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: For reasons beyond my control (and greatly to my own disappointment), I do not own the Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter series. FMA belongs to the great and mighty Hiromu Arakawa, and HP belongs to the equally great and mighty J.K. Rowling. The idea of this story belongs to the not quite as great and mighty me. The story is my baby. MJade-1 is its only godparent:D

Author's Note: yay! i'm so glad chapter 24 got the response it did:D i was worried that people wouldn't like it and would start to hate on me intensely. so thanks to everyone that reviewed!! i love you guys!! ...in a strictly platonic author-reader way. XD

i'm amused that everyone's wondering if Ed's auto-mail will be found out... i suppose it will eventually, but thankfully Crabbe and Goyle aren't the brightest crayons in the box, so they didn't notice that the limbs they were holding were unusually cold and hard. so his secret's safe... for now. (evil laughter)

WARNING: in the beginning of this chapter... Zabini kinda... well, i've mentioned in previous chapters that he's a bit sex-obsessed, right? so it's not that big of a surprise, but i guess you could say this is the first time that he really shows his true inner pervert. he doesn't really do anything (that'd be so awkward to write...), but some of the things he says are for... mature-er audiences, i guess. so i just thought i'd give you the heads up... and also, it's not completely my fault!

that said, enjoy!

Chapter 25
Commercial Holidays

For the next few weeks, Edward carried the book that Dumbledore had given him everywhere he went and read it whenever he could. It did get him in trouble on occasion, but only if the teacher noticed that he wasn't reading the textbook, so he was usually able to get away with it during Arithmancy and History of Magic. It was nearly impossible in his other classes; he'd only tried to read the book once during Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He'd gotten called on for his inattention and, since he'd been able to answer their questions correctly by reciting almost word for word what was written in the assigned textbooks, very narrowly escaped severe punishment from both Snape and McGonagall. But with Snape dogging his every move, looking for excuses to send him back to detention, Ed didn't dare try again after that. Too risky.

Still, he couldn't help himself; this new development was extremely exciting to him. For once, he had actually gotten his hands on something he could use. It had never occurred to him to skip straight to research on the gate - or rather, the Doors of Truth - itself. He couldn't remember why, but it was better late than never.

The book actually held some decent information about the Doors of Truth. The book still attested that they were an unproven myth, but strangely enough the information seemed quite accurate. According to the book, within the doorway was the stored truth; a source of information concerning a variety of things, possibly everything there was to know about the world. But the matter of what lay beyond the door remained a mystery. The book had a rough sketch of what the doors were meant to look like and, since Ed was one of few people who had actually seen it, it appeared to be accurate. All of this surprised Ed and, even though the book insisted that all its information had come from rumors and legend, he was convinced that whoever had written that article had seen the doors before.

Once he had committed as much of that information to memory as he could and scribbled all relevant information down in his research notebook, Ed also took the time to note down all of the other entries, just in case they offered alternatives. So far, he only had simple theories. Even so, the book had been much more useful to Edward than any of the previous books he'd read put together, and he was sure that it was hiding a great deal of information somewhere within its passages.

To that end, he studied the book almost religiously and over time it had grown in thickness because of all the extra slips of paper he'd tucked between the pages as notes. No one had been able to talk to him properly since the Apparition lesson, so everyone's burning questions concerning what he'd done that morning remained unanswered. The Slytherins all thought he'd gone mad and Pansy (for reasons unknown only to Edward) tried especially hard to return him to normal. Only Alphonse knew what was going on in Ed's mind (more or less), since Ed had quickly told him everything the day he received the book. However, that was pretty much the last time Al had heard his older brother's voice.

Then suddenly, for the first time in almost two weeks, Ed surfaced. He shut the book for the first time during daylight hours, put it down on the desk in front of him and leaned back in his chair, heaving a sigh. He was completely exhausted, physically and mentally, and was in desperate need of a break. Unfortunately for him, his timing couldn't have been worse.

"He lives!" someone cried from the door to the dormitory. Ed gave a start and turned to face the speaker. He frowned when he saw that Zabini had just strolled into the room, a smug smile on his face. "Perfect timing, Elric! You wouldn't want to miss this holiday. Pansy's been up in arms all week preparing for it."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Any holiday Pansy enjoys can't be good news for me."

Zabini smirked. "Quite a few of us thought you were gonna stay buried in that bloody book until the end of the school year. We even had a bet running on it."

Ed sighed again and turned away, rubbing his eyes. "So who won?"

"Let's see... the closest bid to two weeks was..." Zabini looked thoughtful for a moment. "Malfoy, I suppose."

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah. He had a bid for... eighteen days. Nott had it to the end of term and I bet on a month."

Ed blinked in surprise to hear this, but immediately shook it off. He rose to his feet and stretched out his cramped limbs. "So what's this holiday that's coming up?"

Blaise's jaw dropped and he gave Ed an incredulous stare. "Don't you realize what tomorrow is?"

"Uh... should I?"

