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 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: okay, a few things to say: i do very desperately want to have a boggart appear at some point, but i've gotta work out the where and when, considering that it can't happen in DADA because boggarts were covered in their third year and it'd be weird for them to have to study it again. especially since Snape is the new teacher and i'm pretty sure he would not wanna go back to review third year material. Roy/Narcissa pairing - brownie points to those who guessed it would happen! i thought i had made it pretty obvious... but if you still didn't see it coming, that's fine, i still love you. XD as for the impending Draco/Hermione/Ed love triangle... i think i'll just let that unfold as we go along, savvy?

okay, enough of that. time for the much awaited chapter 16! Woooooh!

Chapter 16
Visitation Rights

Draco glared at Ed from his bed. "What are you still doing here?"

The young alchemist remained standing in the doorway, taking a few moments to gaze at Draco's room. The first thing that he noticed was the sheer size of it. There was apparently more room available to Draco than he knew what to do with. His room was simply decorated, once again in shades of silver and green. The bed was a king-sized four poster bed, like an enlarged version of what they had in Hogwarts. Its curtains had Draco's initials written on it in silver. On either side of the large bed were huge latticed windows and a door that led out to some sort of balcony. There was a long, emerald-green couch against the wall closest to the door that had large, soft-looking throw pillows on it. Lining the walls were shelves and drawers with pictures of Draco and other members of the Malfoy family.

"Nice room," said Ed as he stepped inside, dropping his trunk onto the couch. "Big."

The Malfoy heir's glare didn't soften. "What are you still doing here? Your bloody professor, headmaster, principal person is here, so why aren't you lot pissing off yet?"

Ed casually sat down on the couch next to his trunk. "In case you didn't notice, Mustang seems to really like your mother. I'd be willing to bet he's not planning on leaving any time soon."

Draco's eye twitched. Ed grinned inwardly. Obviously Draco had noticed; how could he not have? It was just so much fun to bring it back up and see the look on Draco's face. It was priceless.

"He told me to leave my stuff in here until they figure out where to put me," Ed continued as he retrieved a book from his suitcase. "So we'll just have to stick it out for a few more excruciating hours."

"Fine," Draco growled, settling back into bed. "Just keep it all out of my way."

"Sure."

He then turned to the book in his hands, absent-mindedly flipping through the pages. Draco glared at him for a few more moments before turning away, muttering under his breath about bookworms and pests. Ed stared blankly at the words on the pages for a moment before glancing back at Draco.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

Ed glared, narrowing his eyes. He'd ask his question anyway. "Why a ferret?"

Draco turned slightly so he could see Ed, giving him a weird look. "Excuse me?"

"Earlier. You threatened to turn Mustang into a ferret, remember?"

"Oh, that." He scowled and rolled onto his side. "It's an easy animal to kick around, is all."

Ed laughed out loud at that. "I'm gonna keep that in mind."

Though Draco wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or an insult, he smiled slightly. It was nice to know they at least saw eye to eye on something.

Roy and Narcissa lent Ed a room across the hall from Draco's. It was, as Roy had put it, close enough for him to be able to keep tabs on Draco, but far enough to allow both of them some privacy. Draco protested against this, demanding to know why on earth Ed couldn't be put into a separate wing seeing as there were, after all, dozens of other empty rooms in the house. His arguments were quickly shut down since Narcissa was in no mood to deal with him - not after the earlier yelling she'd had to endure from her only son. Ed said nothing, knowing exactly what was on Mustang's mind, though he did have to wonder whether or not Narcissa had been told anything. Even so, Draco was all too happy to help Ed settle in that night, eagerly dragging his trunk across the hall and tossing his things unceremoniously onto the bed before heading back into his own room to sleep.

The next day passed uneventfully. Draco skulked about the estate, preferring to stay as far away from Edward as possible. Ed didn't mind at all; he didn't really need to follow Draco around the manor, even though Mustang insisted that he do so (probably to keep him distracted from trying to find out whatever he and Narcissa secretly did all day long). This gave him time to think and he certainly had a lot on his mind. So whenever he got tired of puzzling through his books and notes or writing that cursed report for his assessment, he allowed himself to take a much needed break by exploring the large mansion.

