Cherry Syndrome

Chapter XXI

"Got it!"

Just the clink of a small glass bottle settling on the table before him and Edward could already tell that he was going to hate this. There was a cheery bounce to Harry's voice that he had never quite heard before and upon further inspection Edward saw the glint in the boy's eyes that could only come from the effects of a potion.

"So, how did you get it then?" He asked flatly but really there was no need. Edward already knew and was cursing himself for not thinking of it first.

"Liquid Luck. " Harry sang, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "It was Professor Mustang's idea." Damn, he had been right. Edward's frown deepened as he regarded the drugged boy in front of him.

"Of course it was." He muttered, tapping the tip of his quill against the ink pot. "So how exactly did you talk him into it?" Edward asked and eyed Harry. The boy tapped his index finger to his chin, humming lightly.

"Well, I guess all it took was liquid persuasion on both parts. It gave me luck and Professor Slughorn generosity..." Harry paused and seemed to consider this. "It didn't give Aragog anything. He's dead. Poor Hagrid." Edward chuckled and nodded at his student.

"Well done then. I assume you have a class to get to with Dumbledore. Off you go." He dismissed, grinning at Harry. The smile Harry shot back in return was almost blinding as he snatched away the vial, turned and more or less skipped out the door.

The jump did not fade from Harry's step once in the gaping hallways of the castle. If anything, Harry made use of the space by side stepping, running and jumping carpets as he pleased with reckless abandon. It was, of course, for this reason that when he rounded the corner to the towering, stone statue that he almost walked right into a walking pile of books. Harry and the books exclaimed shock simultaneously and staggered back, recovering from the almost collision. Close one..

"Harry?"

Harry looked up to the pile of books to find that it was not a pile of magic, floating knowledge but in fact a quite unstable Alphonse Elric. He smiled meekly.

"Hi Al, how're things?" He asked. Alphonse returned his greeting with a pleasant smile and an easy shrug of his burdened shoulders.

"It's all good. I'm just off to the library to return these books. Did you get what you needed with the liquid luck?" He said and Harry nodded eagerly.

"Yep, I just came from gloating to Edward. I'm going to my class with Dumbledore now." He explained, gesturing to the statue mere metres from them. Alphonse glanced back towards it and hummed in agreement.

"I bet brother was glad to hear that." He commented making Harry chuckle.

"I'd say bitter was more like it. Anyway I should be off. I'm not sure what Dumbledore's opinion on being late is but it's probably best not to find out." He said, stepping away from him and his books.

"Yeah no problem. I should be getting these back to the library anyway. Unlike Dumbledore, Madame Pince is very opinionated when it comes to tardiness. Good work Harry." Alphonse nodded and grinned sweetly at him. He moved to turn left towards the library.

"I'll see you after class Al. And hey, why don't you try going right to get to the library." He suggested, already on his way down the hall.

"What? Why? That's in completely the wrong direction." Alphonse replied.

Harry could only shrug.

"I don't know. It's just a hunch. See you later." He said turning and skipping off. Alphonse watched Harry skip off and begin chanting sweet names to the stone dragon. Then he turned right.

His class was over and Harry was heading back to the Gryffindor Common Room. It had been a very short meeting with Dumbledore, barely even half an hour. But after what felt like weeks of empty classes and no progress, Harry finally felt like they were going somewhere. Voldemort had made Horcruxes. He and Dumbledore had theories on that before but now they knew which kind. Harry had got rid of the diary and while there were more out there it did not matter to Harry. Because now they knew how to destroy them.

He proudly welcomed back the rush of action. Alchemy classes and meetings with Dumbledore were fair enough but now Harry felt like he was doing something. It would be a lie if he said he had not missed this feeling. Harry grinned and was just about to round the corner when he heard a familiar voice from the corridor.

"I don't see why you can't just leave these in the Library, Elric. You can't possibly get through all of these in one night." It was Malfoy and Alphonse.

"You might not be able to Malfoy but I'm sure I can. Besides I didn't want to chance them being gone tomorrow." Alphonse quipped.

