Ron, being the only one believing he had any thing to look forward to, was the first of the trio up on Christmas. He had wasted no time in bounding to Harry's bed, wide awake from the moment his eyes snapped open, and shaking his shoulder until he was pulled roughly from both his peaceful sleep and the warm embrace of his duvet. He fell to the floor with a loud thud and a louder groan. It was incoherent but Ron assumed he had at least intended for the weird grunt to mean "Why?"

So he answered the question he believed that he was being asked. "Presents!" he exclaimed, no willing to spend any more time sitting around and doing nothing.

Harry went wide eyed, staring at his friend with emerald eyes still blurred from sleep, fluttering closed and forcefully pulled open. "I have presents?" He never got presents with the Dursleys, not for Christmas nor his birthday.

Ron excitedly nodded and led Harry to both piles. There was a significantly larger pile addressed to Ron than him but he was not surprised and was very surprised by how much he had actually received. But then he paused, halfway to grabbing at a squishy-looking gift. "Ed!"

"Huh?" Ron spoke through a mouth of chocolate.

"Edward Elric." He spoke slowly, deliberately, as though speaking to a young child.

"Wha'abou' 'im?" Ron was shoving the other half of the chocolate frog into his mouth, more interesting in eating the large pile of sweets that sat in front of him, they hadn't been wrapped, than talking to Harry.

"Should we go and get him?"

"How? We don' know how to ge' into the Slytherin Common Room and it's not like he'll be up yet anyway."

"You sure, do you not remember that torturous jog?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. I s'pose it won't hurt to try." He conceded with a grimace left on his face from the mere idea of that jog.

As it would turn out, they didn't have to worry about their inability to get into the Slytherin Common Room. They met Ed on their way. He was wearing the outfit he had been when Harry had first met him as well as the one he had been wearing when he had seen him on the train again. harry was beginning to think he probably just had few copies of it. He was shivering, cheeks flushed red, eyes watering, hands shaking and lips chapped with cold. He let out a heavy breath, clouding the air before him and allowing them to witness as it moved and left. As they neared Harry could see that the coat was slightly different, thicker and rimmed with fleece as though it had been made for the winter. The gloves he wore were thicker too.

Ron smiled, a little awkwardly, as he realised that he never really spoke to Ed about anything but homework or classwork without Hermione's presence. "Merry Christmas." He wasn't sure what else he could say, he was aware that Ed didn't celebrate the holiday but it really seemed to be the only thing that came to mind quick enough.

He was rather surprised to see Ed smile slightly "Thanks, you too. Same to you Harry. Would you believe that I actually got presents?"

Ron nodded, knowing that one was probably from his own mother as he had mentioned his unlikely friendship with the Slytherin a fair few times in his letters. "Of course I would!"

Harry smiled in agreement before awkwardly launching them into a conversation that he felt they would all be able to participate in equally. Harry wasn't quite sure how but they had found themselves subconsciously wandering back towards the Gryffindor Common Room. save the remaining Weasleys, they had it to themselves and Ed was glad, no more rumours for at least a brief while. He could sit in the large, warm, comfortable room and enjoy himself for the first time in one of his visits. He laughed at Fred and George as they paraded around in each other's traditional Weasley Christmas jumpers, jumping over furniture and setting up pranks for their friends when they got back after the half term. Harry had been shocked to see that he had also got one of the same jumpers and, after Percy had generously cast a summoning charm to bring Ed's gifts to where he was, so was Ed. Ed had to smile, the black jumper with his first initial emblazoned in red smelt familiar, like the family he had missed for years. He had swapped his coat for the jumper and was wallowing in the familiarity of the scent.

Wool was something he was familiar with because he grew up in a farming town. The scent was grounding, a change from the constant wandering that he had been dong since gaining his state qualification. Ron watched as both he and Harry seemed entirely miffed at receiving the same thing that he got every year and never really thought about much. He didn't understand how hey could be so surprised, harry that he had got a gift and Ed at the way Mrs. Weasley, a woman he had never even met, already reminded him a fair bit of his own mother.

