eyes swollen, and he had gone to the other extreme where his hair was concerned; far from trying to make it behave, it now looked like a wig of tangled wire.

"Hi, Hagrid," said Harry.

Hagrid looked up. " 'Lo," he said in a very hoarse voice.

"I think more tea is in order?" Dumbledore said, waving his wand and making more cups of tea appear in front of each of them.

There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?"

Hermione went slightly pink but also seemed hopeful.

Dumbledore smiled and continued. "I believe these students still want you as their teacher."

"Of course we still want to know you!" Harry said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow — sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.

"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.

"Convenient," Ed snorted. Winry elbowed him.

"Er — right," said Harry sheepishly. "I just meant — Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that — woman — wrote about you?"

Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard.

"Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling.

"I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it —"

"You may be a bit rough around the edges," Ed said. "But this is only your second year. I think you have great potential to be a great teacher."

"That's quite a lot of praise from you, Edward," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"

"Yeh — yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.

"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Harry said furiously. "Look at the Dursleys!"

"An excellent point," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery. . . ."

Ed held in a snicker at that, remembering when he first met his brother, at the Hog's Head.

"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Hermione quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."

Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard.

Dumbledore stood up. "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."

Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fang's ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Hermione kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore . . . great man . . ."

"Yeah, he is," said Ron. "Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?" For once, Ron actually did the right thing.

"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "Ar, he's righ', o' course — yeh're all righ' . . . I bin stupid . . . my ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'. . . ." More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here . . ." Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth — he looked hardly older than eleven.

"Tha' was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed . . . thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum . . . well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really . . . but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year. . . . "Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job . . . trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances . . . tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent. Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren' . . . well . . . all tha' respectable. But some don' understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh . . . there's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say — I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones . . . I'll give her big bones."

"That's awful!" Al exclaimed.

"Ah, it's a'l in te past now," Hagrid said.

"Yeh know wha', Harry?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it . . . an' now look at yeh, Harry! School champion!"

He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love, Harry? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. No offence Ed. (Ed waved him off.) It'd show 'em all . . . yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don' have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"

Ed gave Harry a knowing look when Harry said, "It's getting there."

Hagrid gave him a watery smile. "Tha's my boy . . . you show 'em, Harry, you show 'em. Beat 'em all."

When they left Hagrid's cabin and went back to the Common Room, Ed led Harry aside for a moment.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again," Ed said sternly. "You're a really bad liar. I'm surprised that no one else called your bluff. Hagrid's depending on you now, Harry. You really need to suck it up and SOLVE THAT DAMN CLUE."

"I know, I know," Harry sighed. "Cedric told me a hint at the ball, so you don't need to tell me anything. He just told me to take a bath with it."

"And he's right," Ed said. "Just another hint, remember what you told me when I got the idea of finding out the clue."

"What did I tell you?"

"About the right perspective," Ed said. "I swear, if you don't get this, I'm gonna kill you personally, no task or Moldywart needed. Remember that I'm supposed to protect you, but I can't if you die in the next task."

"Right…" Harry said sheepishly as he was reminded of his job.

"So freaking do it," Ed said seriously.

"I will!" Harry said hastily.

Ed nodded and they both went back to where the others were sitting. Ed hoped Harry is able to pull this off. Maybe his Potter luck will come into play again cause he never seems to run out of it.

Author's Note:

I don't really have an update schedule cause I doubt I'll actually stick to it. Although, I will try to update at least once a month.

I think I'll stick with HarryxGinny and RonxHermione since the majority seem ok with that. I think one of the reasons why people dislike HarryxGinny is because it kinda came out of nowhere. So I'm planning to build up their relationship up more. Same with Ron and Hermione. I actually thought Ron and Hermione were cute in the books cause of their denial of liking each other or them always arguing like a married couple, but that's just me.

I don't really see how Ginny is so unlikable, with her fiery personality. I can see why people wouldn't like her in the movies since she wasn't really played that well. The fact that people think she's a stalker is also something I don't get. I just think she admires Harry and she doesn't follow him 24/7 or even that much.

People are also always bashing Ron, and I totally get that cause he can be a douche. But one of the reasons why I like Ron is because he's pretty relatable. He's not famous like Harry or gets a lot of attention. He's also not smart like Hermione. He's pretty normal in that sense. I really want to work on a lot of character development with him so hopefully you'll see that in future chapters.

I decided on Al and Luna because I think their personalities would go really well together. Al with his sweet and charming attitude and Luna with her dreamy and calm persona. Al and May were pretty cute as well, but I also saw May liking him due to her imagination. Didn't want any drama between them because not every break-up needs drama.

Thank-you everyone for your reviews as well! They really motivate me and make my day and I hope I'll keep you guys interested!