Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter, as well as any other songs or other character references made in this story.

© Fullmetal Alchemist – Hiromo Arakawa

© Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling

Fullmetal Alchemist

And the

Crimson Stone

A Fan Fiction Fusion

By

Tattoo Alchemist

Chapter 5: Sandra Locke

Ed came out of the potions class feeling very miserable at the thoughts and memories that were brought up by Professor Snape's Question. Each time he heard that man's voice play over and over in his head he grew even angrier at him. It wasn't like it was with Colonel Mustang, he only got on Ed's nerves, but Snape had managed to get under Ed's skin like a splinter that he can't pull out but can't ignore. The whole time that he came out of the dungeons, he never looked up, all he looked at was the stone floor and the other students robes, until his new friends came up on either side of him.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron complemented Ed.

"What?" Ed asked as he looked up at them.

"The way you stood up to Snape," A new voice spoke and Ed looked to where the voice came from and it was a young girl. She was a Gryffindor, by the look of her robes, she had bright red hair, but it wasn't wavy like Ron's, it was straight as it came down around her neck and shinned even in low light of the dungeons.

"No one's ever answered Snape's questions like that," the red hair girl told Ed cheerfully, "Even that comment at the end, he just had that coming."

"I guess," Ed had replied.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Oh," The girl smiled as she blushed, "I'm Sandra Locke, fourth year Gryffindor, and that was incredible with what you said to Snape. So it is true what they're saying that you're a prodigy, Edward."

Ed could feel his spirits lifting a little as he had managed to gain some level of bragging rights with the other students. He even smiled about it in the same way that he did when he heard people telling stories of Edward Elric, hero of the people. He lifted his head a little as he walked with his new group of friends to the Great Hall where lunch was being served.

"You could say that I'm a prodigy," Ed had answered Sandra's question.

As they sat down at the Gryffindor table Ed felt like a celebrity as Sandra had asked the questions that were on the students minds. Ed blushed as the other students gathered around to hear his answers.

"Were you like this back at your school?" Sandra asked.

"My school?" Ed asked, but then quickly realized his cover and tried to cover up his little error, "Oh yes! My school! The Alchemy Academy! I'm pretty well known there, they call me the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Why do they call you Fullmetal?" Hermoine asked.

Ed looked down at his gloved hand and quickly thought that he couldn't' tell them the full story of how and why he got his name. He paused for a moment and thought that he should tell only half-truths.

"You see," Ed explained, "At my academy when one enters it, they're given a symbolic second name, depending upon your talents."

"So you can do things with metal?" Ron asked

Ed gave a very sheepish grin, "Something like that."

"The way you make it sound," Sandra interjected, "the academy must be pretty exclusive."

"Yeah, it is," Ed nodded as he took a jug of pumpkin juice and a piece of chicken with some mashed potatoes, "Each year, more than a dozen people apply and only one or two get in."

"One or two out of that many?" Harry asked sounding astonished at the level of selectivity not knowing the full truth of what Ed was telling.

"That's right," Ed continued, "First is a written exam, then an interview, and then a practical exam."

"We all know that Hermione would pass the written exam," Ron smirked as he nudged his thumb to Hermione who looked a little irritated as she sipped her pumpkin juice. She looked like she had a snappy comeback to Ron, but instead she looked at Edward with a rather suspicious look in her eye.

"You still haven't answered why they gave you the name Fullmetal"

"Well…" Ed paused as he scratched the back of his head, "I think that's a story for another time."

Ed continued to eat his lunch, but couldn't escape that look that Hermione had. His heart raced as he thought that perhaps she had the idea that she knew that Ed wasn't telling the whole storey. He tried to put it out of his mind by getting more chicken, mashed potatoes, and pouring himself more pumpkin juice –which he found sweetly refreshing.

"Why do you wear those gloves?" Sandra asked

Ed answered simply, "That also is a long story."

After lunch, other classes, and dealing with the questions from the other students about him and his academy, Ed had at last reached the Hogwarts Library. The place was immense, almost as large as the library at Central Headquarters, but there was the librarian there who was keeping everyone as quiet as humanly possible by scouting from table to table like a prison guard. It had annoyed Ed after about the fourth or fifth time that the old woman had told someone to be quiet or gave a quick "shhh!" but he kept himself occupied by reminding himself that he had a job to do.

