He fully intends to leave Sirius in the Shrieking Shack, chained to the wall.
"Not saying I don't trust you," Ed explains as he snaps the (alchemy-made) manacle around the man's ankle, "but I definitely don't trust you."
"You can't leave me here," Sirius says.
Ed gives the man a Look. "I can't exactly take you back to Hogwarts with me, can I? But I also can't let you go in good conscience."
"You can't leave me here," Sirius reiterates. He tugs desperately on the length of chain keeping him trapped. "It's fucking dangerous!"
Ed snorts. "You really believe those ghost stories?"
"No," Sirius says grimly, "I just know something about this place that may result in my death and that's entirely at odds with what I would like to happen at this point in my life."
Ed can't help himself from rolling his eyes at the attitude in Sirius' words, but he does notice the trace amount of trepidation in his prisoner's demeanor. "What is so terrifying that you think you're going to die?"
Sirius shakes his head. "It's, you, you wouldn't understand, I can't say, I just, you can't, kid, I'm, I'll die here. I will die here. What day is it?"
"What? I didn't understand any of that."
"What day is it!" The man is fully freaking out now, Ed realizes. He's yanking on the shackle to the point Ed thinks he might chew off his own leg to escape and nervously glancing about the ramshackle building as if something will emerge from the shadows to eat him alive. It's a level of panic that Sirius hadn't even bothered with upon his initial capture.
"For fuck's sake, you need to calm down." Ed grabs Sirius's wrists and forces him to sit still while he thinks through his options. Sirius struggles uselessly against his grip.
The man obviously has issues (that was clear from the very beginning) after having been incarcerated for over a decade. Ed believes can't say he does or doesn't believe the things Sirius has told him up to now, but he does get the sense that Sirius doesn't have enough mental energy to be making up wild accusations that conveniently absolve him from blame. Also, what kind of evil mastermind is stupid enough to break into Hogwarts when everyone there thinks of him as a traitorous murderer?
"Look, you used to be a student, right? Where else can I leave you unattended?"
Sirius looks incredulous when he realizes Ed is sincerely considering his feelings, most likely because that hasn't happened to him in twelve years. "There's, fuck, there's only one other place I can think of."
* * * * *
Sneaking a wanted criminal into Hogwarts is precisely the kind of dumb shit Ed should not be doing, but he's never one to back down from a challenge that is wholly self-imposed and completely unnecessary. At the very least, he has the sense to demand Sirius become a dog for the attempted relocation.
It's not much easier sneaking an animal (that is not a Hogwarts-approved pet) into a castle that's constantly watched by somewhat alive paintings and ghosts that wander the halls. (Filch is probably the only person other than Dumbledore who knows exactly what is and isn't sentient.) And yet somehow, Ed is brash and bold enough to attempt doing so in broad daylight, dragging Sirius by the scruff of his neck to the seventh floor of the castle, without leaving any witnesses.
Sirius had only given him brief directions to the new location shortly before Ed forced him to return to his Animagus form. Standing now in an empty corridor, Ed starts to doubt Sirius' insistence that there is a reasonable hiding place other than the Shack.
Three times, he thinks as he approaches the stretch of wall situated across from the surprisingly beautiful painting of a portly man dancing with trolls.
I need a place to hide Sirius Black.
I need a place to hide lock up Sirius Black.
Fuck, I fucking need a place to lock up Sirius fucking Black!
Ed's about ready to knock the man (currently dog) unconscious again when nothing happens, until he notices the beginnings of a door etch itself into existence.
When the door is fully formed, and none too quickly for Ed's tastes, he enters, with the criminal in tow, to a relatively small room, rather similar to the military dorm rooms he and Al would rent out whenever they'd make an appearance at Central. Clean, tidy, and only the bare essentials in terms of furniture and bathroom. There's a metal bed frame pushed against one wall and a light source affixed to the ceiling. Thankfully, there's also an open door revealing a tiny bathroom that's far from luxurious, but perfectly functional.
Ed notes with satisfaction that there are no means of exit: no windows at all and no door, since it had melted out of sight the moment it had shut behind them.
Finding no immediate fault with the magic room, he fixes the shackle around Sirius's hind leg once more and attaches the rest of the chain to the bed. With only a violent shudder as indication of Sirius's transformation, Ed turns away as the dog turns human once more and clenches his fist hard enough that his nails leave little crescents on the palm of his glove.
Hydrogen, helium, lithium, …
When Ed finally turns back, Sirius is sitting on the edge of the bed, eyeing him curiously.
"Kid, are you always so squeamish? You did that the first time too, and that time, you already knew what was coming."
Ed grimaces when Sirius' words evoke the unwelcome image of a dog transmuting transforming into a human. "Fuck off, it's disturbing to see."
Sirius gives him a weird look, but then shrugs it off and turns his attention to the bed. "Haven't slept on one of these in a decade," he mentions offhandedly.
"Oh."
It's awkward watching Sirius try to be human again.
Ed doesn't harbor any ill will towards the man anymore, which he isn't sure is a good or bad thing in the moment. On one hand, at least he doesn't (hopefully) need to worry about Potter getting fucked over by yet another adult in his life, but on the other hand, maybe Ed is getting soft and Sirius is a fucking liar and five months out of the military is long enough to give Ed a personality change. (He tries to recall the last time he was called insufferable and decides his personality couldn't have changed too much.)
"Do you need this?" he says in an attempt to change the topic, holding out the folded list of nonsense from that moment in the woods. (God, that feels like it happened a month ago.)
Sirius glances at the list, deliberates, and then shakes his head. "You can keep it."
Ed pockets the parchment and makes himself leave before his social ineptitude gets the best of him. The last thing he needs right now is to end up saying something stupid. "Okay then, Fido, be a good boy and next time I'll bring you a treat."
Sirius growls, but the sound is at odds with the spreading grin on his face. "Fuck off, runt."
