Nowhere is Safe: Edward Elric and the Order of the Phoenix

by GrievingAngel

A/N: I can't believe it! We're nearing the final chapters of the fic! *runs around screaming*

Oh, and Merry Christmas! ^_^ Sorry I don't have a happy chapter to deliver…

Chapter 25

The Long-Awaited Storm

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

At the sound of that hated voice, Ed opened one eye to look at his nemesis. His view of her wasn't steady because Al was trembling, but he could make out her pink cardigan and her triumphant smirk.

"A… Al," he croaked. "Go. Run. It's me she wants."

"Are you crazy?" Al thundered, loud enough that Umbridge heard every word. "I'm not going to just leave you here, Brother!"

Ed opened his mouth to retort, but the pain that lingered in his body from hostile takeover and forceful rejection cut off his words.

"'Brother'?" squeaked Umbridge, rubbing her stubby hands together. "My, my, this is quite a development. You never told me you had a brother, Elric."

"That's cuz… it's none of your damn business."

Her sickly-sweet smile slid off of her face, becoming as truly grotesque as her black heart. "All right then, demon. We'll do things the straightforward way. Surrender immediately!"

"No!" Al had retorted before Ed got a chance. This was bad; with Al holding him, both brothers were left practically defenseless.

We're in a serious pickle here.

"All you have to do is ask for a little help," Horntail whispered in his head. Ed shuddered a little; he'd had quite enough of hearing voices. He'd nearly lost his mind when Pride had trapped him inside that Philosopher's Stone for a whole month, locked him in a tempest of tormented souls that wailed endlessly as they were slowly broken down to feed Pride's existence, without any kind of physical form to anchor him to reality or sanity. Shaking off these unnerving memories, he stealthily reached into his back pocket and grabbed the handle of the ash wand.

Some help would be greatly appreciated… please.

"Your manners are greatly appreciated," the dragon responded with a hint of sarcasm. Immediately, Ed felt strength flow into him from the wand, just the way it had in Father's lair all those months ago.

Ed began to squirm in the makeshift cradle of his brother's arms as he said with surprising calm, "Al, put me down. I'm gonna duel her."

"What? Are you insane?"

"Not at all. Please, just take care of yourself, and I'll catch up."

"No, I won't!" Al clutched at Ed in order to prevent the elder brother from scrambling out of his large arms. "I'm not going anywhere! I'm not going to leave your side for another minute, Brother! I'm sick of us being split up! Don't tell me to run, please!"

"How touching," hissed Umbridge, pointing her wand in their direction. "Well, Elric, since you have made the decision to fight, then by all means…" Without another word of warning, she cast the first spell, an explosive force that tore the brothers away from each other. Ed managed to keep a grip on his wand, and he quickly got back to his feet, doing his best to ignore the pain.

"Umbridge, you hag!" He slashed at the air, and somehow, the Horntail converted his anger into a spell that resembled a massive fireball. Only a collective response from the Aurors prevented the flames from engulfing the stubby witch. Almost immediately after, they counter-attacked, forcing Ed onto the defensive. His Shield Charm held, but his ability to concentrate had been damaged by Pride's usurping of his body. He was quickly losing ground, and everyone could see it.

"Brother!" Al called from where he had landed. "Hang on! I'm coming!"

Before he could try to intervene, however, Umbridge incanted, "Incarcerous," and bound Al with thick ropes.

"No!" Ed roared, but his distraction gave one of the Aurors an opening. Ed felt a sharp stab of pain in his side, and he collapsed into the grass. Ears ringing, he could still hear Al calling his name.

"Ed! Ed, no! Leave him alone!"

"Shall we dispose of them, Headmistress?" asked one of the Aurors as he approached and pointed his wand threateningly at Ed's face while another kicked the ash wand out of his hand.

Umbridge swelled with pleasure; she was completely in charge, and she loved it. "No, not yet. I still have some more questions for Elric, and he can't very well answer them if he's dead." Her maleficent gaze then drifted to Al. "Now, then… what form of monstrosity is this?"

"Get the hell away from him!" Ed snarled. However, as soon as he tried to rise, several of the Aurors moved in to hold him down. "Get off me! Umbridge, if you lay another finger on my brother, you'll-"

"Empty threats," the toady witch cut him off while a depraved smile played about her mouth. She did her best to tower over the fallen form of Alphonse as she demanded, "Well, answer me, demon! What are you?"

