Okay, here we are, the Yule Ball! Yay! Just a reminder, I am not used to righting these kind of chapters so that is why it took so long to write this one. However, I hope you like in anyways. Thankyou for the reviews and I will be sure to update soon.

CHAPTER 21

The Empty Waltz

Edward stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, his stomach in a knot. The record was spinning awfully loud music but he couldn't seem to hear it. All he could concentrate on was that it was Christmas Day and he only had a few simple hours left until the dance that evening. Alphonse was out and about all excited for the holidays. Even though he didn't celebrate Christmas, Al was always up from some fun. He went down to the morning feast while Edward stayed upstairs, lying on his bed still in his pajama shorts. He didn't feel like he could keep anything down with the way his stomach kept folding and unfolding over itself as he thought about that evening. It just didn't seem right. The Fullmetal Alchemist was a high and powerful human weapon, he didn't attend balls. But even though he had no clue what to expect, something in the back of his mind made him rather excited for that evening, as if he couldn't wait to put on that nasty military uniform. He sighed and glanced out the window. There was a fresh layer of snow on the ground from the snow fall the previous evening which now brought the depth up to someone's waist. Edward's ports ached a bit, but nothing too bad. He didn't seem to mind snow that much with his now partial arctic automail, it was the rain that was killer. As Edward lay on his bed bored and in nerves, he heard a loud banging on his portrait door. He grumbled to himself as he hopped up off his bed and opened his portrait.

"Whoa, Edward, you might want to get dressed! You can't go outside like that!" George exclaimed as he caught sight of his teacher in his pajama shorts. Edward mumbled something inaudible at the twins as he looked out the door to see a group of boys dressed up with their warm winter clothes on. Their ears were covered with long hats and gloves coated their hands.

"Where do you think you're going?" Edward asked them curiously. Fred looked at his twin brother like the alchemist was crazy or something.

"Where are we going? We are going outside to enjoy the day before evening arrives!" Fred exclaimed.

"Claim our manhood with a good snowball fight," George added. "You are coming too."

"Sure I am," Edward said sarcastically as he started to close the door.

"Great, we'll see you down there!" they exclaimed completely ignoring his sarcasm. Edward glared at them in disbelief as the large group of Gryffindor boys marched towards the clock tower entrance. He sighed to himself and took another glance out the window where the white Christmas wonderland stood. He did have a good while before the dance. He cursed to himself silently as he ran about trying to get his coats and pants on.

...

"Edward calm down," Van scolded him as he tried to pin his son's badges onto his new uniform jacket. It was the evening of the Yule Ball and Edward was so nervous he was fidgeting all over. He spent all day outside in an attempt to calm his nerves down and have some fun nailing students with snowballs, but now he was completely out of it. His hands were shaking as he tried to braid his hair. He missed several pieces of hair but didn't seem to notice as he tied it off with a small band. Van let out a sigh as he dropped the medals he was holding and spun his son around. He took his braid out and started it over again for him.

"Come on, old man!" Edward complained shakily. "I don't need you to dress me!"

"A father wants his son to look presentable for his first dance," Van told him. He tied the perfect braid off and set his hands down on Edward's nervous shoulders. They were shaking beyond belief. "Calm down."

"Easier said than done," Edward sniped back at him. He straightened out his braid and shoved Hohenheim's hands off of him. Havoc and Greed were already down in the Entrance hall waiting for the dance to begin, leaving the entire Elric family in peace. Alphonse was sitting in the corner finishing shining his armour. He had his large bowtie around the metal neck of his armour. His metal was turned from the burnt and dusty colour it usually was to a glimmering metallic. Edward smiled a bit. Alphonse was extremely excited for this. Just like Edward he never went to one before, and now since he had a date it was truly an exciting moment for him. Edward was happy for his little brother that he actually found someone that would take a suit of armour to the dance. It must have been hard for him to find someone like that. Edward glanced at the clock and nearly choked at the time. It was fifteen till eight. He cursed silently to himself as he quickly attempted to put the rest of his medals on his jacket. It turned out that having an automail wasn't all that good for putting on tiny pins as his hand kept slipping over the clasp. Van rolled his eyes and took them from him.

"You have plenty of time, Edward," Van assured him as he finished putting the pins on for him. Edward grumbled under his breath as he slipped his white gloves on over his mismatched hands. As soon as Van was done, Edward found his pocket watch and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Come on, Al!" he said grabbing his brother's head and slapping it on his shoulders. "You need to run to the Ravenclaw tower to pick up your date!" Alphonse gasped as he too took a glance at the clock.

"Oh, No!" he exclaimed and ran out of the portrait hole. He didn't even wait for his father or brother. Alphonse just bolted down the corridor without them. Edward watched as his brother dashed around the corner, and shook his head.