The Room recreates the door, allowing Ed to leave.
"If you let him out, I'll burn you to the ground," Ed warns it once he's outside.
He doesn't receive a response, but he thinks the door might have disappeared a touch faster than it had before.
* * * * *
Ed can barely believe what he's gotten away with, until he realizes Hogwarts doesn't have an excellent track record for keeping its students in line (namely, the twins and their shenanigans and the 100% extremely not-kid-friendly events Harry, Ron, and Hermione get involved with each year).
It's been a little overwhelming trying to keep up with everything and Ed feels like he barely has time to catch his breath, let alone deal with the rest. He thought things were already busy enough when he just had Truth's dirty work to accomplish, but now there are the added complications of Sirius being entirely unpredictable and the next generation of wizards potentially continuing a cycle of violence and hatred.
When he closes his eyes at night to pass out from exhaustion, Ed isn't even allowed the decency to just see darkness, he has to imagine the Hallows, Riddle's ugly mug, Sirius, the Slytherins, his friends, his family, Amestris… the list goes on.
His recent nighttime behavior – avoiding the dorm room and lurking in the common room instead of sleeping – is not ignored by his dorm mates this time around. He only finds out when Mr. Prefect (or should he call him Mr. Perfect?) corners him while he's rereading a book on magical laws and regulations for the fourth time.
"Hey Ed," he says with a charming smile, sliding into the armchair angled to face his.
"Hey…" Ed trails off when he realizes he can't remember the prefect's name.
"Cedric," the Hufflepuff supplies, the smile not fading one bit.
"Cedric," Ed repeats. "Can I help you?"
"Actually, you can," he says and Ed raises an eyebrow at the unexpected answer. "Are you getting enough sleep?"
He snorts because he can't help himself. First, Sprout, now this. "I am," Ed answers curtly.
"When, exactly, are you getting this sleep? Because I've heard from several people you're already out of bed before anyone else, and Ernie says he gets up at six every morning."
"At night," Ed deadpans.
"Right," Cedric agrees. Ed is the tiniest bit annoyed that the other boy isn't bothered by his obvious attempts to get on his nerves. "But it's currently almost three in the morning, so you're not technically sleeping at night either, are you?"
"Every time I blink it's like I'm sleeping for one second," Ed explains, as if he actually believes the crap he's saying, "so it all adds up and I'm basically sleeping eight hours."
Cedric blinks, startled by the answer. "But I think, er, Ed, don't you think it'd be better to actually get some rest? Or at least visit Madame Pomfrey if you're having trouble falling asleep."
Ed shivers involuntarily. He's been going to all of Pomfrey's mandated appointments in relation to his automail and if he's being honest with himself, she's scarier than Winry when it comes to maintenance, and she doesn't even have a wrench to smack him with. Just a thin wooden wand that makes his metal arm and leg tingle as if they can actually feel something like pain.
"I'm fine," Ed says reflexively. "I sleep enough."
Cedric had stopped smiling a while ago, but now his eyebrows furrow severely.
"You can come to me if you have a problem, Ed. Any time," the prefect insists and Ed believes him. It's just that Ed wouldn't go to anyone with a problem even if he were dying (and boy, doesn't that attitude piss Al off to no end).
"I know," Ed says. "Thanks, Cedric."
The other boy can hear the dismissal in Ed's tone and he gets up to leave. He gives Ed another smile, a very worried one at that, before bidding him a good night and heading for bed.
It doesn't end there though, and Ed hadn't really expected it to, given Cedric's reputation. Cedric Diggory is Hufflepuff's pride and joy, athletic and kind to everyone – no one has a bad thing to say about him. Except for Ed, who finds Cedric's efforts to greet Ed whenever he runs into him frankly insulting and patronizing. Each time he tries to make small talk about Ed's day or other mundane things like the weather or the next Quidditch match, Ed can't stop the scowl from developing on his face.
"You can stop now," Ed says. It's been a bizarre week of encountering Cedric nonstop after having not seen him at all since his first night at Hogwarts.
"Stop what?" Cedric's confusion is genuine.
"Stop whatever you're doing. Did Sprout put you up to this? You can tell her I'm fine. I swear. I'm in perfect health." The lie is so familiar he barely registers saying it. Ed doesn't mean to sound as rude as he's coming across, but he's not comfortable and he hates being vulnerable.
"No one put me up to anything, Ed."
"Are you sure? The timing of all of this is pretty fu-, uh, it, it's pretty suspicious."
Cedric smiles. "It probably does seem suspicious," he agrees amicably, "but I think your dorm mates only recently felt they needed to interfere regarding your lack of sleep, which is why I got involved then. But you didn't want to talk about it and I didn't want to pester you, so I left it alone. Me saying hello or asking about your day, however, is just me being friendly, Ed. It's not related."
Ed is always defensive about his health, his sleep habits, his entire life really, which is why he wishes he could hate Cedric for being a kind and polite person without any ulterior motives. However, he knows, without Al chiding him, that that is 100% asshole behavior. He also knows he's a paranoid fuck, even more so now than at the beginning of the year, and that's why he's taking Cedric's sincerity so badly. With the timing, who could really blame Ed for suspecting their Head of House for putting him up to it?
"Sorry," he says and he means it. "Not used to it." His terse response doesn't hide the way his entire face colors from embarrassment. He just accused one of the nicest people ever of being a manipulative asshole, because of his own issues.
You're acting like a kid, Fullmetal.
(You are a kid, Brother.)
Cedric doesn't ridicule him for it though, because he really is a genuinely nice person. "No worries, I'm glad we're on the same page now."
From then on, Ed doubles his effort to be friendly whenever Cedric stops him to chat, even if his version of friendliness is not quite on par with the other boy's. When he's interacting with Cedric, Ed might even be considered approachable by the rest of the student body, although they don't test that theory out.
