Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry about the long absence of not updating. I just never got back into the mood to write. But now I sorta am, and I hope that if I can keep on writing, then I'll get back into it. Truth be told, I'm not sure exactly whats going to go on in this chapter. I focused a lot on when Roy and company entered Hogwarts searching for Fullmetal and the big twist that will soon appear. I didn't really have specific ideas as to what would happen in between.

Chapter 22

The headmaster's room was silent. The pictures barely stirred as they watched the people that were gathered around the room. The silver haired headmaster had his hands folded under his chin as he leaned forward on his hard, wooden desk. Through his half-moon glasses he watched the ebony haired Colonel as he was in deep thought. Behind the headmaster stood his most trusted friends in the Order.

With his arms crossed at his chest, Roy looked over his subordinates. He had a hard choice and he didn't want to choose wrong. He could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that they all wanted to go in and help rescue Edward. But he couldn't take them all. And the ones he didn't want to take were the one that could be the closest thing Ed could call a family.

Not wanting to take Winry was an obvious fact. She had no battle experience, no weapon to speak of, and she was young and has her whole life a head of her. Roy wouldn't be able to live with himself if she died. He had already killed her parents; he wasn't going to be responsible for having her killed too.

But Al was a different story. He was very proficient in alchemy and in fighting. Al had always been with Edward. In all of their adventures, it had been Al that kept Edward going, kept him from doing things too drastically, and the one to save Ed when he did manage to get caught. But Roy was uncomfortable in sending the armored soul.

He had already spoken to Dumbledore in what weapons Voldemort and his men were going to use. The headmaster had replied with magic. Roy had already come to the conclusion that magic was equivalent to alchemy. And by the looks of things, this alchemy was more advanced than his home world. He shuddered to think what could happen if Al was struck with one of the more advanced spells. He didn't know what he would do if they managed to rescue Ed, but his brother's soul was ripped from its anchoring point.

Roy sighed and looked down at Winry. "Winry, I want you to stay here. I know you want to come and help, but I'm afraid of what could happen in the case of a battle." Winry nodded her head in understanding.

"Fine, I'll just have Ed's automail ready when he returns." Roy smiled at the girls hope. He noticed a lot of worry was lifted from her shoulders. He was glad that she agreed, but he doubted that Alphonse would be as willing.

He turned to Alphonse; the armor shifted under his gaze. "Al, I want you to stay here too." Just as he expected, Al started to retaliate.

"But Colonel, he's my brother, I should be the one to help-"

"I want you to stay here Alphonse." Roy sternly interrupted. "We don't know enough about this magic and what it could do to you if you get hit by it."

"No, that's not fair! I'll be careful, I'll-"

"Listen to him Alphonse!" Al jumped and looked down at his teacher. From where she was sitting, she glared up at her former pupil. He wriggled even worse under her gaze.

"But Teacher…" Alphonse trailed off, not wanting to get into an argument with his tutor.

"He's right Alphonse." Professor Dumbledore agreed, "If the Unforgivable curse, Avada Kedavra, hits you then you will be destroyed. Even with your armor you'll still be hit, Avada Kedavra is meant to destroy your soul, not your body. You being the most threatening out of all of us, will probably be one of the first targeted by this spell." The members of the order behind Dumbledore looked in confusion at the armor, but didn't say anything.

"Fine." Al said and held his head down in defeat.

"I'm sorry Alphonse, but I can't risk you coming." Roy apologized. He studied Al a bit, and then turned towards the headmaster. "We're ready."

Sweat blurred Ed's vision as he panted against his statue. The binds constricted him against the coarse stone, making it difficult for Ed to breathe. He wheezed for breath struggling to keep his consciousness, but with the repeated forbidden curses, Ed's vision only increasingly became blurry and dark.

A laugh was heard in the background. It wasn't Voldemort's maniacal laugh; instead it was someone different, someone Ed didn't know, though many of this Death Eater's companions kept calling him Malfoy, or Lucious. Voldemort was sitting away from everyone else while they watched the young blonde being beaten and ridiculed. Whenever Ed got the chance, he tried to catch a glimpse of him. The snake man was sitting beside the long wooden table with Ed's broken automail. Voldemort didn't move as studied the complicated device.

