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 definitely 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: glad to see that people enjoyed the angst of chapter 9. XD the story just wouldn't have been complete without at least one angsting session! but i believe that the story does get more serious from here on out...(reviews upcoming events in her head) hmm... yes, just a bit more serious.so hang in there!
about having long segments taken from the book... well... i just feel like since the story is pretty in canon with HBP so far, there are things that i shouldn't change. i try to tweak the actions and descriptions to fit Ed's POV when applicable, but i feel like i can't touch the dialogue (for the most part)'cause it might throw them out of character and/or context. so... sorry if that's boring or whatever. and also, that's part of the reason why this story is under the FMA category, and not under Harry Potter.
Chapter 10
Tricks, Lies, and Accusations
A long, detailed report was being written in Ed's head as he followed Harry and the others back to Hogwarts. There was suddenly a lot that headquarters needed to know. There was no doubt in Ed's mind that Draco Malfoy was somehow involved in what happened to the Katie Bell girl. The only problem was that he had no evidence and no way to support his claim. And no one in the wizarding world would back him up. After all, in spite of everything that had happened, the Malfoy family was still one of the most powerful and influential wizarding families around. Accusing Draco of doing something like this was serious. Ed had to be absolutely sure before he did anything. It seemed like a talk with the headmaster himself was in order.
"Malfoy knows about this necklace," Ed heard Harry say suddenly as they reached the school grounds. He looked up in interest, his gold eyes wide. "It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad." Harry suddenly cast a worried glance at Ed and lowered his voice slightly, leaning closer to Ron. But Ed could still hear him. "This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!"
"I-I dunno, Harry," said Ron hesitantly. "Loads of people go to Borgin and Burkes... and didn't that girl say Katie got it in the girls' bathroom?"
Ed had to stop himself from answering Ron's question in Harry's place. Even though he had decided not to rejoin the other Slytherins, he couldn't completely blow his cover. Conspiring against Malfoy with Harry and his friends probably wouldn't help.
"She said she came back from the bathroom with it," Harry insisted, "she didn't necessarily get it in the bathroom itself..."
"McGonagall!" Ron said warningly.
Everyone halted in their step and Ed and Harry looked up to see Professor McGonagall hurrying down the stone steps through swirling sleet to meet them. She looked first at Hermione and Leanne, who was still sobbing uncontrollably, then at the three boys tailing after them.
"Hagrid says you all saw what happened to Katie Bell - upstairs to my office at once, please!"
The trio glanced back at Ed as though he wasn't supposed to be there. He shot them an annoyed look, feeling rather offended. Hadn't he helped hold Katie down? Hadn't he caught her in mid-air? Professor McGonagall didn't notice and motioned to Harry's balled up scarf.
"What's that thing you're holding, Potter?"
"It's the thing she touched," said Harry.
"Good lord," McGonagall breathed, looking alarmed as she carefully took it from Harry. A gangly, creepy looking man suddenly came shuffling across the entrance hall, a sensor of some sort in his hand. "No, no, Filch, they're with me!" she told him hastily as she handed the bundle over to him. "Take this necklace to Professor Snape at once, but be sure not to touch it, keep it wrapped in the scarf!"
Then everyone followed Professor McGonagall upstairs and into her office. She shut the door as soon as everyone was inside and swept around her desk to face the students, a stern look on her face.
"Well?" she said sharply. "What happened?"
Leanne launched into her story, though it seemed as though she were forcing every word past her choking sobs. She told McGonagall as much as she could, from Katie's trip to the bathroom to the tussle over the parcel. Before she could go into what happened next, Leanne broke down again. There was no getting another word out of her.
"All right," the professor said, not unkindly, "go up to the hospital wing, please, Leanne, and get Madam Pomfrey to give you something for shock."
The sobbing girl nodded her head sadly and made her way out of the room. Once she had gone, Professor McGonagall turned back to the students who were still standing before her.
"What happened when Katie touched the necklace?"
"She rose up into the air, ma'am," Ed said firmly. "Then she started to scream and collapsed."
He shuddered slightly when he remembered her screaming, but tried not to let it show. The others looked at Ed for a moment, all of them surprised that he had spoken so evenly and quickly. Harry shook his head slowly and turned back to the professor.
"Professor, can I see Professor Dumbledore, please?"
