Hey, all!

I apologize deeply for the extended wait. I had finals week (which was hell on earth, but I managed to survive), and then I had a major surgery done. It took me out for a lot longer than I thought it would, but here I am!

I really hope you all enjoy this new chapter! Enjoy!

Harry's POV

Ceramic shattered as Ron's knight took out one of my few remaining pawns, sending pieces of the red playing piece all over the board. I sighed and removed the larger bits and pieces from the chess board as I thought about my next move, Ron's move having completely ruined any semblance of a strategy I had laid out. For as much as Hermione and I picked on Ron for being so food motivated and sometimes having a one track mind, the red haired boy was brilliant when it came to strategy. I had playing against him for years and yet, my wins against my best friend were few and far between.

Christmas break had finally come to Hogwarts, and it was clear everyone was grateful for it, students and staff alike. Although, with the Yule Ball coming up in just a few days, some of the relaxation was missing. Instead, it was filled with the surprising amount of stress that came with a school dance. However, given that Hogwarts never had any formal dances, most of the students were in the same sinking ship of confusion. The only students not falling into the depths were the muggle born siblings who had muggle friends and knew everything about school formals.

And, of course, nearly everyone that wasn't already in a relationship had the extra stress of finding a date, Ron and myself included. Ron had asked Fleur, and that had gone about as well as anyone had expected. This whole Christmas break was just shaping up to be a lot more stressful than relaxing like I'm sure the entire student body had hoped.

It didn't help in the slightest that rumors of Draco's rebound were still flying around the school with no sign of stopping. For days everyone had been terrified to go back to alchemy class after hearing what had happened to Draco. Professor Elric had of course canceled class for the rest of the day to keep people out of the bloodied classroom, but that didn't stop people from getting the picture. Unsurprisingly, no one had wanted to attempt their first transmutation after that, not that the professor was going to allow them too. In fact, he had up and canceled the week's classes by Tuesday night after seeing everyone's reluctance to even enter the classroom.

Adding insult to injury, it didn't help that nearly everyone was now terrified of the young professor after seeing his plethora of scars. The one Hermione had talked about had been on very clear display, the professor's entire shoulder and part of his chest covered in red scar tissue. The other worrisome scar had been on his stomach, a matching one of his back. It didn't take a genius to know what that meant. There were dozens of other scars all over Elric's back, chest, and stomach, marring his tan skin.

Many stories had been created by the students, trying to explain the large amount of scarring on such a young professor. Some students called upon the memory of Professor Elric and his brother being thrown into the wilderness with only a knife, but that didn't sit well with me. With those types of scars, they had to have been major wounds. If he and his brother truly spent an entire month on that island by themselves, there was no way the professor could have survived.

The theory that Hermione, Ron, and I had decided was the most realistic of the bunch was that he was attacked by a magical creature like a dragon. Ron was still very adamant about his dragon theory. Again, something just didn't sit right with me for some reason, but there was nothing that could prove I was wrong or right. They were all just rumors. Nothing could be proven, and there was no way anyone was going to ask him about it. I had thought the student body would have let it go by the week mark, but it had been two weeks since the incident, and the rumors were still blazing like wildfire.

"Ron, it's clear that you're winning this game, so why are you still moping?" Hermione said she appeared out of nowhere and dropped a few heavy textbooks on the table. The chess set and the remaining pieces rattled and jumped at the force.

"Actually, I just won," Ron commented as he moved his queen one place to the left. "Checkmate," he said simply. I groaned as I looked over the board and realized he was right. It took everything in me not to flip the board. It could all be fixed with a quick wave of the wand afterall. Ron swore up and down I was getting better with every game, but I had a feeling he was just being nice. There was a reason Ron had handled the life sized chess game in our first year. He was good then, and he's even better now.

"So, you should be jeering and making fun of Harry," Hermione pointed out as she took a seat next to Ron on the couch. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I knew she was only teasing. "Still upset about Fleur?" Hermione asked gently.

