Hi welcome with Dandelion wishes,
I hope you enjoy and please let me know if you see anything I need to fix or if you have any future ideas that you want me to put into this story.
It was winter time, brisk winds wrapped their icy fingers around the thin frame of Harry Potter. His aunt had sent him outside to weed her flower beds, even though most of the fall flowers were dead she hated the idea of having monstrous weeds overtake her beautiful beds during the icy months of winter. Poor little Harry had woken to pounding on his cupboard door, his aunt yelling at him to hurry outside to weed before the storm came in. When he made it into the entryway, he blinked at the change of light. Small chapped knuckles rubbed at sleepy eyes, Petunia gave him a thin jacket, hat and a scarf before sending him outside.
The sun had risen but its warmth was lost against the sharp winter winds. Harry knew that if he stopped moving for a moment he'd be colder than if he just kept moving, so tiny fingers dug into cold earth pulling up weeds and their roots being careful of the bulbs that Petunia hoped would bloom come spring. His nose was red and runny within a few hours, his face was pinched from the cold and small tremors ran throughout his body when the winds blew hard. Harry finished weeding the beds a good couple hours later, his body was cold and stiff from kneeling so long. He gathered up the weeds and what not and put them in the trash bag next to the dustbins to be picked up the next day. The winds had picked up by the time he finished picking up, clouds had rolled in dark and heavy. Harry made his way to the front door when something white caught his attention. There in the middle of the flower bed was a dandelion. It stood swaying in the harsh winds, he was sure he picked everything. If Petunia saw that he left a dandelion in her gardens he'd surely miss lunch and dinner. Harry quickly made his way over to the lone standing dandelion, and picked it. The weed looked so fragile between his cracked and dirty fingers.
An idea ran through his head as he gazed at the little weed, he saw children during the summer and spring months make wishes on these. All he had to do was blow away all the white fluff in one breath and his wish was meant to come true! He looked at the kitchen window quickly to make sure his aunt nor uncle was watching him, because if they saw him doing something freaky he'd surely be punished. When the coast was clear Harry took a deep breath, faced the little dandelion and blew. "I wish I was able to leave this place and never come back! I wish I could go somewhere where no one knows me! Please." With an exhale his made his wish and watched as the white fluff glided on the winter winds into the dark skies above.
When he woke up the next morning in the same dingy musty cupboard, his little heart broke. "Wishes don't work" he told himself as he gazed into the darkness. His eyes burned but he wouldn't cry. His uncle unlocked his door with a motion to the kitchen. Harry stood, his back still was stiff from weeding yesterday but he had to make breakfast for his family. Once the bacon, eggs and toast was eaten and the plates cleaned Harry was sent out front to get the mail. Their mailman had gotten hurt last week which meant instead of the mail coming through the mail slot it was bundled and laid on the ground of the driveway. It was easier for him then walking to each house, Harry's aunt and uncle both called it being "lazy". It looked like it had snowed lightly during the night, a thin blanket covered to ground and surrounded area. Harry's thin sneakers squeaked on the snow when he walked towards to the driveway. The bundle of mail was spewed on the ground, the elastic must have broken again. He gathered up the mail, the last piece was a letter to his uncle. It looked like it was from work, Harry's hand went to grab the letter when a burst of wind blew it away. He cursed and went after it, it floated down in the middle of street. Looking both ways he quickly ran to get the letter. His fingers just pinched it up when he heard the sound of tires screeching on ice. Harry looked up from his crouched form hand still on the letter in the street to see a car coming straight for him. He didn't have time to move, his last memory is seeing aunt Petunia running out of the house a look of fear on her face, mouth open. He closed his eyes as the car hit.
And opened them to find himself standing on the sidewalk of a city. There were people walking about, hundreds of them! Harry knew he was nowhere near his Little Whinging village nor near Privet Drive. His wish came true! Harry turned around and ran down the sidewalk, he dodged the tall people, laughing. He had fun for awhile, he walked about the town, watched people talk to each other about things and looked into shops smiling at the people who smiled at him. But when night fell, he found himself hungry and becoming cold. The winds here were somewhat blocked by buildings so he just needed to hide away until the winds stopped. Even though he was cold, he was smiling. He didn't need to wake up to hear aunt Petunia yelling at him nor have to fear uncle Vernon punishments. Sleep came surprisingly easy for little Harry once he got comfortable, and he woke to the sounds of the town coming to life.
Harry walked the streets again, and people gave him money. He didn't know why they gave him money, but he thanked them with his biggest smile, their faces looked sad but happy. It wasn't something he was used too. A few hours into his journey, he noticed something really strange. There was a suit of armor walking next to a blonde boy in a red coat. And there were people walking next to them in blue. They seemed to be important because the people on the sidewalk moved to let them pass, some were even excitedly whispering to each other. Harry had never seen any important people in his life, and these ones looked strange. If his aunt had seen them she would have even said freakish. So he turned and walked in the other direction, not wanting to do with anything freakish.
