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

Author's Note: (throws a party) huzzah! over 350 reviews! "i'd like to thank (sob) Hiromu Arakawa and J.K. Rowling, for making these awesome series and these amazing characters..." hehehe, anyways, here's the next chapter, so enjoy!

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Chapter 21
Brothers

As his luck would have it, the Slytherins kept Edward perfectly distracted for the rest of the day. For the first time in a long while, Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle approached Ed for help on their homework. All of their homework. This led into several poker games - one for every assignment - that made Ed feel like he had suddenly entered some sort of tournament. He was forced to play poker for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, only breaking once for lunch. On the way back to the common room from the Great Hall, Ed managed to pull Al to one side and told him to wait after dinner in the third floor hallway, right outside of the trophy room and the armor gallery.

It definitely wasn't Ed's lucky day since he ended up losing a few rounds and actually had to help the Slytherins with some of their homework. He supposed it served him right for playing fair for the first few games. Still, things could have been much worse; he only had to do three out of the twenty or more assignments, and none of them were essays.

Still looking on the bright side, Ed was able to put one of Alphonse's birthday presents to good use: a deck of Self-Shuffling playing cards. Together with the cards inside the brown packaging was some kind of pocket mirror, the purpose of which eluded Ed. He was sure he didn't care that much for his appearance, so he just rewrapped the mirror and put it carefully inside his trunk. He'd have to ask Al about that one later.

Thankfully, the assignments were done in time for dinner (explaining everything to Crabbe and Goyle took much longer than Ed would have liked) so Ed really was free until his detention at nine. After polishing off his plate and downing his goblet of pumpkin juice, Ed left the table and went off to meet up with his little brother. But when he arrived in the hallway that he and Al had agreed to meet at, Alphonse was nowhere to be found. Impatient as he was, Ed began to search. He looked inside the trophy room and wandered around the armor gallery for a while (it would be much harder to find Al if he went in there), but still couldn't find him.

Ed ruffled his hair in annoyance. "Where'd he go?"

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As it happened, Alphonse had been walking toward the promised meeting spot much earlier than they'd agreed to meet. However, he got held up when he saw an animal turn the corner into the second floor corridor, sniffing at the air as though it had picked up a strange scent. The fact that the animal was tracking something made it seem like a dog, but it actually turned out to be a large cat with a squashed, flat face and bottle-brush tail.

Beside himself with excitement, Al quickly approached the cat, careful not to startle it lest it run away. When he got closer and the cat turned slightly to look at him, he got down onto his knees and extended one hand toward it.

"C'mere, kitty," he cooed. "I'm not gonna hurt you. C'mere..."

The cat just looked at him for a moment, its eyes seeming to glimmer with intelligence. It then moved toward Al's outstretched hand, sniffing suspiciously at it. Then, briefly glancing up into Al's face, the cat closed the distance between them and brushed up against the palm of his hand. For a moment, Al could hardly contain his excitement as the cat allowed him to softly pet its fur and scratch at a spot behind its ears.

Al was instantly fond of this cat and secretly hoped that it had no owner. Though the chances of that were very slim, considering they were inside a very well-hidden school over a lake and amongst large forests and mountains. Either way, Al enjoyed playing with the ginger-colored cat and quickly lost track of all sense of time and place.

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Edward was pacing in the hallway now. It wasn't like Al to be late. With one more glance at his silver pocket watch and another exasperated sigh, Ed abandoned his post in front of the armor gallery and began to search the entire third floor.

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Al was so absorbed in playing with the cat that he didn't notice when a girl turned the corner, spinning around in place and panting slightly with exhaustion. She leaned against the wall as she caught her breath, her eyes sweeping up and down the corridor. When her eyes fell upon the ginger-colored cat, she released a sigh of relief and walked toward him, only vaguely aware of the figure that was playing with him.

"Oh, you found him!" she breathed, gulping down some more air. "Thank goodness! I've been looking for him everywhere!"

The helmet of the suit of armor snapped upward at the sound of her voice in alarm. Only then did the girl seem to realize that he was suit of armor. Her expression became slightly apprehensive as she gazed at him, not quite sure what to think of his appearance and size. Al quickly withdrew his hands from the cat's back where he had been stroking him as though he'd done something wrong.

"I'm sorry," he said, nervous at having been found. "I-I didn't know he was yours."

