Cherry Syndrome

Chapter XIX

Edward knew he was being stupid, beyond stupid in fact, but no matter what, the fact remained that he could not help it. Roy and him were business partners, yet they had not had a clear cut conversation in weeks. Edward was suffering from this, his work was suffering from this and it was all due to that ridiculous kiss they had shared in the streets of Hogsmede nearly two months before. Now, despite what Roy liked to say, Edward was not a prude. With his literal age nearing ninety he had his fair share of relationships under the belt. However, none of them had ever been with a male nor had they ever been with anyone who looked anything like his old boss. This was why Edward could not simply get over this kiss. Everytime he saw Roy he was reminded of it and everytime he was reminded of it he had to think of Colonel Mustang and everytime he thought of the Colonel, Edward's nerves got the better of him.

So, essentially, forgetting about it was easier said than done. Edward sighed and sunk further into his office chair, shuffling the letters before him. It was six o'clock in the morning. The autumn term had finished the day before which meant that in the afternoon the students would be leaving for Christmas holidays. Harry would be going to the Burrow with Ron for the holidays and would be under constant supervision. This gave Alphonse and Edward the chance to remain in Hogwarts for the coming two weeks and do some much needed research. Furthermore, Edward was not going to lie to himself, the break was most welcome. He felt as if he had been working himself to the bone as of recent.

The chair creaked beneath him as Edward once more leaned forward to inspect a particular letter which was stamped with the seal of the Ministry. It was a letter from the Minister, mostly formalities such as wishing him and Roy well and another paragraph concerning the state of their department at the Ministry. Edward paused on this particular section of the letter and frowned.

"It would be most convenient, however not entirely necessary for one of the two High Supervisors to return indefinitley to their original position in the Ministry's Department of Education following the Christmas Holidays. This would be due to..."

Edward blinked and reread the passage. In essence what the Minister was requesting was for one of the two, either Roy or Edward to return to their position in the Ministry for good as soon as the Christmas holidays were over. Now, Edward liked to consider himself a reasonable man. He valued himself to be capable of rational thought and sound judgement when the situation called for it. Unfortunately, in reality this was only true some of the time. Most times Edward would act quickly and purely on instinct. In this case, the rash and impulsive part of Edward's brain took over and before he entirely considered the consequences, he was already scribbling down a reply to the Minister.

"Dear Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour,

I hope you are doing well. Congratulations on your handling of the Death Eater trials the other week. I was most impressed. It is something we have been following keenly. Mr. Mustang and I are doing well at Hogwarts. The school is running smoothly and there are few matters of complaint that need to be covered. Regarding your request, I, myself am currently occupied with my teaching position here at Hogwarts thus I would find it difficult to return to office. However, Mr. Mustang has recently spoken favourably of returning to his former position in the Ministry. I am sure that he would be open to consider this.

Kind Regards,

Edward Elric"

Without thought nor falter, Edward tied the parchment to the Ministry owl and sent it on it's way. His thought process had been quite simple: Roy was currently causing him problems and hurting his work. Get rid of Roy. It was only as he watched the bird disappear behind the mountains along with his stupid letter that he began to reconsider. It was true that for now things were terrible between himself and Roy but he was one of the few allies that he had at the school. Could he really afford to lose that because of a stupid kiss?

"Brother?"

Edward's stomach did a flip. He whirled around to the sight of Alphonse standing at his desk with the Minister's letter clutched in his hands. There was a doubtful look on his face as he glanced at the letter. This doubt made it into his voice with his next words.

"Brother, please tell me you did not just send Roy back to the Ministry." He probed, already shaking his head. Alphonse knew the answer of course. It was a wonder he even bothered asking anymore. Edward at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed.

"Isn't it rude to go through other people's mail?" He defended stubbornly but Alphonse did not let him get away that easily.

"Not if its for their own good. Is this still because of that love potion thing?" He asked incredulously. The silence that he was faced with was enough of a reply for Alphonse to sigh and walk around the desk towards his brother.

"Al, wha—" Edward looked his brother in the eye only briefly, before Alphonse was in his face and punching him square in the arm. "Ow! What the hell was that for?" He demanded, rubbing his probably bruising arm. Metal suit or not, Alphonse packed one hell of a punch. Edward glared accusingly at his brother but faltered when he saw the scowl embedding itself into Alphonse's face.

"Dammit, I already have to deal with one temperamental teenager, I don't need you acting like one too Brother." He snapped. Edward scoffed. "It's not funny Edward! I know you're having problems yourself but you can't just send off one of the few allies we have because you're experiencing a bit of confusion." Alphonse continued. He ran his hand through his hair and huffed once more. "Look it's weird for me too that Mustang is here and I know that's its difficult to get over that but you're just going to have to face that he's not the Colonel. I get that it must be even weirder for you because you like this Mustang so much but please, Brother, we can't let this trip us up. It was only a kiss anyway!" Alphonsed looked his brother in the eye for every word. Edward mirrored him, completely bewildered.

