I haven't forgotten about Black. How can I? He's yummeh.

Their voices began to fade as Snape and Dumbledore traipsed away. Crabbe looked a little unnerved.

"Are you conspiring with Sirius Black?" Crabbe glanced at Edward timidly.

"No!" Edward scoffed.

Edward had seen the name of the criminal who had escaped Azkaban plastered on newspapers. But reading a newspaper where the pictures moved was not something Edward could get used to. He suspected his mission to protect Malfoy had something to do with Black.

Edward had even increased his vigilance on Malfoy when he heard that the Fat Lady's portrait had been slashed by Black.

"Then why haven't you been able to use that wand?" Malfoy challenged, pointing at the fake wand in Edward's robes. "I remember the time in DADA when you could not even summon a simple shield."

"I don't have to prove anything to you, Malfoy."

"I think you do." Malfoy grabbed the permission slip that Snape had signed from Edward's gloved hand. He proceeded to rip the form into shreds.

Reaching out to grab Malfoy before further damage could be inflicted, Edward tried to swipe the slip from Malfoy's grasp.

"Do it," Malfoy smirked, opening his hand and letting the scraps of paper drift down to the ground.

"You son of a-"

"Prove to me you can do magic, Elric."

Cursing under his breath, Edward knelt down on the ground and inconspicuously clapped his hands together as he drew out the fake wand.

"REPARO!" Edward intoned clearly and as he pointed the stick and the scattered remains, he rested a hand on them.

There was a flash of yellow light and when it faded away, Edward was pleased to see Malfoy wearing a frustrated and perplexed expression as he held out the perfect permission slip.

"Satisfied?" Edward hissed, raising his chin a little. Malfoy just glared at him and stalked away to the main gate.

Goyle gave him a goofy thumbs-up and ran clumsily after Malfoy. As Crabbe followed his friend, Edward heaved a sigh of pure relief. Maybe he could still pull off this magic thing without using a wand.

When Edward had caught up with them at the main gate, he felt as if all warmth had been stolen from him. Edward choked back a terrible feeling of despair and sadness. As the line to Hogsmeade proceeded, Edward could see hooded grey figures hovering at the entrance.

"Dementors," Edward whispered, a little ashamed to hear his voice croak like a frog. He felt like a frog. A frog in hot water who was stupid enough to let the water cook him to death.

"Don't tell me you're scared of them," Malfoy said nastily. Edward shook his head even though his head was whirling.

They were so close to the hooded figures now. Edward could smell the breath of the dementor as he drew close to them. It smelt like rotting meat. Their skeletal claw-like hands hovered limply in the air. Yet, they looked poised and ready to claw someone's eyes off.

The screaming began. The bright purple lights blinded Edward's vision and he could not breathe. His head pounded. His blood pulsed against his temples. Edward felt strangely inflated, like a balloon swelling and ready to burst.

He realised that the inflated feeling was fear. Edward was terrified. He did not like to admit it but he needed help. Edward tried to block off the noise and the lights. They were just illusions. Just illusions. Not real.

Happy thoughts. He needed happy thoughts. That was what the textbook said. He needed to be happy.

Holding on to the image of his mother and brother, alive and well, Edward tried to summon happiness. He pictured their face down to every minute pore on their faces. Happy. Edward was happy.

The screaming overpowered him and his mother and brother transformed before his eyes. It was grotesque. Their shapes became warped and distorted. Their limbs fell apart one by one. Blood. Their eyes locked onto Edward's. The alchemist was shocked to see their pupils had disappeared. There were signs of rotting at the corners of their eye sockets.

"You did this to me." They said in unison, their empty eyes boring into Edward.

"You did not just faint on me."

Edward felt himself being poked painfully. He blinked rapidly and saw himself slumped against Malfoy's and Crabbe's bodies. Dismay filled Edward's belly when he realised they had not moved. He still had to get past the dementors.

Edward did not care if that made him a lousy bodyguard, but he wanted to leave. Badly.

"Get off!" Malfoy snarled and pushed Edward off.

"You get off!" Edward retorted reflexively. Unable to get the hang of his numb legs, Edward staggered away from Malfoy and crashed into one of the hooded figures.

The suffocating despair returned. Edward's eyes blanked as the violet lights once again returned. He felt cold, clammy hands cup his cheeks. The fingers brushed against his face and Edward shivered. It was the feeling of bone scraping against flesh.

Edward gasped involuntarily as his head was forced upwards and as his lips parted, he felt every fibre of energy in his body being sucked away. His breathing stuttered. The screaming started.

He was in the hospital wing when he woke up. Edward noticed that there was no one else in the wing. Alone in the darkness, Edward hugged his knees to his chest.

It was his fault. He turned his mother and his brother into monsters. It was his fault. Edward knew that the dementor had been trying to steal his life force. He wished that it had finished the job. It was all his freaking fault.

"Unthinkable!" A voice outside the hospital wing was saying. Edward roughly brushed away the matted hair from his face. He recognised the voice to be the Pinako look-alike.

"How could the... the thing!" There was unbridled disgust in her voice. "How could it even attempt to Kiss an innocent child?"

"I suppose it was getting hungry. After being away from Azkaban for so long, it needed the energy." The oily voice was unmistakable.

"Still! To attack a harmless child."

"I don't think he's that harmless. I need to talk to talk to Elric when he wakes up, Poppy. I'll make sure he gets the chocolate."

"Bless you, Severus."

Edward dived back under the sheets and turned his back to the door. He slowed his breath and pretended to sleep. Closing his eyes was the most difficult part. Edward was afraid he would see the transmutation circle under his lids again.

"Elric, I know you are awake. Stop pretending."

Edward lay prone on the bed and smiled sheepishly at his house head. The smile felt forced and his cheeks cracked with the effort of holding the smile in place.

"I suspected you had troubles with the dementors." Snape said, slapping the bar of chocolate painfully in Edward's hands.

Edward's mind spun. Did Snape sign the slip so that he could confirm his reservations about the dementors?

"People who have this kind of reaction against the dementors have faced something horrible in their past. Something, perhaps, they want to hide?"

Snape turned away from Edward's bed. He turned back to survey the alchemist when he was almost to the door.

"Question is, what do you have to hide?"

I promise no more angst next week! ;D