McGonagall looked surprised. "The headmaster is away until Monday, Potter."
"Away?" both Harry and Ed echoed angrily.
"Yes, away!" said Professor McGonagall tartly, her eyes darting between Ed and Harry. "But anything you have to say about this horrible business can be said to me, I'm sure!"
Ed looked away, clenching his teeth. What he had to say was of no concern to Professor McGonagall. He had to speak to Dumbledore. No one else. He was on a mission and had his orders, and as much as he hated his job, he had to pull through. There was clearly a lot at stake here. He glanced at Harry, who seemed to be carefully weighing his options. At length Harry raised his eyes slightly, chewing his lip and throwing a nervous glance in Ed's direction.
"I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor."
Ron rubbed his nose in apparent embarrassment and Hermione shuffled her feet, ready to put a bit of distance between herself and Harry. They both looked over at Ed, obviously expecting some kind of reaction to hear a friend being seriously accused, but were surprised to find his face expressionless. They couldn't tell that Ed felt the exact same way as Harry. A small part of him was surprised that Harry had chosen to confide in McGonagall with something so serious, but it didn't show.
"That is a very serious accusation, Potter," McGonagall said after a shocked pause. "Do you have any proof?"
Proof. That was what Ed lacked. That was why he remained silent. He knew how these investigations went, having at least been witness to several during his time in the military.
"No, but..." Harry hesitated for a moment, glancing at his friends. "Well, before term started, we saw Malfoy at Borgin and Burkes and overheard a conversation he had with Mr. Borgin, asking him to repair something. Mr. Borgin refused, but Malfoy showed him... well, we don't know what, exactly, but it scared Mr. Borgin into agreeing. He didn't want anyone else to know about it, either. Whatever Malfoy was planning, it must have had something to do with that necklace. I saw it on sale there before, that must be where he got it from."
When Harry finished, Professor McGonagall looked slightly confused. On the other hand, Ed looked to be deep in thought. He suddenly wished that he and Mustang had left earlier. This obviously needed deeper investigation. It was now glaringly obvious that the Malfoy family had been suspicious for years. Why hadn't anything been done about this situation sooner?
"Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes for repair?"
Harry shook his head. "No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to mend something, he didn't have it with him. But that's not the point, the thing is that he bought something at the same time, and I think it was that necklace-"
"You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?"
"No, Professor, he told Borgin to keep it in the shop for him-"
"But Harry," Hermione interrupted, "Borgin asked him if he wanted to take it with him, and Malfoy said no..."
"Because he didn't want to touch it, obviously!" Harry yelled angrily, turning on his friend.
"What he actually said was, 'How would I look carrying that down the street?'"
"Well, he would look a bit of a prat carrying a necklace," interjected Ron.
Ed stifled a laugh as a peculiar mental image of Draco Malfoy wearing the opal necklace around his neck crossed his mind.
"Oh, Ron," Hermione said despairingly, "it would be all wrapped up, so he wouldn't have to touch it, and quite easy to hide inside a cloak, so nobody would see it! I think whatever he reserved at Borgin and Burkes was noisy or bulky, something he knew would draw attention to him if he carried it down the street..."
Harry looked like he had something to say, but Hermione stopped him quickly, raising her voice another notch.
"And in any case, I asked Borgin about the necklace, don't you remember? When I went in to try and find out what Malfoy had asked him to keep, I saw it there. And Borgin just told me the price, he didn't say it was already sold or anything-"
"Well, you were being really obvious," Harry argued. "He realized what you were up to within about five seconds, of course he wasn't going to tell you. Anyway, Malfoy could've sent off for it since-"
"That's enough!" McGonagall said sharply, her voice stopping the argument at once.
Hermione, looking furious as she was about to respond, consented to shut her mouth. Ed had found the fight to be rather funny, even though he was completely lost in their arguments. It was a strange sort of fun, just watching Harry and Hermione's faces grow increasingly red in frustration. Ron, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. McGonagall wasn't amused either, throwing both students sharp looks that demanded complete and total compliance.
"Potter," she addressed the dark-haired teen, "I appreciate you telling me this, but we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr. Malfoy purely because he visited the shop where this necklace might have been purchased. The same is probably true of hundreds of people..."
"That's what I said," Ron muttered softly under his breath. Ed grinned, turning away slightly so that no one would notice.
