It was the first Saturday after his twenty-fifth birthday, a cool but sunny winter morning when Nickolas Flamel had pulled Dumbledore aside at a party of sorts.

"Albus, come help me with something upstairs for a moment, would you?" The dark haired man had requested.

Albus had stood and followed after his mentor up the stairs into the lab, where the older man directed his gaze towards a display case at the far end of the laboratory. In the case was a slip of paper and a sizable red stone.

"That Philosopher's Stone can be the most powerful, destructive force on the face of the earth, or it could be the most wonderful creative force, or, it could even become a small stone left on the ground and forgotten. It's indestructible, undetectable to magic, and could outlive god."

Albus was confused by this monologue.

"Uhhh, what is this about?"

Nickolas Flamel suddenly looked into Albus's eyes.

"Someday you will find yourself facing two men who appear to be young, with blond hair and gold eyes. I guess you could say they were byproducts of my youth. They have been hunting me for many years. They will seem unassuming and you will probably want to ignore my warning but these boys killed people important to me."

Albus had been struck by this. "What do you need from me?"

Nickolas pressed his hand to Albus's. "I'm sure you will figure out what needs to be done, Albus." And the closeness made Albus blush.

"Of course, Sir."

Albus had nodded then, but now he was feeling less certain over the task his old friend had implied.

He remembered the first time he'd met the boys and recognized them from Nicholas's story.

He had been caught off guard both by Edward's intensity and the brothers' apparent youth. Needless to say, it had been easier to envision the killing of two evil men when he was young, and before he had met them.

That was why he had decided to set up this party. Firstly, to verify the boys' identities with Flamel, and secondly to (on the off chance they weren't the 'men' in Flamel's story) introduce them to wizarding society now that they were wealthy parts of it.

Albus decided to pack a few spell books ranging from beginners to expert in the hopes that it would better acquaint the boys with magic.

Suddenly, the fire in the corner if the room blazed a bright green and out stepped the man he had just been considering.

He looked the same as always, long black hair, a sharp chin and skinny body, and finally those intense purple eyes.

"Good evening Nickolas." Dumbledore greeted calmly hoping the man wouldn't have heard of the party before he had had a chance to tell him.

Flamel smiled but Albus saw the anger in his eyes.

"Good evening Albus. I have heard news of your new Projects. Why didn't you tell me you found them?" The alchemist demanded.

Albus swallowed some of his fear. "Why didn't you tell me these men were no more than boys? I can't in good conscience hurt these boys."

Nickolas laughed. "I'm sorry, did I not tell you what these 'boys' did to me? To my family? One of their allies burnt my sister alive. They forced my brother to eat our mother. These men do not know restraint. They do not know mercy."

Albus was a little more than taken aback by this.

"Nickolas I- I'm sorry. I didn't know that. . ."

Flamel looked insane. "Worry not Albus, this party of yours could yet be a benefit. Who else did you invite?"

Albus recalled the list for Flamel.

"Uninvite Bones. The rest are disposable. What sorts of artifacts are you planning to bring?"

Albus didn't understand. "As gifts?"

Nickolas closed his eyes. "No Albus. To capture him."

Albus nodded. "None. I decided to gift them a foe glass as they have made an enemy of a great death eater."

Flamel shook his head before pulling from the table a glass sphere and fiddling with it absently.

"I need to head to Gringotts. Albus, I'm trusting you to find a way to restrain those men."

POV SWITCH

Edward and Alphonse were looking through the rooms of the manor for anything that could be useful to them.

Alphonse was digging through the chests in an attic room when an owl flew in through the open window. It landed on a small writing desk next to the chests Alphonse had searched through and pecked him hard on the scalp.

"Agh!" Al yelled grabbing his head and reaching out to grab the bird but it simply dropped the letter on the ground and flew back out the window.

Ed looked up from across the room.

"What the hell, Al. What was that?" He asked while walking over.

Alphonse opened the letter and out dropped a single golden key with a number etched into it.

Al turned the key over and saw that someone had placed a stylized M on the other side of it.

Ed was hunched over Alphonse's left shoulder, "Is there a letter?"

Alphonse looked inside the envelope and saw nothing. The envelope itself was unmarked.

"Weird," Al remarked, stowing the key into his pocket and then turning back to the set of drawers he'd gotten into.

A small spinning top which had been picked out of the drawers earlier started spinning and letting out a shrill noise which nearly deafened both the occupants of the room, the top then spun over to the wall with the window right above it and stopped moving.