Luna is of the opinion that he should socialize more with the other Hufflepuffs anyways, but she doesn't ever actually say that to him in words. Regardless, she's pleased by his brief conversations with Cedric and considers it to be progress.
"It's nice to have friends in your House," she points out.
"Sure," Ed responds sarcastically. "Friends."
She scrutinizes him, before lifting an eyebrow, as if to say, Did you even think about anything I said?
"I know, I know."
"Practice makes perfect," she says simply. Getting along with people takes practice, she means.
"I know!"
She laughs at his disgruntled expression.
* * * * *
Ed has to use any spare moment alone to return to the strange room and tend to its even stranger occupant.
Each time he returns, he brings food from the kitchens (freely and eagerly given by the house elves), which Sirius scarfs down. The former convict begins to fill out, his bones no longer jutting out of his skin and a healthy flush returning to his cheeks. At Ed's insistence and with the much-needed aid of daily showers, Sirius finally smells less like decomposing corpse and more like a functioning member of society. ("You don't have to shower in –" "If you finish that sentence, I will kick your ass back to Azkaban.")
During the first few visits, Sirius asks about people he remembers from his school years between mouthfuls of food, an odd assortment of names that he lists off and looks at Ed expectantly, as if Ed should automatically know what happened to "Casper Zhang" or "Clementine Wallace". More than anything, Ed suspects Sirius is slipping the names of people he actually wants to know about into a flood of other names, so that Ed is unable to get a good sense of who he's actually affiliated with. Which, taking into consideration that the man had demonstrated a complete lack of common sense when they first met, is surprisingly crafty.
Eventually, as Sirius begins to run out of names to throw Ed's way, there comes a day when he looks off in the distance before speaking again, as if he were far away. "Do you know of a man called Remus Lupin?"
"Did you have to say it all so dramatically? Lupin's been teaching at Hogwarts since the beginning of the school year. He's in the same damn building as us this very moment." As he walks across the room, his leg suddenly locks up and he stumbles over his own feet, face first onto the floor.
"Need some help, kid?" Sirius says with a smile; he gives no indication that he'd help Ed at all.
"Asshole," Ed mutters as he sits up. "Just like Lupin," he adds, annoyed.
When he finally looks up and catches a glimpse of Sirius's unguarded expression, Ed pauses, stunned. Because Sirius is fully smiling, as warm and free as a smile from a haunted man could be, only partially obscured by the messy beard.
"Why're you smiling like that?"
The smile falters and then disappears entirely.
"It's just nice to hear he hasn't changed."
* * * * *
Even though Ed begins to thoroughly enjoy Sirius' company, spending time with him is adding years to Ed's life, not only because the man is almost Ed-levels of insufferable, but because the twins are constantly on his case: he's having to expend more and more energy trying to evade their notice.
"Where are you going?" Fred pesters him for the eighth time that week.
"We're meeting Lee soon, if you want to tag along," George says.
Lee Jordan is a fifth-year Gryffindor that Ed has gotten to know through the twins. Lee's bright personality, coupled with his quick wit and penchant for mischief, perfectly explain why Fred and George have been friends with him since their first year at school. Ed likes Lee well enough, but doesn't run into him quite as often as the twins, seeing as Lee rooms with Fred and George, and he spends a fair amount of time with other friends – Ed would go as far as saying Lee might be one of the most well-liked kids at Hogwarts, maybe even one of the most popular, barring Harry Potter. (Although, Ed can't quite figure out if Harry Potter is "popular" or just famous.)
"Can't," Ed says in reply. He's on his way to the kitchens and then back to the Room of Requirement to flesh out yet another tentative plan with Sirius. "Need to study."
George raises an eyebrow.
"You can't be serious," Fred exclaims. "You've already read everything in the library, what could you possibly be studying?"
"There are exams coming up, you realize?"
"And you're precisely the kind of bookworm who'd care about that, are you?"
"Obviously," Ed retorts.
"Obviously," George repeats skeptically.
There's an awkward silence that lingers over the three of them. Ed clears his throat. "Like I said, I need to study. I'll see you guys later, alright?"
Fred and George wave him off, watching Ed walk towards the Hufflepuff dormitory with narrowed eyes.
"He's lying," Fred says once Ed is completely out of view.
"Obviously," George says again. "But more importantly, why?"
"You don't think he's got new friends or something, do you?"
"Don't be thick, Fred, he's not exactly the type to go about expanding his social circles."
They start heading toward their agreed upon meeting spot with Lee, all while discussing Ed and his strange evasive maneuvering in the last few weeks.
"Maybe he's actually studying."
"He is a giant nerd."
"Right," Fred agrees, "a giant, violent nerd."
"Our giant, violent nerd," George corrects him.
Fred smirks. "Now that I think about it, I don't think 'giant' is a very good descriptor."
George laughs. "It's only accurate when used in relation to his bookishness."
"Seriously, though, what's up with Ed?"
"I dunno," George shrugs. "I trust he'll come forward about it when he's ready."
"But are we really going to wait? Maybe he's just getting sick of us…"
George admonishes him, "Do you really think Ed is the type of person to avoid a person he dislikes?"
They both think of Malfoy and the Punch and their first meeting down by the lake.
"He's the type of bloke to say he hates you to your face," Fred muses.
George nods. "And spit on it as he leaves. He's not the type to tiptoe around the issue, so I don't think we need to worry about it. He has his reasons."
"And he'll tell us when he's ready," Fred says, repeating George's earlier words.
They walk in companionable silence, thinking of the same instance without talking about it.
This particular line of conversation always leads Fred and George to thinking about the semi-argument about Slytherins and Dark wizards they'd had with Ed a while back and with it, the admission to his private life that Ed had shared with them. It hadn't been much really, just an idea of what Ed thinks of himself and a better idea of how he thinks about the world, as well as a reference to his family that he never talks about. (Aside from George's unconfirmed suspicion that something horrible happened to them.)
