So, this one-shot was created on a whim. I had actually meant to make a oneshot crossover for FMA and D,Gray-Man, but this came instead. And, in all honesty, I really like this.
The time-line in this can be insinuated as post-anime or so (CoS one) and pre-HP series, back when Lily and James (Harry's parents) are still alive. The year the Marauders are in is up for grabs- any year between about fifth to seventh, or so. There is also reference to the game, Fullmetal Alchemist and The Broken Angel (which I have never played, but really want to. I've seen AMVs of it though, and have the general idea of the plot, which is really all that is needed.)
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Paw-Chan in no way, shape, or form owns Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist.
Odd Professor
He was an odd one- their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Most determinedly a guy, and yet he wore his hair so long, and up in a girls' ponytail, no less! It sometimes made James wonder if the teachers' gender was to be put under question. Either that, or the professors' sexuality. There was no way a straight guy would have hair so long!
Then there were his odd colored eyes. They were a golden chrome color, which reminded James a little of Remus. Wasn't the yellow eye color a sign of werewolf-ism? James was pretty sure, and when he had asked Sirius and Remus, they had agreed. They were also currently in the process of forming a plan on which they could figure out what the professor did during the full moon. The boys were very curious, but they couldn't just ignore their werewolf for one month to find out if their professor was a werewolf too or not.
The professor was also very short- making James and Sirius wonder if he was actually old enough to be a teacher. He looked about the size of a third year, maybe a little smaller/larger (depending on the third year), and not the mysterious age that he refused to tell the students. And James and Sirius had found out (much to their (sadistic) amusement) that their professor was extremely height-sensitive. His tantrums and rants were fun to watch, and they enjoyed sending first and second years to the professor, for they were always to comment about the professors' stature.
There was a lot of mystery surrounding the professor too. Nobody knew a lot about him. When questioned about his home, he would get a far-off glaze is his eyes and he would tell them that it was far away from the school, and he hadn't been back in quite some time. Sirius and James had as well found out, that if you prod the professor about why he hadn't been back home in a while, you would be snapped at rather viciously, and sent away, the professor muttering vehemently something along the lines, 'stupid nosy bastards- can't keep their curiosity to themselves.'
Another oddity was the fact that the teacher rarely used a wand- or magic even. He taught them all from a book, mimed wand movements with his hand- always his left never his right, he rarely used his right for some reason -and that was that. No magic was ever done by the professor. (But there was some rumor floating around that if you walked past the professors' room after curfew, late at night, you could see strange colored lights crackling underneath the door- always different colors. Sometimes red, yellow, or brown. There was sometimes blue too, but not often.)
But what was even odder than all those, was his reaction during class the fateful day that Miss Lily Evans got a little too curious for even James' own good. (Though, it wasn't like he pressed the girl to ask- he had just pointed out a strange fact about the professor, and he supposed she went and investigated it on her own. He was insistent that he had had little influence on what occurred during class.)
"Professor," Lily stood up during a lull in the class where they had been reading the effects of some spell or another (James couldn't remember, mostly because he hadn't done the reading- he'd sooner leech notes off of Remus than actually do the reading.)
"Yes, Miss Evans?" The professor never even looked up from the work he was doing on his desk. "If it's a question on the reading, it will be gone over once the rest of the class is done with it as well."
"It's not about the reading, sir." Lily's emerald eyes stared down at the professor, who had decidedly lifted his head and met her determined gaze with aloof golden ones.
"Alright," A smile (or was it a smirk? James could never tell with the professor) crossed his features. "I'll take the bait. What is so important that can't wait until after class?" Lily didn't miss a beat, and James had to hand it to her. Most students would have been ashamed at breaking the one rule that had been set up by the professor- If the question is unrelated to class work, ask it after class. He never would not answer a students' question; he preferred it to be asked on the student's own time though, if it wasn't class-work related. (Though questions regarding his home was avoided, and the subject was danced around if brought up.)
"What can you tell us of Alkhemia?" Lily asked straight out. Something seemed to harden in the professors' eyes, and he stood up.
"Well first," There was amusement in his voice, but his eyes told the Marauders a different story- that he wasn't amused. "It is pronounced Alchemy, not 'Alkhemia.' And second, where did you hear of that?" His tone was half curiosity, and half reprimanding. Lily seemed to be caught a bit off guard, but it only showed for barely even a second.
"You always have these weird circles drawn on your board- in the morning and after meals and free periods." Lily explained in a not-so 'innocent' tone. "I was curious, so I looked it up in the library." The professor sighed, as if he was unhappy about something.