"Oh please, you act like a smartarse but you can't even manage a simple levitation charm. What kind of wizard are you?" Came the sneered response and Harry could practically hear the pout in Alphonse's reply.

"I didn't want to risk bumping into people."

"What people? There's no one here."

"It doesn't hurt to take precautions." Alphonse said.

"I bet you just did it to con someone into helping you." Draco muttered.

"Well it worked didn't it?"

What?

Harry peeked around there corner. The hallways were so large in Hogwarts that voices carried easily. Alphonse and Malfoy were still quite far away but sure enough they were sharing the burden of the books. Harry was astounded. Alphonse had actually managed to somehow talk Malfoy into the impossible, helping him. The smug grin on Alphonse's face was definitely well deserved, as was the scowl on Malfoy's.

"At my house we have elves to do these things for us." Malfoy grumbled. Grumbled! Harry would have said pout if it weren't all so ridiculous.

"Well, let me know if you can't take the physical labour. We wouldn't want your arms dropping off Your Highness." Alphonse grinned but Malfoy's expression turned dark.

"Watch it, Elric." He warned. Harry watched the two come to a stop and inch away from one another. The silence that followed was not a pleasant one. It was uncomfortable for both boys and it definitely did not settle well with Harry. Whatever Alphonse and Malfoy had it was still incredible fragile.

"So, did you see your family for Christmas?" Alphonse asked tentatively. It was the wrong thing to start with. Malfoy immediately tensed up. His knuckles became white under the pressure he put on the books. Every muscle in his body seemed to lock up as he began to stalk away in Harry's direction. His expression all but shut down.

"No, I stayed here." He replied curtly.

"Really? I did too. I'm surprised I didn't see you. What did you get up to then?" Alphonse asked carefully. It struck Harry how odd it was that Alphonse was pushing him this way. Things were clearly already shaky between the two and here Alphonse was provoking him.

"Maybe I was going out of your way Elric. You have this annoying habit of following me around." Malfoy snapped, rounding on a slightly surprised Elric. "Why don't you find someone else to pester? Your obsession with me is pathetic." That was harsh. Harry felt a rush of protective anger at they way the words made Alphonse wince.

"I'm just trying to be friendly Malfoy. I thought it was something you could need. Especially seeing as you've driven everyone else who cared about you out of your life." Alphonse said not without a hint of his own anger. This time it was Malfoy's turn to wince. He advanced on Alphonse, shoving the books books viciously into his arms, not caring as two of them toppled to the floor and Alphonse stumbled backwards. The two glared at one another and Malfoy leaned in slowly, almost coming head to head with the other boy.

"Fuck you Elric."

With that final hiss, Malfoy stormed off. He did not even stop when he rounded the corner and caught sight of Harry. Malfoy glared him down just as angrily but did not stop. He just continued his firm walk towards the steps to the seventh floor. The Room of Requirement, Harry noted but he did not dwell on it. He came out from his hiding place and went towards Alphonse.

"Well that was rude." He commented. Alphonse gave him a look. He must have known Harry was there all along.

"Well he is who he is. And your spying skills are getting less and less subtle by the day." He muttered, reaching into his pocket and retrieving his wand. "Leviosa. " The books hoped together and then gracefully floated into the air beside Alphonse. Harry must have looked surprised because Alphonse clucked his tongue.

"Of course I can do a basic Leviosa charm. He just never gave me the chance" He said and Harry grinned deciding not to comment on the shakiness of the books.

"Sneaky Elric. Very sneaky." He laughed. "So do we follow him? I think he's heading for the Room of Requirement."

Alphonse looked towards the steps where Malfoy had disappeared and seemed to consider it. Ultimately, he shook his head.

"No there's no point. We'd never find him in there. Let's just get back to the Common Room. It's pretty late." He said. Harry watched him leave with a protest ready on his tongue but there was something in Alphonse's behaviour that made him think the topic was not up for discussion. So Harry just decided to follow him with one final glance towards the staircase. Once more he found himself wondering just how friendship had occurred between the two boys was. And when exactly it had all happened.

