Late Night Thoughts

Edward snarled low in his throat as he looked at the marks on the back of his left hand. They were red and puffy and stung something awful but he supposed that that was the purpose of the whole writing in your own blood thing that Umbridge had going on. Mustang hadn't been pleased when he'd seen the marks but he wasn't going to do anything yet.

They had to keep their cover and Edward running off to tell his 'father' what had happened to him wouldn't really have fit the teenage image. That and the marks didn't really bother Edward all that much. He'd had a lot worse and he was significantly tougher than most of the other students. It'd take a lot more than a little pain to get him to do anything. Umbridge wouldn't win this game no matter what she did to him. Though she was already ahead of him.

The news paper that morning had reveled her new standing in the Ministry of Magic. High Inquisitor. Edward snorted and shook his head. The paper had said that the fat toad was a success. He knew that that little bit of information was about as accurate as the magical worlds view of most things.

If anything all the pink clad woman was doing was hindering the wizarding world by making sure that the witches and wizards that were passing through the halls of the school were unprepared for what was out in the real world. The woman wasn't doing her job and it was the students that would be hurt the most by her insubordination. Then again he'd heard that the Minister was getting paranoid about the Headmaster. It didn't matter much he supposed at least not yet. He'd do what he could to help the students that would let him and so would Mustang.

Neither of them were willing to let any unnecessary harm befall innocents if they could stop it. That was one of the few things that they both agreed upon. Hopefully when the time came they'd be able to get Umbridge out of the school because if she stayed for more than a year then a lot of students were going to get killed because they didn't know how to defend themselves.

The last thing he wanted to see was another war. But that was enough thinking about the pink clad woman. He had other things to be doing. Edward hummed as he tapped the end of his pen against the table. The first week of classes had been annoying. Well his classes were interesting. It was teaching that was annoying. He could already tell that more than half of the students in the class wouldn't be there when the trial classes ended and he was thankful for it.

Though to be fair quite a few of them showed that they might have the skill to actually get past the first month of class. The sooner Mustang took over the better in his opinion because his superior officer was starting to slack big time. Was it really that hard to help grade a bunch of papers? Edward snarled at what remained of the once large stack of papers that he had yet to grade. He'd have finished earlier if it hadn't been for Umbridge's detention.

"Snarling at the work won't make it go away Fullmetal." Edward huffed as he looked at Mustang.

"Ya well if your lazy ass would help me grade then I wouldn't be snarling at it or doing it for that matter." Mustang simply offered Edward a smirk.

"No way in Hell. I've done enough paperwork for a lifetime back at Headquarters to last me a lifetime."

Edward blinked and lobbed at flat look at the older man. "That's bull and you know it. You procrastinate and then rush through all your paperwork. And you mutter about not having the time to do it wile you do it. I've heard the stories."

Mustang shrugged. He'd heard all the rumors about him that tended to float around Central. Not that all of them were true.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear Ed." Mustang said as he walked towards the door. Edward blinked.

"Where are you going?" he asked golden eyes following the dark haired man. Mustang shot him a smile.

"To the kitchens." Placing a hand on the door to their chambers he started to walk out.

"Get me something too." echoed from behind him and the older man had to smirk.

"No get it yourself."

He wasn't sure if Edward had heard his reply or not because he never heard a reply from Edward. Mustang shook his head as he turned towards the hall that would lead to his destination. He wanted something to eat.

And so did Edward. It was only fair after all. Edward was doing a lot more work than he was at the moment. So the least he could do was get the shrimp a sandwich or something to eat while he graded all those papers. Then again if he really wanted to be nice he could help the boy grade.

The thought temped the older man for a few seconds before it was squished underneath one of his shiny black boots and set aflame. He'd start grading papers when Edward was the same height as he was and seeing how the chances were slim that Edward would never be the same size as he was the chances of him grading papers was slim to none. A soft bark caught his attention and caused him to turn and look down a corridor that branched off from the one he was currently walking down.

Stallion was coming towards him her tail wagging and following behind her was her almost always present shadow Gear. The kitten was almost always with Stallion if he wasn't with Edward.

"Well hey there girl. Have the two of you been in the forbidden forest again?" Mustang asked as he scratched the dog behind her ears. Her brindle fur was soft and warm under his fingers under his fingers.

Stallion barked as if to answer his question her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth in pleasure. Mustang chuckled in amusement. Looking down for Stallion's almost constant companion Mustang was surprised to see the Gear had vanished. He wasn't worried.

Chances were that the small calico had gone off to find Edward and Mustang was sure that the kitten would be with the boy when he got back to their chambers. Thinking about their rooms reminded Mustang about why he was wondering the halls so late at night in the first place.