The day was otherwise completely boring and seemed to last much longer than was necessary. The only things Ed looked forward to were their meals. Aristocrats ate well, there was no doubt about that, and the food was delicious and came in ample servings. Ed helped himself to as much as his body could stand, though he made sure to keep himself looking dignified in Narcissa's presence. Draco would occasionally make odd sounds that closely resembled stifled laughter, since he knew how Ed ate under normal circumstances.

It was only during that night's dinner that anything happened. Neither Ed nor Draco said a word as they ate their meal. Only Roy and Narcissa's voices could be heard as they shamelessly flirted with one another, irritating both teenagers to no end. They tried very hard to keep their faces smooth and expressionless in spite of how irritated they were by the laughter.

Not long after dinner began, there was a thunderous knock on the front door. Mustang looked ready to get up and answer it, but Narcissa made a motion for him to remain seated and instructed one of the house-elves to get it.

"I wonder who it could be?" wondered Narcissa aloud as the house-elf disappeared. "It's rather late for any sort of house call or visit."

"It should be fine, Narcissa," Roy assured her, laying a hand over hers. "I doubt if anyone dangerous is out there tonight. Besides, you're perfectly safe here with me."

An affectionate look appeared on Narcissa's face as she melted under his gaze. "Roy..."

Draco violently jabbed at his steak, shooting Roy another hateful glare as he did so. Ed barely managed to stop himself from laughing as he quickly reached for his drink and took several long sips. Neither one of the adults took any notice and continued to stare into each other's eyes, smiling.

"My lady?"

Slowly, Narcissa looked away from Roy and turned to the house-elf that was now standing in the entranceway to the dining room. The small creature seemed somewhat nervous, twiddling its fingers as it looked at everyone at the table.

"Yes?"

The house-elf bowed. "There's a visitor. He says he's here for my master and lady's guests."

Ed's eyebrows shot up and he turned to look at Roy. "Who'd you send for?"

Before Mustang could answer him, their guest stepped into the doorway. "Good evening, everyone."

The young alchemist's eyes grew wide and he immediately spun around in his seat to face the visitor. Sure enough, standing next to the house-elf, completely dwarfing it in comparison, was a large, hulking suit of armor. It stood at almost eight feet tall and wore a small, light-colored loincloth of some kind. Its hands were politely clasped in front of it as it bowed low in greeting to everyone in the room.

"I'm very sorry for interrupting your meal," the armor said politely, the young (though certainly male) voice reverberating slightly within the suit.

This was one of very few moments in Malfoy history that both Narcissa and Draco seemed to be frightened. The expression was more apparent on Narcissa's face as she stared wide-eyed at the suit of armor with her mouth hanging slightly agape. She was suddenly clutching Roy's hand very tightly in hers, finding herself unable to speak in spite of her attempts to do so. She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, vaguely resembling a goldfish as she did so. Draco had also found himself at a loss for words and could only stare at the suit of armor.

After a brief moment, the armor jumped slightly in place as he noticed Mustang at the dinner table. "C-Colonel? What are you doing here?"

Draco raised his eyebrows in affected surprise and also turned to look at Mustang. "'Colonel'?"

Roy returned Draco's suspicious look with a cool gaze and then turned to the suit of armor with a meaningful look in his dark eyes. The armor seemed instantly distraught, waving his hands before him in a clear fit of panic.

"Oh! I mean! Um... Mr. Mustang! Sir! I mean..."

Narcissa slowly looked at Roy, a questioning look on her pale face. The colonel smiled back at her reassuringly. "There's no need to be so alarmed," he said gently. "This is-"

"DEAR BROTHER!"

