Chapter XV

Cherry Syndrome

Edward could not sleep. He could not drink. He could not eat and work was the last thing on his mind. All of this because, try as he might, he could not bring himself to function properly. With every breath his heart clenched with longing. With every glance he found something that brought about memories of that man and with every sigh he could not help but think of what he truly wanted. It had taken a while for him to identify the feeling. It was all so new and foreign to him but in the end he had realised it. Edward Elric was love sick. And for whom you may ask? Well, none other than the charming, perfect, amazing, gorgeous Roy Mustang.

"I wonder if he's thinking about me right now." Edward sighed wistfully. All four teenagers exchanged glances.

"He's completely lost it." Ron observed, waving a hand in front of Edward's face. "Are you sure this is Professor Elric?" He asked, turning to face Alphonse who was hopping from foot to foot from anxiety.

"That's not funny Ron. I'm really worried. What if he really has gone crazy?" Alphonse whined.

"I am crazy." Edward cut in, returning all looks to him. "Crazy in love." He sighed flopping back onto his bed with yet another love sick sigh.

"Oh that's disgusting." Ron commented, screwing up his nose along with Alphonse and Harry. Hermione sighed and hit him over the head.

"Isn't it obvious?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. The three boys shrugged.

"What is it Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione rolled her eyes in response.

"Professor Elric has been given a love potion. That's the only possible explanation for his…bizarre behaviour."

"….love potion?" Ron prompted. He, like many students at Hogwarts, suffered from a condition where his brain ceased to function at any mention of the word "potions". This, however, warranted absolutely no pity from Hermione, as she shot him an incredulous look and explained slowly.

"Which means that Professor Elric has been given food -most likely from Professor Mustang- that was laced with love potion. I'm surprised you haven't heard about them. All the girls are doing it." She explained. "Well not me." Hermione continued sheepishly as she met eyes with Ron.

"So Mustang has poisoned Edward?" Harry asked, frowning at the unlikelihood of this happening. Edward jumped to his feet almost instantly at these words.

"LIES! What I'm feeling is real. I am in love with him. He is the most amazing man, no, person that I have ever met." Edward declared convincingly. "Oh how I would love to just grab his strong arms and kiss him all over. His lips, his chest, his manly …."

"OK!" Edward was silenced by a hand across his mouth, before he could finish the sentence. Alphonse had very appropriately chosen this moment to cut in and censor his speech. It did not stop the rest of them from cringing, knowing exactly what would have been coming next. Alphonse glanced around the group helplessly. "So, what do we do now? Professor Slughorn is not here and I'll be damned before I ask that miserable Snape for help. Merlin knows Brother would kill me." Alphonse said. He was slowly beginning to get just a little panicked (Because he had kept his cool whilst stumbling into the Great Hall, of course).

"He has to supervise at Hogsmede too, doesn't he?" Hermione added. "Who is his shift with?" She asked, probably already knowing the answer. Alphonse grimaced.

"It's with Mustang."

"Shit." Harry contributed.

"Exactly!"

Edward ripped his brother's hand from his lips with a giddy smile.

"I get to work with Roy today? Oh what luck!" He said almost bursting with excitement. "And we'll be at Hogsmede too. It'll be just like a date. I wonder what I should wear." Edward laughed as he skipped and danced his way to his cupboard. The teenagers went just a little green.

"Brother, you're scaring your students." Alphonse said flatly, following his brother, hopefully preventing him from turning up to his meeting with Roy in frilly dress robes. Harry, Ron and Hermione took to staring at Edward gormlessly.

"You know, say what you will about Mustang, I don't think he would actually poison Edward." Harry said, after the three shared a moment of silence. Hermione nodded.

"That's true and even if it happened, you'd think that Edward would pick up on it. He's good at potions." She agreed.

"It's not like those two need love potions, anyway. Just look at them," Ron muttered "I bet someone just gave them the potion 'cause they were sick of all the bickering." Hermione and Harry laughed mirthlessly. Ridiculous as it was, Ron was somewhat correct.