"I… I'm not a demon. I'm a human, just like any of you."

"Lies!" She prodded one of the singed holes in Al's chestplate. "You are an empty suit of armor that has somehow been enchanted to walk, talk, and think. Some form of dark magic, I'm sure."

"It's not magic at all, you dense hag!" Ed grunted from under the weight of an Auror's boot on his back. "It's alchemy!"

Umbridge threw him a glance and a tinkling giggle. "It really is amusing how determined you are to sugar-coat your conniving deeds with words, Elric."

"And it's really stupid how you won't even listen to a word out of my mouth!"

"Oh, I listen. I simply filter it through what I know to be the truth."

"So, in other words, you only listen to what you want to hear!" Ed struggled against the strong grasps pinning him to the ground. "You stuck-up, egotistical, self-righteous pig!"

The Headmistress's nostrils flared. She flicked her wand at Ed and said, "Silencio."

Even after his voice stopped working, Ed continued to launch profanities and wholly unflattering descriptions of Umbridge as the witch glared down at Alphonse once more. "Well, I think there's really only one thing to do with this… thing." She motioned to one of her Auror thugs, "Take this to the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts and have it studied. If we can discover how it mimics life, maybe we can find a way to defeat the other demons, too."

"Yes, ma'am," said the Auror. He approached Al and, keeping his wand trained on the suit of armor, levitated the younger Elric toward the gate that led off of school grounds. If that crony made it past the barrier, it would be too late.

"Then, get up and fight!" Horntail pressed, booming inside his head and filling him with a burst of strength. There wouldn't be time to lunge for his wand, no time for magic at all. Wrenching his arms free of the Aurors' grasp, he pressed his hands together and grabbed the ground. Instantly, the balance of the entire courtyard swayed and rolled, impeding the progress of the Auror taking Al and shaking all the others off of their feet. In another instant, Ed transmuted his hand-blade and rushed to this little brother's aid. It only took one solid kick to the Auror's wand arm for the man's only weapon to be sent flying out of sight. Al thudded into the grass of the recently altered landscape just as Ed assumed a protective stance in front of his captive brother.

When the remaining group of wizards all pointed their wands at him, Ed tried to yell, "Stay back!" but his voice was still jinxed into nonexistence. It seemed that force would be the only way he'd be able to communicate with this lot of stubborn, unseeing pricks.

But, there were just too many. Ed tried to use alchemy to defend Al and himself, but one of the Aurors would always find an opening and graze him with a jet of red light: a Stunning Spell. After enough close calls, Ed could feel his borrowed strength from the dragon evaporating. His legs wobbled, but did not give way. He would not let these people take Al, his precious little brother, to some lab for experimenting on! Even so, he found himself having to reestablish his balance several times. He wasn't going to last.

"Brother!" Al cried as one of Ed's knees finally hit earth. The elder Elric leaned against the familiar metal shell that bound his brother's soul to this world, panting and sweating. "Ed, listen to me. It… it's okay."

"What?" Ed mouthed, positive he hadn't heard Al right.

"Mr. Weasley works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department. He won't let them dissect me."

"How can you know that?"

"…I don't, but I can hope."

"But, Al!"

"Stupify!" Another red flash of light flew at them, and Ed – distracted by Al's horrifying suggestion – was unprepared. The spell hit him squarely between the shoulder blades. His world reeled, and he felt his head collide with dirt and grass. Blackness lapped at the edges of his vision, almost like when Pride had taken over his body. In the blurred images that passed before his dimming eyes, Al was dragged away by another Auror. Delayed through his distorted senses, Ed heard his brother call out one more time.

"I won't die, Ed! I'll be okay; I promise!"

