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... Over the months, Ed's learned a lot of new things, one of them being "never stick your nose in where it's not wanted." But now it's too late to back out. Something must be done, before the situation gets any worse... FMA/HP crossover. kinda sorta may possibly be slightly AU with HBP and with FMA. rated T for language.

Disclaimer: The brilliant epicness of the Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter series are, unfortunately, not mine. The right to claim ownership over these two fantastic stories go to Hiromu Arakawa (I LOVE HER SO HARD OMG) and J.K. Rowling (I LOVE HER TOO). The idea for this story, however, does belong to me, and that's awesomely exciting! Mjade-1 is CSAG's godparent; without her, we would be utterly, utterly lost.

Author's Note: s-so… i am SO SORRY about how long this took to get up. i just- i was really apprehensive about it. i kept going over it again and again and again, and i wanted to be sure that it was working. and then i was stuck for a while, 'cause i wanted to at least have some transition between this chapter and the next before i put it up... i think it's okay now, though, so... HERE YOU GO. :3 Y'ALL DESERVE IT FOR BEING SO PATIENT.

sorry for the long long looooooong wait. buuut hopefully it's worth it?? i'll do my best to get the next one up faster!! thanks for all the reviews, they constantly remind me that there are people out there waiting for me to update. XD i'm awful, i know, BUT I'M WORKING ON IT. also, to everyone who saw my illustrations up on my dA account... I LUV YOU GUYS~

Chapter 38
Delivery

Ed's brow was furrowed in thought as he walked down the hallways toward Dumbledore's office, holding a note in front of him and staring at it rather intently. The headmaster had requested his presence. Some lower year had given the summon to him toward the end of dinner that night, and the way Ed saw it, meetings with Dumbledore took priority to detentions with Snape. Surely the sallow-faced bastard wouldn't mind giving up his favorite slave for a short while to the headmaster.

Still, even Edward was anxious about this meeting. He had a horrible feeling in his gut that he knew exactly what it was about, and he wasn't sure he was up to discussing it with the professor just yet. It was still such personal business, and Ed was still without a plan of attack. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of going up there and having nothing more to report than a falsely cheerful, "Yeah, everything's going to shit and your life is in danger and I need to get Draco and Hermione on relatively good terms at the very least, just so I can even begin to fix things. No idea how I'm gonna do all that yet but hey, I'm resourceful. Trust me!"

Yeah. That would go really well. He could already see the confusion and disappointment in Dumbledore's eyes.

He stopped in front of the gargoyle and gave the password, then waited until it had hopped aside so he could go up the moving spiral staircase. After a moment Ed found himself in front of the large doors of Dumbledore's office and he raised a hand to knock on its hard surface. Best to stay calm. It was always best to remain as calm as possible on the outside, even if on the inside he felt like a whirlwind of frustration and anger, pure chaos when he most wanted things to settle down.

"Enter," said the calm, familiar voice.

Ed didn't hesitate to obey, opening the door and slipping through the gap he'd created to properly enter the office. His eyes briefly wandered over the room, idly noting that nothing much had changed before settling on the wizened old man behind the desk. A smile spread across his face as Ed stopped in the middle of the office, looking up at him.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" he asked as politely as possible.

Dumbledore nodded slowly, leaning forward on his desk with his arms folded in front of him. His smile grew slightly and those light blue eyes seemed to twinkle, and he gestured vaguely toward the chairs before him with one hand. "Yes, I did. Please take a seat, Edward."

With a nod of his head, Ed moved to obey and carefully sat down in one of the offered chairs. "Sir... Have I done something wrong?"

"No, of course not," the headmaster said, shaking his head. "Simply... These past few weeks seem to have been most troubling to you and your charge. So I must ask you, Edward, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me."

Something inside Edward jumped, though it didn't show outside. As usual, Dumbledore's perceptiveness was nothing short of absolutely incredible, and Ed was almost certain now that the old wizard simply knew what was going on as opposed to just having hunches about it.

The whirlwind of his currently chaotic mind threw up about a million different things at once; Draco's reluctant involvement with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, the precarious situation his family found itself in, the innocent lives in danger, what had happened to Hermione... Ed knew he should tell the headmaster. He knew that if anybody had a right to know any of that, it was Albus Dumbledore. And yet it was as though an icy hand had taken a hold of his throat, forcing him to swallow the words that so wanted to break the surface, because telling someone else's secrets was like a betrayal of trust. No one needed any more complications to the situation, and there was no way of knowing what would happen once Dumbledore himself got involved.

