Disclaimer: I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Hiroku Arakawa.
Author's Note: I'm glad to see that you people liked the previous one-shot. I hope you like this as well. It's a sequel to the first one!
Crossover: Harry Potter & Fullmetal Alchemist.
Series: Sequel to Oneshot # 1
Pairing: Harry(Roy)/Ed
Warnings: Slight AU in the FMA-world, and heavy SLASH. Two men doing the nasty. The horizontal tango. Ye be warned!
Rating: M
One-shot #2: Ready, Steady, GO! (Part II)
It had been surprisingly – and somewhat worryingly – easy to slide back into the hierarchy of the State Army. He was welcomed back with open arms from his friends (and a slap then hug from Riza) which was somewhat expected; but people that he had previously disliked, or that had disliked him, were now suddenly flocking to him like moths to the flame – figuratively and literally.
"The new Führer can't be that bad, can he?" Harry asked his friends once after having been visited, and offered assistance, by one of those people that had previously really, really, really hated him. "I mean, sure, I've noticed some deterioration in the army since I came back – and on the way back to Central as well – but this… this is just…" he trailed off in shock.
"Better believe it, boss," Havoc puffed on his ever-present cigarette. "And, as you will soon discover, it only gets worse."
Truer words had never been spoken. A month after having returned to Central, Harry was ready to go back to his hermit-ways simply to rid himself of the mess that the stupid idiot of a Führer had made of the army. Women were considered less than men, and their only task in the army seemed to be to entertain the men in any and all ways possible – it was no wonder that most women had already quit. The training regime and the various monthly performance-tests which had been strictly enforced under King Bradley, were now nothing more than a few lines on a paper found in a file in a box in the dusty back-corner of some storehouse. The army was growing its own seeds of destruction! If this kept up, then the neighbouring countries could simply wait until all of Amestris had become as lazy and as lily-livered as the current Führer, and then simply march in and take whatever they wanted without any resistance whatsoever.
In an attempt to fight this deterioration of the army, Harry and his allies started to subtly change things. Food rations were reduced back to normal sizes again, and there was no more rich-man's food – like caviar or lobster – on the menu. Performance-tests were reinstated around the various HQs and outposts – though not to the same degree as before, that would've brought on some suspicion – and most soldiers who failed these were thrown out of the army, while a few were sent back to boot camp to get into shape. The boot camps and training was now run by some of the strictest people that longed for the State Military to return to its former glory, but, once again, they needed to be careful and not do too much in too little time. All in all it was thoroughly frustrating and very slow work, and more than once the Führer nearly caught on. Despite being a spineless whelp, the man was smarter than most gave him credit for. Luckily, this time all the important people were working with Harry instead of against him, and the Führer's suspicions were diverted and calmed over and over again.
Of course, there were still officers – like Olivier Milla Armstrong – that enforced a strict discipline and who refused to let their soldiers fall to ruin under fast-food and laziness, and Harry found himself thanking the heavens every day for these people. Without them getting the State Army back on its feet would've been an impossible task.
But in all situations there were also people who insisted on doing their best to hinder any and all progress, and Harry met up with a great deal of these before they realised that it wasn't smart to mess with the famous Flame Alchemist. The first time someone had directly come up to him and challenged him, Harry and Ed had been walking by the now-rarely-used training grounds, discussing what needed to be done in order to negotiate a new and better peace-treaty between Amestris and Creata to the west and Areugo to the south.
"How about better trade-options?" Ed suggested looking down at the map. "Areugo has rich mineral and gold mines, and we need a great deal of those. And Creata has all those spices that they're willing to sell. This could open up for more trade and friendship between us."
"Hmm, perhaps," Harry replied thoughtfully. "But what could we offer in return?"
At this point their conversation had been interrupted rudely by jeers and shouts of insults, and general ruckus. They both looked up and found themselves staring straight at a group of five Privates and one Sergeant. They were obviously new because with their looks and disrespectful behaviour they would never have been admitted into the State Army while under King Bradley – one of the few things that came from the actions of that homunculi. He was a damn good Führer as long as he wasn't working towards his own goals.
