Cerulean Silver vs. Amber Gold
by hikaranko
Summary: Ed has been put on his stupidest assignment yet: babysitting. Well, that's not what everyone else would call it, but to Edward Elric, it's exactly like babysitting. But there's a lot more to this assignment than what's on file... FMA/HP crossover. kinda sorta may possibly be AU with HBP release and with FMA. rated T for language.
Disclaimer: I, just like everyone else, do NOT own either Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter. It would so rock if I did, but I don't. That's life. It's unfair to us all.
Author's Note: wow! i got a lot of responses for chapter 5! now you're all making me worry about the next chapters... i hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the story!
Chapter 6
Name Dropping
In spite of having been jinxed into silence, Ed's anti-short outburst seemed to have attracted a lot of attention. Judging by the look on Snape's face, he would have gotten a detention or some other, similar kind of punishment. But for whatever reason, the professor only deducted a few points from the house (whatever that accomplished) and undid the spell.
Zabini was having a good laugh about it all throughout lunch, and though Draco didn't say much, the smirk had not left his face since the end of class. Edward decided not to say anything and just stuffed his face with all the amazing food that had appeared. He was fed up with being polite around these people, and he didn't think he'd be able to keep the act up all year long. Crabbe and Goyle were watching Ed eat with a mixture of shock and admiration on their faces.
After lunch they went back to the Slytherin dorm to kill some time before their next class, which was, for all of them but Crabbe and Goyle, N.E.W.T. level Potions.
"I say we skip Slughorn's class," Zabini proposed.
"But you were invited to his little club," Pansy teased.
"Exactly," the boy snapped. "He irritates me. I'd much prefer to stay away from that arse of a professor."
"You might as well go," Draco told him with a lazy shrug of his shoulders. "It's only the first day of classes. You can skip all you like after today."
Ed was starting to think that he definitely was going crazy, because he found himself nodding his head in solid agreement. Blaise just rolled his eyes.
"Whatever."
When the matter was settled, they went to their room to get the supplies that they needed for the class. Sure enough, Dumbledore had taken care of all Ed's school supplies, which left him with quite a lot of odd things in the trunk. Ed had to see what Blaise and Draco were pulling out so that he would know what to grab. After taking note of what they were holding, Ed reached in and grabbed what he needed; a scale, a potion kit, and a small cauldron. Ed smiled at the cauldron as he pulled it out.
'I guess some stereotypes are true after all,' he thought, genuinely amused.
They remained in the Slytherin common room for a little while longer, lounging on the couches by the fireplace and trying to ignore Pansy's pouting. Ed was lying down on the couch, flipping through the pages of the 'Advanced Potion Making' textbook and skimming through the content. Just reviewing really. This had been one of the first books he had read through. After all, potion making seemed very much like cooking and it had been said many times before that alchemy's roots could be found in the kitchen. Potions couldn't be much different.
The potions classroom wasn't very far from the Slytherin common room, which made for a pleasantly short walk. There weren't many students waiting in the corridor. Judging by the crests on their robes, there were four Ravenclaws and a lone Hufflepuff gathered so far. Draco, Pansy, Zabini, and Ed were soon joined by a weedy-looking Slytherin boy by the name of Theodore Nott, and not long after that, a familiar Gryffindor trio entered the corridor. Once again, all the Slytherins (except Ed) glared at them.
The dungeon door soon opened and the round belly of Professor Slughorn preceded him out of the door. Ed suppressed his laughter at the odd, walrus-like appearance of the Potions Master. He beamed at Zabini and Harry with particular enthusiasm as everyone filed through the door. Pansy poked Zabini in his side with a mischievous glint in her eyes and he scowled at her.
While finding a place to sit, Ed was overpowered by the numerous strange smells that were emitted from the various bubbling cauldrons around the room. He peered into each cauldron that they passed, trying to figure out what was contained in each of them.
"Now then, now then, now then," Slughorn said merrily as he walked to the front of the room. "Scales out everyone, and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of 'Advanced Potion Making'..."
All five Slytherins pulled out their materials as they settled in a row and laid them out on top of the table. Ed made sure to watch the others carefully and copy what they did as they prepared their things.
"Sir?"
The professor looked over at the Gryffindors, where Harry had raised his hand into the air. He nodded his head at him.
"Harry, m'boy?"
"I haven't got a book or scales or anything - nor's Ron," Harry informed him, gesturing to the red-headed boy beside him. "We didn't realize we'd be able to do the N.E.W.T., you see-"
Professor Slughorn's face took on a thoughtful glaze. "Ah, yes, Professor McGonagall did mention..." He then smiled. "Not to worry, my dear boy, not to worry at all. You can use ingredients from the store cupboard today, and I'm sure we can lend you some scales, and we've got a small stock of old books here, they'll do until you can write to Flourish and Blott's..."