"We touch this, and we're off?" Hughes sounded skeptical was he looked at the tattered shirt that was lying on the headmaster's desk.

"That's about it, yes." Remus Lupin said as he gathered around the desk with his other Order companions.

"And this will take us directly to Edward?" Izumi questioned looking down upon the holed shirt.

"Hopefully. We might be slightly off course due to the fact that we don't have a sure fire location." Arthur Weasley said standing beside the headmaster. Dumbledore looked grave as he gazed over all of the different people that were coming into this battle. Across from him stood Roy who mirrored his look.

"Remember, Professor Snape is spying for us." Dumbledore reminded the group. Everyone in the order nodded; the Amestrians nodded also, but for a different reason. Dumbledore mainly said: try not to kill everyone you see.

The headmaster looked around one last time. All the wizards had their wands out and ready while the foreigners had their various gloves, knifes, and guns set and ready to go. "All right, on the count of three," Dumbledore's hand hovered over the tattered shirt, everyone else followed suit.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!" Everyone grabbed a corner of shirt and away they went.

Ed tried to hold in a moan and barely succeeded. He continued to huff and puff out air, and gasp for some fresh, clean oxygen. In front of him, the group of Death Eaters hooted at seeing the crippled boy in pain.

"Come on Malfoy! Put some more 'umf' in it!" One laughed from the back of the group.

"Yeah! Make him really scream!" Another whoop came from the crowd.

"I guess I should try to please the crowd," Lucious Malfoy agreed as he raised his wand again. "Crucious!"

Already being exhausted, Ed called out in pain. All over his body screamed out, but the only thing that made any noise was Edward's mouth. Already blackness started to consume most of his eyesight and then his mind. But before he passed out, a small, but distinctive pop, echoed throughout the loud, laughed filled air.

Roy quickly braced himself as he landed. Standing up he stood beside Professor Dumbledore. Behind him, his companions swiftly regained themselves and stood mixed together in a random fashion.

In front of him a ramshackle shack stood its ground inside the graveyard. To the side of the house, a man looked up from the splintered wooden table with gleaming metal that glistened in the small wavering of the wax candle that crowded the table. The man's red, snake eyes widened from surprise and then turned to raging slivers as he glared upon the invading group.

A good many paces away from the snaked man stood a mid-sized group of wizards garbed in black cloaks. These wizards were surrounding a tall stone statue, laughing and pointing at what was in front of it. Looking through the gaps of the moving heads, Roy could see a tightly bound blonde's head sagging forward.

Luckily, out of everyone within the general area, only the snaked man saw the newly arrived group.

Roy stepped forward, upon seeing his young subordinate unconscious and being ridiculed upon. Already his hand was coming out of pocket as he went into battle mode. His black eyes glared at the group in front of him. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed the red-eyed man quickly stand up and start to draw something from his robes. It didn't matter though; Roy's hand was already extended.

Snap!

Screams and yelps erupted as clothing, hair and flesh started to sizzle under the quick burst of an inferno of fire. As the smoke cleared many of the black cloaked wizards were scattered about on the muddy ground or in battle stance and ready to go, having apparated in time to avoid most of the damage. Many looked shocked upon seeing a group of attackers standing opposite of them. But what really baffled their minds was that the obvious attacker, didn't have his wand extended, just a gloved hand. What's more, the wizards behind the blue suited man were in equal shock, plus old man Dumbledore and the red-eyed man looked at the black haired man in disbelief. But both groups regained their composure and both started the battle at the same time.

"Hughes, Armstrong, go fetch Fullmetal," Roy ordered snapping his fingers another time, careful to not put to much power into his attacks out of fear of roasting the person he came to rescue.

Without saying anything they both ran off towards the angel statue, Armstrong defending Hughes as they focused on their rescue mission. Many times Armstrong had to slam his fist into the ground creating a barrage of earth spikes to go spiraling into the air, only to have them colliding into the beams of energy that were coming from the retaliating wands. Other times his fist hit the ground to send an attack on his attackers.