Harry soon learned by listening to a older man talk to his granddaughter, that he was currently in East city part of Amestris. Which he knows is nowhere near England. He also learned that the military is everywhere, they wear a deep blue uniform so it's easy for Harry to spot them and turn around because he wants nothing to do with them. Food is easy to get, and even clothes. Strange older adults have been giving him items to wear and food to eat during his adventures. They always mutter about his family and how could they let him wander out or if he is lost. Which he is not thank you very much.
But as luck goes, Harry does tend to lose it soon. On his fifth day in East city, he was minding his own business when began to rain. It wasn't a light rain either, it poured from the sky in sheets. And he was soaked within minutes. He didn't have any place to really go, so he ran for cover. There was a phone booth a few blocks down that no one ever used, he picked up his pace his soaked shoes splashing in the ever present puddles in the street. Harry raised his arms to block the harsh rain from falling into his face. It took him a few minutes to find the phone booth, he got turned around a few times. A street light casted a grim shadow over the dingy phone booth.
As he got closer he noticed there was two people standing there, a woman and what seemed to be a man. The woman was holding something that shown under the streetlight, it took Harry a few moments to realize what it was. The last he saw something like that was when Dudley was watching a crime show. The gun was pointed towards the man.
"NO! Stop!" Harry shouted, his voice almost drowned out from the heavy rainfall. He ran closer "Stop!" The woman flinched, and looked towards him and said something. The woman seemed to fade away, but between one blink and the next a figure was standing there with long dark hair, the gun was still there.
"You brat!" The gun was raising, Harry's feet moved before he could realize what was happening. But the gun was never fired, the man from the phone booth tackled the figure pushing them both to the ground. "Fuck!" The downed figure yelled. Once more the figure changed, blurred in and out before becoming solid in the shape of a small dark cat. The cat wriggled out from under the man and ran away, hissing as it rounded the corner.
Harry ran over to man that was still inside the phone booth, he feared that somehow he was too late and he had gotten shot. But the man was breathing, harsh but still breathing. The rain water was stained red, and the man on closer inspection was wearing a dark blue uniform. He was military, Harry realized. But he couldn't just leave the bleeding man, his aunt would surely have turned the other way under the same situation but Harry believed himself a somewhat better person. So with his soaked sneakers and shivering body, he inched closer to the bleeding man on the cobbled stone street. "Hello sir, are you okay?" his voice he feared was lost in the heavy rain, but no, it seemed the man had heard him because he made a strange sound. Was he in pain? Harry had never heard someone in pain, his uncle forbade him from making any sound.
"..." Harry couldn't hear what the man was saying, he inched a step closer and kneeled down in the growing puddle of red and water. "...saved my life"
"Well I couldn't just let you shot, that would not have been nice," Harry told the man, and was startled when the man began to convulse. No, he was laughing. "This is no time to laugh sir, are you hurt?"
The man on the ground seemed to realize that Harry was right for he stopped laughing and looked up. Hazel green eyes framed by thin rectangular glasses regarded him with an odd expression, "Kid, what are you doing out here?" He seemed concerned for him, why?
"I was trying to find a place to stay dry…" Which was try, his aunt always said honesty was the best policy even if she didn't believe a word he said.
"Trying to get out of the rain. Kid, where is your parents?" The man seemed oddly interested wanting to know why Harry was outside.
"I don't have any…" He answered truthfully. His parents had died years ago and he had never met them, even though he heard they were nothing but scumbags; Harry would have liked to seen them.
"Oh man…" The man jolted and his head quickly swiveled around before looking at the phone that hung from its cradle. "Listen kid, I need to make an important phone call okay? And I can't have you walking around alone at night, especially since…" He stopped talking and glanced around once more, Harry was beginning to think the man was paranoid. "Can you wait right here, I'm going to close the door just because I can't have you listen to what I'm saying okay? And then I'll take you to my place, my wife Gracia would not mind having you stay the night okay?"
Before Harry could say anything the man placed a warm hand on his thin shoulders, if he could feel how thin Harry was he through his loaned clothing made no comment. "My name is Maes Hughes, by the way."
Aunt Petunia told Dudley never to talk to strangers when they happened to go places together, 'it was never smart to talk to people whom you don't even know they names' she would explain her son.
