A/N - 100+ followers on ff.net?! Awesome! I never thought this story would be so popular when I started it. Thank you guys so much! Also, out of the 7 of you who reviewed, only like, 3 of you showed any concern for Susan. And after I went to all that trouble to make her lovable. Anyway, enjoy this angsty chapter I've created for you.

"blah blah"- Speaking Greek

"blah blah"- Speaking Amestrian

'blah blah'- Thinking

*<*<*>*>* - Begin/end flashback

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Percy Jackson. Good thing too, or they wouldn't be nearly as good as they are now. They belong to J.K. Rowling, Hiromu Arakawa, and Rick Riordan. Just to be safe, I also don't own the song 'This is War' by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Edward

     When it came to gut instincts, Edward wasn't very attuned. He didn't usually get a 'bad feeling' that warned him of something about to go wrong. Then someone would speak, and he would realize. 'Brother, something doesn't feel right...' He would realize, but by then it was too late. 'Big brother Ed?' Too late to do anything but regret. He was always too late. And it wasn't any different now.

     There was no one to speak, no one to warn him of what he would see when he turned the corner, no warning at all. He hadn't heard footsteps, or a cry of pain, a scream for help, nothing. He had turned the corner with no warning, and was met with absolute shock as he tried to discern what was happening, because it couldn't possibly be what he was actually seeing.

"Susan?! Susan!! No no no no..."

     But it was, and the scientific side of his mind calmly informed him that with that much blood on the ground, and the area of what seemed to be a stab wound, there was no way she would live. He ignored that, the desperate side of his mind taking control as he lunged toward the girl on the ground, dropping to his knees beside her because she couldn't be dead, please, not again, couldn't he arrive in time just once, please!

"No, please, not again..."

     Edward desperately propped Susan up with his left arm and placed his right hand on the hole her chest, her blood staining his white gloves red. But he knew that it was futile. Her eyelids fluttered, and her brown eyes met his for an instant. In that instant, Ed could see the fear, the pain, and the desperation that she must have been feeling. Then all of that vanished, and a contented look entered her eyes for a split second, before all life disappeared.

     Edward found himself holding another young girl that he hadn't been able to save, the guilt and despair threatening to overwhelm him. Why, why, why was he always too late? Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he couldn't stay; Sirius Black was still in the castle and needed to be found.

     Edward reached out a shaking hand and carefully closed Susan's eyes. He gently slid his right arm under her legs and lifted her small body, slowly climbing to his feet. It was then that he realized he didn't know where he should take her. He couldn't go to the Great Hall; that was where the students were. After a moment of consideration, he began walking towards the hospital wing.

'Not that a hospital can help her...'

     The walk to the hospital seemed to take an eternity, and Susan's body seemed to get heavier with every step. The only sounds were of his boots hitting the ground, a sound altogether too loud for the occasion. He was all too aware of his metal arm, an arm too hard and cold for carrying a young girl. A girl who shouldn't have to be carried at all.

'If I had just been a little bit quicker...just a little bit...'

     The anger that Edward had been too distracted to notice flared to the surface. Sirius Black. That was the man who had murdered an innocent eleven-year-old girl. If he hadn't wanted to catch Black before, he did now. Now, he had someone to avenge.

"Mr. Elric!"

     Edward's footsteps came to an abrupt halt. He looked up, mutely registering that Madame Pomfrey was standing in front of him, her hands over her mouth in horror. She unfroze and quickly crossed the short distance between them. She moved a trembling hand toward Susan, but stopped as Edward shook his head, her face falling into sadness.

"I see," she said quietly. "Why don't you come in here and lay her down."

     Madame Pomfrey entered the hospital wing, Edward close behind. He gently lowered Susan onto a bed, carefully sliding his arms out from under her. He thought he heard Madame Pomfrey speaking, and another voice. He forced himself to turn around, and his heart dropped for a second time.

     Professor McGonagall was standing at the foot of the bed next to him, and in that bed...another girl. He recognized her; Luna Lovegood, from one of his second-year classes. She had quite clearly suffered the same fate as Susan. A stab wound right in the heart, with no hope of surviving.

'Two children...he murdered two children...and I couldn't do anything to stop him.'

"Most of the teachers are conducting a thorough search of the castle," Professor McGonagall was saying. "I must go, the students in the Great Hall need another teacher protecting them."