Dumbledore gracefully dodged another one of Voldemort's powerful attacks. He cast another spell towards the Dark Lord, and then quickly took a glance towards the two rescuing Edward. They were having slow goings, being that most of the Death Eaters were focused on them. Dumbledore cast a repulsion spell against another one of Voldemort's attacks, and desperately tried to think of a way to distract the numerous Death Eaters, but also keep Voldemort at bay. But the two working their way towards Edward were soldiers; they knew what they were doing.

Izumi slapped her hands to the ground, creating a giant stone fist a few feet away from her. She failed to hit her target as the Death Eater apparated out of harm's way. She quickly clapped her hands again and put up a rock barrier in front of her. She gasped for breath. She hadn't fought like this in years, and with her sickness, it was becoming harder and harder for her to keep at the pace she was going without coughing up blood. She turned towards her barrier and clapped her hands upon it. The barrier started to degenerate, and rock spikes took their place as they jutted out at the people in front of her, only to successful tear a whole into one of the dark cloaks.

Riza quickly reloaded her gun as she stood behind one of Izumi's rock barriers. Behind her and the barrier she heard the staccato snaps of her commanding officer and the clattering claps of Izumi as they both tackled the enemy force. Explosions were sounded, as the other wizards were busy casting spells, trying to prevent any one Death Eater from attacking Edward or the two soldiers that were trying to rescue him. But they were outnumbered.

Roy turned and snapped his fingers at the group that was bombarding Armstrong and Hughes with attacks. He cursed as most of the group dispersed away, leaving his attack useless expect for buying his two friends time. He turned again with his hand extended. A strong beam of light immediately impacted upon meeting his turning chest, causing him to stumble back slightly.

Roy gasped inward as the spell took affect and caused an emersion of pain to sprout and spread like an uncontrollable weed throughout his body. His body shacked uncontrollably as he tried to endure the pain, but another burst of pain shot through his body.

Riza turned around from her protective rock barrier, gun pointed and ready to go. But she froze. Her commanding officer was ahead of her, shaking madly and sweating profusely. Even from where she was standing she could see the wide shock that was being emitted from his eyes. Pain was written all over his face.

Instinctively she started to run towards him, looking for the person who was causing him colossal pain. Her hawk eyes instantly saw the attacker, a tall woman with a happy smirk on her face.

Sliding to a stop, Riza braced her feet and fired only one shot at the cloaked woman. The Death Eater collapsed, dead on the mud-ridden ground, canceling the forbidden curse.

Roy collapsed to the ground in sync with his attacker. Upon touching the ground, massive stonewalls appeared surrounding the officer on three sides. Riza resumed her sprint towards her friend and crouched beside him. Joining her was Izumi, checking up on the dog of the military, and taking a breather behind her newly crafted wall.

"Sir?" Riza panted out. Roy was slouched up against the wall, breathing heavily. He looked up at both Izumi and Riza, thankful for their help. He carefully stood up and straightened out his clothes while leaning against the dust-covered wall. Resituating his glove he said, "I'm glad I made Alphonse stay behind." He stepped around the barrier and immediately snapped his fingers.

"About time!" Hughes mumbled to himself as he reached the bounded Edward with Armstrong. Immediately, a knife was slide from its hiding spot in Hughes' sleeve and placed itself onto its hand. A quick flick of the wrist and Edward's bounds were released causing the unconscious Edward to fall forward into Hughes' arms. Quickly taking refuge behind the statue that Ed was tied to, Hughes checked for a pulse in the young boy. A steady and sure pulse thumped against his fingers; Hughes sighed in relief.

"Lets go!" Hughes yelled out to his friend that was still attacking the retailing Death Eaters. He propped Ed on his shoulders causing him to uncomfortably dangle over his back.

Roy glanced over and saw Hughes and Armstrong working their way back to the tattered portkey that was lying on the ground. He started to back up as well, motioning for Riza and Izumi to do the same.

Dumbledore saw the slow retreat of the Amestrians. Now it was up to the Order to make sure they retreated safely. Before they arrived they planned out how the will return home. Once Edward was recaptured, the Alchemists would take the portkey back home while the Wizards worked on keeping them safe. Once they heard the pop of the portkey leaving, then the Wizards would quickly apparate out. The only problem was if the wizards could hear the small pop within the booming battle, and distinct it from the other apparating pops. Dumbledore took quick but unobvious glances towards the Alchemist group; he needed his whole attention upon his spar with Voldemort, that is, if he wanted to make it out alive.