It was the next day that Harry came to the conclusion that honesty was the best policy. There was obviously something odd going on with Malfoy and so it was probably just best to confront his friends. Although perhaps not with the head on approach of Alphonse Elric. It was this decision that caused him to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione early and linger behind the crowd in his Magical Theory class the next morning. Any idiot could tell that Alphonse and Edward told each other everything. Any information he needed on Alphonse and Malfoy, Edward would know.

"Edward?"

"Professor to you, Harry."

"Professor Edward?"

Edward scoffed and looked away from where he was wiping the chalkboard.

"What can I do for you Harry?" He asked. Harry's expression must have been grim because Edward suddenly seemed very weary.

"I was wondering if you knew anything about Alphonse and Malfoy?" Harry said cautiously.

"Oh that. You had me worried." He chided but put little thought into his next answer. "I guess you could say they're friends...bad friends." He added.

"Isn't that a little weird to you? I mean Malfoy is a Death Eater." Harry asked.

"Well you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Maybe Al is working an angle" Edward said with a shrug. Harry lifted an eyebrow.

"Maybe?"

"Look, Harry, just leave this one. Just trust that Al knows what he's doing. Whatever that may be." Edward sighed.

Harry frowned. Edward did not seem to know anything. Was Alphonse not speaking to his brother about this either? Could it really be that bad? But then again, it could be nothing. If Edward really did not know anything then Hermione and Ron may have been right in saying that he was overthinking things. Harry muttered a thanks to Edward then turned to leave the classroom. It was lunchtime and everyone would be gathered in the Great Hall.

"Harry."

He turned back to his professor. Edward looked him directly in the eyes and smiled lightly.

"Trust Al ok? He's one of the good guys."

Harry blushed as an overwhelming wave of guilt hit him. What was he doing? Alponse was his friend. How could he be so petty? It did not matter what Cho Chang of any of those other guys had done in the past. He should rely on Alphonse.

"Yes Edward." He agreed before turning to leave and Harry told himself the same thing again. He was over thinking things. He could trust Alphonse. Whatever Malfoy was up to, it had nothing to do with him.

Harry was ready to give things up by the time his break was over. He made it to lunch in time to sit with his friends and enjoy a hearty meal over a passionate discussion on broomsticks with Lee and the twins. He listened to Alphonse and Hermione fall out over different opinions on Divination then team up again when Ron asked why it mattered at all. He even happened to catch Roy's eye, from the teacher's table and get an approving wink from him when Harry nodded his way. He really was willing to let the Malfoy-Alphonse thing go until he was on his way out of the room with only Alphonse. That was when he found himself face to face with a fully recovered Katie Bell.

"Katie!" He exclaimed, genuinely surprised to see her. A smile spread across his face, glad to see the girl had been discharged safely. She returned it wholeheartedly.

"Hi Harry, how are things? Didn't miss much did I?" She asked.

"Never mind us, how are you? It's good to see you back." He smiled and she nodded in appreciation.

"Yeah, guess you heard it was pretty bad. The doctors said I was lucky. " Katie said. She was trying to appear passive but there was a slight tremour to her voice. Harry's curiousity got the best of him.

"Uh, Katie I hope it's ok that I ask..what exactly happened?" Harry asked and got a sigh in return.

"I thought you might want to know. Honestly Harry, I can't remember much. All I remember was that it hurt." She mumbled meeting his eyes sincerely. Harry frowned, that was not nearly enough.

"You really haven't got anything else? Nothing else about the necklace?" He pushed, only to sigh when Katie shook her head. "Can you at least think of a name? Someone it might have been?" He asked intently. Katie looked dejected as her eyes slowly drifted from Harry's face to just over his shoulder.

"No not really. I can't think of a..." She stopped. Slowly, Harry turned around to see what had made the girl silent. Mere steps away from them, frozen to the spot and pale as a sheet stood Draco Malfoy. They both seized up as their eyes met. Malfoy must have overheard their conversation because there was a look of raw panic streaked across his face. Without another word, Malfoy turned at the heel and ran. Harry did not even grant a thought to not following him. He was after him in seconds, ignoring the yells of his friends behind him.