Malfoy snickered to the other Slytherins. "We wouldn't want Potty and Weasel to fall behind now, would we?"
His band of followers all smirked at the comment, whereas Ed just leaned forward in his seat, resting his chin in his hands and rolling his eyes. He watched Slughorn go to the corner cupboard and pull out two very battered-looking copies of the textbook and two sets of tarnished scales, both of which he gave to Harry and the boy named Ron. Slughorn then resumed his position at the front of the classroom, inflating his already bulging chest so that the buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst off.
"Now then," he said, "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of 'em, even if you haven't made 'em yet." He then gestured toward the cauldron nearest the Slytherin table. "Anyone tell me what this one is?"
Ed craned his neck to see what was inside the cauldron. What looked to be nothing more than plain water was boiling away inside it. Rather disappointed, he slumped back into his seat and groaned.
"Isn't it just boiling water?" Ed asked disinterestedly.
Pansy laughed ostentatiously as though it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. A few other students around the classroom laughed as well. Slughorn, on the other hand, blinked in confusion. Ed was equally confused by the laughter and looked around at his other classmates.
"What?"
"It's Veritaserum," a girl called from somewhere behind him. "A colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."
Ed turned to look at who had spoken and recognized the same brown-haired girl from his earlier Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She glanced at Ed with an almost snobbish look in her eyes, giving him a curt smile and a shallow nod, clearly pleased to have corrected him. There was a bossy air about her that seemed a little too familiar to Ed.
"Very good, very good," Slughorn said happily. "Now," he continued, pointing at the cauldron nearest the Ravenclaw table, "this one here is pretty well known... Featured in a few ministry leaflets lately, too... Who can-"
The girl interrupted. "It's Polyjuice Potion, sir."
Ed rolled his eyes. "Duh," he muttered to no one in particular.
"Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here..." Slughorn had barely gestured toward the cauldron before the same girl shot her hand into the air. "Yes, my dear?"
"It's Amortentia!"
"It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask," said Slughorn who was looking mightily impressed, "but I assume you know what it does?"
She smiled. "It's the most powerful love potion in the world!"
Draco cocked an eyebrow at this. Pansy suddenly looked very excited, which was a very peculiar and somewhat disturbing thing to see. She kept looking coyly at Draco, trying to catch his attention and failing miserably.
"Quite right! You recognized it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"
The girl was just about to open her mouth to speak when she was cut off.
"You can also tell from the rising steam," Ed said loudly. When Slughorn looked at him curiously, he pointed over at the cauldron. "Characteristic spirals."
The Potion Master's eyebrows arched upward, impressed. "Very keen observation, lad."
Everyone seemed rather stunned, and the bushy-haired girl looked somewhat insulted. She raised her hand back into the air eagerly. The professor turned back to her.
"Something else to add, m'dear?"
"And it's supposed to smell differently to each of us," she said enthusiastically, "according to what attracts us, and I can smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and..."
Her voice trailed off and she blushed furiously. From out of the corner of his eye Ed noticed Draco glance over at the girl, an unreadable expression on his face.
"May I ask your name my dear?" Slughorn said, ignoring the girl's embarrassment.
She smiled proudly. "Hermione Granger, sir."
"Granger?" Slughorn repeated thoughtfully. "Granger?"
Ed's eyebrows furrowed. 'Granger...? Why does that sound familiar...? Granger...'
"Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger," Slughorn asked her, "who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"
'No, no, that's not it,' Ed corrected him in his mind. 'I read about that somewhere...'
The girl named Hermione lowered her gaze and shook her head. "No, I don't think so, sir. I'm Muggle-born, you see."
Malfoy leaned close to Nott, muttering something to him under his breath and they both sniggered. Ed glanced over at them absently, still mulling over the girl's name. Slughorn looked at Harry, who was sitting right next to Hermione, and his face suddenly lit up.
"Oho!" he exclaimed excitedly. "'One of my best friends is Muggle-born, and she's the best in our year!' I'm assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?"
"Yes, sir," said Harry, smiling.
Ed suddenly had a very vivid flashback of him rolling around in his bed, trying desperately to sleep, while his roommates... He sprang to his feet, his eyes wide.
"GRANGER!" he shouted with wild recognition. He immediately turned on Draco. "Granger! That's the one you were talking about last night, right?"
The entire class was stunned, all eyes turning toward the two blonde Slytherins. Draco was clearly taken aback as he stared at Ed in horrified rage.
"What the bloody hell are you-"
"Last night! You kept talking about her!"