He slapped his forehead in disbelief. "Blimey! Here I thought you were some sort of genius, but Merlin you're daft!"

Ed frowned in annoyance as he moved to put the book into his trunk. "Then just tell me! What's this holiday that Pansy's so excited about?"

"Not just Pansy, mate! Every girl in Hogwarts!"

He snapped the lid shut and gave Zabini a blank stare. "And that is...?"

Zabini could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Bloody hell! Chocolates? Madam Puddifoot's? The colors red and white? Hot snogging sessions in closets and bathrooms? Is any of that ringing any bells in that bolloxed up head of yours?"

Ed shook his head. Like he was really supposed to pay attention to holidays or any other sort of special occasion. They had never been important, and his time - time that could be spent searching for ways to turn him and Al back to normal - was much too valuable to waste on such meaningless celebrations. This was the first time he'd really been forced to celebrate any holidays in five years. And he was expected to still remember them all?

Finally, Blaise was fed up. "Do I have to spell it out for you, Elric? IT'S VALENTINE'S TOMORROW!"

"Oh, Valentine's... Valentine's Day, huh?" The realization hit Ed very numbly in the side of his brain. He merely nodded his head absently. It took a few more seconds to properly register. His eyes grew wide. Horrible, suppressed memories of his fan club began to surface. 'Oh, shit.'

"EXACTLY! Bloody hell, I can't believe you! This is every man's excuse to get out there and shag women senseless!"

"Holy shit, Zabini!" Ed cried, ruffling up his own hair. "Do you seriously think of nothing else but sex and women?"

Zabini looked back at him solemnly. "Would you rather I thought about sex and men? Honestly, Elric, don't pester me with your wild fantasies!"

"What was that...?" Ed's voice came out in a dangerous growl.

Zabini sighed, exasperated. "Damn, Elric, you are never going to get laid."

Ed glared at him.

"Anyway, listen. Everyone's been getting ready for it, deciding on dates and whatnot. There are a few nancy boys who've actually gone to the trouble of buying gifts for their so-called 'one-and-only's. As for me..." He smirked, straightening his collar and adjusting his robes. "I'm a gift all on my own. Any bird would be lucky to have me ask her out tomorrow."

Ed rolled his eyes. 'Typical,' he thought in annoyance. 'Only an idiot like Zabini would consider himself God's gift to women.'

"Of course," Zabini went on, still feeling quite smug, "there are only a select few who deserve me. Wanna see my list?"

"You have a list?"

His smug smirk only grew as he reached into his robe and pulled out a small slip of parchment. "'Top Five Most Shaggable Girls at Hogwarts.' Have a look."

He then handed the list over to Ed, whose eyes narrowed as he read the names aloud from highest ranked to lowest. "Padma Patil, Parvati Patil... Hermione Granger? Cho Chang... and Ginny Weasley?" He couldn't keep the shock out of his voice when he saw Hermione and Ginny's names on his list.

"I would have added that foxy brunette I went with to Slughorn's party," he said with a shrug, not noticing Ed's shock. "If only I could remember her name... Oh well, no use worrying over that. I was going to rank them based on breast size, but Granger always wears her cloak over her school uniform..."

The paper crumpled in Ed's hand, his grip on it tightening. His right eye was twitching in irritation as Zabini went on. He couldn't help but feel a very powerful need to defend Hermione's dignity.

"I mean, it's hard to tell, y'know? She might have the best knockers you've ever seen and no one would find out! Man, what I wouldn't give to see her in that tube dress again. I guess I owe you one, eh? Granger used to be non-existent on my list, but thanks to you, she ranked as number three!"

His hand was balling into a tight fist. 'Sex obsessed son of a...'

"Care to give me some insight, Elric?"

Ed was suddenly pulled from his train of malicious thought and he just looked at Zabini, angry and confused. Mostly angry, actually. He was imagining just how nice a giant dent between the eyes would look on the tall black boy's face.

"Insight?" he growled. "On what?"

Zabini grinned hungrily. "Granger! You must have seen them. Word with the portraits is that you two got awful intimate after Slughorn's party, so fess up! Is she a regular C cup?"

"WHAT?" Ed's entire head went red, his eyes practically spewing fire.

Unfortunately for him, Zabini interpreted Ed's reaction in entirely the wrong way. "OH, ELRIC, YOU STUD! YOU'RE MY BLOODY HERO! HOW BIG ARE THEY? DID THEY INSTANTLY HARDEN UNDER YOUR TOUCH? DID SHE MOAN YOUR NAME OUT WHEN THEY DID?"

Ed barely controlled himself from throwing a punch that would crack Zabini's skull wide open. Instead, he threw the now completely crumpled up list as hard as he could into his face. "FUCK YOU, YOU SICK, PERVERTED BASTARD! HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET ANY WOMEN AT ALL? I SWEAR, I SHOULD DO EVERYONE A FAVOR AND JUST CASTRATE YOU RIGHT NOW!"