Ed supposed that Christmas was quite a bit like the Summer Solstice festivals he had attended as a young child in Resembool, gifts and family, enjoyment that spread between everyone from family to strangers (not that there were many in a town as small as the one he considered his own). He didn't know how much he had missed celebrations like that one until he was pushed into the midst of one. That at was one of the best he had had in a while, it seemed that even the deep set ache he felt in his ports had decided to leave that day, despite the bitter cold.

Harry had received a rather strange present, one from an anonymous sender, that none of the Weasleys, well versed in the culture of the British magical society, were unsurprised to see: a cloak of invisibility. Initially it had been a thing to laugh at, to think of just how they could reap the benefits of it. But then Ed had began to think a bit like Mustang, he wondered just what, should he be able to find his own to bring 'home' that would do to his success rate on his missions. Thinking of the bastard, Ed's mind wandered to the Amestrian military and whether those outside of Mustang's squad had caught word of this development yet. he supposed it all may just have been grounds for a promotion.

Quickly, he ditched the train of thought. He watched it fall for miles, never hitting the floor of the dark pit he had quickly thrown it into. He wouldn't say he liked Mustang and was even less likely to admit that he, even if only momentarily, had begun to think like him. he snapped himself promptly back into the reality unravelling in front of him and all of its joyousness. Maybe, just maybe, he'd have to bring back the celebration with him to celebrate with Al and his friends from the military, including Hughes' daughter who was already fast approaching the first anniversary of her birth.

At some point, as the day progressed onwards, they had all fallen outside in a disorganized huddle, bar Percy who had opted to remain inside to study. It had been George's idea and they had all agreed - they were going o play outside in the snow like little children. In Resembool snow was a hard thing to come by, Ed had seen t maybe once in his life before coming to England, and Ron had been rather shocked at having to explain so much as the rules and concept of a snowball fight to him.

At the beginning the snow was marred by only a thin line of footsteps lined the grounds, slowly filling again as the snow continued to fall around them, and the fresh ones that trailed them. The pure white gleamed underneath the bright but cool sun that beamed down at them from the ghostly pale blue of the sky that stretched for miles above, marred by clouds that were dulled by the pearly blanket that crunched underfoot. By the end the snow had been stacked messily into several poorly constructed shields of sorts that stood at different heights and thicknesses swell as a few, perfectly built and structurally strong, built by Ed's casual use of alchemy. None of them had ever seen him use the ancient power before and had been semi surprised that the jagged zig-zags of piercing blue light that flashed across the snow that they had made uneven didn't even begin to melt it. They had all been fascinated until he used it to form functioning weapons that launched snowballs their way, such as a large canon that had buried Harry almost entirely under three shots. hen Fred and George just pretended to be pissed off, seeing as they had, too, lost to him, but secretly they thought of just how they would be able to use the power.

They moved inside again once people had begun to sneeze, sniffling and shivering. The snowflakes that had danced through the air now posed in everyone's hair, glittering along the length of Ed's braid as it slowly came loose. After they stepped back into the candlelight hallways of their grand school they began to melt fast, dripping from the ends of their hair and onto their backs, melting into the clothes where they had covered them completely beforehand. For all except Ed the snow seeped through the material of their shoes, leaking in frm both above and, in Ron's case, through the tattered lining of the stitching by the sole.

Thy had all rushed to the showers and turned on the hot water. Ed could feel the heat soaking into his ports from the moment he had tuned it on, melting the slight amount of tension that he began to build and soothing the omnipotent stinging of the scars.

That night harry ad put the cloak to use, not taking Ron with him as the other boy had been asleep and it had just seemed right to do it that way. Hogwarts was dark, not entirely but lit only by gentle lamplight that allowed teachers without the curse of a curfew to find their way among the many twists and turns. He slipped into the library noiselessly, barely registering the all-too-familiar sight of the main section a he headed straight to the bordered off restricted section that he had never gained permission to enter. Sucking I a breath and trapping it in his lungs, he stepped over the red rope that hung at about his mid thigh at its lowest point and hoped he would not knock the metal posts that suspended it there from either side. As his first foot hit solid ground he only sucked in more air and felt his chest grown tight and painful. With the placing of the second he expelled the air all a once, feeling his lungs retract and the pain diminish with a sense of relief.

