Of Alchemists and Wizards

Catching Up

Hey, all! So sorry for such a long wait; I just recently moved into college, and I'm still trying to get into the swing of things. My updates will probably be slower as college is SO much different than high school, but I will still update!

Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this extra long chapter!

"Dragons? They weren't chimeras?" Winry asked as she tightened one of the screws on my automail leg that was now detached from the port. We were currently holed up in the hospital wing while Winry checked over my port and automail, trying to see if she could make any changes to make the pain more manageable. Sure, Severus was bringing me a pain potion every month, and that certainly helped to ease the pain, but it didn't take it away completely. There was still a dull pain in my port whenever I put pressure on it, and the feeling had yet to dissipate.

I had begged Winry to just go back to my room so I could have at least some privacy as my mechanic looked over my automail leg, but she wasn't having any of it. She wanted to have access to medical equipment just in case as she had only been able to bring a few sets of clothes and her tools through the gate. Thankfully, Poppy had been nice enough to pull some curtains around the bed I was occupying which was also in the farthest back corner of the hospital wing.

Now, I was lying propped up on the pillows of the bed as the blonde girl inspected my automail leg and port. I told her about everything I hadn't been able to put in my letters, all the little details I had wanted to tell her but didn't have the time to write down. She nodded along and asked questions as she did her job, prompting me to tell her more. It was refreshing and dare I say comforting to have someone from home here at Hogwarts. I hadn't realized just how much I missed my family until she got her, and my chest loosened a little bit in relief.

I had also warned Winry about Rita Skeeter and even read her the article out loud for Winry. It was clear she approved of the article about as much as I did. My childhood friend had been mortified when I had told her about the letter, both of knowing Winry wasn't the type of person to write sappy love letters. And frankly, we weren't even writing love letters back and forth to each other. Our relationship was complicated at best, and neither of us wanted people to jump to any conclusions or be too far involved in our lives. Unfortunately, it was too late for that.

Albeit a little reluctantly, I had filled the girl in on the rumors that were floating through the corridors about her and our relationship. I had to explain to her about the females I had in class that were clearly not happy about the fact that I was not available in a romantic sense. I was hearing a Slytherin girl had actually been crying over the news. We had both ended up as blushing messes by the time the conversation was over, and Winry was quick to jump to discuss another aspect of the letter.

"How dare she make assumptions about your mother and father like that!" she had shouted angrily. At this point, she had set down her tools and was looking me in the eyes, her blue eyes blazing with a raging fire. I had quickly soothed the girl whose eyes were starting to water. I knew how much she loved my mother, almost as much as I did, and while she knew I was conflicted when it came to Hohenheim, we both knew he was still my father and wanted the best for my brother and I. Thankfully, my words had caused the girl to settle and wipe away her tears, getting back to the task at hand.

"No chimeras," I said through a sigh, wriggling around a little bit, trying to get comfortable on the hospital wing cot. She chided me softly for moving while she was trying to do her job, but there was no heat to her words. "They were definitely dragons," I added. "Even though I didn't get a close up look at them, they were definitely whole creatures." The girl by my side nodded before changing the topic of conversation suddenly.