The twins, Neville, and Luna had actually secretly met without Ed shortly after he had confronted all of them, the first time they'd ever gathered without him there to keep them together.
"Did you guys have a weird conversation with Ed recently?" George asks. (He's the one who organized the get-together.)
"What kind of weird talk?" Luna asks in return, genuinely curious.
"You mean about the Slytherins?" Neville guesses.
Fred snaps his fingers and shoots finger guns at him. "Got it in one!"
"Oh yes, about the likelihood of Blaise Zabini having fae-blood." Luna smiles slightly at the bemused expressions on the boys' faces. "Or do you mean Fullmetal's preoccupation with the moral goodness of Slytherins?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'moral goodness'," Fred says, snorting. He thoroughly enjoys how easily Luna throws people off-kilter – he wants to learn her ways, although he's not too bad at it in the first place.
"I see," Luna responds. "Then I suppose I have as well. Is this what the meeting is about?"
"Well, yeah," George says. "Aren't you, I mean, wasn't it really odd? It came out of nowhere."
Neville rubs the back of his neck. "I mean, not really? I can't imagine Ed as the type of person to sit still if he doesn't agree with something."
"Right," Fred says, "but he was talking about Slytherins as if maybe they weren't the worst, despite what the evidence suggests."
The corners of Luna's mouth twitch downwards in disapproval.
"Ed had some valid arguments, though," Neville replies, "and I think he's well aware of why the Slytherins have that particular reputation to begin with, so it's not as if he's 'on their side'." He wets his lips. "I've given what he said a lot of thought and the more I think about it, the more I think… the more I think that maybe, maybe, he's not wrong. Maybe we are too harsh on the Slytherins. Given their backgrounds and their upbringings and all of the other things that make a person who they are."
"Are you serious, Neville? They're all stuck-up pricks, even to the 'Puffs who are nice to literally everyone." Fred groans and further dishevels his already mussed hair.
"Inter-house unity hasn't been a big thing at Hogwarts since its creation," Neville points out. "Students have been friendly, sure, but no one's bothered to make an effort with Slytherin ever since, well, you know."
"Isn't that the idea though? You-Know-Who and his supporters are directly tied to Slytherin – there's too much bad blood associated with it!" Fred argues.
"I'm with you there, I do think there is 'bad blood' in Slytherin, but Ed –" Neville cuts himself off.
"Ed what?" George asks.
"Er," Neville hesitates for a moment longer and then gives in. "Ed said something that worried me."
"What did he say?"
"Just… he mentioned, er, implied, I guess is a better way to put it?" A sigh. "He implied that leaving things as they are is only going to, to, er, going to be worse for 'us' in the long run."
"Worse how?" Luna asks softly.
His voice is so quiet, the others strain to hear him. "Worse, should there be a war."
George sucks in a breath, while Luna twists a strand of her hair around her finger so tightly, the tip turns purple. Fred gapes.
"He's thinking about what will happen in case of war?!" Fred almost shouts, until George hisses, "Volume!"
"He didn't exactly say that? He just kind of… suggested it would be better to be on friendly terms with the Slytherins now rather than later."
"I suppose he said something similar to us, now that I think of it," George says. "Something about finding out too late that Slytherins are just like us, deep down."
They fall silent, the mood noticeably depressing and for very good reasons. As children of pureblooded families, all of them are familiar with the wizarding war that their parents' generation had been involved in – the one that had seemingly ended with the whispered stories about the Boy Who Lived and was supposedly the last. They were taught to fear You-Know-Who growing up, learned it from their parents and their relatives, but no one had ever suggested that war would return to the wizarding world; no one had ever said that they should fear the near certainty of conflict that awaited their generation.
"He's not wrong to suggest it," Luna says. Her tone is uncharacteristically grim and serious. "We'd be foolish to believe that after the events of the last two years, You-Know-Who will leave Harry Potter alone."
"But what are we supposed to do?" Fred asks. "We're not even legally adults."
"Neither is Harry," Neville mentions, "but he's been involved since he was a baby."
"And Fullmetal has already given us a strategy," Luna says. "Slytherins, historically, have earned a reputation for becoming Dark wizards. But what if they can be convinced to do the right thing?"
George contemplates her words. "It would mean there is a tiny chance that they wouldn't grow up to become Death Eaters."
She nods in agreement. "It'll take time, but the best time to start is yesterday."
Neville is the one to say it aloud, but they're all thinking it. "Do you suppose that we can make a difference?"
"Well," Luna says eventually, "we won't know until we try."
She smiles and the conversation is left at that.
* * * * *
In the time Ed spends in Sirius' company, between delivering food and fighting over who is more of an idiot (they both point fingers at the other), he learns more about Sirius and his school days, which are the last real memories of "normal life" he has left. Most of his stories are about the Marauders and the insane things they did simply because they could.
Like the ridiculously complicated process by which a person can become an Animagus.
Ed actually laughs aloud when he hears exactly what kind of dumb teenagers Sirius and his friends were, as Sirius recounts how long it took them to complete the portion with the Mandrake leaf.
"It has to stay in your mouth the whole month and the three of us kept messing up and losing it during mealtimes. Prongs swallowed his on the first attempt, literally minutes in, because he drank pumpkin juice too fast. And Wormtail ate his every single day for two fucking weeks before he managed to get a hang of it. Merlin, and the professors! Ha, the professors all kept asking why we started talking with lisps at around the same time."
Ed likes to see Sirius when he's smiling in the gentle, pleased way he does when he talks about his childhood friends. It's in those moments he thinks Sirius forgets how everything went wrong shortly following their departure from school.
(Ed just wants to see evidence that someone who's lived through the darkness can still come back to the light.)
"Moony was still a bit nervous and unsure back then, but I think that's when he really started to trust us. When he watched us constantly fuck up the rituals but keep trying for his sake."
What?