"Come on Roy, let's hurry up and get out of here!" Hughes suggested as he crouched down beside the shirt, careful to not touch it yet. Roy snapped his fingers one last time, creating a quick burst of flame that stirred the dust up in the air. He quickly glanced around him and saw that everyone was here and in the same amount of pieces that they arrived in, minus Edward.

"One last thing," Roy said and turned back around towards the battle. The wizards were still duking it out, unaware that they were beside the portkey. "Professor!" Roy yelled out, signaling that they were leaving. Roy didn't look back he grabbed the garment of clothing and spun away from the battlefield. Small staccato pops accompanied him as he and the wizards were traveling back towards the school.

A loud crash echoed in the Headmaster's office. Many of the paintings jumped and let out small yelps of surprise. Fawkes ruffled her feathers and called out to the group that was collapsed, panting upon the hard floor.

Roy groaned as he sat up gasping for air. The adrenaline rush had left him the moment he smacked into the ground, now he realized that he was exhausted. Looking around he saw everyone was in the same shape he was; sprawled out on the floor or hunched over, gasping in the dust filled air. It looked like everyone was tired from the battle. He knew that feeling well, being scared during any battle and the end of the adrenaline rush is enough to make anyone, no matter how much training, tired in the end. His eyes came to a small blonde head whose hair was frazzled and stained with dirt. He quickly tried to pick himself up to check upon his still moving subordinate, but stumbled over and collapsed back to the ground, still tired and shocked from the intense battle.

"Brother!" Roy turned his head and saw Alphonse and Winry standing up from their padded chairs with awestruck faces. Alphonse quickly rushed over to his older brother, trying to get there as fast as possible without stepping on anyone, but in his rush a few chairs crashed to the ground. Winry followed after, a little more delicately than her childhood friend.

Alphonse hovered over his brother in shock. Ed's figure was thin and weak from lack of nutrition. His clothes were battered, bloody, and caked with mud. The once golden hair was frizzled with dirt clots and tangled knots. What was left of his automail needed to be picked clean of everything that was frozen inside.

Winry kneeled beside her friend, her eyes wide in shock. But the doctor in her appeared and she quickly checked Ed's pulse. Small thumps passed under her fingers, a sure signal that he was alive. She sighed in relief.

"Where's the infirmary?" Roy asked using a fallen chair to support himself as he slowly stood up. The other fighters moved slightly on the floor, recovering from the battle and from the shock of the portkey. Dumbledore was also standing; Izumi was up beside him coughing into her hand.

"Follow me," Dumbledore said as he watched Alphonse swiftly pick Edward up into his metal arms. The young blonde's arm hung limply at his side. As quickly as he could, he opened the door leading out of his office and started to lead the brothers out of his office. Winry stood in slight shock. Seeing Edward mangled and missing his limbs, reminded her of when Alphonse brought him to her and Pinako, when they had failed at the human transmutation. This time there was just an older body to in Alphonse's arms. Shaking it aside she trotted after them.

Izumi stopped at the door and turned to look at the Colonel. "Go ahead," Roy said gesturing for her to follow, "I need to make sure everyone else is alright." Izumi nodded her head and followed Winry out the door.

Turning around he saw most of the wizards standing up and checking for their own or their comrade's injuries. Armstrong was already standing up and heading over to Hughes to check on him, as he was still sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath. Between his gasps, Hughes muttered to Armstrong, "Why…do you…have to…run…so fast?"

Roy turned towards Riza and saw her sitting on the edge of a chair, slowly regaining her breath. "You all right?" Roy asked. She looked up.

"I should be asking you that, sir." Roy chuckled, and smiled his thanks towards Riza for helping him out of his bind. Now that he thought about it, he could still feel the twinges of pain from the aftermath of that spell.

"Yeah, are you alright?" Roy turned and saw the redheaded Arthur Weasley standing beside Dumbledore's wooden desk. Sweat rolled down his face, but he looked entirely intact.

