Edward rested his head against the window of the train, watching the scenery go by. He liked traveling by trains, it was a relaxing method of transportation. Memory flooded him, he'd ridden many trains while travels with Alphonse in the pursuit of regaining their bodies. Edward's chest tightened with pride at the thought of his brother, whole and human once more.

They'd done it, and now Al was whole again.

The events of the past two years filled Ed's mind, and all that they'd accomplished. Roy had regained his sight, Hawkeye hadn't been killed, his father was... well, his father, a man he could be proud of. Edward grasped his right hand with his left, a habit he'd gotten into over the past few weeks, reassuring himself it all wasn't a dream. That journey was finally over.

Yet Ed couldn't help but smile, it felt strange to be traveling alone, but good too. It felt right, now that Al had his own body, to let him travel on his own. And so the Elric brothers had parted, the eldest going west and the younger going east. Al was going to Xing to study alchemy with May, and Ed was glad that he would have all the time in the world to live the life he'd missed out on while trapped inside the armour.

The only thing that Edward felt even the slightest sadness over was the loss of his alchemy, yet he could never bring himself to regret his sacrifice. (Edward sat, his words slurring and his eyes blurry, laughing with his younger brother. "Stupid fucking Truth, to think my alchemy was worth your body. As if your life is worth some fucking transmutations!" Ed slams his hand down on the table, his laughter booming.) Winry helped greatly in his understanding of living without alchemy, and Edward couldn't help but feel indebted toward her. Edward could still feel her against his chest, and hear her words: Well, almost my whole life.

Winry's laughter rings in his ears as the train lurches to a stop. Edward stands and gathers his things, a brown overcoat and a bag containing a change of clothes and his money. Focusing on the task at hand, Edward departs from the train and onto the platform of the border town between Aerugo and Amestris.

After the mysterious 'disappearance' of the Führer, friendly relations between the two countries were again fostered, and a trade agreement written out. As a result, border towns such as the one Ed was in became more common as demand for travel rose. The resulting trade embargo between Aerugo and Creta however meant that tensions still ran high between the three countries.

Yet Edward wasn't here for anything diplomatic, he was looking for a travel guide willing to take on the former Fullmetal Alchemist. Edward was following a legend of a stone gateway that lead to another world. The pursuit of the Philosopher stone had taught him how much accuracy can be in a simple tale, and Edward wanted to find out if this legend was true, and if it was, if it was dangerous.

The bustling activity of the town lay before Edward, and he breathed in the cold air of the changing season. His leg port ached; rain must be coming...

Harry whipping up in his bed, his body covered in cold sweat, images of his godfather's torture playing before his eyes. I have to go, was all he thought.

Edward stood in the rain, his guide several metres back slumped against a tree, a cigarette protected by his body from the elements. A large mound of dirt lay before Edward. This is it? He thought. A fucking mound of DIRT? Looking back to his guide, he indicated that he was going to look around to the burly man.

As he walked, Edward pulled his coat around him tighter, not used to the dampness of Aerugo yet. He began searching the surrounding area, making tight circles around the mound. Looking back, something stuck Edward. The mound looked like no geographical formation he'd ever some across, it was too... perfect, the grass on top too trim and green. Edward's brilliant mind began working, and he began searching deeper into the surrounding woods.

When he'd searched several square kilometres, frustration gripped Ed. Searching for a dry... ish place to sit down and think, his automail port ached in agreeance. Finally Edward stopped in a little clearing and beneath a tree he crouched to sit between two rocks.

THSSSHK

The ground under Ed slid apart and he tumbled underground, sliding down a muddy slop until he reached the rock bottom. Looking up, Edward calculated he must've fallen about ten metres. Before reaching to climb back up, Edward looked into the cavern he'd fallen into. The sliver of light that came from the hole he'd fallen from didn't illuminate much, but it lite the tunnel enough to show Edward that it travel much further back, towards the mound.

Curiosity burned inside of Ed, and he fumbled though his pockets to find something useful enough, or at least dry enough to serve as a torch. Inside his right pocket Ed found a bundle of matches dipped in wax, a useful trick he'd picked up while traveling. Digging through his left pocket all Ed could find was his train ticket for getting to Aerugo, which he promptly lit.

