Roy flipped through the diary. For the most part it looked brand new. There was no writing at all, not even a date or from grandma. No magic spell Roy could find would reveal anything hidden on the pages nor did anything scientific or alchemy wise would appear when Roy examine it. Strange.

Any thoughts were soon interrupted by a sudden large –CRASH!- Roy winced and looked up. A bookcase had fallen over. Many students were snapped out of their studying, startled at the noise. Roy grimaced at the thought. He knew exactly was behind it… It was a certain hellish reddish brownish kitten. No sooner had he had identified the culprit that said kitten came darting towards chasing Scabbers, Ron’s pet rat. Roy twitched and wondered what on earth he did to deserve this.

“Rrrreow!”

Roy grabbed Shinka by her neck as she came darting by, allowing the rat to scamper off. Shinka glared at Roy as if saying “HEY! What are you doing! You’re letting him get away!”

“Stop causing destruction, Shinka,” Roy scolded her and set her on his desk. Shinka just continued to glare back. A swish of her tail caused an ink bottle to open and spill onto the empty pages of Riddle’s diary. Roy groaned. He should have seen that coming. Shinka always spilled ink when she wants to create a mess. At least it was only on Riddle’s diary and not any of his paperwork.

Roy started to clean up the mess when he noticed something odd. Riddle’s diary… it was sucking up the ink. Soon after, in a clean crisp cursive handwriting, words began to appear on the page. ‘Hello… My name is Tom Riddle… Why do you have my diary?’ Roy started at it disbelief. He set down his wand and picked up a quill. Let’s test this out…

‘Hello Tom. My name is Roy Mustang… Someone left your diary in the library,’ Roy wrote in the diary. Perhaps Tom could tell him more about the Chamber of Secret.

‘Perhaps they left it there because this diary holds terrible memories of horrible things. Things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.’

Roy blinked at the words that appeared before him. Could Riddle be talking about the Chamber of Secrets? He had to find out. ‘Tom… Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?’

Riddle’s handwriting began untidier as if he was rushing to tell his story. ‘Of course I know about the Chamber of Secrets. In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who’d open the Chamber and he was expelled. But the Headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given out that the girl had died in a freak accident. They gave me a nice, shiny, engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. But I knew it could happen again. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned.’

Roy just stared at the words for a minute. This was getting more and more fascinating. So Riddle did know something about the Chamber of Secret. ‘What do you mean?’ Roy wrote back.

‘I can show you, if you like,’ came Riddle’s reply. ‘You don’t have to take my word for it. I can take you inside my memory of the night when I caught him.’

Roy just stared at the words for a minute. This was getting more and more fascinating. So Riddle did know something about the Chamber of Secret. ‘What do you mean?’ Roy wrote back.

‘I can show you, if you like,’ came Riddle’s reply. ‘You don’t have to take my word for it. I can take you inside my memory of the night when I caught him.’

Roy paused. Every fiber of him said “Careful… this might be a trap…” but if he didn’t trust the boy, then he was no closer to finding out more about the Chamber. Warily he glanced towards the door. On the bright side, since winter break had started the chances of someone coming in was slim to none. Only Edward would be coming up here soon.

‘Let me show you.’

Roy took the chance. This was the last clue that they had. ‘Very well.’ Roy nearly ended burning the book to ashes the moment the pages decided to start flipping by themselves. They stopped in the middle of July, on the 13th. There was a small box that flickered in the middle, like a distorted television show. Roy reached to touch the box. The moment he did, the world became a blur of colors…

Shinka gave a startled “meow!” as she watched Roy suddenly disappeared. At the very same moment the door opened. “Roy?”

------------------------

Ed slowly climbed up the stairs towards the library. For some reason Malfoy’s words still echoed in his mind. He had stopped to tell Harry and the others about what Malfoy said but left before he heard whether they were still going to use the Polyjuice potion. At the moment though, Ed didn’t really care. His mind was a little numb.