"And in any case, we have put stringent security measures in place this year. I do not believe that necklace can possibly have entered this school without our knowledge..."
Harry stepped forward aggressively. "But...!"
"And what is more," the professor said in a loud voice, with an air of awful finality, "Mr. Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today."
Ed's eyes went wide and he quickly turned back to face Professor McGonagall. "What? But that's impossible! He was-"
"How do you know, Professor?" Harry ventured, looking deflated.
McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Ed before answering Harry's question. "Because he was doing detention with me. He had now failed to complete his Transfiguration homework twice in a row."
Now Edward was completely confused. There was no way that Draco could be in two places at once. He had gone with them to Hogsmeade! Pansy had been fawning all over him the entire time! Until he disappeared anyway. They had barely been there for two hours before he...
His amber-gold eyes flashed dangerously. 'That bastard.'
"So," McGonagall went on, marching past all of the students toward the door, "thank you for telling me your suspicions, Potter, but I need to go up to the hospital wing now to check on Katie Bell. Good day to you all."
She then held open her office door and waited for them to file past her. Ed didn't even wait for the door to be all the way open. He spun around on his heel and fumed down the corridors, heading straight for the Slytherin common room. When he found Draco Malfoy, he would kill him. That would end things quickly enough. No more chasing after him and his disappearing acts. He'd be six feet under, and that would be final. Yes. Ed would kill him.
He growled the password to the blank stone wall and stormed through the revealed entrance. Lying stretched out on the couch with his head propped up by his arms was Draco, looking like he was enjoying a comfortable nap near the fire. Ed stomped over and loomed over him for a while. He wanted nothing more than to kill him, but he had suddenly realized that he couldn't because of the mission. He fought with himself, itching to punch him right in the nose while he lay wide open. If he did, he would be compromising the mission. Edward was supposed to be on Draco's good side. And he didn't even have any proof that Draco had done something... ButEd couldn't just overlook this! He clenched his auto-mail hand into a fist.
"What do you want?" Draco drawled without opening his eyes.
"That was some bathroom break, huh?" he growled after a moment's hesitation.
Draco opened one eye lazily. "What are you on about?"
Ed gritted his teeth, trying very hard to control himself. "Where were you? Pansy was on my back again, telling me to find you."
"Really?" He yawned ostentatiously. "That's nice."
The alchemist barely managed to keep himself from exploding. "Where did you go?"
There was a brief silence for a moment as Draco turned to stare into the fire. "Here," he said at length. "I had a little date with McGonagall."
"Romantic," Ed snorted. 'Damned alibi.'
He looked around, searching the area for any opened bottles or flasks. Ed was well aware that the Crabbe/Goyle that stayed behind had used a Polyjuice Potion to stand in for Draco for the first two hours of his detention with McGonagall. There had been something in Hogsmeade that Draco needed to handle himself, and had to get away somehow. That had to be it. But Ed needed some kind of proof that a Polyjuice Potion had indeed been used.
"There something else you want from me, Elric?" Draco snapped.
Smart as he was, calm interrogation had never been one of Ed's stronger points. If he didn't want to blow his mission, he was going to have to leave the matter alone.
"No. Nothing."
"Then back off."
Gritting his teeth, Ed slowly moved away and flopped himself down on the opposite couch with a soft grunt. Damn Malfoy. Damn military. He then stared into the flames, once again going over in his mind what was going into his next report.
Hogwarts erupted into buzzing talk over the next few days. Rumors about what happened to Katie were flying all across the school. However, the details of the event were confused. No one knew that the package had been given to Katie to be delivered to someone else. Ed decided that this was a good thing; it would only cause mass hysteria if the students knew that somebody among them was being targeted. The only people in Hogwarts who knew were the ones who had been there at the time: Ed, Leanne, Ron, Hermione, and Harry.
And Malfoy. Ed was still thoroughly convinced that he had done something and had been indirectly questioning him about it the whole time. He had yet to get anything out of him, which was very frustrating. The white-blonde insisted that he knew nothing about what had happened to Katie Bell and had absolutely nothing to hide. The other Slytherins seemed to notice the renewed tension in the air, but had yet to address it. They just knew that it had something to do with Hogsmeade, an afternoon that Zabini and one Crabbe/Goylewere finding difficulty remembering.