"I hope he catches her," he muttered under his breath. He grabbed his hat off of one of the chairs and started out the door. As he made it halfway out of the picture frame, a heavy hand grabbed his shoulder.

"I think you are forgetting this," Van said as he held up a small box. It had an intricate flower in it that was decorated with an extravagant amount of ribbon and bands. Edward glanced at his father curiously as he picked it up and studied it. It looked like a type of deep blue orchid.

"What is it?" he asked curiously. Hohenheim chuckled lightly at his obliviousness. He took it out of the container and showed it to him.

"Give this to Winry, it is a corsage. It is proper to give ladies these at formal events. I already gave Alphonse his, and I made this one for you to give Winry," he told him. Edward glared at him suspiciously but carefully placed the flower back in the box. He took it in his hands lightly as if it would break with the slightest touch. Edward really didn't want to take it, especially from his old man, but he didn't have one to give to her. He sighed to himself as he straightened his hat on his head.

"Why do women need so much attention?" he said under his breath. He turned on his heel and left his father where he stood without another word.

...

Edward stood in the Entrance Hall waiting for Winry to arrive. It was five minutes till eight and some of the students were already walking in to take their seats at their assigned tables. He saw Alphonse's large armour walk by. He was accompanied by the little blond Ravenclaw girl that Edward saw him practicing his dancing with. She was dressed up in a simple bright purple sundress and had a corsage strapped around her hand that Alphonse must have given her. Edward waved timidly as they passed and the girl named Luna smiled back at him. They headed into the Hall and took their seats at their tables. Edward searched around the hall for Winry but couldn't seem to find her. He saw girls who looked like her, but they weren't the same grease monkey that fixed his automail. It was already five past eight when Edward decided to wait by the door for her. There were several stragglers with him, but they were almost all in the Great Hall already. He sighed to himself as he watched Havoc and Poppy chat with each other happily on the open floor. Havoc was in a classy black suit while Poppy wore a flowy white dress. He was goofing off and showing Poppy how he could balance his chair on the back wheels.

"Edward," McGonagall's voice came out. She walked over to him and searched about the small group of people. "Edward, where is your date? We are about to start and we need all champions to meet up in the Reception Hall."

"I-I don't know," he told her as he glanced around the Entrance Hall. There was no sign of Winry at all. McGonagall stood there awkwardly as he waited silently.

"Nice hat," she told him as if trying to make a small conversation. Edward grumbled as he straightened it out on his head. He watched the last group of students shuffle their way into the Hall all with their partners in tow. As the small crowd thinned even more, Edward saw that there was only one person left. She was searching about the place as if looking for her own partner who was late. The young girl wore her long blond hair up into a nice curly bun while her long layered dress was a deep night blue. Edward laughed a bit. He could only imagine Winry wearing something like that. Sure she would have looked nice, but he never saw her wear a dress before in his life. As the girl paced around almost angry, cursing under her breath, his heart stopped as it dawned on him. He bit his lip as he suddenly realized that the girl he was looking at, didn't just look like his mechanic, it was Winry.

...

Winry growled to herself as she looked around the hall for Edward. It was typical for him to be late, but nearly everyone was already in and seated. Even the amazing Fullmetal Alchemist was never this fashionably late. She saw many of the students, around her age, wearing tight black suits and boutonnières. There was this one unfortunate kid who was wearing what seemed to be colonial aged clothing with so many frills someone might have thought that boy was wearing a dress. He looked rather pissed as he stormed into the Hall with his date in tow. Winry hoped that she didn't go too overboard with her dress. Though it was rather simple, she didn't see too many of the other girls wearing a dark colour like she was. They all wore bright pinks and blues, while she was in a glimmering midnight. The skirt was also more poofy like a flowy ball gown rather than a straight dress like she saw around. It seemed a little much but when Madam Malkin showed it to her, she couldn't resist.

She caught sight of Alphonse as he walked by and waved to him. She knew he would have smiled at her, but he simply looked at her. As if just remembering his face was unreadable, he gave her a quick wave before he was swept into the Hall with the rest of the crowd. Minutes slowly ticked by as she stood there tapping her foot. She was going to murder Edward if he chickened out. For a human weapon, he was terrible with women. The crowd gradually thinned and she caught sight of a tall blond man standing near the door next to one of the Professors. He was seemed to be dressed in some kind of strapping uniform adorned with all of these colourful ribbons. She stared at him for a while and noticed that he was looking at her as well. He seemed to come from one of those old war photos. It was like he was coming back from war all decked out in his uniform and going to greet all of his family members. She could have laughed picturing Edward doing that. He wouldn't even look at his uniform let alone wear one. Yet, if she would have imagined him actually to wear it, he would have looked exactly like that. It suddenly hit her. Her eyes grew wide as they were opened to the new world. That was what Edward would look like in his uniform, because that was Edward.

...