There was something different about Malfoy. Ed wasn’t sure… but now that he had thought about it long and hard, there was something very different about the boy. It was almost as if what Ed was seeing every day was an act. Ed blinked before scowling. This was going to bug him all day.

The echoing of Shinka’s meows indicated that Ed was getting closer. Hopefully Shinka hadn’t destroyed the library yet. He didn’t want to spend another day trying to fix and clean everything up again.

Ed opened the door. “Roy?” Hm… he wasn’t here. How odd. Ed walked inside. It was strange that Roy wasn’t at his desk. Perhaps he was shelving books. Ed took a seat as Shinka leaped into his lap and began to tug at his shirt. Ed picked up Shinka and stared in her eyes. “Shinka, what are you doing?”

Shinka growled furiously. If there was ever a time she wished she could speak human tongue, now would be it. Her master’s crush had just been eaten by a book and her master wasn’t attempting to listen to her! Looks like she’ll just have to wait.

------------------

Once again, Draco Malfoy was found pacing. He was pacing in the privacy of his dorm room. Crabbe and Goyle had left in search of food to fill their bottomless stomachs. Draco had other things on his mind beside food. Now why on earth did he say all those weird things to shrimp? He should have just taken the glory and basked in it and ignored the fool.

Draco collapsed into a chair. His mind was spinning. Ever since he saved Potter from the rogue bludger, his life took a sharp turn and headed towards confusion and insanity. Somehow worrying over Potter like that… it was a foreign feeling. Friends… what good were friends? Why bother with friends when you can have loyal… well maybe not loyal, servants like Crabbe and Goyle? Friends were a hassle. Friends actually sounded really good… Someone he could talk to… Crabbe and Goyle weren’t exactly the most intelligent people to have a heartwarming conversation with. Not to mention Crabbe and Goyle just followed him around because his father told them to. Thus, Crabbe and Goyle weren’t really friends to begin with— just two idiots who follow him around.

Draco pinched himself. “I should have went home for Christmas,” he mumbled to himself. Perhaps it would have distracted him for the time being about all these questions in his head. Or not, going home probably wouldn’t have helped at all. He would just be going home to an empty house anyways. Both of his parents were away somewhere in France for the holidays.

Draco groaned and punched a pillow. “This is all your fault, Potter!”

--------------------------

Upstairs, Harry sneezed and looked around. He hoped he wasn’t coming down with a cold.

-------------------------

An hour had passed since Roy was sucked into the book. Ed, of course, didn’t know that, so he spent that hour looking all over the library for the older alchemist. Shinka, furious at the fact that she couldn’t somehow tell her master what really happened, was pacing back and forth like a caged lion, wishing she had something to destroy.

Ed fell back into a chair with a –flomp- Where on earth was Roy? Ed frowned. Oh well… might as well take a nap then. Just as golden eyes closed there was a –bang!- and the book on the desk unexpectedly glowed and shook like it was possessed by a ghost. Out of nowhere, Roy appeared and inelegantly fell onto Ed.

“Ah, Fullmetal,” said Roy. “Prefect timing. We need to talk. I know who opened the Chamber of Secret fifty years ago.”

---------------------------------

"Lord . . . what the hell am I doing here?"

(Wolfwood, Trigun)

--------------------

Reimei: Honor and Pride
---------------------

Chapter X

Crumbling Pride; Holiday Madness

-----------------

kokoro wa (hashiru) ano sora no shita

karamawari suru kimochi ga sakebi dasu no o tomerarenai

My heart -runs- underneath that sky

I can't stop my idle feelings from crying out

----------------

“You’re joking.”

Ed was rigid like a statue. Roy had just told him about everything that happened fifty years ago from the memory Riddle left in his diary. It was almost too much for the blond alchemist’s mind to the process. Hagrid was the one who unleashed the monster fifty years ago… It was hard to believe that the giant man who seemed so friendly was responsible for killing a student. Ed didn’t want to believe it.