"Look at those two bootlickers! All prim and proper!" the Sergeant sneered.
"I think that blond one is a Lieutenant Colonel and the other seems to be a Brid… Brigra… Bligarder General." The man had to be both illiterate and dumb if he couldn't pronounce a simple 'Brigadier General'.
A man spit on the ground in front of Harry and Ed. "Probably had to do a couple of people to attain their ranks. How is it being someone's bitches, eh?!"
"Who are you, old man?!" one of the Privates shouted, his uniform dirty and dishevelled. "Old people like you shouldn't be allowed into the army anymore. Leave it to the younger generations!"
"If this is what the younger generations are like," Harry commented calmly to a fuming Ed, "then I can't see the world lasting for another hundred years."
Ed smirked, though it was clear that his anger hadn't abated. "Lets get going, Roy. We have that meeting with Major General Armstrong to get to." He and Harry would've calmly walked past the sextet at this point, but their way was blocked when the six stepped in front of them. The glitter in their eyes told all, and Harry and Ed resigned themselves to being slightly late for the meeting with the Major General. These six were out for a fight, and they wouldn't leave them alone without it.
"Oh yeah! The Major General's a hottie, isn't she?" one of the six muttered perversely.
"I wish I had a private meeting with her!" another practically drooled. "Then I'd show her a thing or two!"
The Sergeant leaned closer to Harry and Ed, a nasty smirk on his face. "So, how is it to fuck with the Major General? She's a wildcat in bed, right? How exactly do you do it? From behind? Against the wall? And how many times do you have to do it before she promotes you?"
Ed had been turning more and more red in the face during this. These men were insulting one of his best friends' elder sister, and said sister was also a person that the Fullmetal Alchemist respected greatly. He wouldn't simply stand by and allow these… these ingrates to insult the Major General. Forget alchemy! He could and would take these fools down with his own two hands with no trouble at all!
Harry, who had remained mostly calm during this exchange, quickly raised an arm in front of Ed to keep him from doing something rash. Don't get him wrong, Harry was furious that the army had fallen so deep to allow such disrespect, but to beat these six up now had to potential to destroy everything they had worked for.
"Easy there, Fullmetal." He muttered quietly to the blond. Ed looked at him in rage, about to demand why they weren't defending the woman who had made it possible for Harry to slide so quickly back into the army, but he stopped before he could say anything stupid. Ed recognised the stony, emotionless look in that lone black eye, and he knew that before the day was over that this particular sextet would be far gone and would never get the chance to join any military ever again.
"Get their names and remember their faces, then destroy them through the legal means." The Fullmetal Alchemist muttered in realisation. It was a sentence from Hughes' diary, one that – according to Hughes – had been stated by none other than the Flame Alchemist himself.
Harry smirked slightly. "Exactly. I see that Hughes' diary is good for something, Fullmetal. It filled that empty head of yours with some useful knowledge! Too bad it couldn't do something about your height as well."
Ed twitched, but refrained from replying right there. If he showed disrespect to someone of higher rank, then it would send really bed signs towards the disrespectful sextet that was still jabbering on and on, not noticing that their two cornered superiors weren't listening at all. Instead, all the short blond could do was lowly grumble a threat. "Just wait until we get to training and I'll show you exactly what I've learned."
"Training?" one of the Privates parroted. Apparently he had managed to catch on to that one little word of the entire conversation. "Hey, boys! These two still bother with regular training! Can you believe it?!"
"Whatever for?" another mused. "Amestris is the most powerful country. There is no need to train for anything at all."
At this point Harry and Ed shared one of those these-people-are-really-stupid-god-help-us-all looks.
"I have an idea!" the Sergeant suddenly exclaimed. "Lets test these so-called skills of theirs! There's six of us and only two of them! We can take them easily, boys!"
"I am afraid that we don't have the time for this right now," Harry stepped into the conversation. This was going too far. "Step aside and let us pass."
No one moved.
"Are you disobeying your superior officers?" Ed growled. Oh, how he wished he could simply clap his hands together and get rid of this trash.
