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 most everyone else, do NOT own either Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter. Of all the rotten luck, it seems I didn't turn into Hiromu Arakawa or J.K. Rowling overnight.

Author's Note: sorry that this took a little longer than usual. but it's up, and that's always a good thing:D

LOL! yes, i'm a Draco/Hermione shipper. :P that pairing is actually what got me into Harry Potter. Draco is just such a fascinating character! he's like Riku! XD which is why the one of the first things that popped into my mind while reading all those FMA/HP crossovers was "there's not enough Draco!" :P so i think everyone should be grateful for that, otherwise this story wouldn't exist. :D

Chapter 15
Winter Break

Dear Nii-san,

If I remember correctly, you had your date with Hermione Granger last night, right? I hope it went well and that you didn't do anything rude to her. But do you like her, nii-san? Will I ever get to meet her? I think I have a right to, especially since you never seem to know what's good for you. Don't worry, I haven't told Winry or anything. Haha!

All joking aside, I do want to hear about what happened at the Christmas Party. I'm sorry for teasing you about her so much. I guess you could say that I've been excited for you ever since you told me about it. We don't get to spend a whole lot of time with other teenagers since we're always traveling and are so busy all the time. So I hope you're enjoying yourself over there!

I've been trying to convince Lt. Hawkeye to let me go visit you and I think I've almost won her over. She said that according to the calendar she has, you're starting vacation already. Is that true, nii-san? If so, then maybe I'll get to go visit you soon! I'll let you know as soon as I'm sure. I want to know all about the magic you've been learning. It sounds interesting!

Oh, and I know that you've been asked this a lot already, but... any word from the colonel? I know you don't care, but Lt. Hawkeye seems really worried about him.

Well then, I hope to see you soon, nii-san! And when it happens, let me know how your second date with Hermione goes.

Take care of yourself!
Love, Al

"Man, did you see Granger last night? Oh, if you had only seen the way she looked! She looked bloody amazing! I didn't even recognize her at first!"

Zabini shook his head slowly, smiling at the memory as he stuffed more of his clothes into a suitcase. The Crabbe/Goyles exchanged confused looks as they listened to him rant about Slughorn's party while packing up their things. Draco seemed to be ignoring him, lying stretched out on his four poster bed with his eyes shut. Edward was quiet as well, distracted by the letter he had received that morning during breakfast, a faint blush on his cheeks and an annoyed look on his face.

Everyone was preparing to leave Hogwarts for their vacation, since the train would be leaving for London in a little less than an hour. Only Ed and Draco weren't packing yet; Draco had long since decided he would leave the school grounds when he wanted to and on his own terms, and Ed had no idea what he was going to be doing. He hadn't received any instructions on the matter yet, but was definitely hoping to go back to Amestris. If Alphonse wanted to hear all about what had been happening, Ed figured it was better done in person. Besides, he missed his kid brother.

"I think even Malfoy's jaw would've dropped at the sight of her!" Zabini continued. The comment immediately irked Draco as a scowl appeared on his face. "It was like... Like the bloody Yule Ball, all over again! Damn Elric, you're my fucking hero! She really does have quite a figure! Hell, I wish I was the one to cop a feel!"

This seemed to make Draco even angrier, but he held it in. Zabini hadn't noticed anything, being so busy preparing his things to leave.

"I did not try to feel her up!" Ed shouted indignantly as he put Al's letter away.

"Oh, come on, Elric!" Zabini said with a playful smirk. "You realize you've got boasting rights. Got anything to say apart from 'I'm a lucky bastard?'"

Draco clenched his teeth and reached for his wand, preparing to hex someone if they stepped a fraction of an inch out of line. Ed was just annoyed by Zabini's ranting.

"How 'bout this?" he growled, picking up one of his books. "Shut the hell up."

The grin on Zabini's face just grew as he snapped his suitcase shut. Ed glanced over at him and frowned. He wanted to transmute Zabini's shoes into the floor, or the floor around his body, or his clothes over his head. Maybe he would, for good measure.

The Crabbe/Goyles were confused. "I thought that we're supposed to hate Gryffindors and Mudbloods."