“You don’t have to believe it, you know. It’s just one possible lead. We have no way of confirming if it is completely right, Fullmetal.” Roy leaned back in his chair.

“Nothing short of asking Hagrid himself, anyway. That’ll be a lovely conversation. ‘Hagrid, have you been setting a monster loose on innocent children these past couple months?’” Ed said sarcastically. “Harry, Ron and Hermione are going to flip if they ever hear about it.”

“There is always the possibility that Riddle caught the wrong person,” said Roy. He pried Shinka off his desk. The reddish-brownish kitten was eyeing the stack of papers with a mischievous glint in her eyes. The last thing Roy needed was Shinka knocking over all his papers.

“True…” Ed mumbled. He tried to sink further into his chair. What a messed up holiday this was starting to become.

--------------------

“Major General!”

“What is it now, Major Arms? I’m a little busy here.”

-Gulp!- “Ma’am… the information you requested came in.”

An eyebrow raise. “Wonderful… just in time for the Christmas rush… Information has –wonderful- timing.”

“Was… that sarcasm, Major General?”

Glare. “Of course not, Major Arms.” Major Arms was quite sure it was sarcasm. “Now if you’re done standing there, you can grab a chair and join First Lieutenant Swords and I and –help- us FILE these goddam papers!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

---------------------

Christmas couldn’t have arrived any faster. With the exception of Hermione – who apparently heard the entire conversation about Hagrid and Riddle’s diary – demanding to know every little detail that she could have possibly missed before she started eavesdropping, and Roy literally being crushed by the amount of paperwork Hawkeye sent a week before Christmas (this was adding to the pile sent before winter break started), the rest of winter break seemed to be sailing by smoothly. There wasn’t even a fight or put down from Malfoy at all. In fact, the Slytherin boy seemed to be lost in his thoughts more than usual. Harry had a worried look in his eyes and would often shoot a quick glance at the blond boy. Shinka even managed to stay out of trouble, though she still vowed to destroy that rat soon enough.

Christmas morning was pure chaos though. Shinka was doing everything from chasing tinsel to literally tearing apart the wrapping paper of her gift to chasing her newest toy mouse around the common room. Roy stopped by early in the morning to deliver the last of Edward’s gifts. The younger alchemist had mostly received books and had already buried his nose into one of them. It kept him from feeling slightly homesick and missing Al (though honestly, it wasn’t working that well). Everyone had received what Ed called the Weasley Gift Pack: a homemade sweater from Mrs. Weasley and a large plum cake. Harry received ‘Flying with the Cannons’ a Quidditch book on his favorite team from Ron, a new book bag from Ed, and a luxury eagle-feather quill from Hermione. Roy had gotten ink remover and a medium sized ball that floated from Ed. The blond boy had muttered something in between the lines of indestructible, catches on fire and use for target practice. Ron received a new board for his wizard chess pieces and a little figure of his favorite Quidditch player that flew on a mini broomstick.

Ed also managed to plan a little surprise for Roy. To get Roy back for the snowball fight last year, the blond alchemist set up several snowball traps for the Flame Alchemist. Roy managed to dodge the snowball Ed plainly threw at him, but didn’t see the pile of snow that fell on top of him as he opened the door. Roy wasn’t all that amused but Ed was rolling on the floor in laughter. It started a snowball fight inside the Gryffindor Common Room. Luckily, the five of them managed to clean up the common room before Professor McGonagall caught them.

Hogwarts was adorned with all sorts of Christmas decorations. Christmas trees covered in snow stood in the hallways giving off a pleasant pine smell. In the Grand Hall, snow fell from the ceiling, disappearing before it touched the ground. Shiny golden, red, and green tinsel were looped on the wall. Shinka was found playing with it. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossed the ceiling.

Ed strolled into the Grand Hall, admiring all the decorations. He was the first to arrive for dinner that night. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still outside, continuing their snowball fight. Roy and Ed were out there earlier launching their attacks at each other. Hell, even Malfoy joined in on the fun.

