Chapter 7 is up!

For those of you wondering "when the heck are they going to confront Ed?" here you go! I will tell you that they will find out about alchemy BEFORE reaching Hogwarts, probably next chapter if I don't decide to plug in a bunch of fillers (which I probably won't) but in an indirect way.

I DO NOT OWN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROHERHOOD, OR ANY PART OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES!

After breakfast, Ed went to the library, where he wrote a letter to Al, explaining everything. As he was about to fold it into an envelope he hesitated.

PS: I don't know how this will turn out, but there's one thing I'm sure of. I can't trust many of these people; I just have to hope they don't dig too deep. I'm sure they'll have a clue to what we're looking for. I won't give up, I promise.

Chapter 7- Confrontations

Later that day, Ed's musings were interrupted by the sound of cheering. "He got off, he got off.." there was a loud crack! And Ed shot to his feet.

"Eddie! Harry's back, cleared of all charges!" said the twins in that eerie unison of theirs.

"That's great!" Ed said with a grin. Now these people can lighten up a bit. Breakfast this morning was like a funeral! "Come to the kitchen to celebrate!" Fred said, dragging the boy back to the kitchen. As they got closer to the kitchen, many voices of congratulations could be heard. "Ed!" Harry said as they entered. "Congrats" Ed said plainly. "Though I have to ask. Cleared of all charges, how many times have you broken this government's laws?"

"When I was 13 I blew up my aunt" Harry said seriously. Ed blinked. "Have I mentioned how messed up your society is?" he said. The all nodded, deciding to not press the subject.

"Sirius, I need to ask you a serious question" Ed asked, staring at the odd creature with disgust. "Who made it, and is this another thing your mother decided to 'collect'?" Sirius looked at Ed as if he had sprouted horns and a tail.

"He wasn't made, per say, but born like that. He's a hippogriff" Sirius explained, speaking slowly as if he were talking to a child. "Stop talking like that! And I would know a chimera if I saw one, and that is a chimera" Ed persisted, not taking his eyes off the chimera who was staring at him intently, as if waiting for something. Out of the corner of his eye, Ed could see Sirius looking slightly frustrated. "I don't know if you muggles have different terms or something, but for the last time, Buckbeak is a hippogriff, not a chim-whatever"

"Chimera isn't that difficult to say!"

"By the way, if you don't want him to rip you apart, I recommend bowing" Sirius added. Ed ripped his gaze off of the chimera saying "why the hell would I do that? Give it more of an opening why don't i?"

"In that case, don't go near it. It wouldn't do for you to go dying before you clean up the mess in the library" Sirius huffed, leaving the room. Ed scoffed, "rude, old man" he muttered, before looking back at the chimera, who was still staring at him. It made him sick, as he thought of Nina and Alexander.

"You've been like that for a long time huh? You were able to get by… were you in pain?" Ed asked the chimera, silently wondering what was wrong with him. The only chimeras to ever understand human speech were created by that Tucker bastard. The chimera moved its head, almost looking like a nod, saying yes. Ed sighed, before saying "I wonder if Nina could've gotten by like you did? Why did that have to happen at all…" his fist tightened, until he felt something nudge him. He looked down, to see a cat, with a squashed looking face, and ginger fur looking at him. "Al… I miss you" he muttered, kneeling down to pet the cat.

"Sir, you need to finish your paperwork"

The colonel groaned as he stared at the large pile of work on his desk. The prospect of going through all of it was one that the colonel loathed to imagine. "I'll do it soon" he said, a yawn escaping him. After Hughes' death, he had immediately started investigating, but nothing was turning up, and these other matters were all irrelevant to his goal.

He shot out of his seat at the expected gunshot, only to turn and see his lieutenant staring at the window. He followed her gaze and saw an owl pecking at the window, the noises so loud and clear that the colonel had assumed it to be his lieutenant. He scoffed, opening the window.

"Honestly, this wizarding communications system is so flawed I don't know where to begin! What the hell is so wrong with a damn telephone? Owls aren't even supposed to come out during the day!" He said as the owl hopped into his office and he closed the window again.

