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 now Ed knows that there's something more to it, and he's gotten too involved to pull out... FMA/HP crossover. kinda sorta may possibly be slightly AU with HBP and with FMA. rated T for language.

Disclaimer: I, just like most everyone else, do NOT own either Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter. I am nowhere near as cool or brilliant or creative as Hiromu Arakawa and J.K. Rowling. They rule. The only thing I own here is the idea of the story. The story is my baby. MJade-1 is its only godparent :D

Author's Note: heehee, thanks again for all the support and reviews! I hope you're all still keeping up with this story. :) I wanna apologize to everyone that got a chapter 19 update alert last week. That was an accident. But here's the real chapter 19 for you guys. Enjoy!

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Chapter 19
Mission Objectives

Damn it. Damn it all to hell and back. Ed was getting tired of running into all these weird twists and turns, complications for what should have been a simple mission. And worse, it was far too late for him to get out of it.

That letter that he found. The thought of it had been haunting him for the past few days. Its contents had been floating around in his mind, lingering at the back of his thoughts like some horrible nightmare. He didn't know what to do about it. If it was a warning, he should give it to its intended recipient. But if it was a love letter, then it was a little more complicated than that.

But didn't Hermione deserve to know all those things? His confessions, his apologies... should Hermione know? And what about Draco? Didn't he deserve a little bit of redemption and hope? And more importantly... Why the hell did Ed find himself caught in the middle of all this?

"Nii-san, you sure you mentioned everything in your report?"

Ed was suddenly snapped out of his reverie, the scowl on his face disappearing as he turned to look at Al who was walking beside him. His thoughts returned to the present and he remembered what he was doing. Taking the ever long walk to see Mustang. That was always fun. He looked down at the stack of papers in the folder in his hands and frowned. He mentally went over some of the things that were entailed in the report.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure of it, Al."

"But didn't you say that there were certain things that you still needed to-"

"Would you quit worrying about that already? It's all covered!"

"But nii-san! You told me yourself that you started makings things up!"

"Gimme a break, Al. It's not like they know anything about magic and wizards."

"But if you get caught-"

The state alchemist grinned evilly. "If I don't get caught, I won't get caught."

"Nii-san."

His grin only broadened as he stretched his limbs out. Stupid assessment report. He had forgotten all about writing it since Al arrived. Only when he saw the stack of papers, lying face up on his desk amidst several stacks of books and stopped in mid-sentence did he remember. Al had been nice enough to calm him down and help him with it. It became his job to go through Ed's books and search for anything useful that could be used while Ed worked on writing the actual report out.

It was a twenty-something page long report about his findings on magic, including a few things he'd needed to make up to fill in some holes and make it sound more scientific and believable. He knew all too well how skeptical those higher-ups were going to be. And he didn't tell Al, but the report also included a few vague notes on the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone. That helped link things back to his initial research.

He didn't include any details concerning his mission. Ed's mission had very little to do with any research of any kind, and the higher ups back in Central didn't need to know anything of it.

His mission. Watching over Draco. Making sure he didn't do anything stupid. But it was too late for that now, wasn't it? If only he'd been assigned to this mission earlier. If only he'd been able to keep Draco from accepting the job he'd been given - even though he still didn't know what that job was (he made a mental note to find out at all costs). If only he'd known about Draco's feelings for Hermione from the beginning.

But why did he care so much? Why was he investing so much into this whole situation?

"Nii-san, are you okay?"

Ed looked up, coming back out of his daze. "Huh? Oh... yeah, I'm fine, Al."

Al looked at his brother worriedly. "Um... all right. If you say so."

It wasn't long before the Elric brothers finally came to a stop, finding themselves in front of a large wooden door. It led into what Mustang had claimed as his "temporary" office and the headquarters for their mission and duties. The owls from Amestris had learned to only deliver their letters to that room and that room alone, not to anywhere else in Malfoy manor.