"Like him...What? Al, what the hell do you mean with 'like him'?" Edward struggled out, eyebrows knotting further. He looked so utterly confused that Alphonse could not help but take pity on him. This time when he spoke, his voice was softer and much closer to his usual tone.

"Isn't it obvious, Brother? You like him. Not the Colonel but Professor Roy Mustang, the one from this world." He explained. Something flashed through Edward's eyes but it was far too fast for Alphonse to identify..recognition, perhaps? "Brother, what exactly would you say you feel about him? Try and compare that to the Colonel." That was a language that Edward could understand. Alphonse was asking him to speak analytically. Edward put a finger to his chin and frowned pensively but as soon as he spoke the frown became a much softer smile.

"I appreciate him. Not in the same way as the Colonel. The Colonel had my respect. He was my colleague and to a certain extent my life line. With Roy, I don't have to be around him. It's more like...I want to be close to him." Edward hesitated but his brother nudged him, urging him to continue. "I want to be his friend." This was the particular moment that Edward's actions over the past two months hit home and he turned around to look out the window. An embarassed groan escaped him as he rose his hands to his forehead and rubbed his temples. "Oh Al, I'm such an idiot. What the hell did I do that for? I've just lost us one of the only people we knew was on our side." He groaned, wanting nothing more than to drive his head into a wall. Alphonse chuckled and patted Edward on the back.

"It's ok, Brother. Your dumb mistakes have a way of working themselves out." He comforted lightly. "If anything, this gives us a chance to see where Mustang's loyalties truly lie. Hogwarts or the Ministry."

The hallways of Hogwarts were definitely Roy's favourite part of the castle. Not only was the architecture grand and the patterns gorgeous. The portraits were also incredibly pleasant, for the most part. Wandering the hallways aimlessly between classes gave Roy the chance to bump into all sorts of characters from all sorts of groups. The ghosts, the portraits, the houselves, Dobby in particular was quite impressive, students, fellow teachers, all made for wonderful company when he had nothing better to do. The job of Hogwarts Supervisor, aside from the copious amount of reports the Minister required and the occasional security checks did not involve much and since Edward still refused to speak to him, he had left the blonde to handle the reports. So all Roy had to do was the odd safety run to make sure the school was still safe. It was. Roy was bored.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Roy knew that with Edward talking to him again things would be better but he had decided not to push it. Yes, it still annoyed him to no end that Edward dashed in the opposite direction at the very sight of him but there was not much he could do. At first, he thought that if he pushed, then Edward would eventually break but he was being more stubborn than a triple knot. So the conclusion Roy had come to was to just leave him until he came to terms with the kiss they shared two months earlier. Until then, Roy would have to entertain himself in other ways. With a glance forward, just as Roy rounded a corner he knew exactly what he was temporarily going to humour himself with.

"Minister, what gives us the honour?" Roy asked, plastering on his professional smile. The Minister of Magic looked up with an equally stale smile and turned slightly away from Dumbledore to greet Roy.

"Ah, Mr. Mustang. I was just here for a meeting with Headmaster Dumbledore." Rufus Scrimgeour explained seizing Roy's hand and shaking it heartily. The three men exchanged a couple pleasantries . Roy remembering his manners in the face of his boss. It was at that point that the conversation turned to Roy and his role at Hogwarts. Scrimgeour examined Roy with a careful look in his eye. "I hope you're being good to them. No one wants a repeat of last year, least of all me." He continued glancing cautiously between Roy and Dumbledore. They both shook their heads in reply.

"I can assure you that Mr. Mustang has been nothing short of courteous to both the staff and the students. It has been a treat having him here." Dumbledore confirmed, nodding his head slightly. Roy chuckled.

"Headmaster, you make it sound like I'm leaving." Roy remarked causing the Minister to look at him with a hint of bemusement. Dumbledore merely smiled, his eyes twinkling away as usual.

"But, Mr. Mustang you are." Scrimgeour replied with a frown. Roy blinked and crossed his arms in confusion before prompting the man to continue.

"I beg your pardon?"

"That was what our meeting was about. We were under the impression that you intended to return to your work at the Ministry." The Minister explained. The confusion in his voice deepening with every word. Roy mirrored this sentiment, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry for any confusion Minister but I did no such thing. I thoroughly enjoy my work here." Roy said, smothering a chuckle at his words. What little work there was, he added to himself. Scrimgeour chuckled with just a hint of exasperation at his words.

"Well I apologise then. Seems we got our owls crossed. I was sure that Mr. Elric informed me of your wish to depart." He concluded, shaking his head. "Well I suppose we'll just let it slide the..." Scrimgeours words were lost on Roy. At the mention of that name, Roy had turned heel and was already running far from the two men, towards the entrance hall. Edward? Edward had gone behind his back and asked for him to leave. Roy was not usually one for anger, this time he was livid. Oh he was going to...