"What do you mean 'for his sake'?"
Sirius flounders. "Er, I didn't say that?"
"You definitely just did."
"I did not!"
It clicks.
He had been suspicious before, especially after the weirdly affectionate smile Sirius had had on his face when he had asked about Lupin, but hadn't commented on it, because he had known Sirius would have clammed up and refused to answer him. But right now? He's certain he knows the truth and more importantly, he's certain he's never going to trust Sirius Black with a secret, even if they are the last two people in existence.
"I see," Ed says in an uncharacteristically polite tone of voice. "Of course, you've mentioned before that all four of you weren't Animagi, but also mentioned two of your three friends as having gone through this bizarrely inconvenient process with you. Except for Moony, since this was all 'for his sake', as you now deny saying." His eyes settle on Sirius' face, completely blank, causing the man to flinch. "Obviously, I've asked where the nicknames came from and you weren't willing to admit the basis on which these ridiculous names were decided. But the three Animagi of the group were named for the animals they turned into, correct?"
Sirius doesn't answer, unsure of where Ed is going with this.
Ed does his best to keep a blank expression on his face. "And of course, you wouldn't be so fucking stupid as to nickname your non-Animagus friend after a – oh, shall we call it a condition? - a condition he has. A condition that is maybe highly, highly stigmatized in wizarding society and has to do with the moon." Ed now glares at Sirius, whose mouth is opening and closing rapidly as he tries to refute Ed's pointed commentary.
"That's, that's so, ha! That's fucking stupid, no, of course not, no way, psh, Moony, he, he's just, Moony was just really…" Sirius struggles to come up with a reasonable excuse. "…really pale?"
"Oh, yes, I'm so sure," Ed says, voice dripping with sarcasm, "and I'm sure that the three of you decided to illegally become animals in your free time because Moony's paleness was really isolating and he needed help with it."
"He needed an emotional support animal?" A pause. He flinches. "Three emotional support animals?"
Ed physically restrains himself from strangling him. "You fucking dumbass! I'd yell at 'Prongs' and 'Wormtail' if they were here too, because what kind of imbeciles give their friend a nickname that could potentially ruin their fucking life!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sirius deflects unconvincingly.
"Oh, that's fine, really fucking great, I'll just ask Lupin myself" - Sirius whips around to stare at Ed - "and I'm sure he'll be happy to answer my questions in your place."
"Who said anything about Re-, M-, Lupin?!"
"Do you happen to know any other werewolves?" Ed asks. "Because I don't!"
"You, I can't believe, you, you, fuck, you said you didn't know who Moony was!"
"I fucking didn't!" Ed yells back. "I just connected the dots!"
"You didn't connect shit!"
"I connected them!"
Thirty-eight minutes later, when Ed and Sirius are no longer shouting in each other's faces and are finally calm enough to have a reasonable discussion of what had just transpired, Ed speaks up first. "I've known Lupin was a werewolf since October? Yeah, that sounds right, I think – October of last year. There were a couple indicators and I just happened to find out. He knows I know and it isn't an issue - I really couldn't care less about it."
Sirius squints suspiciously. "Not a pureblood then?"
Ed snorts. "Not by a longshot, not that it matters."
Any person who tries that hard to protect a werewolf (who are considered second-class citizens at best by Riddle's standards) is definitely not a Death Eater. On top of that, Ed can no longer imagine that the Sirius he has become better acquainted with is capable of betraying friends, especially if he wouldn't (intentionally) out Lupin as a werewolf even over a decade later.
Ed rolls his eyes. "You realize if you had just used everyone's names to begin with, we wouldn't be doing this song and dance of 'oh are you a lying, bloodthirsty killer or are you an idiot who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time' like you said you were?"
Sirius flips him off with an irritated scowl. "Kid, I wasn't just going to go about sharing names to a complete and utter stranger! For all I knew, you could've been some absolute psychopath who'd kill Moony or something like that!"
"You realize we, uh, I should probably talk to Lupin at some point, right?"
All of the tension that had bled out of Sirius' body rushes back in as he hunches over. "I haven't talked to Moony in twelve years, do you really think one brat is going to change his mind?"
"I'll literally murder you," Ed deadpans – the phrase is quickly becoming his go-to when dealing with Sirius. "But seriously" – the man snorts - "wait, fuck, no. But really, don't you think this would be a lot easier with Lupin's help? I'm pretty sure he has the map right now. If Rat Bastard is in the building, that'd be the best way to find him."
"I won't drag Moony into this," Sirius says after a while. "He deserves to live his life without me weighing him down."
"So, he doesn't know the truth," Ed fills in the blanks. "Or at least, what you're telling me is the truth."
Sirius throws his hands up. "Kid, you're killing me. Either decide you believe me and help me out or decide I'm a murderer and ship me off to Azkaban!"
"How'd you prefer to be shipped then? By owl?"
"Oi, fuck you!"
* * * * *
Determined to set things right (and catch a rat), Ed doubles down on his efforts to coordinate a feasible plan with Sirius that would ideally clear his name and also provide essential information to Ed. (He finally allows Sirius to remain in the Room of Requirement unfettered, stressing Sirius can't do anything as stupid as leaving, for both his own sake and for Ed's.)
"You're sure the Rat Bastard is here, though?"
"I'm fucking positive, kid. There was an article in the Prophet last year, had a photograph of a family that had a pet rat missing a toe. And the bastard is missing a finger, remember?"
"I remember," Ed says distractedly. "Do you know the name?"
"Of the rat?" Sirius says in a tone of voice that suggests he's questioning Ed's intelligence.
"No, of the family!"
"Oh, right," the man says sheepishly. "It's the Weasleys."
Ed blinks, surprised. "Which one?" He runs through any conversation he's had with Fred and George, trying to remember if they'd ever mentioned a rodent. He can't remember any talk about rats.
"How the hell should I know?"