Al rapped gently on the door. "Colonel? Are you in?"

"Come in."

Ed barely waited for Al to finish knocking before throwing the doors open. He scowled at the colonel, who was standing by one of the bookshelves and was busy examining its contents.

"I'm surprised you're actually in here and not off with Narcissa. Five months in and you're already tired of banging the same woman every night?"

The colonel glared at Ed, but before he could say anything back, Ed threw his folder onto the desk with a loud slap. Mustang raised an eyebrow at the folder and the papers that were starting to spill out of it. He then walked over and picked it up, quickly rummaging through its contents.

"What's this, Fullmetal?"

"My assessment report," Ed snapped, itching to leave. "Damn thing took a long time to finish."

Roy looked up at Ed, confused. After a moment he smirked, closing his eyes and replacing the folder on top of the desk. "Did I not tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"About your assessment. This-" He tapped his fingers on the folder for emphasis. "-was no longer necessary."

Ed's eye twitched. "What?"

"I contacted Central headquarters, informing them of your long-term mission. I requested for this year's assessment to be waived since your mission requires you to take a break from your research and your duties as a state alchemist. They've granted the request, surprisingly without much argument. Seems like they've really taken a liking to you, Fullmetal."

"Yeah, whoop-dee-doo," Ed growled, his auto-mail hand clenched into a fist. "Woulda been nice to know that before I finished the fucking thing!"

"Well then, since you've gone through the trouble of writing it, I suppose I'll keep this for now. It could be useful someday. And I'd also like to know about this 'magic' you've been learning." The colonel picked up the file again and began to quickly skim through it. "Seems intriguing."

"So then why didn't you go on the damn mission?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm too tall, charming, and attractive to pass for a student."

Ed clenched his teeth, glaring angrily at his superior officer. The malicious aura radiating off of Ed's body was making Al uncomfortable. Mustang seemed to be used to it and continued to ignore the pair of golden eyes that burned with seething hatred. A low growl escaped Ed's throat. Oh, how Mustang would live to pay for all the humiliation... Not only him, but all those bastards back at that magic school, too...

"And as I said before, no one else in the military is as small as you."

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SUPER MIDGET THAT MAKES YOU WANNA STEP ON HIM?"

"Nii-san, no one's saying any of that!"

The colonel smirked. "Well, Fullmetal, I guess you're dismissed for now. See you at dinner."

The Fullmetal Alchemist snorted and spun back around on his heel, gesturing with a nod of his head for Al to follow him. Grumbling angrily under his breath, he jammed his hands into his pockets... Where his fingers touched a folded up piece of parchment.

He stopped abruptly, all traces of his rage lost.

"Colonel."

Both Alphonse and Colonel Mustang were shocked by the sudden change in Ed's demeanor. Roy lowered the folder in his hands to the desk and looked at Ed solemnly. The small blonde turned slightly to look at Mustang out of the corner of one golden eye.

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

Mustang raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"It's about... About that Harry Potter kid."

The colonel was silent for a moment. "What about him?"

Ed hesitated before speaking again. "I was reading some old newspaper articles and... his name kept popping up. The events of the Triwizard Tournament... That whole prophecy thing... Being targeted by Voldemort..."

"Your point being?"

"Shouldn't... Shouldn't someone be watching him? Some sort of... bodyguard for him-" He took a deep breath. "-and his friends?"

There was another moment of silence before Mustang replied. "You had better not be asking to be reassigned to protect Harry Potter."

"I'm not. I was just thinking that someone should be around to watch him. Or maybe get Professor Dumbledore to tighten security around the castle or something."

Mustang sighed. "Fullmetal, I know all about Harry Potter. The headmaster was kind enough to fill me in on that matter and believe me when I say that they've already done just that."

"But what if it's not enough? There should be someone right there to watch them, the way I'm watching Draco." The colonel sighed again and was about to speak, but Ed quickly cut him off, turning all the way around and narrowing his eyes. "What if I have reason to believe Harry Potter and his friends are in more danger than you think?"