With that, Ed quickly stormed out of the dormitory, muttering angrily to himself about how he really should have thrown that punch. Zabini grinned lazily after him and just watched as the door slammed shut.

"That man's in desperate need of a good shag."

After having a brief talk with Alphonse about all the excitement in the air concerning Valentine's Day, the Elric brothers came to the conclusion that they would also celebrate this year. Al was very eager and forthcoming about the idea and Ed knew why. He just didn't have the heart to tell him that one of the school's biggest romantic players had Ginny on his list of "Most Shaggable Girls"...

While Al had a girl in mind already, Ed had none. The only girl that he had honestly befriended since arriving at Hogwarts was Hermione, and she was pretty much off-limits Valentine's wise. Of course, there was always Pansy, but Ed wouldn't touch her with a twenty-foot pole if he could help it. The only other girl he could think of sending a Valentine to was Winry, even though she was miles away in Amestris and having the time of her life working in Rush Valley.

So Winry it was, even though he wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea and couldn't think of a single word to say to her. Which was why he was sitting under a tree in one of the many courtyards on the grounds, chewing at the end of his quill as he stared at the blank roll of parchment in front of him. He couldn't figure out whether or not he was supposed to be romantic toward her because it was a Valentine. This was quickly becoming the most difficult letter he'd ever had to write.

Of course, he wasn't the only one in the courtyard. There was quite a large amount of students sitting around the courtyard that afternoon, some of them working on what Ed could only assume were Valentine projects of their own. The others were obviously couples making googly, affectionate faces at each other and cooing about their plans for the next day.

Just then, Hermione Granger entered the courtyard in a huff, clutching a stack of textbooks and papers to her chest and a furious expression across her face. Her eyes swept over the area, searching for a place to seat herself, and stopped when she saw Ed. The anger in her eyes melted away and, taking a deep, calming breath, Hermione approached him. He didn't seem to notice her at all, apparently concentrating very hard on his roll of parchment.

"Hello, Edward," she said when she was closer. His head snapped up suddenly to look at her in surprise. "Erm... what are you doing over here?"

Ed opened his mouth to speak but quickly changed his mind. He looked back down at the blank sheet and immediately blushed. Noticing the significant reddening of his cheeks, Hermione grinned.

"Oh, that's right! Valentine's Day is tomorrow." She laughed lightly. "Ron was doing the same thing in the common room." She then sat down beside him, tucking her robes under her and setting her things in her lap. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

"Th-The lucky girl? Wh-What girl?" he stammered, his voice awkwardly high. Ed's blush became a deeper shade of crimson and he began to fiddle absently with the quill in his hands. "N-No! I-It's not like that, see... I just... I, uh... well..."

At once, Hermione looked away, suddenly ashamed of herself. "Oh, I'm sorry, Edward! It's really none of my business! I shouldn't have asked!"

"Huh?" Ed looked over at Hermione, his eyes wide in surprise. "N-No, Hermione... Really, it's-"

"I really get too nosy sometimes," she said with a disappointed sigh. "I thought I outgrew that. But..." Her face broke into another warm smile. "Whoever it is you are writing to, I hope she knows how lucky she is."

Ed blinked. "Uh... Why do you say that?"

A slight blush came over Hermione's cheeks. "Well, maybe boys don't really realize it, but... girls like it when they get letters from their significant others, or... just any boy, as a matter of fact. They may not show it, but they really do." She laughed breezily. "Besides, I should know. I share a dorm with Parvati and Lavender, after all. And they just can't seem to keep quiet about Valentine's Day."

Suddenly, Hermione became solemn and her eyes lowered toward the ground. Ed shifted uncomfortably in the silence and soon cleared his throat to break it.

"Don't... Don't you get letters too, Hermione?"

A small smile returned to Hermione's face and her cheeks turned pink again. "Well, yes... I get a letter from Viktor every Valentine's Day."

"Viktor?"

"Yes," she confirmed, glancing back up at Ed expectantly. "You know... Viktor Krum?"

Ed gave her a blank stare. Hermione's expectant look faltered slightly in confusion. He didn't understand. Was the name supposed to ring a bell?

"He's an international Quidditch player? Renowned as the best seeker in the world?"

Ed smiled nervously, the corners of his lips twitching. "Oh... Quidditch, right." Hermione gave him a funny look upon hearing the strangely unenthusiastic tone in his voice. "Sorry, I... don't really keep up with the sport."

Hermione's eyes grew wide in wonder. "Really? Well, that's refreshing!" She laughed. "Edward, you must be the only boy I know who isn't obsessed with it."

The anxious look on Ed's face was quickly replaced with a broad grin, even though he wasn't entirely sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. Hermione laughed again before turning her eyes wistfully toward the sky.

"Well, at least even with Viktor playing Quidditch, he still remembers to send me something. But it's becoming less and less frequent these days..." Her expression saddened slightly. "Ron used to get so jealous every time I received a letter from him. Now, he doesn't really care since he has Lavender to keep him busy." She placed an extra amount of disgust and bitterness into her voice when she mentioned the other girl.