He strolled through the isles, lit lamp in hand and cloak draped over his head. There were a few instances here he could very easily see why they were kept in that section of the library and not the one that he was actually allowed in.

He was lost among the strange titles and strange qualities the books possessed, wishing he had Ed with him, or, at the very least, Ed's knowledge - all of it.

Innocently, he had clasped the spine f a book in his hand. It was untitled. he pulled it from the shelf quickly and couldn't cover his ears as it fell into his hand. It began to shriek, that awful screaming that hurts the ears and passes on emotion like a contagious disease. it was a pitiful noise, high and shrill, but he had to escape it as quickly a he possibly could.

Filch's voice was rounding the corner. His own lantern was the source behind an eerie orange glow that filled Harry's eyes with a piercing sting. His shadow loomed, taller than his frame and slimmer, jagged and sharp at the edges.

Trapped with no other options, harry dropped both things in his hands to the floor. the book did not stop screaming as it hit the floor with a flat bang. The lantern went out, smashing upon contact and scattering tiny fractals of glass as far as the eye could see. he sent a moment looking from side to side before pulling the cloak over his head again, for it had slipped when things began to go wrong, and ran.

He bolted down the halls until he didn't know where he was anymore, the corridors at Hogwarts were confusing to navigate but he, mostly, know where he was going by now. He was lost and still half convinced that he could hear Mr. Norris' informative mewing somewhere no too far into the distance. he saw only one option; he slipped through the sole door in the corridor and pressed his back to he door, feeling his lungs ache again.

The room seemed to have once been a classroom but t was clear it was no longer in use. Dust covered everything like the snow over the ground outside and something that clearly did not belong in a classroom stood in the room.

The mirror glinted gold beneath the dust and, with one last aural check for Filch or his demon cat, harry walked towards it. His feet unsettled the dust beneath them and he thought of just how strange it was hat he was reminded so strongly of the fun afternoon when he was as scared as he was. he felt his breath tremble on both its way out and in, the uneven noise accompanied by the deliberately slow footsteps he simply could not completely silence.

He stopped a few feet from the glass, completely clouded over with dust, and looked straight forwards. he couldn't see himself, there was no reflection held in that glass. Timidly he extended a hand before him and wiped away the screen of dust, revealing his reflection.

But there was a little more to it.

He didn't remember his parents but he knew that the man and woman who stood to either side of him, hands rested on his shoulders and smiling like the perfect parents he was sure they would have been, were them. His dad looked a lot like him, just larger and without the wire framed glasses Hermione had fixed for him, and his mum, with her sleek red hair, looked a lot less like him. However, the eyes he saw shining out of her face were definitely his.

He didn't understand what he was seeing and sitting before the mirror, legs crossed at the ankles and knees pulled up beneath his chin, didn't lead him to discovering. Eventually, breath still shaky even if for an entirely new reason, he stood and left.

All the while Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore watched. Things were stating to fall into place. The assembly of the puzzle had only just began.

A/N I am so sorry for the millennia this took me to upload, I don't have a great excuse my motivation to do anything at all productive left me and my wifi decided it would enjoy screwing up. What can you do? I digress...

I've gotten a couple of reviews asking abut pairings for the later books (since I mentioned plans to turn this into series) and I want to now what people think. Should I keep it gen? keep it canon? Or are there other pairings that people would like to see? In no way, shape or form do I claim to be a spectacular romance writer so it wouldn't be anything major but it would still be there. So, if you have any particularly strong feelings on the matter feel free to PM me or leave a review telling me what you think I should do. You can request that I don't put any romance, that I keep things canon or that I insert a pairing (of your choice) and I'll go with the majority. that said, I will not be writing pairings that I feel are kind of unhealthy. Ifyou want an explanation on this, again, leave it in a review or Pm, and I'll explain.

Well, that's that.

~We'reAllABitOdd