Upon hearing Al's young, timid voice, the girl relaxed. "Er... no, that's okay." She looked back down at the cat, which had approached Al again and was now trying to climb into his lap. She smiled. "He seems to like you, anyway. Which is quite odd, actually. You see, he's not very keen when meeting strangers."

More than happy to have received permission to continue playing with the cat, Al resumed stroking the fur on his back. "Really? Why not?"

"I'm not sure," the girl admitted, "but I just learned to trust his instincts. He seems to be a good judge of character. His name is Crookshanks, by the way."

"Crookshanks..." Al echoed the name thoughtfully, as though he were testing the sound of it. He then raised Crookshanks up into the air to get a better look at him. Though it couldn't show through his armor, it was easy to tell that Al was smiling. "It's very nice to meet you, Crookshanks!"

The girl could only smile at Al. Then she suddenly shook her head, mentally scolding herself for something, and then extended her hand toward him.

"Oh, and I'm Hermione."

Al lowered Crookshanks back into his lap and turned to look at the girl. "Her...? Oh... OH!" Hermione blinked in confusion as Al took her hand into his and shook it enthusiastically. "It's very nice to meet you, Miss Hermione!"

"Yes, it's... nice to meet you, too... er...?"

He then released her, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry! I'm-"

"AL!" called a loud voice from the stairwell. "AL, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Both Al and Hermione's heads snapped to look in the direction that the voice had come from. Al instantly became distraught, his hands flying up to hold either side of his head.

"Oh no!" he wailed softly. "I forgot all about..."

Hermione looked worriedly at Al. "Forgot about what?"

Within seconds, Edward Elric came storming down the steps, his hands clenched into fists and an annoyed expression on his face as he grumbled under his breath about being able to keep track of eight-foot tall suits of armor. Having searched the entire third floor, checking every unlocked room he came across, Ed had finally given up on it and decided to continue his search elsewhere. His golden eyes were now sweeping from his left to his right as he planted both feet firmly on the second floor. When his gaze finally fell on Al, kneeling in the middle of the hallway with his back slightly turned away from him, Ed frowned angrily and marched purposefully toward him.

"AL!" he shouted, making the suit of armor flinch and turn back toward him. "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN LOOKIN' ALL OVER FOR YOU AND-" His anger and annoyance faltered when he noticed another figure poking out from behind Al. "AND... And..." Ed smiled nervously as he came to recognize the bushy brown mane of hair. "H-Hi Hermione."

"Oh... Hello Edward."

Hermione seemed confused, looking from Ed to Al and back again. It looked like Al was trying very hard to avoid eye contact with Ed as he approached, his pace much slower now than it had been before. "Okay, how exactly do you two know each other?"

Ed came to a stop near Al, looking more nervous than ever. "Um... he's, uh... I mean... well..."

"We're..." Al hesitated, turning to Ed as though asking for his approval. He barely waited for his brother's response (which was simply a dismissive sigh) before turning back to Hermione, who was looking at both of them like they'd each sprouted a second head.

"We're brothers," he told her frankly. "I'm his younger brother, Alphonse Elric. But you can just call me Al." His tone suddenly became much lighter and more casual than before. "It's really very nice to finally meet you, Miss Hermione! I've heard a lot about you!"

Hermione still seemed a bit stunned at first, but she quickly recovered from it and smiled warmly. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, too, Al."

Al seemed to beam at Hermione and then turned to his brother, leaning closer so that only Ed could hear him whisper, "Nii-san, you were right. Hermione is really pretty and nice!"

Ed's cheeks flushed red and he hastily pulled away. "Well, y-yeah."

"Brothers!" Hermione announced aloud, as though she could hardly believe what she'd just discovered. "I don't believe you've ever mentioned that you had a brother back home, Edward."

"Well..." Ed rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture when Al looked at him, undoubtedly having taken offense to hear this. "No one's ever asked."

Crookshanks suddenly jumped up into Hermione's arms and meowed at her, which drew Ed's attention to him. At first he didn't even realize that it was a cat. It had to be one of the ugliest natural born creatures he'd ever seen; it looked more like a pig covered in long, ginger-colored hair than any breed of cat. Ed looked at the cat for a moment, slowly realizing why Al hadn't been where they'd agreed to meet in time. He glanced at Al, who was looking at Crookshanks in what Ed decided was an almost dreamy manner, then back at the ugly cat as Hermione tenderly stroked his head.

