A/N: Due to the heavy subjects I'm taking this semester, I would probably take two to three weeks in uploading. Sorry for this. I had been experiencing stress and pressure to the point that I have to prioritize my education. Don't worry, I will make sure that this story will continue. I will just be taking a long time to do it, is all.

On a brighter note~

First of all, I would like to send my love to those who liked/favorite this story for the past two weeks. You made this story shine brighter by bringing in your presence. Please, don't hesitate to leave a note or two on your opinion on the story. Comments are welcome here.

Second, I would like to thank GoldenLombaxGirl and to dedicate this chapter to her.

Chapter 10:

The rest of the week, she coveted sleep like no other, considering the amount of homework she received from Mustang. It was no joke that he took Alchemy quite seriously, so, she took everything in stride. She didn't expect the wakeup call she'd receive a certain morning, though.

Someone was jostling her. She just knew. There was this tiny inkling of a voice in her head that was telling her to wake up already.

"Wille."

Only that it wasn't a dream.

"Harry and Hermione are waiting outside of the dorm," Sonata let out with utter exasperation.

That sentiment instantly made Wille shoot up from her bed, giving her the typical nausea people experience during those times. Dressed only in a pair of monochromatic long sleeves with clock gears as motif that reached mid thighs paired with striped black and grey socks that reached up to her knees, she quickly rushed out of the room, earning the look of her fellow house mates. Even Cedric called her out at her disheveled look, which she shrugged to (she wasn't much like the rest of the girls, who loved to impress guys; she was already accepting her deformity). When she reached the portrait for her dorm, Harry and Hermione immediately turned to face her.

Hermione's eyebrows were raised in amusement while Harry's mouth was hanging low at her appearance. After a few seconds, he pointed at the side of her mouth, which she embarrassingly wiped away.

"I heard this was an emergency," she called forth.

Hermione was the one who spoke up first. "Harry wants to tell us something." She eyed her best friend skeptically.

Somehow ignoring it, Harry said in a hushed tone, "Dragons. We're facing off dragons the first part of the tournament."

They're expressions varied.

Hermione's expression turned rigid, while Harry's was of grim acceptance. Wille, on the other hand, was stunned enough to say, "Um…dragons?"

"They can't do that!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's too dangerous! Surely you're mistaken, Harry. It's too preposterous to think so." Hermione emphasized her point by narrowing her eyes further, "Besides, what made you certain that they're going to use dragons?"

Harry looked around reflexively. In a hushed tone, he went on, "Hagrid showed them to me. Karkaroff was there, too, and so was Madame Maxime. You know what that means, right?" He eyed both girls with nervousness.

Hermione's expression perked up in realization, and slowly deflated. "Krum and the Delacour girl know!"

"Exactly," Harry's lips went into a firm line, all the while Wille was silent. He went on accordingly, "And, this might mean someone wants me dead."

"Again," Wille finished.

It was Hermione who nudged her gently. "Um…Wille?"

"Why dragons?" she asked for the first time in minutes.

Wille might not be as smart as Hermione, as lucky as Harry and as talented a chess player like Ron, but, she knew about dragons due to her travels to Xing, a country quite a bit far from Amestris. Plus, the fact that she was playing a Muggle card game that involved dragons, being a red, white, and black player to be precise, gave her enough knowledge on dragons that made her quiver inside.

"We just gave you a rant about how some of the participants were close to cheating, the ploy to murder Harry, and, all you could ask were about dragons?" Hermione shook her head with amusement.

Wille added without any effort, "I know we're discussing how Harry's life is in great peril for the nth number of time, but…why dragons?" Her lips were puckered into a frown that made even Harry himself shake his head in wonder about why he bothered to tell her at all.

"And don't tell us you're going Hagrid on us, too," Harry added.

Wille shook her head, recalling the incident when Hagrid did indeed buy illegally a dragon for a pet. She heard it did not end well.