-Flashback-

“Don’t think you’re going to win this year, Roy,” said Ed. He rolled the snowball in his hand, packing the snow tighter. Ed was planning to pay Roy back for every single snowball the Flame Alchemist threw at him last year. It shouldn’t be too hard. It was only seventy-two snowballs.

Roy only smiled back. “Now, now, Fullmetal, You know fire always beats ice.” The familiar white spark gloves adorned Roy’s hands.

Ed noticed this and frowned. “Hey, this is a snowba-“

-BOOM!-

Ed ducked just in time to miss the stream of flames that went over his head. Roy merely smirked. “Hey! Not! Fair!” shouted Ed as he dodged the next volley of attacks.

Roy’s smirk grew larger. “All’s fair in love and war, Fullmetal!”

A few yards away, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared with disbelief. Ron dropped the snowball that he was making to the ground with a –thud!- Mr. Mustang was shooting fire at Ed… Wasn’t that dangerous? Perhaps they should avoid those two….

“Looks like Mr. Mustang finally decided to take out the trash.”

The three Gryffindors turned around, snapped out of their thoughts. There stood Malfoy behind them. Surprisingly Crabbe and Goyle weren’t present. “Stuff it, Malfoy,” Ron snapped. He wasn’t going to let Malfoy ruin his Christmas afternoon.

Draco opened his mouth to say something when a snowball flew into his face. It seemed Ed heard what Malfoy had called him. Angrily, Draco wiped the snow off his face and yelled back at Ed, “You bastard shrimp! You’ll pay for that!”

Harry watched in amazement as Ed managed to yell back “WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BUG SO SMALL THAT YOU NEED A MIRCOSCOPE TO SEE?!” while dodging all of Mr. Mustang’s flame attacks. Draco opened his mouth to throw back another insult when another snowball planted itself on his face. That snowball was from Roy who was annoyed that someone was distracting Edward. That was the last straw for Draco. He picked up a handful of snow and marched straight onto the battlefield.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. Malfoy… was going into the battle before them? Now there was no way they were going to let that happen. Picking up their own snowballs, they raced down the hill. CHARGE!

-End of Flashback-

Unfortunately for Ed, Roy won… again. Ed wasn’t sure how, but he did know that Roy used Alchemy. The question was when did the Flame Alchemist know how to create a transmutation circle that created an avalanche? (Completely different elements!) Perhaps that was Roy’s protection when the weather was rainy and he couldn’t create a flame.

Anyways, Ed and Roy left the snowball fight early. Both wanted to grab a change of clothes and a hot shower before dinner. Neither of them wanted to sit through dinner soaking wet and feeling soggy.

Outside though, Harry and Draco were laying on the ground, breathing heavily. Ron and Hermione had just left seconds before while Harry and Draco were still in the middle of the war of snowballs. “You know, Potter,” Draco started, taking in a deep breath of frosty air. “Your throwing arm sucks. I see why you’re only the seeker. You would never make it as a chaser.”

“I,” said Harry, trying to catch his breath. “Can say the same thing about your catching abilities.”

Draco didn’t say anything, but threw a handful of snow at Harry anyways.

----------

“Fullmetal! Come over here.”

Ed snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. Roy was standing a few feet away. “Hm?” Ed tilted his head. Now when did Roy arrive? Ed walked towards Roy with a slightly puzzled look; he must have been deep in his thoughts if he didn’t hear the older man walk into the room.

Roy pointed towards the ceiling. “Look up and tell me what you see,” Roy instucted. Ed didn’t notice the growing smile on Roy’s face. Looking up, Ed said, “What about it? There’s nothing but holly and mistletoe…” Ed trailed off as he felt something wet plant itself on his cheek. As a tingling feeling of warmth slowly spread though his body, Ed stared at Roy. Did he just… Ed was about to ask Roy why when he was cut off by someone else.

“Oh, are we early?”

Ed twirled around, seeing Ron and Hermione walk into the Grand Hall. Hermione looked at Ed. “Ed are you alright? You look a bit flushed.”