"Ask Professor Elric to be your date yet?" Ron grumbled at the girl, refusing to look at the girl. I sighed, knowing this was going to go nowhere fast. Hermione's face went beet red in an instant as she landed a swift kick to Ron's shin.

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron cried as he swatted the girl away and pulled his leg to himself a little.

"Don't spout such nonsense, Ronald!" the brunette snapped at the ginger. Even if he was a student and even if I did like him, which I don't, he clearly has a girlfriend," she pointed out. "In fact, Victor Krum actually asked me to the Yule Ball! And I said yes!" My eyes widened while Ron's jaw all but hit the floor. "What? With the way you talk to girls, the way you talk to Fleur, you shouldn't be surprised I ended up with a date before you," Hermione pointed out, and I had to admit, she wasn't wrong. Ron could be terribly blunt when speaking, and it didn't always work out so well with girls.

"You only said yes to make me jealous and because you needed a rebound after you found out Professor Elric was taken," Ron spat. I took a deep breath, knowing this argument had already gone off the deep end, and there was no way to stop it.

"Make you jealous, Ron?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. "Are you that obsessed with Krum?"

"Oh, so you're not denying your little crush on Professor Elric?" Ron fired right back, completely ignoring Hermione's accusation.

"I do not have a crush on Professor Elric, Ronald Weasley!" the girl all but shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the common room. "You're incorrigible," Hermione mumbled, and I could tell she was crying now. I felt my heart sink. It was commonplace to see the two friends argue, but it rarely went this far as to make Hermione cry. In a split second, she had left the room in a whirl of her robes.

"That was a little harsh, Ron," I mumbled to my friend after a moment once everyone in the common room had gone back to whatever they had been doing before the explosive argument had disrupted them.

"It's what she gets for bringing up Fleur," he grumbled as she gathered up the chess set and fled up the stairs to our room. With yet another heavy sigh, I pushed up from the plush armchair I was seated and headed toward the main door of the common room. I turned down the hall and made my way to head out of the castle and down to Hagrid's hut. He would most likely be there this time of night. There was no way I was going up to the room with Ron as upset as he was, and I knew Hermione wouldn't want anyone following her. They both needed time to cool down, and I was more than happy to give it to them.

The frigid wind of the British winter bit at my skin as I made the steep walk down to Hagrid's hut. I tucked my hands under my arms in an attempt to keep them warm, the snow coming down thick and heavy from a cloudy sky. As I walked, I silently cursed myself for not going to grab my thicker robe or a coat, but that would have meant going into Ron and I's shared bedroom. Seeing as the goal was to stay away from him until he was cooled down, that action would have been counterproductive. So, instead of griping any further about the current situation, I picked up the pace. The sooner I got to Hagrid's, the sooner I could warm up by the fire.

When I reached the hut sitting on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, I smiled in relief to see that there was smoke rising steadily out of the chimney, and the interior of the hut was lit by candle light. I rapped my knuckles on the door before blowing warm air into them and rubbing them together as I tried to stave off the bitter cold. There was a moment of silence before I heard heavy footsteps on the floor just inside the door. Then, the great wooden door swung open to reveal the half giant.

"Blimey, Harry! Wha'er ya doin' ou' in the cold like this?" he exclaimed as he shuffled back from the door to make room for me to enter the hut. "Come in, come in," he encouraged as he ushered me into the warm room.

"Thanks, Hagrid," I said as I ruffled my hair, trying to wipe my hair clean of the fat snowflakes falling from the sky. I stopped in my tracks, however, when I noticed the two other occupants of the room. At the round table that took up much of the main room was Professor Elric sitting with his arm wrapped around the shoulders of the blonde girl that accompanied the young professor to the Great Hall as of late.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Nonsense, Harry. Ya know yer always welcome here," Hagrid said from behind me before there was a thick blanket being dropped over my shoulders. "But wha' are ya doin' down here? Where' Hermione and Ron?"

"Harry, what the hell were you thinking coming down here without a coat?" Professor Elric asked as he stood up from his seat next to the sunny blonde girl who I presumed was his girlfriend. I was pretty sure her name was Winry, but with Rita Skeeter being the one writing about Professor Elric I couldn't be sure.

