A/n- sorry for the cliffy and the delayed update. I'M ALMOST TO 100 PAGES!!! LET'S HEAR IT!!! (cheers)

Chapter 24- Arrival

Ed stared in shock at the place Al had been standing and the image faded due to lack of concentration.

He was snapped out of it by a tremor that shook the foundations of Hogwarts. The occupants of the Gryffindor boys' dorm, being awake by now from Harry's screams and the event succeeding it, grabbed on to the closest sturdy object at hand; several collapsed anyway, including Ed, who hadn't had the time.

A minute passed, then two. Slowly and cautiously, Gryffindors made their way to the common room and sunk into couches dazed. Harry, Ron, and Ed met up with Hermione, who was in a panic from the shockwave.

"What was that!?" she fretted, "I thought Hogwarts was protected against earthquakes and the like! I've never even heard of earthquakes taking place in England before!!"

"Hermione, calm down!" Harry half-ordered, "There's something we have to tell you."

They had barely finished their story when Professor McGonagall stepped hurriedly through the portal hole.

"Edward Elric!" she called, continuing when Ed stepped forward, "Come with me."

The young alchemist followed his professor out of Gryffindor Tower and down the various halls to the Great Hall, where he found every door barred and guarded by a teacher.

McGonagall bypassed the security and motioned him in, her face troubled. He stepped through the door without her and scanned the hall in shock.

The Great Hall was a mess; Professor Flitwick was finishing fixing the windows, which seemed to have imploded during the shockwave due to the glass still littering the floor. What drew Ed's attention the most though, was the boy laying in the middle of the floor motionless, with his father and Madame Pomfrey kneeling by his side.

"Al!!"

The name slipped from his mouth on instinct as he ran to his brother, heart throbbing so much he could feel it trying to escape from his chest. The equations and techniques he used to revive his brother the last time returned on their own, feeling they were needed.

Madame Pomfrey was conjuring a stretcher when he reached the center of the hall, telling him to be quieter. He ignored her and grasped Al's limp hand, feeling tears trickling down his face. He was unaware of the stretcher levitating as the Hogwarts's nurse directed it to the Hospital Wing.

Ed was oblivious to his surroundings as he followed, hand tightly enclosing its smaller version. He didn't notice the faces of Harry, Ron, and Hermione gaping at him, nor the whispers from the other students that had gathered outside the Great Hall. He didn't even notice the faint throbbing coming from his palm.

Suddenly his hand was ripped away and he was pushed from his brother's body by a person unknown to him. His muscles protested instinctively and he pushed back, but he was too weak to oppress the being opposing him in his numb state of mind. He didn't fully come to consciousness until the being spoke.

"Edward," it said sternly, and only then did he realize the voice was his father's, "Al is going to be alright; he just needs some time."

The troubled alchemist nodded mutely and ceased his defiant struggling, allowing Hoenheim to escort him to a chair that had been placed specifically outside the closed curtains to Al's bed for him to wait. Then he watched detachedly as his father walked away, his destination unknown to him.

Waiting for Al to recover was like letting an open wound fester with disease. Passing the time became Ed's first priority; he fidgeted, he picked the lint off his magnetic black robes and he relaced his shoes. When he got bored with that, he stood up and began pacing the room, all the while thinking about all the various problems occupying his life at the moment.

He obsessed about what was happening behind the curtains blocking him from his brother, worried about what Voldemort could possibly want with him, fretted about how he was going to save Amestris without having to become Voldemort's lackey, and wondered how the hell he was going to get there in the first place.

Then his thoughts turned to Bloch's death and his uneasiness was replaced with anger; for several seconds, all he could think about was vengeance. His mind never rested on one topic for more than a few moments and instead flitted back and forth between them. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the curtains were drawn back and Madame Pomfrey stepped aside to allow him entry.

He was unaware of his feet carrying him as he rushed in, his anxiety mounting. As he met the soft, chocolate brown eyes of his brother, an unexplainable feeling rose inside him and pressed itself against his chest. Perhaps it was love, relief, or happiness, or maybe a combination of them all; he couldn't tell and to be honest he didn't exacted care at the moment because Al was about to speak.

"Hey," he said, a hint of shyness in his voice and on his smile.

Ed was at a loss for words; he had so many things to tell his brother and so many questions. He knew Al did as well, and yet he was able to contain everything with a simple salutation; for some reason it made Edward proud. He smiled back and echoed the same greeting, then pulling his brother into a long due embrace.

"I missed you," he confessed, "I was so worried that something might've happened and I wouldn't have been able to done anything about it."

"Me too," Al agreed, "I didn't know for sure if you were alive until I got your journal."

"Sorry it took so long," Ed replied.

They broke the hug and a few seconds passed in which both looked each other over. Al was the first to speak.

"I can hardly remember the last time I had to look up at you," he teased, his smile widening at the twitch in his brother's eye.

"Very funny, but nice try squirt," Edward said, brushing off his brother's taunt, "This time I'm the tallest."

He ruffled his brother's hair playfully. However, the lightheartedness in the atmosphere dropped with his arm.

"I was watching," Edward said after a minute, "What happened in the caves, I mean."

Al's eyes lowered to gaze at the floor. Ed had a strong feeling he was thinking about Lieutenant Bloch.

"Then…you know what's going to happen if…" Alphonse trailed off, his voice deathly low.

"Yah," Ed confirmed, "And I won't let it happen."

"How do you intend to stop him!?" Al exclaimed, his nerves now pushed over the edge, "You saw what he did to Lieutenant Bloch!! How can we compete with magic!?!"

"Al, calm down!" Edward said, grabbing his brother's shaking shoulders, "We'll figure something out. We always do."

"I just…don't want you to get hurt. I know it's selfish, but…" Al whispered, tears coming to his downcast eyes.

"There were many times during our travels where I thought the same thing. But I always reminded myself of what it'd be like to have something like that on my conscience, where I could've done something but didn't. I wouldn't have been able to live with that."

"Alright, so how do we do this?" Al asked a few moments later, after having thought about what his brother said.

"We get our asses over to Amestris as quickly as possible," Ed supplied.

"What!?! You're going to play into his hands!!" Al replied in outrage, "That's the worst idea I've ever heard!!"

"I'm going to make it seem that way," Ed corrected, "Voldemort doesn't know what he's getting in to."

The Fullmetal Alchemist smirked, seeming to reassure his brother because of the slight smile he returned.

"Then I'm going too," he said determinedly, "I'm not letting you out of my sight again—you always end up in a ton of trouble."

This time it was Al's turn to smile smugly as his brother crossed his arms with an annoyed visage.

A/n- whoever reviewed and said something about thinking Al was dead for a moment…anyone notice how I specifically made it sound that way for like…half a page? That was me letting my evil out. The evil who loves to torture you guys. Don't take it personally, I'm only joking. Hehe. - for CLARIFICATION, the caves Ed mentions are located in Resembool and are part of the second fma game.