"Wait, them?" Harry said. "Are you saying that Mustang…?" Harry was interrupted by the Elric brothers dropping onto the bed once more. Edward was much more clothed this time and thankfully it was the same black robes as always. Thank Merlin for Alphonse.

"The only explanation I can think of is that it's a spell not a potion, that's why brother didn't pick up on it." Alphonse said. In his hands he held a book on what seemed to be charms concerning emotions. The three Gryffindors crowded around Alphonse as he elaborated on what stood in the book. "I remember stumbling across this spell a while ago. I can't remember what I was looking for back then, but this sounds about right. It looks like the spell works a little differently from the potion. It's a lot easier to do and therefore is quite a bit simpler. Unlike the potion that has you fall in love with a particular person, the chocolates when given will make the receiver fall in love with the giver." For what had to be the millionth time, all eyes were on Edward.

"Edward, has Mustang given you any chocolate recently?" Harry asked, somewhat dreading the answer. A smile touched Edward's lips immediately and he nodded with zeal.

"Oh yes! Just the other night actually. I still have the wrapper see?" From his robe, Edward withdrew a small wrapper that had once contained the charmed chocolate.

"Where did he get that from?" Hermione wondered. The smile quickly dropped and was replaced by what can only be described as a death glare.

"It was from some little girls, who asked me to give them to him. Ha! Bet they didn't expect him to just give them away." Edward replied stonily. Three sets of eyes widened and Ron snickered.

"Do you think the girls realised how the spell worked?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Not if they were expecting Mustang to fall in love with them they didn't." Alphonse commented.

"They probably wanted to give it to him directly but chickened out and completely forgot about the function" Hermione added with a hint of sympathy. All three of them put their hands to their chins in deep thought. A collective "hmm" resounded from the three that was only to be broken by Ron's laughter.

"Hey you guys, aren't you forgetting the most important thing?" He asked cheerily through his laughter. They looked at him blankly.

"What?"

Ron snorted.

"Mustang gave Elric chocolate right? Now he's even loonier than Lovegood," Ron said, ignoring the frown Harry sent his way. "Well, Elric gave Mustang chocolate too. Do we really want to handle two nut jobs?"

…..

"FUCK!" Harry, Hermione and Alphonse were out of the room faster than bats out of hell; that is, really fast. In their wake they left nothing but a bewildered Edward Elric and a chortling Ronald Weasley. In fact, Ron continued to laugh for an impressive sixty seconds, before he felt arms wrap around his torso and a sigh breeze against his ear. Chills ran down Ron's spine, as Edward pulled himself closer.

"You know if you weren't so ginger and had a much more handsome face you would look just like Roy."

….

"Thanks Professor."

Roy was sat peacefully in his office, throwing wadded up balls of unfinished paperwork onto the fireplace. He had always hated that stuff. During his time at the Ministry, Roy had spent more time avoiding work than actually doing anyway. It was wondrous that he had actually made it as far as he had. True, it may have helped that he had always had a very pesky secretary who had urged him on however even she had refused to baby him now that he had been promoted. Roy shrugged and threw another paper ball square into the fire.

He had about an hour before he was due in Hogsmede with Edward and naturally, was finding very useful ways of spending his time. He'd had breakfast, chatted with some students and returned to his office to poke absently at the chocolates that Edward had given him the other night. Yes, he was being very productive indeed. He should have given more of them to Edward. He had never been all that fond of sweets. He felt they were for children, not for adult men such as himself. Roy snorted. That must have been why he gave one to Edward. The man could easily pass for sixteen years old. Come to think of it, how old was Edward anyway. Roy couldn't recall ever asking. Roy picked up a chocolate and eyed it blankly

"One can't hurt." He mumbled to himself, slowly pulling the edges of the wrapper apart.