Ed nodded his head thoughtfully as several memories bubbled into his consciousness. The girl named Lavender was probably the one whose face seemed to have attached itself to Ron's. When he thought about it, he rarely ever saw the two of them as separate entities these days.

"It just doesn't make sense anymore," Hermione went on, sounding exasperated. "Valentine's Day, I mean. I know that may sound like the most cynical thing anyone could ever say, but I really feel so detached from the occasion. It's... just not that special to me anymore."

She heaved another discontented sigh, pulling her knees closer to her chest. Ed frowned sadly. He himself had never had a very high opinion of the occasion. Over the course of time it had become completely commercial, designed to make people feel either incredibly lovey-dovey or lonely and depressed. Then again, that was the view of someone who hadn't celebrated a single holiday in five years and had been exposed to the cold, hard facts of the world since before he turned twelve.

"Hermione," he started, wanting to cheer her up somehow. "That... That's not true. Valentine's Day should be special for you. I'm sure you'll get more letters this year."

"It's not that, Ed," she sighed sadly. "I just wish Harry and Ron could see me like they should. I mean, not just as their friend, but as a girl as well. They seem to always think of me as 'one of the boys.'"

She rolled her eyes at that, pushing some of her hair out of her face. Ed's brow furrowed slightly. How could someone that looked the way Hermione did be seen as "one of the boys?" It seemed like such a ridiculous thought.

"I never really gave it much thought when I was eleven because I so desperately wanted people to like me. But now, no one sees me as anything but the brains of the group. It was never a problem for me, but it's just that... there are days when it bothers me. Valentine's Day in particular, which is tomorrow. People want to be noticed, remembered, loved... That's why letters make them feel good about themselves. It could just be a 'hello,' a 'Happy Valentine's Day,' nothing really elaborate, but... just something as a reminder that you know someone's thinking of you, that someone cares. It may not be anything really special, but it would be to them."

"Really?" Ed leaned back so that he was looking up at the sky through the leaves of the tree. He mulled over the things Hermione had said in his mind. "Just something to let them know they're someone in your life..."

"Well, I should think so. But it's not just the letters. Honestly, I could care less how many I get this year..." Hermione's eyebrows knitted together thoughtfully. "But... Edward, now that you mention it..."

Ed glanced back at Hermione. "Yeah?"

"I don't know, it's just that... Well, it's stupid, really."

Ed laughed slightly, leaning forward again. "Actually Hermione, knowing you, I find that highly unlikely."

Hermione grinned, blushing slightly at the praise. "Well, it's strange and... kind of silly. I always thought it was some sort of prank that maybe Fred and George - Ron's prankster twin brothers, by the way - would pull on me."

"Someone pulled a prank on you?"

"No... I just thought it was. But it's been happening ever since my fourth year at Hogwarts. It's now actually... Well, I just realized that it's the only thing that makes me look forward to Valentine's Day."

Ed leaned forward, prepared to listen intently to her story. When Hermione realized how attentive he'd become, she laughed slightly, feeling a little embarrassed.

"It's just that... usually the owls deliver Valentine's letters during breakfast, along with the one I get from Viktor. But..." She bit down on her lower lip. "I get something slightly different at night."

"What do you mean?"

Hermione could feel her cheeks burning again and she shook her head, embarrassed. "Ah, I don't know how to tell you this, Ed. I've never really told anyone about this. It just sounded so stupid to my ears when I tried to tell someone before."

She glanced over at Ed, half expecting him to back away, but he didn't. In fact, he was more interested to hear the story than ever. Biting down on her lip again, Hermione looked down into her lap before continuing.

"Well... Every night on Valentine's Day, ever since my fourth year, I've been getting a bouquet of the most beautiful red roses I've ever seen." She smiled fondly at the thought. "It's sent by this large, beautiful eagle owl with a letter attached to its leg. And the letter... It only ever says one thing, the same thing every single year. And it drives me nuts!"

Ed's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "What does it say?"

Hermione paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and then letting it out again. Slowly, she turned to look at Ed, a hint of sorrow in her eyes. "All it says is... 'If you only knew...'"

They were both silent for a moment, looking solemnly into one another's faces. At length, Ed broke the silence.

"That's it?"

Hermione closed her eyes and slowly nodded her head, sighing heavily.

Blaise Zabini glanced nonchalantly over the stone railing as he and Malfoy walked down the corridor, heading for the Slytherin common room. As he did so, he caught sight of something that piqued his interest immensely. With a slight, mischievous grin on his face, he nudged Draco in the side and pointed toward the courtyard.

"Oi, Malfoy, would you look at that?" He snickered softly. "Seems Granger and Elric are getting awful cozy, aren't they?"

Draco followed the direction in which Blaise was pointing and frowned. Sure enough, there they were: Ed and Hermione seated side by side under the shade of a tree, looking quite comfortable together. It was just enough to make his blood boil a little hotter than usual.

