Disclaimer: in all honesty FMA is not mine in any way, shape or form. With the minor exception of the obsessive collection of merchandise that i have. Harry Potter does not belong to me either, also excepting my frightening collection of HP books of multiple covers. Thank you.

Note: I claim poetic license, so anyone who has a beef with anything that I've written, left out or got wrong, I'm not really going to care much. This story is done and I'm not in the habit of reposting reedited fics. Flames with be summarily ignored.

Chapter 5

“What's wrong Ed?” asked Harry one day a couple of weeks later at dinner. Edward was poking listlessly at his plate of food, staring off into the great beyond. He had taken care to make sure his clothes were clean, his hair neat, his gloves white. This effort had not escaped the notice of his fanclub and every one of them was wondering if some one had caught his fancy.

Ed looked up, frowning, “What do you mean?”

“You haven't eaten anything, Mate,” Ron said, pointing his fork at Ed's plate.

“Must not be hungry,” the alchemist shrugged.

“Not hungry? You?” Dean exclaimed, “Now we know he's sick,”

“Very funny,” Ed rolled his eyes. “Nah, I just got a lot on my mind right now,”

“Like what?”

Ed scowled. The boys around him exchanged a glance. Edward may have been voted the best looking boy ever to grace the halls of Hogwarts but he could be intimidating when he wanted to be. There was something about him when he was upset that screamed DANGER.

“What is it?” Hermione prodded, “And don't say it's nothing Edward. You've been dressing neater, actually looking up from your books and you've started keeping track of the date.”

“I've finished my research,” he said, trying to steer the conversation.

“That's wonderful. But that doesn't explain your behavior,” she was immovable.

“Sure it does. It means that pretty soon I'll be going home,”

“Really? No!” exclaimed many eavesdroppers. Ed looked around him, suddenly aware of the wide eyes staring right at him. Disturbed, Ed turned back to Hermione.

“Yeah, I just have one more thing to do here before I go home. I've been away long enough. Winry's gonna kill me for not writing to her...” he chuckled nervously, visions of flying wrenches dancing though his mind.

“Who's Winry?” asked Harry.

“A friend of mine,” Ed shrugged, “I think after I've... healed my brother she and him will get together. Right now they can't. But they're really perfect together,”

“What's wrong with your brother?” asked Dean curiously.

Ed hesitated. “He... Al has a body condition. It's kinda embarrassing and I really don't want to get into it,”

“Hey, that's cool with us,” Dean backed off, “It's your business after all,”

“Yeah,” Ed sighed and prodded his food again. He swore and pushed the plate away. “This isn't going to work. I need to take a walk.” and with that short pseudo-farewell he shoved his hands into his coat pockets and stalked from the Great Hall.

This time, like the last, there was a confused whispered roar that escorted him out the heavy doors. What had set him off this time?

Edward stalked towards his rooms. What had him so nervous? What had him on tender-hooks? It was simple really: the Colonel should be arriving soon. And with him Al. And when Al got here Ed would be making him a new body. And if that failed the chances of them both losing themselves to the Gate were depressingly high.

Could anyone blame him for being just a little nervous?

“Hey Fullmetal,”

Ed froze. No. Not him.

“Hello Colonel,” he said, turning. His eyes skimmed past his taller commanding officer – in uniform, he noted – to the even taller suit of armor behind him. “Al!”

The brothers rushed towards each other and Al caught Ed up in a tight embrace. No one listening could possibly make out what they were saying to each other. Both babbled at the same time, not even pausing for breath. When they did at last wind down both were laughing.

“You're here sooner than I expected,” Ed said a little breathlessly, turning to glance at the Colonel.

Mustang just shrugged helplessly, as if he had no idea how they managed it. If course, his innocent facade was ruined by the self-serving smirk that played on his lips.

Something occurred to Ed. He looked around. “Hey, where's Hawkeye?”

“The Lieutenant is watching our luggage,” Al explained, “Colonel Mustang asked her to,”

“I see. Well, I suppose we should tell the old man that you guys are here,” Ed frowned a little, “It's dinner right now. We could wait...”

“Might as well do this now,” Mustang shrugged. Edward nodded.

“The sooner the better.”

“Exactly,”

“Right, well, this way,” Ed started forwards. A heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked up at his younger brother's armor face.

“Brother... is it true? Have you made a Stone?”

Ed smiled. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the small, innocent-looking crimson stone and held it up. “And no one had to die for it,”

“Brother,” Al breathed, amazed that the culmination of so many years of work was now before him solidified in such a small gem. “It's so small,” he said in wonder.

“Will it work?” Mustang asked, narrowing his eyes at the Stone.

Ed put the Stone back in his pocket, shrugging, “It had better,” he said softly. They arrived at the huge doors to the Great Hall. Edward placed gloved hands on either one and pushed with all his weight. The doors swung grandly open.