There was a tense silence, throughout which Al constantly looked at his brother, then at the colonel, then back at his brother. It was because of this type of very nerve wracking silence that he chose not to be around when Ed spoke business with the colonel. Usually, he waited somewhere else until they were finished. The two state alchemists firmly held each other's gaze, neither one of them moving an inch. At length, the colonel shut his eyes and turned toward the bookshelves.

"Harry Potter," he said firmly, "is none of your concern, Fullmetal. He's lasted almost six years without any outside help, so he can obviously handle himself."

"But...!"

"However, if it'll put your mind at ease, I'll speak with the headmaster and see if there's any way to bring in one more guard, though I can't guarantee anything. Understood?"

Ed fell silent, wrapping his fingers around the slip of parchment in his pocket. He looked down at the floor, tightly clenching his jaw. Sure it was understood, but he wasn't sure whether or not that would be good enough. Protecting Harry Potter was all very good and nice, but the young wizard could take care of himself just fine. Ed knew that. But it wasn't Harry that needed the extra protection.

Al looked worriedly at his brother. "Nii...san...?"

"Fine," Ed said at length, in a firm, soft voice. "Understood."

"Good. From here on, I don't want to hear another word out of you about this. That's an order."

Ed snorted in response. He turned back around sharply on his heel, but before he reached the door, Mustang stopped him.

"By the way, Fullmetal... Why do you suddenly care so much for these wizards?"

The young alchemist halted in his tracks. He smiled bitterly. "I've been asking myself that same question," he muttered.

He then opened the door and headed out of the office. Al hesitated before following, taking a moment to bow slightly toward the colonel. Mustang watched them leave, waiting for the door to shut all the way. He then slumped back into his seat, gingerly massaging his temple as he turned his attention on Ed's assessment report. He already knew it was half lies.

-------------------

The New Year came and went without too much fuss. Narcissa, Draco, and Roy all went off to someone else's New Year's party, leaving Ed and Al behind to "house-sit" the mansion with the house-elves. Not that Edward really cared; he was sick of parties by now and had no intention to allow his fan club to grow any more. The attention was nice (in a way), but it felt sort of similar to being on the run from Scar. He found out later from Roy that his fan club had indeed showed up at the party and spent a good deal of time searching for him.

Everyone spent the next few days just relaxing in whatever ways they wanted to. Draco was a little less out of it than he'd been the week before; sometimes he could be seen walking around the manor. Al was still worried about the glazed look in his eyes, but Ed insisted that he was getting better if he'd found the will power to move about. The Elric brothers, as usual, spent their time either sparring or studying. Al's interest in magic had come to a peak, so Ed had taken it upon himself to try and teach his kid brother the basics. They started with Potions since Al didn't have a wand and because Charms and Transfiguration still made Ed rather nervous.

Before long, it was high time for Ed and Draco to return to Hogwarts. They'd been notified of a new safety measure that had been taken by the Ministry, and so all the students were to use the Floo Network to get back to the school grounds. When Ed asked why they couldn't do that usually, he got chided for not realizing just how much of a security breach that would be.

Ed stared apprehensively at the living room fireplace. He wasn't very sure he wanted to do this again. He knew that it was fast and convenient (not to mention pretty damn amazing), but it made his stomach twist into knots. It looked like Draco was going to step into the fireplace first, though at the moment he and his mother were exchanging goodbyes. Though Draco had always treated his mother more tenderly than he did anyone else, he seemed to have been much nicer to her over the last week than usual. Ed dimly recalled his indifference when they were boarding the train at the beginning of the year, but compared to the hint of sadness that now lingered in his silver eyes...