Without anyone noticing, Ed had suddenly leapt out of his seat at the table and hurled himself upon Alphonse in what looked to be a very awkward hug. And if the loud "clank" that had accompanied the action was any indication, it must have been somewhat painful for Edward. Despite that, there was a joyous look on Ed's face that neither Malfoy had ever seen before. All at once, everyone looked shocked and surprised. It was hard to tell, but it seemed that Al was, too.

"Whoa! It's nice to see you, too, nii-san!"

Roy narrowed his eyes at Ed in annoyance. "Edward, I'm trying to introduce your-"

"It'll have to wait," Ed said quickly, grinning as he dragged Al away. "C'mere, Al!"

"Wh-Wha... huh?"

Mustang rose to his feet, just about to order Ed to stop and return to the meal, but they were gone so quickly he didn't have the chance. He let out an annoyed breath and sank back into his chair, putting one hand to his head. The dinner table remained silent for a few more moments, both Narcissa and Draco sitting very still with their eyes lingering on the spot that the suit of armor had appeared. At length, they both looked to Roy for an explanation. The dark-haired colonel was slightly slumped in his seat, one hand gingerly massaging his temple.

"Roy, what just happened?"

"Who the bloody hell was that armored man?"

The colonel slowly looked at the two Malfoys and sighed, hoping not to sound as exhausted as he felt. "That was Alphonse Elric," he explained. "He is Edward's younger brother."

Narcissa gasped softly, her eyes going wide in surprise. "His younger brother?"

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" asked Draco. "I mean, Elric's so much shorter."

A smirk made its way onto Roy's face. He was amused by the comment, but knew that it was a good thing that Ed had already left the room. One of his trademark anti-short outbursts was not going to help with his new headache.

Alphonse quickly blocked the incoming punch and forced his attacker back.

"That was really rude of you, nii-san! Just pulling me away like that!"

Ed leapt away for a brief moment and then pounced on his younger brother again with a flying kick, springing himself forward with more force this time. Once more Al blocked the attack and deflected it, pushing Ed back once again. He flipped in the air so that he landed on his feet and crouched down.

"It'll be fine! They don't care, they're rude, too!"

Then, narrowing his eyes slightly, Ed charged forward. This time, however, Al chose to attack as well, swinging one mighty fist at his older brother. Ed halted his charge at once and raised his arms in front of him to block the punch. It connected with his auto-mail arm so no damage was taken, but was still so forceful that Ed was pushed back with its momentum, his legs dragging through the shallow snow.

"That's not an excuse!"

"Aw, just shut up and fight."

He kicked some of the snow away and then sprang forward again with another kick, that Al caught in one hand. Ed pulled his body forward to kick at Al's head with his other leg, but he was blocked again. Al reared his arm back and tried to deliver an uppercut, but Ed pushed off of him and flipped backward in the air. As he fell back to the ground, Al moved forward and swung another punch at him, but Ed crouched to the floor in a dodge and kicked one of Al's legs out from underneath him. Before he could lose his balance, Al used his raised leg to kick at Ed, but missed.

"I think your attacks are getting more ruthless," Al mused aloud as he dodged Ed's counterattack. "Are you really that angry about all this, nii-san?"

Edward jumped back a few feet, flicking his long braid over his shoulder. "Of course I am! You expect me not to be? Colonel bastard just dumps me with this kid and gives me vague orders like 'watch over him' and 'see if he's connected to Voldemort.' I'm pretty sure I've established that he is, but I've got this feeling that there's some other part to this mission and he's not telling me!"

"I suppose I never expected you to be happy with your position," Al murmured thoughtfully, "but I hoped you at least had fun at that magic school."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Sure, Al," he said sarcastically. "I had loads of fun chasing Draco Malfoy around that giant school. The best part was asking the paintings and ghosts if they'd seen him and having them mistake me for a first-year."

Al sighed in exasperation. "You don't have to say it like that, you know..."

The older brother smirked slightly as he launched into another attack, making a roundhouse kick that Al once again blocked. He ducked under another of Al's punches and tried to uppercut him, but missed his target as Al backed away. He then grabbed Ed's wrist and held him still for a moment.

"So I guess you and Mr. Draco aren't exactly friends?"