When Harry reached the bathroom that Malfoy ran into he was all alone. The stalls were silent and the hall behind him was deserted. The was not a student in sight. Friends left behind, he edged into the bathroom. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise as goosebumps prickled across his skin. Guilty, guilty, guilty. It was all he could think, over and over again. Malfoy was evil. He had known that all along and in that moment he could not think of a single reason why he had been ready to let that go. Malfoy was guilty. Malfoy was evil. Malfoy was sobbing?

"Malfoy." He stated, accusatory. Malfoy was facing away from him. The panic had not left him. The boy was terrified and a vindictive streak in Harry felt satisfied. But the shaking stopped as he managed to compose himself. Slowly their gazes met in the mirror. There were no tears on his face, no marks, just angry defensiveness. "Why did you do it?"He accused once more. But Harry did not receive an answer, only the vicious jet of a curse sent his way.

"They ran off? Where to?" Edward asked Alphonse. The worry on his face was apparent. The moment Harry had disappeared. Alphonse had gone to Edward at the teacher's table. The Great Hall had cleared by then, leaving only the professors behind. Edward had immediately risen to his feet and made their way out of the Hall.

"I'm not sure. It was in this direction though." Alphonse reassured, hurrying around a corner to another corridor filled with inexplicable rooms. Edward seemed hesitant.

"There's no one here. Are you sure?" He questioned. Alphonse's protests were interrupted by the loud crash of something falling to the tiles. Water began to seep out of the door furthest to the end and soak into the carpet. "They're in the bathroom." Edward muttered, taking the stance to run down the corridor but a bony hand on his shoulder stopped him. Suddenly, he was being pushed out of the way.

"Out of my way, Elric." It was Snape. He released his firm grip on Edward within seconds and billowed down the corridor towards the bathroom. The brothers left behind held in a breath. The noise of screaming and fighting had stopped. There was only silence in the hallway now.

"He must have followed us from the Great Hall." Alphonse breathed, breaking the men out of their trance. The Elric brothers jumped into action, both of them running after Snape. The scene before them was, well, horrific. The entire room had been damaged. The bathroom stalls were all but decimated, bits of wood floating in flooding pools of water on the cracked, tiled floor. China joined the debris where spells had been deflected and shattered into sinks and mirrors. What was worst of all was the blood staining the water and the blonde boy convulsing in Severus Snape's arms as deep cuts severed their way across his skin. Alphonse gasped, his eyes going directly to Malfoy. Edward looked at Harry. There was guilt in his eyes and blood on his hands. Edward felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"Harry what did you do?" He breathed. Harry could only gape at him helplessly.

"Get him to the hospital wing." Snape ordered, rising to his feet. Within a heartbeat, Alphonse was on his knees and scooping up Malfoy's arm to help him to his feet. Harry and Edward sighed in relief, the cuts were gone but Malfoy still lay limp in Alphonse's grip. All power had drained from him. While the skin below had healed, the blood remained, staining his once pristine shirt.

"I would carry you princess style but I don't think you'd ever forgive me for that." Alphonse murmured, keeping his voice down for Malfoy's sake. He was having none of that though.

"Levitation spells, Elric." He wheezed. His voice was scratchy, no doubt from the still healing slice across his throat. "You awful wizard." Alphonse managed a broken chuckle.

"You daft sod." He retorted, slowly helping Draco out of the bathroom.

Silence settled between the remaining two and it was strained. Edward was angry, furious even and Harry could tell just from the way he kept his distance.

"Edward, I didn't know." He attempted but Edward was not having it.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He roared, advancing on his student. Harry backed away.

"Look! It was an accident. I didn't know what the Sectumsempra spell could do. And the book said it was for enemies and I…I panicked." Harry explained.

"You didn't know? For enemies?" Edward repeated ludicrously. "Where the hell did you get it from?" He shouted. This was it. Harry knew there was no way he could explain this one away. He sighed.