Since he couldn't get anything about Katie Bell out of Draco, Ed was going to have to move on. As much as he wished it was, investigating what had happened to her wasn't part of his mission. He would focus on completing his spy work on Draco. Besides, he was bound to let something slip sooner or later. For now, Ed just had to settle with information gathering, which he was going to have to do indirectly. He had to get it from someone else. Now the question was who to ask...
Potions class was over now that Slughorn was finished praising Harry's latest accomplishment. Draco scowled in Harry's direction as he gathered up his things in preparation to leave. The Slytherins looked altogether too happy to leave, especially Zabini. But before anyone could manage to slip out the door, Professor Slughorn's voice boomed from the front of the class.
"Oh, almost forgot, almost forgot. Mr. Potter, Mr. Zabini, Mr. Elric, and Miss Granger. Might I ask you four to remain after class? I'd like to have a word with you all."
Zabini and Ed froze in their tracks and slowly turned to look incredulously at the Potions Master. The professor just smiled warmly.
"Bloody hell, what now?" Zabini groaned. "Another invitation? D'you know this makes four times since the start of term?"
"Sick of parties, are we?" Draco snickered, though the envy in his eyes made it clear that he wasn't amused at all. He then turned his subtle anger on Ed. "Well, I know what he wants with Zabini, but Elric as well? The old coot's obviously gone senile."
Both boys shot Malfoy a mean look, at which he feigned offense. Pansy just smiled as she once again attached herself to Draco's arm and began to pull him away.
"You boys go on," she told them. "I'll take care of Drakey here."
"I don't need any 'taking care of,' Pans," Draco snapped.
"Oh, don't say that, Drakey," Pansy cooed, still smiling.
Malfoy looked thoroughly annoyed as Pansy dragged him out of the dungeon. Ed grumbled something about spoiled brats angrily under his breath as both he and Zabini made their way toward Slughorn. Harry and Hermione seemed to be arguing about something quietly as they approached the professor, but stopped as soon as everyone was gathered. Slughorn beamed proudly at the four students before him.
"Well, now!" he said jovially. "I finally have the chance to speak with all four of you. Harry, Mr. Elric, I do believe you lads have been avoiding my invitations. That makes three of my little gatherings that you've missed already."
Harry shifted his weight anxiously. "Well sir, as I told you before, I've had Quidditch practices. I'm very sorry."
Edward blinked in confusion. Avoiding his invitations? "I only received one invitation from you, sir."
Professor Slughorn turned to Ed. "That would be because I never got the chance to properly invite you to the others, m'boy, you always seem to be in such a hurry. I'm lucky to have caught you this time."
The blonde tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. Now that he mentioned it, Ed had been spending most of his time either following Draco around or at the owlery, so he never really had a moment free. There had been a few times that he thought he heard Slughorn call after him as they left the dungeons, but he didn't pay it any mind. Either way, it didn't matter. Slughorn's parties only diverted from his mission, since Draco wasn't invited to them.
"At any rate, I have another invitation for all of you," Slughorn continued, still beaming, "just giving you advanced notice on the matter so you can plan your schedules accordingly." Harry suddenly looked rather disheartened. "I'll be having a Christmas party on the 20th of December, right before winter break. It'll be up in my rooms, a good old fashioned Christmas party, what do you say?"
Zabini, Ed, and Harry's faces fell slightly. They all opened their mouths as they searched their minds frantically for good excuses. On the other hand, Hermione looked genuinely interested and nodded in response. Apparently, Slughorn took Hermione's response to be the consensus of the group and his merry smile grew even more jovial.
"Excellent, excellent!" he exclaimed, ignoring the horrified looks on the boys' faces. "Then I can expect to see all four of you there, correct? Oh, you may bring guests with you if you like, or dates, as you may call them."
"Dates?" all four students echoed incredulously. Hermione obviously hadn't been banking on hearing that, as her face turned bright red.
"Yes, dates!" Slughorn said again, growing happier with every passing moment. "Well, I best be sending you on your way, then. I'll see you all next class!"
And on that note, the professor gathered his things and hurried off to his office, clearly pleased with himself. As soon as he was out of sight, Zabini smacked his forehead. An intense look graced Harry's face as though he were contemplating something of serious consequence to his well being. Ed quickly stuffed his hands into his pockets and glared at a spot on the ground.