"No, sir," he said firmly, keeping his face as passive and blank as possible.

Dumbledore looked at Edward from over the rim of his half-moon glasses. His light blue eyes seemed to see right through him. "Are you certain?"

Determined to hold firm, Ed nodded. "Yes, sir. Very certain."

The headmaster leaned back in his seat but his gaze never strayed from Ed's face, his eyes piercing despite the ever-present twinkle. When he spoke, his tone of voice was light and conversational, as though there really was nothing behind it but simple curiosity. "Colonel Mustang seems to be under the impression that there is."

"He's probably just annoyed that I haven't written lately," Ed said quickly with a dismissive shrug. "He can be clingy and attention craved when it comes to this assignment stuff. I think it's just because he misses doing actual field work."

Dumbledore nodded his head sagely, a hint of a smile on his lips. "You say all of this with the due respect, I assume?"

Ed tried not to let the small smile appearing on his face wane into a smirk. "Of course I do, sir. The utmost."

A tiny, knowing smile tugged at the corners of Dumbledore's lips, though his eyes took on a thoughtful glaze. After a moment, he stood and began to walk idly about the room.

"Perhaps it would be best if you did write to him, Edward," he said, picking up a long traveling cloak and draping it over his arm. "I often find that a failure to communicate amongst friends and colleagues often leads to unfortunate misunderstandings. I believe that things of utmost importance must never go unsaid. Even if it must be in the form of a simple letter."

Ed resisted the urge to give an exasperated roll of his eyes, but still let out a mildly annoyed breath. "Tell me about it... I learned that the hard way. They don't talk, they misunderstand things, and then everything just goes-"

He stopped himself abruptly, his gold eyes widening slightly. It was suddenly as though a light bulb had lit up over his head. Mentally, he beat himself up. How had he forgotten? How could he possibly have forgotten? Ed was going to have to get a message in to Al and find out where Hermione was, then quickly get back to the dorm - Dammit, he'd left the mirror in the drawer of the bedside table, that was going to delay him a bit...

Rude as it may or may not be to cut this meeting short, Ed had to leave. But first, he had to know. He had to at least ask. He looked up at Dumbledore, his face set into a hard expression of determination. The older man had moved to the window, his eyes trained on Edward with a definite, almost bemused twinkle behind his glasses. It was strange, but under the light of the sunset, Ed was suddenly very aware of just how old the professor was.

"Sir, how did you-"

There was a sudden, urgent hammering on the door that drew the attention of both occupants of the room. Ed barely sustained himself from jumping in surprise at the loud noise and he turned around to look at it. Dumbledore, on the other hand, seemed unaffected. He merely turned to look out the window and over the grounds, his wizened features becoming more pronounced under the orange tint of the sunset. He hadn't even finished saying "Enter" before Harry Potter threw open the doors and flung himself into the office.

Edward gave Harry a confused look that apparently stopped him in his tracks. Harry's face was flushed and he seemed to be taking deep, gulping breaths; he'd obviously ran all the way here. His green eyes were wide and bright, and Ed recognized the urgency behind them right away. Though he also recognized the question he saw on Harry's face, knowing perfectly well that Harry wanted to know just what in the world Ed was discussing with the professor. Quickly making up his mind, Ed turned back toward Dumbledore and gave a deep, grateful nod of his head.

"Thank you for your advice, Professor," he said smoothly, picking up in the middle of a conversation that hadn't quite happened. "I'll write to him as soon as I can."

Dumbledore nodded, briefly looking away from the window to glance knowingly at him. Ed gave a short bow in his direction, a deeply instilled habitual action, and turned to go. He nodded at Harry as he walked past him to the door.

"See ya, Harry."

"Er, yeah..."

The curiosity in Harry's eyes was glaringly obvious and Ed had to resist giving an amused half-smile in order to keep himself as inconspicuous as possible. As he slipped out of the office and started heading back to the dungeons, Ed could've sworn he'd heard Harry ask Dumbledore something about what had just happened but paid it no mind. Dealing with Harry's curiosity could wait for after he got this done.

There was a letter in his trunk that needed to be delivered.

"Where's Malfoy?"

