A/N: So it's delayed a bit. And..it's shorter. I also moved the story along, as well as making something of a point. Alas, I think its best to end the chappy here before things get too confusing... Mostly Ed's POV anyway.

I don't want to loose my readers, afterall. Thanks for the reviews!


Harry stared at the dents across the table as he picked at his food. He glanced to Ron, who chewed his bread with deliberate slowness, then watched Hermione twirl her fork through the mashed potatoes on her plate. Across from him sat Sirius ..who silently watched as he maneuvered a pea out of his view.

It had been nearly a day already since Lupin had rushed out down the stairs with Ed draped in his arms, and Harry had shared what he knew with Ron that night, and Hermione in the morning. Then, soon enough, the news had spread across the rest in the house.

He heard the door to the kitchen open, and his stomach sank into an icy pit as he watched how slowly Lupin moved. The sickly looking former professor looked even more pale than usual, and there were definite puffy bags beneath his kind, rather bloodshot eyes.

Lupin looked at Harry with a rather sorrowful expression, and took a breath.

"He's alive. " Lupin said as he turned to hang his coat.

"How could you ..You know he's.. what he is..! A-and at 's.." Hermione said. "They'll take away.. us.. Hogwarts.. everything.."

Lupin tiredly raised his hand and patted the air.

"I know, believe me." he said. "I fear there was little choice."

"'Ione." Harry said softly. "You didn't see.."

"Just. Feels like we're losing a friend." Hermione said as she fiddled some more with her potatoes.

"Yeah." Harry said and looked down a moment.

"Well for..." Mrs. Weasley said, face full of worry as she gave them all a brave little smile. She settled down before her plate at the end of the table. "I'm sure it'll all work out...After all, they are caring for Arthur there."


Ed awoke laying flat on his back. Shivering slightly. All over. Then there was the pain from his burns.. stoOopidly ripped opened burns..

Pain, cold, and various aches aside, the first thing Ed was aware of was the smell. That alone told him loads, and he didn't have of open his eyes to figure out where he was. From experience, he knew hospitals all have that distinctive reek to them.

The second thing he noticed was how very very quiet it was. None of those beeping noises or the whirlings of "blood machines" or the other various noises of things he didn't know off hand just what they were supposed to do in here.

He heard someone snoring. Loudly. Hard to tell just how far away.

There were also footsteps, and a too familiar scribbling sound, like writing on a clipboard.

Then, he felt the pressure of a hand that made him wince as it brushed against the wound on his chest.

"Good. Good." A rather deep female voice said nearby. "Now we can get some answers."

"What he needs is rest, ma'am." A young man's voice said, which sounded like it was right next him. "These wounds.."

"And we need to determine what happened to manage his proper..uh..treatments.. The fellow that brought him in wasn't all that helpful." The deep voiced woman cleared her throat. "Now...sweetie.."

"I have a name, voman." Ed said as he cracked his eyes open. The room was lit rather strangely..something like candle light.

"...Dearling," the low voiced woman said in a soothing tone one would use for a two year old. Ed wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I would rather appreciate it if you would...tell us what happened to you."

Ed glared at the woman as he shivered. She was a rather dumpy type, gray hair woven in a bun, and wearing a dark green robe. It was she that carried the clipboard.

"Fukking freezing in here." Ed grumbled in Amestrian and looked down at himself. He saw a mess of bandages on his front.. quite a few of which looked to be soaked through with fluid. He was in only his boxers, and there was not a blanket or even a sheet in sight. Then, he felt a hum deep in his chest.

"Um..ma'am..I believe he's too injured..to um..be questioned right now." Ed glanced at him quickly, saw brown eyes, brown hair, and the same lime green sort of robe he saw earlier on that woman somewhere downstairs.

Ed widened his eyes and watched as 'brownie' waved his wand over him. He made something of an effort to sit himself up, but only managed to his elbows before the pain made him stop and gasp.

"Hold it..Don't move too much..we only just now stopped the bleeding..." The young man said with splayed hand held over Ed's chest.

"Maybe a jinx....?" the young man said softly. "..lots of residue..hard to tell for sure."