"Like I care," he muttered bitterly. He then brushed past Zabini roughly. "Let's just go."

Zabini looked miffed. "What? And pass up this opportunity to rain on Elric's little rendezvous?"

"Just leave them alone!" Malfoy snapped angrily. He paused to shoot his companion an especially piercing glare before continuing on his way. Zabini frowned.

"Geez, fine, mate. Blimey, you're no fun..."

Edward looked away from Hermione for a moment, not knowing what he could possibly say that could cheer her up. He turned his gaze on his quill and parchment, lying abandoned on the patch of grass next to him. Deciding it would probably be best to change the subject, he took the quill and parchment up in his hands with renewed energy and grinned.

"I should thank you, Hermione."

Hermione turned to look at Ed, blinking in confusion. "Hm? For what?"

His grin broadened. "I think I finally know what I want to write in my letter."

"Glad I could help!" laughed Hermione. "She is really lucky, after all. She must be quite special to you."

A bright blush appeared on Ed's cheeks and he had to look away, rubbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed gesture. "Well yeah, I guess... She's been a close friend of ours since we were young, for as long as I can remember."

"Now she's laughing with him," Blaise mused, still watching Ed and Hermione as they walked. "Never thought Elric could be so smooth, eh, Malfoy?"

Draco growled at Zabini. "Shut it."

"You know something?" said Ed as he got started on his letter to Winry. "Harry and Ron must be blind." Hermione turned to look at Ed in surprise. He briefly glanced up from his letter to smile at her. "I mean, you really are amazing, Hermione. It's hard to believe they can't see what's right in front of them."

The Gryffindor blushed slightly, pushing some stray hair out of her eyes. "Well, erm... that's really sweet of you to say, Edward. But there are far more horrible boys than them," she added hastily. "Draco Malfoy, for instance."

Ed's quill made a stray mark in his writing.

"I really can't understand how someone as nice as you can be friends with a git like that!"

He squirmed uncomfortably, suddenly unable to focus on writing his letter. "Hermione, Draco's really not all that bad once you get to know him," he told her quietly.

Hermione let out an exasperated breath, rolling her eyes. "Believe me, I know all there is to know about him."

"But Hermione, you should give him a chance. I mean, you did say you believed there was a different side to him, right?"

She fell silent for a moment, seeming to consider this idea. "I want to believe that," she murmured softly, looking off into the distance. "But..."

Ed kept one eye on her for a moment, waiting to see if she was going to say anything else. But she didn't and just stayed silent, her eyes taking on a thoughtful glaze. Ed watched her a little longer, still expecting something, but eventually gave up and tried to refocus himself on his letter to Winry. At length, Hermione gave a small, alarmed start as though she had just realized that there was somewhere she needed to be.

"Oh, I've got to get back," she said, slightly distraught. She then flashed a quick smile at Ed. "I'm glad I could help with your letter."

He laughed softly. "Yeah."

Hermione quickly gathered up her things in her arms and got to her feet. But before she could get too far, Ed stopped her. "Oh, wait!"

She turned back around, a curious look on her face. "Yes?"

Ed grinned. "You can expect to get one more letter tomorrow."

Hermione beamed. "Thanks, Edward."

She then walked back over and, bending down slightly, gave Ed a quick kiss on the cheek. Ed blinked up at Hermione's smiling face in surprise, his face now slightly red. This girl... was too friendly for her own good. What if somebody was watching them? If it were Alphonse then Ed would probably never hear the end of it!

"See you in class!"

Zabini openly gaped at what he had just seen, his eyes practically bulging out of his skull.

"DAMN! Elric's definitely a girl-magnet!" He turned to Draco in astonishment. "We should be taking lessons from this guy, Malfoy!"

Draco, however, was nowhere near as impressed or amused as Blaise was. He wasn't gaping at the scene; he was glaring at Ed, who was now sitting under the tree by himself and looking pleasantly shocked. He clenched his jaw, trying to make it look like he wasn't seething with hatred toward the exchange student and failing miserably.

"Shut it, Zabini!" he barked, turning sharply on his heel. "Leave them the hell alone!"

Blaise watched helplessly as Draco stalked off. He scowled in his direction.

"Geez, what's up his ass?"

It was only long after he had finished writing his letter to Winry, sent it off with Eule, and was already walking to his next class that Ed realized something. It came in such a rush that he stopped dead in his tracks when it struck him. He suddenly remembered seeing an eagle owl at Hogwarts once or twice before. In fact, he was sure that he'd seen it in the morning, occasionally carrying a large bag of goodies and candy...

Draco Malfoy's owl.

Ed couldn't stop himself from grinning proudly. As indirect as it was, it looked like Draco had already found a way to communicate his feelings to Hermione.

The actual celebration of Valentine's Day was exactly as Ed had predicted. It began with a rain of red, heart-shaped cards that arrived with the delivery owls in the morning, which brought about a chorus of excited girls' screams. As well as a rather disgusting display involving numerous couples publicly showing just how much they loved and appreciated one another.