"Mr. Mustang!" Dumbledore cut in. He was not even bothering to hide his amusement this time round. "I hope you're not planning on hurting my Theory Professor now are you." He said after him. Roy slowed down for just a moment to give the Headmaster a reply.

"Oh no, Headmaster I wouldn't dream of it." He said pleasantly, a sickly sweet smile spreading across his lips and lacing its way into his tone. The sweetness did not last though, it dropped along with the smile as Roy revealed just how homicidal he was feeling at that moment. "I'm going to bloody murder him." He wretched and with that turned the corner, muttering darkly beneath his breath. The Minister stood in shock at the sudden change in character he had just witnessed.

"You knew about this didn't you?" Scrimgeour accused weakly. "We could have saved ourselves the time of a meeting." Dumbledore merely chuckled.

"Ah yes, but that way you would not have been able to witness the amazing passion of youth. Trust me, it is quite worth the watch, Minister."

Despite his history with them, the thestrals still managed to make Harry slightly uneasy. He eyed them cautiously as he heaved his trunk into the carriage and then followed suit. It was finally Christmas time and he and Ron would be spending it at the Burrow together. It was not entirely joyful. Harry knew that there would still be a shadow hanging over them. Sirius, Malfoy, Voldemort, Alphonse all of these matters were still in the air and in moments of peace Harry could not help but let his thoughts stray to them. However, just for these two weeks he would be able to get away from Alphonse and forget about his other problems. Well he hoped so.

"You know I liked it more when the elves carried our trunks around for us." Ron commented as he finally managed to inch his way into the carriage. Moments later, Hermione appeared behind him with a frown.

"Well you would, wouldn't you? I think its brilliant that they've given the poor, suffering creatures more freedom. It is not right what they are subjugated to." Hermione huffed. Harry sighed, really Ron should have seen that coming.

"Yeah you prefer to just let Al do it for you." Ron jabbed back resentfully.

"I really don't mind you know." Alphonse offered easily throwing Hermione's trunk into the carriage. "Besides I've always been taught that it's wrong to make a lady carry something." He recited as if rehearsed. Hermione smiled at him gratefully, only causing Ron's expression to further darken. Harry took it upon himself to provide distraction.

"Al, it's nice of you to see us off. You're spending Christmas here right?" He said, nudging Ron in hopes that he would get it back together. Alphonse nodded.

"Yeah Brother and I have got things to take care of here. I'm meeting him at the platform actually. Apparently he's signing you out instead of Hagrid for security reasons." He explained, eyes moving towards the scenery but Harry's gaze only seemed to sharpen.

"What things have you got to do?" He asked in what he hoped was a subtle manner. It caught Hermione and Ron's attention instantly. Both of them had heard from Harry what had happened between Alphonse and Malfoy at the Christmas party. Chances were that whatever the Elrics had to do during the holidays had something to do with that.

"Oh not much, we'd just like to get a bit of research done on the castle." Alphonse mumbled dismissively. The carriage lurched to a stop and they were all propelled forward. "Ah that was quick." He mused jumping off the carriage and reaching for Hermione's trunk. He lifted it with ease and began to saunter towards the platform "So anything particular planned once you get to the Burrow?"

"No nothing special." Ron replied, when Harry failed to answer. Alphonse had answered the question and there was really no sign that the boy had lied. Harry frowned. Maybe he was just overthinking this thing with Alphonse and Malfoy. At varying paces the group all lunged their suitcases onto the platform to be greeted with the warming sight of the Hogwarts Express. The comforting rumble of the engine could be heard and the vibrations felt beneath his feet. Harry smiled at the sight.

"Ah Harry, Ron and Hermione. That'll be you off the list." All four students turned to see Edward sauntering towards them, a small smile on his lips. Beside him floated a roll of parchment and a quill which seemed to be ticking the names off itself

"Hello Edward." Harry, Ron and Hermione greeted unanimously.

"That's still Professor Elric until you get on that train." He tutted, nodding a greeting towards Alphonse who waved. "I trust you'll be working hard on your alchemy over the holidays." Edward smirked. The trio grinned.

"Oh constantly, Professor." They replied.

"Yeah, holidays, who needs them?" Ron scoffed. Edward just shrugged in reply to his sarcasm.

"I'm sure you'll find time in between to relax." He provided, noticing the doubtful looks on Harry and Ron's faces. At this, Edward's voice took on a more serious note. "Really though, you three need it, especially you Harry. Take the time to recuperate during the holidays. I can almost see the cogs in your brain overworking themselves sometimes."