Edward had to look away for a few moments as his face grew bright red with embarrassment. McGonagall dragged him by the arm over to where Winry was standing and waiting for him. They glanced at each other awkwardly both as if in disbelief. He still couldn't understand how she could transform from an annoying gear head into a fancy woman in only under three hours. Where was all the grease?

"Umm... here," he choked quickly showing her the flower.

"Uh... Um... Thank you," she replied shakily as she took it. She slipped the flower around her wrist and smiled nervously at him. She was blushing just about as much as he was. McGonagall cleared her throat and they looked at her surprised.

"If you are done Edward, we really need to get you two to the Reception Hall," she said. Edward nodded and shakily wrapped his arm around Winry's. He could barely move, but he managed to follow his fellow teacher to the back hall. The other Champions were waiting for them with their own dates. He saw Fluer with the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain and Cedric with Cho Chang. He caught Harry glancing occasionally over to the Ravenclaw girl, but he was standing by his own date who didn't seem too happy. Viktor was standing tall next to a small girl who Edward recognised as Hermione. She seemed completely transformed from her normal bushy haired self into a miraculous model. Edward was a bit surprised to see her with Viktor, he thought that she was undoubtedly going with Ron. However, he was none the less happy for Viktor since he was able to find a friend after their talk on the stairwell.

Everyone in the room was tense and self-conscious about tonight. Edward noticed that some of them, even the strong Viktor and the flawless Fluer were twitching with nerves. McGonagall lined them all up in a line to make their entrance. Minerva placed him in the front of the line right behind all of the headmasters since he was a very decorated teacher. All of a sudden he felt a wave of dread as he stood in front of the large oak doors. His stomach flipped as he couldn't think right. Those oak doors seemed awfully familiar, but he couldn't place it. He looked over to Winry who was nervously smiling at him. She fiddled with a small curl of hair that was dangling by her ear. She only did that when she was having him test out a new design of automail and wasn't sure of how it would work. She was definitely a bit scared. Karkaroff passed him as he took his own place in the line. He was standing rather arrogantly and tall while all of the champions seemed to cower in their own nerves. The Durmstrang headmaster glared down at him in pure disgust.

"Nice hat, Edward," the man commented crudely. Edward glared down at the ground as he straightened the brim out on his head half mindedly. Now he was even more self-conscious.

"Nice beard!" Winry retorted quietly, seeming to take more offense to the man than he did. "I almost mistook it for a dead animal." Edward glanced up at her in surprise. Maybe it was the same gear head under all of that make up after all. As Karkaroff's face turned to anger, Edward couldn't help but chuckled a bit at her comment. Winry grinned at him as she hooked her arm around his. "It's true though," she grinned at him.

All of a sudden the entire Recession hall quieted down as music started to play on the other side of the heavy oak doors. The champions, headmasters, and teachers all straightened their jackets and dresses out as the doors slowly opened. As the crack between the giving doors grew wider, the only thing Edward could see was the immense colour of pure glowing white. The vast blank colour seemed to drown his vision as the sparkling light of the other room nearly blinded him. The headmasters of the school started to take a few steps through the giant doorway, but he couldn't seem to move. The grin that Winry put on his face was slowly wiped away as his eyes couldn't pick up any detail other than the intense colour of white. A vivid memory of the blurred body of truth popped into his head and he couldn't seem to shake it. His body tensed up and he couldn't move at all. Winry looked over to him a little worried.

"Edward, is everything alright?" she asked him. He stared wide eyed at the huge void.

"Winry, what's beyond the doors?" he whispered as she slowly pulled him towards the entrance way. Her blue eyes stared back at him a little confused. They seemed to be the only colour other than white that he could latch onto.

"Come on Edward, everything is fine," she assured him. He took a nervous glance at her but nodded. She smiled sadly at him as she dragged him a few steps forward. He slowly followed her out of the doors and into the immense white room. He squinted a bit as his eyes slowly adjusted to the blinding light. He saw sparkling crystals hanging from the walls as white snowflakes danced down from the bewitched ceiling. Hundreds of students cheered as they entered the room. All of their faces came into focus with huge grins plastered on them. The long rectangle tables that usually decorated the Great Hall were replaced with shiny glass round tables that were covered with decorative white table cloths. The headmasters were leading them all towards a large circular table that was perched up where the high table usually sat. Havoc and the faculty members were already sitting at the table smiling at them. Edward closed his eyes with a sigh of relief as he marched up to the table with Winry. He felt completely stupid for imagining that it was the Gate. His nerves were eating away at him and he couldn't think right. When the image of white popped into his head, that was all he could think of. Edward groaned to himself in his stupidity.

"Edward, what was that back there?" Winry asked him as they took their seats next to Havoc and Alastor.