Draco didn't seem to be able to decide whether he should vomit or die on the spot. Pansy looked horrified. Zabini, on the other hand, could be seen with a wide, mischievous grin plastered across his face. Ed was pleased with himself for remembering and glanced back at Hermione. She looked heavily perplexed as she turned to Harry and Ron on either side of her, both of whom wore identical confused expressions. Ed suddenly wondered if he had said something wrong.
"And your name, lad?" Slughorn said, breaking the shocked, tense silence. He seemed unperturbed by the sudden outburst.
He turned to look back at the professor. "Edward Elric."
Slughorn beamed. "Ah, yes, of course! The exchange student from the school in Germany!"
Ed forced a smile, the corners of his lips twitching. "Uh... yeah."
"I heard about you from Dumbledore himself! A brilliant mind, he told me, a brilliant mind. Quite like Miss Granger here, are you?"
Hermione and Ed looked over at each other and smiled as politely as they could. He wasn't quite sure what to think of her, though when he looked at her again, he did realize that she was rather pretty. If Draco carried some kind of interest in her, then he couldn't be blamed. Ed shot another glance at Draco as he sank back into his seat and noticed a tinge of envy in his grey eyes.
"Twenty points to both Slytherin and Gryffindor," Slughorn said jovially as he returned to teaching. "Amortentia doesn't really create love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room - oh yes." He nodded gravely toward Nott and Blaise, both of whom were smirking skeptically. "When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love... And now, it is time for us to start work."
"Sir, you haven't told us what's in this one," said the only Hufflepuff in the class, pointing at a small black cauldron on Slughorn's desk.
The potion in question was the color of molten gold, and large drops were splashing about in an almost cheerful manner above the surface, though not a single particle had spilled. Ed stared at it for a moment, matching it to descriptions and images he'd found in the textbooks. He was absolutely sure that he'd come across that potion somewhere before.
"Oho," said Slughorn again. "Yes. That. Well, that one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis. I take it either Mr. Elric or Miss Granger can tell me what it does?"
"It's liquid luck," Hermione answered proudly. "It makes you lucky!"
Everyone suddenly sat up a little straighter, now at full attention. Ed was now assured that he knew exactly what the potion was.
"Yeah, but if taken in great amounts," Ed countered, "it tends to make people reckless, giddy, and dangerously overconfident. Not to mention it can be highly toxic. Too much of a good thing, y'know?"
Slughorn beamed again. "Excellent! Take another ten points for your houses, both of you. Yes, it's a funny little potion, Felix Felicis, desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavors tend to succeed... at least until the effects wear off."
"Have you ever taken it, sir?" one of the Ravenclaws asked with great interest.
"Twice in my life," said Slughorn. "Once when I was twenty-four, once when I was fifty-seven. Two tablespoonfuls taken with breakfast. Two perfect days." The professor stared off dreamily into the distance for a moment before continuing. "And that is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson."
Everyone fell silent. The only thing that could be heard was the bubble and gurgle of the surrounding potions in their cauldrons. Even the Slytherins looked intrigued, leaning forward slightly in their seats.
"One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis," the professor said, pulling out a small glass bottle out of his pocket and showing it to the students. "Enough for twelve hours' luck. From dawn till dusk, you'll be lucky in everything you attempt." He placed it on his desk, and everyone's eyes followed it, unable to tear their gazes away. "Now, I must give you warning that Felix Felicis is a banned substance in organized competitions... sporting events, for instance, examinations, or elections. So the winner is to use it on an ordinary day only... and watch how that ordinary day becomes extraordinary!"
Zabini and Nott looked annoyed at the warning and leaned back in their seats, scowling. Ed smirked, knowing how disappointing it must have been for them to find out that it wouldn't help them on tests. His smirk slowly faded away when he realized that this meant Ed was definitely going to get used for his smarts. He didn't like that, and once again vowed revenge.
'Why can't they go ask the Granger girl instead?'
"So," Slughorn went on, suddenly brisk, "how are you to win my fabulous prize? Well, by turning to page ten of 'Advanced Potion Making.' We have a little over an hour left to us, which should be time for you to make a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. I know it is more complex than anything you have attempted before, and I do not expect a perfect potion from anybody. The person who does best, however, will win little Felix here. Off you go!"
Everyone set to work; they pulled their cauldrons toward them and some began adding weights to their scales in complete silence. The concentration within the room was almost tangible. Ed could see Draco riffling feverishly through his textbook. He almost laughed aloud.Clearly, Malfoy really wanted that lucky day.
Ed flipped to the right page in the book and glanced over the instructions. With a resigned sigh, he rose to his feet and followed the others to the student cupboard to get the ingredients. Everyone seemed to be in a terrible hurry, competing with one another to get the prized golden liquid. Ed didn't really mind. Sure, his luck always seemed to run bad. It would be nice to go on a lucky streak for a change, but he still felt uneasy about resorting to magic.