"I didn't know you owned a cat, Hermione."

"Isn't he cute, nii-san?" Al said suddenly in a very cheerful voice. "His name is Crookshanks!"

Ed just looked at Al for a moment longer before returning his attention to the cat. He decided not to say anything else. If he pointed out how ugly it was, Al would probably beat him over the head. Not only that, but saying something that tactless with the cat's owner right in front of him was not the brightest of ideas. Crookshanks slowly turned his head so that he was looking right at Edward. Ed frowned at the intelligence that he could see behind the ginger-colored cat's eyes. He was pretty sure that most cats weren't that smart. The cat suddenly hissed softly in Ed's direction, making him jump in place.

'What the hell did I do?'

Hermione smiled at Alphonse. "Al, if you want to, maybe you can come round and play with him from time to time."

An aura of absolute joy radiated from Al's general direction. He turned eagerly to his older brother, who was now openly glaring at the cat in Hermione's arms. "Can I, nii-san?"

The elder Elric glanced at Al, having half a mind to ask if he'd gone insane. At least the other cats that Al had picked up really were cute. On the plus side, at least this arrangement would make Al feel like he really had a pet cat of his own. Maybe his urge to pick stray cats up off the street would finally be purged from his system. Ed shrugged.

"Sure."

The exuberant aura around Al grew in strength. Getting up onto his feet, he extended a hand and gently stroked Crookshanks behind the ears. Hermione gave him a warm smile as Al slowly pulled away.

"Well, I'd better be going now," she told them. "I need to catch up on some light reading." Ed grinned at that as she turned to walk away. "Again, it was a pleasure meeting you, Al. I'll be seeing you around, then?"

Both Elrics smiled and nodded in the affirmative. Hermione's smile grew.

"Good night, both of you."

"Night Hermione."

"Good night, Miss Hermione."

Once the bushy-haired Gryffindor rounded the corner and vanished out of sight, Al turned to look at his older brother. "I like her," he said happily. "I'm glad I got to meet her."

"Yeah, well..." Ed heaved a sigh, scratching a spot on the back of his head. "That's good. Though I wasn't exactly planning on introducing you to Hermione. I just thought I'd point her out, since you're supposed to be discreetly keeping an eye on her."

He quickly shot an annoyed look at his younger brother. Al jumped slightly, thrown immediately into a slight panic. He waved his hands frantically in front of him as though doing so would make Ed forget what he was upset about.

"I'm sorry, nii-san!" he yelped, talking as fast as he could. "It's just that when I saw Crookshanks I couldn't help myself he was so cute so I started playing with him and lost track of time so I'm sorry for being late to meet you and making you worry like that I really didn't mean to but you know how much I love cats and I just couldn't resist..."

Ed pulled a face as Al went on to talk about how he'd met Hermione and apologized for almost blowing their cover ("I just think we can trust her!"). It was hard to stop him when he got frantic and started talking really fast since he never had to stop for air. Not to mention it got kind of annoying when he went off for too long.

"Okay, okay, enough already! She's trustworthy, I got it. Now calm down!"

Alphonse finally stopped rambling and turned to face his brother fully. "You're not angry?"

"No, I'm not angry." Ed released an exasperated sigh. "We'll just have to make sure that she doesn't find out you're supposed to be her bodyguard, and don't let her think that you're going to be another exchange student here. Same goes for anyone else you might meet, okay?"

Al nodded. "Okay." He paused thoughtfully. "Hey, nii-san, you never told me the exact reason you want someone to watch Hermione."

Ed flinched.

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

"O-Of course not, Al! Why would I-"

"This isn't some kind of personal favor, is it, nii-san?"

"I told you, it's not! I just..." He trailed off and looked away. Even if it was Al he was talking to, he couldn't tell him about the conversation he'd overheard at the Christmas party or the letter he'd found. He'd had a lot of time to think about it, but all he knew at the moment was that no one else could find out about those details. Even he wasn't supposed to know...

Suddenly, Al seemed to perk up. "Aha..."

Ed's eyebrows knitted together as he looked back up at Al. "'Aha' what?"

Al folded his arms over his chest and nodded his head in a knowing, wise manner. "Ah, the springtime of life..."

"Wha...?"

"Nothing, nothing!"

Ed eyed his younger brother suspiciously. "You're not makin' any sense."

A tiny, teasing chuckle came out of Al. "You really like Miss Hermione, don't you?"