The blonde grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me over to the fire, quickly pulling up a chair and forcing me to sit in it. Once I was seated, he looked at me for a long moment with his arms crossed over his chest before he grunted and nodded in what I thought was approval. I was too shocked by his actions to speak, so I stayed silent as the man returned to his seat beside the other blonde. Sure, the professor was very brash, could be a little violent and was definitely very loud, but it was clear that he cared about his students and their education. He displayed two very different sides, but they seemed to fit the man.

"Geez, Ed. Be a little more gentle with your students," the girl said as she stood from her seat and moved toward me to the fire place where there was a kettle being warmed by a low but warm fire. "I know Mrs. Curtis was rough on you and Al, but you and Al aren't normal," she scolded, but her words held no heat. Professor Elric grunted and rolled his eyes, crossing one leg over the other. His companion continued to shuffle around as she prepared a warm cup of tea.

"So why'd you come all the way down here without a coat?" the blonde professor asked again.

"Ron and Hermione are arguing," I said simply. Professor Elric bit his lip and nodded, looking very understanding. "There was no way I was going to get in the middle of that. This seemed like the best place to go, but I didn't mean to interrupt," I said, another apology on the tip of my tongue but Professor Elric's female companion beat me to it.

"It's alright, really," she said as she presented the tea to me before offering me sugar which I gratefully accepted. "Harry, right?" she said as she placed the kettle and sugar on the table. "I'm Winry. It's nice to meet you," she said with a dazzling smile as she extended a hand for me to shake. I took her hand and smiled, surprised by the strength of her grasp.

"Yes, that's me," I affirmed. "It's nice to meet you too, Miss Winry," I said as I retracted my hand and took a hesitant sip of my tea. Thankfully the liquid didn't scald my lips and tongue that it had many times before. Instead, the temperature was perfect from warming high above the fire.

"Please, just Winry. I'm not that much older than you," Winry said as she took her seat beside the golden blonde.

"You got any spare fabric lying around, Hagrid?" Edward asked suddenly, looking to the large man expectantly.

"Sure, Ed," the man said, already moving to fetch the requested items. "What ya need it for, lad?" the Care of Magical Creatures professor asked as he disappeared into the back room.

"There's no way I'm sending Harry back up to the castle without a coat," he said as he stood, grimacing and grasping lightly at his leg as he did so. Winry jumped to help him stand, but he quickly waved her off, an indigent glare on his face. She sat down with a frown, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Edward, I told you to stay off that leg if it was still bothering you," Winry groused.

"Leave me alone, woman. I'm fine," he said as took the forest green fabric from the man as he returned to the main room. "It always aches when it's cold, and there ain't nothing we can do about it," he said flippantly as he spread the thick fabric across the floor. A look of concentration crossed his face before he clapped his hands and a metallic ringing filled the air. He placed his hands on the fabric, and that familiar blue crackling light filled the room. When it dissipated, a thick coat laid in its place.

"There," he said simply as he tossed the heavy coat over my head. "You're welcome, you brat." I couldn't help but crack a smile at the immature actions of the professor. It was soon met with Winry's voice as she yelled at him about being more nice to his students. And if I heard correctly, there was a threat of a wrench being thrown into the mix of loud but far from angry words between the two.

For the remainder of the evening, I sat around the table with the two professors and Winry, surprisingly falling to a gentle flow of conversations. I would have thought it would have been awkward talking to the three adults, but I had to remind myself that even though Edward was my professor, he was only a few years older than me. He and Winry made great people to talk to, and I found myself laughing comfortable and talking freely. As I talked with the three, I found a large smile blooming across my face, maybe for the first time since my name had come out of that blasted goblet.

It remained this way until the two professors ushered me out of the hut with my new makeshift coat pulled tight around my shoulders, Edward promising to give me detention for a week if I didn't get back to the Gryffindor tower by curfew. I smiled and laughed as I waved goodbye to the trio, pushing through the snow and back up to the tower ahead of me.