"I suppose I had this coming didn't I, Miss Evans?" He answered at last. His eyes swept around the room for a moment, noticing that the class had all stopped their reading. "What I can tell you is that it is a dead art."
"If it's a dead art professor, then why are there circles from it on your boards?" Remus asked, curious. James had to stop a sigh of his own- Remus was ever the bookworm. He would tread dangerous territory for even the smallest bit of information, all while justifying that what he was doing wasn't wrong.
"What I do during my free time is absolutely none of your business, Mr. Lupin." The professor growled, before looking back to Lily. "Miss Evans, see me after class." His attention turned to the rest of the class.
"Now, are all of you finished with the chapter or are you just sitting there gawking like idiots?" The professor barked. When nobody moved, he barked once more, "Well?"
James stared down at his blank parchment, knowing exactly what he was doing after class.
The Cloak of Invisibility swished around James' feet as he smashed himself in the corner of the classroom. James had no doubt that the professor was going to chat with Lily about this 'alchemy' and there was no way any of them were missing out.
"Miss Evans." The professors' tone was reproving. "Now, tell me the truth. What about alchemy has got you curious?"
"Well…" Lily's tone turned embarrassed, and James' instantly wanted to know. Anything to hang over Evans' head was just as good as hanging Snivellus upside-down by his greasy underwear.
"Miss Evans, I am not in the mood for games."
"Is there something wrong with being curious?" She snapped defensively, turning to stomp out. Apparently something caught the professors' eye in her knapsack, because his rarely used right hand snapped out faster than a whip and snatched a book that was hanging partway out of it.
"What's this?" The professors' tone was genuine curiosity and partial teasing, and he darted out of Lily's reach, taking a look at the cover. He stopped dead in his tracks though after looking at it, gold eyes staring long and hard at Lily.
"What do you want to know of Human Transmutation for?" His tone was downright rude, and he looked livid- his hands were shaking. When Lily didn't answer, he didn't give her a choice.
"Evans. Tell me now- why are you researching Human Transmutation?" His voice was almost the volume of what his short-rants normally were, but James was flinching back from this volume, rather than grinning in amusement.
"Why do you want to know?" Lily snapped back, and started to leave, but the professor wouldn't have any of it.
"Do you know what happens to people who play God, Evans?" The professors' tone was dangerous. He didn't give her a chance to respond, though. "Well Evans, do you?"
"N-No professor," Lily stammered out, a flush on her cheeks. James wasn't certain whether it was from embarrassment, or anger or what, but he knew that it did take an awful lot to get her flustered and stuttering.
The professor was shaking himself, and the boys and Lily could see that he was forcing himself to calm. When he spoke again, the anger was still in his voice, but it didn't show outward on his body.
"Nothing good comes of it." The professor stated at last, his voice still cold. "I could care less what you do with the knowledge that you got on Alchemy from the library, but the last thing you want to be doing with that knowledge is attempting Human Transmutation." Lily barely managed to nod, shaken by the normally mild professors' turn of mood.
"I-I understand Professor." She said at last, and the professor seemed to relax.
"Alright then," He said, tone more relaxed, but sounding more forced than normal. "Get off to class then."
"C-Can I have the book back?" Lily asked a bit hesitantly, and the professor shook his head.
"No." He answered. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate it. If this were to fall into the hands of someone desperate enough, the results would be terrible." Lily's face fell, but James' curiosity was peaked.
"Alright," She said a bit dejectedly, and turned once more and left the classroom. James paused to follow her out the door, invisible and ready to sneak off to a different hallway as to not get found out for eavesdropping.
"Who would've thought it?" James paused in his escape, hearing the professors' words. The book had been dropped on his desk, and the professor had collapsed into his seat. The professor was flipping through the pages, and there was something in the professors' eyes that stopped James. It wasn't recognition, and it wasn't even remembrance. It was something else, and James' knew that if Remus had been there, he would've known the right word.
"This isn't just any crack-pot wizards' theories on Human Transmutation," The professor barked a harsh laugh, snapping the book shut, tossing it away. "These are mine."
James couldn't get out of the Defense classroom fast enough.
He stormed down the hall, shedding the cloak and stuffing it in his knapsack as he went. He was half torn between telling Lily what he had heard the professor had said, and between going and giving the professor a piece of his mind.
Yet James knew he couldn't do either- because both scenarios resulted in one of the two participants in the conversation finding out that he had eavesdropped. If he let Lily know- oh, she would hate him until after graduation, and then when would he ever go out with her?
So James just resigned himself to wait for an opportunity, and to keep an eye on the professor. Something was really odd with him, and James wanted to know what it was.