"Nothing," he muttered miserably. "I just thought... for a second... nothing." Winry gave him a pressuring glare and basically leaned on his shoulder to get answers. "I just don't like the colour white, that's all," he mumbled into his water goblet as he took a sip. her blue eyes grew wide in the realisation and she calmed down a bit. Edward told Winry about what happened when the transmutation failed when they were little. He didn't explain it in vast detail, but she definitely knew that large white voids were part of it. He hated hospitals because of that sense as well as the needles. They were just too large and filled with the blinding white light that he had seen only in the Gate. With the oak doors, this room was almost a reenactment of that night long ago. Winry nodded her head and gave him a pat on the back.

"White is too plain," she commented.

Edward relaxed as the feast began. Magical menus sprang up orders of Pork chops and grilled clubs. Everyone chatted and talked happily as they ate. Edward soon forgot about what scared him. He dug into dinner as Winry began to think up of some new automail designs. Some of them were out ragingly ridiculous like one with a hidden cup holder and another with a motorized propeller to it.

"What in the world would you use the propeller for?" Edward questioned her. She shrugged to herself as she thought of different designs.

"It could be a fan when it gets hot or maybe a propeller for like a boat when your swimming," she said like it was completely obvious.

"I am not a motorboat! Why don't you just make a light water proof one so that someone could actually swim with their automail?" Edward suggested, but she turned her nose up at the idea.

"Maybe if you swam, I could test these things out," she snubbed.

"I know how to swim... kind of," he muttered. Alastor laughed a bit as the two of them argued lightly. His huge blue eye was trained on something across the room, but the real one was trained on him. When their argument got a bit heated, Winry walloped him lightly on the head with her side purse.

"Ow!" Edward complained as something heavy in the purse hit his head. He rubbed his sore spot lightly and looked at her questionably. Even Winry seemed to be confused for a second. "What do you have in there?" he asked her. She shrugged and reached in her purse curiously. To everyone's surprise, she pulled out a small wrench.

"Why the hell do you have that thing here, you Gear Head?" Edward exclaimed. Winry went easy on him since it came off as a light headache rather than a throbbing pain, but the question still stood. She shrugged as she easily tossed the wrench back in her purse.

"I forgot to take it out," she answered him.

"Forgot to take it out? Who puts wrenches in their purse?"

"I do in case you break down again. I wouldn't want to be unprepared," she snipped at him. Alastor laughed out loud at her statement. He laughed so hard that his eyes filled with tears. The Dark arts teacher leaned over the table and slapped Edward hard on the back. Edward nearly choked on his food from the impact, but no one seemed to care.

"You got a smart girl here, Edward!" Alastor hollered. Winry grinned at the compliment while Edward groaned to himself. He would have to check Winry's purses more often to try and find all of the hidden wrenches. At least now he knew where they all came from. After everyone ate and was satisfied, the doors to the Great hall opened up and wizards with instruments and strange torn up robes came striding in. Dumbledore waved his wand and the tables that were once in front of them suddenly flew away to the sides of the room creating a large open floor. The chairs were lined gracefully around in a circle so that they still had a place to sit and be comfortable. Edward's stomach flipped over as he realised what he was going to have to do next. It took a few moments for the band to set up their things. Edward thought that the Weird Sisters looked more like a hard metal band from one of the record covers Ron gave him rather than a classical waltz performers. Slowly the band began to tune and the music started up. Sure enough it was slow for the opening dance. Edward watched as Parvarti grabbed Harry by the wrist excitedly and dragged him out onto the floor while the other champions gracefully walked out. Edward took in a deep nervous breath as he glanced over to where Winry was standing all stiff.

"Ready?" he asked her, holding out his automail hand. It wasn't shaking like his left one was so he hoped she didn't notice how terribly scared he was. She leaned towards him a bit pale in the face.

"I am more of a mechanic than a dancer," she whispered to him. He stared at her in disbelief. She was scared for the exact same reason he was; they both barely had a clue how to dance. He let out a chuckle which soon grew to roaring laughter. Winry turned bright red and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't laugh at me. This isn't funny!" she whined quietly.

"No! No!" he choked out trying to catch his breath. "I barely know how to myself! I took a lesson a few weeks ago!" Winry tried to keep a straight face but she couldn't fight the smile that slowly crawled to her lips. She picked Edward's hat up off of his chair where he carelessly tossed it and mushed it on his head.