"No..iz..iz my prosthetics ..All steel.." Ed said between his chattering teeth. 'Brownie' narrowed his eyes as he looked at him, then to the exposed metal arm bolted to his shoulder.

Ed narrowed his eyes and in an offended tone, continued loudly. "Vaat..?! You did not tink I vould be kold in vroom like dis..?!"

"Don't interfere with my duties, healer-trainee..." The woman interrupted imperiously. "Besides, it feels perfectly fine in here.."

Ed instantly disliked the woman, and his continued shivering caused the plates on his right to jingle musically.. an effect that nicely drowned out the woman's voice.

"For you and me.. even that poor Muggle snoring over there... Accio blankets.."

Ed watched, unsurprised by now, as blankets flew from the cupboards by the door and draped over him up to his chest. He glanced to 'brownie' as the young man glared at 'dumpy'.

"...And I won't interfere with your duties, madam, so long as you don't interfere with mine."

"You are making this much harder for me than you.." 'Dumpy' looked at Ed in astonishment. "wait..did he..just. Now hold on.. He his far too familiar with magic to be..."

"Who de fukk are you..?" Ed said, in careful English, as he switched his glare between the two.

"..And...Those eyes..." She said softly, ignoring Ed's words entirely. "Although it certainly wouldn't be the first time a squib was sent in here by someone's fortunate mistake ..I'll check up front before I proceed." She glanced to 'brownie' and strode off out the door. Ed snorted at her departure, very much unimpressed.

"You do not know how to care for my needs, den I must go somevhere dhat does." Ed said as he looked at 'brownie'. "Vhere de shit are my clothes..?"

"M-my..apologies...Mr. um..Elric, is it? You really should stay here. We are professionals here at St Mungo's." 'Brownie' said while patting the air. "It's simply that we haven't ever had a case quite like yours. Even my master hasn't seen a leg like that in all the years he has been a master healer, much less that arm. Um.. are they truly Muggle made?"

Ed snuggled down into the warmth offered by the blankets.

"Iz obvious. Have goot mechanic should I have need of repairink." Ed made as though he thought a moment. "Come to tink of it.. I do need some tuning up."

"Tooning up..? Whatever is..."

Ed sighed an exasperated sigh.

"Dere iz a phone here, vright?"

"Um.. a..foon? What's a ..oh..wait...Right. I'll be right back with one.."

Ed waited until 'brownie' swung the door shut behind him, then struggled to sit up. He felt a hum briefly and judged it to be from around the door.

'Locking charm.' Ed thought with a glance. 'Has to be.. No way would they let us "poor Muggles" loose in this place.'

He knew he didn't have much time.

Carefully holding the bandage at his chest, he rose to sit up, swung his feet over the side of the bed, and stood. After but a moment, he pulled off a blanket and wrapped it about himself like a cloak.

Walking proved to be a challenge, but he managed a sort of shuffle with all the grace of an old man, accompanied with little dizziness at all.

Balanced equation shining in his mind, he slapped his palms together, and touched the wall by his bed. He released the warming energy, and blue arcs of lighting ran along the wall to the door. In moments it was neatly merged with the wall, as if it had never existed at all.

"Chew on that, you arrogant snots." Ed said in Amestrian.

Ed then shuffled his way to the bed of the other occupant in the room, and eased himself down on the visitor's chair.

Beyond the wall he could hear panicked yelling, but he looked at the snoring man. He appeared to be a large mound of flesh beneath blankets, with multiple chins on what he could see on his pudgy, pale face. There was hardly any hair to speak of on his head, and a rather thick unibrow scrawled across the man's forehead.

"You can stop now." Ed said dryly. "I know you avake."


"I, for one, want to go for a visit..before they.. do.. anything to him." Harry said. "Today."

"You can't." Moody growled.

"Why not?" Hermione said. "It's not like he's not gone there before or anything..! We'll just need some escorts like last time and.."

"Muggles.. are never allowed visitors." Lupin said and looked down as he swallowed. "I discovered that for myself, just before I left."

"WHAT?!" Harry heard more than just his voice. Hermione, Ron..and even Mrs. Weasley had expressed their outrage. Combined, they had been loud enough to awaken Mrs. Black in the hall.

"Not surprising, really. Basic wizard security measures:" Moody said crisply. "Make as little contact with Muggles as possible."