Ed had thrown the question out to the Slytherins the moment he'd entered the common room, not bothering to sweep his eyes over the room to check who was already there. He was already certain about who was there, for the most part: Zabini and Pansy, and maybe a few others whose names and faces were of little importance to Edward and had therefore been forgotten.

"Just missed him, mate," drawled Zabini, not looking up from the game of Wizard's chess he'd involved himself in. "Dunno where he went off to, but I think he was with Nott. Looking for him?"

"Not really," Ed responded casually as he crossed the room. And for once, it was true. The part about his being with Nott was strange, but he could worry about Draco once he'd dealt with Hermione and eased her rage toward him. "Just asking."

Zabini nodded absently, his eyes fixated on the chess board in front of him. "Didn't you say you got a detention with Snape again?"

Ed shrugged, waving a hand dismissively. "Later."

"Ah... Right." The boy then fell silent, staring at his pieces as the boy across from him leaned back in his seat and looked on.

The blonde's eyebrows arched upward. He'd never seen Zabini so serious about something before. But knowing him, there was probably a date with some hot girl at stake. He glanced at the board, taking in the formation of the pieces as he passed them. He supposed it couldn't hurt to help Zabini out every once in a while.

"Rook B7 to E7," he stated simply, and then turned his attention away again. Idly, he wondered why it was taking Zabini so long to see such an obvious move. "Need to take his rook."

The black boy blinked, his eyes wandering the path of the chess move on the board, and grinned. His opponent scowled as he ordered the suggested move to his pieces, and soon cheerfully announced, "Checkmate." Blaise laughed heartily at this victory, however assisted, as Ed ascended the stairs to the dormitory. He paid them no further mind.

Once he got to the room, he sprang into action. He first went to the table by his bed, throwing the drawer open and fishing around for the Two-Way Mirror. As soon as he had that in hand and had said Al's name into it, he leapt at his trunk. He laid the mirror down on the floor while waiting for Al's armored face to flicker into existence on its surface and busied himself with digging through the mess in his trunk. He had pulled out a mother lode of books, his cauldron, several rolls of parchment and three bottles of ink by the time Al's face appeared in the mirror.

"Nii-san?" Al must have been confused by the fact that Ed wasn't properly looking into the mirror.

"Al-" Ed paused in his rummaging to pick up the mirror and address his little brother. "-where's Hermione right now?"

The younger Elric seemed confused. "What?"

"Hermione. Where is she? Is she with you?" Ed moved back to his trunk and continued his rummaging one-handed.

"Oh! Um, yes, she's... She's here in the common room, with Mr. Ron. Why?"

Ed nodded, shoving aside some more books. "Alright. Good."

There was a beat of tense, anxious silence. "Is something going on, nii-san?"

He didn't answer right away. His brow just furrowed as he continued his search for the letter.

"Nii-san...?"

"Don't worry about it, Al."

"But..."

Ed turned back for a moment, giving Alphonse a tired look before speaking, his tone more or less gentle. He really didn't like all this secret-keeping he had to do with his brother, but it was all for Draco and Hermione's sakes. He'd tell Al everything once it was over. "I said not to worry about it."

"O-Okay then, nii-san. I'll let you know if she goes anywhere." Another pause. Then, quietly, "You've thought of something."

He hesitated before answering, pausing in his motions as he pulled a few more things out. He'd nearly hit the bottom, and already he could see the envelope of documents he'd received from Amestrian military intelligence way back when, nestled at the very bottom. For a second he just stared at it, then finally pulled back and gave Al a small, anxious smile through the mirror.

"Let's hope."

Al nodded, and Ed could tell that he was indeed already very hopeful. "Okay."

Edward nodded back, then pushed the mirror away and turned to look back into his trunk. Tucked under the flap of the envelope was a worn-looking piece of parchment. He'd folded it in an attempt to keep it from falling into any worse shape than it already was, but its surface was still soft and crumpled; there was no helping that.

Carefully, as though he were dealing with something extremely old and delicate, Ed pulled Draco's letter out and sat back on his haunches. Some of the words written within it bubbled forth in his memory, floating unbidden in the very forefront of his mind. He frowned, disconcerted. This needed to get to Hermione, didn't it? The school year would be over in a matter of weeks, and he doubted he had much time to dawdle if he was going to deliver it on Draco's behalf.