"Ah, but that was before," said Zabini, wagging his finger in the air. "Elric has opened the door, launched us into a world of foxy Gryffindor girls! It's time to explore this overlooked realm!" He suddenly grinned fiendishly. "And if their asses are anything like Granger's, I wouldn't mind having a taste!"

Ed immediately threw the book he was holding at Zabini, grinning slightly when it hit him square in the head (unfortunately, it was one of Ed's thinner books). At almost the same time, Draco grabbed his wand and raised Zabini up into the air, pressing him against the ceiling. Though extremely shocked and in some pain, Zabini erupted into boisterous laughter.

"Touchy little wankers, are we?"

"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" Ed yelled, waving his fist.

"Just keep your bloody mouth shut," Draco barked out gruffly.

One of the Crabbe/Goyles stared up at Zabini, impressed. "Wow, you're really gettin' good at those non-verbal spells, huh, Malfoy?"

"And there's more where that came from," Draco grunted.

Zabini smiled slightly. "All right, I got it. So you mind letting me down already?"

"I'll let you down when I feel like it."

Crabbe and Goyle both laughed, ignoring the annoyed look on their friend's face. Ed pulled out his wand and cast accio on the book he had thrown, catching it deftly in one hand as it came back to him. He leafed through the pages quickly before putting it down and picking up his research notebook. One of the Crabbe/Goyles looked over at Ed, pushing down on the lid of his heavily packed suitcase.

"Hey Elric," he called, "what are you doing for the break?"

Ed lowered his notebook slightly to look pointedly at the one that had spoken. "That's gotta be the thousandth time you guys've asked me that." Crabbe/Goyle shrugged helplessly as Ed took a deep, exasperated breath. "I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably be heading home. I'm just waiting to hear from my school's administration."

He had repeated those same sentences so often by now that he sounded like a machine when he said them. Crabbe/Goyle just nodded in understanding, but Ed was almost positive that he was going to forget again after a few more minutes. Then suddenly, as though on cue, an owl appeared at one of windows of the dorm, tapping eagerly at the glass. This came as no small shock to Ed, considering that the dorms were beneath the lake, and just beyond what he had believed to be air-tight glass was water. Even so, there was somehow an owl behind that glass, rapping on the window.

Apparently, the other Slytherins had seen this before. One of the Crabbe/Goyles went to the window and unlatched it, in spite of the surprised, horrified expression across Ed's face. And instead of pouring out into the room and engulfing everyone inside, the lake water stayed firmly in place. Only the owl entered the room, looking as though it hadn't just been underwater.

"What's wrong, Elric?" asked the other Crabbe/Goyle.

Ed just opened and shut his mouth, unable to voice himself. 'What's wrong? An owl was just flying around underwater! The water isn't spilling in through the window and... AT LEAST THREE LAWS OF PHYSICS WERE JUST BROKEN! THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!'

Draco looked at the owl curiously. "That looks like one of Mother's owls... Who's it for?"

Before Crabbe/Goyle could reply, the owl hopped across the floor and fluttered up onto the end of Ed's bed. For a moment, the golden-eyed boy could only stare at the owl in disbelief. He had definitely never seen this owl before, and even more confusing was the letter the bird was holding and the Amestrian military seal that could be found on it. The other Slytherin boys looked at Ed in surprise.

"For Elric?" they all said in unison.

Suddenly everyone was talking, beside themselves with shock and curiosity. Ed just ignored them and reached for the letter, untying it from the owl's leg and allowing it to leave (back out the window, which Ed had to admit he was worried about). He quickly fished the note out of the envelope and read its contents.

Fullmetal -

You are to spend your vacation with Draco for now.
We will see to retrieving you from the Malfoy estate within the next few days, pending your arrival.
You'd better be doing your job. That is all.

- Roy Mustang

Ed growled in annoyance. Somehow, he had expected to hear something like this. He was sure that this wasn't going to sit well with his charge. But at least it sounded like they may be taking him home. He missed everyone and was pretty excited to get to see them again. He even missed Hughes and his endless supply of Elysia photos (though he wasn't sure he could say the same for Major Armstrong). As he quickly read through the letter again, Ed realized that Mustang hadn't told him where he was, even though he had asked him quite directly at the end of his last report. He muttered something about incompetent soldiers as he unceremoniously chucked the letter onto his bedside table.