"It was written in my book.. the one by the Half Blood Prince." He surrendered his voice now even.

"The potions book?" Edward sighed. He was starting to calm down, the stress slowly leaving him as he unclenched his fists and his jaw. "Harry that book is bad news. You should have listened to Hermione." Harry grimaced with shame.

"I know. The book has to go." He agreed and suddenly Edward was in front of him with a look in his eyes that was almost threatening.

"Destroy it now, Harry." He ordered in a deep voice, rough with severity. "Don't make me tell you again." Harry gulped as he slowly nodded his compliance. Edward seemed to study him. He was looking to see if he was being honest and Harry once again felt a stab of guilt at the distrust he had fostered between them.

"I will." He assured him. After a split second, Edward seemed satisfied and turned to leave the room.

"I'm going to check on Malfoy and report this to Dumbledore. Just hope Snape doesn't get to determine your punishment." He said grimly. Harry took a brief moment to reflect on this with dread, when he came to, Edward had left. Harry looked around at the destruction around him, pitying whoever was left to tidy up after them. Then he too, left the room for his next class.

The book weighed him down like a brick for the rest of the day. It served as a constant reminder of what had happened and Edward's threatening words. He was not surprised to find that Malfoy did not show up to classes for the rest of the day. Alphonse however did. He arrived forty minutes into their Charms class, taking the empty seat beside Harry. Three minutes later, a note landed on Harry's desk.

How are you?

Harry stifled his laughter. Only Alphonse.. He scribbled a note in return.

Shaky but fine. How is Malfoy?

Another piece of parchment slid across the bench.

He's alright. Edward told me everything. You need to lose the book. I'm dealing with Malfoy.

Harry scanned the note quickly and was in the middle of writing a return when another one landed before him.

You need to trust me.

Harry grimaced and looked towards his friend. Alphonse looked just as stern. How many times had he heard those words? How many times had he heard them just today? It was a mantra that was being repeated to him incessantly and yet he just kept swinging backwards and forwards on it. Alphonse was keeping something from him. Malfoy was keeping something from all of them. Whatever it was, it was bound to be terrible. But Harry was not being completely honest either. He had not told them the details of Dumbledore's classes or the Half Blood Prince. Nor had he uttered a word about Sirius to anyone….maybe they were all entitled to their own secrets. Harry sighed and scrawled out one final note, just before Professor Flitwick called for dismissal. He tossed it onto Alphonse's lap and jumped out of his seat. Alphonse watched him leave and slowly opened the note.

I know.

There was someone waiting beyond the classroom doors when Harry opened them. Behind him, everyone was still gathering their ink and parchments so Harry was the first to come face to face with Ginny. They both jumped then grinned at the sight of one another. After a quick exchange or greetings Harry asked her to the sixth years owed the surprise. Ginny smiled sheepishly.

"I was waiting for Dean. We were supposed to eat together." She explained with a shrug Harry turned to see the boy over his shoulder. He books were still scattered across the desk, as he cackled at whatever joke Seamus had just told. He clearly had not seen his girlfriend yet.

"Where are you going anyway? You seemed in a hurry." Ginny asked, catching his attention once more, reminding Harry of his plan. He dug into his bag and fished out the Half Blood Prince's potions book.

"This." He said. "I need to destroy it." Ginny inspected the book. She knew what it was, Harry had told her and without a word she seemed to understand what had happened. She placed a gentle hand on top of the book, raising her eyes to meet his.

"I'm coming with you." She said. Harry paused.

"Ginny you don.."

"Don't try to say no to me Potter." She interrupted and an infectious grin spread across her lips. "You're about to throw out your secret to perfect marks. You'll need someone to hold your hand." Harry chuckled.

"Alright, maybe I could use the help. I'm not sure how to go about this anyway" He conceded and that was all Ginny needed to hear.

"Come on. I know just the place." She gripped Harry's hand and without another word began to drag him away. As Harry stumbled after her, the smile stuck to his face. Suddenly the book felt just a little bit lighter.

Bet you thought I was gone didn't you?