Ed fought back his blush. “N-nothing!” he stammered out. Ron and Hermione looked at him, a look of worry growing on their faces. While Ed tried to convince them otherwise, Roy stared out the window, ignoring the conversation. So much for convincing himself that he wasn’t falling in love…

-------------------------

Christmas dinner at Hogwarts never failed to impress. Roasted chicken with tender skin, plump apples that oozed with sweet cinnamon and sugar glaze, warm hot cocoa with marshmallows floating in the swirl of cream and slowly disappearing, and a honey almond salad that brought a refreshingly sweet yet tangy taste. There was plum pudding and the ever dreadful fruitcake that lay hidden on the table. Eggnog was popular too. It was all finished up with warm freshly baked yellow cake decorated with red and green frosting.

Even the Professors were high in spirits on Christmas. Dumbledore had led them in a few of his favorite Christmas Carols. Hagrid was booming more and more loudly with each goblet of eggnog he consumed. Fred and George pulled off one of their best pranks of the year. They had bewitched Percy’s prefect badge so that it now read “Pinhead.”

Christmas is wonderful, isn’t it?

-------------------------

Before everyone knew it, Christmas had come and gone. Students came back, pouring in with their new clothes and toys, showing them off to their friends. Greetings and hugs were exchanged. The fear of attacks still lingered in everyone’s minds but for the most part, the gossip about Harry was slowly disappearing. Eventually the excitement died and classes begun again.

Days slowly turned into weeks and without anyone noticing it, February had already arrived. Fear of the monster grew smaller as there had been no other attacks after Nearly Headless Nick and Justin. The Mandrakes were also growing nicely; they would soon be ready for harvest. Even so, it would be a big lie if one was to say everything was back to normal. Needless to say there was still a cloud of depression hovering over everyone’s head. No Hufflepuff would come even close to ten feet to Harry and Ernie Macmillan, Justin’s best friend, would always glare at Harry or make rude/hurtful side remarks whenever Harry was in ear shot. Roy and Ed were still furiously examining Riddle’s diary, but suddenly hit a brick wall when someone stole it from Roy’s desk.

The worse was when Lockhart decided to so something about the unmistakable gloom. Lockhart worked his magic on the worse possible day: Valentine’s Day. Some people were blinded as bright neon shades of pink suddenly appeared everywhere in Hogwarts. Hearts framed with white lace and shiny red hearts darted across the ceiling. Pink flowers were in vases on the table. Heart-shaped confetti was falling from the ceiling. For those who weren’t blinded by the colors, what they saw next did.

Cupids… or what was supposed to look like cupids. They looked more like short hairy dwarfs wearing diapers, fake wings, and cheap plastic looking halo. They were carrying little plastic harps and were delivering Valentines’ greetings to people. Their voices… Ed cringed and covered his ears as he walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.

“What the hell is going on here?” Ed snarled to no one in particular. Those terrible off-key pitches… argh! And what was with all the pink colored hearts doing on the walls and falling from the ceiling?

Suddenly, Lockhart’s voice rang throughout the room, grating on Ed’s ears even more. The idiot was also wearing lurid pink robes that matched the room’s décor. “Welcome, welcome everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the wonderful service of the singing cupids. They’ll be delivering your Valentine’s to people all day. Please enjoy the rest of the festive activities I had planned for all of you. I would also like to thank the forty-six people who have sent me cards so far.”

Ed rushed to his seat before he could collapse from dizziness. This was beginning to be too much for him. As he sat down, he noticed that Ron looked just as disgusted as he was. Harry looked more shocked than anything else. Hermione… Hermione was having a fit of giggles. Ed looked towards the teacher’s table. Professor McGonagall had a slight twitch and Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele-Gro. Poor Roy looked like he was in pain as he was stuck sitting next to Lockhart.