The cave lite up, and Ed began walking down the tunnel, guided by the little fire. As he turned a corner, light began showing from further down, and Ed mused for a moment as to how it was possible.

"Shit!" Ed yelped as the fire burned the fingers of his right hand. It always surprised him just how sensitive the skin of his right arm was compared to his left. Shaking the pain off, Ed continued by the light provided.

The cave began an incline up, and Ed slipped once or twice on the wet stone. As he reached the top, Edward's brain raced with theories. The light he'd seen was from a huge stone gateway. A fluttering piece of fabric moved in the middle of the arch, and as Ed stood, he could just barely make out movement from behind the sheer fabric.

Despite what his brain was telling him was possible, Edward could hear the faintest of shouts coming from beyond the veil, though he couldn't understand what was being said. Taking a step forward, Ed began calculating what was happening before him, yet nothing he thought up made any sense as to what he was seeing. In moments Edward Elric stood before the veil, watching through the fabric at some sort of battle.

What was happening confused Ed, he thought he could see them fighting with alchemy, but it was unlike any he'd ever seen before. Light shot out of the people's hands, and it seemed more to be a light battle than any fight Ed had seen, which mostly relied heavily on physical aspects as well.

Suddenly a man appeared on the other side, and their gazes locked. The man looked tired, dark circles prominent under his eyes, and he looked much older than how he carried himself. His black eyes stared into Edward's golden, confused at what he was seeing. Edward reached out his hand, to prove what he was seeing was some sort of illusion, a fabrication of his imagination. Right before his hand made contact a flash of green light hit the other man.

Harry watched helplessly as Sirius fell ever so slowly, dead, into the veil. His heart stopped, anger flowing through his veins. He. Would. Kill. Bellatrix. As he reached for his wand, Siruis fell to the floor and a blinding flash of light made Harry turn away.

Edward stood unsteady on his two legs, looking at the scene before him, then back to the gateway. Somehow, he was on the other side. Everyone was shouting in the language he couldn't understand, and light was flashing everywhere. Whipping around, Edward looked at the archway behind him, the rippling world he'd left gone. He reached his hand out, but grasped nothing, simply passing through the void.

Light flashed by him and drew his attention back to what was happening, and Edward quickly dodged as another flash of light was aimed at him. After what had just happened, he was not chancing getting hit with one of those lights, be they red, green or blue. It didn't help that Edward had no idea what was going on and everyone was shouting.

Dodging another flash of light Ed began running, searching for anyway out of this room. He knew he's come from the archway somehow, but it didn't look like he was getting back through at the moment and he really, REALLY did not want to get hit by one of those lights like the other man had.

Quickly Ed pinpointed a door, though he had no idea where it lead, and began running through a stone hallway.

"Where the fuck am I?" Ed shouted to no one in particular, turning another corridor and trying to find some sort of exit.

Harry felt rage boil up inside him as Voldemort fled, and he look up to Dumbledore, who was standing a metre or so from him, a sad look on his face. Any moment now Fudge would appear, and Harry's ears tuned into someone running their direction. A boy turned into the main room, his golden hair disheveled and her piercing gaze confused.

"Stupefy!"

The boy's whole body seized up and he collapsed on the floor, his muscles twitching. The Minister of Magic was followed by several aurors, and went quickly to talk to Dumbledore.

Harry's eyes were focused on the boy though, as an auror attended to him. He looked too lost to be a Death Eater, and Harry had never seen him before... Who is he?

Auhor's Note: I just liked this idea better, and it came to me after I wrote the other chapter. I hope you don't mind the change, I really think the whole Ed is somehow at Hogwarts thing is getting a bit old... so here's my take on how Ed might end up there :D

Aerugo and Creta are neighbouring countries to the west of Amestris, both of which have been at war with Amestris since Bradley became Führer, though Aerugo is the more diplomatic country, I thought it would be fitting for Edward to travel there. Enjoy.

EDIT: Fixed some grammar and spelling, sorry for all who read it and were bothered :)