Suddenly, Ed was very aware of the chorus of voices that came from his roommates.

"What's it say?"

"Something happening?"

"Who's it from?"

"Don't leave us in the dark, Elric!"

The state alchemist just sighed in exasperation. "It's from my school. They say to leave with Draco to his place and they'll pick me up from there."

"WHAT? WHY?"

The rage was obvious on Draco's face and took over his mind so completely that the leviosa charm he had cast on Zabini was involuntarily released, allowing the boy to fall to the ground with a loud thud. Ed looked over at Draco and shrugged.

"Probably because they don't know of anywhere else," he said flatly.

"There's the bloody train station!" Malfoy yelled. "Why don't they get you there?"

"Look," Ed snapped, turning around, "if it were up to me, then I would be getting picked up from there, but y'know what? It's not up to me, so we're just gonna have to deal with their damn orders no matter how much they suck!"

Seeing the logic in Ed's words, Draco turned away quickly and shut his silver eyes. "Damn," he grumbled. "I already owled Mother saying I'd leave on Monday..."

"So then you leave on Monday," Zabini said with a shrug, having picked himself up off the floor. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is that I was expecting to be here by myself. Not with Elric hanging around."

Ed narrowed his eyes at Malfoy, struggling to keep himself quiet. He wanted to snap back at him, but he couldn't allow the situation to get any worse.

"It'll just be the weekend," Crabbe/Goyle said encouragingly. "Today and tomorrow. You can stick it out."

Malfoy grunted angrily, saying something about not being able to get anything done under his breath. Ed just rolled his eyes and settled back into his bed, grabbing his notebook again.

"If it bothers you that much," Zabini added, "there should be another train leaving later this afternoon."

"Right," Draco mumbled, lying back onto his bed.

Zabini smiled proudly, looking at his closed suitcase as though it were a prize winning project he'd been working on for weeks. He then turned to Crabbe and Goyle, who were also finished packing and sat obediently on their beds.

"You lot ready to go?" Zabini asked them, grabbing the clutch of his suitcase.

"Yep," Crabbe and Goyle answered in unison, simultaneously getting up and grabbing their bags. Ed rolled his eyes again as he watched them, convinced that they could easily be twins.

"I guess we'll see you lot when we get back, eh?" said Zabini, turning back to Ed and Draco. "So... Happy Christmas and all that."

Draco nodded absent-mindedly, reaching for the latest bag of snacks that his mother sent him and popping one into his mouth. Ed just shrugged his shoulders, not exactly accustomed to the celebration of Christmas. Then the three boys left, slipping out the door with one final word of goodbye. As the door shut behind them, the room immediately descended into a tomblike silence, the two Slytherins stretched out on their beds.

They remained in silence for a long time, neither of them really moving from their beds. Draco occasionally looked over at Ed expectantly, as though he were waiting for Ed to leave, but the alchemist was completely absorbed in his books and notes. By the time Ed pulled himself away from the texts, Draco had fallen asleep. He glanced over at Draco's slumbering body and frowned. He was in big trouble with this kid, and he had to get out of it somehow. The only good thing that came out of Draco's moody silence was the opportunity it gave Ed to think.

His search for the Philosopher's Stone didn't seem to be getting anywhere (it was all the same stuff being repeated over and over again), but he felt like he was finally starting to understand magic. So far, he had figured out that the words and wand movements were equal to a transmutation circle; the equations and calculations were somehow infused within each, giving the spell direction and shape. His suspicion was that the equivalent exchange of magic was varying amounts of the wielder's energy, possibly depending on the complexity of the spell. He wasn't entirely sure about the last part yet (it was what he spent the better part of his time figuring out), but that was his theory and it sure made a lot of sense to him.

Ed pulled away from his notes and books, cupping his chin thoughtfully in his hands. 'Can I somehow use this to make a Philosopher's Stone? But... how much energy would I need? How much would be equivalent to possibly dozens of human lives?'

