Happy new year guys!
No one was impressed with Malfoy and Flint about the match but no one blamed Crabbe and Goyle since they were assumed to be too dull to think for themselves. Edward thought otherwise. For two loyal, besotted followers of Malfoy, they were surprisingly bright.
"All you have to do is to ignore the pain and push yourself out of the entrance."
"Push?" Edward echoed, tilting his head to one side.
"Yea! Once you get past the initial pain, the reward is amazing!"
"Mmmm..." Crabbe said dreamily and nodding. "Amazing!"
"The passageway is a bit tight at the entrance but if you don't touch them-"
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Malfoy roared, interrupting them.
"Ed's trying to figure a way how to get past the dementors to go to Hogsmeade tonight." Crabbe explained.
Malfoy stared at him incredulously and shook his head before stalking off. Edward scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"What about I push them away instead?" Edward muttered and his two consultants' eyes lit up in a moment of epiphany.
"Whoa, Ed! You're really smart!" Crabbe cooed.
"Professor Snape would be so proud!" Goyle supplemented. Edward grinned maniacally.
Malfoy glanced at Edward in disgust as he stood behind him in the line.
"Don't faint on me again, Elric!" Malfoy said as the line moved forward. The air grew subtly colder as they drew closer to the dementors.
Edward could see Snape near the entrance but at a safe distance away from the dementors. The Slytherin Head was studying him with snake-like eyes.
The procession moved forward and the lights in the room dimmed until they were purple. Edward grabbed the stick in his pocket, his hands clammy.
Focussing his entire mind on the memory of his brother, Edward tightened his grip on the wand. Edward remembered the rain, how he knew his body was cold from declining the umbrella Winry was holding. But he did not register the cold. He was thinking about Al. About how sorry he was for ruining his life. Edward remembered the moment he saw Al with Scar, the moment when said he never hated him, the unbridled joy he felt when all his sins were absolved by his brother. The moment when Al said he never blamed him.
"Expecto patronum," Edward whispered. A silvery wisp poured out from the pocket of his Slytherin pocket. It surrounded him, cloaking Edward in a warm mist. The mist settled and the python was draped across his shoulders.
The dirty feeling of having used magic wormed through his hand and Edward gritted his teeth. Crabbe and Goyle applauded while Malfoy's eyes widened. The dementors parted away and let Edward through without attempting to stop him.
As Edward passed Snape, he flashed the Head of his house a wide grin and Snape's eyes hardened.
"Where to?" Edward demanded as they boarded the carriage to Hogsmeade. He trusted Crabbe's and Goyle's sense of taste better than Harry and his friends. After all, his Syltherin friends had probably tried and double tried everything from Hogsmeade.
"Three broomsticks!" Crabbe and Goyle said in unison.
"I'm going to the Shrieking Shack," Malfoy muttered. Edward's eyes became tiny slits. The way he said it in such a matter-of-fact tone made it seem like he expected everyone to drop everything and follow him.
"Well, I'm going to warm myself with good mead first!" Edward retorted as Crabbe and Goyle looked a little uneasy.
Malfoy rolled his eyes at the alchemist.
"Yea, go ahead. I've had enough of you stalking me anyway."
"Hey Crabbe! Goyle!" Edward shouted even though they were right beside him. "Wanna have some butterbeer when we get down?"
Crabbe and Goyle exchanged frantic looks. Slowly, they nodded. Point- Elric. Elric- 1. Malfoy- 0.
"I'll go with you Draco-poo!" Parkinson cooed. She latched herself onto Malfoy's arm and looked smug. "If I'm scared, I can hold your hand!"
"Get off me Pansy!" Malfoy snarled. Then, he turned to glance outside the carriage window. "That's disgusting! You know what? I really need a drink right now."
Edward did not blame Malfoy for blanching at the thought of Parkinson slobbering over him. Still, Elric- 2. Malfoy- 0.
The butterbeer at Three Broomsticks was fantastic as ever but it was difficult tuning out his housemates annoying voices.
"And Father said he can get that big oaf expelled by next month too." Malfoy. Talking about Hagrid again. When was he going to shut up about that guy?
"Hahaha! Good one, Draco! Imagine what Potter would look like when he sees that hulk fired!" Zabini. Being an idiot.