Ed kicked some snow up into Al's face and wrenched his arm out of his grasp. He then quickly twisted around to deliver a high kick, whichAl deflected with the back of his arm as hetook a few steps back.

"You could say that," said Ed, as he barely dodged another kick. "Didn't I tell you in my letters? He's not exactly the easiest person to get along with, you know. He's really secretive and won't tell anything to someone he doesn't trust."

"So he's like you."

"IS NOT! Anyway, I've been trying to figure out how to get him to trust me, but..."

He made a face as he dodged another attack and slipped behind Al. The suit of armor whirled around, taking a few steps away from Ed. The brothers remained facing one another for a moment, Al giving Ed a few moments to catch his breath. Ed briefly rubbed his left arm, trying to keep it warm.

"You didn't do anything mean or rude to him, did you?"

There was a pause as Ed appeared to be thinking. Al took that as a "yes."

"So you've gotten yourself into trouble," Al commented with a sigh, shaking his head in dismay. "You never change, nii-san."

"What?" exclaimed Ed, shocked. "What're you-"

"I knew this would happen without me around!"

Ed's face fell and he looked away. "Well, we didn't exactly have a choice there," he muttered.

Al only nodded. "I know."

Then both boys fell back into a fighting stance. Al made the first move, rushing forward with a punch. Ed crouched down to dodge it and jumped a few feet back as Al followed his punch with a kick. When Al's leg was right over his head, Ed grabbed it with both hands and swung himself up and over his brother's body, landing gracefully behind him. Al darted forward to land another punch, but Ed quickly somersaulted back and away. When they were facing each other again, he just managed to block yet another of Al's punches, and Al immediately scooted backward.

"How is your study of magic going?"

"Well, I've been doing all sorts of research on how it works, but it's pretty complicated. I've got a few theories, but still have to get my hands on some actual evidence before I-"

"Nii-san," Al laughed softly as he blocked one of Ed's roundhouse kicks, "you know you're not writing a research essay or anything."

"Yeah, but..." Ed hesitated before continuing. He hadn't told Al anything about his findings on the Philosopher's Stone and wasn't entirely sure whether or not he should. He didn't want to get Al's hopes up in case he failed. "You know me. I just need to know, that's all."

It sounded like Al laughed softly again as he began to unleash a flurry of punches, but Ed couldn't tell over the clanging sounds that rang out every time he blocked with his right arm. At length, Ed jumped back into a crouch, skidding slightly through the snow. Al rushed in and swung his arm downward, but Ed quickly dodged to the side on all fours. He then pushed himself up onto his arms and threw his legs over his body to kick Al with his heels. Al blocked the hit from his left leg and grabbed onto his right, easily lifting him up off the ground and tossing him a good distance away.

Ed instinctively clapped his hands while he was in the air and slammed them down on the ground as he landed. With a flash of blue light, a giant hand rose from the snow behind Al and reached forward to grab him. Al yelped in alarm as the icy fingers closed around his armor body and then froze, holding him tightly in place.

"NII-SAN!" he shouted. "No using alchemy during spars, remember?"

The state alchemist laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Right. My bad, Al, I wasn't thinking." He walked over to his younger brother and patted the fingers that were wrapped around him, letting out an impressed whistle. "What a beaut."

"As always," Al added with an appreciative laugh.

"Yeah...?" Ed looked the giant hand once over. "Huh. I can't really tell."

"You need to remember that not everyone is as talented in alchemy as you are, nii-san."

Ed shrugged. "Well, it's been a while since I've transmuted anything like this since I'm pretty much screwed if I get caught. I sure miss it." He gave a toothy grin and stretched his limbs out. "Man, I haven't been able to cut loose in such a long time!"

Al seemed shocked. "You mean, you're completely out of practice?"

"Yep. Alchemy, fighting... As much as I'd love to sock Draco one in the nose, I can't 'cause I'm on orders. And the closest thing they've got to fighting over there is this thing called a 'wizard's duel,' and they don't have 'em very often."