He shook his head, deciding to save that thought for another time. Only then did Ed shut his books and start to put them away, moving over to his trunk. As he shoved the books and materials that inhabited the thing to make room, he stumbled across his auto-mail kit. He blinked in surprise. Now that he thought about it, Ed hadn't really been able to give his auto-mail a decent run down in a long time. The most he ever had time to do was polish it and make sure it didn't rust. Deciding now was as good a time as any, he pulled out the kit and made his way to the bathroom to give his auto-mail a quick check-up.

When he came back to the dorm Ed half-expected to find Malfoy missing again, but was surprised to see that he was still in the room. He was also surprised that Draco was packing his things and preparing to leave. Ed slowly entered the room, a confused look on his face.

"What're you doing?"

"Packing," Draco answered gruffly. "What's it look like?"

"That's not what I was asking," Ed grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"We're taking the next train out of here, got it?"

He hesitated. "Uh... Sure, but... Why?"

Draco pressed his clothes roughly into the suitcase, flattening them. "Because I don't want to be stuck here with you for another few days."

Ed fell silent, still standing near the doorway. He stared blankly at Draco's suitcase. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to do about building some sort of friendship with him. It was just Ed's luck that he'd realize how much he was going to need Draco's trust to fulfill his mission duties when it was too late. But how could he have known how Draco felt about Hermione? Chalk up one more reason to hate dating: way too complicated.

Without a word Ed walked over to his bed and grabbed his own suitcase, plopping it down on top the mattress. He inserted the auto-mail kit first since it was still in his hands and then went to his trunk to see what else he would need. He grabbed a few sets of his usual clothes (he had transmuted several during his stay), his sleeping clothes, a few books, and his research notebook.

"What about your mom?" Ed asked at length. "Isn't she expecting you on Monday?"

"It'll be fine," muttered Draco. "She's probably secretly hoping I come home early anyway."

They were quiet again as Ed shut his case. He stared at the clutch for a moment, dimly realizing that he didn't need much of anything at all, and then wandered back to his trunk to fix it up. He wondered whether or not he should apologize to Draco about asking Hermione out, but... was that really his fault? He mulled over the events of the previous night, pieces of Al's letter echoing in his mind.

"Do you like her, nii-san?"

Edward himself wasn't entirely sure of the answer to that question. He had asked her to go as part of his mission and the real purpose of the date had been information-gathering. He hadn't been banking on Hermione dressing up so nicely for the party... and now it was clear that Draco was crazy about her. How was he to get himself out of this mess?

"About Hermione..."

He had spoken without really thinking and immediately regretted it. There was a loud thud and snap as Draco roughly shut his suitcase.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear it." He then stomped toward the door, his suitcase in hand. "Hurry up, Elric. That's an order," he jeered, then flung the door open and left.

Ed narrowed his amber-gold eyes as Draco vanished beyond the door. He clapped his hands and laid them on top of the trunk, using alchemy to fuse the lid to the body so that no one would ever be able to open it without breaking it. Then, pulling on his red coat, Ed got to his feet, grabbed his suitcase, and followed Draco out.

"This is gonna be one long train ride..."

And he was right. It was a very awkward train ride that afternoon. Draco had wanted to be in two separate compartments, but the afternoon train was surprisingly full and they ended up sharing one. They were lying stretched out on opposite benches, facing in opposite directions. The past few hours had been spent in complete silence, though neither boy went to sleep. They merely stared straight ahead of them, blank expressions on both their faces.

Ed stared out the window, watching the rolling scenery whiz by as the sky began to turn a deep orange color. His mind swam, trying to formulate some kind of plan to get Draco's trust, or even just to get on his good side. But it seemed like everything boiled back down to what he'd said about Hermione and how he felt about her. Which meant that Ed was going to have to apologize for going with her to the party, even if he thought it wasn't really his fault. Ed stole a quick glance at Draco's face and sighed in exasperation. It was about time to clear the air.

"Look," he said abruptly. "I didn't know you felt that way about her."