"We weren't aware that we had been given an order. Sir." The Sergeant sneered, adding the 'sir' as an afterthought.
'Apparently our subtle attempts at change haven't worked if riffraff like this still gets into the army. It seems to me that it's time to pull out all the stops, and bring out the big guns – so to speak.' Harry thought to himself, then stepped forwards, staring the Sergeant strait into the eyes. "Do not make me spell it out to you, Sergeant! Move. Out. Of. The. Way. Now."
The Sergeant's eyes narrowed but he seemed to back down, retreating a few steps and turning around. Then suddenly he let out a mocking laugh, and whirled around again, a large, dangerous knife that was most definitely not allowed into the HQs, held in one hand. "Who do you think you are, you old bastard, to give orders to me?!?!? I'll remove that remaining eye of yours for that!!!!"
The man's little speech and wide, clumsy, and uselessly flashy movements, gave his opponent more than enough time to see the attack coming and preparing for it. Before the sextet really understood what had happened, the Sergeant found himself face down on the ground, held there by a booted foot placed between his shoulder blades. The arm with the knife was held in a vice-like grip, slowly being twisted around until the knife dropped harmlessly to the ground, and the man himself cried out in pain. Harry didn't even twitch at the cry, and simply stared at the rest of them with his eyebrow raised. The five Privates suddenly remembered that they had lots and lots of things that needed to be done yesterday, and disappeared faster than one could blink.
Ed smirked. No matter what kind of front he put up and whether he used alchemy or not, Roy Mustang was far from useless and defenceless. The black-haired, one-eyed man was closing in on fifty years of age, and yet he looked to be no more than in his early- or mid-thirties. It made the blond wonder slightly. Exactly where did Roy Mustang come from?
'With his looks he could easily come from Xing,' the Fullmetal Alchemist mused as he watched the other man twisting the downed Sergeant's arm again. 'But he doesn't have the characteristic slanted eyes. Perhaps he comes from a mixed heritage?'
With a snort of disgust Harry – not aware of the other alchemist's musings – allowed the Sergeant to get up and run off with his tail between his legs. "Pathetic. Truly pathetic." Harry muttered as he and Ed continued their trek towards the office of Major General Olivier Milla Armstrong.
They got to their meeting half-an-hour late, and everyone in the room made their displeasure known with dark looks. This was a somewhat secret meeting, and most of the people there could only leave their respective posts for a certain amount of time before someone came looking for them or got suspicious. Once the two explained exactly why they were late, the displeased atmosphere in the room changed. Alex Luis Armstrong tore off his shirt in his usual manner, declaring war upon the sextet that had dared say such things about his family and dared to attack two of his best friends. Riza Hawkeye got a really, really scary look in her eye, and muttered something about shooting practice. Havoc, Fuery, Breda and Falman shook their heads and muttered angrily, while the others in the room ranged from shocked to furious to disappointed.
The Major General herself froze up slightly, then shook it off with a snort, and demanded for the meeting to finally start. Years later, when they were all old and grey, she reluctantly – and under heavy influence of alcohol – admitted that had it been up to her Harry and Ed would've been promoted for ridding the army of such trash.
-x-x-x-x-
As Harry had predicted, it was time to stop the subtle acts and to bring out the big guns. Especially since the elections were up. It was a new thing that had been instated after the fiasco with King Bradley and the homunculi. The people now could vote on the person they wanted to be the next Führer, though those in the army – especially the officers – had the final say in things. And even though the masses didn't have the same power as they had back on earth, Harry recognised the power that they did hold, and played on that. He and his group of people ran in the election, openly opposing the current Führer and revealing the shoddy state of the State Army in order to shock the population into action. They presented previously worst-case scenarios that now seemed more and more real, and presented their suggestions to changes in the country and the army, and slowly but surely they pulled ahead of the other parties, finally winning the entire thing by a landslide.
There was a large party held in Gracia's home – which had been their base of operations during the election – the evening when the results were announced by a beaming now-Second Lieutenant Kain Fuery.