Both Edward and Alphonse were more than a little surprised to see all of this. The last time they had celebrated Valentine's Day amongst peers was when they were still little kids, and that had just been ten and eleven year olds giving one another candy and crude, home made cards that were still covered in wet glue. They weren't quite used to seeing the girl run over and plant a huge kiss on her Valentine date's lips upon receiving her present.

Al wasn't quite sure what he expected when he gave his present to Ginny. He used alchemy to make it; a small, metal statue of a cat holding a heart that read "Happy Valentine's Day." It really was beautifully made (he'd shown it to Ed, who admitted truthfully that it couldn't have been any more perfect), but he was still nervous. And the mounds of Valentine's gifts and cards that had already piled up before Ginny during breakfast did nothing for his confidence. On top of that, he had to wait until they left the Great Hall to give it to her. He was slowly beginning to panic.

As for Ed, much to his surprise (and chagrin), he had received quite a few Valentine gifts of his own from girls that he honestly didn't recognize. He only accepted them so as not to appear suspicious, though it was hard to hide the anxiety on his face as he did so. Once the presents were down on the table and the girls had walked away, he refused to touch them again until absolutely necessary.

At one point while sweeping his cool gaze over the Great Hall and surveying everything around him, Ed managed to catch Hermione's eye all the way from the Gryffindor table. She was holding a piece of parchment in her hands and was smiling warmly in Ed's direction. Once she was sure that Ed was looking back at her, she mouthed "Thank you" and pointed at the parchment. Ed laughed silently and simply nodded his head in acknowledgment. He then glanced over at Draco to see if he'd noticed. Thankfully, it seemed like he hadn't seen a thing.

Both he and Blaise had received an alarming amount of cards, presents, and love letters. Girls had been walking up to them all morning, their faces a deep shade of crimson as they handed over whatever they had prepared. Zabini accepted them all with a charming smile that made them all swoon and melt. Strangely enough, between accepting gifts and flirting with silly love-struck girls, Zabini kept asking Ed all manner of questions about girls and other types of advice on women. Ed chose not to answer any of them since the truth was that he had no answers, but did a fantastic job of making it look like Zabini simply wasn't worthy of knowing.

In the meantime, even though Draco's pile of Valentines continued to grow in number and mass, he didn't seem to be noticing it. This didn't appear to daunt his admirers in any way; they still hurried toward him to give them their presents. A few of them had hung around for a few extra seconds, waiting for him to react somehow or to at least look at them and acknowledge their presence. But they had no such luck; he was simply staring off into space, his mind wandering elsewhere.

As a result, many of his Valentines got intercepted by Pansy, who would immediately try to shoo the girls away while clinging possessively to Draco's arm. Even though their presents remained in front of him, they never reached Draco. Pansy kept them as far out of his reach as she could, even though he had yet to even look at the card on top.

"So, Drakey," she said cheerfully, watching yet another girl scuffle away like she'd been poked in the butt, "any special plans for tonight?"

"Hm?"

Ed glanced over at Pansy and Draco as he stuffed a large slice of his pancake into his mouth. It was somewhat amusing; Pansy had been trying to strike up a conversation with Draco for the past half hour and had yet to succeed. His mind had checked out ages ago, and it didn't seem like it would be coming back any time soon.

Pansy sighed in exasperation. "What is wrong with you? You've been so sullen and unresponsive to me lately. You always look like you're mourning or something. I mean, you've always been a bit aloof since last year, but..."

Draco remained silent, still oblivious to the fact that Pansy was even speaking to him. Ed laughed, but the sound was muffled by the food he was busy shoveling into his mouth.

Suddenly, Pansy gasped in realization, jumping slightly in her seat. "I KNOW WHAT IT IS!"

The words worked on Draco like a charm. He twitched in his seat and looked at Pansy out of the corner of his eye. "You do?"

She wrapped her arms around him and nestled her head into his shoulder. "You have no love in your life!" she cooed. "Oh, Drakey!"

"Pans," Draco started, leaning slightly away from her with a confused look on his face. "I don't think you've got this-"

"Oh, Drakey, I should have known!" she wailed, still clinging onto his arm. She then smiled in what was supposed to be a seductive matter. "But that won't be a problem for much longer. You know that, right?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Pansy, exactly what are you-"

"Drakey, we've been close friends for years. Don't you think it's about time?"

"Huh?" He clearly wasn't following what Pansy was trying to say. "Time for what?"

"We've known each other for so long," she went on, snuggling even closer to him. "And we've grown closer as friends. But we never officially, well... got it together, wouldn't you say?"

Both Ed and Zabini suddenly choked on their food. Ed quickly reached for his goblet of pumpkin juice to clear the passageway. Pansy shot them a brief, confused look, obviously not seeing what was so funny before turning back to Draco, who was now scowling at the other boys. As Pansy turned back to look at him, a smile back in place on her lips, he frowned. Realization was slowly creeping up on him, and he didn't like it one bit.