"So I suppose you were taking it all out in our sparring match?"

"I guess that could be it." Ed grinned sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that." He then clapped hishands together, turning his attention to the hand of snow and ice that was still holding Al. "Well, I'd better fix this up."

He then laid his hands on top of it and, with another brilliant flash of light, the hand melted back into the ground without a trace. Al sighed in relief and set to work adjusting himself properly while Ed looked around the courtyard, desperate to find more things to transmute (it seemed quite clear that he was having alchemy cravings). After a moment, Al turned to look over at the mansion.

"This house is huge, isn't it?"

The elder Elric turned slightly to see what Al was seeing. At that moment, they were sitting in the middle of a large, empty space in the courtyard in the middle of the mansion. They were surrounded on every side by the house, as though they were sitting in the center of a fortress, which only made the estate seem even larger to them. Knowing that Al couldn't see the entire house from the courtyard, Ed drew a mental picture of Malfoy Manor (as he had explored it so far) in an attempt to estimate just how large the place was.

"You haveno idea," he said, getting to his feet and shaking the snow off of him. "You should see the rooms. They're huge."

Al looked at his brother excitedly. "Really?"

Ed laughed. "C'mon, let's go back inside and I'll show you. I'm freezing my ass off out here anyway."

With a nod of his metal head, Al got to his feet and followed his older brother back into the mansion. As they walked, they told one another more about what was going on in their lives. They already knew much of each other's stories because of their letters, but getting to actually hear them talk about it was different and more interesting. Ed even demonstrated a few of the more simple magic spells to Al. By the time they reached Ed's room, there was only one topic that had yet to be discussed.

"So how was your date with Hermione?"

Ed flinched visibly.

Al turned to look at him, obviously confused. "Nii-san...?"

"Uh..."

"Nii-san, what happened?" Then, getting increasingly alarmed, "What did you do? Were you rude to her? Were you... Nii-san, you didn't do anything like..."

"What? No! I didn't do anything! The date thing was fine, it's just that Draco-"

He stopped, catching himself before he let anything slip out. Ed wasn't entirely sure whether or not it was a good idea to be telling Al about Draco's feelings. It would have been one thing if it were just simple facts that were mission relevant, but this was human emotion and Edward Elric was not completely oblivious to that difference. He didn't have any right to be telling people about how he felt, and Draco had made it very clear that he didn't want anyone to know. Telling Mustang was different; the bastard hadn't been given any names or details. Al, on the other hand, knew just short of everything.

"What? What happened to Mr. Draco?"

'But this is Al, here,' Ed reasoned with himself as he flopped himself onto the bed. He looked back at his younger brother, finally deciding to at least tell him something. He gave Al a "don't-let-him-find-out-you-know" look before answering. "Well... Draco got kinda... jealous."

Al sat down at the silver sofa across the bedroom. "Jealous?"

Ed nodded silently.

"Is he... Were they...?"

He nodded again. There was a long pause. Al just stared at his brother.

"So then... NII-SAN!"

Ed bolted into an upright sitting position as though the appalled tone in Al's voice had poked him sharply in the butt. "Wh-What?"

Al had leapt to his feet and seemed to be getting increasingly upset, his hollow-sounding voice reverberating in hysteria. "Are you saying that you stole Mr. Draco's girlfriend from him?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Ed hissed, his cheeks now bright red. "Look, I didn't mean to! I didn't know!"

"HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?"

"It... It's kinda confusing. And... complicated. Okay? They're not really..." He sighed, exasperated. "I can't explain it."

With that, Al finally fell silent, sinking back into the sofa. Ed watched him, as though to make sure he wouldn't make any more accusations. He then leaned back into the bed, putting his arms behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling.

"Either way," he said at length, "I've gotta make it up to him. I tried apologizing to him, but he won't hear it."

"I thought you didn't like Mr. Draco."

Ed snorted. "I don't. Not really. But that doesn't mean I want him thinking I'm some kinda girlfriend-snatcher like Mustang!"

Al just looked at Ed. "Nii-san..."