Suddenly the air around Ed's face felt very hot. "D-DO NOT!"

"Mm hmm..." Al laughed again. "There's no use denying it, nii-san. I don't blame you, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

The kid was relentless! Ed clenched his teeth together, trying to fight off the burning sensation in his cheeks. "I TOLD YOU, AL! I JUST- SEE, IT'S- IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"

"Oh? Then what is it like?"

Al sounded curious, but it seemed clear that no matter what Ed said next, it was only going to give him fresh material to tease him with. Ed knew that very well, having used similar tactics on people before. All he could do was blush fiercely, stuttering over every word that started to come out of his mouth. He couldn't mention any of the things he'd seen happen to Draco, but if he stayed quiet then Al would continue to assume that he really did feel something for Hermione. He smacked his forehead. Trapped. Damn it all.

"ELRIC! OI, ELRIC!"

The young alchemist would have let out an audible sigh of relief - if that voice had belonged to anybody but Zabini. On the bright side, an intrusion was an intrusion, and he welcomed it - for possibly one of the first times in his life - with open arms. Before Ed could motion for Al to remain quiet, Zabini came jogging up to them with a smirk on his face.

"Just the man I was looking for," he said triumphantly. "Look, Crabbe and I were wondering if you'd maybe look over our -"

Zabini stopped short when he finally noticed Al looming over them and just looked up at him in silence. Ed raised an eyebrow, sparing a brief glance back at Al. Al fidgeted slightly under Zabini's stare. Some part of him knew that he should probably be used to it after all this time, but it was still very difficult to ignore when people were gaping at him. The elder Elric decided to try and ignore Zabini's reaction, hoping that his indifference to Al's presence would drop the hint.

"Don't tell me you just wanted to show me your impersonation of a goldfish," Ed joked, folding his arms over his chest. "Which really is just short of perfect, by the way."

Zabini didn't seem to have heard him. He shook his head vigorously, looking away from the hulking suit of armor and turning back to Ed. "That's one wonky looking suit of armor you've got there, Elric."

"'Wonky'?" Al echoed, horrified and offended at once. "Do I really look that strange?"

Blaise almost leapt out of his skin when Al spoke and latched onto one of Ed's arms, an alarmed expression across his face. His eyes grew so wide they were practically bugging out of his head. For a moment he was silent, and then slowly leaned forward so that he could talk quietly into Ed's ear.

"Elric," he muttered, not taking his eyes away from Al, "a suit of armor is talking to me..."

Al bowed his head to the floor and twiddled his fingers. Ed shook off Zabini's arm, frowning slightly to cover up his amusement.

"Would you relax? For someone who's grown up around magic and seen tons of weird things happen around you, you sure are jumpy."

Zabini finally looked away from Al, only to set his incredulous gaze onto Ed. "Erm... D'you know this thing?"

Alphonse gasped in horror again, sinking even lower into the depths of sadness. Ed offered him a comforting smile, but Al didn't seem to notice. He then sighed, deciding that since Hermione had already been told (and it probably wouldn't be too long before word got around) it would be best just to be as honest as he could under the circumstances.

"Uh... Well... He's my younger brother, Alphonse."

This news came as no small surprise to Zabini as he turned to look at Al with an even more incredulous look on his face. Al pulled himself together enough to bow politely in Zabini's direction, which finally made the tall Slytherin relax.

"Your younger brother, eh?" Zabini smirked slightly. Al suddenly stiffened. He already knew where this was going as Blaise turned back to Ed. "Well, at least now we know where all your height's gone, eh, Elric?"

A huge vein popped out on Ed's forehead and he pounced, fists waving in the air. At precisely the same moment, Al jumped forward and caught Ed by his right wrist, effectively keeping his angry, flailing limbs out of reach of Zabini's face.

"Nii-san-"

"WHO THE HELL IS A FLEA-SIZED ULTRA SHRIMP?"

"-Nobody said that!"

Zabini seemed to be frozen stiff, his eyes even wider than before as he watched Al hold Ed back. He had absolutely no idea just how lucky he was that the younger Elric was around.

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Author's Note: Alphonse, you silly little boy... what can I say? he has a cat fetish. in spite of its relatively short length, this chapter was surprisingly difficult to write, though it was a whole lot of fun to do. XD and hooray! Al now has a pseudo pet cat. Shared custody with Hermione, of course :P