It was Hermione who put her foot down and took everyone's attention. "Don't you see? This just proves it! Krum must have spent his time in the library because he knew what to look for. It all makes sense!"

"And the dragons?" Wille said uncertainly.

Both Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes.

"I think she's in a state of shock," Harry mentioned.

Hermione's expression turned from worry to utter determination. Looking at her two companions, she ordered out, "Listen, you two, we have to find a way to solve this, then. If it all comes down to it, Harry has to practice a spell that would lead the dragon astray. There must be a spell somewhere in –"

"The library," Wille and Harry muttered together, which Hermione ignored.

Wille groaned, "But, how would you explain that to the people who would watch, then?" She just had to point it out. "Besides, I doubt they'll believe Harry would be able to hide the fact that he's not old enough to learn whatever spell you guys have in mind."

"She has the point, Hermione," Harry stated, albeit reluctantly. "Besides, there must be another way we could defeat a dragon."

Hermione just scoffed at their sentiments. "You do know about the term 'research', right?"

Both nodded.

"Meet me at the library after dinner."

"And, don't do anything stupid yet," Wille said, emphasizing her sentence by stressing on the word. "I won't let you upstage me when it comes to causing trouble, Harry. You'll make enemies if you do."

With that, the three dispersed soon enough.

She rushed back to her room and quickly changed into her uniform. Now freshened, she went to her classes, barely paying attention, much to Sonata's dismay, who was meticulously copying down notes to make up for her friend's behavior.

"Here," Sonata said, laying down her notes on the table. "You can copy those down. I'll just get them back from you right before dinner after our free period."

Wille made a baby face and said, "I wuv wiuuu~!" She threw herself at Sonata, earning amused looks from the people around her and some snickers from the Slytherin table, which both of them ignored.

By the time it was dinner, Wille decided to quickly finish her food so that she won't be dilly-dallying any longer.

"Lark!"

She stiffened at the sound of Mustang calling her by her real name. Darting her eyes side by side, she hissed at him, "Are you insane? What if people would hear?"

Mustang rolled his eyes. "People are still at dinner, Midge. It would be a ten percent chance for them to be here at this time, especially since everyone, from what I've been hearing, have been too busy to focus on the tournament. Anyways, I came here rushing after you because I need to discuss with you some things concerning that topic."

Wille's eyes narrowed in confusion until she realized that the topic Mustang was talking about was the second Sorcerer's Stone.

An internal struggle between her inner and outer self came into view.

I gotta see what his Baldness wants this time.

You promised Hermione! She will whoop your ass if you're not there to help.

Yeah, I know how scary she is. Don't need to remind me that I'm good friends with the smartest witch in her year. Besides, I'm interested in what that snake wants, pun intended to his none-existent nose there.

Woman! Hermione! I don't wanna die yet! I'm too young to be castrated, not that we have anything to be castrated with, I assure you.

Come on. Just because they're your friends, doesn't mean that they're more important than the whole world. Yeesh, your priorities need to be allocated, you dang twat.

In the end, her curiosity won. She went along with Mustang, knowing that Hermione and Harry would understand the dire situation they needed to focus on. In silence, she followed him in the privacy of his office, or she assumed so.

Much to her adamant surprise, they took a different turn. He went somewhere near a slab of a statue and muttered a password. When it opened, she asked, "Um, Corporal Flirt, I don't mean to sound rude, but…where are we going?"

"The privacy of my quarters would ensure that our topic would not be revealed to anyone."

"This was not mentioned in the Marauder's Map at all," she muttered lowly. It was the secret quarters of the professors, after all, so, it had to be kept really hushed up. It was no wonder James Potter and his gang wasn't able to find it.

Mustang asked her quickly, "Did you say something?"

She shook her head.

Another slab of a statue was situated just in front of them. Muttering another password, Mustang pulled her close to him, making her heart beat quite fast.