Al… Ed thought miserably as consciousness slipped away from him, don't make promises… you can't… keep…

Edward woke with a strange, numb sensation in his arms. After the initial moments of confusion, he realized it was because they were pulled taut above his head by chained handcuffs. He quickly noticed that his blade had been forcefully transfigured back into his forearm, which meant that, with no wand and his hands restrained, he was completely defenseless. He gave the shackles an experimental tug with no luck; wherever in the dark stone ceiling above him the chains were attached, they were well-secured. Now that he looked around, there was dark stone on all sides. Of course, he was in the Hogwarts dungeon… the literal dungeon. After what might have been anything from a few seconds to several hours (Ed's sense of time was still a little fuzzy), the wooden door on the far side of the chamber creaked open, and in stepped Filch, the castle's caretaker. Ed had never exchanged two words with the grimy, gruesome man, but he'd heard enough nasty stories from his friends to know that Filch was bad news, especially when it came to sucking up to Umbridge and doing whatever she asked with a dutiful sneer of sadistic pleasure.

"Good afta'noon," chuckled the hunched man as he reverently placed a piece of paper on the small desk near him and moved to one of the dusty cupboards lined along the wall in front of Ed.

"Is it good for you, or for me?" Ed was glad his voice had been restored; he had more than half a mind to let loose his full repertoire of colorful language as soon as Umbridge stuck her toady head inside, which he knew she would eventually. She had said she wanted to question him more.

Filch snorted. "Fer me; you'll be squealin' like a piglet 'fore the day's done."

"Not exactly a pleasant prospect." Ed tugged on the chains again. "What did those Aurors do with Al?"

"I dunno what you're talkin' 'bout, boy."

Ed cursed under his breath before moving on to another question, "Well then, where is she – Umbridge?"

"Oh, the 'eadmistress will be along in due time. She's sorting out the afta'math of two students rabbitin'."

"Come again?"

Filch glanced at Ed over his dirty shoulder as he elaborated, "Those Weasley twins. Th' school's better off without 'em, I say. Meddlesome, mess-making mischiefs, those two."

"Fred and George are gone? Just… left?"

"Took off inta' the sky like a pair of birds, 'cept on brooms. Well, good riddance, I say. At least I've still got a chance to exercise my new… privileges."

"Privileges?" Ed echoed.

Filch turned around to face Ed, and in his grubby, calloused hands was a thick whip. Grinning wickedly, he said, "The paperwork just came through. Finally, I once again have permission to use this."

Ed couldn't stop the adrenaline from spreading throughout his body. The sight of that cruel weapon terrified him; he'd never in his life felt the lash of a whip. Filch uncoiled the long cord like a leathery snake. Straightening to his full height, he circled around to Ed's already-partially-exposed back.

"Aren't you going to wait until Umbridge comes?" Ed asked, a trace of desperation leaking into his voice.

Filch chortled. "Hardly. The 'eadmistress told me to go on and warm you up."

As much as Ed tried, he had no way of bracing himself for the sharp, burning streak of pain that the first lash left across his shoulder blades. Filch obviously had considerable practice in the art of whipping, because he seemed to know just how long to wait in-between strokes: just long enough for his victim's muscles to relax after the previous blow and make themselves tender and vulnerable once more. At first, Ed bit his lip to stop from screaming, but he soon raised blood that filled his mouth with the warm metallic taste until he had to spit the foul liquid out. Filch caught him just as he did so, and that produced the first cry of pain, soon followed by another, and another. Eventually, Ed didn't care that he was howling from the stings, whimpering in fear, or even begging for mercy. Filch lashed at his legs a few times until he was forced to let most of his weight dangle from his arms, which only put them in danger of dislocation. The pain of the whiplashes had numbed his whole body; he could barely even move his head and neck. He was absolutely helpless. Filch kept laughing as he swung the leather cord harder and harder against the boy, leaving red welts that leaked trickles of blood all over his body. As if anything could be worse, Umbridge would soon join them, surely to unleash some even more agonizing form of torture upon him.

Despite the onslaught of physical pain, Ed's thoughts remained fixed upon Al. Where was he by now – already at the Ministry? Had he been hurt, or had Mr. Weasley's intervention been enough to save him? Worst of all was the haunting question of, "Will I ever see him again?"

Just as Ed felt close to passing out, Filch dealt him a light, yet effective slash across his face, cutting into the bridge of his nose and causing blood to dribble around his right eye. As if in queued sequence to this rude awakening, the door opened again, and Umbridge entered. Ed took a little comfort in her ruffled expression and frizzled hair; Fred and George must really have made a show before they'd left. Upon catching sight of Ed, however, her cruel smile resurfaced.

"Ah, Elric. I see Filch has been handling you properly. It's better than a demon like you deserves."