"Come on Stallion lets go find some food." Stallion barked happily as she followed her master to where the kitchens were located her tail wagging the entire way.

Ooo

Harry sighed as he shook his head. The common room was empty. All the others members of his house having gone to bed hours ago. He however couldn't sleep. There was too much going on inside his head for him to sleep. His first week of school had been a mess and as much as he hated it Hogwarts didn't quite feel like the home that it had always felt like before.

With everything that was going on it wasn't that much of surprise but still he knew that he should have been happier to be back then he was. It was hard to be happy when more than half the people around you though that you were nuts and a liar. It felt like everything was falling apart in his life and he didn't know what to do. Umbridge was a terrible teacher and he was sure that he wouldn't be learning anything in her class. She made him want to scream and then there was the pain he'd felt in his scar the night he'd had detention with her.

He hated her just as much as he hated Snape and he hadn't thought that that was even possible. There was a slim chance that he hated her even more than he hated Snape but it was still to early in the school year to tell. Then there was the detention itself. The only one's that knew about Umbridge making him write in his own blood were Edward and Professor Mustang. He doubted that either of them would say anything to anyone against his wishes. He had to wonder if Umbridge had made Edward write in his own blood like she's made him.

And if so what had Edward had to write because chances are she didn't think he was a liar. In fact from what he'd seen Edward was probably smarter than Hermione and that was saying something considering that his friend tended to memorize their course books before school started. He actually kinda liked Edward and his dad didn't seem like a bad person either.

Though the pair still set him on edge a bit. It probably had something to do with that quite since of danger that seemed to hang around the pair. He did know that he felt sorry for anyone foolish enough to try and pick a fight with either of them. Alchemy class was interesting but hard and still kinda boring and he wasn't sure if he'd stick with it yet. From what he'd heard from the rest of his house a lot of the students were going to drop the class.

The demonstration on Friday had scared a lot of the students and even though it had been for a good reason Harry found himself wondering if the pair hadn't gone too far. But maybe that was the point. It was more likely that students wouldn't try stupid things if they knew the consequences.

The report that Edward had assigned hadn't been terribly difficult but it hadn't been very easy either. He'd actually managed to get it done the night before. He'd also realized that Edward had said it was due Saturday. Which hadn't made any sense until he'd asked Edward about it the morning before. Edward had laughed and said that he'd meant Monday. Harry shuttered as he though about some of the things that he had read about rebounds.

People loosing limbs or their sight and in many cases their entire bodies. Rebounds were something that an alchemist really didn't want to happen when transmuting something. That meant that if he did end up wanting to take the class he'd have to study a lot harder than he did in his other classes because if he made one little mistake in alchemy class he'd be screwed or end up in the Hospital Wing.

He really didn't want to see Madam Pomfery any sooner than he had too. He was in the Hospital Wing to often for his liking as it was and the longer he spent out of it the happier he was. Harry sighed as he watched the flames of the dieing fire flicker. It was soothing in a way.

His mind turned towards Sirius and the conversation that they'd had the night before. He missed his godfather more than he wanted to say and he'd almost been ready to jump at the idea of him coming down to visit. But then he'd think of the day that they'd went to Platform 9 ¾ and the possibility that the Malfoy's had known who he was. That was if what Draco had said even had any merit. He didn't want to see Sirius put back into Azkaban.

The mere thought of that happening was enough to make him argue with the older man's plan no matter how much he hadn't really wanted to. It had been good seeing him again though if only for a few minutes. The news about Fudge had made him wonder if the man was loosing his mind or something. Because would Dumbledore really need an army to take over the wizarding world? It didn't seem very likely in Harry's mind that the older man would.

But still he didn't claim to understand the way the Minister of Magic's mind worked. It was all beyond his power. Besides Fudge was already making sure that no army of underage wizards would rise up against him. Well to be more exact Umbridge was making sure no army of underage wizards would rise up against the Ministry.

The new position that Fudge had given the toad like woman was a bunch of bull and was sure to cause a lot of problem's in the nearby future. She was going to turn the school upside-down and inside out that was for sure. Some part of him wished that there was something to do to fight against the major intrusion that had happened at the place he considered home. If there was something to do he hoped that someone figured it out soon.

Ooo

Okay so it's not much but it's a start. Once again I apologize for the wait but I hit that point again where I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to continue this story. I'm not to sure if I want to follow the book and his major points or follow the movie. I know the movie would probably be easier to follow but chances are the story wouldn't be too long or maybe it will. Like I said I'm not sure. But hey if you guys have an opinion the please let me know. I'm off to look for a good time line of book five. I should update soon this. This story has replaced my last major work on story so I should have a new chapter in a week or two.

Please read and review. Reviews make me happy.