The floor began to shake, the slab of stone swirling upwards, but, she was more focused on the man behind her who gripped her waist tightly. His back was firm, very muscular, and his breathing was slow, unlike hers. His heartbeat, though, had the same speed as hers. She just dismissed it as his trepidation with the up-coming topic, unlike her beating heart that seemed to have been beating for other reasons.

Stop this foolishness, Lark! He's currently your professor!

Hagahaga, I can't hear you.

"We're here," Mustang whispered silently.

True to his word, the movement of the statue stilled. They both stopped inside a beautiful room coated in dark blue. The floor was rugged with velvet green that looked really beautiful in the dimly lit room. There was a bookshelf filled to the brim, a table at the center, and a simple bed befitting a king, just like all their beds were in Hogwarts. The bed looked as if it was never touched, its sheets intact. It was missing a pillow, which she frowned at, knowing that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't forget to give the staff a very comfortable room. As she scanned the place, she understood instantly why the bed was missing a pillow. On the floor was a makeshift bed. The base was a plain white comforter with the pillow messily placed just about there.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

Mustang shook his head. "I'm used to…less appealing lodges."

She nodded in understanding. "The military does that to you. Who are we waiting for?" she quickly changed the topic, and she felt Mustang felt grateful despite the obviousness to it.

"Elric," he stated simply.

"Oh."

Promptly, she sat on the bed, humming a happy tune. After a few minutes, she drifted into another song, this time, composed by a Muggle who made it famous on Broadway.

"That's a nice one," Mustang commented, sitting by her foot. "Did you make it?"

She shook her head with a smile. "Sonata brought me along one time to her house during Christmas. Her parents, who are very well off in terms of money, treated us to America." A nostalgic gleam emerged from her as she went on, "Her parents took us to this place called Broadway. When this song came, I was captivated with how the man made the song sounded so sensual with just the use of simple words. The song was called Music of the Night, and, since then, I've always hummed the music whenever I feel at peace."

"At least you steer away from causing too much ruckus," Mustang nodded, commending her for doing so.

Wille internally grimaced.

He has no fucking idea wha trouble I get into.

You and me both, mi amica.

Shut up.

Got it.

And that just proved how crazy she was for having an internal battle with herself.

She wanted to say more. She wanted to tell him how much she missed him, how every time she was in pain, it was the thought of him and Edward that made her feel safe. But, fear had other plans for her. She decided to keep her feelings inside, resuming her gentle humming that was somehow out of tune. Thank goodness that Mustang never heard of the musical, lest she suffers the dire consequences of his teasing.

It was about a few minutes later that Edward entered the room, looking tired and stressed. His eyes widened the moment she spotted Wille, who was caressing Mustang's hair by then.

Edward let out a small cough that sent Wille jumping a few meters away from Mustang.

"What took you?" Mustang yawned, not feigning his tiredness.

Edward moved towards the table, standing with his fists on his side. "Colonel, someone died! Why are you so calm about this?"

Wille stilled at this new information.

From there, she noticed how Mustang's cheerful, playful and handsome façade (she won't admit this to him, EVER) crumbled into one of crushed hopes and dreams. Pain was clearly etched into his face, making him age a decade with frown lines visible.

Mustang stood up and replied sullenly, "I'm not, but, it won't do if we panic at this." Raking his hair in frustration, he went on, "And, of course I'm devastated. He was my best friend, Elric. He has a family, a life beyond the military, and…"

The man before her crumbled, and from there, she knew that the situation was truly destructive to the Colonel's state of mind. Thrusting herself to him, she gently settled him on the bed, giving him the look that spoke of no arguments, and soothingly rubbed his back as he took a seat.

"Who died?" she asked gently.

Mustang's eyes were of emptiness the moment he said, "Maes Hughes."

Wille's heart slowly broke at the mention of the dead man's name.

She recalled him as the friendliest guy she had ever met. A few ranks higher than Mustang, he was burly with neatly cropped black military hair, a squared jaw and some beard that was neatly trimmed from time to time. He wore rectangular glasses and had the most carefree smile. When she was still with Mustang, he was the one cheering her up, telling her stories of his wife, which was constant, much to her annoyance.