"Fucking hell," Ed grumbles. He drags a hand down his face. "That's fine, at least I've got a general idea now."
He thinks about the logistics of exposing the Rat Bastard.
"Alright, hear me out, what if you don't kill the rat and then you can get your name cleared? Have him testify and whatnot, since he's not actually dead."
Sirius scrunches his nose. "I'd rather just kill him."
"Are you fucking se-," Ed stops short, but Sirius grins.
"Were you about to ask me if I'm fucking Sirius? Because I'll have you know I am Sirius, not fucking him."
"Are you always this damn impossible."
"I try, but it's not nearly as easy as it looks."
Ed presses down on his eyes with the heels of his hands and gets back on topic.
"Okay, let's say you do kill him. You're now living up to be the murderer people think you are. Do you have anywhere you can go? Where you can stay hidden until your name is cleared?" Which, if he goes through with this half-assed plan, will be never.
Sirius rubs his eyes. "Technically? Yeah." He grimaces at the thought of something, before continuing to speak. "My family home is currently empty and under a Fidelius, so I could go there."
"Great!" Ed says. Finally, something is working out. "So go there."
Sirius rolls his eyes. "Kid, while I would absolutely love to, how the fuck do you suggest I do that? Apparating is a huge no, because that's tracked by the fucking Ministry. I don't have a broom and I highly doubt you're capable of making a portkey."
"How far is it?"
Sirius groans. "I dunno, it's in London, in a Muggle neighborhood." Ed is taken by surprise when Sirius shares the address. "12 Grimmauld Place."
He commits it to memory and tries not to think about the implications of learning where Sirius' house is.
"You're the Secret Keeper then?"
"The rest of my family is dead, so yeah, it would seem so."
Well, I guess that's just one more thing we have in common.
"Does anyone else still have access to the building?"
"They shouldn't," Sirius says after thinking about it. "Doesn't change the fact that I'm not exactly safe until I actually make it inside."
And that's the main problem.
Ed runs through possible solutions before he settles on an option. He doesn't love it, but he's a bit limited in what he can do. "How do you feel about animals?"
"Is this another stupid jab about the Marauders because –"
"No, just answer the question!"
Sirius shrugs. "I like 'em enough. Why?"
"I think I can get you a ride out of the school grounds."
Hagrid had been considering rehoming Buckbeak following the winter holidays, as there had been a fair number of parent complaints about the attack that had occurred in class, and just last month, Hagrid had offhandedly mentioned to Harry (during class, while Ed eavesdropped) that he's now tentatively looking for someone to take the hippogriff in.
"Jus' worried that if there are any more complaints, they'll want to do somethin' drastic," Hagrid had said.
This is apparently not the first time Hagrid has had to pass on his furry/feathered/scaled/etc. friends to other homes either, Neville explains to Ed, as Hagrid once had a dragon that he hatched himself, a three-headed dog that guarded the Philosopher's Stone, a giant spider that Neville had only heard about through Harry and Ron, and now, a hippogriff (and those are only the creatures anyone found out about in the first place).
"Granted," Ed mumbles, as he tries to figure out logistics, "I'm not exactly sure Hagrid would agree to it, so we might have to just take him without his permission." Ed frowns; he doesn't like the idea of removing Buckbeak without Hagrid's approval, but he's coming up short on other possible escape routes for Sirius.
"HAGRID!" Sirius shouts suddenly, startling Ed out of his contemplation.
"What?" he snaps irritably.
"Hagrid," Sirius says, suddenly excited, "I gave him the bike, my motorbike, maybe he still has it!"
"Why the hell do you own a motorbike?"
"Why the hell not?"
"You're telling me you want to drive out of here, possibly surrounded by wizards who can Apparate and fly?"
"No, dumbass, I'll be flying too!"
"On a motorbike," Ed says in disbelief.
"On the motorbike!" Sirius affirms.
"Okay, back the fuck up, how will you be flying on a god-damn motorbike?"
With Sirius' surprisingly helpful suggestion of locating his loaned possession, the plan starts to come together in bits and pieces, with a lot of frustration on either side as Sirius keeps suggesting direct action that will, without a doubt, land him back in Azkaban, and Ed bluntly refuses to even consider. By the end of it all, they have a feasible, if a touch unrealistically hopeful, plan to not only find and expose Wormtail, but get Sirius to safety without risking his life. Much of the possibility of success depends on how quickly Ed can gather information and set things up, as Sirius is limited in his movements and ability to help beyond suggestions and irrelevant questions. (That is to say, he's largely unhelpful.)
"Why are you doing this, kid?"
It's a conversation Ed is surprised hasn't come up sooner, especially as he still hasn't said his name to Sirius (not as a safety precaution, just because he wants to fuck with him) or provided any explanation as to how he knew Sirius was an Animagus to begin with.
"I have an agenda," Ed replies, "and getting rid of Ri-, You-Know-Who's supporters is helpful to me in the long run, even if it isn't my original intention."
Sirius quirks a brow at the slip-up, but doesn't comment on it, instead scrutinizing Ed's face. "What's the agenda?"
Ed shrugs. "Just kid things – you wouldn't get it, old man." A bold-faced lie. It doesn't help that Sirius knows how much Ed detests being referred to as a kid.
"You, agh, Merlin, fuck you! You know, it's not really fair that you know so much about me and yet you're still pulling this 'I'm so mysterious' crap," Sirius complains.
"Not my fault you suck at keeping things to yourself," Ed replies. "Can't believe you're your own Secret Keeper. Wonder how long that'll last."
He shoots Ed a withering glare. "Stop avoiding the question, kid."
"I'm not avoiding anything, I'm actively choosing not to answer your question."
"Can't you at least give me your name?"
"No," Ed snorts. This is probably the one-thousandth time he's asked. "I'd rather not."
Sirius grumbles. "Your parents must adore having a wannabe vigilante at home."