     Edward forced himself to walk away from Susan's bed and towards the door. Professor McGonagall saw where he was going and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You should stay-"

Edward cut her off. "I'm not a child. I'm in the military, I've seen death before."

'But not usually like this.'

"I'm not going to let a murderer run around loose." Edward pushed Professor McGonagall's hand off of his shoulder and continued walking towards the door.

"In that case, no one has searched by the astronomy tower yet." Professor McGonagall's voice was strained, but she didn't move to stop him again.

"Thank you." The words sounded hollow to Edward. He ignored Madame Pomfrey's concerned protests and walked toward the astronomy tower.

'That monster is going to be punished. I don't care if it's by me, or someone else entirely. He's not going to get away with this.'

     Edward forced himself to stay alert as he searched the astronomy tower, listening for any strange sound, eyes straining for any odd shadow, anything that could reveal the murderer he was searching for. But try as he might, he couldn't find anything at all. Nothing. Not a single hint of anyone other than himself.

     He felt so incredibly useless. He hadn't been able to reach Susan in time, and now he wasn't able to bring justice to her killer. Try as he might, he couldn't do anything to help. Nothing. Not a single thing for anyone close to him.

~o~O~o~

     As much as he hated to admit it, it didn't really come as a surprise to Ed that Sirius Black was not found, even after hours of meticulously searching the castle. It seemed that the murderer was very good at escaping. After all, he had broken out of the most secure prison the wizard's had to offer; exiting a castle undetected wouldn't be too much of a challenge for him. It didn't stop him from being angry though.

     Ed wasn't looking forward to when Dumbledore told the students of the murders, but he was dreading the parents arriving to claim the bodies. He would have to face Susan's parents and tell them how he found her seconds before she had died, seconds after she had been attacked. If he had been even one minute sooner, he may have been able to save her.

     Everyone in Hogwarts Castle was gathered in the Great Hall. All of the teachers and all of the students. Dumbledore walked onto the platform, facing them all. Edward didn't envy him in the slightest. The students' whispering hushed immediately when they saw him.

"Students and teachers," Dumbledore began gravely, the regular twinkle in his eyes gone. "We have confirmed that Sirius Black was indeed in the castle, but is now nowhere to be found. You will stay in the Great Hall until tonight, when we are absolutely sure that he is gone." Dumbledore paused, his serious mask falling for an instant to reveal his sorrow. "It is with utmost regret that I must inform you; Sirius Black did not leave without victims."

     The students grew even more silent, some with expressions of terrible fear, others of anger, others a mixture of the two.

"Two brave students have fallen." The students let out gasps of surprise, along with the teachers who were unaware. "Susan White, a first-year of the Slytherin house."

     Cries of dismay came from all around the hall, especially loud from the Slytherin students, and several of them jumped to their feet in shock and anger.

"And Luna Lovegood, a second-year of the Ravenclaw house."

     The Ravenclaws echoed the Slytherins with cries of grief and anger. Muffled sobs could be heard from all four houses as they learned of their comrades' fate. The teachers had grown pale, several had their hands over their mouths as they struggled to remain calm for the sake of the students.

"We must put aside our differences and come alongside our fellow houses in their time of grief," Dumbledore continued. "And we will be taking all the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of you remaining students. Tomorrow many of you will travel home for the holidays, and I hope that you return in the new year." Dumbledore stepped down from the platform and walked over to the teachers. "Would the heads of the houses and Mr. Elric please come with me to the hospital wing," He said, his grave expression still in place. "The rest of you, stay and guard the students."

     He turned and began walking toward the hospital wing, followed by the four wizards and Edward. Madame Pomfrey was still in the hospital wing when they arrived, as was to be expected. The two bodies had been covered with white sheets.

The headmaster stood in the center of the room, facing the teachers and nurse. "Now that we are all here, I'm sure we would all like some clarity on what exactly happened. Minerva, I believe you were the first to learn of Black's entrance?"

Professor McGonagall nodded. "That is correct. I heard a scream not far from me, and the student found me not long after that. She told me that she had seen Sirius Black, after which I informed the rest of you and immediately went to find Potter." McGonagall paused. "But, it seems that Black was not after Potter after all."

"What do you mean, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked, sounding puzzled.

"As I was escorting Potter to the Great Hall, we ran into another student who had encountered Black. He said that Black had asked him where the three exchange students were."

"The three Americans?" Professor Sprout asked in disbelief. "Why would he want them?"