Ed gulped before croaking, "How many times… do I have to say it? You've got it all mixed up."

"Why have you not returned to your original form?" pressed Umbridge, ignoring Ed's protest. "Your cohorts all reverted back to their demonic visages upon discovery, so why-"

"Because I'm not a demon, you dunce! The way I looked at Azkaban was a one-time deal. Polyjuice Potion." Why was he telling her this? Attempting to clear his name would be like try to row up a waterfall: completely pointless.

Umbridge sighed tensely. "Well, you certainly are determined to stick to your little 'innocent student' disguise, aren't you? I suppose I'll just have to wring the truth out of you."

"Then, you'll never get it, because I'll never give you the 'truth' that you want to hear."

"Oh? I think you will gladly confess before I'm through with you, Elric." She set a wrapped lump on the desk and eyed it cautiously, which told Ed that his wand was concealed inside. Was she putting it in plain view just to tempt him to dash for it (not that he could have in his current chained position)?

Umbridge drew her own wand and twirled it; immediately, the handcuffs unlocked, and Ed crashed to the stone floor, unable to bear his own weight. The brutal aftereffects of his whipping made it nearly impossible to move, but he raised his head to glare at the Headmistress.

"Why won't you just… open your eyes? I'm not… what you think I am…"

"I simply refuse to listen to your feeble attempts to trick me. You already gave us the bare amount of evidence and testimony to convict you before the Wizengamot… but I feel such treatment would be too kind. After all, there is no need to be as lenient with a demonic mockery of humanity as one would be with an actual human being."

"I AM A HUMAN BEING!" Ed thundered, pounding his automail fist against the rough floor and producing more than a few sparks from the collision. "What is it gonna take for me to prove that to you?"

Umbridge leaned over him, her bulbous eyes alight with eager satisfaction. "Absolutely nothing you do could ever convince me of that, Elric. It would merely be seen as subterfuge."

"Damn you! You're blind! Blinded by Fudge and his 'rules.' Your precious Minister's stumbling around in the dark, grasping at straws he think will give him comfort so he doesn't have to wake up and realize that Voldemort's roaming the countryside! I saw Voldemort; He's one-hundred-percent alive and kicking!"

"Enough!" Umbridge's shrill voice bounced off of the dungeon walls, giving her command more of a powerful aura than usual. "No more lies! I will deal with you personally, Elric, and send what's left of you to be studied by the Department of Mysteries. Who knows, maybe you'll be reunited with that supposed brother of yours… in death, at least."

It was strange, but… for the first time, Ed actually feared the toady witch. What was she about to do to him? Would it be enough to wring whatever lies she wanted to hear out of him?

How about this, Son of Hohenheim? Father whispered in his mind. I'll take that debate out of your mind: you are forbidden from telling her anything important about my plans, and you are not to conform verbally to her imagination of you, either.

Ed blinked. Uh… thanks?

Finally, some gratitude for all I'm doing for you.

Well, don't get used to it.

The blonde then redirected his attention on his current foe. Her wand was a few inches from his face, but her hand was trembling, as if… as if she was hesitating.

"What's the matter?" Ed mused aloud. "Are you doubting your own story? Getting cold feet? Considering for a moment that you might be wrong, that I might actually be a human?"

Somehow, his words came out as a taunt, one that triggered Umbridge's action. "Crucio."

Moments ago, his body had been numb, but now it was wide-awake as the curse twisted his insides, stabbing and tugging at anything that could hurt. Ed was more aware of it than when Pride had used the curse on him, maybe because Umbridge's power couldn't hope to match up to the overwhelming combined willpower of a homunculus and the ash wand. After nearly a minute under its agonizing influence, the curse lifted, and soreness paralyzed him once more.

"Is... is that it?" Ed found a hoarse laugh bubbling out of his throat.

"Not by far! Crucio!" Again and again, she repeated the curse. It seemed to compound upon his open wounds, causing his blood to come to the surface around his burns and lash-marks. The excruciating spell threw his sense of time out of balance again; he might have suffered under her wand for only a few minutes, or maybe for many long hours. She asked him questions like, "How many associates do you have? Are you their leader? If not, who is?" but Ed's lips had been sealed for him by Father. In a way, that did make it easier. It meant he didn't have to feel as ashamed when he let Umbridge hear his screams.