"I'm fine," Roy nodded. He turned to look at everyone. Satisfied that they were all right, he sat down beside Riza. The Hospital Wing's nurse didn't need this many people crowding her from healing Edward. He'd give her a couple minutes to work on him in peace.

Harry quietly traveled the empty hallways underneath his invisibility cloak. He was dressed in his sweat-drenched pajamas; still shaking from the nightmare he just woke up from. His scar constantly pounded with each step that silently hit the floor.

He stopped for a moment. Listening intently, he searched for the source of the faint noise he thought he heard. Silence. I'm just scaring myself. He thought to himself as he sighed out his relief. He thought back to his dream and shuddered. He silently cursed his connection with Voldemort.

His nightmare still flickered in front of his eyes. It was a giant battle in a large graveyard. Seeing through eyes that he could only assume to be Voldemort, witnessed the battle. At the beginning of the dream, he was surprised, slightly frightened even. But then rage began to build, and then it transformed into a pure hatred as he entered the battle. He faced up against Dumbledore, casting curses and hexes, while dodging the spells cast at him. Great fireballs appeared and then quickly disappeared, causing a great inferno to emerge and re-emerge at random. In his peripheral vision, massive stone fists, much like the ones that appeared in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, sent people soaring into tombstones and the isolated shack. Stonewalls appeared at random blocking numerous spells before it crumbled to pebbles. Enormous rock spikes also jutted through the air, impaling shirts and cloaks, and sometimes a body. What he found odd was the constant staccato of gunshots. Why a muggle was here, baffled him, but he had to finish the fight with Dumbledore of course.

As he apparated around, he saw a young blonde, tied to a statue, missing an arm and leg. Seeing the boy in his wretched condition scared Harry, but barely bothered Voldemort. What scared Harry the most was the expression on Dumbledore's face, as he faced off against the Dark Lord. He felt the energy pour off of his headmaster, and he felt an equal amount emanate from Voldemort.

Harry woke up during the middle of the fight, breathing heavily and soaked in sweat. He got up, out from his cozy bed, he had to check to see if it was real.

Harry woke up from his mind's reenactment of his dream, again to an abstract sound. He silenced his breathing and listened harder.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

His faced puzzled as he tired to figure out what was creating the sound. The noises grew louder and louder. Harry cautiously turned the corner.

"Uff!" Harry fell backwards; the person that he collided with did too. A swift swoosh of a cloak was heard. Harry opened his eyes only to see a wand pointing directly at his head. The head of his invisibility cloak slipped off.

"Its only you, Harry." Harry looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore sheathing his wand. Harry's wide eyes took in every detail of his headmaster. Dumbledore's old face looked older from exhaustion. The sweat that was slowly drying on his face was also mixing in with the dirt, creating splotches on his wrinkled face. His blue eyes were hard and steely.

"Come on, we're almost there," Dumbledore said turning and started to quickly walk down the hall, leading the suit of armor as it clanged down the corridor, leaving Harry behind. Harry looked up and saw two women starring at him. The person he collided with was staring at him blankly while she was still on the floor. The taller darker haired lady was still, her muscles were tense. Harry realized that he still had his invisibility cloak on, and only his head was showing. He quickly stood up and took off his cloak.

"Um, sorry about that," Harry said offering a hand to the blonde haired girl that he collided with. In the dark corridor, he tried to take a closer look at the two ladies. He recognized them from the day the group of seven invaded the Great Hall. But he never had the chance to meet them or to actually look at them face to face. They had always been busy in the library, having their face dug into a book. He was very curious as to why Dumbledore was letting them stay and why he was helping them.

"Don't worry about it," the blonde said taking his hand. But as soon as she was propped on her feet, she brushed past Harry, and the taller lady and she chased after Dumbledore.

Harry thought a moment, Was that armor carrying something? He couldn't remember. He didn't really look at the armor; he didn't have much of a chance to.

Something did happen. Harry thought. He remembered seeing that taller lady fighting in his dream. And seeing Dumbledore covered in sweat, dirt, and clay didn't bode well with Harry either. With a quick movement of his arms, he placed the cloak back onto his shoulders, and securely covered his head. As quietly as he could, he chased after the girls.