"Come on, science nerd, let's get this over with," she grinned as she grabbed his wrist and lead him out to the floor. Edward felt as if all eyes were on them as the five champions and their dates slowly danced across the floor. He quickly tried to remember everything he had learned about waltzing from his father and Lin but he was staggering and almost coming up blank. He slowly held out his automail arm for her to take and set his other hand on her waist like they showed him to. She easily placed hers on his shoulders and they started to take a few awkward steps. It was true; Winry was a terrible dancer, but Edward wasn't much better. Yet, somehow they managed to make a simple waltz without falling over. It seemed where ever he would stumble, she would catch him, and where ever she would falter, he would pick up the step she missed. Edward caught sight of Viktor and saw him stiffly lead Hermione across the floor. Harry was almost being dragged around by Parvarti, and Fluer's date was practically drooling on her as they gracefully danced around the floor. It seemed that they all had their ups and downs when it came to waltzing. Once when the song came to a close, the other students started to come out on the floor to begin their own dances. There were a few slow, classical waltzes, a couple rock n roll, and even a couple karaoke mixes with the voice altering microphone that someone set up for the students to goof off with. Winry kept trying to pressure Edward into going up there to sing a song, but the Fullmetal Alchemist didn't sing. Some of the students started cheering and hollering as a couple started to break some dance moves in the middle of the floor. It took Edward a while to realise that it was Poppy and Havoc goofing off. Havoc was swinging wheelies on his chair and making dime sized turns to the music. Edward didn't know that he could do all of that in just a chair or even how he practiced it. Even more of a surprise, Poppy didn't seem as uptight as he usually saw her. She was actually dancing around and having a great time. She just needed to get out of that medical ward more often. Edward plopped down tiredly in a seat and glanced over to where Winry was cheering on Havoc as he danced around. He never actually seen Winry so loose and excited before. Maybe it was a good thing that she was able to get out of the shop and set her mind to something other than automail for a few minutes.

As Edward sat through a few songs resting his feet, Ron and Harry plopped down next to him grumpily. They looked like someone just told them they failed a class, which most likely would be Severus judging by how much they liked to complain about potions. Ron, for some reason, was still wearing his lacy, carpet suit that Edward still believed Molly nicked off of a museum somewhere. The red head was absolutely disgusted with it. Harry huffed tiredly.

"How are you doing Edward?" he asked, obviously not too concerned. Edward shrugged.

"Definitely better than you two. What happened?" he asked them. Ron was still glaring a hole into the ground, however the lace on his suit was tickling his down turned nose so he couldn't be taken seriously. "Why are you still wearing that? I thought I told you ages ago to change it," Edward scolded him, picking up the ugly brown fabric of his sleeve. Ron brushed him off.

"He forgot the spell," Harry commented.

"I did not! I just... whatever," Ron argued pathetically. Edward sighed to himself. He never saw Ron this angry before. Granted, him and Hermione constantly got into fights, but they weren't anything that really got the red head so down. All of a sudden it clicked. It probably was Hermione. He searched across the room and saw Hermione dancing happily with Krum.

"Why didn't you just ask her?" Edward burst out. "I mean seriously! You two have almost every class together!"

"I am not upset that she didn't go with me!" Ron rebuked, but Edward could tell that it was false. "I am angry that she is dancing the night away with the enemy!"

"The enemy? Just a few months ago you idolized him."

"That was before he became the champion," Ron mumbled. "He is probably just trying to get close to Hermione so that he could find information about Harry." He crossed his arms defiantly and seemed to simmer even more. Edward froze in his seat as the impact of Ron's thoughts hit him with full force. He knew that the kid probably didn't mean it, but it still hurt.

"Do you think that I am the enemy?" he asked stiffly. Ron and Harry glanced up questionably at him as if they didn't understand what he was asking. Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to think of an answer, however no answer came. Edward huffed quietly to himself and stood up from his chair. He clapped his hands and placed them on Ron's ancient robes. They instantly lost the lace and shifted into an almost normal tuxedo. The colour was still slightly off, but it definitely wasn't from ten thousand B.C.

"Make sure you don't piss off Hermione, Ron. I don't want a repeat of last year," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was about to walk off in search of Winry who seemed to wander off somewhere, when Harry called out to him.

"Edward, is what you told us true? About your country, I mean." Edward sighed as he turned to walk back onto the floor.

"One thing you must know is that Greed never lies," he replied over his shoulder.

...

Alphonse sat nervously at one of the tables with Luna as he watched his brother begin the first dance with Winry. Edward was still clumsy when he came to dancing, but Winry seemed to balance him out.

"Are you smiling?" Luna's voice came softly, startling him.

"What? Um, yeah. I guess I am," Alphonse replied. Luna pulled her hair over her shoulder, her turnip earrings dangling, as she stared around the glittering white room that the Great Hall was turned into.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked him. Alphonse chuckled lightly.

"When we were little, long before we even dove into alchemy at full force, brother and I used to argue about who would marry Winry," he told her, reflecting back. "She completely rejected him as he was too short for her. I guess that doesn't stand anymore, huh?" Luna let out a light laugh and Alphonse nervously twiddled his fingers.

"Sometimes someone can grow in more than just one way, you know," she told him. She tapped his hands a few times ceasing his fingers from twitching. "So far, you already managed to ask me to your first dance. I think that's a great accomplishment."