At last, Umbridge paused in her barrage. Ed's breaths came in heaving gasps that still somehow only brought him a fraction of the oxygen he needed. The curse was causing serious damage inside him; he could feel it slowly tearing him apart. Upon realizing that his hearing felt impaired, he raised a tentative hand to his ear and brought back blood on his metal fingers. His eardrums had blown from the pressure of the curse. He could feel more of the warm liquid drizzling down from his nose, filling his nostrils with its familiarly putrid stench. Some was even gurgling at the back of his throat; lest he choke, Ed feebly rolled onto his side and coughed up the blood, staining the nearby stone a deep red.

"Feeling any more cooperative?" Umbridge trilled, momentarily reassuming her girlish tone.

"Go to hell," Ed rasped.

He didn't have to see her face to know that his continued standoffs were pissing her off. Filch, who had been watching delightedly from a corner since the Headmistress had arrived, looked up as if Umbridge had motioned to him. He subsequently rose and hobbled out of Ed's limited range of sight.

"Argus, I need you to go and fetch someone for me. Let's see… how about Miss Lovegood and Mr. Entwhistle? Yes, I think they'll do nicely."

"Yes, ma'am. Right away." With that, the shuffling footsteps of the caretaker receded in the direction of the door, and a moment later, it creaked open and closed. Unable to make his body move, Ed had to rely on his basic senses. All he could see from his viewpoint on the floor was one of the grimy stone walls, and smell was useless, since the metallic odor of blood blocked out everything else, but his hearing – albeit distant and distorted – was still working. He listened to Umbridge's pacing footsteps, no doubt amplified by her pink flats clattering against the floor.

"Wh… why?" he asked, suppressing the gurgle of blood that had risen back up in his throat. "Why them?"

He could feel Umbridge smirking at the back of his head. "Because I have finally realized something."

"That I'm innocent?"

The toady Headmistress laughed with a sort of snort. "Hardly. I've realized that I cannot hurt you… by hurting you." The tone of her voice instilled a new fear in Ed. If she planned to lay a finger on Luna or Kevin…

Umbridge returned to her pacing, and, after several minutes of the steady rhythm, Filch returned with two pairs of footsteps in his wake. Almost immediately upon the students' entry, their voices rang out in alarm.

"Ed!" Kevin cried, rushing to his friend's side and gingerly rolling him so that they could see each other's faces. "Oh, my gosh! What's she done to you?"

Luna came to Ed's other side and gently raised his head off of the cold stone. "You don't have to speak if it hurts too much."

Grateful for an excuse not to aggravate his burned and throbbing throat, he attempted a feeble smile as he clasped her warm hand with his shaking, bloodied one.

Umbridge scoffed. "So, you two are still taken in by this demon's disguise?"

Kevin looked up at the Headmistress and fixed her with the most fearsome glare Ed had ever seen upon his young friend's face. The alchemist couldn't help but think about how far the Ishvalan had come from being the timid outcast who hid under his bed. "Ed isn't the demon here," he said defiantly. "You are."

A second later, Kevin had been flung several feet away from Ed. Luna, too, seemed forced back away from the blonde. Painfully rolling onto his stomach, Ed saw that Umbridge had used magic against both his friends. Red started to pour into his brain, the way it had when he'd fought Bradley. Only the voice of reason in his head (which sounded remarkably like Al's voice) urged him to stay in control. If he lost it, it wouldn't matter how much damage Umbridge had dealt him; the Ministry would have to mop up her remains from the floor. As much as he hated Umbridge, he didn't want her blood on his hands.

"You brought this upon yourselves, both of you," squeaked Umbridge, "by associating yourselves with Elric and his plans to overthrow the Ministry."

"Ed doesn't have any plans like that!" Kevin protested, rubbing his right shoulder after his uncomfortable collision with the stone tiles.

"He's trying to stop them," pressed Luna as she made her way to Kevin's side, "the 'demons' you're talking about and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: Ed wants them both defeated."

"Silence! I'll hear no more of your lies! You've obviously been placed under some form of spell by Elric." Straightening herself, Umbridge crooned, "Well, fear not, children. I will release you from his control, even if I must use harsh means to do so."