Roy had come down late this morning and ended up with the one seat that all the teachers hated: the seat next to Lockhart. Lockhart always sat at the end of the teacher’s table and ever since the teachers figured that out, everyone avoided the seat next to him. Some teachers would go as far as skipping meals if they find out they had the seat next to Lockhart.

“My friendly, card-carrying cupids will be roving around school today delivering your Valentines’! And the fun doesn’t stop there! I’m sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirits of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion? And while you’re at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I’ve ever met, the sly dog! Or ask Mr. Mustang how to capture the ladies’ attentions since he has a growing fan club almost the same size as mine.”

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands, embarrassed. Professor Snape looked as though the first person who asked him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison. Roy gritted his teeth and tugged on his white spark gloves. He really shouldn’t have come down for breakfast this morning. Also his fan club wasn’t the –almost- the same size as Lockhart’s, it was bigger! The hundred plus boxes of chocolate, candy, and cards that blocked his door this morning was more than enough proof. (It was the whole reason to why he was late. Roy had to transmutate his wall to get out of his room this morning). The idiot had no right to brag about his -46- cards. Not to mention, Roy still had to think of a way so that Ed wouldn’t find out about all those gifts. Right now they were all shoved away in his room.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roy saw Lockhart’s chair. A simple wooden chair that was just like everyone else’s. Suddenly, an idea came to him. A smirk graced Roy’s face, the perfect revenge. After searching his pockets, Roy leaned over to the back of Lockhart’s chair and began to draw something.

Ed was in the middle of asking Hermione if she was one of the forty-six people who sent Lockhart cards when an all too familiar blue light caught his eye. Most people didn’t notice, too busy being distracted by the neon pink colors and the singing ‘cupids’. Ed frowned slightly. ‘Now what is Roy trying to do?’ Ed thought to himself.

He soon found out as Lockhart decided it was time to finally stop talking and take a seat… only to have the chair collapse beneath him. Laughter soon rang through Grand Hall. Most of the girls were horrified while most of the guys found this extremely amusing. Even Snape looked amused.

Ed was nearly rolling on the ground in laughter. Wiping the tears from his eyes he thought to himself, ‘So that’s what Roy was up to. He changed the structure of the chair so that the moment Lockhart applied pressure to the surface of the chair, it would collapse, unable to hold itself up. Absolutely brilliant.’

----------------------

Valentine’s Day however, didn’t go as smooth. Those ‘cupids’ were extremely annoying. One embarrassed Harry by delivering a greeting in the middle of the hall. Humiliated, Harry ended up hurting the person who sent it to him: Ginny. Ron wasn’t happy but forgave Harry on the count that Harry didn’t know it was from Ginny and that the cupids delivering Valentine were stupid.

Lockhart was acting more like an idiot as the day progressed and certain teachers like Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall, who were still upset from that morning, had a dark angry cloud floating above their heads during class. Professor Flitwick was so humiliated from that morning that he canceled class and Roy suddenly had a handful of boys asking him for tips on how to date a girl. One glare from Ed silenced Roy for the rest of the day though.

If there was one good thing that came out of this day, it was that Ed gave Roy some chocolate.

------------------

“Fullmetal? Are you alright? You’ve been staring at me all day.”

Ed snapped out of his thoughts. “I-I-It’s n-nothing!” He more or less shouted. Roy smirked. He knew something was bothering Ed, but in the mean time, it was just adorable to see Ed all flustered like that. He couldn’t help it; the boy was just too delectable.

Ed fought down his blush. Why was he blushing? Ed quickly looked for a way to avoid the subject. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to look far. A horde of boys suddenly rushed into the library shouting out questions, pushing Ed aside and running up to Roy. “Mr. Mustang! Since you know so much about girls, what’s the best way to ask her out on a date?!” “How do I tell a girl I like her?” “Where should I take my girlfriend out on a date?” “How I do I become a ladies’ man?” “Help!”