"Here it is," Dumbledore said quickly opening the infirmary door, and leading his followers into the room. Stepping inside the armor quickly spotted an empty bed and placed his brother into the soft feather divan.

"Professor Dumbledore!" The headmaster turned upon hearing his nurse, Madam Pomfrey. She looked appalled at the sight of him. She hadn't yet gazed upon the smaller boy.

"Not me, him," Dumbledore motioned to Edward as he lay motionless on the bed. His tattered clothes surrounded him, making him look thin and malnourished.

"Oh my," She said quickly moving towards Edward and easily shooing the scary looking armor aside. Exhausted, Dumbledore took the bed besides Edward and sat down, resting his old, tired bones as he watched his nurse work, making sure to not get in her way; he didn't want to be kicked out of the infirmary.

She quickly and quietly analyzed Edward and his wounds. She already knew about his missing arm, but upon patting his leg to feel any broken bones, she jumped, when she felt his missing shin. It was too late in the night for these odd surprises.

"He's missing another limb." She quietly whispered as she rolled up the pant leg, expecting to see a dirty and bloody wrap around his knee. She was once again she was surprised; this time at seeing a metal plate was many hooks and holes.

"Don't worry about that; I can take care of it." The nurse turned towards the door and saw a blonde girl walk inside, followed by a taller black haired lady. Pomfrey nodded her head. She turned and grimaced at the amount of people in the room watching her work. But she knew it couldn't be helped; they did help bring him back from his captivity. They deserved the right to make sure that he wasn't poisoned or killed while he was in the hospital. But every student that stepped foot inside the infirmary to see Edward, she would be quick to throw him or her out. In a quick movement, took the curtain surrounding Ed's bed, and covered the small area around his bed, as she changed him out of his ruined clothes.

Dumbledore blinked his eyes in surprise. He sat staring at the floor, thinking. What did he do to get prosthetic limbs? He thought back to what Edward said, the last time he was here in the hospital wing. He said that alchemy was used to bring his mother back to life. He paused in his thoughts; he heard the door creaking open. Looking over at the door, he saw Harry's head sticking into the room. His eyes were locked onto Edward as the nurse, who had not noticed him, bandaged up some of Edward's deeper wounds. Harry's eyes were wide; Edward's bare chest was showing many scars, cuts and bruises. But seeing the glint of steel in his shoulder socket diverted all eyes from his scared chest to his shoulder. Below the white hospital shorts, Ed was now wearing; another glint of metal distracted the eye. Harry wasn't aware of Edward's half missing leg.

Dumbledore heaved himself up off the bed, and moved towards the door. He motioned for Harry to step outside, before the nurse noticed him and kicked him out, following after him.

The two were silent at first. Dumbledore patiently waited for Harry to decide which question to ask first. It didn't take long for him to decide.

"Is Ed alright?" Harry asked looking up into Dumbledore's tired eyes.

"As soon as he is out of the hospital wing, I'm sure he will be." Dumbledore smiled. Harry always did care about everyone else.

"But his arm and leg…"

"I don't believe those were sustained from Voldemort." Dumbledore answered. Harry paused, thinking of the best way to word his question.

"What about everyone else?" Dumbledore looked slightly puzzled at his question, then he remembered Harry's connection with Voldemort. These late nights didn't do well on the old man.

"Everyone is just tired, and maybe they'll be a little sore tomorrow morning." Harry looked relieved.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Dumbledore noticed that Harry was a little shaken. Even though a great weight of worry was lifted off of Harry's shoulders, he still looked a bit shaken.

"I'm fine. I was just worried, I didn't want anything like last year…" Harry trailed off, thinking about the death of his godfather.

"Don't worry Harry, everyone is fine." Harry nodded his head. Dumbledore pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time: 2:56. "And I imagine you should get back to bed."

Harry laughed a little and rubbed the back of his neck in an innocent way. He nodded his head and said goodnight to his headmaster before he pulled his cloak back on and marched back to bed.

As Harry left, Roy Mustang and his company arrived. He opened the door for his companions to walk in. He followed in afterwards. Looking around the hospital wing, he saw the foreigners settle in chairs or sit on the beds, making sure to not get in the nurse's way.