"Don't you… dare… hurt them," Ed snarled, placing his palms firmly on the floor and pushing up (relying mostly on the strength of his automail arm). His muscles, bones, and nerves all screamed at him to lie still, but Luna and Kevin were much more important than his pain. He was quite satisfied to see his efforts produce a trace of fear on Umbridge's face as the witch pointed her wand at the pair of his friends.

"I mean it, Elric. Answer my questions, and I mean honestly, or I will have no choice but to torture these two."

Now propped up by his arms and knees, Ed slowly turned his aching head to look at Luna and Kevin. Their eyes met, and the silent message between them was clear: "We trust you, Ed." Giving them a nearly undetectable nod, he pressed the balls of his feet against the stone in preparation and faced Umbridge. "You're not getting a word of useful information out of me, you filthy snake."

The chain reaction began. Umbridge digested his challenge and set her brow, she tightened her grip on her wad and began to mouth the words of the curse, and Ed pushed off from the floor (ignoring the agony it took to move) and shielded Kevin and Luna from the attack. He couldn't stop the half-yell, half-scream from escaping him when the Cruciatus Curse hit his lower back, spreading throughout him and dissolving his strength like an acid. Luna clutched at him to keep him upright, and he caught a brief glimpse of her distraught expression. Of course… to her, this must feel like Kimblee's attack all over again, where he had been so badly hurt protecting her. As the curse's effects lifted, Kevin went so far as to draw his own wand and point it at Umbridge.

"There's no way you have permission to do this!" he shouted. "Using an Unforgiveable Curse on students… Professor Dumbledore never would have-"

"Dumbledore is a treasonous and sentimental fool, whereas I am the hand of progress. And, in the way I run things, naughty children are punished. As for Elric, he isn't even human, so regulations don't even apply to him."

"How can you be so blind?" said Luna, outrage making her voice tremble. "Are you so eager to find someone to blame other than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named that you can't see that Ed is innocent?"

Instead of answering Luna's question, Umbridge flicked her wand and pulled Ed away from his friends, slamming him to the floor on his back. Kevin took a threatening step toward the Headmistress, but Ed gave him a look that said, "If you get yourself in any more trouble for my sake, that will hurt much more than whatever this hag throws at me."

Ed raised his head by a few inches and panted, "Leave them… out of this, Umbridge. I'm the only one… this need concern."

After debating for a moment, the Headmistress turned her back on the two Ravenclaws and redirected all of her attention at Ed. "Very well, but I'm afraid you're running out of options, Elric. If you do indeed have absolutely no intention of disclosing any information, even when I threaten your friends, then… perhaps you simply aren't worth the effort."

"Now you're… catching on."

To Ed's slight surprise, Umbridge smirked with a sort of conciliatory satisfaction. "Then, the majority of your usefulness has come to an end." Tapping her stubby fingers along the length of her wand in anticipation, she concluded, "I will let the curse run its course, and send whatever's left to the Ministry for research. You will die at my hands, demon!"

"No!" Luna screamed, reaching for her wand even as Kevin tried to hold her back.

"Argus," Umbridge appended, "remove these two students from the room while I deal with this loose end."

Ed watched as Filch veritably dragged Kevin and Luna out into the hallway. At the last moment, Umbridge tossed the lump that held Ed's wand wrapped inside to the young Ishvalan as if ridding herself of a large rat. "There. You can keep that."

As the door swung shut, Ed sent a last desperate nonverbal communiqué to his friends: "Get help." Then they were gone, and Umbridge brought down wave after wave of excruciation upon him. It was like being tossed in a tempest of pain… like he was once again a mere soul adrift in the depths of a Philosopher's Stone. Even long after his voice broke completely and refused to produce any more sound, his body still went through the motions of screaming. He was going to die, and Al probably wouldn't be that far behind him, wherever he was. The memory of being trapped in the Stone grew stronger with each second he suffered under the curse, until at last the trauma of his past swallowed him, pulling his mind down into the deep black.

Kevin could hear the screams even as Filch forced Luna and him to exit the corridor. When the caretaker finally released them and left them be, however, the young Ishvalan turned to the blonde girl. "We've got to get help – someone who can take Umbridge down."

"Professor McGonagall," said Luna immediately, "and… Professor Snape."