When going on a search like the one that Ed was doing, the hours of the day seem to pass more easily than water from a jug. Yet, his search had yielded nothing at all, and it wouldn't be a lie to say that Ed had some expectations that he would be able to find the book and escape the school. The minute that he thought about "escaping the school" he remembered his homework along from the increasingly disdainful Snape. It was then that Ed decided to take his mind off the search for a while by going into his homework. Admittedly, it wasn't the best way he would have chosen to pass the time, but he had a reputation to keep as a prodigy. What made the homework assignments annoying even more was the fact that they were on rolls of parchment instead of flat paper.

"Real medievalism this is," Edward commented aloud before being assaulted with a loud "Shhh!" from the librarian. After she walked by, Ed had last word with himself, "I rest my case."

It annoyed Ed even further when he was writing with his feathered quill, between keeping the parchment flattened, the feather rubbing against his face, and having to refill his quill tip every few sentences. He started to wonder how in the hell anyone can write in this fashion. It even occurred to him that he should write to Alphonse and have him send a box of notebooks, pens, pencils, and erasers.

As he came to the end of the fifth roll of parchment, Ed was starting to feel thankful, that his arm was auto-mail, or his fingers probably wouldn't have had the strength to hold the quill once again. On the other hand, he was glad that he was finished; it meant that he could resume his search for Flamel's book.

Once again, Edward was frustrated by finding nothing there, but had this been a normal search he could have asked the librarian. Unfortunately, it wasn't a normal search as Ed's mind poured over the possibilities and he was back to the proverbial square one.

Eventually, Edward had found himself in a single corner in the library where the books were as old as the others but their care was severely poor. Some of the book bindings were missing, some had bent corners on their covers, and others had stains on them like people had spilled ink, coffee, juice, or whatever else onto them. Yet, that wasn't what brought Ed to that assortment of tattered books. He reached up and pulled a tattered leather-bound book and read its title.

"Beginning Alchemy," He read in his mind then scoffed, "Do they even teach alchemy at this backward nation?"

He turned to put the book back into its place when another hand had reached out in front of his face to retrieve a book from the shelf. Turning his head slowly to the right, he found the smiling face of the girl who lifted his spirits, Sandra Locke.

"Hi…" she smiled at Ed and blushed a little, but keeping her voice low so as not to attract the librarian.

Even though Ed tried to deny it to himself later on, but he did feel himself blush just for a moment when Sandra smiled at him. Still looking at that smile that she had, he took his hand away from the shelf, and he noticed that there was something so warming about the way that she looked at him. He couldn't figure it out at first because she whispered a question that brought him out of his daze.

"You're looking for alchemy books too?" she whispered.

"What?" Ed had asked inquiring what Sandra had meant.

"These books," she referred, "They're all about alchemy and you came from the Alchemy Academy in Amestris, right?"

"Yes," Ed had answered being leery and cautions, 'but why do you ask?"

"I find alchemy to be fascinating," Sandra smiled and had a look in her eyes that make him think of his mechanic, Winry, when she entered a parts shop.

"You do?" Ed asked, "Don't they teach it here?"

"Oh no," Sandra shook her head, "Alchemy is pretty advanced magic around here."

"It's not magic!" Ed bellowed, "it's science!"

"SHHHH!" The annoyed sound came from Miss Price as she passed by the bookshelves.

"Sorry…" Ed apologized as he grinned sheepishly while he got a very nasty glare from Miss Price who continued on with her book sorting and left Ed with Sandra who continued their conversation in cautious whispering.

"I was saying," Sandra continued, "That alchemy is so advanced that not very many people in England can do it. Just between you and me, I think it's either because they're too dependant on their wands or too lazy to draw transmutation circles. Besides, the only Alchemist in England is Nicholas Flamel and he's too old to teach anyone."

"Really?" Ed asked acting surprised to hear such a thing.

"Yeah," Sandra answered, "So, I've been trying to learn alchemy on my own but the books here are so…old…"

Ed had to agree, "Yes, they are," but then he had to add, "In my country books like this can be bought as easily as food."

There was a momentary pause between them until Sandra's face grew a great smile, one that seemed to say that she knew a great secret that she was about to tell.

"I got an idea," She happily whispered.

Ed listened feeling a little confused by what Sandra was about to ask next.

"How about you teach me alchemy?"