An annoyed expression flickered over Draco's face. "Felt what way, exactly?" he muttered darkly. "Frankly, Elric, you shouldn't be talking about things you know nothing about."

The alchemist narrowed his eyes. "Well, I know one thing."

"Oh, and what's that?" Draco asked sarcastically.

"That you've got some unresolved issues with Hermione."

The Malfoy heir snorted. "I have no issues with Granger, unresolved or what, thank you very much. I hate Potter, I hate Weasley, I hate her. End of story."

Ed rolled his eyes, getting frustrated by Draco's stubbornness. He sat upright, swinging his legs back over the bench so that he was facing him.

"Malfoy, you've got nothing to lose. Just tell her."

Draco turned his silver eyes on Edward angrily. "Tell her what? That I'm sick of the sight of her? That her laughter makes my insides crawl? That she's slowly killing me?"

For some reason, Ed's mood picked right up. He smiled smugly, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back into the seat.

"It's a start."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Listen closely, Elric. I don't want to hear another word about Granger out of you. Actually, I don't want to hear another anything out of you for the remainder of the trip. So do both of us a favor and just shut the bloody hell up!"

He then rolled onto his side so Ed couldn't see his face with an irritated grunt. Ed just looked at him, fuming silently. Obviously, apologizing to Draco was a lost cause. He was in denial, probably because of the supposed Mudblood-pureblood enmity and his social status, which were both very stupid reasons in Ed's opinion. There had to be some way to show these people how idiotic they were being. On the other hand, Ed could always just get away from them all. He then made his mind up right there: he would quit this stupid, complex mission as soon as he could. He was sure he would be allowed to continue researching magic, though. It was, after all, a whole new lead on the Philosopher's Stone.

The rest of the train ride to King's Cross Station was silent, just as Draco had demanded. Ed conceded to allow his mind to drift over his research until the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station and everyone disembarked. Both boys retrieved their things and Ed silently followed Draco to Diagon Alley. There were a few times that the Slytherin tried to lose him in the crowd, but Ed persisted. Even though he had every intention to quit the mission, losing sight of Draco would be a problem: how would he get back to headquarters?

They eventually reached some sort of pub/inn called the Leaky Cauldron, which was apparently their destination. Once there, Draco dutifully marched toward the fireplace, not sparing a glance in either direction as though he really didn't want to be there. He then pulled out a bag of green powder and grabbed a handful. He wordlessly shoved the bag into Ed's hands, obviously meaning for him to do the same. He then took a deep breath and shouted, in a very clear and distinct voice, "Malfoy Manor" and simultaneously thrust the green powder into the fireplace. Ed watched, jumping slightly in surprise, as green flames suddenly spouted from the fireplace and swallowed Draco whole.

"You gotta be kidding me," he muttered, uneasily realizing that he was to do the same.

After a moment of mentally debating with himself, Ed stepped up, reached into the bag, and grabbed a handful of the green powder. Then, squeezing his eyes shut and hoping for the best, imitated Draco's actions.

He was partially amazed by what happened when the emerald fire consumed him. Everything began to spin very fast, allowing Ed only blurred glimpses of what he assumed were potential stops. After a while he began to slow down and soon found himself stopped in the fireplace of what seemed to be the living room of Malfoy Manor. It was hard to tell, since the room was so dark. Ed knew that Draco was standing next to him, just as bewildered by the appearance of their destination. They looked around cautiously, not sure whether or not they had ended up in the right place. Ed took a careful step forward and out of the fireplace.

The room wasn't completely darkened; there were candles lit all around the room. Some of them were floating in the air, others just on tables and shelves. Ed could have sworn several of them were scented and what was even stranger was that they were all scents that were... well, almost erotic.

Draco stepped out from the fireplace as well, wrinkling his nose. Then, quickly and without much warning, he pulled out his wand and said, "Lumos Maxima."

Everything was instantly lit up and both Draco and Ed received the assurance that they had indeed arrived in Malfoy Manor. But neither one of them could have expected, much less be prepared for, the scene that was unfolding in front of them. Their eyes practically bulged out of their heads in shock and their jaws visibly dropped open.