What happened next was like something out of a Gilderoy Lockhart novel. The door burst open revealing three frazzled students, all staring wide eyed at the man before them.

"Mustang, NO!" They all yelled. With impressive teamwork, they leapt into the office and across the desk. Alphonse tore the chocolate from Roy's fingers. Harry snatched the packet away from the desk and Hermione with the quick yell of a spell had the box burst into flames within seconds. After a moments pause, the three dropped to the floor, huffing with exhaustion. It was criminal how far Roy's office was from the teacher's dorms. Roy, not understanding a thing, decided to play along anyway. He sat himself on the floor opposite them and applauded.

"That was quite impressive you three. Honestly, it deserves some sort of victory dance," he praised "but why are you storming into my office and setting things on fire?" He finished, looking mournfully towards the ashes that were the chocolate box. Alphonse was the first to regain his composure from the marathon.

"They were charmed, Professor." He said, nodding towards the box. "If you'd eaten those you would have fallen under the effects of a love charm." Roy's eyebrow's raised a fraction.

"Oh really?" He asked, just a little doubtful. The three of them nodded. "Well how would you know that?" The heavy breathing stopped and Hermione, Harry and Alphonse exchanged awkward glances.

"Well…." Harry began hesitantly. Roy's eyebrows reached past his fringe and a gleeful grin blessed his lips.

"It's one of the ones I gave to Edward isn't it? Oh Merlin did he eat it? Who's he fallen in love with?" Roy laughed.

"You are enjoying that far too much Professor." Alphonse commented flatly. He did not find any of it the least bit funny. Roy managed to rise above the laughter and compose himself.

"I'm sorry Alphonse, you're right it's not funny." He said tightly, trying to mask the smirk he felt coming on. "Thank you for saving my skin I suppose but what are you going to do about Edward?"

"We haven't got that far. We were hoping he'd kind of….snap out of it you know?" Harry admitted. Roy nodded in understanding.

"Well as long as he can still work then it's fine. I'll take him to Hogsmede whilst Alphonse tries to figure out how to break the spell." He suggested. Speaking of which, it was getting high time to leave. Roy got to his feet and began to collect his robe, wand and other essentials. The students watch on dumbly.

"Uh, Professor, I don't think that's a very good idea." Hermione attempted. Roy waved an arm at her dismissively.

"Nonsense, it'll be fine. Just leave Edward to me. I think I can handle him." He reassured her, walking out the door without another glance back. Alphonse sighed.

"Why does that man never listen? He's just like the Colonel." He muttered under his breath. He stood up and held his hands out for Hermione and Harry to do the same.

"What was that?" Harry asked, accepting the hand.

"Oh nothing. Come on, we should get back to the other two." Alphonse brushed off. The three of them turned to the exit and within a couple of minutes were back in Edward's room. The sight they returned to was quite the odd one. The room on a whole was in the same state as they had left it. There were still books and papers scattered everywhere. The rumpled sheets were still halfway to the floor, clinging onto the bed for dear life. The bedside table was even exactly how they had left it. The only difference was that on the bed lay two dozing figures. Ron and Edward were curled in each other's arms. Edward had his face buried in Ron's chest and was slowly nodding off. He was whispering something in regards to Roy and smiling softly. Harry grinned.

"Having fun Ron?" He teased. He once again threw himself onto the bed, ignoring the stir it evoked from Edward. Ron scoffed.

"Remind me to strike, love potions off my list of 'ways to find a date'. He's been so annoying." Ron complained, peeling himself away from Edward. The others chuckled, understanding full well where he was coming from. "So how'd it go? Is Roy a love sick puppy too now?" Ron asked. The group shook their heads.

"No we got there just in time. Unfortunately, he still wants Edward to meet him at Hogsmede though." Alphonse said bitterly.

"You did tell him that Professor Elric was ready to build a shrine for him right?" Ron prompted incredulously.

"Well we tried but he wouldn't listen." Hermione said dejectedly.