"I guess brother also did that too. This is his first time to a dance as well." Luna nodded her head as she watched Edward nervously dance across the floor. As the song slowed and soon ended, Alphonse stood up shakily and held his hand out to Luna. She took his hand and brushed off her sundress. They headed out to the floor and started up a waltz as the other couples started to pour out into the open area. Alphonse tried to focus on keeping his gate small, but he kept catching himself taking a few steps that were a little too big for Luna to keep up with. One time she accidentally tripped trying to keep up with him. He caught her and set her back up right.

"I'm sorry! I am so clumsy! Sorry!" he apologized as he made sure she was okay. She chuckled lightly as she patted his chest plate comfortingly.

"It's alright to be a bit off footed, Alphonse. I knew this one guy who walked on his hands," she smiled. Alphonse stared at her slightly confused, but Luna just returned it with a huge smile that stretched from one ear to the other. He couldn't help but laugh at her joke.

"You said that I was a very nice person, but you definitely are one of the nicest people I have ever met. There are few people who can actually make me feel human. Most people just yell at me for being so large. You gave me a good laugh," Alphonse said. He picked up her hand and resumed dancing. They were completely different heights, but they still were able to manage a shaky waltz. It was obvious that Luna loved to dance because they were able to stay on the floor nonstop for almost the entire night. They switched from classical to Rock n roll, and so on and so forth. They spotted many other people trying to make up their own dances and even caught a sight of Greed picking up some Beauxbaton girls and taking them for a spin around the floor. Hohenheim was relaxing on the side with a few teachers. His father caught him staring at him and gave a nice wave. For a man who learned how to dance over a few hundred years ago, he didn't seem to be doing any tonight. Alphonse sighed as he turned back to Luna. She was quietly shuffling to herself as he was looking around. He was amazed at how much endurance she had. By now many of the other students had at least taken a break, this was about their twentieth song and they still were dancing. Alphonse didn't have to worry about tiring out, but Luna looked as fresh as she did when she walked it. Even his armour was getting a few smudge spots on it.

"If you want to take a break, you may," Luna told him as if she read his mind. "I am getting slightly thirsty myself, why don't we go get some punch?" Alphonse nodded and started to lead her over to the table. All of the students moved out of the way for his huge armour and they easily made it over to the refreshment table. It was decorated with bubbling pink punch and a few sandwiches. Alphonse thoughtfully poured a small glass for Luna and handed it to her. She thanked him and took a few short sips from it.

"It tastes like strawberry," she told him thoughtfully. "Very creamy and bubbly, like pop."

"Thanks, I could almost taste it," Alphonse replied as he sweetly imagined the strange drink. He often liked it when people described strange food to him. Even though he actually wouldn't know what it would taste like, he would try to imagine it in his head. Luna started to taste a few different things for him and described them in great detail. He made several mental notes to try those foods when he eventually got his body back. His list of things to do when he returned to normal was gradually growing, but he still had apple pie on the top of his list. Winry promised to make him one all for himself when that day came. He was holding her to that. After a short break, the two of them were going to head back out to the floor when Alphonse accidentally crashed into someone. The man went sprawling to the ground dramatically , but Alphonse was sure that he didn't bump into his that hard. Yet, he wasn't heartless.

"Sorry! I am so sorry, I didn't see you there sir," Alphonse apologized as he tried to pick the man back up on his feet, but he kept fighting and pushing him away. It was a tantrum.

"Get off of he you clumsy muggle!" Karkarff shouted as he shuffle up from the floor. The nearby students turned to the loud commotion and watched as Karkaroff let go his anger. "Do you really think that you could just walk around in that large tin can and expect to not run into anyone? Are all of you muggles so crazily stupid?"

"Sorry, I just-"

"Just nothing. I have had it here. There is no wonder Durmstrang doesn't take any of your kind," Igor huffed as he brushed off his robes. "Under dressed, large bumbling idiot. I wonder who had a mind to raise you. You and your brother are basically barbarians."

"Hey! Brother isn't a barbarian," Alphonse retorted upset. He was starting to think that he wanted to run into that man a little harder. Karkaroff laughed terribly like a growl.

"He's a midget who shows no respect for authourity! Just like you."

"Edward is a bit hot headed, but he respects people who deserve it! You shouldn't be talking bad about him like this."

"Hot headed and naive. I bet your mother was the same way. You two were probably an accident," Karkaroff sniped. He huffed and crossed his arms defiantly.

"You- you," Alphonse started as he tried to make a comeback, but he wasn't like his brother. Insults weren't in his nature. Alphonse growled to himself under his breath as the Durmstrang headmaster taunted him in his face. Luna set her hand on Alphonse's forearm and tried to calm him down.

"Alphonse, we should just-" she started but all of a sudden Edward busted into the crowd.