Despite his annoyance, the colonel always felt a spark of relief when one of the birds came to his window. It provided him with something interesting to do, and a small part of him (miniscule, mind you) was glad to heard from his young subordinate so often. He took the large envelope from the owl, and inside found the usual two envelopes. One addressed to Alphonse, and one addressed to 'Colonel Bastard', he couldn't help but smirk. "That's definitely Fullmetal" he muttered, though not soft enough to avoid the ears of his first lieutenant.

He stared at the envelope suspiciously, as if there might be a trap in there. Knowing that runt, it's entirely possible. He opened the envelope with the hands of a surgeon, and unconsciously held his breath.

It was then his face was completely impaired by a dark substance.

"Sir!"

"What the hell? Lieutenant! Get a towel!" Mustang ordered, trying not to get any of the foul substance in his mouth or eyes. After being handed the towel he quickly wiped his face and stared at the letter. The paper was completely unharmed, and there sat the report. "That little brat!" As he broke into a string of curses Hawkeye sighed.

Brother,

What have you been doing? You know the colonel is really mad about that mud trick you pulled. What have you been doing? Where did you get it anyway?

Ed grinned. So the experiment partly worked then. I guess magic really doesn't work there then. If it did, the colonel would have had some burns on his face spelling 'Team Elric' Although he didn't quite expect it to work, Ed was a bit disappointed. He would have loved to imagine the colonel's expression, even if he would pay for it later. He continued to read the letter

I thought about the theory you mentioned, and it seems to be the only thing that would make sense. But there are some things that don't seem to add up. All the creatures you mentioned having odd abilities, or their parts being able to be mixed together to make solutions that make a person grow tails or have good luck, just how much of an effect does this energy have?

The society's government seems to be really bad with control from what you told me. Don't they know about alchemy? After all, dad was with them for some time right? Not to mention they refuse to acknowledge a threat? That seems so weird!

So you're going to a magic school then? I think it's really risky, especially since you can't even do it! Alchemic imitation only goes so far after all, be careful Brother!

Here, there was a blot of ink, as if the writer had been hesitant in the next words.

There's something you should know as well. Lieutenant colonel Hughes is dead. He was murdered a few nights ago. Colonel Mustang called an investigation, and Sciezka told me that apparently he had been researching the philosopher's stone and the fifth lab, as well as the war in Ishbal.

I don't know what to think anymore. Those strange people, with the ouroboros tattoos, the Philosophers' Stone, or even possible treason in the military! Now, people are dying getting caught up in our mess.

I hope you stay safe, brother.

Love,

Al

Ed's hands shook. "No…" he breathed out. It's my fault. I got him involved in this, and now he's gone! He thought of Gracia's kind smile, and how happy Elisia had always been with her father. All the times Hughes would brag about his family, and do his best to make them happy. Why him, of all people? No, why anyone? Why does anyone have to die because of our goals?

There was a commotion outside the room, and the door slammed open, as Ed attempted to regain his composure. Standing there were Harry, Hermione, Ron, the twins, and Ginny. "School book lists are here…" Harry said, but almost immediately followed by Hermione's accusing voice.

"You got accepted to Hogwarts Ed? I thought you were a muggle!"

Ed froze. I can't tell them the truth. "I- I guess I did" He said. "Why didn't you tell us you had magic power?" she asked. "I didn't know" Ed said, though he was already questioning himself.

"I bet you got it from your dad!" Ron said. Ed blinked.

"What?"

"You know, your dad! The famous alchemist? Hohenheim right? You must have gotten it from him!" Ron said, and Hermione glared at him. I never told any of them about that bastard, did I? Ed thought.

"How do you know about that?" Ed asked.

Ron seemed confused, before a look of realization crossed his face. At this point, Ed had realized as well. "When that man interrogated me, you were listening in weren't you?" Ed said, voice growing more accusatory. These damn people are all so nosy! They don't know when to keep their noses out of a situation, they better not have heard too much…

"Umm, you see, Ed.." Hermione said.