When Ed woke up, he noticed three things. One was the strange quite aura that surrounded him. There was barely even the sound of a rustling of clothes, though there was some clinking and clanking in the background, he recognized the sound, but he couldn't remember from where.

The second thing he noticed was that he wasn't bound to anything. And that led to the third thing he pondered about. What he noticed confused him, what was he lying on? It wasn't the uncomfortable, rough stone statue that he was tied to. Instead it was soft and fluffy, that gave way slightly to the position that Ed was in. And his head felt wonderful on what it was propped up against. It did his sore head and neck some good.

Then his brain recognized what it was. I'm on a bed!

He immediately snapped open his eyes and snapped up in his bed. All around him, he heard people jump in surprise and knock things over. But he couldn't see who it was, the light had temporarily blinded him, and he bent over and closed his eyes in pain as, for the quick movement of his body caused all of his sores and wounds to scream.

"Brother!" Ed snapped his eyes open again, seeing splotches of color blur his vision of the quilted bed. He cautiously raised his head to look for the speaker. Standing in front of his bed was a giant suit of armor with red glowing eyes, leaning over the bed.

Ed smiled wide, he opened his mouth to speak, but he barely got his words out, "Hey Alphonse." Not speaking for the weeks that he was captured caused his voice to come out in a barely audible, crackling voice.

He leaned back a bit and looked around him. Surrounding him were all his close friends. Hughes was standing beside a knocked over chair, Armstrong was standing beside him; twinkling stars were sparkling around his head. Izumi was still sitting on her chair, looking like what a mother would like after seeing her son appear intact after a terrible happening. Roy leaned back into his chair smiling. Riza sat in the chair beside her commanding officer, giving Edward a welcoming grin.

He turned even more and saw Winry looking seriously at him, bouncing a wrench off the table she was working at. "You're lucky you're already injured." Winry said, laughing at Edwards's shocked face. Ed sighed in relief, and started to laugh with her, his voice still barley audible.

He looked around and recognized the Hogwarts infirmary. The sun was shining outside, and there wasn't a graveyard in sight. He sighed in content. He yawned and he realized that he was still tired…and he was hungry.

His stomach growled in announcement. Everyone laughed, what a surprise, Edward was hungry.

"Go back to sleep Ed, we'll wake you up when you're food gets here." Roy said, seeing Ed's tired state. Edward didn't complain as he started to fall back into bed, asleep before he even hit his pillow.

"Dobby!" Roy said aloud. A small crack in the air signaled the arrival of the house elf.

"Yes, Master Mustang?" Roy looked down at the elf, still enjoying this 'master' thing.

"Prepare a mini-breakfast feast. Have a little bit of everything." Roy offered, knowing full well that it was bad to eat a lot when you have eaten barely anything for an extended period of time. But he imagined that this mini-feast wouldn't be a lot for Edward.

"So it looks like Ed is alive and well," Hughes commented, smiling. "Now I'm going to go to sleep." He stepped over to an empty bed, yawning loudly as he got into the bed. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Everyone refused to sleep until they either collapsed from exhaustion or until Ed woke up. Now that he was awake, though now asleep again, he was everyone else's turn to catch a few winks.

"You should get some sleep too Colonel, I'll wake Ed up when the food comes." Alphonse suggested.

"Ha! Are you kidding Alphonse? Roy gets enough sleep at work as it is!" Hughes called from his bed. Roy glared at him from his chair. Riza slightly nodded in agreement.

"Is that why nothing ever gets done in the military?" Izumi commented from her chair, a smirk sitting upon her face.

"Well then, let's hear what you accomplish daily?" Roy retaliated back. His fatigue had momentarily left him.

Winry turned back to her work of fixing up Ed's automail. She smiled upon hearing their bickering. Everything was right with the world.

After a few days, Ed was still in the infirmary. His wounds were almost healed; all he needed now was his automail leg. His arm could wait, but he needed something to walk on.

Many people had come in to see him, though they only came when the foreigners left the infirmary. Harry and company were one of the few to come in and see him while his friends were there. They brought candy and get well cards, apparently there was a Hogsmeade trip while he was still cooped up in the hospital. Though his friends, mainly Mustang and Hughes, had eaten many of his candies there was still a good portion of it left.