"I can't believe we did it!" the man exclaimed happily, hugging the person closest to himself, which turned out to be a ten-year-old Elicia.
Sergeant Denny Brosh had pulled out a guitar – a secret passion of his, apparently – and was now playing an upbeat melody, soon joined by none other than Riza Hawkeye on a flute and Breda on a fiddle he had had Ed transmute for him. While the three played, several of the others were dragged out onto the improvised dance floor. Alphonse having pulled a laughing Winry into the dance, Havoc elegantly leading Gracia through the steps, and Alex Luis Armstrong swinging about with the miniature Pinaco Rockbell in his arms.
It was a joyous and truly comical sight, Harry reflected with a small smile on his face. He was standing out on the small balcony, leaning back against the railing, and watching the spectacle inside. He had come out here when the news had been announced, needing some time in quiet solitude to let it all sink in. Quite frankly, he hadn't had much hope of winning this election at all. They had tried to present themselves as a group that would focus on both civilian and military needs, but hadn't promised things that they knew couldn't happen, and Harry had been afraid that they hadn't been good enough. Yet look at him now! As of tomorrow he was the new Führer, with hundreds of thousands of lives in his hands on a daily basis. It boggled the mind.
"So this is where you've hidden yourself." Ed's amused voice brought Harry out of his thoughts, and the blond man stepped out onto the balcony as well. "Congratulations on your win."
Harry smiled. "I could not have done it without you people, and you know it. Don't try to make yourself seem insignificant and small, Fullmetal; modesty doesn't become you, and you are short enough as it is."
"Short?!" Ed growled, his eyebrow twitching. "Could a shorty do this?!" and with that said, the short blond grabbed the other man's face and pulled him down to his level, promptly kissing him.
Harry couldn't help but smirk slightly in amusement, then he pushed those thoughts out of his head, and concentrated solely on the kiss itself. He wound his arms around Ed, pulling the shorter man flush up against this body, and proceeded to take control over the kiss.
Since Harry had been brought out of seclusion little more than eight months ago, the two of them hadn't had the time to do much with regards to their relationship. A few stolen kisses here and there, along with the occasional touch on the arm or even hug, was all they had allowed themselves or had time for. There had been too much to do, to set right, though both of them had felt the attraction that was between them, and both had woken up more than once with raging erections or wet sheets after dreaming about each other.
However, now that things were finally on the right path and would start to wind down, they could start to really explore the relationship between them to its full extent, and Harry had to admit that he truly looked forwards to it.
A quiet whimper from Ed and an unconscious attempt to move closer, drew Harry out of his thoughts and the kiss. Lust-fogged golden eyes opened slowly, tan cheeks dusted with a bit of light pink, and wet, kiss-swollen lips almost made Harry swoop back in for another kiss, but he kept himself under tight control, and resisted the temptation. Barely.
"Fullmetal." He panted lightly. "Ed."
"Huh?" came the somewhat unfocused reply from the blond that was now leaning rather heavily against him. "Whazzit?"
"I have to ask you one last time," Harry muttered lowly, ignoring the music and the laughter from inside the house. "Are you absolutely certain that you want this, Ed? I am twenty years your elder and your superior officer. People will talk and your reputation may get shredded. Then there are those people who hate such things on principle, and-"
"One more word out of you, bastard Colonel, and I'll kick you where no man should be hurt." Ed growled at him, but then softened slightly, a small smile on his face. "I appreciate what you're trying to do – actually find it kinda sweet – but you don't need to worry about it. I'm a grown man now, I can make my own choices, and my choice is you. Everyone else can be damned to the other side of the Gate."
Harry smiled slightly, leaning his forehead against Ed's. "It's Führer now, Fullmetal."
"Not until tomorrow."
"You're going to be the death of me yet, Edward Elric." The one-eyed man remarked with a grin, then swooped in to again claim those lips that had been teasing and tempting him throughout the entire conversation.