But that sounded so strange. Giving someone a letter of heartbreak and confession on somebody else's behalf... How much more meddlesome could a person get?! But it had to get to Hermione. All the miscommunication had to come to an end so that the mess they'd gotten themselves into would clear itself up more easily. To get a true Gryffindor and a true Slytherin (not a fake one like Ed) to see eye to eye... It was a daunting task. More than likely this letter would act as a catalyst, but...

This was so confusing.

As a precaution, Ed tucked the letter into his inside robe pocket and set about returning everything he'd pulled out to its proper place in the trunk. He eventually gave up on keeping some semblance of order and just dumped everything inside (a bottle of ink may have gotten cracked when it hit the side of his cauldron, he didn't feel up to checking). He slipped the Two-Way Mirror into the same pocket as the letter and then headed back out.

Ed felt pretty sure that he should be going to Snape's office and serve out his detention. That's what he told Blaise and Pansy he'd be doing as he left the common room. If nothing else, it was simply for the sake of upholding his claim as a normal student, regardless of whether or not the bastard had more or less caught him. But he didn't really care. Snape could wait a little longer, and he could always say that he had to do something for the headmaster before going to detention. Which was more or less true. So once the entrance to the Slytherin common room had slid shut behind him, Ed turned sharply on his heel in the opposite direction of the professor's office.

He wanted to deliver Hermione's letter. He knew he really should, since her reaction to its contents could potentially completely turn the situation around. But he had no guarantee. For all he knew, Hermione would think it was some elaborate prank, and Ed was fairly certain that she'd be in no mood to deal with it as such. He could probably explain the gravity and the seriousness of the letter to her as he handed the thing over, but that was way too meddlesome. He was already treading the fine line.

He was just turning the corner to head up the flight of stairs leading out of the dungeon when he saw the most unusual sight of a very pleased-looking Nott heading down the stairs toward the common room. At once, both boys stopped, looking at one another with some measure of surprise on both their faces. A frown pulled at Ed's lips, his eyes narrowing. He didn't like Nott, didn't trust him, given the simple fact that Theodore Nott was a Death Eater (or at least he was one in training). The boy was wicked and disturbing, and even now, just with the way he looked down at Ed from his higher step in the stairway with his head tilted slightly to one side, he really pissed Ed off.

After a moment, Nott straightened himself and smirked. Ed narrowed his eyes even more at that expression on his face, not liking it there at all. It very obviously meant nothing good. He didn't want to know if that twisted bastard had been out torturing kittens up and down the school hallways or attacking Gryffindors for no reason other than to get a rise out of their misery. With restrictions and unofficial protocol on "how Slytherins deal with Slytherins" keeping Edward's clenched fist secure in his pocket where it couldn't hit people, he'd remained quiet through it all. But right at that second, Ed had a strong hunch that whatever he was smirking about was far worse than the sick games he'd played before.

"What's got you in such a good mood, Nott?" He danced around the real question, trying to make himself sound casual and dismissive though his eyes remained narrowed and alert. "Torture a squirrel in the courtyard? Did it finally fess up about how you can make yourself look less dirty?"

His taunt was simply ignored, Nott snorting softly as though he couldn't believe Ed's "ignorance". And then Nott was moving, striding - no, strutting down the rest of the stairs, choosing now to act as though Ed wasn't there at all. Edward remained perfectly still, his eyes following his movements warily, using all his self-control to keep from shoving the boy into the wall and beating him into confession. It was even harder when Nott accidentally-on-purpose shouldered into his left side, bumping him back to the point where Ed nearly staggered. And then he stopped right behind him, and Ed could swear the bastard was still smirking.

"You better watch your back, Elric," he whispered in a low, cruel voice.

"That a threat?"

Nott didn't answer directly. He merely chuckled darkly under his breath and continued on his way, leaving Ed twitching angrily at the foot of the staircase.

The instant Nott had disappeared behind the sliding stone wall, Ed took off, continuing his own trip up toward Gryffindor tower at a more hurried pace than before. What the hell was going on? What the hell was Nott talking about? He couldn't mean what Ed thought he meant, right?

The whirlwind of thoughts in Ed's mind carried him all the way up through the castle, up staircases and down hallways almost automatically. His conscious mind wasn't even fully aware of where his feet were taking him, and it was only when he came to a stop did he take notice of it. He was standing in the middle of the hallway on the seventh floor, facing a stretch of blank stone wall across the way from a tapestry of dancing ghouls.