...

Edward was running around in search of Winry when he heard a loud commotion coming from over near the refreshments. He saw Alphonse's huge metal head sticking above the crowd. Though he couldn't read the expression on his face, Edward instinctively knew that something was wrong. As he drew closer to his brother, he heard the distinctive insults spew out of Igor's mouth. Edward's curiosity grew immediately into fury. No one insulted his little brother. He forced his way through the crowd and put himself right between Karkaroff and Alphonse. Luna looked like she was trying to calm Alphonse down because his armour was shaking angrily. Edward turned red as he glared at the headmaster.

"Karkaroff," he said stiffly as he slowly took some menacing steps forward. The headmaster just chuckled crudely in his face.

"This just proves my point," he laughed. "One hot headed teenager, and his spineless tin can of a brother. He couldn't stand for himself, I wouldn't be surprised if he was just an empty suit of armour. Your mother would be so proud." Edward caught his sarcasm right in the face. He quickly took his hat off and tossed it carelessly to Alphonse. The armour caught it awkwardly as he slowly realized what his brother was going for.

"I'll show you spineless once I rip yours out of you," Edward growled as he wound his right arm up for a punch. Karkaroff stumbled back frightened as Edward headed towards him. All of a sudden a hand reached out and stopped him. He looked back to find that Alphonse had a strong hold on his automail and didn't seem to want to let go. His voice was shaky and wet.

"Edward, don't," he said simply. Edward stared at him in disbelief.

"Alphonse-"

"Edward, don't," Alphonse restated. "I don't need you to stand up like this."

"But, Alphonse, he-" Edward tried to retort but Alphonse dropped his grip on his arm and loosely took his large bowtie off. He tossed the long black fabric at him.

"He does, after all, have a point," Alphonse said coolly. His big body quickly turned on his heel and pushed his way through the crowd. Luna called out to him, but he didn't seem to want to listen. Edward looked sadly down to his bowtie. Alphonse was sensitive, he knew that, but when someone made his brother feel less than human, that was when Al couldn't get out of his troubles himself. Edward heard Karkaroff give a short snort. His automail hand shook furiously.

"Hey, Karkaroff," he said through the chatter and gossip of the crowd. He slowly picked up his hat from the ground where his brother dropped it and placed it back on his head. He smiled calmly and took a few innocent steps towards the headmaster. He held out his right hand for a calm handshake.

"You are right, I do have problems respecting people," Edward grinned as the man took an over confident step towards him. "Come on, let me redeem my faults." Karkaroff smirked as he coolly shook Edward's hand. He was finally getting the respect he deserved. That was exactly what Edward was going to give him. As soon as Karkaroff grabbed his hand, Edward turned and flipped him over his shoulder to the ground. The man landed with a thud on the stone floor and Edward gruffly shoved his boot onto the man's chest.

"You are the last person I would give any respect to. No one insults my family, and no one calls my brother empty," Edward threatened him. "If you talk to my brother and say anything that is anything more than a simple hello or an apology, I will tear you open just to make sure that you aren't empty yourself." He gave the man's arm a good twist and shoved off of him. Karkaroff whined as he scrambled to his feet. Edward looked above the crowd to try and to find his brother but he was long gone. He sighed to himself as he headed towards the doors. He needed to find his brother.

...

Edward ran out outside of the castle in search of his brother. He had no clue where he went off to, but he knew that he had to find him. For some reason, the entrance yard was transformed into a rose garden with floral bushes and water fountains decorating it into a maze. What surprised him was that even though there was snow on the ground, the flowers were in full bloom. Edward searched up and down the wooded paths for him but he couldn't find any trace of his brother. As he turned the corner of a specifically thick red rose bush, he heard the giggling voices of Hagrid and Madam Maxime.

"Oh Hagrid, you know exactly what I'm thinking," Maxime giggled. Edward could have barfed, but he was on too important of a mission to waste time like that. He slowly and quietly crept away down the path and around a few more bushes. The new layout of the entrance yard was confusing and Edward almost started to run around in circles until he heard another group of people talking. He walked a bit closer to where the owners were hidden behind another bush. His heart lifted as he recognized one of them as his own brother, Alphonse. He was about to go talk to him when he heard the unmistakable voice of Alastor Moody.

"Lad, I know that you and your brother are close, so you shouldn't say those things if you don't mean them," Alastor said. Edward heard the creak of armour as Alphonse shook his head.

"I do mean them," Alphonse cried. he was making sobbing noises as if he was crying, but Edward knew he physically couldn't. It was as close as he could get. "He doesn't have to worry about this. He shouldn't have to worry about any of this. He is just so violent, he is always doing something stupid just for the sake of me. I am empty can of metal, just like Karkarff said."

"Empty in literal sense, but not where it counts," Alastor commented.