If anyone noticed them out there on the shadowy balcony, they politely ignored them and simply went back to the celebrations. When it was time for people to leave, more that one person noted with amusement that the new Führer and the blond Lieutenant Colonel left together, in the same direction, and were unconsciously walking very close to each other, their hands clasped, fingers entwined. The on-lookers found it very amusing to watch the couple bicker back and forth, and throwing well-meaning insults, until they were out of sight and out of hearing.
Riza and Winry then turned to the others standing there, and stretched out their hands. "We told you that those two would end up together, and we've won the bet. Now pay up!"
Breda, Falman, Brosh, Havoc, Fuery and a few others grumbled but pulled out the required amount of money, and handed it to the two women.
"Better hope that nii-san doesn't find out about this." Alphonse remarked, though there was pure amusement in his tone. "Or Führer Roy Mustang." He added, with special emphasis on the 'Führer'.
Roy Mustang was known to carry a grudge, and just the thought of what he could do to them now that he had become the Commander-in-Chief made several people wince and swear off gambling for the rest of their lives.
As for Harry and Ed, well, there was very little sleep for them that night.
-x-x-x-x-
When he looked back at the sixth months since becoming the leader of the country, Harry found himself rather amazed. The changes that had happened during those months were almost phenomenal, and the State Army was almost completely back on its feet. There was still work to do, of course, eight years was a long time to influence something, but most of the remaining problems were small and didn't need the direct attention of the Führer. The State Army wasn't the only thing that had gone through changes. The rest of Amestris had has well, with pretty much improvements all over. And as for the neighbouring countries, new peace-treaties had been discussed and argued over and then signed once all parties involved were more or less happy with the outcome. All in all, things were looking up.
'And not only for Amestris,' Harry mused to himself one morning in bed as he watched the other occupant sleep.
Edward Elric was the best thing that could've happened to him, in Harry's humble opinion – and in the opinion of most other people as well. The blond, short-tempered alchemist was just the thing to keep him on his toes and away from depression. They snipped, they argued, and they teased each other. They listened, comforted and helped each other when needed. They were the best of friends, and they were devoted lovers.
'And – lets face it! – the sex is great as well,' the black-haired man thought to himself in amusement. Not only had Ed pushed his way into the military all those years ago, he had slowly been pushing his way into Harry's heart, and now, finally, had managed to push his way into Harry's home as well. Harry may have invited Ed to join the military and made it possible, and he may have been warned about his falling for the Fullmetal Alchemist. But he had been utterly shocked one morning about a month ago, when he woke up, and on his way to the small bathroom realising that approximately every second thing that he saw belonged to Ed. There were books, pictures, shoes, one side of the closet and a few of the drawers in the chest-of-drawers were dedicated to Ed's clothes, and in the bathroom the younger man's toothbrush, comb could be found sitting innocently on one side.
Harry had simply stood there in the living room, feeling like an idiot, as the realisation washed over him that the blond alchemist was now living with him. 'When the hell did that happen?!'
It bothered him slightly, he admitted as he went through his morning rituals. With previous lovers he had been very careful about everything, and none of them could've moved into his apartment without him noticing it. Harry pulled on a pair of soft, old draw-string pants that rode low on his hips, and proceeded to towel his hair dry while walking on automatic through the apartment towards the bedroom. His worried musings on exactly how Ed could've moved in without being noticed were cut short as he entered said bedroom, and spotted the object of his thoughts laid out on the bed, limbs in every which way.
Ten minutes later he realised that he was staring, and couldn't help the amusement he felt as he went over to the closet in order to find a shirt. 'I suddenly understand how Fullmetal could've moved in without me noticing. Gods, I'm turning into a bloody sap.'
"What are you thinking about?" Ed's sleep-fogged voice brought Harry back to the present.
"Nothing important." Harry replied with a smirk. "About time you woke up, Fullmetal, it's almost eleven o'clock."
The small blond yawned and stretched slightly. "Really? Well then, that begets the question of what exactly you're doing still in bed. You're usually up with the sun."