Conversation stilled as Edward led Mustang and Alphonse straight to the head table. Dumbledore stood, regally waiting for his guests to reach him.

“Mr. Elric,” the headmaster nodded.

“Mr. Dumbledore,” Ed nodded back, “This is Roy Mustang and my brother Alphonse Elric,”

“It's nice to meet you sir,” Al's childlike voice was at odds with the hulking armor of his tangible body.

“I assume that you will wish to speak with me after the meal?”

“That would be appreciated, yes,” Mustang nodded.

“I shall have food sent to Mr. Elric's rooms,”

“Also appreciated,”

“Great,” Ed said, shoving his hands into his pockets and spinning around to leave, “Let's go then.”

“Brother!” Al exclaimed, hurrying after Ed, “Don't be so rude!”

“Give it up Alphonse,” Mustang advised, “When does your elder brother ever listen?”

“Not often,” Al admitted with and echoing sigh. Ed shot the two a halfhearted glare over his shoulder. Al ducked, playfully repentant, laughing quietly.

All in all the first glimpse the school had of the two brothers was very odd indeed.

---

Edward poured Mustang a cup of tea and handed it carefully to his colonel. The Flame Alchemist accepted it graciously. Ed offered some to Hawkeye as well but she refused.

“You have some nice rooms here, Fullmetal,” Mustang commented and nodded pointedly to the overstuffed bookshelves, “Lots of books too, I see,”

“I found a bookstore,” Ed shrugged and sat down with his own cup of tea.

“How did you get them all here?” Al asked from where he sat at Ed's elbow on the floor.

Ed shrugged, sipping his tea, “Put wheels on my suitcase,”

“Using alchemy,” Mustang sighed disapprovingly.

“No one saw,” Ed rationalized.

There was a tap at the door that interrupted anything Mustang would have said to continue. Ed set his teacup aside and pulled his gloves back on before getting up to answer the knock. Dumbledore was waiting in the corridor. The blond alchemist stood aside to admit the headmaster into his rooms.

“Good evening Mr. Elric, Mr. Elric, Colonel Mustang,” he greeted pleasantly.

“Can I get you some tea?” Ed asked.

“Two sugars please,”

Ed nodded and poured the headmaster a cup, adding the requested sugars and stirring it before handing it over. Everyone settled themselves back down. Ed took the chair closest to Al while Dumbledore seated himself in the remaining one.

“Mr. Elric told me to anticipate your arrival, Mr. Elric, Colonel,” Dumbledore started.

“Oh?” Mustang shot Ed a glance.

“Yes, he mentioned intending to recreate Mr. Alphonse Elric's body,”

Mustang nodded slowly, “Then you will understand when we request the use of your largest room,”

“Of course. We can have the Great Hall cleared out for you in an hours time if you wish to start so soon,”

“Brother?” Al looked up at Ed hopefully.

Ed shrugged, “Might as well get this done as soon as we can,” he said fatalistically.

“There is two hours before curfew. All the students will be in the dorms then,”

“That'll be fine,” Ed nodded, “It'll give me time to get my stuff packed up.”

“Then it's settled. Two hours, in the Great Hall,” the colonel decided, nodded definitively.

---

“You ready Al?” Ed asked once again. They had moved all of the tables in the Great Hall to the sides. Mustang, Hawkeye and Dumbledore watched from as far as they could get while still being in the same room. The two Elric brothers stared at each other.

“Let's do this, Brother,” if Al could have shown expression he would have been smiling softly.

“Alright,” Ed nodded and clapped his hands together. The sound rang through the empty Hall ominously. He knelt down and placed his hands on the floor. Blue light rose from the stone, settling into a complex array, one that Ed had been refining all these past months. Roy raised an impressed eyebrow at the intricate piece of work that spread more than twelve meters in diameter. It was a work of art, much more impressive than even the one they had used all those years ago.

“What do you want me to do Brother?” Al asked hesitantly.

“Well, we'll need to get the elements into the array, first,” Ed got to his feet and headed over to the waiting material. Al helped him move the heavier while Ed took care of the lighter. It did not take them long to have everything moved into place.

“Now what?”

“Well, you go stand in the array and I'll get to work,” Ed pulled out the small red stone the size of the last joint of his thumb and stared at it. While he was not a believer in religion Edward found himself praying that this would work, that Al would get his body back. He looked up and smiled at his younger brother. Steeling his nerves he clapped his hands together once more and fell to his knees, pressing his palms over the array, the Philosopher's Stone under his flesh hand. Once again blue alchemical light lit up the Great Hall, this time so blinding that no one could look directly at what was happening right before them. And the light held.