Draco's secret room.

Ed frowned at it, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. This blank stretch of wall really pissed him off. It was beyond frustrating; months had gone by, and he still didn't know what it was Draco was doing on the other side. Idly he wondered if he was in there right at that very moment, working on whatever it was he was working on. Help the Death Eaters get inside the castle... That was all Ed knew. He still didn't know how he was doing it, or when it would be done, but it was obvious to anyone with half a brain mass that it wouldn't be a good thing at all for anyone.

"Get out of here."

The voice, quiet and strained and seeming to come out of nowhere, made Ed whirl around to face it. And he blinked owlishly at the sight before him.

For a second, Ed thought he was seeing things. Draco looked awful. His skin was ashen and his eyes had sunken so deeply into their sockets they almost couldn't be seen from the shadows. What little could be seen of his eyes seemed dull, deadened somehow. Where there had once been a fierce, defiant gleam within depths of silver, there was nothing. In fact, his entire expression made it seem as though all the life had gone from his features. How so much about him had changed in less than twenty-four hours, Ed was almost afraid to know.

"Malfoy... You look like shit."

Those dull gray eyes slowly shifted away. Ed's brow furrowed as he took one small, careful, almost uncertain step toward him. He got the distinct impression that Draco would try to run if he got too close or made one wrong move, and that was the last thing he wanted happening. Ed wanted to get some answers.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Draco shook his head slowly, his gaze seeming to long on the blank stretch of wall behind Edward. The blonde barely managed to resist glancing back over at it as well, every fiber of his body going on high alert. This was very, very bad.

"Get out of here," Draco said again, softly. "Get out of Hogwarts. While you still can."

Ed could've sworn his blood went cold. He was suddenly rooted to the spot, unable to make himself move, his eyes wide and staring at Draco in shock and confusion. He almost didn't want to believe this was real. He didn't want it to be real. It couldn't be real. Not now, just whenEd had only just figured out how to solve part of the puzzle.

But before Ed could get to say anything, Draco was leaving. He turned and headed down the hallway, making his way somehow painfully to the stairwell on the far side. Ed watched him for a moment, stunned and horrified and panicked. First Nott, now Draco...

Hermione. He had to make sure Hermione was okay.

And suddenly he was hurrying again, making his way to Gryffindor tower, hands tightly balled into fists as he kept going. He then pulled out the mirror from his inner pocket, calling Al's name into it. How much time did they have left to them? For how much longer would they be able to evacuate people if it became necessary?

Dumbledore. He should tell Dumbledore that something had happened, and everything was about to fall to shit. Was there time for that?

Hermione first. He was nearly there.

He all but jumped on the portrait when he arrived, banging his fists against the surface and yelling right into the Fat Lady's face.

"ALPHONSE!"

"What business does a Slytherin have here?!" she cried out indignantly, narrowing her eyes slightly at him and folding her arms. "The very least you could do is keep your voice down!!"

Ed ignored her protests and simply grabbed onto the side of the frame, pulling at it with a grunt, wanting to pull it clear off the wall to let him through. It was annoying really. Sometimes the things he had to deal with in this place really got to him.

The Fat Lady gasped in horror at his efforts. "Release the frame at once!"

"I will when you op-"

Right at that moment, the portrait swung open, dragging Ed along a little ways before he let go. He staggered just a little bit, blinking in affected surprise and then looked to see who was there.

"Nii-san, what are you doing up here? You're making a huge racket, and people are trying to study in here, you know."

Al stood in the doorway, giving Edward an exasperated look (as best as he could as armor anyway, though Ed knew it right off the bat), his great armored figure looming over him in the portrait hole. Ed straightened quickly, frowning up at his younger brother and making an indignant noise.

"Where's Hermione?" He moved to brush past Alphonse and get right into the common room.

"She's right in here, I told you so earlier..." He turned to follow Ed back inside, an air of confusion about him. "What's going on? Harry was in here earlier and- he was saying a whole bunch of strange things and telling everyone to do things, giving them stuff... It sounded urgent, but- it was really confusing, even Ron and Hermione didn't know what was happening..."

Ed was barely paying attention to what his younger brother was saying. He just nodded absently to everything, his gaze set in a straight line before him. He wanted to see a safe Hermione with his own two eyes. Not that he didn't trust Al to tell the truth, but somehow it was just better that way.