"What, Edward, are you actually worried about me?" Harry grinned, "I didn't know you cared."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up and get on the train." Edward huffed, rolling his eyes at them. Harry smile widened as they wished the two brother's a Merry Christmas and hopped onto the train. Harry was last on. They would have gone further into the train to look for a compartment but just as they stepped on a furious roar resounded across the platform.

"EDWARD ELRIC!"

Edward stopped in his tracks. At the other end of the platform, striding towards him with wide steps and an angry expression was Roy Mustang. Oh and he sounded livid. Harry, Ron and Hermione abandoned their trunks and rushed back to the entrance to watch along with the rest of the school, what could have possibly caused such anger in their teacher. What they saw was a platform void of all but two people, Edward and Roy. All students had scattered onto the train by then. Most of them were peeking out the windows, even Alphonse seemed to have found somewhere to retreat to, however, that may have been for entirely different reasons. Either way, Roy and Edward were alone on the platform and the taller was slowly closing in on his smaller colleague. Roy was the first to speak.

"So I just bumped into the Minister." It was painfully obvious how calm the man was trying to come across as but judging by the tenseness of both his and Edward's shoulders, it was not working. "Apparently he thought I was due to transfer back to the Ministry after the break. Fancy that, I never even applied for the place." Roy stopped barely a step away from Edward. "So, I asked the Minister to whom I owed the pleasure of asking for me. Guess what! Apparently you single handedly tried to kick me out of here." Roy sneered, jabbing Edward in the chest.

"Ah, well, uh, about that," Edward laughed feebly, rocking back on his heels "I'm guessing you didn't want to then and cleared it up with the Minister." He continued. If it were even possible, Roy took another step towards him.

"That's not the point Edward." He ground out.

"O..oh what is the point?" Edward stammered, desperately trying to get his usual confidence back but it was not working. What the hell was wrong with him? He'd only ever been this useless around Winry.

"The point is that you went behind my back. You sneakily tried to get rid of me." Roy snapped. "This can't possibly be about the love potion. Do you really hate me that much?" He asked. Edward blinked in confusion. He may have been mistaken but that sounded like a hint of hurt in the other's voice.

"I don't hate you. Not at all," He replied with a hint of wonder because he saw it now. Roy was just as upset as Edward had been without him. Merlin, he was so stupid. They had been working well together, brilliantly even. The amount of times that Roy had subtly supported Edward or even pulled him out of a miserable mood were countless and they'd barely known each other for a couple months. Edward realised all together that this man before him, this completely furious man, was the best thing he had next to Alphonse. Why the hell was he letting one stupid kiss ruin that?

"Then this is still about the love potion. I swear Edward, I was going to leave you to it and wait for you to get over it but this is too bloody much. I like it here. Hell, I even like working with you so please, get over it. It was just a stupid k—" Roy was cut short by hands tugging forcefully at the collar junction of his robe. He stumbled forward slightly and then there were lips against his as once more Roy was blindsided with a kiss from Edward Elric. This time, though, was different. Roy's reaction was immediate. His hand reached for the nape of Edward's neck as he drew him closer and firmed the kiss. Edward's hands remained clutched to Roy's front as their eyes fluttered shut and for a split second they lost themselves in one another. And then it was over. Edward pulled away from the taller man and loosened his grip on Roy.

"It was just a stupid kiss right?" Edward finished for him, a smile playing at his lips. "Well don't cause pointless drama over it Roy. We've got a job to do." He grinned and then with a final pat to Roy's shoulder, Edward walked around him and back towards the carriages where Alphonse was waiting.

Roy remained rooted to the spot. The anger had completely drained out of him only to be replaced by bewilderment. It was one thing to be ambushed by an Edward high on love potion, but an entirely different matter to be kissed by the perfectly sane Edward whom Roy had so missed. It was true. Roy could tell how much he had missed the blonde's company from the thirty seconds of conversation they had just shared and he could tell something else too. Despite what Edward liked to say, Roy was not actually thick. In fact, in most cases he was quite self aware. It was for that reason that sirens were going off in his head. Sirens that Roy was choosing to ignore, because he had felt a familiar rush from the kiss. The rush that came only when he was in too deep with somebody who was beginning to mean the world to him. However, at this point all Roy could pinpoint was the pleasant buzz that he had felt when kissing his colleague.

"Well, fuck."

The doors to the Hogwarts Express all slid shut, as students settled into their compartments and the train steamed off towards King's Cross for the Christmas holidays. It would not be for roughly another six months that Roy Mustang would be able to mark this as the exact moment that he began to fall head over heels for Edward Elric.

It seems really odd to me to be writing about Christmas in the middle of summer. Then again considering that I began this chapter in December, I probably deserve it...

Once again, I am terribly sorry for the wait but I have had exams and extra curricular activities up to my ears recently. Anyway I have graduated and am now a free woman! So expect more updates coming your way!