What was going on during the transmutation was frighteningly familiar to Edward. For a second he panicked. Was the Stone going to work? Would they both be lost this time? He could see before him that Al's armor was breaking up and the materials for his body were mixing together. When the disintegration of the armor neared the blood seal Ed was about to call it quits, scared that it wouldn't work and he would loose his only family. He could feel nothing from the Stone under his hand. It was doing nothing. He could almost see the Gate beckoning.

Just as he was bout to lift his palms off the floor he felt it. A sudden rush of power like he had never experienced before. The sensation left the prodigy reeling. His hands glued themselves back to the floor and Ed could not tear his eyes away from what he was doing. In the eye of the storm of now blue and red energies he could clearly see a body and a the seal that bound his brother's soul to this world. The red energy from the Stone forced the seal into the newly made body, tattooing it in an indelible way that nothing could reproduce.

Suddenly Ed felt drained, tired, exhausted even. He did not have the energy to go on. The blue light flickered and dimmed. The transmutation was complete, Al had his body back. Underneath his palm Ed could no longer feel the Philosopher's Stone that he had created. The spots that obscured his vision multiplied and the world darkened.

Alphonse Elric, naked as the day he was born, opened his eyes for the first time since he had lost his original body. He could hear the sound of rushing footsteps coming closer. What was going on? Where was Edward? He shivered and turned his head slightly, the movement almost more than he could manage. A good six meters from him Edward fell to the floor, eyes closed and his skin an unhealthy shade of gray.

“Brother!” he exclaimed, gasping for breath. Ed did not respond. Suddenly Al found himself covered with something warm, the blue fabric worn and comfortable. His eyes flicked over to see Hawkeye looking him over carefully.

“Fullmetal!” the colonel skidded to his knees beside his subordinate. He rolled Edward onto his back and check for a pulse. He peeled back an eyelid to peer into the unseeing golden eyes.

“Brother...” Al felt his heart constrict in fear. What was wrong? What was wrong with Ed?

“He's alive,” Mustang declared. The relief that flooded through Al almost brought the boy to tears. He had spent far too long without experiencing emotions with a body. The difference was indescribable, like a candle to the sun.

“We should get the brothers to the Hospital Wing,” Dumbledore suggested.

“Good idea,” Hawkeye agreed, “Colonel?”

“Do it,” he nodded, slipping his arms underneath Edward's body and lifting. For someone so small the eldest Elric brother sure did weigh a lot. The automail was probably what kept him from reaching his optimal height. That and his hatred for milk.

Riza lifted Alphonse the same way, making sure her jacket stayed tucked around his body, sparing his modesty. The newly made body was alarmingly light, not surprising but alarming nevertheless. She followed her Colonel who was walking briskly after the Headmaster.

---

Neither Elric boy opened their eyes again for another full two days. Alphonse was the first to see light, waking some time in the mid afternoon. The first thing the newly restored boy did was stare in wonder at his hand. His eyes moved up his arm before he threw the blankets aside to look at the rest of his flesh body. Tears gathered in his eyes and he choked back a sob of sheer joy. He glanced about the room he was in, trying to find Edward.

Ed lay still in the bed next to him, the only sign he was even living was the slow and steady rise and fall of his chest. Someone had undone his braid, leaving his hair to spill across his pillow under his head. Al noted that his arms and hands were still covered, hiding his automail from any prying eyes. He was, thankfully, looking healthier than he had right after the transmutation, a good sign.

“You're awake,” stated Colonel Mustang as he strode into the Hospital Wing. Al turned his head painstakingly to face the State Alchemist his brother worked under.

“Colonel,” Al said slowly, unfamiliar with working a body anymore. “How long...?”

“Two days,” Mustang took a seat next to Al's bed and looked him over, “You're looking good. I wasn't sure Fullmetal would be able to pull it off but it looks like both of you managed to survive. Again,”

“Is Ed...?” Al blinked heavily, trying to focus his eyes properly.

“Your brother is fine. He's sleeping off the energy drain the transmutation cost. He managed to use up the Stone though. But Fullmetal should be up and about soon enough. Sooner than you, it seems,”

“Yeah,” Al laughed quietly, “It has been a while since I had to move an actual body. Bet I'm going to have to start from scratch,”

The colonel cracked a smile. “But you two managed to succeed,”

“Now what do we do?” was all Al could ask.

“That is up to you two,” Roy mustang said, getting to his feet, “Just tell that brother of yours that the military would be more than happy to keep him on if he wants,”

“I'll do that, Sir,” Al said, smiling.

---

It took Al a week to relearn how to walk on his own. Ed had woken up hours after his brother, hardly able to move himself. When he could move he spent most of his time helping Al walk from one place to another, coaching him patiently. Madame Pomfrey stubbornly kept everyone visiting – with the exception of Mustang, Hawkeye and Dumbledore – out of the Hospital Wing. Not even the other professors were permitted entry.

