Soooooo, it's been a while. I've honestly just been drowning with work and school but no worries, this story is still ongoing.

Enjoy!

Word Count: 2,861

Chapter 8: Eye of the Storm

Alphonse warily traversed the length of the train looking for an empty compartment. The halls of the train buzzed with a captivating energy; it was as if the train itself had come alive. All around him laughter resounded from both inside the various compartments and through the halls as children ran from room to room, catching up with their classmates. Al let a small smile grace his face as he was whisked away back to the days when Ed, Winry, and he would rush to the schoolhouse back in Risembool, as eager as the children before him. Those were simpler times, but they were also lone gone. He was on a mission; a fact he needed to remind himself so as not to get too caught up in their charade.

After solidifying his resolutions, he pushed down any further reservations and pulled open the door to the nearest compartment. Lucky for him, there was an empty seat. The other three occupants glanced up at him, eyes suspicious and untrusting. He sent a welcoming nod their way, watching as their shoulders relaxed slightly; everyone that is except for the black-haired boy with glasses.

As he lifted his trunk into one of the racks above them, the only girl in the room decided to speak up.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger," The bushy-haired girl extended a hand as he took a seat across from her and the red-headed boy, who decided to follow her lead.

"Ron Weasley," The boy mumbled.

Al extended his hand after Hermione withdrew hers. The boy, however, was more hesitant to shake the girl. His grip was weak and unsure.

As if deciding he had no choice but to be polite, the black-haired boy seated next to him spoke up. "Harry Potter," He muttered, clearly in no mood to be talking to a stranger. Alphonse also noted how the boy's eyes were trained on his face as if searching for a reaction.

Alphonse smiled at the three. "I'm Alphonse Elric," He supplied, clearly noticing the black-haired boy's surprise at something. Maybe it was his lack of reaction or recognition at the boy's name? He had seen the same look all too many times on the various military officials his brother had disregarded on a daily basis; one of Ed's many talents.

"Are you a first-year?" The girl, Hermione quipped, obviously the most curious of the three.

Al shook his head. "Transfer student, I was homeschooled before this."

The redhead was now giving him a searching look, eyes narrowed in thought. Al decided to ignore it, for now, choosing instead to answer the girl's next question that flew from her mouth almost before he had even finished answering the first.

"I'm 14."

Afterwards, the three started up a conversation on the four Hogwart's houses, until eventually, the compartment lapsed into a comfortable silence.

About halfway through their journey, the weather outside decided to take a turn for the worse. It wasn't long before fat drops of rain were falling, turning the sky a murky grey.

'I hope Brother's automail is alright,' Al thought absentmindedly, remembering the many nights Ed had suffered through phantom pains whenever the weather turned bad. This would be the longest Ed and he would be apart. Yet, if everything went well, they would be back together before December, out looking for the Flamel's killer and a way home.

…

Ed smirked from his seat on top of the train. Compared to being on the run from a group of immortal beings, ditching the wizard in charge of babysitting him had been a piece of cake. Even easier than taking candy from a baby.

Now he just had to think of a plan before the train reached the station. No doubt Kingsley would have alerted his buddies by now and they would be waiting for him once the train reached its destination. He would just have to evade capture long enough to speak with Dumbledore. He would convince the headmaster to let him stay if it was the last thing he did. No way in hell was he going to let these magical idiots keep his brother away from him just because of a few false murder charges.

He was broken from his thoughts as something landed on his face. Lifting his hand, he didn't even have to guess what had fallen on him as the sky above seemed to let loose and more rain began to fall. So absorbed in his thoughts, he had failed to notice the dark storm clouds rolling in. Now the rain was beginning to fall harder. However, it wasn't until lighting flashed in the distance followed by the roar of thunder that he realized he would have no choice but to find a way inside the train.

Getting into the train itself was not a problem. Evading the hordes of magical children inside would be where the real challenge began. There was no doubt in his mind that one of the kids would have seen one of the same newspapers that had been delivered daily to Severus's house. The same newspapers that had described their appearance when labeling them as them murderers.

From his very limited exposure to the Wizarding World, he had realized very quickly that gold eyes were non-existent. The closest thing that came close was an interesting shade of light brown, but they could hardly be called gold.

Another roar of thunder shook the air around him, this time close enough to send a shiver down his spine. Without wasting another second, he decided he would have to take that chance or risk getting barbecued; a privilege he had not allowed Mustang and would certainly not allow this storm.