As Draco stepped into the fireplace (with a forlorn Narcissa watching him and dabbing at the corners of her eyes), Ed pushed the thought out of his mind and turned to Al. The tall suit of armor was standing next to him, very obviously confused (but fascinated) as he watched Draco get consumed by the green flames. Ed could hardly help but smile amusedly at his younger brother. He knew exactly how he felt. He then knocked on Al's armor, drawing his attention back to him.

"Take care of yourself, all right?"

"Oh... Yeah," Al said brightly as he turned around. "You too, nii-san. Stay out of trouble."

Ed grinned. "And when do I ever get in trouble? You know me, Al. I like a quiet life."

Al laughed softly and shook his head. "Of course."

Mustang walked over to Ed, nodding toward the fireplace. "Your turn, Edward."

The young alchemist nodded at his superior officer and bent down to pick up his things. He threw a light, playful punch at Al before doing as instructed, hesitantly moving forward. Ed took a deep breath. He was about to step into a fireplace, get swallowed by emerald flames, get spun around a bunch of times, and land right back in Hogwarts. Magic was weird.

"Don't forget to write," Al called, making his brother stop and look back.

He smiled. "I won't."

"Just say 'Hogwarts,'" Mustang instructed. "You should end up in your house's common room."

"Got it." Then, tightening his hold on his suitcase, Ed took the final step onto the fireplace's threshold and into the emerald fire. "See ya!"

Then, as clearly and precisely as he could, Ed shouted "Hogwarts!" Exactly as he predicted, the bright green flames completely engulfed him and the world began to spin very fast before his eyes, just like last time. It wasn't long before he found himself in a different fireplace, his clothes now covered in ash and soot. He coughed, waving his hand in front of him in an attempt to fan the cloud of ash out of his way. This hadn't exactly happened last time. Maybe the Malfoy family kept their fireplaces immaculately clean while whoever owned this one could have cared less.

Ed cast around the room in search of a familiar face, brushing himself off with his free hand. He didn't recognize this place. For a fleeting moment, he was panic-stricken. Had he somehow mispronounced "Hogwarts"? It didn't seem likely, but Ed was pretty sure that this was not the fireplace in the Slytherin common room. Where the hell was he?

Within moments, someone threw open the door and blew into the room, looking an awful lot like a giant bat as he did so. Ed narrowed his eyes at the figure. Severus Snape. A familiar face, true enough, though not a particularly well-liked one. So much for his good mood.

Snape sneered slightly as he looked at the small, soot-covered figure standing in his fireplace. "Playing around in the dust now, are we, Mr. Elric?"

Ed frowned and started to clamber out over the grate. Oh well. At least he was definitely in Hogwarts. Snape's sneer turned back into his usual scowl as he reached over, grabbed Ed by the collar, and roughly yanked him out of the fireplace.

"You were meant to arrive in the Slytherin common room."

"And yet," Ed jeered, "I've somehow wound up here with you. Not exactly ideal, trust me."

Snape's scowl grew even sourer as he released Ed from his grasp. "Try not to track any ash across my floor as you leave."

The blonde Slytherin threw Snape a dirty look as he grabbed up his suitcase. Then, flicking his ash covered braid over his shoulder, Ed made a show of stomping across the room and out the door, dusting himself off and otherwise taking great care to leave as much ash and soot as possible in his wake.

"THAT'S THREE WEEKS DETENTION, MR. ELRIC," Snape yelled after him angrily, "FOR DISRESPECTING YOUR HEAD OF HOUSE."

Ed couldn't help but snicker. He didn't really mind the punishment. At least he'd managed to have a little fun upon arrival.

It took him a while to regain his bearings of the school. He hadn't realized at first that the room he'd ended up in was somewhere in Snape's quarters. He didn't know there was a fireplace in there. Then again, he'd never actually been in there before. Ed made his way back to the Slytherin common room, where he found Draco, Blaise, and one of the Crabbe/Goyles lounging about. It looked like Blaise was trying to pester something out of Draco, but the boy didn't give an inch. He just sat on the couch with his arms folded, staring into the fire.