Roy silently twitched. Who were these boys and how dare they interrupt his time with Edward. So he was bi, but it’s not like he had the easiest time with girls, which may be the reason to why he liked guys more than he liked girls. It was just a natural reaction to his ‘charm’ that girls followed him. It wasn’t his fault. Maybe he should just throw these boys some random answer and kick them out of the library. In a way, it was nice that these boys were coming to him for advice. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.

A glare from Edward though, silenced any thoughts of it being a good idea. “Full-“ Roy started. He was cut off by the horde of boys who suddenly started shouting out questions again. “Should I give her flowers or chocolate?!” “Girls don’t like me! What should I do?”

Roy watched as Ed’s glare intensified and the younger alchemist walked out of the room as the horde of boys further pushed the two apart. Why was everything going wrong today?

------------------------

By the time Roy managed to get the horde of boys out of the library, Ed was far gone. Roy let out a sigh. So much for spending the afternoon with Edward. Roy looked down and saw a red box where Ed had been sitting earlier that afternoon. He picked it up to reveal that it was a simple red box tied with a simple white bow. Roy opened it to find that inside there was about five pieces of chocolate and a little card. It read: Happy Valentine’s Day.

Roy blinked and then smiled. So this was what was on Ed’s mind. Roy picked up a piece and popped it in his mouth. “Looks like I owe Edward a White Day’s gift.”

-------------------------

Upstairs in Gryffindor’s dormitory, Ed laid on his bed, clutching his pillow. His mind was spinning with various different thoughts and feelings. ‘Why did I buy chocolate for Roy,’ Ed thought to himself. Valentine’s Day was a day that girls gave chocolate to their friends and the one they love. Not boys giving chocolate to other boys. Still… even if Ed did this on White Day, he had a feeling that it would still feel awkward.

It wasn’t like he was falling in love, right?

--------------------------

Morning had come all too soon and many students were extremely grateful that all the neon pink colors, hearts, and cupids were gone. Ed’s mind was still swimming around with the notion that he was falling in love, no matter how much the boy denied it. He had skipped breakfast and ended up wandering the hallway, lost in thought.

The day continued, for the most part, normally. Most of the students were excited though, as today was the Quidditch match with Gryffindor against Hufflepuff. It was the match for the House Cup, so Harry was in especially high spirits.

That was until Harry heard that voice again. “Kill this time… let me rip… tear…”

Harry gave a shout, startling Ron and Hermione who were with him. “I just hear that voice again!” said Harry. “Did you hear it?” Ron shook his head, staring wide-eyed. Hermione on the other hand, slapped her hand to her forehead.

“I think I just understood something! I’ve got to go to the library!” Without another word, Hermione sprinted away, up the stairs. As she ran, she nearly ran into Ed who was just coming down the stairs. Hermione gave a quick apology and continued her way.

“What’s her problem?” asked Ed. His head was still spinning and hopefully the Quidditch game would allow him to direct his attention to something else.

“Dunno, she said she was going to the library,” said Ron.

“Why is she going to the library?”

Ron shrugged. “Because that’s what Hermione does. When in doubt, go to the library. You do that too, Ed.”

Ed blinked. “I do not!”

“Yes, you do.”

People started to emerge from the Great Hall from lunch. Their voices and footsteps rang like a chatter of noises. “You better start going, Harry,” said Ron, breaking his and Ed’s argument.

“Yeah, go win the House Cup for Gryffindor,” said Ed. Harry smiled and nodded, then took off to go get ready.

------------------------------

“Mr. Mustang!”

Roy looked up. Hermione stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. It looked like the poor girl had run all the way up here. “Ms. Granger. What are you doing up here? Shouldn’t you be at the Quidditch game?”

“There’s something I need to see first!”

-----------------------------

Harry looked up. He was just about to mount his broom when he saw Professor McGonagall come half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone.

Up in the stands, Ed saw the same thing and felt his heart drop like a stone. The oppressive feeling weighted heavily. He leaped from his seat and headed down towards the field, Ron following right behind him.