"Okay," Kevin nodded, remembering how Snape had a close connection with Ed anyway because of the Occlumency lessons. Trying to take deep breaths, he placed a hand on Luna's shoulder, which was slightly trembling. "How about you go get McGonagall, and I'll tell Snape?"

Luna sniffed before replying, "Right," and disappearing towards the stairs in a streak of pale blonde hair. Kevin instead whirled around and set off for the Potions Master's office. If he wasn't there… When Kevin reached his destination, he knocked, but it took several repetitions before Snape finally answered the door. At that point, Kevin could feel his nerves ratcheting upward; every second they delayed could be bringing Ed another second closer to insanity or death, or (if it was possible) worse.

"P… please, Professor Snape, I need your help," he began, inwardly berating himself for not cutting straight to the point.

Snape said nothing, but tilted his head encouragingly, waiting to hear more.

"Umbridge has Ed," blurted Kevin. "She's torturing him, Cruciatus Curse and everything. She… she says she's going to kill him."

Almost before Kevin had reached the end of his explanation, Snape was on the move. The Potions Master drew his wand and came out into the hall, pressing a hand to Kevin's back to bring him along. As they walked, Kevin did his best to give Snape more details, but before they made it back to the true dungeon of the school, they met up with Luna and Professor McGonagall. The two teachers exchanged a nod and took the lead, letting the Ravenclaws stride in their wake.

"Thank you for alerting us," McGonagall said briskly just before they reached the rusty-hinged wooden door, "but it would be better if you let us handle things from here."

Kevin nodded and slackened his pace, as did Luna. "Yes, Professor," he acknowledged.

"Just… please," Luna begged, "please save Ed. If he died, I-"

Snape smoothly raised a hand to call for silence. "You need not explain, Miss Lovegood. None of us wish that boy dead."

With that, Snape and McGonagall opened the dungeon door and entered the battlefield.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall declared most sternly as soon as they had stepped inside and shut the door behind them.

Umbridge relaxed her wand arm, lifting the curse from her victim, and turned to face the teachers. "Why, Minerva, Severus, what a… surprise." She was using that abhorrently annoying voice again; Severus was quite tempted to roll his eyes. But, he had more important matters to attend to at the moment. As McGonagall began to berate the pseudo-Headmistress, he glided across the stone floor to where Ed lay shuddering. At least that meant he wasn't dead. The boy looked as though he might be screaming, but no sound came from him; he must have blown out his voice. Even though the curse was no longer directly upon him, Ed continued to writhe even as Snape pressed a calm hand to the feverish forehead. For a moment, Ed's blazing eyes opened and met his teacher's black ones, and Snape was forced to steel himself. That one flash into Ed's thoughts was enough to tell him that something was very wrong, not just in the young alchemist's body, but in his mind.

"Severus?" McGonagall paused in her rant, noticing Snape's audible wince. "How bad is he?"

"Considerably," surmised the Potions Master. As carefully as he could, he slipped his arms under Ed and lifted the trembling boy into his arms. "I need to tend to him immediately."

"You're not taking that abomination anywhere!" shrieked Umbridge.

McGonagall rose to her full height, which satisfactorily dwarfed Umbridge in comparison. "Did it ever occur to you, Dolores, that you could easily have found solid proof of Elric's humanity?"

The plump face flushed with embarrassment and anger. "What do you mean?"

"If you would humor me by casting Homenum Revelio in this room."

After a moment's deliberation, the Headmistress did so… and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"By your expression, I assume that you can now clearly see that Elric is counted as a human being. If that isn't enough to convince you, then I'm afraid nothing will, but that is, as they say, 'your problem.'" With that snappish finale, McGonagall followed her fellow from the room, leaving a thunderstruck Umbridge behind them.

After slamming the door, McGonagall caught up with Snape as he briskly strode along the dungeon corridor – with the way Ed was struggling against him, he didn't know how long he'd be able to keep hold of the boy. "Severus? Should I call for Poppy?"

"I can treat his physical injuries, and there is a mental element that I don't believe Madam Pomfrey can treat as well as I can."

"Very well." She glanced around before continuing, "There is still the chance that our insufferable Headmistress will try to capture him again."