Ed glared at the blazing fire. Maybe that was why he'd ended up in Snape's office instead of in the common room. Since a fire was roaring there, the path was blocked and the Floo Network had to find an alternate landing place for the incoming students. He wondered if Draco had started it, since he was probably still pretty keen on getting rid of him.

"You should put out that fire," he said bluntly, crossing the room and heading for the dorms. Everyone's heads snapped up, surprised at the sound of Ed's voice. "There are gonna be other students arriving and that fire's in the way. Otherwise they're gonna end up in Snape's room, and I've got a feeling they're not gonna like that. Especially not with the mood he's in right now."

Zabini let out a small, disappointed groan. "Aw, bloody hell. You were supposed to pop out here in the middle of the fire and let us laugh at you!"

'So it wasn't Malfoy.' Ed smirked slightly and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, well, that sure backfired on ya, didn't it?"

An expression that was somewhere between a pout and a scowl now marred Zabini's features.

"Snape's in a bad mood?" asked Crabbe/Goyle.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Isn't he always in a bad mood? But then again..." A small, evil grin danced on Ed's lips. "...I guess I had somethin' to do with it this time."

Before anyone could ask what happened, Ed ducked into the dorm and tossed his suitcase onto his bed. He thought he heard Zabini ask Draco why Ed seemed so cheerful while he started to unpack, using alchemy to reopen his trunk. He quickly looked over its contents, just to make sure it hadn't been rummaged through (there were mission related things in there, after all). He grabbed his auto-mail kit, buried it amongst the other things inside the trunk, hastily tossed in everything else, and then shut the lid. Ed stretched his limbs out before heading back out into the common room to face his room mates.

The new term officially began the next day. Ed dragged himself out of the bed and into the bathroom to change before the others woke up. He already missed being able to sleep in. As soon as he was changed into the school robes (he'd actually had to change his clothes twice, since the first time he'd instinctively pulled on his usual clothes), he headed into the common room, where everyone discovered a sign that had been put up on the notice board.

APPARITION LESSONS
If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn seventeen on or before the 31st of August next,
you are eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor.
Please sign below if you would like to participate.
Cost: 12 Galleons.

Even though it was still early, there was a surprisingly large group of eager students crowded around the sign. Everyone who had already read the notice (with the exception of all the younger students) was chattering excitedly about it. Ed made a face at the sign. He wasn't interested in Apparition lessons. If he really wanted to, he'd probably be able to learn on his own. He didn't like the idea of having to learn from some uptight official from the Ministry after coughing up twelve galleons. Ed snorted disapprovingly and turned back on his heel, only to crash straight into Zabini.

"Apparition lessons!" he breathed, obviously just as excited as everyone else. "About bloody time! I was wondering when they were getting around to this!"

Ed shot the tall Slytherin an annoyed look. "Lemme through, Zabini."

Zabini looked down at Ed amusedly. "What are you so upset about? Are you not going to turn seventeen before August 31st?"

"No, I will. But I'm not interested in these lessons, so move over."

"What?" Zabini was shocked. "But... It's Apparition, mate! Everyone wants to know how to Apparate!"

Ed rolled his eyes. How wonderful. It was a verb, too. "Not everyone, obviously. Count me out."

"How can you not want to learn to Apparate? It's by far the coolest thing anyone can learn to do! To go from one place to another just like that, in an instant!"

He heaved an exasperated sigh. "Sure I'll admit it's useful, and I could definitely go without having my ass rooted to one spot on a train for hours or even days at a time-"

"What?"

"But it just doesn't make sense! How the hell would a spell like that even work? Transporting your body from one place to another, moving instantaneously through space... Do you have any idea how many natural laws that breaks? I'm willing to bet that there are a million things that could go wrong just trying. For cryin' out loud, time travel is more likely than that! (1)"

"Erm, Elric, what rock have you-"

"The only way I can even think to explain how something like this works would be... traveling through an alternate dimension by entering some kind of wormhole (2). Even then, it would still be required to find an open wormhole or vortex or whatever. And the chances of that, by the way, look an awful lot like slim to none."