"What did you expect us to do? We knew practically nothing about you and you just appear one day with Dumbledore who gives us almost nothing to work with! What do you bloody expect us to do?" Ron said.

"I expected you to know when to keep your damn noses away from where they don't belong! Every single last one of you is way too nosy for your own good! What right do you people have to pry into my personal life? It was bad enough that paranoid old man gave me a damned drug just to find out things that didn't even matter, but you go and eavesdrop on us because you can't accept the fact you don't know everything! Have you ever thought there was a good reason for that?" Ed ranted, leaving the whole room stunned. No one spoke, and Hermione held her head down as if in shame.

Ed then gave a huff and sat on his cot. How much do they know?

"So, you really are from Amestris?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence. Ed nodded.

"So you really are a muggle then?" Ed shrugged at this.

"But… you can't be a muggle! You were accepted into Hogwarts, weren't you?" Hermione said, almost desperately. Ed shrugged once again.

"Don't just shrug it off! I'm asking a question Ed!" Hermione said, her voice sounding eerily like Winry's, if only for a brief second.

"Blame your useless government for that. I don't know what you would consider me either." Ed said, already regretting it. "What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"What did I just tell you about prying into other people's business?" Ed snarled, venom dripping from his words. They were all taken aback, and Ed huffed, picking up his briefcase. "I'm going to continue my research." He said, leaving the room.

He didn't get too far.

There was a loud crack! And the twins appeared before him. "Settle down, Eddie. We just want to know a few harmless things" said George

"We have different definitions of 'harmless'. Get out of the way"

"You can't order us around" Fred said.

"Watch me" He growled.

"Please, Ed, why won't you tell us anything? Why are you lying to us?" Hermione said, voice pleading.

Ed felt a twinge of regret, remembering his interaction with Winry recently.

"Why? How come you never talk to me? About your injuries, or about the two of you? Here I am as worried as I am, why don't you talk to me about anything important?!" Winry said, almost on the edge of tears.

"Because you don't need to know" He said, pushing past the twins. You don't need to get involved.

Ed had been holed up in the library for a while now. He didn't come out, or talk to anyone. Harry wasn't sure what to make of it. The emotion behind Ed's words betrayed a sort of grief, or pain. Had something happened?

As Harry paced the room, deep in thought he heard a crunching sound and looked down. Beneath his foot sat a piece of parchment, with some words written in a different language. Harry recognized a few words, such as 'Philosopher's stone', or 'Ishbal.' At the end the letter was signed off as simply Al, Ed's little brother, right?

Harry wondered what Ed had to do with the Philosopher's stone, but knew that unless someone could translate it he would never know. Ron poked his head through the door. "Oi! What are you doing in here? What is that?" Harry showed Ron the letter, saying "I found this" After reading it, Ron looked at Harry. "What is it?"

"A letter for Ed, from his brother I reckon"

"It's all jibberish! Is this his native language?" Ron said, squinting at the writing. "Probably" Harry said.

"Well, Mum is having some people come for dinner, to celebrate becoming a prefect" Ron said, averting his eyes from the letter. "Should we get Ed?" Harry asked.

Ron scoffed. "Won't talk to anyone. They tried, but he's still zoning them out. He's probably doing it on purpose, the prat"

"We'll get him to come around." Harry said. He honestly felt sympathetic for his blonde teen. If I was in his position, I would probably do the same thing.

Hermione poked her head into the room. "Harry! Ron! What's taking you so long?"

"We found a letter. Ed dropped it" Ron said bluntly. Hermione walked over to them, examining the letter. "They knew about the Philosopher's stone?" she said thoughtfully.

She gave a wry smile, saying "well, curiosity has gotten us into a lot of bad situations, hasn't it? What is the phrase? Curiosity killed the cat. Maybe Ed has a point.."

"There's a second part to that phrase. 'But satisfaction brought it back' right? If we hadn't dug into those situations, who knows where we would be now?" Harry replied. "Still, there might be some things just not worth knowing." Hermione protested. Harry found it slightly ironic to hear that from Hermione, who always liked to know everything. Had Ed's words affected her so much?