Fortunately, James didn't have to wait long. The next day the professor had come up to Lily after Charms, and James had his invisibility cloak out before he had even finished his question.
"Ah, Miss Evans." He had smiled, and it seemed more forced than a normal smile. "May I have a word?" The girls who normally packed themselves from class to class with Lily like a herd of gazelle giggled, and pushed Lily towards the professor. That was their hint for her to go and it was alright.
"I suppose," Her tone was rude, and the professor laughed.
"You don't have to talk if you don't want to," The professor assured her, but Lily shook her head as James threw on his invisibility cloak, passing his knapsack to Sirius. The rest of the Marauders looked ready to say something, but Remus placed a hand on their shoulders, shaking his head, and Sirius nodded, though Peter didn't understand. It was unspoken- Lily was James', and if he didn't trust the professor with her- which all of them were suspicious of anyways -that was his business. It wasn't that James was obsessed with Lily- it was the fact that he really cared for her and didn't want anything to happen.
"No, it's alright." Lily answered, adjusting her bag. "What would you like to talk about professor?"
"Why don't we take a walk?" The professor suggested, and the hint was clearly obvious to James', as it was to Lily as well. It was a silent, 'I'd prefer not to be overheard.'
"Alright professor," Lily shrugged, following the professor as he walked down and the two left the school to the grounds, which were pretty scarce of people, for it was late November and pretty cold.
"First, Miss Evans," The professor started just as Lily opened her own mouth to speak. He paused for a moment, seeming as if he were struggling to just say what came next. "I would like to apologize for my behavior the other day after class. I didn't mean to frighten you." Lily looked taken aback, and James knew he was surprised- the professor never apologized. Never.
"O-oh?" Lily was at a loss for words. "I-It's alright. I mean, I wasn't offended, well, I-I mean…" James had to bite back a laugh at Lily's flustered stumbling as she fumbled with words as if she couldn't form a proper sentence.
"No, it's not alright." The professor shook his head, stopping and staring at Lily. "What I said crossed the line. I jumped to conclusions and I am sorry for how I acted." A blush was coloring the professors' cheeks, and James had to cover his mouth with his hands to stop from laughing outright. Sure, he had been worried about Lily, but this was priceless!
"Professor, like I said, it's alright." Lily shook her head, her tone forceful. "I won't research Alchemy anymore- I get it."
"No!" The professor cut her off. "That's not what I meant the other day." His golden bangs were shadowing his eyes from Lily and James. "You're a bright girl Lily. I didn't mean to scare you away from Alchemy." He looked up at her once more.
"It's just that Human Transmutation is the one greatest taboo of Alchemy." He continued. "It is impossible to successfully create a human being. In attempting the taboo, most people die in the attempt."
"And those who don't?" Lily was curious, but she wasn't sure if she was crossing a line by asking the professor. After all, the other day he had seemed very against the subject.
"Those who don't…" The professor gave a harsh laugh. "They wind up with a fate that seems worse than death." Lily seemed aghast, her hand covering her open mouth from the shock. James mind could barely process the information. The way the professor was talking, it seemed as if he had attempted Human Transmutation himself. (Which James didn't put it past the professor- he had said that the book on Human Transmutation that he had taken from Lily was his theories on it.)
"But," The professor stared at Lily. "If you honestly want to learn more on Alchemy, I'll teach you. If you want." Lily seemed more taken aback by the professors' offer than she had about everything else he had said.
"Y-Yeah." Lily had trouble finding her voice. "S-Sure, o-of course! I'd love to professor!" James repressed a snort at Lily's instant change in moods. Only she could do that.
"You have to be serious about it though," The stern professor was back, acting as if the past conversation had (almost) never happened. "If you aren't…" The threat was left unsaid.
"I understand professor," Lily nodded eagerly. "But, why me?" The professor paused mid-step, where he was getting ready to make the trek back to the castle.
"Huh? What do you mean, Miss Evans?" He asked.
"I mean," She clarified. "Why me? Why did you pick me? You could have taught any student in the school who asked you about Alchemy of the subject, yet you picked me. Why?" James watched as the hardened gold of the professors' eyes melted and softened, as he stared at Lily, and he knew that the professor was being honest with what he told Lily, even though he knew as much as Lily did about the professor.
"You…" The professors' voice sounded pained, and like this was a very sore subject for him. "You remind an awful lot of my first apprentice." The 'only' was left unsaid, but the tone of the professors' voice made it very apparent.
"I see…" Lily murmured softly, but James knew it wasn't out spite, being taken as a replacement. It was of understanding; every person had skeletons in their closet. "What was your apprentices' name?" The professor hesitated for a moment before telling Lily.