'I can't go to a party. I've got investigating to do!'
"I can't believe this!" Zabini groaned.
"Well, I think it's rather intriguing," Hermione said evenly, though the blush still hadn't left her face. Her eyes then took on a dreamy glaze. "A date to a Christmas party... I wonder who I should go with?"
"Excited, are you?" Blaise sneered. "I suppose you would be. After all, how often does someone ask you out to parties, Granger? Wasn't Krum the one and only?"
Hermione looked furious, clenching her things tightly in her hands. The tall Slytherin turned away snobbishly, pleased that his point came across. Ed narrowed his eyes.
"Leave her alone, Zabini," he said icily. "I haven't seen you going out on any dates lately."
Both Gryffindors were taken aback that Edward had stood up for her. Hermione looked over at Harry as though waiting for an explanation, but the dark-haired teen just smiled slightly. Zabini smirked and shrugged his shoulders, starting for the door.
"Whatever. We'd better go find the others and meet up with Malfoy, anyway. We've wasted enough time here."
Ed shrugged as well and began to follow him slowly out of the dungeon. Once Zabini had walked through the door, Harry reached out and tapped Ed's shoulder lightly. He turned around, a quizzical expression on his young face.
"I don't understand why you're friends with them, Ed," Harry said quietly.
The alchemist just laughed softly. "Why's that?"
"Don't you know anything about Malfoy and his flunkies?" Hermione asked, sounding very much like a mother scolding her child.
"What are you, the authority on Draco Malfoy?" Ed joked. "What do you guys know about him?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "In the six years that we've known him?"
"More than we care to," Harry muttered mysteriously.
Ed raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Hermione said quickly, pursing her lips together in agitation as she jabbed Harry in the ribs. The dark-haired wizard winced as Hermione moved past them and began to walk out of the dungeon.
"Hermione, what-"
"Come on, Harry," she called. "Ron's waiting for us. He's not going to be happy to hear about Slughorn and his party."
Harry hesitantly followed his best friend out of the dungeon, flashing Ed an apologetic smile. Meanwhile, Ed's mind was racing. So Harry and his friends had known Draco for six years. That was six more than Ed did. And he was going to need all the information he could get on Malfoy if he wanted to get anywhere with his duties. It was always better to get first hand accounts rather than rely on reports. After all, according to the reports Ed had read, Draco was listed as a good student, a true leader, and a role model for other Slytherins. In the past month and a half that Ed had known him, Draco didn't quite act the way he was described.
He spun around on his heel and hurried out the door. Zabini was just about to poke his head back into the room when Ed emerged quickly. His gold eyes darted up and down the corridor wildly, searching for where the Gryffindors had gone.
"Hermione!"
The two Gryffindors stopped walking immediately and turned around to face Ed, clearly confused. Zabini was equally confused, raising an eyebrow.
"Elric, what're you doing?"
The blonde drew in a deep breath and walked purposefully toward Harry and Hermione, a determined look on his face. The brunette looked slightly worried, glancing over at Harry for help. Harry could only shrug his shoulders in response. Hermione bit down on her lip as Ed came to a stop a few feet away from them.
"Hermione."
"Um... yes?"
Ed's voice caught in his throat. He lowered his gaze to the floor and a faint blush came to his cheeks. He'd never done this before and wasn't entirely sure about how it was supposed to happen. But he knew he had to do this.
"Yes?" Hermione was getting impatient.
"Umm... Would... Would you, uh... go to... y'know... to Slughorn's party... with me?"
A deathly silence reigned over everyone in the corridor. Everyone froze, their eyes wide in a blend of horror and disbelief. Harry and Zabini were completely dumbstruck, neither of them quite sure how to react. Hermione looked as though her heart had leapt into her throat and she was having a hard time swallowing it back down. Ed didn't dare raise his head and squeezed his eyes shut.
'Winry's gonna kill me.'
Author's Note: not just Winry, Edward! there's an entire flock of angry fan girls standing off to the side, and i've got first dibs!
AAAGH! JEALOUSY! JEALOUSY! GRR HERMIONE GRR! (slaps Hermione several times) AND WHY IS HE THINKING ABOUT WINRY! (sharpens fan girl spear)
why did i make that happen? WHY? (sob sob) i just don't know... i shouldn't have... (sob)