Lying sprawled out on the couch with their arms wrapped about one another in a passionate embrace were Narcissa Malfoy and Roy Mustang. They had yet to notice the two boys standing, shocked and awestruck, in front of the fireplace, and continued their make out session for a few more moments in blissful ignorance. Or at least they would have continued, if it weren't for one very angry, very traumatized son.

"G-GET THE HELL OFF OF HER!" Draco roared in fury.

The faces of both adults flushed red as they realized they'd been caught. At once they sprang apart from one another and attempted to fix their appearances, trying to make themselves look distinguished and disguise the fact that they had just been passionately making out. Narcissa quickly ran her hands through her disheveled hair, trying desperately to tame it as Roy hastily redid the buttons of his top.

"Draco!" Lady Malfoy spluttered. "Darling! Wha-What are you doing home so early? I thought you said you would be coming home on Monday!"

"What the bloody hell is going on around here?" yelled Draco, not listening. "Why the hell were you two snogging in the bloody living room?"

Before she could get another word out, Draco spun around to face the colonel, pointing his wand straight into his face.

"And YOU," he growled. Roy remained silent and just stared coolly into the boy's eyes. "Get out of my sight before I turn you into a ferret."

The colonel gave a small smirk and slowly got to his feet without argument. His gaze hardened when he turned to look at Ed, who was looking back at him with a mischievous smirk on his face and trying very hard not to laugh. Roy narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Edward," he said evenly. "It's good to see you. I half expected to find you in even smaller pieces than usual."

Ed folded his arms over his chest, his smirk slowly giving way to a grin. The "small" comment irritated him slightly, but he would let it slide this time. He had just gotten hold of some grade A blackmail material. And also, the comment was weak. A small, amused chuckle escaped from his lips.

"I didn't expect to find you here at all, Mustang." Suddenly, he couldn't hold it any longer. All at once, Ed found himself laughing hysterically, his hands on his stomach. "You really are a dirty bastard!"

Roy clenched his teeth in annoyance as Ed laughed his head off. It was nice to be able to wipe the arrogant smirk off the colonel's face. Meanwhile, Draco had turned back to his mother and was yelling about betrayal and being around despicable characters like Roy Mustang. Both state alchemists watched the rather one-sided argument for a few moments, Ed still laughing and very much amused by the entire situation. He couldn't help but hope that Draco would hex Mustang into oblivion soon.

"Fullmetal," called Mustang sternly, making Ed look back at him. "Come with me."

As Ed finally started to settle down, the colonel silently led him into a separate room. They entered what appeared to be some sort of den or office that had a large desk and several bookshelves lining the walls. Above the desk was a large portrait of Lucius Malfoy and it seemed very clear that this was where he used to work. As Mustang shut the door, Ed seated himself comfortably in one of the chairs in front of the desk. He let out a low, impressed whistle as he looked around.

"So I guess you've claimed all of Lucius' stuff for your own," he said mockingly. He then gave Roy a meaningful look. "Including his wife."

Colonel Mustang glared at Ed. "Fullmetal."

"How long have you guys been at it? Would... four months be a fair guess?"

"Fullmetal."

"Man, I feel sorry for Lt. Hawkeye! To think she was actually worried about you."

"Fullmetal."

"So is this just a fling? Or are you planning on actually taking this relationship somewhere?"

The colonel twitched. "Fullmetal."

"What? I think everyone has a right to know the truth, colonel."

"That's enough, Fullmetal," Roy growled, reaching the limit of his patience. "I want to hear a full status report on your mission."

Ed grinned, finally allowing the subject to drop. There would be plenty of time to make fun of the colonel later, after all. He then leaned back into his chair and thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully before speaking.

"Draco Malfoy is definitely linked to Voldemort," he said evenly. "He's on some kind of special assignment that the guy personally gave him. Professor Severus Snape seems to want in on it - oh yeah, could you get someone to run a background check on that guy? Anyway, he was offering Draco help. Said something about... an 'unbreakable vow' he'd made with Narcissa, or something like that. You wouldn't happen to know what that is, would you?"