"Armony." He said at long last. "Her name was Armony."
"I understand." Lily nodded, before giving a smile.
"Alright then," The professor said. "We better get back inside. It's going to start raining soon, and I don't want to be yelled at for getting a student-" There was a crack of thunder, and rain started coming down in thick heavy droplets.
"Sick." The professor finished lamely, staring up at the sky. "Ah, well, Miss Evans, we should get inside…" He trailed off, staring at the girl, who was just standing there like she had all the time in the world, rather than wanting to get back inside, out of the rain.
"Can I say something first?" She asked. "Before we go back inside?" The professor sighed, and nodded, though James could tell he wanted to get inside.
"Make it quick, please." He strained, tapping his foot a little, and Lily nodded.
"I, Lily Evans," She started to vow, lifting her hand up to cover her heart, her hair plastering itself to her face. The professor froze, in shock. "Vow to be as good as an Alchemy apprentice as Armony was, professor." The professor made a choking sound, and for a second it seemed as if his vocal cords weren't working.
"Silly," He was trying to sound strong and aloof, though James could tell that the professor was probably close to crying. "How do you know Armony was even good at Alchemy?"
"Because, professor." Lily said simply, looking at him with honest eyes. "I can see it in your eyes. I understand that the only reason why you're taking me as an apprentice is because I look like your last apprentice." Lily smiled, clasping her hands together. "That's why I'm swearing that I'll be just as good of an apprentice as Armony was. I don't want to disappoint you, professor."
"You're a good girl, Miss Evans," The professor finally managed to say.
"Lily, professor, call me Lily please." Lily shook her head. The professor managed a weak smile.
"Alright, Lily," He stressed the name, tears invisible to the rain. "You're a good girl. Too good, really." Lily smiled, and James instantly felt out of place and really awkward. It felt as if he were intruding on something really personal that he had no right to be overhearing, and it made him feel really awkward and out of place.
Taking a few steps back, he turned tail and excused himself non-verbally from the conversation that he hadn't really had the right to overhear. Disappearing into the castle, he stripped himself of the soaked invisibility cloak, leaving the professor and Lily standing out in the rain.
"So Prongs," Sirius asked from his perch at the Gryffindor table that night at dinner. "What's your verdict on the professor?"
"Yeah?" Peter chimed, leaning in, Remus listening in as well. James dragged his stare away from his own meal up to the teachers' table, where the professor was sitting half paying attention to his meal, yet at the same time talking with Lily, who had ventured up after she had finished eating to talk with the professor.
"Yes, do tell us the outcome of your adventure of following the professor and Lily went," Remus laughed, taking his eyes away from his Transfiguration book. "What's your verdict on the professor?"
James hummed for a moment, toying with his fork for a moment. "He's alright, I suppose. An odd one, but alright. Nothing too bad about him, except for maybe being a you-know-what, if you catch my drift Moony." Remus nodded, an amused look on his face.
"If you say so," Sirius shrugged.
"Which I do, Padfoot," James laughed. "Just an odd professor. Like the bat we have for Astronomy." The other boys nodded and laughed, before talking about other things, and James focused his attention onto the professor and Lily.
Lily had a grin on her face, and was waving by to the professor as she made her way from the teachers' table and out of the Great Hall. The professor just gave a little nod of his head, chin balanced on his gloved hands.
Yeah, James nodded to himself. That's all he was.
He was just an odd professor, that Edward Elric.
X.x.X.x.X
So, how was it? Good? Bad? Terrible? Off the chart in either direction?
This is actually my first FMA fic that I've published. I'm hoping none of the characters were too terribly OOC- seeing as Lily and James are both dead already in HP, and I was not quite certain on how Ed would react in this situation, so I took a stab.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, and there's only one thing left to do:
Read, Review, and Tell Me What You Think!
~~Paw-Chan Signing Out!~~
Addition as of 2/13/11:
Armony is not an OC. She is a character from the video game Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel (reference to is referred to up at the beginning). From what I have gathered from other resources, Ed takes her on as an apprentice during the course of the game. Armony is a redhead and from videos I have seen, is close to Ed's age during the anime/manga. I chose Armony instead of Al or Winry or someone because of the fact that in the HP movies it shows Lily as a redhead, and also for the fact that Armony was Ed's alchemy apprentice, which fit with what I was going for with this one-shot. Al couldn't be used because he isn't/wasn't Ed's apprentice. If anything the brothers were co-workers, or something like that.
I hope that clears up some of the confusion and allieviates some of the complaints! ^_^