Ed is precisely the kind of person who cannot hide his emotions on his face unless he's well-prepared for it and even then, he rarely feels the need to censor his anger or glee (usually only when he wants to fuck with assholes). Sirius mentioning his parents – well, he might as well have stabbed him. Actually, Ed would much prefer the knife.
"Rough time at home?" Sirius asks, trying for sympathetic and ending up in the ballpark of awkward.
"No," Ed says.
"I'm sure."
He doesn't bother responding, as it's clear Sirius has latched onto the topic and refuses to let it go.
"My home life wasn't great either," Sirius says eventually. "I was the first and only Gryffindor in a long, long line of unbearable Slytherin pricks and they didn't take it well." He snorts. "What a surprise."
"It's not like that," Ed responds.
"Then what's it like? Try me."
"Fuck no." He doesn't want to talk about this at all.
"C'mon. Tell me!" Ed is somewhat used to Sirius' childish ways, but this takes the cake. "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me –" Sirius begins poking Ed "- tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me -"
"I don't have parents," he says, just to shut him up.
What do you know? It works.
Sirius stares at him like he doesn't know if he should try to comfort him or pretend nothing is wrong.
"This is about getting revenge, then?"
And he picks door number 2! Ed thanks god Someone out there for emotionally-constipated adults; he's not in the mood to deal with the usual questions and pity or well-meaning but unwelcome sympathy. He rolls his eyes. "Sure," he says, "you can call it that."
"Does your family not take issue with that?"
"They can't complain when they're no longer around."
"But then… wouldn't the people at the orphanage be worried about you?"
"What orphanage?" He's genuinely confused – why would there be an orphanage?
Sirius stares back at him equally confused. "The orphanage where you live. Or whatever home took you in. Your guardians."
"Oh," Ed says, catching onto Sirius' line of thinking. "I'm my own problem now."
"You're telling me that you have no family, no guardian, whatsoever."
He nods stiffly.
"Kid." Sirius looks ready to grab him by the shoulders and shake him vigorously. Ed's glad he chooses not to do so. "You're shitting me, that's illegal. That's fucking illegal! You're probably what, eleven? Twelve?"
"Want to die, bastard, because that's what it sounds like!"
Sirius holds up his hands defensively. "Hey, you've never told me your age or anything, I just had to guess!"
"Just shut up, will you," Ed snaps, his eye twitching at the thought of being perceived as an eleven-year-old.
"So, then, where… where do you live?"
"What?"
"You don't belong to a group home or something? Anything?"
Ed makes a noise of frustration. "Not that it's any of your fucking business, but most of these developments in my personal life happened within the last year, so no, I don't 'exactly' have a place to live and for the very last time, no, I do not have any 'authority figure' in my life outside of school."
There's a brief moment where Sirius watches Ed curiously without either of them saying a word.
"You know," Sirius starts slowly, eyes flicking between Ed and the corner of the room, "I wouldn't be opposed to having company. Over the summer I mean."
Ed stares at him.
Sirius continues. "I, er, I've been alone for twelve years and now I'm going back to the shithole that is my childhood home, so I wouldn't mind having someone around. You know? Just so that I don't, so it's not boring? I reckon it'd be nicer having someone arou-"
"Are you asking me to come live with you?" Ed interrupts.
"Er, yeah, if you want to," Sirius says. There's an awkwardness that hasn't been present since the first week they'd interacted.
Ed's uncomfortable, because he hadn't anticipated the invitation and he had been deliberately tight-lipped about his looming homelessness to his school friends because they didn't really need to know. It's his problem after all, and he's perfectly capable of solving on it his own, especially since he has the means, specifically the money, to do so. He's been able to take care of himself and Al for the last three years – he doesn't need an adult now to keep doing that.
But he does trust Sirius now and he likes the man, despite the fair amount of growing up he needs to do. If he's being honest with himself, Ed's not used to being alone – he's always had Al by his side, every step of the way. He might not need an adult, but maybe he does need a friend.
"You just offered to let me stay with you and I might be a psychopath," Ed says.
"I mean I guess? I figured if you were really a psychopath, you'd have done away with me already or tortured me."
"Maybe I'm just waiting until I can make you suffer the most. Make you think we're friends and then stab you and watch you bleed out."
"…Do you want me to believe you're a psychopath?"
"No," Ed says. "I'm just saying this is pretty risky on your part. You haven't thought it out at all."
Sirius shrugs. "I've lived a cursed existence for a third of my life, I reckon I'm entitled to living however the fuck I please. And you're a good person who's apparently homeless at twe-, at a young age, so why not offer? I'd rather not be stuck in that house alone."
Ed forces himself to ignore the unintended jab at his height. "What makes you say I'm a good person?"
The man blinks. "You said Moony still works here, yeah?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, if you've known he's a werewolf since October and he's still working here, it means you didn't tell anyone." Sirius grins. "So you're a good person. And good people are always welcome to the new and improved 'Ancient House of Black'." He adopts a rather pretentious accent to say the title.
"I mean, if you're okay with it…" Ed says after too long a pause. He clears his throat. "I guess you'll need someone around to feed you anyway, since you can't leave the house."
"Can't you just say thanks like a normal person, brat?"
"Thanks," Ed grunts, ears burning.
Sirius smiles. "No problem," he says. "Do I get to know your name now?"
"Fuck no." Ed grins.
Sirius flops down on the floor and lets out a long, exaggerated groan.
* * * * *
Things get easier as Ed dedicates less time to "studying" and more to being around his school friends, pretending life is normal once more; he no longer feels the compulsion to constantly drop by and check in on Sirius, now that he can trust the man to not fuck things up on impulse and they have a plan they both agree with. In fact, after two weeks of searching at the crack of dawn, Ed has already successfully procured Sirius' beloved flying motorbike in perfect working condition, albeit a tad dusty from being stored in the very back of one of the Quidditch storage sheds. (Ed's perfectly okay with stealing the bike, because Hagrid either doesn't care or doesn't remember having the thing in the first place.)