"This is of my rare days off, and I fully intend to use it to laze about doing absolutely nothing at all," the black-haired man snuggled down into the covers, then promptly pushed the other occupant of the bed, out of said bed. "So go make some breakfast or something. Perhaps I can now sleep in peace without worrying about you hogging the blankets in the middle of the night during the coldest winter of the century. For being so small, Fullmetal, you sure do take up much space."
Ed simply sat on the floor for a few minutes, blinking in surprise and shock at his sudden situation, then, with an mock-enraged shout, he jumped back onto the bed, initiating a full-scale wrestle match that soon ended up as something completely different. Harry found himself on his back, the head of his erection enveloped in Edward's warm mouth, moaning and hissing as his cock was sucked and licked, then practically growling in angry protest when the wonderful treatment stopped.
He opened his one eye, gazing up at the younger man that had suddenly straddled him. Ed was stretching himself, hips twitching and erection leaking pre-cum, and was making the most delicious noises ever. Then the blond grabbed Harry's cock and held it steady as he slowly lowered onto it. Harry grabbed the slim hips, helping to guide the blond, and stopping the progress when Ed made a pained whimper.
"Damnit, Ed." He growled. "Didn't stretch enough. Get off."
"Nuh-uh!" the other insisted, managing to push himself down a bit more. "Want you inside."
"You'll hurt yourself, you idiot."
Ed growled at the attempts to push him away, and fell forwards onto Harry's chest, attacking the older man's nipples with a vengeance. When he deemed his lover well and truly distracted he sat up again, and finished what he had started, pushing himself completely down on the large cock with a cry where the pleasure outweighed the pain. Ed's fingers were spread on Harry's heaving chest as the blond tried to get used to the intrusion. Harry was gripping Ed's hips harshly, knowing that he was leaving bruises, but not caring at the moment. He was too worried about Ed right now, holding as still as he could to give the younger man some time.
"Still no patience, I see, Fullmetal." The one-eyed man panted trying to ignore every instinct which demanded for him to simply pound the blond into the mattress.
"Shut up, bastard Colonel." Ed panted right back, and moved his hips drawing out a hiss from his lover. "I know you love it when I do this."
Harry's reply was lost in the ensuing pleasure. The room was filled with moans and groans, whimpers and cries of pleasure, and pleas to go faster or harder or deeper. At some point Harry reversed their positions so that Ed was lying down and Harry was pounding into the smaller man, and they could both feel the coil of pleasure in their bellies wind up tighter and tighter until it finally sprung free. When Harry next managed to coherently look at the clock it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. He simply groaned and let his head drop back onto the pillow, pulling Ed closer to himself. Ed was almost purring, gently tracing small patterns on Harry's chest with his fingertips.
"Roy?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
Ed hit him lightly on the chest. "Bastard. You know what I mean."
Harry chuckled. "Go ahead and ask, shorty."
A blonde eyebrow twitched, but that was all. "I was just wondering about your family."
The older man blinked in surprise and looked down at the blond head resting against his chest. "My family? You know they are dead, Ed. What's brought this on?"
"I do know that, but I've never seen any pictures of them," Ed looked up, golden eyes meeting with one black one. "You never talk about them, and what little I know I've been told by Ron and Hermione on the rare occasion they drop by. I mean, I don't want to pry or anything, but you know everything about me and Alphonse and about everyone else as well, but we hardly know anything about you and-"
Harry kissed Ed in order to shut up his nervous babbling. "Breathe, Fullmetal."
Ed pinked slightly, his lip stuck out in a pout, but he refused to back down and simply stared at the older man until Harry sighed and sat up in the bed and stretched, before getting out and pulling on a pair of boxers and heading towards the door. "Roy?"
"Give me a minute, Ed," Harry said over his shoulder. "I'll be back in a second, and then I'll answer your questions. I just have to find something."
"Okay…?" Ed trailed off and watched as the black-haired man left the room. He heard his older lover rummage through boxes in the small room they used as a storage-cupboard, with the occasional curse reaching Ed's ears. Fifteen minutes later Harry walked back into the bedroom, a well-worn photo album in his hands. He settled back onto the bed, and Ed quickly settled between his legs, leaning back against the taller man's chest, looking curiously at the old photo album.