"We will look into that later," Dumbledore said. "Go on, Minerva."

McGonagall took a steadying breath and continued. "We came across Luna Lovegood not far from the Great Hall. I escorted Potter the rest of the way to the Hall, and then brought her up here to the hospital wing."

Dumbledore nodded solemnly and turned to Edward. "You discovered Susan White, correct?"

Ed nodded, forcing his face to remain blank. "Third floor, west wing, second corridor on the right," he recited. "She-hadn't been there long." His voice broke as he recalled how her intelligent eyes had dulled. "I brought her here and then left to search the astronomy tower."

The headmaster nodded once more. "Thank you Mr. Elric. You may go now, I am sure you would like to clean yourself off and get some much-needed rest."

     Edward looked down at himself, remembering for the first time that he had blood on his clothes. It didn't show up much on his red and black clothing, but his white gloves were now covered in crimson red.

"Right." He turned and walked out of the room, feeling the adults' stares on his back as he exited.

     Edward barely made it to his room before his emotionless facade crumbled. He leaned on the wall next to his door, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor.

"It happened again," he whispered, leaning his head against the wall. "Another little girl that I couldn't do anything to help."

     Ed sat there on the floor for what seemed like hours, his mind drifting over nothing in particular, but always coming back to how he could have prevented it. He eventually forced himself to move so he could clean his clothes, not wanting to sit with the blood of his friend on him for any longer.

     After he had discarded his blood-stained clothing, his gaze was drawn to his automail hand. The same hand that he had placed against Susan's chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The same hand that he had used to carry her lifeless body. The same hand that could have saved her. The silver metal was tainted with dried blood that had no doubt seeped into the inner workings of his automail.

'How ironic,' he thought humorlessly, 'that her blood is on my hands.'

     Edward dropped his head, closing his eyes to block the view of red on silver. He began the meticulous task of cleaning his automail, a task that was so much harder than usual. A task that was torturous because of why he was cleaning. Because he couldn't save her. By the time he had finished, he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep; to block out his suffering for a short while.

     But he knew from experience that sleep would only lead to more suffering, in the form of nightmares. Besides that, he still had work to take care of. Like it or not, he needed to write a report back to Colonel Mustang telling him of the recent developments. Not to mention he should write to Al.

     At the mere thought of Al, Edward found himself missing his younger brother so much that it hurt. He and Al had always been together, for as long as he could remember, no matter what. Al had been there with him for the transmutation, as much as Ed wished he hadn't been. Al had been there when he got automail, and through the painful rehabilitation. He had been there when became a dog of the military, and signed himself off as a human weapon. He had been there with Nina, and through the same feelings of helplessness. He had been there for any hardship that Ed had faced. Now he was alone, and he hated it.

     With a jolt, Edward realized that the next day was the start of the winter break, for Christmas. He still wasn't sure what Christmas was all about; he just knew that it had been an opportunity for him to visit home. But now...now he wasn't so sure. He couldn't leave, not with the school in this state, after everything that had happened. But how was he supposed to survive the rest of the year without seeing Alphonse?

'I'll see if he can come up here instead.' Ed thought with determination. 'He's been saying he wants to see everything anyway, so I'm sure he won't mind. I'll just have to speak with Dumbledore about it. And he will say yes, one way or another.'

     Ed wrote his report, though he didn't go into much detail about the murders. He couldn't bring himself to write anything detailed. He couldn't bring himself to write how he had arrived seconds before she had died, seconds too late...mere seconds away from saving her...

'I only had to be a little bit faster, only a little bit!' And never had Ed hated the word 'little' so much.

     He wrote a much longer letter to Al, asking if he would be able to travel to the school. There was no doubt in his mind that Al would say yes. He wanted to see his brother so badly, and he knew Al must feel the same way. Ed was able to fall asleep looking forward to something.

     But his dreams were haunted by the guilt of past mistakes. Chestnut hair and fair skin turning disfigured and terrifying, a black hand reaching out...long braids and a white dog, coming together in a horrifying way, a sad voice crying out...and now, brown eyes looking past black hair, filled with sorrow and blame, as blood poured from her chest...and the resounding question from all of them: 'Why did you not save me, Edward? I thought you loved me? Didn't you care about me? So why did you not save me?'

'Son?'

'Big brother?'

'Professor?'

"Why did you not save me?!"