I'm actually happy with this one! 😁

Al looked out the window as they passed through the countryside. It has been three months since they came to England, and Al was feeling homesick. Which was ridiculous since he and Brother used to travel all the time. Guess they can’t just take a train to Resembool whenever they feel like also partially affecting his longing for home.

He huddled himself into his wool coat as a shiver went through him. That was another thing about England; it was too cold for him. Ed and Winry have already gotten used to the cold, but Al’s body was still sensitive. Even though he appreciated all the sensations, he wished he could be a little warmer. 

“Are you okay, Al?” Winry asked, looking up from the letter she was writing. Granny had sent them a letter before they left the Weasley’s house, and Winry didn’t really have time to give a reply. Now that the rush of getting to the train was over, she could relax and write all about it. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little cold.” He said, moving his feet onto the bench and hugging them close to him. He loved sitting like this. It always made him feel so small, and it was something he never got to feel in the armour.

He wiggled his socks-covered feet. While he didn’t actually like the feel of socks, it was another sensation. And it made his feet warm. 

“Here, you can have my coat too.” Winry took off her coat, and Al didn’t bother fighting her. He knew she would just force it on him. While his frail body might save him from her wrench, it would not save him from her wrath. 

Groans could be heard from the other bench, and Al looked over to see Ed finally waking up from his nap. 

“Are we there yet?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. Al looked out again to see light still out. That book about Hogwarts had said that the train only reached its destination when it’s night out. 

“Not even close, Brother.” 

Ed groaned and fell back on the bench. “I was sure I would sleep through this trip.” 

“Your body doesn't need as much sleep as it used to Brother, since you're not providing for mine too anymore.” 

“You make it sound like he was pregnant with you.” Winry said with a snort before getting up from her seat. “Since you're awake now, let’s go find the others. 

Ed groaned again in protest, and Winry glared at him. “Ed, you're suppose to keep Harry safe! You can't do that if you're not going to be near him.” 

“We’re in a train. What’s the worst that could happen to him?” 

“Didn't it say in Dumbledore’s report that he was attacked in the train last year?” Al asked. 

“And weren't you also attacked in a train?” Winry demanded. 

“Technically, I wasn’t their target.” Ed weakly defended, but one glare from Winry made him get up. “Alright, alright. Let’s go find wonder boy.”

(^～^)

Finding the golden trio’s compartment wasn’t that hard; everyone knew them. Or atleast everyone knew Harry. When they got there, Al, being the politest of the Amestrain trio, asked if they could sit there. It seems Hermione had that role in the other group, who eagerly made the other two boys move for the extra company.  

Hermione seems less suspicious of the Amestrain trio ever since their support against the wizarding world’s treatment of elves. At least she isn’t suspicious of Al and Winry. The fact that the pale-haired blondie at the tournament knew him still made her watch Ed warily. This, in turn, made the boys wary too. But, instead of keeping her distance from him, she seems to have decided to spent extra time finding things about him. Which explained why she was so excited to welcome them to their compartment.

As the afternoon progress, several of their friends looked in on them, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom. Ed made sure to remember their names. He was going to do this mission right no matter how much he didn't want to.  

What he didn’t appreciate was all the sports talk. After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, started asking them about Amestris and what life there was like. Ed didn’t see much problem with that and answered her questions, mainly because she seems to ask him most of the questions.   

As time went Hermoine seem to lose all her suspicion, asking actually relevant and curious questions. Ed also slowly relaxed from his tense frame next to the girl. It was nice to talk to a questioning and forward-thinking person in this wizarding world. He didn’t notice how as the questions increased, Winry started being quiet. He did notice Ron’s glares, though.  

‘What’s with him?’ 

“Hermoine, how about I answer the rest of the questions? Brother must be tired.”  

Hermione blushed for some reason. “Oh! Of course! Sorry, I didn’t mean to ask so many questions.” She apologized.  

“No, it’s okay. I don’t mind. Al, what-” Al moved his eyes to his left, and Ed followed his eyes to see Winry reading a mechanic magazine. To anyone else, it would not have seemed like anything was wrong. But Ed could see how tense she was.  

‘Did I do something wrong?’  

Al started making some exaggerated expressions towards Winry, and Ed finally realized that Al wanted him to talk to her. He got up from his seat, leaving Al with Hermione, and sat next to Winry.  

“Hey.”  

“Hey.”  

Ed sat there awkwardly, not knowing what else to talk to her. He looked around to find some way to start a conversation before finally, his eyes went back to the magazine. Specifically, the automail magazine.  

“Where did you get that?”  

“Granny sent me one. I might be on break for a while but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop working entirely.”  

“Oh yeah, what will happen to all your customers now? I didn’t even think about that.” He asked, finally finding something to talk about.  

“Garfield will take care of them. And Dominic also agreed to help out a little.”  

“Wow, you got that grumpy old man to help? Respect.” Winry just hummed at Ed’s words. He fidgeted at her dismissal before he took up his courage to ask.  

“Win, did I do anything wrong?”  

Winry sighed at his words before giving him a small smile, that for anyone else would have seemed natural. “No, I’m just being stupid. You didn’t do anything.”  

“Winry, you aren’t-“ 

“What do you think about this automail?” she asked, quickly changing the subject. Ed figured if she didn’t want to talk about it, then he wasn’t going to force her. He looked at the magazine only to sweatdrop.  

“Winry, I don’t think I’ll need a rocket launcher in my leg.”  

“But Paninya has one.” 

“Yeah, and she also said she didn’t actually want it. That grump just decided for her.”  

“Okay, then which one of these actually interest you.”  

They started talking about all the different automail styles out there. If Ed was still his 15-year-old self, he would have never had this talk with her. But the 3 months he lived without alchemy, he had helped out in the shop. He wasn’t a mechanic freak like her, but he knows at least the basics.  

While he was both pissed and grateful when he found out his old man gave his soul to Truth in exchange for his alchemy, he was also happy for those alchemy-free days. Now he can understand Winry more and share in her passion. *

They talked about all the possibilities in the automail market, from lightweight automail to even possible underwater automails for swimmers. Ed even suggested incorporating magic into it. If he was going to learn this hocus pocus, then he was definitely going to use it to help his research. Nothing too drastic though, just in desperate situations. 

As they talked, he realized there's a strange lack of sound from Hermione and Al’s side. The others were still deep in Quidditch talk, but there was no sound from his brother and the girl. He looked up to see Hermione looking around nervously, almost relieved when Ed looked at her. When he looked at his little brother he snorted, finally understanding why Hermione looked so skittish.  

“Al, you might want to tone down on the murder face.” Al looked confused at his words before realizing that he wasn’t showing any emotions.  

“Oh no, I’m sorry Hermione! I didn’t realize I wasn’t emoting!”  

“No, no, it’s okay! I just thought you were getting annoyed at my questions.”  

As the two started trading apologies, Ed and Winry shared a smile, chuckling at the situation.  

Suddenly he heard a new voice, and a pale-haired boy stood in the compartment doorway. Ed quietly groaned as the atmosphere grew tense as if ready for a fight.  

‘I knew we should have stayed in our compartment.’

* I just noticed that I gave no explanation for why Ed has his alchemy. I thought I already wrote a chapter for it but I guess not 😅. Thank you for everyone who pointed that out in the comments. I would have just continued writing without any explanation if it wasn't pointed out.