Roy furrowed his brow thoughtfully, his dark eyes lowered to the desk. "Can't say that I have. You didn't look it up before coming here?"

"Didn't have the chance," Ed replied with a slow shake of his head. "But I plan to."

The colonel nodded. "Good. Is there anything else of note?"

Ed was quiet for a moment, considering what else might concern the colonel and the goals of his mission. "Had some problems with Draco. He kept disappearing somewhere, probably something to do with his assignment, and I couldn't find him anywhere. It was like he would literally vanish into thin air. He doesn't trust me at all and I can't get anything out of him unless he does." Ed groaned and scratched his head in frustration. "And after last night, that's gonna be near impossible..."

"Oh?" Mustang's eyebrows arched upward in affected surprise. "What happened last night?"

"Professor Slughorn's Christmas party." Ed blushed slightly. "I, uh... apparently asked the girl of his dreams to go with me." An amused smirk had suddenly crept onto Roy's face, at which Ed scowled. "I was just trying to get info on Draco, okay? I think she was definitely the right person to pick, but now Draco's gone nuts over the whole thing, and unless I can fix that, it's gonna be rough getting anything else out of him."

Mustang leaned back in his seat with a knowing nod of his head. "Stealing one's girlfriend is grounds for complication."

Ed's evil grin returned. "Yeah, you would know, wouldn't you?"

The colonel narrowed his eyes at Ed and frowned. "In any case, we'll need to smooth that issue over. You'll have to remain here with Draco to sort things out."

Instantly, the evil grin vanished as Ed leaned forward in his seat, his eyes wide. "What? You mean I can't go back to Amestris?"

After a moment of silence, Colonel Mustang slowly shook his head. "Not just yet."

"Why the hell not? I want out of this mission, Mustang. You only ordered me to watch over Draco, and now that we know that Draco's got a link to Voldemort-"

"The situation is more delicate than that and apparently calls for more time. If you and Draco were on good terms then I would be able to permit an absence-"

"I'm not asking for an absence! I-"

"Your orders," Mustang said firmly, raising his voice, "are to stay with Draco. Got that?"

There was another pause as Ed studied the colonel's face. "Stay with Draco?" Great. Mustang was really getting good at issuing stupid vague orders. And what did he mean by the situation being "more delicate than that?" What did that even mean? Did it have anything to do with what Ed had discovered about the societal structure of the wizarding world? The colonel's expression was completely unreadable, but if Ed was right in his assumption, then Mustang had made his point. He groaned softly, massaging his forehead and hiding his eyes.

"Fine, but... Will I at least get to see Al?"

Roy looked thoughtful for a moment, considering the request, then rose to his feet and moved around the desk toward the door. "Very well. I'll see if we can arrange for Alphonse to be brought here." A relieved sound came out of Edward and he seemed to relax immediately. "That's enough for now. I'll owl Central in regards to your upcoming assessment. I should be able to vouch for you, so you can relax."

Ed breathed a sigh of relief. He hated that yearly assessment .

"But just in case, have a full, detailed report prepared on all of your findings." Roy smirked at the scowl that now marred Ed's features. "I'll also owl Hughes about Severus Snape and see if he can get on that right away. Leave your things in Draco's room until Narcissa and I figure out the living arrangements. I'll be sure to keep you posted on what our next move should be."

With a firm nod of his head, Ed got to his feet and started for the door that Mustang was now holding open. His smirk found its way back onto his face as he passed the colonel.

"Oh yeah," he said, a sly, teasing tone in his voice. "Just one question..."

Roy raised one eyebrow at him suspiciously. "Yes?"

Ed couldn't stop his grin from growing. "When's the wedding?"

The colonel glared at Ed hatefully as he hurried away, his mocking laughter echoing up and down the halls. If Ed had his way, then Mustang would never hear the end of this escapade. At the same time, he was eternally grateful that Mustang's ignition gloves were nowhere in sight.

Author's Note: oh, Mustang, you are so bad. XD brownie points to everyone who guessed Mustang was off visiting with Narcissa! i usually support Roy and Riza, but i couldn't resist making this pairing 'cause it cracks me up.