Many of the teachers had come to check up the prodigal pupil. Some made small talk, some informed him of Professor Lantz's death, and some just came while he was sleeping. One time when Ed was on the verge of sleeping, Snape came into the infirmary to check on him, Dumbledore had come with him.

"He's certainly a strong boy," Snape had commented to Dumbledore. "Not many adults can last through that much torture. The Longbottoms succumbed to insanity with that much torment."

"He certainly is something." Dumbledore agreed.

By the time they left, Ed was fully a wake, eyes wide. He realized that the man that cleaned him up while he was bound to the statue was Snape. He had a new respect for his teacher, though he would never admit it.

Today, the sun was shining brightly through the window. Ed was alone in the infirmary. Not having much of a chance to explore the school when they first arrived, Roy and company explored the campus. Even Winry, who was supposed to be working on his automail leg.

Ed turned the page of the book he was reading. He reached out and grabbed a piece of candy from the hoard that was beside his bed. He opened the chocolate frog, and stuffed it into his mouth. He looked up when he heard the door creak open. Dumbledore stepped through smiling his hello at Edward. Swallowing his frog, he greeted him, this time in a fully audible voice.

"Who did you get?" Dumbledore asked motioning at the card in Edward's hand. Ed turned and looked at the card. Paracelsus was smiling up at Edward. Disgusted, Ed threw the card at the foot of his bed.

"You don't like Paracelsus?" Dumbledore asked picking up the card. The card smiled even brighter upon seeing the headmaster. "He's a very rare card."

"He looks like my father…" Ed mumbled out. He was glaring disgustingly at the floor; his lips pursed shut.
"I take it then that you don't like your father." Dumbledore commented, looking slightly worried. Ed looked up at the headmaster. He sighed inwardly, he normally wouldn't tell people about his past, but he owed it to Dumbledore. If this was how he wanted to be repaid then he would tell him everything he knew.

"He left us, Alphonse, Mom, and me." He looked sad thinking about it. "We think that's what made Mom die; she was looking forward to seeing someone who would never come back."

"And then you and you're mother tried to bring her back?" Dumbledore inquired, though he already knew the answer. Edward answered it before the question was asked, when Dumbledore asked about his how he got his automail. He got it by a failed transmutation.

"Yeah, that's right." Ed nodded his head. He looked back down at his quilted covers.

"Did you sacrifice enough to bring her back?" Ed looked up slightly surprised at the question. How does he know anything about alchemy?

Dumbledore continued on, not waiting to hear an answer. "Imagine it didn't take you very long to figure it out; that these spells and charms are actually alchemy. That our wands are just ordinary trees that were given red alchemic water. That everything this society is based upon alchemy. Though I believe our alchemy is more advanced from where you come from."

"Then why isn't there any alchemy books in the library, why does everyone think that what they're doing is magic?"

"Because of the things we couldn't accomplish. Because of Human Transmutation."

"Why not put a ban on it? That's what they did where I live." Ed looked puzzled. His world was working just fine with a banned label on it.

"Because there are people out there that'll try it anyways. If we transform alchemy into a new art and slowly thinned out the knowledge of Human Transmutation, then it won't happen. And to my knowledge, it hasn't happen since alchemy was declared a dead science."

Ed paused a second. "We, Professor? It sounds like you were there when it all happened." Ed looked at the professor curiously. Dumbledore laughed.

"Oh I was. In fact I was the one that urged it to happen." Ed's eyes grew wide at what he saw. In front of him was an old man, but slowly the wrinkles began to disappear, and skin tightened around the muscle and bones. His long white hair was slowly shortening and turning into a golden yellow that was tied up in a ponytail. His beard grew short and turned to the golden color so it matched his head. His blue eyes turned to gold but still kept that sparkling appearance.

Sitting before Edward Elric was Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim.

Author's note: Whew!!!! Longest chapter yet!! Twelve pages!! Well I hope it is worth it, a long chapter for a long wait. Sorry for the wait! But please tell me what you think! I'm going to try and make the next chapter the last one! So please tell me some things to fix so I can try to finish off with a bang!