"Hello sir, my name is Harry Potter" Mr. Hughes smiled gently at him, before dropping his off Harry's shoulder and using it to push himself up. His other arm hung limply at his side, blood was dripping off his fingers into the puddle beneath them. Plop...Plop
Maes closed the booths door making sure it was tightly closed before dialing headquarters. Imagine his luck, he would no doubt be dead now if that kid hadn't made the Homunculus freeze in surprise. He really owed little Harry his life. He glanced to his right where Harry was slouched against the phone booth his was covered in Maes slightly wet jacket, it seemed to swallow most of the kids body. Maes frowned as he waited for his call to go through, the kid was too thin, he felt both his clavicle and scapula through that thin shirt of his. Gracia will smother the poor boy once he steps foot into their house and good because Harry looks like he needs months of good food. Maes couldn't just let him wander off though not because Harry saved his life, but the Homunculus saw him and now his life was in danger.
The dial tone was answered thankfully by Roy, "Roy I don't have much time, so listen closely. That stone the Elrics are looking for you need to tell them to stop their research, it's not something they can just make. It needs souls Roy, human souls and a lot of them. I can't go over much more on the line, I'm kinda in a spot at the moment."
"..."
"No, no I'm fine. A homunculus tired to kill me a few moments ago, not something I would ever think I'd say in my life. But they didn't get the chance a street kid came out of nowhere and quite literally saved my life. I'm taking him to Gracia, he is too thin."
"..."
"Roy, I can't just leave him. It's pouring sheets out here, he is already soaked through those pathetic layers of clothing is has on. And they know what he looks like Roy, I can't leave him to only be killed by them, I just can't" Maes watches from the corner of his vision as Harry slumps against the bottom of the booth, his body has stopped shaking and he seems to sleeping. How could anyone sleep in the icy rain bets him, "Yeah, yeah. I know Roy. I got to go, he fell asleep outside. Poor kid, his parents are dead he said. I'll check in later." Maes put the phone into its cradle, and opened the folding door.
He squatted next to lightly snoring Harry, even with his hurt arm it was disturbingly easy to lift the sleeping kid up onto his back. He decided it was best to get a ride home instead of trying to walk. He signaled for a cab on street side and once inside he told the driver where to go, Harry was still sound asleep. The ride home thankfully was quick and even before he could open the door Gracia swung it open, she looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and her face was red. "Oh Maes," she sobbed into his shirt as she wrapped her arms around his torso, but she paused. A look of confusion flashed over her face washing away the heart wrenching sadness he saw. "Edward?" She whispered. My beautiful Gracia always worrying for others beside herself, "No my love, his name is Harry," He shifted the sleeping boy into a better position on his back with his good arm.
"Harry?" Gracia looked between the soaked child and her husband, Maes smiled sheepishly at her "Can you help me with him? My right arm isn't in the best shape at the moment."
"Are you hurt? Maes you should have told me!" Gracia frowned at him before moving behind Maes and gently lifting the small form of Harry off his back. "Oh, he is so light." She bites her bottom lip as she gathers Harry into her arms. He had to be at least six, but she could be wrong it was hard to tell because he was so thin. "Maes, he is freezing!"
"Yeah it was cold outside love, I was hoping you could help me with him. He saved my life you know?" Maes kicked off his boots, and wrestled his black shirt off. His right arm was black and blue but there was a definite line of bleeding flesh. The bullet just grazed his bicep, good. He can easily patch that up, he walked to the bathroom with Gracia following. "Is Elicia asleep?"
"Yes, she fell asleep a few hours ago." Gracia stood in the doorway still holding onto small Harry, "I can't just bath him, I don't want him to freak out. Would it be okay if I use some of your old sleepwear love?"
Maes pulled out some gauze and rubbing alcohol from under the sink. "No I don't mind. Let me just clean this," he gestured to his arm "and I'll help you get him dressed."
When Maes stepped out of the bathroom he found Gracia kneeling by the sofa layed out around her was tub of warm water and a few dirty towels, she had began to cry again. A sudden panic flooded him, what happened to Harry? He rushed over to his wife, "Gracia, what happened? Are you okay?" Gracia nodded and wiped her face with a wet towel. "Maes, where did you find this boy?"
"I didn't find him, he found me actually"
"Then perhaps it was meant to be," he had no clue what his wife was saying, but he looked over at Harry and then he understood. Harry was thin, so thin they could see his ribs and even count them. But his skin was peppered with marks, dark and ugly with yellowed edges they looked old at least. Pucked marks littered his thin torso and knobby legs.
"By God," Maes kneeled beside his wife and turned her head into his shoulder. "He is safe with us love, Harry is safe," He kissed her brow and her lips. "I'm here, let's get him cleaned up and then we can see what the next step is," Gracia took a deep breath and nodded.
"I hope he is hungry, because I have sudden urge to cook a large meat pie." Maes doesn't comment on the fact that it's past midnight, if his wife wants to cook then he shall let her. Poor Harry isn't going to know what hit him.