"If this has anything to do with our-"

"Draco, come on!" Pansy pouted loudly, pulling away from him and looking offended. "Don't you think it's time that we move on to the next level?"

Blaise smirked slightly at the comment, lazily reaching for his goblet to take a sip. Ed just rolled his eyes and smeared more jam on his toast. Several other people around them were looking at Pansy in shock, unsure of what exactly was going on.

"Pans, please," said Draco, fighting not to look as annoyed as he felt as he tried to keep her quiet. He was growing increasingly uncomfortable as he noticed the eyes that had turned toward them. "Can we not talk about that here?"

"WE NEVER TALK ABOUT IT!" Pansy all but shrieked. "AND DO YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE YOU NEVER WANT TO DISCUSS IT!"

"Well, this really isn't a good time-"

"WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ENGAGED AFTER GRADUATION BUT YOU DON'T GIVE A DAMN! YOU WON'T EVEN BOTHER TO TRY!"

More people began to stare at Pansy as her voice rose in volume and pitch. Both Zabini and Ed were at full attention now, a shocked look on Zabini's face and a disgusted one on Ed's. He had no idea that they were engaged. The mere thought of being engaged to Pansy Parkinson of all people made him want to puke all the wonderful food he had just scarfed down for breakfast. He noticed that Zabini was now grinning broadly, clearly enjoying himself as he watched the exchange.

"Pansy," Draco hissed, practically glaring at her, "I have no idea where this is really coming from, but you need to calm down."

She sprang to her feet, her face livid. "CALM DOWN?" she shrieked indignantly. "YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN? DRACO, WE HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR A LONG TIME! WE'VE BEEN INTIMATE FRIENDS! WE'VE GROWN SO CLOSE! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT? WE'RE GOING TO BE MARRIED IN A COUPLE OF YEARS AND WE NEED TO START TAKING ACTION!"

The sheer volume of Pansy's voice was making practically every head in the Great Hall turn to look at her. At least half of the students from every house were now watching, their eyes wide in shock and confusion. Ed felt like his ears were ringing from the horrible screech and, grimacing, reached for his goblet again in an attempt to distract himself, to ignore Pansy's ranting. Blaise, on the other hand, was nodding his head at Pansy's words, apparently agreeing with her.

"I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER FOR YOU TO TALK ABOUT THIS, TO DISCUSS THIS! THERE'S NO NEED! EVERYONE THINKS WE BELONG TOGETHER ANYWAY, DON'T YOU SEE THAT?"

Ed almost spat out his pumpkin juice into Crabbe/Goyle's face.

"WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? WHY CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S MEANT TO BE?" Through her rage, Pansy suddenly looked like she was about to cry. "WHY CAN'T YOU SHOW THAT YOU LOVE ME?"

Draco suddenly got to his feet, his face distorted angrily. He slammed his hands down on the table, making all of the untouched Valentines jump into the air. Pansy was humiliating him in front of the entire school; he was so enraged that he no longer knew what he was saying.

"BECAUSE, YOU STUPID BINT," he yelled right into Pansy's face, "I'M IN LOVE WITH SOMEBODY ELSE!"

The Great Hall suddenly fell silent. Everyone was looking at them now, students and faculty alike. There wasn't a single person among them who didn't look shocked except, perhaps, for Pansy. She was taken aback by Draco's words, blinking her eyes in alarm. She desperately searched Draco's face for some sign that he was lying but found none. Suddenly, her pug nose wrinkled and her whole face crumpled, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

Then, realizing for the first time what he had just said, Draco's face turned deathly pale. He turned and walked out of the Hall, not sparing a glance in any other direction. Once Draco was gone, the Great Hall came alive again. All of his Valentine gifts remained untouched on the table, leaving the chocolates and candies exposed for Crabbe and Goyle to eat at their leisure. Pansy dropped to her knees on the stone floor, clasped her hands over her face, and let out the most plaintive, earth-shattering wail ever heard, tears streaming down her face. Her girl friends ran to her side at once, rubbing her back soothingly. They each looked at one another nervously, obviously clueless as to what they could do for her.

Ed looked around the Great Hall, analyzing everyone's faces. Most students had immediately gone into gossip mode and chattered excitedly amongst themselves. A typical reaction for a bunch of high school teenagers. However, he did notice one person who wasn't tittering away to the people close by: Hermione Granger, whose expression had become mostly blank and somewhat confused, as though something hadn't quite gone according to her calculations.

"Damn, Elric," muttered Zabini, shaking his head and turning back to his unfinished breakfast. "I reckon maybe Malfoy needs your girl advice more than I do."

Ed frowned and turned away, grumbling under his breath about Zabini the stupid sex-fiend. But on the one hand, he was right. Draco did need some help.

No one seemed to be able to concentrate during classes that day. Everyone's attention was divided between their date plans for that night, squealing over the secret admirers that they apparently had, the fact that it was a Friday, and the emotional scene that had taken place that morning between Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson that was being dubbed "the great break-up." Several teachers were almost brought to the brink of surrender at the inattentiveness of their pupils, but others (like McGonagall and Snape) persisted.

