DISCLAIMER: I OWN NEITHER HARRY POTTER NOR FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST!
Chapter Three
"SHUT UP!" yelled a voice.
A flash of light later, the curtain was closed and silence followed. Harry looked to see where the voice and light came from and was shocked to see that it came from Al. Ed was patting Al on the back. Sirius came a moment later.
"I guess I wasn't needed to shut my mother up after all," Sirius commented. "Are you all right, Alphonse?"
Al nodded and went on his way into the kitchen. Ed and Winry followed.
"That's your - ?" Harry started.
"Yeah, my mum," Sirius answered. "We've been trying to get her down for a month, but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again."
"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked, bewildered, as they went through the door from the hall and led the way down a flight of narrow stone steps, the others just behind them.
"Hasn't anyone told you?" Sirius asked. "This dump, as Edward puts it, was my parents' house. But I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters - about the only useful thing I've been able to do."
Harry noticed the hardness and bitterness in Sirius's voice. He followed his godfather to the bottom of the stairs. Sirius let the others go in, but held Harry back.
"What?" Harry asked.
"I've got to tell you this, Harry," Sirius said. "It's about Alphonse."
"What about him?" Harry asked.
"Don't ask Alphonse about how he was able to close the curtain over my mother's portrait," Sirius cautioned.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Because he'll just say that he doesn't know," Sirius answered. "Izumi Curtis, the new Alchemy teacher, told Dumbledore that Alphonse is a bit different now, but he's still the same."
"How can that be?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Sirius said. "But the only person who could possibly know is Edward and Alphonse's father, but he hasn't been seen for a long time."
Then Sirius went into the kitchen and Harry followed. Once in the kitchen, Harry could see that Ed was being scolded by Mrs. Weasley for trying to 'help' clear the table of the Order of the Phoenix stuff.
"Okay, okay," Ed said. "I got it. I'll never do it again."
"Edward, if I had a knut every time you said that, I'd be a rich person by now," Mrs. Weasley said as she went to get dinner plates from an ancient looking dresser.
Bill vanished the things and greeted Harry as did Mr. Weasley.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Ed asked, grinning.
"No, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, "I'm just saying that you have a knack for trouble-making."
"I can't help it if I'm curious," Ed said.
"Edward, curious describes a two year old," Winry said, helping set the table. "You're just plain nosy. And give that here!" Winry added to Mundungus Fletcher as she snatched away his pipe before he got a chance to smoke it. "We're about to eat and that just smells disgusting! You'll get it back before you leave!"
Winry handed the pipe to Mrs. Weasley, who pocketed it.
"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said.
"You're welcome!" Winry chimed.
Harry, Sirius, Ed, and Mundungus talked at the table. Crookshanks got onto Sirius's lap, and Sirius scratched him absentmindedly behind the ears as he turned, still grim-faced, to Harry.
"Had a good summer so far?" Sirius asked.
"No, it's been lousy," Harry said.
For the first time, something like a grin flitted across Sirius's face.
"Don't know what you're complaining about, myself," Sirius said.
"What?" Harry asked, shocked.
"Personally, I'd have welcomed a dementor attack," Sirius said. "A deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the monotony nicely. You think you've had it bad, at least you've been able to get out and about, stretch your legs, get into a few fights…I've been stuck inside for a month."
"Why?" Harry asked, frowning.
"Because the Ministry is still after him, and Body-butt's groupies will know that Sirius can turn into a big, black dog because of rat guy," Ed said. "I was attacked by Scar, the State Alchemist killer before coming here."
"Really?" Harry asked.
"Yup," Ed said. "He found out about me going to Hogwarts and," Ed whistled, "boy, was he fuckin' pissed."
"EDWARD!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
Ed flinched.
"Dumbledore seems to feel that there's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix right now," Sirius said, flatly.
"At least you know what's going on," Harry said.
"Oh, yeah," Sirius remarked. "Listening to 'Snake's' reports, having to take all his snide hints that he's out there risking his life while I'm sat on my backside here having a nice comfortable time…asking me how the cleaning's going - ."
"What cleaning?" Harry asked.
"Trying to make this 'dump' fit for habitation," Sirius explained, waving a hand over the dismal kitchen. "No one's lived here for ten years, not since my dear mother died, unless you count her old house-elf, and he's gone round the twist, hasn't cleaned anything in ages -."
"Sirius?" Mundungus asked. "This solid silver, mate?"
"Yes," Sirius said, surveying the silver goblet in distaste. "Finest fifteenth-century goblin wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest."