Once Al could walk on his own he and Ed ventured from the confines of the Hospital Wing. Al was amazed at the complexity of the castle and agreed with Ed that it did feel like there were many bound souls surrounding them.

Almost as soon as they reached the min floor they were surrounded by a gaggle of concerned fangirls. Al was at a loss as to what to do. Ed just grabbed his brother's shirt sleeve and ran as fast as he could. The getaway was less than fluid since All was stumbling pretty badly, trying to keep his footing and keep up with Ed at the same time. It too a couple creative turns and hiding inside two suits of armor – the irony was not lost on either Elric – before they lost the girls.

“Brother,” Al said, climbing out of his suit of armor, “What was that all about?”

“Not a clue,” Ed panted, “The girls in the school are insane! Come on, let's get out of here before they realize they passed us,”

“Sure thing,”

And that was the fist glimpse that the Hogwarts Edward Elric Fanclub (Britain Division) caught of Alphonse Elric, taller, darker, slightly more masculine in appearance. An order went out with a prize to the person who could manage to take a picture of the two together. The unbound and unfettered zealousness of young witches frightened even Al and the brothers took to slipping from shadow to shadow in an attempt to avoid the girls.

It was a gesture in futility. A picture was taken in the library where they had hidden in a hard to reach corner, their heads bent over a map of the school as Ed explained the whats and wheres of Hogwarts. Al had just commented on something that had Ed excited when the photograph was snapped. This photograph would, in later years, be enshrined in some obsessive witch's house, framed and surrounded by candles.

“Al!” Ed exclaimed after chasing off the photographer, “I hadn't even thought about looking at it in three dimensions. You're a genius!”

The alchemical prodigy fell back into his seat and hurriedly sketched out the patterns the halls made on each floor, overlapping the floors from the dungeons to the highest towers. As he worked Al's eyes widened, watching in awe as the answer made itself so obvious.

“Brother...”

“Al, I think we got it,”

The brothers stared at what Ed had sketched. It was the most complex array either of them had ever seen, ancient in it's refining methods but beautifully constructed nevertheless. The result of overlapping the paths of halls was such an obvious answer that Edward wondered why he had not thought of it before.

“Well, that's one more mystery down. There is a soul bound here. It's what's moving the castle around. It makes sense now,”

“Maybe it's the same with the portraits. Maybe the array is underneath the paint...” Al ventured.

“That would make sense,” Ed nodded, “But I think that they'd object if we asked to dismantle a painting...”

“Probably,” Al agreed with a wry smile.

“Pity,” Ed regarded the sketched out array thoughtfully. “Oh well. I've already figured out more about this 'magic' than even the people teaching it,”

“Who have you told about the transfiguration stuff?”

“Just the old man. He said that even so they have to teach it.” Ed sighed, “Sounds to me like he doesn't mind helping propagating a culture of thieves,”

“Well,” Al reasoned, “Equivalent Exchange knows no morals,”

“Which is why it sucks so much some times,”

---

“Edward!” Hermione skidded to a standstill in the Great Hall. The four Amestrisrians looked over at the witch. Ed stepped forwards.

“Her Hermione, what are you doing here? It's the middle of breakfast,”

“You're going now, aren't you?” she frowned at him. Ed had the decency to look somewhat guilty.

“I'd rather it were kept quiet,” he admitted. “Thanks for your help, by the way,”

“It wasn't any problem,” she said, distracted, “but why do you have to go soon soon?”

Ed shot a glance over his shoulder at his brother and the officers. He smirked, making a decision. “Because if I didn't go home with the Colonel here the army would list me as either MIA or AWOL. Neither look good in the papers,”

“Fullmetal.” Mustang growled, glaring at his subordinate.

Hermione frowned, confused, “Are you saying that you're in the military, Edward?”

“There's a lot you don't know about me,” he shrugged, “just don't tell anyone. The old man knows but that's it. And he knows exactly why I was here. I trust you to be able to keep your mouth shut,” he grinned and turned away, waving over his shoulder, “Good bye, Hermione,”

That was the last Hogwarts saw of Edward Elric. He flicked his braid over his shoulder and caught up with his brother and the two others that had come as well. With the careless nonchalance that he had become known for he led the way out of the bespelled castle, ready to go back to the life he had to pick back up.

“Fullmetal, What was that all about?”

“None of your business, Colonel,”

“Brother, be more respectful,”

“What? Give him respect he doesn't deserve?”

“He is your colonel,”

“Listen to your brother, Fullmetal,”

“Not on this one!”

“Would you leave Edward alone, Colonel,” the cocking of a gun sent shivers down the spines of all three men.

“You lucked out on this one, runt,”

It was a good thing they were already leaving the school...