To be honest, Ed hadn't minded either way. He'd dumped all his Valentines unceremoniously in his trunk before going to class, hoping that he didn't owe these girls anything in return. He thought of asking Blaise about it, but his nonchalance over the matter wasn't very helpful at all. So while everyone around him continued to partake in the excitement of the occasion, Ed went through the day once again half-buried in his book and his notes on the Doors of Truth.

Rumors spread like wildfire, the stories becoming more and more exaggerated and distorted as they went along. Everyone in school wanted to know who Draco's mystery girl was. By the end of the day, the guesses made were ranging from Cho Chang to Eloise Midgen, two girls who couldn't stand any farther apart on the scale of appearance. Practically every girl in sight was tittering about it without considering the fact that either Draco or Pansy might hear them. But Draco wasn't too worried. After all, there were only so many people who would ever guess correctly.

Hermione was completely exhausted when she made it back into her dorm that night after dinner. She felt like she'd been slightly overworked, what with several of her teachers that day trying to punish the students for their aloofness. She crossed over to her bed and flung herself upon it. Hermione raised her eyes expectantly toward the window, but saw nothing there. Heaving a great sigh, she sat back up and pulled out her books and rolls of parchment, ready to finish off the Transfiguration essay that was due in two weeks time.

She must have dozed off for a moment or two, because suddenly she opened her eyes to a darkened room lit only by moonlight from out the window. Looking around, she found her roommates asleep in their beds, contented smiles on their faces and cradling what appeared to be their Valentine presents in their arms. Hermione brushed some of her hair out of her face, wondering what time it was and how long she'd been asleep. She then swung her legs over the bed and started to put her things away, mentally scolding herself for falling asleep while doing her homework (for such a thing to have happened to her of all people was simply unthinkable!) and vowing to finish it in the morning.

It was when she was returning to the comfort of her bed, this time properly changed into her nightclothes, that she heard the tapping sound at the window. Hermione glanced at the window and gasped, pleasantly surprised to find a large, gorgeous eagle owl perched outside. Even though she knew well enough to expect its yearly visit, it never failed to send excited chills up and down her spine. Looking over at her roommates to make sure that the sound hadn't roused them from their sleep, she padded over to the window to allow the owl in.

But the owl didn't enter the room this time. It gave her an acknowledging look with its intelligent eyes, laid its delivery on the window sill, and fluttered away. Hermione was stunned; this had never happened before. Only as she took it into her hands, did she realize that her Valentine's gift this year was different.

Instead of the beautifully arranged bouquet of red roses in full bloom that she had come to expect over the past years, there was a single white rose. It looked slightly wilted and its petals were covered in droplets of dew, which was strange since - as Hermione noted upon peering out the window - it wasn't raining at the moment. Even so, the single rose was somehow more beautiful than the arranged bouquets. Attached to the rose's stem with a worn, golden ribbon was a small card. Etched on its surface in silver lettering was a short message. It was a different note than before, but it served to drive Hermione even more mad than usual:

You will never know.

For a long moment, Hermione was silent. Her eyes were fixated on the card's message, unwavering and almost analytical as she stared at the silver words that glimmered back at her in the moonlight. A single rose petal wilted suddenly, and then separated from the rest of the blossom. It slowly floated downwards, swinging from side to side like a pendulum.

Hermione followed it with her eyes as it fell. She'd never realized that the color white - which she'd usually associated with purity and goodness - could also symbolize desolation, despair... and emptiness. She'd never realized it until that moment, as she watched the single pristine petal drift to the cold stone floor.

Her fingers trembled slightly, her hold on the white rose loosening until it finally slipped through her fingers and followed the first petal to the ground. As soon as it touched the floor, the entire rose fell apart, its petals scattering haphazardly over the stone. Hermione just stared at the scattered rose petals for another moment and as she did so, silent and unmoving, she could feel her eyes sting with tears that she had tried so hard to fight back and to hold within herself.

It was a matter of seconds before they slipped down her cheeks and joined the broken rose on the floor, and pretty soon, she had also fallen to her knees, burying her face in her hands, and cried deep into the night.

How could four simple words cause her so much pain?

Author's Note: i know, it's quite lovey-dovey, but Ed has gotten himself dragged into this rather bizarre love triangle... and as for Pansy... i guess i kinda feel sorry for her, but... at the same time not really. XD that could just make me a bad person, but i like to think it's more because she's getting in the way of my plans.

and just as a little side note... this chapter has just about shattered the previous standing record of "Longest Chapter for CSAG." it was nice having chapter 24 get to hold that record for a little while, but this one broke it by a good... oh, 2000 words, i believe.

so anyways, once again, many endless thanks to the contributions of MJade-1, without whom, this chapter (and much of this story, actually) would be just about... non-existent. so many thanks go to her and her brilliant ideas! send her some hugs and love if you can, readers. :D feel better soon, buddy!