Here's an early update since I won't be updating this week
Apparently, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had all gone to Hogsmeade without him. It was a little hurtful. Some friends they were.
Apparently, Potter had not gone to Hogsmeade either.
"I just went to see Professor Lupin. I didn't know you had the same... problem too," Potter said through a grimace.
Edward shuddered at the memory. It felt good to have a friendly face to talk to after what had happened. The chocolate was amazing but having a friend for company was better.
"He's giving me anti-dementor lessons if you can believe it. I was thinking if you wanted to come along as well."
Edward's initial instinct was to turn Potter down. He was not going to use the stick again. However, the alternative of facing dementors alone was much more daunting.
"I'll... I'll come along just to watch," Edward said and there was a sense of finality to his tone that Potter did not dare to argue.
"So why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" Potter asked casually. There was a little laughter in his voice.
Edward raised his eyebrow.
"Coming with me?"
"To Hogsmeade?" Edward exclaimed incredulously.
"Where else?" With a meaningful look, Potter left the hospital wing, looking behind once to check if Edward was coming. Edward shrugged and threw the covers off him. He was glad that when he walked, his legs did not wobble or threaten to collapse under his weight.
Standing next to Potter, Edward could not help noticing how short he really was. He groaned miserably.
Potter pulled out a blank, withered sheet of parchment and murmured,
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Thin ink lines began to spread from where Potter's wand had tapped onto the parchment, crisscrossed like a spider web to form a detailed picture of Hogwarts grounds. Edward no longer recoiled at the sight of magic. He was almost used to the strangeness already.
Edward noticed that some of the ink lines led straight into the heart of
"Hogsmeade!" Potter said triumphantly. "These are the secret passages. The dementors and Filch don't know about some of these routes."
Edward could have married him.
"What are you waiting for?" Edward demanded impatiently, already tracing one of the routes in his head and racing out of the hospital wing. He was thinking about the muffins. "Let's go!"
They dodged Peeves on their way out. Edward was grateful for that. Ghosts were creepy no matter how childish the ghost might behave.
"There!" Potter pointed at the statue of the one-eyed witch. As the boys approached the statue, they looked at each other expectantly.
"Uh... See what the map says," Edward suggested and Potter quickly consulted the map again. There were tiny ink figures, labelled Harry Potter and Edward Elric standing beside the statue. A speech bubble popped up above their heads. The word inside it said "Dissendium".
Potter tucked the map away. "Do you..."
"No," Edward said quickly. "You do the honours."
"Dissendium!" Potter whispered and tapped his stick on the witch. The hump on the witch opened wide and Edward slipped inside after Potter.
It was so dark Edward bumped right into Potter.
"Lumos!" Potter said, holding his wand up as a bright green light appeared at the tip.
Wordlessly, the two boys started walking along the passage that kept twisting and turning. Edward was grateful for his small stature that let his squeeze through tiny openings easily. Wait. He was not grateful.
"How long more?" Edward hissed as he watched Potter struggle to duck down and enter the tunnel that Edward had effortlessly gone through. He would punch Potter if he mentioned anything about his height.
"No idea," Potter said, sounding equally vexed. "I've never used the map before."
"Great," Edward muttered. He was a little thankful that it was Potter and not Mustang he was with now. If it were Mustang using his fire for guidance, they would have burnt out their oxygen supply by now.
They finally emerged in an old cellar, full of wooden crates and boxes. Edward dusted himself and stealthily, the boys crept up the stairs and emerged behind the counter of Honeydukes. They dodged out from behind the counter and straightened up, blending in perfectly with the rest of the Hogwarts students.
"Told you I'd bring you here," Harry said, grinning. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. Edward knew his own face reflected the same amazement.
"Yeah!" Edward breathed. "My hero!"
Edward decided that Goyle was wrong. The muffins were not that good compared to what Honeydukes had in store for them. Thank goodness for keeping his wallet with him and thank goodness for samples.
If not for them, Edward would have bought himself a bag of jellybeans on the spot. He did not want to buy a whole bag just to find them flavoured with vomit. He had popped a plump red jelly bean into his mouth and instantly vomit filled his mouth. He had to make sure that the flavour of the bean caused the taste and that he was not actually vomiting.
Harry had gotten his hands on some Special Effects sweets that allowed him to breathe fire. It was kind of cool. Mustang should learn how to do that some day.
"Hey! Look!" Harry whispered, pointing at the corner of Honeydukes.
Edward followed the direction of his finger to see him pointing at a display of cockroach clusters. Were those even edible? But Harry was pointing at the people observing the clusters with awe.
"Let's sneak up on them!" Harry said. Edward smirked and followed him. He wanted to scare Miss Know-it-all.
The boys sneaked stealthily up the two friends.
"I think Harry would like this," Weasley said, holding up a jar of blood-flavoured lollipops.
"Um, no. Harry wouldn't want them. They're for vampires, I expect," Granger said.
"How about these?" Weasley suggested, holding up the cockroach cluster jar. Edward was horrified to see that the cockroaches were still moving. Were they still alive? Who would eat those anyway? Well, Black Hayate would. But what human would?
"Definitely not," Harry interjected, almost causing Weasley to drop the jar.
"Harry!" Granger squealed. "What are you doing here? How did you-?"
"Did you learn to apparate?" Weasley asked excitedly. "WOW!"
"Of course not!" Harry said and went on to explain about the map much to Granger's horror. Meanwhile, Edward had quietly transmuted an old broom into a wooden scythe and stole quietly up to the three friends.
When he was close enough, Edward raised the scythe above their heads so that the shadow of the weapon fell across the ground.
Weasley, Granger and Harry whirled around, stunned.
"Your end is nigh!" Edward intoned in a low voice, trying not to guffaw at the three pale faces turned towards him.