Harry had to swallow his bile.

"I don't care..!" Harry said vehemently. "He's..!"

"He's fine for now." Lupin said with a raised hand.

"At least,..tell me you're doing..something..for Ed? I know he's not a member of the.." Harry said.

"Dumbledore's orders." Moody muttered breezily, and sipped his butterbeer. "Are for me to keep you safe, Harry. You are not to get involved. Besides, this is strictly Order business. Now."

Harry leaned back into his chair and stared, wide eyed, at the dents in the table.


"Wha.. huh?" The man said intelligently, as he cracked open a dark..nearly black...eye. "What's my tell, kid..?"

"Pfft. You snore needs much vork. Too nasal." Ed said with a crafty smirk.

"Nice arm. Must've cost a fortune." The man said as he eyed what he could see. Ed snorted, and pulled the blanket closer about himself as he shivered. "You can move it that much? Wow.. that mechanic guy of yours is sure to make a gold mine...!"

"I am getting myself out of here, vright now, and to some vreal care." Ed said as he leveled his gaze at the man. "I vant to know if you trust dese... nize people vith de pointy sticks."

"Not by a brass farthing." The man said instantly "Woke up here after ..well it's going to sound like I'm insane but it really happened..." The man looked over to where the door was supposed to be. "Geez..I really must be blooming crazy...! That door was..!"

"You are NOT crazy." Ed said in a low soft voice. "I did dat to de door to keep dem out, but it vill not last long. Now, do you vant to get out of here, or vhat?"

The man looked wide eyed back at Ed, face full of fear.

"You..you're just like them?!?"

Ed wrinkled his nose.

"No. I am scientist." Ed said flatly. "You are familiar vith advanced particle physics and non-eucleadian forms in crystaline chemistry, yes?"

The fear on the man's face faded somewhat, but Ed saw his eyes were rather glazed over. Ed nodded a small nod.

"Full explanations vill have to vait. We have to get out of..."

"But.. um.. my fingers ...they said they'd regrow them for me..." The man said wistfully as he raised his heavily bandaged hand. Ed frowned as he saw that 3 fingers were missing. "I was hoping ...y'know.."

Ed rubbed the lower portion of his face with his left hand.

"I fully understand if you do not vish to miss out on dis chance...for a full restoration." Ed said. "But you should, at de least, know of de price..."

After Ed hurriedly explained what that would be, the man sat back in thought. Ed glanced to the wall where the door once was. The yelling had died down quite a bit, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Hell of a choice." The man said dully. "I..I'm sorry. I need my hand back. I. I have to stay..." Ed then flicked his eyes back to the man and rose to his feet.

"Vhere is it dat dey placed de toilet?" Ed said.

"Oh..that's just over there.." The man indicated vaguely with a wave.

Ed nodded and, with a heavy heart, shuffled off, blanket wrapped tightly about his still shivering self. Just as he closed the door, he heard several distinctive popping noises just beyond the threshhold.

There was the unmistakable hum deep in his chest...

'Not right ..It's not fair...It's not right...' Ed thought as he glanced to the door. He swallowed his bile.

He was in no shape to fight.. He HAD to honor the man's wishes.

There was a muffled cry of "Obliviate!", and Ed grimmaced, knowing now that the man in the bed would not remember much at all.

Without further hesitation, he slapped his palms together and reached for a wall.. Balanced equation shining in his mind, he released the warming energy as soon as his hand brushed against the tile. Blue lighting arched and a deafening boom followed as the floor opened up before him in a neat circle..the extra matter joined with the door to make a solid wall behind him --just as the door knob rattled to life.

With a quick glance to be sure there was no one below him, he then slapped his hands together once more and had the equation lower him to the room below. Another slap, and the floor sealed itself back up above him.

He then gathered his blanket, turned about and opened the bathroom door. With a smirk and a friendly wave to the room's occupant, and nurse? -- who knew what the lime green robed ones did -- he shuffled his way down the sparsely populated hall.

Wishing all the while, with every pain filled step, that he was fully healed so he could really kick some wizard ass.

"Arrogant fucktards." Ed muttered angrily in Amestrian as he entered the stairwell, kicking the door dully with his left.