"Elric?"

"Unless it was possible for someone to open wormholes at will, which is highly improbable and extremely dangerous, considering no one knows what would happen if wormholes just opened left and right. For all we know, that could be tantamount to ripping the fabric of reality! And this is all under the assumption that there even are alternate dimensions that can be traveled through, and there's no telling what we might find in one..." He trailed off, his eyebrows knitting together as his expression hardened thoughtfully.

For a moment, Zabini just stared blankly at him. "I have absolutely no idea what you're on about."

Ed threw his hands up in the air. "Of course you don't."

Blaise gave Ed a weird look and then shook his head. "Y'know, I think you've been hanging around too many Muggles lately. They've obviously infected your brain. In case you'd forgotten, Elric, we're in a magic school."

Ed's face fell slightly. 'Oops.' "R-Right..."

"So... You going to sign up, or what?"

"Were you not listening to me? No."

"Aw, come on, Elric," he said teasingly. "Don't let the Muggles' logic get to you!"

He reached over with a quill to sign his name on the bottom of the sign. He then turned to Ed, offering the quill to him. Ed just stared at it with an annoyed, disgruntled expression on his face, making no move to take it from him. Zabini pulled a face and turned back around.

"All right then, I'll do it for you."

He started to scribble Ed's name beneath his. Ed's eyes went wide.

"HEY! NO! GIMME THAT!"

Ed tried to snatch the quill out of Zabini's hand and stop him, but the tall Slytherin planted one hand securely on Ed's forehead, which very effectively held him back at arm's length. Only when he was finished did he release Ed, but he was no longer struggling. The small blonde was frozen, staring in utter horror and rage (mostly rage, actually) at his own name, scrawled hastily on the bottom of the sign amongst dozens of other names. Would they be able to tell if it wasn't his handwriting? They were wizards! Wasn't there some way to recognize this act of fraud through magic?

He slowly turned around, fuming silently as he searched for signs of Zabini. Unfortunately for Ed (and rather fortunately for Blaise), he couldn't see him anywhere. He shoved his fists into his pockets and pushed his way out of the small crowd of Slytherins that had gathered. He made up his mind to erase his name once everyone was gone. But by the time Ed and the others got back from breakfast, the sign - along with all the names of everyone who wanted the lessons - had already been taken away.

Which set Ed's first official day back at Hogwarts on a complete downward spiral. He had almost been looking forward to going back. His pseudo-lessons with Al proved to him that he still had a lot more to learn and some part of Al's enthusiasm for magic must have rubbed off on him a little. But somewhere between his newfound burning desire to break Zabini's nose and his detention with Snape, he remembered why he could never quite bring himself to truly like it at Hogwarts.

And this was just ridiculous. Scrubbing the classroom clean with a toothbrush? No using magic? Every single day for three whole weeks? Ed scrubbed violently at a spot on the floor, muttering under his breath about slave drivers and oversensitive, greasy-haired maniacs.

Making Snape mad was definitely not one of his better ideas, he'd decided. Even though it was fun to do (Ed couldn't help but laugh to himself at the memory), it probably wasn't worth this waste of time. Every night, from nine o'clock to midnight, he was sentenced to magic-less classroom scrubbing. He could deal with it, but damn, how he hated it. Mustang wasn't going to be happy to hear about how his time to watch over Draco had gotten severely cut into by a teacher who had problems with getting ash on his stone floor.