Seeing as Ed also knows the truth about Sirius Black, he hasn't felt the need to worry about Harry Potter or his well-being all that much. Neville mentions the so-called "Golden Trio" from time to time, as he rooms with both Harry and Ron. Through the Gryffindor, Ed has learned that Harry and friends have been bickering over the existence of some broom since the winter holidays and over the fact that their pets are not getting along – typical kid things, no alarming schemes involving Dark wizards at all for once.
This, of course, becomes more interesting to Ed once Neville clarifies that Hermione owns a particular squash-faced orange cat that has been antagonizing Scabbers, a rat that's been with the Weasley family for at least a decade.
"I'm mostly surprised they didn't think it'd be an issue before," Neville says absentmindedly. "It's not like Crookshanks would understand other people's pets aren't food."
Sirius once mentioned that Crookshanks had been of help to him, because the cat could tell he wasn't a real dog and now, Ed's betting the cat could also tell that the rat isn't a real rat. (The list that Crookshanks had given Sirius, Ed had later found out, was a list of passwords to the Gryffindor common room. He and Sirius had had yet another argument about his intelligence or lack thereof.)
Ed relays to Sirius that the Rat Bastard has been located, but not yet caught, as Ed has no real excuse to start talking to Ron or kidnap his pet out of the blue.
With the steady progress made in regard to Sirius and the Rat and the escape, Ed relaxes enough to have some days where he doesn't even think about everything he has to do and the information he's been made privy to.
The twins, while happy to be seeing Ed regularly once more, are dying of curiosity about Ed's casual refusal to address any change in his behavior. He can tell Fred desperately wants to question him on the reasoning behind his recent lack of free time, but only just manages to reign himself in from badgering Ed. George is a much better actor, occasionally dropping nonchalant questions that Ed would have no reason to suspect if his twin brother weren't literally vibrating with anticipation and impatience by his side. He lies, of course, but he feels a slight twinge of guilt each time he does.
Blaise becomes an ever-growing presence in Ed's life and Neville must have taken some of what Ed said to heart, because the Gryffindor makes an effort to include Blaise when he's awkwardly trying to figure out how to interact with any non-Slytherin that isn't Ed. Even Fred and George are on their best behavior around Blaise, the rare occasions when they see him, which is saying something, because the twins aren't even on their best behaviors for McGonagall. Ed starts to suspect his friends are conspiring with one another, but can't find an ulterior motive for such behavior and accepts that his friends are learning and growing, just like he is.
The weirdest thing about life post-befriending-wanted-criminal-Sirius-Black has to be interacting with Lupin in the lens of their previous teacher-student capacity.
Ed spends most of his days in Lupin's classroom debating the pros and cons of getting the man involved against Sirius' expressed wishes. Each time, he ends up deciding it'd be a quick way to get Sirius actually pissed at him and make Lupin once again suspicious.
After his outburst during the last detention, Ed thinks he's at least established a sense of mutual respect between them. He knows Lupin is still keeping an eye on him, but he's no longer sure about the reasons behind that; Ed is willing to bet Lupin isn't reporting to Dumbledore anymore, so there isn't any very good reason to be watching him anymore.
At least he understands what it means to be discreet, Ed thinks when he catches Lupin staring at him for what felt like the tenth time that hour. Unlike someone we both know…
Sometimes Ed wants to laugh in Lupin's face because he'll remember how Sirius said Moony can't eat salad without gagging but forces himself to do it "for his health" or that even though werewolves are dangerous and capable of harm, Sirius and friends had once watched a transformed Moony chase after a rabbit, run face first into a tree, and concuss himself.
He realizes he has too much access to private information that makes it harder and harder to differentiate the Moony who'd help the Marauders plan pranks so that they'd actually be able to get away with it (which makes sense, if Prongs and Wormtail were anything like Sirius when it comes to planning) from the raggedy, intellectual Lupin who wears sweaters with elbow patches and carries chocolate in the pockets of his robes.
It'd be nice if Ed could involve Lupin long enough to at least take the map off of him, because then he'd stand a chance of grabbing the Rat Bastard when Ron isn't around, but even that feels like something Sirius would consider a betrayal so Ed just leaves it alone, like he had said he would.
* * * * *
When two months have passed since Ed and Sirius first met and Ed's organized everything according to plan except for the rat, Sirius starts to complain that things aren't moving fast enough. Ed shuts it down immediately with the argument that he is the one doing everything and Sirius can't really refute that point, so he sulks and whines, as adults normally do.
"When are you going to catch Wormtail?"
"Whenever I see the opportunity to. I'm not friends with the Weasley kid, so I can't just walk up to him and ask him to hand over his rat, because it's not actually a rat, but the dirty bastard who betrayed your best friend."
"Why can't you ask Crookshanks to catch the rat for you?"
"Are you stupid? I can't talk to animals and I can't turn into one either!"
"Maybe you're just not trying hard enough," Sirius says petulantly.
"How is it that I'm over a decade younger than you and yet it's like you're my fucking child," Ed mutters.
"Ugh. AGH!" Sirius yells. "I can't just sit around forever, kid, I need to do something!"
It's an argument they always come back to, even after Sirius begrudgingly agreed to Ed's plan (with the caveat that he would absolutely kill Wormtail given the chance). Sirius still thinks direct action would be the best option, while Ed does everything in his power to dissuade him. (Occasionally, Ed has flashes of what Mustang must feel like dealing with him and almost feels sorry for the bastard.)
"There's nothing you can do," Ed stresses. "Sometimes you have to wait before striking."
He thinks that's the end of the discussion until he comes back to the Room of Requirement a week later and finds it unoccupied.
Sirius is gone.
Ed's threatened it jokingly a thousand times, but this time he's serious: Ed's going to kill him.