"That'd come off, though," Mundungus muttered, polishing it with his cuff.
"Fred - George - NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
Ed, Harry, Sirius, and Mundungus looked around and, a split second later, dived away from the table. Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through the air toward them. The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface, the flagon of butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its contents everywhere, and the bread knife slipped off the board and landed, point down and quivering ominously, exactly where Sirius's right hand had been seconds before.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" Mrs. Weasley screamed. "THERE WAS NO NEED - I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS - JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO DO MAGIC NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" Fred said, hurrying over and wrenching the knife out of the table. "Sorry, Sirius, mate - didn't mean to -."
As Harry and Sirius laughed, Ed and Mundungus were both swearing as they got to their feet. Crookshanks hissed and shot off under the dresser.
"Boys," Mr. Weasley said, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table, "your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age."
"None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Mrs. Weasley raged at the twins, as she slammed a fresh iron flagon of butterbeer onto the table and spilling almost as much again. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't Charm everything he met! Percy - !"
Mrs. Weasley stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden.
"Let's eat," Bill quickly said.
"It looks wonderful, Molly," Remus commented, ladling stew onto a plate for her and handing it across the table.
For a few minutes, there was silence but for the chink of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs as everyone settled down to their food. Then Mrs. Weasley turned to Sirius and said, "I've been meaning to tell you, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it might just be a boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."
"Whatever you like," Sirius said indifferently.
"The curtains in there are full of doxies, too," Mrs. Weasley went on. "I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow."
"I look forward to it," Sirius said sarcastically.
"Yeah, it sounds fun-filled beyond belief," Ed remarked.
"Edward!" Winry scolded.
"What?" Ed asked.
Winry scowled.
"Nothing," Winry sighed.
Three helpings of rhubarb crumble and custard later, Ed was getting the last crumbs off of his plate as Harry set his spoon down in a lull in the general conversation. Mr. Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete and relaxed, Tonks was yawning widely, her nose now back to normal, and Ginny, who had lured Crookshanks out from under the dresser, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rolling butterbeer corks for him to chase. Al was sitting beside Ginny.
"Do you have anymore?" Ed asked.
"Edward!" Winry scolded. "You'll get fat if you keep eating!"
"Sorry, dear, but I haven't any left," Mrs. Weasley said. "But I will make extra tomorrow."
"Yes!" Ed said.
Winry rolled her eyes as Al chuckled.
"Nearly time for bed, I think," Mrs. Weasley yawned.
"Not just yet, Molly," Sirius said, pushing his empty plate away and turning to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."
The atmosphere changed dramatically. Where seconds before it had been sleepily relaxed, it was now alert, even tense. A thrill went around the table at the mention of Voldemort's name. Remus lowered his wine goblet slowly, looking wary.
"I did!" Harry said indignantly. "I asked Ed and Al and Hermione and Ron and Winry, but they said that we're not allowed in the Order, so - !"
"And they're quite right," Mrs. Weasley said. "You're too young."
She was sitting bolt upright in her chair, her fists clenched upon its arms, every trace of drowsiness gone.
"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" Sirius asked. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen - ."
"Hang on!" George said loudly.
"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" Fred asked angrily.
"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" George pointed out.
Fred complained, and then Mrs. Weasley and Sirius argued on what was best for Harry and what wasn't.
"Will you two stop it?" Al spoke up.
Mrs. Weasley and Sirius stopped arguing and looked at Al as did everyone else.
"I'm sorry for interfering, but I just don't like it when people argue," Al said. "I hear enough from Brother and Winry, and I don't want to hear it from anyone else. You two are grown adults, so you should just act like it."
Al stood and went to his and Ed's room. Everyone was speechless until…
"I think Alphonse is quite right, Molly, Sirius," Remus said. "It is best if we were the ones to tell Harry and Edward the general picture from us, rather than a garbled version from others."
"But why Edward?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"He also saw Voldemort come back to life and was tortured," Remus said. "He has the right to know as well."
"Nah, I don't think I'll listen in on this conversation," Ed said, standing and stretching. "I think I'll pass this time."
"Why?" Ron asked. "You've been complaining about not being able to -."
"Yeah, I know, but I don't wanna hear everyone bitchin' at each other," Ed said. "It gets kind of annoying when it's grown-ups arguing. Harry, or someone, can fill me in tomorrow. I am freakin' beat."
Then Ed went up to his and Al's room.
"I'm going to bed too," Winry said. "Good night, everyone."
Then Winry went to her bedroom as well.
"Those kids," Mrs. Weasley muttered.