And besides, Ed's cool no matter who he's coupled with. But see, I'm going for RoyxEd. :nod: Nothing else, really... maybe a few fangirls here and there...
Hmm. Should I add a MalfoyxHermione or a MalfoyxHarry? Either way, I'd like it.
But you're looking forward to ROY MUSTANG, ne? Here's an extra long chapter, one of the first that killed me. X.x
Heh.
FMA -- Arakawa Hiromu. HP -- I think you'd know by now. -.-; (JKR.)
"What?"
Ed grinned sheepishly as the three Gryffindors exchanged confused and disturbed looks.
"If that git really has amnesia, we can make him do so many things..." Ron snickered, being the first one to recover from the shocking news. Hermione looked doubtful.
"Wasn't this your fault in the first place?" The brunette asked. "I mean, intense emotional trauma could have the potential to--"
"No, wait, Ron's right." Harry looked at Ed. "There was this one time when Moo-- wait, this guy pretending to be our teacher one year turned him into a weasel. But this-- we hit the jackpot." He high- fived Ed, who returned it reluctantly.
"You already told him his name, right? Who he is?" Hermione frowned. She had never been worried about that bastard before.
Ed bit his lip. "Uh, about that... yes... and no."
"..." The trio blinked simultaneously.
"I told him... his name was Roy Mustang."
"Roy Mustang? What a funny name." Harry laughed.
"Hey!" Ed stood up. "You're gonna pay for--"
"I've heard that name before..." Ron racked his brain for the answer.
Ed sat down quickly, surprised at himself for his previous sudden action. First Malfoy and now the colonel? He smacked himself on the head.
Focus, Edward, focus, he told himself silently.
"Oh, right, I think he was your guardian..." Ron gave up and looked at Ed.
"Where's Malfoy now?"
"ROOOOOOOOYYY!" Ed, Hermione, Harry, and Ron called as they went through the many hallways of the castle.
"You should know better than to leave him alone!" Hermione panted as she took a breather.
"I didn't know where to put him!" Ed replied, although that sounded pretty stupid.
"ROOOOOOY!" Ed called again. In his hurry he bumped into someone. He looked up. Waaay up. He made a strangled face, groaned loudly, and started to run in the other direction.
"You called, Hagane no?"
"Ed?" Harry stared as the three caught up to Ed.
"No time to explain!" The alchemist shouted, his face flushed. He looked back, and the trio looked forward. From the shadows came a tall, black-haired, smirking, white- gloved man in a dark coat, who was holding a hat in his left hand. He was actually pretty handsome. So why did his face strike fear in the little braided teenager's heart?
Because he is... Roy Mustang. The colonel. But of course, the three Gryffindors didn't know that last part.
"Is that..." Ron squinted.
"Your... um..." Harry blinked.
"Is that Roy Mustang?" Hermione inquired. Roy took her hand and kissed it.
"Pleasure to meet you. I see my..." he looked at Ed, "child... has introduced me to you already..."
"Cut to the truth, colo-- Roy. Why are you here?" Ed asked in a business-like manner. Roy smiled as he parted from the blushing 16-year-old, who smiled at him shyly.
"Why do you ask it so harshly?" The tall man rubbed the shor-- I mean, the fuming braided boy's hair. Ed growled in return. Roy placed his hat onto his head in response.
Shh. I'm pretending to be your foster dad or something.
"Why do you hate him so much?" Hermione asked, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. Which she never did.
"Ahahaha.... I don't!" Ed let out a fake laugh that sounded somewhat forced. He looked up at Roy, who nodded slightly. "Um... Yeah. He's my foster dad--"
"You don't have any parents?" Hermione asked. Harry looked down.
Ed didn't respond.
Of course not, you stupid girl, why else would I have a foster dad-- even if he is fake, he thought as he added the last part hastily.
Suddenly, Roy pulled Ed into a tight hug.
Ed could swear he was enjoying the role he was playing...
"Well, see... we always... greet... each other... like that..." Ed grunted, pushing himself out of Roy's boa-constrictor hug. Roy had a pained look on his face, but replaced it with a weak smile.
"It's always been like this. Don't worry. Oh, and by the way, Ed hasn't introduced you three to me, I'm afraid..." Roy glanced at the trio expectantly. Harry finally understood after a minute had passed.
"Uh, I'm Harry Potter." Harry smiled in a friendly manner. Roy nodded and looked at Hermione, who promptly blushed.
"Hermione Granger..." Roy smiled. How he loved fangirls... She would be excellent in a miniskirt but her hair--
"Ron Weasley." The redhead's voice broke his train of thought and he curtly nodded in his direction.
"I'm sure you must get to class or something. Ed, Harry, Hermione, Red. I believe I have private matters to discuss with the headmaster." The colonel winked at Ed and pulled him into another hug.
Ron fumed.
"Remember what you're here for. This is not the time to make friends. I do not have much time." Roy whispered into Ed's ear.
"Eh?"
"I am planning on staying here for a month or so. You must leave with me. That is an order."
"Eh? But..."
"It is important." Roy looked at Ed. Then he stood up and left in the direction of Dumbledore's office.
"I haven't felt that great in a while!" Roy exclaimed. After all, he had the chance to hug his favorite alchemist twice in ten minutes! He shook his head jokingly and... bumped into a wandering Malfoy.
"Ow..." The two both said. Malfoy blinked.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Roy Mustang. Who are you?"
"...I'm Roy Mustang too..."
"EDWARD ELRIC!" Roy stormed into the Gryffindor common room., where Harry and Ed had been chatting idly on the couch. (Roy had entered threatening to burn the Fat Lady to a crisp if she didn't let him in. After demonstrating his ability with the aid of a nearby painting, she immediately obliged.)