“This match has been canceled,” Professor McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the pack stadium. There were boos and shouts. Oliver Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran towards Professor McGonagall without getting off his broomstick.

“But Professor!” he shouted. “We’ve got to play – the cup – Gryffindor –“

Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued to speak through her megaphone:

“All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!”

Professor McGonagall beckoned Harry over to her. “Potter, I think you’d better come with me…”

Harry was at loss of words. It was then that Ed and Ron suddenly caught up to them. “Yes, perhaps you’d better come, too Weasley, Elric…” Ed had a look of fear on his face. It was like the blond already knew what happened but just didn’t want to believe.

Some of the students swarming around them were grumbling about the match being canceled; others looked worried. Harry, Ron, and Ed followed Professor McGonagall back into the school and up the marble staircase. But they weren’t taken to anybody’s office this time.

“This will be a bit of a shock,” said Professor McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice as they approached the infirmary. “There has been another attack… a triple attack this time.”

Ed drew in a sharp breath as Professor McGonagall opened the door. Madam Pomfrey was standing over a Ravenclaw girl and she was in between–

“Hermione!” shouted Ron.

“Roy!” shouted Ed at the same time.

Both Hermione and Roy lay utterly still, their eyes open and glassy.

“They were found near the library,” said Professor McGonagall. “I don’t suppose you can explain why a mirror was near Ms. Clearwater and Ms. Ganger and why this watch was near Mr. Mustang?

She held up a small, circular mirror and a silver watch with an engraving of a lion and a banner. Ed was at a loss of words. No, this wasn’t happening!

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I treasure every bit of you –

(Tsubasa RESERVior Chronicles Chapter 74: Your Power)

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Reimei: Honor and Pride

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Chapter XI

Upholding Honor, Creepy Crawly

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kimi made (todoke) kitto ato sukoshi

Surely I'll -reach- you in a little while

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They say in order to understand how important something is to you, you must first lose the thing you call “precious”

Rain…

Is its heaven’s blessing or curse? It can wash away the sins of mankind… or drown the earth’s sorrows…

Drops of water beat down steady on the silent castle. The sky was a shade of dark gray as the sun hid behind the cloak of the clouds. A quiet murmur ran through Gryffindor’s Common Room. Many were in shock, others whispered about conspiracies and theories. They had just lost another classmate to the “horror” of the Chamber of Secret.

“That’s two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff,” said the Weasley twins’ friend, Lee Jordan, counting on his fingers. “Haven’t any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are safe? Isn’t it obvious all this stuff’s coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin – why don’t they just chuck all the Slytherins out?” he roared to nods and scattered applause.

A boy sat in the corner of the Common Room, ignoring the angry words and the surprised faces. The normally golden eyes were a dull amber color, and there was a turmoil emotions conflicted within them: shock, surprise, horror, anger, concern, and confusion all mashed together in a whirlwind of emotions.

It had been some time since Ed had been thrown into such a shock like this. Death… death was nothing new. He had seen it too many times in his young life while traveling across the country with Al. Roy wasn’t even dead… it was just a fake death. Still, it did nothing to soothe the terrifying thoughts of actually losing Roy for real. Losing his mother was hard enough; the thought of losing Roy was crushing.

Ed let out sad sigh. His heart felt heavy. He wanted to do something, but deep down he knew there was little he could do. The Mandrakes would be ready soon and Roy would hopefully be back to normal… There was nothing left to do but wait…

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“Ed seems really depressed about it.”

“Yeah. Do you think it’s cause he likes Hermione?”

-whack-

“What was that for?!”

“Sometimes I think Hermione is right when she says you’re slow to pick up things.”

“Hey!”

Harry and Ron sat on the other side of the common room. They thought it was best to leave Ed alone for now. The blond haired boy was obvious taking it harder than everyone else. Harry and Ron didn’t exactly know the relationship between Mr. Mustang and Edward: how long they’ve known each other and so on. It was probably best they didn’t interfere until Ed was ready.

“Hey, Ron.”