It was hard to tell if he was relieved or still in shock, since he didn't have a very expressive face. Even Ed wasn't sure. He looked back at Al for a moment, tilting his head curiously to one side. Then, dismissing it for now, he stretched his limbs out with a large yawn.

"I'm beat," he murmured sleepily, shutting his eyes and lazily scratching his stomach. "I'm... just gonna..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence as sleep suddenly overcame him. It wasn't much longer before he was softly snoring away. Al eventually rose to his feet and approached the bed. He removed Ed's boots and then pulled the thick green sheets over him, shaking his head and laughing quietly. In his sleep, Ed pulled at the blanket and rolled onto his side with a soft moan.

As soon as he had finished tucking his older brother in (it really was hard to tell which one of them was older sometimes), Al straightened and looked at the door to the hallway. Then, clenching his hands determinedly at his sides, he marched toward it and stepped out into the large hallway. He walked right up to Draco's bedroom door and gently rapped on the door.

"Who's there?"

"It's Alphonse Elric, Mr. Draco."

There was some noise from the other side of the door and then the sound of approaching footsteps. The door swung open, revealing Draco standing directly in its path so that Al couldn't step inside. He leaned against the frame, looking Al up and down. He was intimidated by the sight of his armor, but did a pretty good job of not letting it show.

"Wh-What do you want?"

"Um..." Al lowered his gaze, anxiously shuffling his feet. "I just wanted to apologize."

The hint of apprehension on Draco's face suddenly vanished. His eyebrows arched up in surprise. "What for?"

"For my brother."

At once, Draco's face fell into a scowl. "What'd he say?"

"Nothing!" Al said quickly, waving his hands frantically in front of him. He then sighed emphatically, putting his hands together in front of him. "He didn't say anything. But I just wanted to apologize for, um... anything he may have done. I'm sure he's been mean or rude to everyone, but... that's just how he is. It's nothing personal, he doesn't mean any harm, really. Try to understand."

Draco was silent for a few moments, staring at Al with an unreadable expression on his face. Al tried to remain very still, resisting the temptation to fidget under his hard gaze.

"He can be hard to get along with sometimes," he went on, feeling like he had to keep talking, "but please forgive him. He doesn't really mean to be so rude. So... please?"

Still no response. He just continued to look at Al as though he were studying him. "You're apologizing for your brother..." He then shook his head in disbelief, chuckling in amusement. "What are you, his representative? His agent?"

Al was thoughtful for a brief moment. "In a way."

The teasing look on Draco's face faded. "You're serious." Al nodded solemnly. Once again Draco looked him up and down. "How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen, Mr. Draco."

Draco gave him an odd look. "Fifteen, eh? Awful tall for your age."

Al shuffled his feet uncomfortably. It wasn't like he had asked to become a near eight-foot tall suit of armor. Draco obviously didn't notice his discomfort as he continued to scrutinize him from his arrogant position in the doorway for a few more minutes.

"So I suppose you really care about your brother."

"I do," replied Al, nodding. "We're all each other has."

There was another pause as Draco continued to look at him. However, his eyes no longer had the same contempt and annoyance as they did earlier. It was hard to tell, but he almost seemed sympathetic. Draco eventually straightened himself, putting one hand on the door.

"I'll think about it."

Were he able to, Al would have beamed. "Thank you, Mr. Draco!"

"Right," he muttered. "And look, drop the 'mister,' alright? Just 'Draco' is fine."

Then, without waiting for a response, Draco turned back and shut the door. Though he could no longer see him, Al bowed politely before happily heading back across the hall to Ed's room.

Author's Note: there's really not a whole lot going on in this chapter, other than love for Alphonse. :D the way i see it, Ed's not really himself unless Al's around (he just seems so serious without his kid brother), so he had to come in at some point. i adore Al, so i was definitely not going to allow myself to go on if i didn't include him somehow. so... love for Alphonse and his ability to kick Ed's ass! but don't worry Ed, that doesn't make you any less cool... (hugs Ed)