Ed looked up at the ceiling impatiently and silently counted to ten.
"Mr. Mustang?" Harry turned his head in the man's direction, puzzled. They had been talking about Roy just before the "two Mustangs" had entered. What had befuddled Harry the most was the fact that Ed 'changed' whenever the two were together.
"What is the meaning of this? This... boy tells me that you're his best friend... and that his name is ROY MUSTANG! I KNOW THIS ISN'T A COINCIDENCE!" Malfoy winced. Ed gulped nervously.
"I have a feeling this happened because you used-- does he know?" Roy pointed at Harry, who became frightened at his changed demeanor. Ed slowly nodded.
"I specifically told you not to do stuff with your alchemy!" Roy looked back at the entrance, where the Fat Lady had fainted.
"'Stuff' isn't quite the best definition..." Ed attempted to explain.
"I thought you would understand! STUFF MEANS EVERYTHING! SHOULD I SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU IN PLAY- DOH?"
"Oh? A new range of alchemy? Using Play-Doh to strangle your enemies? Or laugh themselves to death?" Ed pouted.
Roy shook his head and sighed.
"What I'm saying is-- You should tell him the truth. My name isn't one to be smudged around a kindergartener. I have a reputation to manage."
"It wasn't my fault, okay? Your name was the first thing to--" Ed covered his mouth. Too much came out, though, and Harry and Roy could figure out the rest.
Malfoy examined the interior of the common room and was interested in the moving photographs on the wall. He couldn't really see what was happening on it because of the dim lighting, but he took one off the wall anyways and slipped it into his robes to examine later.
"Fine, fine. I will. Sheesh." Ed looked away, embarrassed. Harry stared at him blankly for a minute, then turned to Roy.
"Mr. Mustang... Did you get in by alchemy?" Roy chuckled.
"You can say that."
"Alchemy is so awesome..." Harry examined his wand. "I can't do magic at home...Because of all the restrictions they place on underage wizards. I hate it there. My uncle, aunt, and cousin treat me like crap." He didn't mention the fact that the Order of the Pheonix had promised to watch Harry in case he was being treated horribly. But he didn't want to burden them every time he was yelled at. He wanted to take care of himself.
"Hmm. How 'bout Edward teaches you a bit of alchemy?"
"EH?" Ed sat up. "But you--"
"That's another order, Edward. This boy has been through as much suffering as you. He needs a lesson in self-defense. And I'll leave it to the ultimate trickster in alchemy to teach him. Besides, what could he do with fire? He'll be charged as an arsonist, and being in prison isn't quite the best place to be as a minor." He held up his glove, bearing the flame insignia.
"And we wouldn't want another Roy Mustang, do we?" Ed scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Fine... But only the basics." Harry nodded eagerly.
"Thank you, Mr. Mustang! And Ed!"
Roy smiled as he turned around and left.
"I'm really late for my meeting now, thanks to you, Ed. You'll pay for that." He called calmly. Ed jumped and started to wonder what that colonel was going to think up for him.
"Go to the library and read. I'll catch up to ya." Ed suddenly told Malfoy.
"But-- I don't know where--" Malfoy struggled as Ed shoved him out of the common room.
"Don't worry! You'll be there eventually!"
Even if it took a week, he thought. He shut the swinging door and took his place on the couch again. He closed his eyes and searched through his mind. After fifteen seconds, he nodded and looked directly at Harry, who was slightly alarmed by Ed's new determined face.
"Alchemy. I taught you how it worked before." Harry thought, and nodded.
"To obtain... something... you must sacrifice something of... equal.. value... I think." Ed nodded.
"Something like that. Anyways, alchemy is based on science." Harry didn't enjoy learning science, but hey.
"And I also taught you about transmutation, right?" Harry nodded again.
"Um... you understand the elements... break the thing down... and..."
"Rebuild it. You can't clap your hands like I do. So remember to draw a circle if you're planning on transmuting something." Ed sat down and drew a circle with triangles pointing towards the outside on the spare parchment.
"You try."
"Okay..." Harry took the quill and... attempted... to draw a perfect circle.
"...Close enough. No one's perfect their first time." Except for me, he thought.
"Um, let's see. We need something to transmute." He looked at the glass vase he had retransmuted the last time he had demonstrated alchemy. He took it and placed it on the table.
"Wait, don't you have to break it like last time?" Ed shook his head.
"Nope. Just watch." He placed his hands on the circle on the parchment, and the parchment and the vase started to glow. The same greenish sparks appeared, and the vase... looked like it was melting to Harry. The glass formed into some kind of statue, and Ed sighed as he removed his hands and looked at the finished product.
"Ooh, that's awesome!" Harry gaped at the miniature figure. It was a statue of his brother, Al.
Ed sighed. "Yeah. That's what my brother looks like." Harry looked down.
"Sorry."
"Nah, I know he looks cool too." Ed admired his handiwork. There was this continuous nagging feeling, though. He missed his little brother. But he gulped his feelings down and asked Harry to try. He reshaped the vase and handed it to him.
"Okay, so first thing to do is to concentrate. Imagine what you are turning the vase into. Don't try the statue thing until you can handle the basics." Harry placed his hands on his own wobbly- looking circle and closed his eyes. Small, red sparks appeared, and Harry jumped as he felt the tickling sparks on his hands.
"Is it working?" Harry asked after a few seconds. Ed looked at the transmutation circle.
"Yep." The vase molded itself into a cube. A lumpy cube, sure, but it was pretty good for a first try.
Harry gasped when he opened his eyes and laughed. He picked up the cube and examined it.
"Wow, alchemy is sooo cool!" Ed nodded, glad that the transmutation actually worked.
"Now, let's work on making your circles perfect."
Phew. That killed me. Next chapter, the new DADA teacher appears!