Leaning precariously over the edge of the train, he glanced ahead of him. Despite the rain obscuring his vision, it wasn't long before he made out an open window. Perfect.

As he reached the spot above the window, he glanced down and belated realized he couldn't see the ground. Holy fuck. The train was flying. How the hell had he missed that? Forcing himself to take another deep breath, he used his automail hand to grip the edge of the train, before letting his feet swing down and straight through the open window.

Unfortunately for him, one of the wizard kids had been standing where he had planned his landing. Unfortunately for the both of them, this meant that Ed lost his balance, and they were both sent tumbling to the floor of the train.

"Fuck," Ed said, standing up. Water continued to drip off his clothes, soaking the floor and the boy beneath him.

The boy, to his credit, managed to look both mortified and pompous at the same time. A trick that until this day, Ed had thought Mustang was the sole inheritor.

"I don't know who you are, but when my father hears about this!" The boy began, a mop of wet blonde hair, significantly ruining any chance of Ed taking him seriously.

"Yeah, yeah, just find a towel and dry off," He smirked, opening the door. "You'll be fine."

An indignant shout sounded from behind him as he exited the compartment. Naturally, he chose to ignore the irate child. Lucky for him, it seemed as if many of the children had already settled into their seats, leaving the hallway ahead empty of anyone who might sound the alarm so to speak. Even luckier for him, he managed to find Al's compartment in minutes.

He entered without a second thought and was met with the wide-eyed stares of the group of children Al had settled in with. A mixture of shocked faces followed him as he entered, perhaps none more so than Al himself, who looked positively exasperated.

As he stood there, drenched and not in the mood to continue this stare off, he resigned himself to be the one to break the ensuing silence. "Hey," He said, squeezing himself in-between Al and the boy with glasses.

"Blimey, you know this bloke?" The red-headed child glanced between the two of them, stunned.

"Why are you wet?" The girl spoke up, her face less shocked and more curious than her companions.

"Who are you?" The bespeckled boy had seemingly decided to join in on the throng of questions thrown his way.

"This is my brother Ed," Al spoke up, as if sensing his rapidly declining patience. Good ol' Al. "This is Hermione, Ron, and Harry." Al gestured to each of the children in turn.

"You have a brother? Is he in the same year as you?" The bushy-haired girl whom Al had identified as Hermione sat forward in her seat, like a child eager to grab their treat.

"Yes, we're brothers. No, I'm not a student, and no, I'm not a professor," Deciding that his only way to calm the over-eager teenagers in front of him was to be direct, he also turned towards the kid next to him. "And I'm wet because I was outside. No, I won't tell you why. Now if we could all calm the hell down that'd be great, thanks."

"Brother don't be rude," Al sighed next to him, rubbing his hand over his face. "Mr. Kingsley won't be happy."

"How were you outside? The train is moving," The boy next to him continued as if he'd grown deaf at the end of Ed's sentence. Ah yes, children and their selective hearing capabilities. Always a pleasure.

"It is, yep," Ed nodded, ignoring the glare thrown his way. "Good to know you're observant. You must do well in school."

"Brother!" Al hissed, causing Ed to sigh, and mutter a half-hearted apology.

"Wait Kingsley, as in Shacklebolt? He works in the Auror office at the ministry!" Ron said, gaping. "Dad mentioned he was one of the people investigating the Flamel's murders. Why would a couple of transfer students know him?"

Ed and Al exchanged a look, leaving the trio to watch their silent conversation.

'Really brother, not even one hour and you blow our cover' Al raised an eyebrow.

'Have you seen it outside' Ed narrowed his eyes.

'Fine, but follow my lead' Al sat up straighter.

'Whatever' Ed rolled his eyes.

"Hello?" Ron waved his hand in front of the two, trying to get their attention. "Either of you going to say something?"

"Kingsley is an old friend of the family," Al said, smiling. "He and Ed were supposed to meet for lunch."

"Right," The harry kid replied, and if possible, his glare worsened. "You expect us to believe you just happened to be on top of the train for some random reason you won't say, because that's not at all suspicious."

"Nope, it's not," Ed shrugged, not at all motivated to elaborate further.

Thankfully, their line of questioning was broken as another child chose that exact moment to awkwardly barge into the compartment. The child to his credit only cast one curious glance at the two blondes before settling next to the girl. Ed decided at that moment, so far, the newcomer was his favourite.