He all but ran into the main area, head swiveling from side to side. "Hermione?!? HERMIONE!!"

Apparently his shout had been a good deal louder than he would've thought, as several things seemed to happen all at once because of it. One boy with sandy hair just about toppled over backwards in the desk chair he'd been sitting on in surprise, and a black boy seated near him was so startled by the commotion that he suddenly jabbed the quill he'd been writing with into the arm of a round-faced boy next to him, who howled loudly in his pain and shock. Several other Gryffindors scattered about the common room all turned to look at Edward, many of their expressions clouded with confusion. A few even frowned deeply at the Slytherin robes, tensing up suddenly as though they thought Ed was about to do something horrible to them all.

None of them were any of Ed's concern for the moment. His gaze quickly sweeped over the room, locking onto Hermione when he found her. It seemed she'd been busy preparing something with Ron and Ginny, all of them looking quite a lot like they were about to head out. But the moment they saw Ed, they all seemed to have frozen in place. They all looked just as surprised and puzzled as everyone else to see him, though Ron also seemed to have gone on the defensive, scooting closer to Hermione as though he intended to protect her.

"Edward?"

Ginny tilted her head slightly to one side, brow furrowing. "You alright, Ed? You gave us quite a scare just now."

"Good, you really are still here," Ed said as he bee-lined toward them, letting out a small sigh of relief. "Good."

"I told you so, nii-san." An exasperated sigh reverberated through Al's hollow chest as he followed closely. "There's nothing to worry about."

Hermione exchanged that confused look with the others before turning back again. "Edward, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, just - I thought that maybe..." Ed stopped, shaking his head. "Look, do me a favor and stay here, okay?"

Both girls blinked in surprise, and Ron gave Ed an especially strange look. "What? Why?"

"I-" Ed paused, glancing at the other people around them with a frown. "I can't explain right now. Just stay here. Trust me on this."

Ron gave an indignant snort at the notion, which earned him a small, somewhat annoyed noise from Alphonse followed by a sharp shin kick from his own younger sister. Hermione let out a sigh of her own, tucking a bit of hair behind one ear.

"Honestly, first Harry, now you. If someone doesn't explain things properly soon, I'm not going to do anything either of you are asking."

Ed's eyes widened slightly. Harry... "What was Harry telling you?"

Hermione hesitated before answering, looking over at Ginny and Ron first. Ginny nodded, while Ron vehemently shook his head. With another sigh, Hermione turned back to Ed and slowly shook her head. "I... can't explain right now."

"Well, if it involves any of you leaving the common room, don't do it," Ed warned, looking at her very seriously. "You're better off staying here, believe me."

The Gryffindors all looked to one another. There was simply no doubting that both Ed and Harry were serious about something bad about to happen.

Al fidgeted. "Nii-san... What's going on?"

Ed turned to his brother, knocking a fist lightly on his arm. "I'm gonna need you to stick with them, Al. Don't let them out of your sight, got it?"

Then suddenly there was a loud sound, like the slamming of an enormous door, echoing from further down the hall. Every head in the common room turned sharply toward it, eyes growing wide in shock. It lasted only a moment, but almost at once the room was filled with nervous chatter. The usual questions of "Did you hear that?", and "What's going on?" could be heard from numerous different mouths.

But Ed was frowning deeply, looking in the direction he'd heard it from as though he could see through the walls, eyes narrowed. Had it already begun? Were things really moving this quickly? Then again, he should've known. His luck was almost always horrible. He tried to think quickly; if his guess was right, then it was coming from the very same place he'd just left moments ago. That had to mean that Draco and Nott were already on the move. Which meant that there was no time. There was no time to warn people, let alone try and evacuate the castle... They had to try, though. Or else everything really would be lost.

Several other Gryffindors had come up to Ginny and Hermione, and they all started speaking in hushed, urgent tones. In the meantime, Ron was scrabbling to pull out his wand and a blank piece of parchment. The moment it was out, all the Gryffindors that had joined them moved to huddle around him as he murmured some magic words and struck it, and then all of their eyes were moving, quickly sweeping over the page.

"He's not on it," Hermione said after a second, looking to the others. "So then-"

"We've got to get to the Room of Requirement," Ginny finished. "C'mon, Ron, put that away-"

Ed's brow furrowed as he caught their words and he turned to look over at them, raising one eyebrow as he did so. Within the next second, however, his eyes widened in shock. All of them - Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and even more Gryffindors that Ed wasn't familiar with - were preparing to leave the common room, serious, determined looks on each of their faces.