"What's this?" the blond asked, turning his head enough so that he could see his lover's face.
Harry smirked. "You wanted pictures and I've brought them."
"This contains pictures of your family?" Ed lit up. "Are there any baby-pictures of you in there?"
"I do believe there are, somewhere towards the end." He opened the album to the first page, having already frozen the pictures to keep them from moving. The first picture was of James and Lily on their wedding day, with Sirius and Remus in the shot as well. Pettigrew was supposed to be there as well, but Harry had frozen the picture when the rat had been out of it.
"Your parents?" Ed stated more than asked, as he stared down at the old photograph. Since it was so old there were no colours, but the young couple practically radiated happiness and joy.
"Lily Evans and James Potter."
"Potter? Shouldn't it be James Mustang?"
Harry shook his head. "I changed my name. Too many memories connected with the other – or, perhaps, too few memories. Depends on how one looks at it."
"So what was your name before you changed it?"
"Harry. Harry James Potter. I kept my middle name, but changed the others."
Ed sat up slightly and turned around, observing Harry with great concentration, before he smiled and settled back down. "I like Roy Mustang better. Hmm... Führer Roy James Mustang. Sounds very regal for some strange reason."
Harry chuckled and turned the page. Next was a picture of the four Marauders standing together. Unfortunately, Harry hadn't been able to keep Pettigrew out of this picture, the rat had refused to leave no matter what. "My father when he was seventeen. Next is Remus Lupin, a friend of his. Unfortunately Remus died not long before I came to Amestris. The one standing on Remus' right, is Sirius Black. He's dead as well."
"And the short fellow at the edge of the photograph?" Ed asked slightly hesitantly, having an idea about whom it could be.
"Peter Pettigrew." Harry answered shortly, and moved on to the next picture.
The next couple of hours were spent looking at the photos, and Harry telling stories of his parents' schooldays – heavily edited of course. Ed found himself laughing more than once when hearing about some of the Marauders' exploits and pranks. The blond hadn't moved from his lover's arms, and didn't intend to move anytime soon. It wasn't often that they could spend the entire day in bed, and it was even more rare to get the older man to talk about his past. The one-eyed man was a very private person most of the time, and Ed felt privileged to be told such intimate knowledge. The only sad thing about it all seemed to be the fact that most of the people in the pictures were dead.
"What colours did they have?" Ed asked suddenly, gazing at the last picture in the album which was of Lily and James. The couple was beaming happily at the camera, a baby boy held in the woman's arms.
"Excuse me?"
"What was your mother's hair-colour? Eye-colour? Your father's eye-colour?" Ed elaborated, looking up at him.
"My father was dark of hair and eyes, black and dark-brown respectively. My mother had the greenest eyes you've ever seen, like emeralds. Her hair was the purest red." Harry smiled fondly.
"Red like the sunset? Like a strawberry? Like blood?"
"Red like fire."
Ed snorted fondly. "Now I know where you got your pyromaniac-tendencies from."
"Shut up, shorty."
-x-x-x-x-
There, finished. Please tell me what you think.
This is not beta-ed, since my beta doesn't like slash, so excuse the mistakes.
You know, this was supposed to go in a totally different direction, with an evil wizard hell-bent on killing Harry popping up to destroy the peace, before Harry saved the day once more. Instead it ended up as this fluffy and slashy piece, focusing on Ed and Harry's relationship and the mess the useless Führer made of the army. Even Ron and Hermione got practically ignored! Perhaps, in the future, I'll write yet another sequel to this, make it into a series, or something. Who knows?
Thanks to those who reviewed:
Hikari Kaiya, mscs3, Blades of Silver, Lady-Slytherin-Snape, Adnexus, Really Frozen Phoenix, RoxasIsReal13, firefantasy, Black Nyx, SolonnaKethsar, Honebar, Fuji the Hobbit, Falling Right Side-Up, limes-eye, Morrolan, lildevil425, Krinse-Katze, Firehedgehog, polabear, cherryi, and Lady-of-the-gray.