"So, what do we do now?" Harry asked. The trio turned to look at Alphonse for a solution. The boy was eyeing his brother skeptically.

"I suppose we can go with what Mustang said, well, most of it. I'll stay here and try to figure out what to do with him. You three can go with Edward." Alphonse said. The trio nodded. "And promise me, please, that you won't let him do anything to scarring. We don't want to have to deal with that when he gets back to normal." He concluded. No one could say no to Alphonse when he looked at them so pleadingly. So, naturally, Harry, Ron and Hermione just sighed and looked nervously towards their professor.

"We'll try our best." They agreed.

So this was how the Gryffindor trio found themselves walking in step with Edward, watching carefully for any small sighting of raven hair and coal eyes. So far, they were doing pretty well. They had made it into the village without too much trouble and had even managed to drag Edward into the sweet shop. That in itself had not been too much of a feat but it did get difficult when the blonde decided he wanted to buy out the store for his one true love.

After much negotiation, Edward had settled with a fancy box of mints with a lovely bow. Harry, Ron and Hermione had bought enough to last them the month. This was a fatal mistake on Ron and Harry's part because this meant that their arms were completely full. If grabbing were needed then they most certainly would not be doing it. And seeing as inconvenience was something that seemed to plague the trio, Roy made himself known at this particular moment. He came walking down the hill towards them with a large friendly smile and a wave. Edward tore away from the group as soon as he caught sight of him. Roy grinned.

"Hey Ed, I heard someone slipped you a love potion. So tell me, who's the lucky lad..?" Roy was silenced as Edward reached him. The blonde threw his arms around Roy, letting them rest on his neck and with a huge smile, brought their lips together in a soft kiss. Roy visible stiffened when they met but made no move to resist. Instead, he moved his hands to the blonde's waist to stabilize him and provide him with a weight to lean on. Edward's eyes fluttered shut as his body melted into Roy's as if it belonged there, as if it always had. And when they drew apart, the longing sigh that had been on his lips all day was replaced with a content one, as he smiled lovingly into those dark eyes.

Roy was speechless, to say the least. He kept his arms linked around Edward but that may have been purely out of shock. After what seemed an eternity, Edward dropped back to the base of his heels and began chatting away happily on how he had missed him. All Roy could do was move his stunned gaze to the trio who came stumbling up to them, swearing at how fast Edward could run. Roy did not need to say anything. In his state he probably would not have been able to. No, everything he wanted to convey was in his eyes. When he, Harry, Ron and Hermione made contact the message was clear as day.

…me?

Hermione huffed, out of breath a second time that day. Just a little pity graced her as she caught the bewildered look on her teacher's face.

"You know we tried to tell you Professor."

The library was still bursting with books, despite all of Madam Pince's complaints to Alphonse. He had even been confronted with the problem of too many books upon entering the charms section of the chamber. After a five minute gathering and a lot of elimination, Alphonse had chosen a seat with a grand total of seven books that required his attention.

"No wonder all the students are using them. These spells are taught everywhere." Alphonse muttered to himself, flipping to the index. It was a miracle that having spent so much time researching the wizarding community, the Elric brothers had never considered it important to look at Love potions or spells.

"C…C…Ch…" Alphonse once again mumbled, running his finger down the list however, he stopped when he noticed someone take the seat opposite him. Looking up, he found Draco Malfoy sat opposite him. In a library full of empty chairs he had chosen that particular seat without a second thought. The boys made brief eye contact and nodded before Malfoy averted his eyes and broke it. Neither of them said anything nor did they acknowledge one another after that. They just sat in comfortable silence, reading the books set before them. And in the silence, a small, almost imperceptible smile graced their lips.

Finito! Yep that's it. Sorry for the extra wait. I'm not sure what happened, I just know that I didn't get it finished on time. I've been trying to update every Sunday, have you noticed? Anyway, I hope that was enough for you to last you the rest of the week. There'll be a slice more on Sunday.

Please review. I really enjoy reading them