"Where would that count if I can't even feel it at all? Spineless, empty, it is all the same thing. I am too scared to tell him the truth. He's always standing up for someone who can't do it themselves, but I don't need him to do that right now. I just want to enjoy everything while it lasts. I don't want Edward jumping in and messing things up for himself. It will just add pressure," Alphonse mumbled. Edward turned his back to the rose bush and looked away for a moment. He couldn't believe that Alphonse would say these things about him. He actually couldn't believe that he would open up to Alastor instead of him. Was he really that violent? Edward felt his knees start to shake a bit. His automail clacked silently as he trembled.

"Laddy, it doesn't take a magical eye to see that you have been holding it in for a long time. When was the last time this happened?"

"Three days ago. I could actually feel myself smiling and then...," Alphonse muttered. He paused and Edward could almost hear the rattling of his shaking armour. "Everyone who knows me is always trying to make me feel human, I am grateful. But how am I supposed to feel human if I am just empty? Brother keeps pulling me back down to earth though." Edward turned slowly and started to walk back up the path from where he came. He felt the freezing water in his eyes as his smoky breath came out all jagged.

Edward didn't want Alphonse to feel anything less than human, but his brother seemed to think that his efforts were in vain. He was kind of afraid that his little brother would just give up hope all together. Maybe trying to keep his brother's hope was hurting him more than helping. Alphonse called him violent, hot headed, and stupid. Maybe his efforts were just naive of him and he didn't realise that he was hurting him instead of helping. Maybe there was no hope at all. Edward shook his head. There had to be hope, he couldn't fail Alphonse even if he hated him for it. Yet, why did he hate him? Edward shivered slightly and tightened his military jacket around him tighter. He felt something in his pocket and took it out. It was Alphonse's bowtie. All he wanted was to make him feel human, what was wrong with that? He shook his head quickly as he tried to hold back the water that was accumulating around his eyes . He shoved the piece of fabric back in his pocket and kept stumbling slowly up the path.

Edward walked past the place where Hagrid and Maxime were to find that Hagrid was sitting all by himself with a red hand print on his face. The alchemist wanted to be there for his friend, but he didn't feel like he could do anything but walk at the moment. His lips were quivering a bit, probably from the cold but he wasn't sure. As Edward passed one of the intricate fountains that was placed in the garden, he spotted Hermione sitting out by herself in her thin dress. Her shoulders were shaking as if she was silently crying to herself. It seemed like no one was having a good night at all. Edward silently trudged down the path over to her and tossed his coat to her. Hermione looked surprised at the sudden alchemist that appeared from nowhere. She quickly wiped her eyes as if attempting to make it look like she wasn't crying, but it was in vain.

"Th-Thank you," she mumbled. She slipped the jacket around her shoulders. Edward shuddered in his white button down shirt. He nodded to her in acknowledgement and quietly headed out on his own way. He didn't feel like he could talk at all. His eyes were stinging from the freezing air and he frankly didn't know what he should do. There was still a good hour left of the dance, but he didn't feel like facing everyone. He did after all he did slam Karkaroff into the ground. Edward sank down on a frozen stone bench and tossed his hat carelessly aside. He massaged his face tiredly and gave a heavy shivering breath. The longer he sat there, the less the cold seemed to bother him, but the more he sat there the more his mind wandered over what Alphonse said. What was he supposed to do?

"Elric?" McGonagall's voice called out to him. Edward didn't move, he couldn't. He heard her footsteps approach him across the path until she stood over him. "Edward, what are you doing out here in the cold? Where's your jacket?" she asked him. Edward shrugged pathetically. McGonagall looked him over. His cheeks were red and he absolutely refused to look at her. Minerva looked up and down the paths for some other form of life other than him, but there was none. She sighed and sat down on the cold stone bench next to him.

"Edward, what happened?" she asked him. Edward laced his hands together and slowly stood up off the bench still not looking at her.

"Do I mess things up... I mean... for other people?" he asked her nervously. Minerva didn't really know what he was getting at, but it definitely didn't sound too delightful.

"You definitely messed up Karkaroff's back this evening and probably your chances of getting any points from him in the tournament," Minerva told him simply. "In my opinion, you messed up big time there. I would have given him a nice slug to the face if you went through that much trouble. He deserved it." Edward smiled slightly. He never thought he would hear those words come out of her mouth. But the joy that the little smite gave him quickly vanished again. The transfigurations teacher seemed to sense this and sighed softly to herself.

"Edward, I do have to say that you are sometimes brash and slightly violent, but you don't do anything without a reason. Those reasons are for yourself to justify if they are right or wrong," she answered him. "Why are you asking this?" Edward didn't reply as he spotted Alphonse and Alastor walking back up the path. Minerva spotted them and suddenly realized what happened. However, when she finally thought up of something to say to the rambunctious teenager, Edward was already walking back into the castle.