"Hey! What do you guys think you're doing?! Didn't you listen to a word I told you?!"

Ginny looked to Ed with a frown. "Sorry, Ed... But we've got to do this."

"Have you got any idea what you'll be up against?! You don't know what's happening- This isn't something you can just charge into and hope for the best!"

"Harry trusted us to do something while he's gone," the redhead argued, already starting to go. "We have to do something!"

Another loud bang echoed from the hall. The younger Gryffindors in the room all jumped and yelped, and many started to head back up into the dorms while the older ones remained with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. And as soon as they heard that bang, they all surged forward, pushing past Ed and Al and heading out. Ed slapped his forehead. He'd give them points for bravery, but did they all have to be so damn stupid?

Before Ginny could get far, Al reached out to grasp her loosely by the wrist, quickly pulling her back and holding onto her. The redhead blinked up at him in shock.

"Al, what-"

"I don't want you going out there getting hurt."

"But Al, I-"

"It's dangerous right now, like nii-san said... It's better if you stay put right where you are, where you're safe!"

Ginny frowned. "But I have to-"

"If- You might get killed, and then-" Al hesitated, as though he were choking back on his own words. "-and then I would never be able to forgive myself!"

The frown on Ginny's face deepened as she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "Al! My friends are out there and I don't fancy them getting hurt or killed either! I've been through so much during the past few years and I've been in dangerous situations before! I've been manipulated and possessed by a memory in a diary, I fought numerous Death Eaters in the Department of the Mysteries, and I've risked life and limb over and over again! If you think for one moment that I'm staying put where I'm safe, you've got another thing coming!"

Al couldn't even get another word in before she was following the others out. Ed stared after them for a moment with a deep frown, then ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up and growling a little in annoyance. Idiots, all of them. Seemed like Hermione was the only one who had a lick of sense, and even she was running out there with the rest of them. Even though she'd faced these people before, even though she surely was the most terrified of coming face to face with a Death Eater once again. And then there was Draco, also out there somewhere, playing for the other team against his will. But he didn't have to, he was better than that, and if only someone could let him know that and put a stop to it-

Ed cursed under his breath. He'd missed his best chance. Now he had to catch her.

He gave Al's arm another light rap of his knuckles, getting his attention before starting to run out of the room himself. "C'mon, we're gonna have to go with 'em, Al. You make sure they don't get themselves killed out there."

"But nii-san!" He hesitated only a moment before following after his older brother. "What about - I thought you wanted to watch Miss Hermi-"

"I do, but I have to find Malfoy, too. Now go!"

Al nodded firmly, then started to break into a faster sprint, catching up with Ed before pushing past him. "Be careful, nii-san!"

"What're you talking about? I'm always careful!"

Ed flashed a smirk before bee-lining for Hermione, reaching into his robes. These weren't the best circumstances to deliver this letter under, and who knew if it was too little too late. It was a one-shot gamble... but he had to take it. What other choice did he really have?

"Hermione! Hold on a second!"

The bushy-haired girl slowed to a jog and turned at the call of her name, brow furrowing slightly in confusion. "Edward?"

"There's something- you need to see."

"Edward," Hermione started to say, somewhat desperately, "I'm sorry, but there's really no time-"

He pulled the rumpled piece of parchment from his inner pocket as he reached her and quickly shoved it into one of her outer robe pockets. The girl's eyes went wide and she jumped a little in surprise, clearly having not expected that at all as she stared at him.

"Wha- Edward, what's-"

"Just- read it, all right?" he said quickly, cutting her off. "As soon as you can."

"Edward, I don't have the time-"

He quickly shook his head. "It's important, Hermione. Please."

Before she could say another word, Ed took off in a run, heading toward the seeming source of the explosions. He didn't want her to argue, and he couldn't explain it fully in less than ten seconds. He just needed her to understand. Then maybe, just maybe...

Now to find Draco Malfoy... and hope that it still wasn't too late.

Author's Note: i hate to leave it on this note, guys, but... it had to be done. epic stuff is about to happen, in case you hadn't noticed, and it deserves its own set of chapters. TOOK LONG ENOUGH, HUH?? anyways, shoot me a review and let me know how you're likin' it!!