"Oh, Roy," she whispered, tightening her hug, "I'm so sorry."

Mustang pulled away from her gently. "I know, but, we have important matters to discuss. I can't weep. There would be a lot of time for that later. Right now," he cleared his throat, "we must discuss about the Führer's plans with the…" he looked at Wille, "Beldifort?"

"Voldemort," she corrected while shivering at the name, "but, close enough."

Mustang inserted his hand into his coat and pulled out a paper. While reading, he said, "From what Maes managed to gather before his death, he managed to gather intel as he snuck into the meeting room without everyone's notice…or so I think he wasn't noticed, since he was killed a few days later in the streets.

"He believed that this involves Mr. Potter's death," Mustang concluded swiftly.

"That's what we believe, too," Wille said, crossing her legs. "Knowing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he would go to any lengths to kill Harry. He's done so before."

Edward looked at her questioningly. "What made you say so?"

She recounted what she could with a thoughtful expression, "In their first year, it involved a professor, whose body was used as a vessel to do whatever he wanted and be resurrected. Naturally, as what you've observed, Harry has impeccable timing when it comes to saving the world. Since the Baldness couldn't really kill him when he was around a year old, he decided that since Harry wouldn't be cooperative that yearthat equates to death despite everything.

"In their second year, it involved possessing Ginny Weasley, and don't mention it to her or anyone else, it still causes trauma for her and her family, but, to get back to the main point, Harry found a way into this secret place while using a very complicated snake-like password called Parsletongue, or, the language of snakes and killed the guy for the third time.

"Then, in their third year, his godfather, who was a 'convicted criminal'," she quoted the air, "escaped Azkaban, the wizard prison, and went looking for this annoying rat fur ball that was actually his former best friend and traitor, the reason why Harry's parents were killed. Naturally, Harry and Hermione went out of their way to save a wrongly convicted person and then we are here currently in their fourth year."

She finished with Edward's mouth hanging open.

"Don't you ever breathe, Lark?" the blonde asked.

She glared at him and huffed.

Mustang was the one who interceded. "This cements the idea that this person would want to kill Mr. Potter. As one of your instructors, I think I have the right to step in to help. Is that against the law?"

She shook her head. "There were no laws against coaching. I'm sure the other champions are doing the same thing, although discreetly just to be safe."

Mustang ruffled her hair, "This is why I love you. You actually paid enough attention to find a loophole."

Wille reddened at his words. She knew he didn't mean it romantically, but, a girl could dream. She was female after all, and, it wasn't wrong to actually admire the man who became her savior, right?

"You're implying he's the catalyst for our success to stop whatever the guy with a complicated name is planning to do?" Edward surmised with a slight frown on his face.

"Yes," Mustang and Wille replied in unison.

Edward's frown worsened. "He's just a boy."

Mustang opened his mouth, but, Wille beat him to it.

"So were you when you were opened to the Truth. So was I," she pointed out. "And he had it worse. He never grew up with a loving family. He was orphaned at one, had to be raised by a prejudiced family, and was always challenged due to his legendary name for being the only boy who managed to defeat the Dark Lord time and again. He has more weight than we do, Ed, and he's surprisingly managing well on his own."

Reluctantly, Edward sighed, "I guess you're right."

After a few more words with their opinions, Edward left the room right away, but not before giving Mustang the stink eye, which bothered Wille.

When it was only the two of them left, Mustang asked, "When did you get so smart?"

Wille was too lost in a haze to answer. She was practically snuggling against the bed, loving its warmth despite the lack of blankets.

With the last breath of consciousness, she felt something warm pressed against her forehead and a whisper of, "Guttenacht, meinblume. Und tut mirleid. Füralles."

Good night, my flower. And I'm sorry. For everything.

She wanted to comfort that person, to tell him it's not his fault, but, sleep beckoned her with a firm grip, and she relented without a fight, drifting off into the night as if nothing could ever bother her.