Ed followed the top to the window and saw Dumbledore walking down the drive towards the gate.

The old man looked up at the window and waved.

"Ugh, what the hell is that old man doing here?" Ed asked the world at large.

"What is it?" Al asked, still perched in front of the drawers.

"Dumbledore is here," Ed answered.

POV SWITCH

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk wondering about these revelations and he decided that the best way to clear his head would be to speak with someone about it.

He stood from his desk and walked towards the fireplace. After quick consideration, he pulled the floo powder from a bowl on the mantle and tossed it into the flames.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" He announced, and then stepped into the flames

And out into the shabby old tavern.

Tom the Innkeeper was at the bar flicking through the Daily Prophet.

Albus walked briskly over to Tom, who lowered his newspaper.

"Good evening Albus," he greeted, smiling lightly.

Albus smiled back and shook his head, "It's ten in the morning, Thomas."

Tom looked slightly affronted. "Well, sorry, but I hardly ever get outside these days. S'not easy running the gateway to magical London. Never get breaks 'round here."

Albus chuckled.

"That's a shame, Tom. I was hoping I might have a quick chat with you. In private?"

Tom nodded. "Right, just a moment- LETTY! MAN THE BAR, I'LL BE BACK IN A FEW MINUTES- let's head through here, yeah Albus?"

Albus nodded and followed Tom behind the bar towards a back room. There was a table, a sink, an oven, four chairs, and a pair of footstools.

Tom pulled a stool out from under the table for Dumbledore and then a chair for himself.

Dumbledore briefly pondered the mechanics of sitting on a stool in his robes.

"No need, Tom, I've brought my own," Albus said, pushing in the stool and summoning his own rather large recliner.

He lounged back while Tom stared at him.

"Well? What is it you wanted? I've left Letty in charge but it is sort of my job so…"

Albus nodded. "Of course, Tom. I just wanted to ask about those two young men from a while back. The two blond ones?"

Tom looked incredulous. "Albus, I wonder if you know how busy my job is? I've met just about every wizard in London and there are quite a few blonds among them."

Now it was Dumbledores turn to feel annoyed. "Two blond young men, yellow eyes, the older one had long hair."

Tom's eyes filled with recognition.

"Right, those ones, the ones that knocked Malfoy off of his-" he stopped suddenly. "Erm, that is to say, yes! I remember those boys, what about them?"

Albus indulged in a small chuckle, "It appears you've heard of that then." Tom gave the old headmaster a wry smile. "Well, I suppose you would have heard of that, right, Tom? Who'd you hear from? Fletcher? You know he's truly a terrible-"

Thump*

A big fat newspaper flopped down on the small sitting room table and on the cover in big fat letters:

MALFOYS DEFRAUDED? DID A FALSE FIFTH COUSIN STEAL THE MALFOY FORTUNE? A BRIEF EDITORIAL BY RITA SKEETER.

Albus lifted the paper and read aloud, "'A foreigner charading as an estranged relative to the prestigious and ancient Malfoy family and proceeded to swindle them out of their earthly possessions.' I do hope neither the Malfoys nor the Elrics ever read this."

Tom scoffed. "Right, and I agree, but also consider the fact that Rita Skeeter has written a few bad things about you and at least one about me which is frankly absurd, I'm like the Father Christmas of the Wizarding World."

"Right, well, back to the Elric brothers, have you heard any news aside from that Skeeter article?"

Tom threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug, "This is all I know. Sorry, Albus."

Albus shrugged. "It's alright Tom. I must be going now, so I will be seeing you in a while, I suppose." Albus stood, vanished his chair, and walked toward the door.

Tom followed after him. "well I suppose I'll be seeing you then."

Albus apparated himself out of the Leaky Cauldron and Tom walked back into the shop. Letty was sitting in her spot looking entirely stressed.

"Tom, where have you been?! They don't trust me behind this counter. Switch spots with me so I can go back to the kitchten?" Please!"

Tom smiled at the girl before shooing her back into the kitchen and remanning his post.

hey there kiddos, its been a hot minit lol.

not a lots been happenin cept that school is a bit much so my update schedule will definitely stay as consistent as it has been since the beginning lol.

this one's a little short. i intended it to be longer but i couldn't really figure out how to do that ...

yeah so anyway, hope you enjoyed!

11/15/18

edit: 11/16/18

y'all should check out my tumblr which is mental-incapacity-fanfiction

also som o yall should read disorganized Crime n some of my other fics