Hi guys. I'm really really sorry it has taken me so long to update this story. Between high school, college visits, work and just plain ol' life, I've had maybe one day I could have worked on An Aberrant Assignment. My updates will continue to be infrequent until summer. I'll do my best to post every so often, but I can't promise much. I refuse to abandon this, though. As usual, here's my thanks...

E. P. Wat.s, supernaturalrox, Mel72000, Suuki-Aldrea, ibreathesarcasm, a Guest, ChopSuzi, Girl-With-Phoenix-Wings, SaturnXK, whisperfur, LuvAlexander, MyraBrown, ReikoShichi, kagehi, Featherpen1800, another Guest, BigD, and Yami's Devil, who went and reviewed all the chapters in just a few days.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or FMA. If I did, why would I be working?

Finally, Ed and Fudge reached their destination. They stood briefly outside the massive doors to the hospital wing, before Fudge pushed them open with purpose, calling out "Where's Dumbledore?"

The room they entered, side by side, was similar to a hospital in appearance. That is, if hospitals were placed in massive stone rooms with vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows. But, you know, other than that rather trivial detail, it looked exactly like a hospital. There were white beds surrounded by white curtains, metal wheelie trays at the foot of each bed, and even an old-fashioned nurse in a long white dress and a white cap with a red cross emblazoned across the front. Yeah, that's a lot of white. Ed kinda wondered why all hospitals were filled with white things? Was the color supposed to make them feel like everything was cleaner or something? All it really did was make him nervous. Of course, Truth and his creepy neither-here-nor-there realm of white oblivion rather traumatized him and ruined the color – or was it lack of color – for him forever. Wait, now he was going off on a tangent. Come on Ed, stop getting distracted…

In one of the aforementioned white beds, Harry Potter was staring at the doorway to the Hospital Wing. It was that guy from the graveyard when Voldemort resurrected himself. The bloke with the bad mouth, the one who didn't seem to know when shutting up would be a good thing for his health. Actually, his bad habit of mouthing off to the wrong people almost reminded Harry of the Weasley twins. Unfortunately, Fudge was with him, so Harry couldn't exactly go up and start talking to the guy. Well, that, and the fact that Madam Pomfrey would probably kill him if he tried to get out of bed again. Harry wasn't exactly the most cooperative patient the school nurse had dealt with. He also probably was one of the ones she saw the most, considering his knack of getting into trouble.

Speaking of Madam Pomfrey, the minute the strange boy with gold eyes stepped foot in her infirmary, she had hurried over, clucking in distress over the state of his face. It was covered in livid bruises, already turning an impressive variety of colors. The scratches above his left eye and littering his high cheekbones oozed blood - where it hadn't already dried - and his nose looked like it might possibly be broken.

"Oh dear, what's this? Hairline nasal fracture, facial bruising, ecchymosis…. Someone has given you quite a brutal beating, young man." With that, Madame Pomfrey began muttering diagnostic spells under her breath, checking for any other, unseen injuries.

The moment her spells touched him, however, the kindly school nurse gasped.

"My dear boy, what is this?" Madame Pomfrey made to grab Ed's right arm, but realizing what she was about to do, Ed yanked it behind his back. He didn't particularly want the whole world to gape at his automail and to cry like complete morons over his "inspiring and tragic tale" when he was forced to tell them the usual lie of how he lost his limbs, especially seeing as this dimension seemed to be devoid of automail and all of its benefits and detriments.

'Like hell she's seeing it…'

"Ahem. Madame, I believe I inquired as to the location of the Headmaster?" Fudge interrupted Ed's musings and the nurse's examination.

"Oh, Minister. I'm so sorry." Now the Pomfrey was rather flustered. She had downright ignored the Minister of Magic! How rude of her! "The Professor has a few obligations at the moment. I believe he will be back to check on Mr. Potter in a little while."

"Then I believe I shall wait here, if you don't mind." Harry, on the other side of the Hospital Wing, was rather nervous upon hearing those words come out of the Minister's mouth. Why did Fudge want to speak to Dumbledore?

While Harry was lost in his thoughts, Ed had finally noticed the Golden Boy. 'Isn't he that kid everything here revolves around? Heh, sucks to be him…' Then, he walked over, careful to avoid getting the attention of the nurse again – who was focusing on pleasing the so called Minister of Magic – and poked Harry in the head, shaking him from his thoughts.

"Hey, you. What're you doing in here? You don't look that hurt to me." Ed looked Harry up and down, examining him with an alchemist's eye for detail. "Not a scratch on you."

"Wait, who are you? And why were you in the graveyard and why were you looking for Voldemort? Did you want to be a Death Eater? Do you have a death wish, because you don't seem to know when to shut up, and why are you so short?"

"Hold on a second, kid. I'm Edward Elric but you can call me Ed, alchemist, trying to kill Moldymort, no, maybe, I'm not quite sure because it really seems like it sometimes. Also… WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO MICROSCOPIC THAT ANTS NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE ME? HUH?!"

Oh, great. Now Ed was in trouble. Not only was the Potter kid looking at him with a mix of confusion, terror and awe, but the nurse-lady was coming over with a dark look on her face.

"What are you doing, young man? Don't disturb my other patients. The poor boy is traumatized. And why aren't you in bed? Come on, dearie. Over here is your bed. Now put those pajamas on and let me fix you up. Oh, and Mr. Potter, be sure to drink your sleeping potion, there's a good lad." It was official. Ed loathed hospitals and the nurses that staffed them.

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-Ahem- Sorry about the outburst... I kinda got overexicted. See you all whenever I can manage to update again.

Adios

- Lady Triplet