Either way, he was stuck with Snape's detention. Stuck with the professor in the DADA classroom with an excruciatingly heavy air hovering over them. After about an hour and a half of non-stop scrubbing, the movement had become almost automatic and Ed barely even had to think about it. He used his auto-mail arm so he wouldn't get worn out by the repetitive motion and spent a lot of time thinking. He thought about magic, the Philosopher's Stone, his mission... pretty much anything that came to mind. As the clock finally began to approach midnight, Ed stole a glance at Snape, sitting comfortably at his desk and going over papers (likely trying to fail as many Gryffindors as he could in the process). Then suddenly, a thought hit Ed rightly over the head.

Severus Snape. Why hadn't he thought of this before? For all of last term, Ed had been so focused on following Draco around and trying to figure out what he was doing that he'd forgotten all about investigating Snape. Of course, it hadn't helped that Draco's frequent disappearances had been keeping him on his toes. True enough, Mustang had gotten Hughes and a portion of the investigation department to pull out whatever information they could get on him, but Ed knew that it was always good to have a backup plan. For all they knew, Severus Snape wasn't his real name, or he'd already gone and erased his background information.

And the timing couldn't have been better. With Draco still in that bizarre funk of his, Ed probably wouldn't have to do too much spying on him until he was completely recovered.

Ed grinned at the professor. Snape glanced up from the papers, noticing the look on his face, and glared at him.

"And just what do you find so amusing, Mr. Elric?"

"Nothing, sir," he said in a cheerful voice, turning back to his scrubbing. "Nothing at all."

Snape wasn't convinced, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. As the professor returned his attention to the papers in front of him, the door to the classroom opened. Both of the room's occupants looked up to see Professor Dumbledore in the entranceway, surveying the room as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Good evening, Severus," he said kindly, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Evening, Headmaster," Snape replied, straightening slightly in his seat.

Dumbledore looked down at Ed, who had momentarily paused in his scrubbing to look up at him, and smiled genially.

"Ah, Edward! I though I might find you here. Severus..." He turned back to Snape. "I wonder if I could have a word with Mr. Elric?"

Ed's eyebrows came together. 'With me? What's going on?'

Snape appeared to be thinking for a moment and then nodded gravely. "Yes, of course, Headmaster." He then turned to Ed. "Mr. Elric, I expect you to return back to me immediately after."

He was about to protest against this since it was almost midnight anyway, but quickly decided against angering Snape any further. So Ed just nodded at the professor and obediently rose to his feet. He fiddled with the toothbrush in his hand for a moment, not sure whether or not he should leave it behind or take it with him.

"Come with me, Edward," said Dumbledore, using that soft yet firm tone that just barely implied an order.

Ed obeyed and, quickly placing the toothbrush on a nearby desk, followed the headmaster out the classroom door. They walked silently toward Dumbledore's office, though Ed thought he could hear Dumbledore humming something softly to himself. They eventually reached the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to his office. Dumbledore murmured the password and led Ed up the spiral staircase as the gargoyle moved aside. Once inside his office, the headmaster gestured for Ed to sit in one of the chairs while he moved around to take his place behind his desk.

"Please, Edward, take a seat."

He did so slowly, more than a little confused. "Sir, is anything wrong?"

"Oh, no," Dumbledore assured him with a slow shake of his head. He began to rummage through some of the papers on his desk. "Nothing's wrong, Edward. I just received word from your colonel. I am under the impression that you want someone from your unit assigned to watch over Mr. Potter."

Ed lowered his gaze. "Oh. Right. I did put in that request..."

"Well, I understand your desire for more security," the headmaster went on, "but I assure you, Harry is well out of harm's way here at Hogwarts."

"Yes, but I think I'd be a lot more comfortable knowing that he was under more constant surveillance. I..." He took a deep breath. "I think I know what he's like, sir. He's the type of person to look for loopholes in security and do what he feels he has to do."

The young alchemist shifted his weight uncomfortably, fully aware of how familiar that sounded. Professor Dumbledore smiled amusedly.

"Perhaps. After all, he does have a certain disregard for the rules." Here he chuckled softly and then turned to look intently at Edward. "However, Mr. Elric, I don't believe that your concern for extra security is solely based on Harry."