After what was a short exchange of greetings, in which Ed learned the newcomer's name was Neville, the children lapsed into a conversation regarding some wizard sport of which Ed had no interest. It wasn't long after that when Ed fell asleep to the gentle hum of an engine not so unlike the ones he had heard many times over.

…

Despite his calm exterior, Alphonse was panicked. No doubt the ministry was already aware of Ed's second disappearance. They wouldn't be pleased. That much was certain. What he didn't know was if or how this would impact him attending Hogwart's. In the eyes of this government, they were suspected criminals, and Ed hadn't done much to ease their worries.

He sighed, ignoring the way Hermione's eyes followed his movements. He couldn't help but be reminded of Sheshka. Much like Sheshka, it was increasingly obvious Hermione wanted to know as much as possible, maybe too much. She would need to get better at hiding her intentions.

Speaking of hiding, Al wished he knew what this turn of events meant for their cover story. It was risky enough, expecting no one to recognize him alone. Add another blonde with golden eyes and the last name Elric, made it downright impossible; the media had seen to that.

This meant his plan would be impossible. What would have been him attempting to discreetly gather information was now what was sure to be a whirlwind of unwanted attention. After all, he was a murder suspect.

His thoughts were broken as their compartment door was thrown open. In step a boy that looked around his companion's age. Blonde hair was slicked back, and his face was twisted into a sneer. Behind him stood two thuggish boys, each as unfriendly looking as the blonde.

After a snide comment directed at the redhead's family, the boy Al remembered as Harry stood up. "Don't remember asking you to join Malfoy." He spat back, clearly defensive.

This did nothing to lessen the antagonism that radiated from the blonde, who then proceeded to ransack the redhead's luggage. "Look at this!" The trio laughed, "Weasley, were you actually going to wear these rags?"

"Eat dung!" The redhead bristled, rising to his feet.

Al decided he would have to step in before the situation could escalate. The last thing he needed was to be at the center of another incident. Especially on his first day. Sitting up straighter, he glanced from the sleeping form of his brother to the agitated teenagers. "I'm sorry, but given how it appears you just came here to insult everyone, would you mind leaving? I would hate to have to alert someone."

The blonde spun around to face him, as if he had just realized Al's presence in the compartment. Except instead of focusing on Al, the blonde pointed directly at his brother. "You!" He said, clearly angry.

Not that Al was surprised. Ed seemed to make enemies without trying. Something they would have to work on no doubt.

"Can my brother help you with something?" Al said, cautiously. "If not, I suggest you leave."

The blonde ignored him and instead turned back to the redhead, Ron, as if Al hadn't just spoken.

"Well, are you going to enter?" He drawled, teasing and arrogant.

"What are you off about Malfoy?" Ron said, clearly confused.

Now it was the blonde's turn to feign surprise. "You don't know, no surprise considering your father's position at the ministry. Of course, I knew month's ago."

Deciding to put an end to whatever the blonde hoped to achieve with his teasing, Al stepped forward in front of the trio. "I suggest you leave."

Clearly taken aback by the seriousness of his tone, the boy backed away from Al, disappearing around the corner. Al seated himself back down next to the ever-unconscious form of his brother.

"Blimey," whispered Neville, the boy glancing up at him with wonder in his eyes.

"Don't let him get to you Ron," Hermione said, noticing the redhead's slight tremble.

"Him! Get to me! As if!" Ron grumbled, slamming the door shut so hard the glass shattered.

"What the fuck."

Ah, so now his ever-observant brother decides to wake up.

Hermione wasted no time in repairing the glass as Al explained what had transpired to Ed. As she finished, she turned to the boys, reminding them they still needed to change into their dress robes.

Ed stood. "Well, time for me to head out then." He opened the window and sent a smirk to the four teens.

"See you at the school," He directed to Al, who could only nod. The next second he had launched himself out the window, eliciting a startled yelp from Hermione.

"Did he just jump out a window!" Harry, who had remained quiet since the blonde left, was now on his feet and staring wide-eyed at the open window.

"Yeah, brother does that." Al sighed, shrugging. After all, what else could he say? Ed was weird, there was no denying that.

"Bloody hell mate, and I thought my brothers were mad!"

Author's Note:

So, I'll be honest, I was always dreading having to write the train scene. I just wasn't that excited about it. However, now that it's out of the way the next chapter will come more quickly. Not to mention this semester is almost over.

Thank you for reading please leave a comment and let me know what you think!