As he returned to his seat with the ingredients, he saw Malfoy cutting up valerian roots as fast as he could. He smirked as he set off to work as well, sitting next to him. Draco glanced up at Ed briefly as he sat down, rather annoyed that he was so laid-back, before returning to his feverish pace. Ed had to wonder why Draco was so desperate for luck.
Everyone kept glancing around at what their classmates were doing. Ed realized that this was both an advantage and disadvantage of potions; it was hard to keep your work private. Within the first ten minutes, the whole room was full of bluish steam. Ed couldn't help but notice Draco getting increasingly frustrated as his potion didn't seem to be faring as well as he wanted it to. He kept casting sideways glances at Ed's cauldron and muttering something under his breath. Ed furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Draco's potion, trying to figure out why he was so upset. It looked fine to him.
After a few more minutes, Draco looked up at Slughorn as he passed their table.
"Sir," he called, catching the professor's attention, "I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?"
"Yes," said Slughorn without looking at Draco. "I was sorry to hear that he had died, although of course it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age..."
With that, he walked away from the table. Draco made an annoyed face before turning back to his cauldron. Ed smirked. Obviously, Draco had expected to be treated like Harry or Zabini, or at least be recognized somehow the way Ed and Hermione had. Perhaps he had even hoped for preferential treatment, having grown up rich and spoiled. This certainly explained the envious look he had given Ed earlier. It looked like Draco had no choice but to rely on talent alone to win the bottle of Felix Felicis.
While Ed stirred his potion, he took the time to look around at his classmates. A few people seemed to be struggling, including Harry's friend Ron who looked as though the work was paining him. Harry seemed to be doing fine. Better, in fact, than Hermione, who kept giving him and the potion in his cauldron incredulous looks. Everyone else was stirring their cauldrons and, just like Ed, looking around to see how people were doing.
"And time's... up!" called Slughorn. "Stop stirring, please!"
Everyone stopped at once and leaned back slightly in their seats. The professor moved slowly among the tables, peering into cauldrons. He didn't say a word as he did so, but gave the potions an occasional stir or sniff. Slughorn gave Ed and Draco's potions an approving nod and moved on. Draco seemed upset that he got nothing more than that and folded his arms angrily over his chest. When Slughorn reached Harry's cauldron, a look of incredulous delight appeared on his face.
"A clear winner!" he cried to the rest of the dungeon. "Excellent, excellent, Harry!"
Draco's head snapped around and he practically sprang out of his seat, shooting a vicious glare at Harry. The other Slytherins were also fuming, but they turned their heads in a much slower manner than Draco had. Ed still didn't understand their contempt toward the poor kid as he watched Harry look at everyone's faces, seemingly unable to decide between feeling happy or guilty.
"Good lord, it's clear you've inherited your mother's talent," Slughorn continued to praise. "She was a dab hand at Potions, Lily was! Here you are, then, here you are - one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, and use it well!"
Draco and his gang scowled as they walked back to the Slytherin common room.
"He must have cheated somehow," Draco muttered. "How else do you explain it?"
"You heard him," Pansy sneered. "It was luck. Dumb luck, is all."
"Maybe he's just got talent," Ed said with a shrug. "Give him some credit."
All of their heads snapped around to look at him at the same time. They halted in their tracks and gaped at him as though he'd sprouted a second head. He kept walking, but came to a stop when he realized that they were no longer moving. Ed glanced back at them quizzically.
"What?"
After a fleeting moment of silence, they burst into laughter.
"That's a good one, Eddy!" Pansy giggled, playfully flicking at the tuft of hair that stuck out from the top of Ed's head.
"The only talent he has is flashing that bloody scar of his wherever he goes."
"Potter actually having talent... That's rich!"
They then continued their walk, laughing heartily. Ed just rolled his eyes and shut his mouth. He knew exactly what it felt like to be underestimated and made fun of, and this conversation was making him like these Slytherins even less.
"Yeah, but did you see the look on Granger's face?" Blaise said with a pointed look at Draco. "Speaking of Granger, Elric caused quite a stir there, didn't he, Draco?"
Draco shot a glare at Blaise. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Zabini."
They bickered the entire way to the Slytherin dungeons. Pansy was clearly bothered by this change of subject, pressing her lips together. Ed, on the other hand, stroked his chin thoughtfully, a mischievous smile slowly creeping onto his face.
'Hermione Granger... Hmm...'
Author's Note: most of this was originally gonna be a part of chapter 5, but chapter 5 started to run a little long, so i had to break it off. tralala... pairings, pairings... XD