Something inside Ed jumped involuntarily. The old wizard was as frighteningly perceptive as ever. Ed forced himself to smile and laughed, hoping that it wouldn't give away how nervous he was.

"W-What do you mean, sir? What makes you say that?"

Dumbledore's blue eyes were twinkling behind his half-moon glasses. "Just a hunch." He then leaned forward slightly on his desk, clasping his hands in front of him. "I'm sure you're already well aware that Harry is well protected. The only reason for you to suggest more surveillance is if you are under the impression that someone else is not."

"Sir," Ed said, his smile faltering slightly under the headmaster's intent gaze, "who else apart from Harry Potter would be under any immediate danger? I just thought it would be better for everyone if security around H... him specifically was a little tighter."

"I should ask you the very same question, Edward," the professor said, the tone in his voice still as gentle yet prodding as ever. "I want you to know that I already approved the request for backup. I just wonder, who exactly is this request based upon?"

By now, the smile Ed had plastered across his face was gone. The state alchemist just looked back at the headmaster, studying the features of his face. He couldn't help but wonder if this was a good idea. He knew this man could be trusted - he could feel that deep in his gut - but he wasn't comfortable with giving away something that was obviously very personal to Draco. After a long moment of mental debate, Ed averted his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Fine... I actually... It's not Harry I'm worried about."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "No?"

"No, sir... I can tell that he's very capable and can look out for himself."

"Then who is your concern placed upon?"

Ed glanced up at Dumbledore, hesitating once again to allow him a moment to think. "I came across some information that... Hermione Granger's life may be under threat."

"Miss Granger?"

He nodded in response.

"Any reason as to why?"

There was another pause before Ed went on. "This is only speculation, but I think she's somehow linked to Draco Malfoy. She... I'm not sure how, exactly, but..." He took a deep breath, straightening out his thoughts. "Whatever the link is, this would mean that she becomes of concern with my mission, as I'm sure you can tell. I believe she needs to be looked after just as much as Draco does. I'd be willing to do it myself, but... I can't deter from my mission priority."

"Is that so?" Dumbledore looked at Ed for a moment longer, giving him a very distinct feeling that the old wizard's eyes were penetrating him. He then smiled again and leaned back in his chair. "Very well, then, Edward. I'm glad you confided in me. You may go."

Ed was somewhat startled by this abrupt dismissal, but knew better than to argue. He swiftly got to his feet and bowed toward the headmaster.

"Thank you, sir."

As he turned to go, Ed stole a glance at one of the time-telling clocks that decorated the office. It was a little past midnight now, but he still had to return to Snape's room to finish off his detention time. Knowing Snape, he was probably going to be kept up for another half hour.

"Oh, Edward," Professor Dumbledore called after him, stopping Ed in his tracks, "before you leave..."

Ed turned back, blinking in surprise. "Yes, sir?"

"You may expect the new watchman to arrive in two weeks' time."

"Yes, sir."

The headmaster smiled kindly. "Goodnight then, Edward."

Ed couldn't help but smile back. "Goodnight, professor."

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Author's Note: Ed's sneaky. But Dumbledore has mighty powers of perception and amazing wisdom and knowledge, so Ed's sneakiness fails him. :P and... for some reason, I just really loved the idea of getting Ed into trouble with Snape. i dunno. just... because. the image in my head cracks me up. XD

(1) - this is, of course, a direct reference to the use of Time-Turners in past books. Ed doesn't know about them, so he's just rambling out all manner of scientific jargon…

(2) - sound familiar at all? i got this idea from looking at the way X-Men's Nightcrawler teleports around. it's not quite exactly the same, since Nightcrawler still teleports into another dimension, so i had to change that a bit to sound a little more scientific. And also, since I haven't read many of the X-Men comics, thanks to X-Men: Evolution for showing me how Kurt's ability works and to Marvel Directory (dot) com for giving me more detailed information.