"Quite." Severus pushed open the door of a small room outfitted with a bed, basic medical equipment, and various potions. He'd used this setup before in the rare cases of poisons and the like that grew out of Madam Pomfrey's control, that needed his constant attention. Doing his best not to irritate Ed's wounds, he stretched the boy out on the bed, laying him on his right side against the largely undamaged automail arm. Even so, the blonde's thrashing prevented him from staying in one place on the bed. As Snape searched through his stores for the right concoction, he raised an idea. "Perhaps a Fidelius Charm would be prudent in order to conceal him from her."

"Ah, an excellent idea, Severus. Shall you be the secret-keeper, or…?"

"I actually think it would be better for you to take on that role."

"All right, then." McGonagall pushed up her sleeves and began creating the protective barrier just as Snape located the potion, one that would give the drinker a dreamless sleep. Hopefully, it would be enough to reach Ed wherever his mind had trapped itself and induce some form of calm in him. Severus crouched beside the bed and managed to slip a small drizzle of the potion into the boy's mouth. Thankfully, the dry throat accepted the liquid without question, and soon Ed's convulsions began to diminish in intensity, until he finally lay still. Wasting no time, Snape turned the boy so that his back faced upward, revealing the lacerated and gory mess of skin, blood, and muscle. He muttered Healing Charms under his breath, but the wounds were stubborn, having been infused with the damaging power of the Cruciatus Curse. After finishing with the Fidelius Charm, McGonagall approached the Potions Master once more.

"Are you sure you can manage?" she checked, noticing how her colleague's efforts weren't producing clear results.

"Yes," replied Snape stalwartly. "It will take time, however."

"Should I reveal this location to Elric's friends – Potter and the others?"

"You might as well, as long as their visits don't prevent my tending to him."

"I'll make sure to inform them of that condition." As McGonagall moved to the door and opened it, she paused. "And, of course, Van needs to know. With how often Elric seems to become mortally injured, I can hardly imagine how his father keeps a level head."

"With immense strength of character," Snape guessed, continuing to hack away the Dark Magic permeating Ed's tattered body. He heard McGonagall close the door, leaving the barrier effectively sealed. Eventually, Ed stirred as the effects of the potion began to wear off. However, the typical moaning of a sleepy riser quickly devolved into the pained and panicked whimpering of a traumatized child. The sound of what was left of Ed's voice was terribly pitiful.

"Elric?" Severus ventured. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, but the physical contact triggered further terror in the blonde. His eyes flew open and darted around the unfamiliar room, bloodshot and glazed, as if he wasn't even seeing the real world. He tried to roll over, but Severus held him down and spoke calmly, even though he was almost certain that the boy couldn't understand a word. "Edward, listen to me. You're safe now. Just lie still; you need rest."

After several minutes of struggle, Snape managed to administer more of the sleeping draft, and Ed slowly sank back into sleep. Even after his head slumped onto the low pillow, his human hand remained clenched around a fistful of the Potions Master's robes. Snape slowly loosened the boy's fingers and set the limb back on the mattress. Almost as an afterthought, he gave the now-limp hand a reassuring squeeze. "You'll be all right," he found himself whispering. "It will take more than Dolores Umbridge to keep you down, if I remember the extent of your stubbornness correctly. What with this Promised Day looming ever closer, I know you'll want to be fit enough to take part in the action, but that means you need to rest now." Patting the golden head, he breathed, "Just trust me, Edward, all right?"

The boy let loose a soft sigh in his sleep, which brought Severus a margin of comfort despite its purely coincidental occurrence. He then returned to his task of healing the young alchemist's wounds and hoped that Ed's mental damage would be more mendable than his physical injuries. If that were not the case… this would be a long endeavor indeed.

A/N: So much torture *evil laugh*

In order to make this chapter long enough, I tried ramping up my amount of description. Is it too much? Please tell me, if it is, and I'll cut back in subsequent chapters. Or, if you like the extra narration and description, please tell me so I'll remember to keep it up in the remaining chapters.

I looked up Homenum Revelio on the Harry Potter Wiki to check, and it says that this spell most likely does not detect the presence of anything other than humans.

Yes, Madam Pomfrey's first name is Poppy.

I would think that part of the Cruciatus Curse's punch is that it makes recovery from its effects difficult after long exposure. It kind of ties in with the whole torture theme…

I guess you're going to see some more parental!Severus fluff ~ heeeeee