"Dunno, the bloke has metal limbs and a fat load of scars. I don't think we want to get involved with that" Ron said.

"All the same, something about him just doesn't sit right with me." Hermione said. Harry sighed. "I think we should try confronting him one more time. Maybe he will open up more if he knew us better"

This ended the conversation, and the trio headed for the kitchen in silence.

On the way there, they passed the library. "We should try and get him to come up" Harry said, opening the door. He could hear annoyed mutterings from Ron but ignored them. He was surprised to see that Ed wasn't even at the table where he usually worked. "Ed?" Harry called cautiously, but received no answer. He walked to the desk where Ed usually worked, and saw something odd. There were many scribbled notes, and odd diagrams all over the pages.

"What is this?" Harry muttered, as his two friends came to the desk to look at what he was staring at. "I remember seeing something like that before! I can't remember where though.." Hermione muttered.

"What the hell are you doing?" said a voice from behind them.

They all whipped around to see a slightly disheveled Ed. His bangs were as unruly as ever, there were slight bags under his eyes, though the eyes themselves were filled with anger.

"Ed! We were looking for you" Hermione said cheerfully.

"Well, I'm busy" He replied harshly.

"Ed, about earlier…" Harry said.

"Look, if you really want to know something, ask the old man. Otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you didn't get involved" Ed said, his voice growing rather low in volume. Ron muttered something along the lines of "that's what I said" though it went unheard.

"Ed! We're your friends aren't we? Why won't you confide in us?" Hermione said. He glared at her. "There are some things that aren't worth knowing"

Harry was puzzled by that statement. Sure, there are plenty of things that are unpleasant to hear, but that's all the more reason to tell someone, rather than have them find out in a worse way right? He didn't want to be continuously left in the dark. It was aggravating, that people refused to allow Harry to access information. He knew he wouldn't get any answers from Dumbledore, and he wouldn't be able to rest until he could make sense of his mysterious friend.

"At least tell us this. What are you? A wizard or a muggle?" Harry asked.

"I told you already. I don't know what you would call me" Ed replied.

"But what do you mean? Aren't you a wizard? Wasn't your father a wizard?" Hermione asked.

"That bastard wasn't a wizard, I promise you that. Like I said, I don't know what you would call me"

"Stop being so vague!" Ron whined.

"Stop asking pointless questions"

Harry internally screamed in frustration. Ed had always been stubborn, but now he seemed adamant that the trio knew as little of him as possible.

Hermione sighed. "Well, Mrs. Weasly is having a small dinner party. Please come join us when you can" She left, followe by Ron, leaving Harry to stare at Ed. "what?" Ed asked.

"What do you know about the Philosopher's stone?" Harry asked. Ed looked at him oddly, before saying "It's not worth looking into, and not worth making"

"But why?"

"The cost is too high." He said simply.

"What is the cost?" Harry asked, almost afraid of the answer.

He seemed to stiffen a bit, before saying "Human life."

At this, Harry's eyes widened. He couldn't believe Ed's words. Dumbledore had helped make something like that? "The old man didn't make a real one. The one you saved was incomplete" Ed said, as if reading Harry's mind.

"How did you know about that?" Harry asked. "I was told about it by the old man" He replied. Harry stayed silent as his fury boiled again. So he was told all about me was he? Yet we only get lies about him. how is this fair?

"Hey Harry" Ed said.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about this. I just really can't say anything. For your sake, mine, and a bunch of other people's." He said, tone gravely serious. He then set to packing his things, and Harry acknowledged that the conversation was over. Harry decided to leave Ed be, and walked out of the library, deep in thought.

"I just really can't say anything. For your sake, mine, and a bunch of other people's."

What on earth did he mean by that? Who is Edward Elric, really?

There it is! You can thank my wonderfully creative friend for the prank on Mustang.

Yes, I know, the ending is cheesy. But there it is.

The flashback with Winry is from the original Fullmetal Alchemist, I know, I happened to like that version of the scene better than Brotherhood (or the manga), and thought it fitted better.

Sorry for all the line breaks in this chapter. That won't become a regular thing.

Thank you for reading

-SevenBlazingSkies