"What?" Ed asked

"Sure," Sandra smiled, "I mean they say you're a prodigy and you come from the Alchemy Academy. You'd be perfect for it."

Upon hearing this, Edward could feel a very familiar stab of pain in his heart. The pain was coupled with a memory so vivid and fresh that his senses could feel sensations within that memory. It was the memory of Amrony, the girl from Heissgart, the girl who became his apprentice in alchemy, and she was the girl with the single wing.

As Ed thought about the memory of Heisgart, he felt like crying once again, he could even feel his eyes start to water, but he tried not to release them. It was not the time or the place to allow such a thing to happen, and it was with that memory that he gave his answer to Sandra Locke.

"I'm sorry," He apologized at first, "But I cannot teach you alchemy."

Ed already knew what the next response would be.

"Why not?" Sandra had asked with a very pitiful look on her face like a child wanting extra dessert.

Ed took a deep breath still feeling the stab in his chest and the water swelling in his eyes. He couldn't look at Sandra with that look in her eyes that was so much like Armony He turned away, sniffled and tired to find a way out of the discussion. All he knew was that he couldn't be around Sandra for another minute.

"I have to go," He said as he ducked out of Sandra's company and out of the library. He had no idea where he was going but all he wanted more than anything was to get away from that memory.

For the rest of the day, Ed had avoided speaking to anyone at all, if he could help it. The memory of Heissgart that was brought on by Sandra Locke became another splinter in his mind that he couldn't ignore. He found his mind wandering from time to time from one class until the next. At last it was all done and Ed certainly had a pile of work cut out for him from his first day of classes. In a way he was thankful for it since it had allowed him to get his mind away from what had happened earlier in the library.

Ed spent the remainder of the day in the common room with his other fellow Gryffindors, but he didn't know who was there, for just like most of that day, he avoided looking at the other students. It got to the pint when the sunlight was fading outside the windows, most of the other Gryffindors had returned to their dorms, and Ed needed something else to do.

His thoughts came back to his home and he thought about those weekly reports that he had to make to Roy Mustang. He took out a roll of parchment and began to write out the report. There really wasn't that much to tell Mustang aside from the facts that he'd successfully entered the school with little suspicion and that he had not found Flamel's journal yet. In short, it was a good news/bad news kind of report. Still, Ed didn't care, because it helped take his mind off of Sandra Locke.

He managed to write out at least three rolls of parchment that contained his report. There was the hope in a small fashion if Roy Mustang didn't mind the medieval type of writing craft that Ed had to use. Then he shrugged it off thinking that really it's not his fault that he has to use quills and parchment, so Colonel Mustang will just have to deal with it.

After writing the report, Ed then thought about his brother Alphonse. At that thought, he took out another roll of parchment and started to write his letter to his brother:

Dear Alphonse,

The moment he wrote those words he couldn't figure out what to put down next, so he decided to write that.

I'm not sure how to write this letter, because this is the first time that we've been apart from each other since we started our search. I know that in order for us to reach our goals we have to do what we can. I also know that's not much comfort when I'm in this country and so far from home.

This place is weird. The world of these "wizards" is both hidden and exposed, such as the Hogwarts Express, it can be reached by walking through a wall between Platforms 9 and 10. As crazy as that sounds, it's true. Even this place that's in the middle of nowhere, Hogwarts, is the most unusual of places I've ever visited.

The place really is childish what with this Sorting Ceremony I had to go through. I had to sit on a stool and had a talking hat placed on my head and tell me which "house" I belonged to. The houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, it feels like there are four schools even though we're all under one roof. It still sounds childish, but it's a school so I guess it's supposed to be.

Even what they study here…magic…you will not believe the things that I had to listen to, Al. Everything that they teach here disobeys the laws that we were taught. It's as if the laws of Equivalent Exchange cease to exist in these castle walls. I saw a woman tap an animal with a wooden wand and turn it into an object. How can this be without any equivalence! None of it makes any sense! If such things are possible, then why are people like you and I suffering for our mistake?

There is one good thing that has come from me coming to this unusually childish place, and it's not the journal that I haven't found. I've met some people. They're names are Ron Weasley, Hermoine Granger, and Harry Potter. I'll tell you more about them in the next letter. I hope to hear from you soon.

Your Brother,

Edward Elric

To Be Continued…