"Ooh, Drakey, it's so cold outside. Do you want me to warm up your lips?" Parkinson. Ruining Edward's appetite.
"Maskajolf!" Crabbe. Trying to talk with his mouth full.
"Hoyjutso!" Goyle. Replying with his mouth full.
A shadow crossed the window and the Slytherins looks up instantly. Malfoy's lips curled into a feral grin.
"Crabbe, Goyle, follow me."
Edward stood up automatically but Malfoy did not stop him this time. Crabbe and Goyle finished chomping down their food and hurried after their master like puppies.
They left the rest of their housemates looking questioningly at each other. Malfoy was still talking about Hagrid but he had raised his voice so that he was practically announcing it to the world.
The Slytherins were moving towards the Shrieking Shack. Edward noticed that the shack was on top of a slope and that they had to slow down since Crabbe was already breathless from walking a few metres up the snowy surface.
Malfoy's voice swelled in volume.
"I should be getting and owl from Father any time soon. He had to go to the hearing to tell them about my arm... about how I couldn't use it for three months."
Edward winced at the memory. Crabbe and Goyle snickered.
"I really wish I could hear that great hairy moron trying to defend himself. There's-"
Malfoy pretended to look surprise and Edward followed his gaze to see Ron and Hermione at the top of the slope. Edward blushed, wanting to leave. He felt like they were intruding on the two Gryffindors.
"What are you doing here, Weasley?" Malfoy indicated at the weather-beaten Shrieking Shack. "Suppose you'd love to live here, wouldn't you Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your whole family slept in one room- is that true?"
Edward tried to look indifferent. He had his role as a bodyguard, a Slytherin and one of Malfoy's cronies. He could not just swing a punch at his charge. Or could he?
Ron looked like he was about to jump at Malfoy and tackle him to the ground. His face was bright red with ire. Hermione clenched her fists surreptitiously.
To Edward's surprise, Ron did not box Malfoy to the ground and rip his limbs apart. Malfoy took advantage of this and continued in the same taunting voice.
"We were just discussing your friend Hagrid. Just trying to imagine what he's going to say when they kill the hippogriff. D'you think he'll cry when they cut-"
Edward grabbed Malfoy's hair and pushed his head into the snow.
Malfoy got up spluttering.
"What the heck Elric!" Malfoy hissed but stopped talking when a white missile soared past his head and landed on the ground with a splat.
A snowball.
Malfoy spun around and yelled, "Who did that?"
Edward glanced around but realised that they were completely alone. His throat tightened and his body tensed, ready to fly at unseen enemies.
"Very haunted up here, isn't it?" Ron said casually, sticking his hands into his pockets and sniggering at the Slytherins below him.
"Ghosts aren't real!" Edward said. Then mentally slapped himself. Of course they were real. There were at least five of them in Hogwarts. But this ghost seemed more hostile than the ones in the school.
Crabbe and Goyle looked intimidated. They flexed their muscles, which Edward had to admit was impressive, despite never seeing them work out before.
Malfoy was looking from left to right frantically and if he did not stop soon, he was going to get a whiplash. Edward felt strangely clear. His instincts were screaming at him and his guard was on high. He could hear every whisper of wind, every breath.
Breath? Ghosts don't breathe.
A howl from behind him made Edward whirl around. Someone had thrown foul-smelling yellow sludge at Crabbe who was trying to rub it out of his eyes.
"Don't touch your eyes, you idiot! It'll make it hurt more!" Edward shouted.
"It came from over there!" Malfoy screamed, pointing at an empty spot of snow. Perfect.
His back facing the hocus pocus people so none of them could see what he was doing, Edward clapped his hands and transmuted his automail into a short sword.
The place Malfoy was pointing at was wrong. Edward detected excited and slightly hitched breathing six feet to the right.
Edward slashed at the air viciously and there was a short, startled cry.
His blade cut the air cleanly but his foot caught onto something.
Something flashed into visibility and Edward stumbled back in shock. Malfoy and Goyle screamed from somewhere behind him.
"H... Harry?" Edward gasped, staring at the floating head of one Harry Potter.
Elric- 2. Potter- 10.