Disclaimer: I don't own HP or FMA because Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

Chapter 2: The First Time

When Harry had opened up the book that was awaiting him on that table, he had no idea of the great wonders of the entirely different world that awaited him. Sure, science books were great and they provided a great deal of knowledge, but that was it, they were always about facts. The term imagination was never even mentioned in any book he had read. So when Harry had discovered possible applications for such sciences, what else could he do but be absorbed into such a tale?

'This is great! Applying the rearrangement of particles to completely change the molecular structure and elements of an item and thus, creating something almost completely new!' thought Harry as his eyes scanned every page with a speed that would leave a future bushy-haired classmate jealous. 'If you could just create enough energy to produce such an effect and redirect it in the correct manner, this could actually be possible!'

After finishing the book, Harry checked the bar code along its spine and dashed to the section that the book came from, hungry for more and making sure to avoid anyone who could easily report him to Ms. Smith. But while the book had appealed to his scientific side, the small portion of Harry's childlike innocence that had survived the Dursley's brutal treatment also yearned for the same thing. A chance to explore and use his imagination. To live in a completely different world where there were no Dursleys, no bullies, no living in cupboards. It was a dream come true; giving Harry a chance to take back some of the childhood that had been stolen from him.

'If this was only the first book, I can't wait to see what happens next. The plot is pretty good, but those ideas are priceless!' thought Harry.

And it was on that day that Harry began to delve into the world of Amestris, following the adventures of the Elric brothers, paying attention to every detail and going through every Fullmetal Alchemist resource available to him. He read through every manga at the library and even watched the anime series through the library computers (but he had to switch to an educational program every time Ms. Smith came around). To others, it might have seemed foolish to pay so much attention to a comic book, but to Harry, it was a world where he wasn't judged or teased by others and a freedom that he hoped to achieve one day. In this new world, he could be anyone he wanted to be.

6 months later…

"I'm late!" screamed Harry as he tried to push his little body even faster to make it back home. "I knew I shouldn't have stayed extra late to watch that new OVA! Okay, maybe I shouldn't have tried to read that extra hundred pages in that science textbook either but it was so interesting!"

Harry burst slipped through another crowd that was going in the opposite direction as he continued to sprint as fast as he could. Everyday, Uncle Vernon had given him an exact curfew to get back by.

"Not like it was a good reason either, all they care about are themselves," muttered Harry as he remembered the kind 'warning' that his uncle had given him.

"We don't want your 'freakishness' here, boy! So you better stay far away from this house as humanly possible so we don't have to see suffer your 'abnormality'! And come back right before dark since we can't have the neighbours thinking that we're irresponsible; leaving a kid out after dark. Oh…... if only they knew about your 'weirdness', then we wouldn't even have to care if you came back home or not!"

After that day, Harry had always been punctual, arriving right before sunset so that his uncle wouldn't get angry at him. The best part about the deal was that he had the entire day to himself and the Dursleys had no idea what he was up to! Sure, all he did was stay at the library, but by volunteering at the library, he had earned enough 'credit' with Ms. Smith to participate in some of the children activities that took place there. He might have been all alone in these classes ("Big D" had set out a warning for every kid in the area that they would be beat up if they were even seen talking with Harry) but he was able to learn things that he felt were best taught when there was a teacher. Some of those lessons included chess (Roy Mustang was pretty good at chess, so why couldn't he be?) and martial arts (almost EVERYONE in the manga knew martial arts! There were more people who knew some sort of combat than there were that didn't!). With his new regime, Harry usually had little to fear since he would always make it on time, but this time was different. Every other time, he had made it right on time but this time, if he didn't hurry… he didn't want to think about the consequences.

'Uncle Vernon has been drinking too much lately. Sure, he always drinks but ever since that "blasted internal affairs men who do nothing but trouble us good, hardworking people" had talked to Vernon, he's become a bit violent,' pondered Harry, 'last time I was almost late, he looked like he was ready to kill me! Even with those martial arts lesson that I take every week, no way can I beat him! He's like a fatter, uglier, and slower version of Armstrong. He'll wipe me out in one punch!'

As he kept running, he knew that time was running out. The street lamps that lined the streets were beginning to turn on while the sun slowly set; disappearing behind the houses as the night sky began to replace the one above him. Drenched with sweat, Harry dashed until he had arrived at number four at Privet Drive, but by then, it was too late; the sky was completely dark and not even a hint of the sun was evident in the night sky.

"Here goes," gasped Harry, trying to get some air back into his body as his legs felt numb from the long run.

*Knock, Knock*

Harry heard the shuffling of feet inside the house before the groaning of one of the chairs told him that someone heavy (most likely Dudley since there would have been a bigger groan had it been Vernon) had come to get the door. When the locks had been undone, the door was opened and the smell of alcohol burnt through Harry's nose as the fat face of his cousin smirked at him, only meaning trouble for him.

"Dad's going to be really mad when he sees you. I can't wait to see what happens, maybe I'll be allowed to join in, let me have some of the fun, you know?"

"Leave me alone Dudley," Harry muttered as he slipped through the door frame and past Dudley (which was pretty hard seeing as how Dudley covered almost the entire doorway). When he went into the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight a very purple and drunk Uncle Vernon with Dudley approaching behind him, eager to see the 'fun' that was going to occur.

"BOY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? YOU'RE LATE AND LOOK AT YOU, YOU SMELL HORRIBLE! HOW DARE YOU STINK UP OUR HOUSE WITH YOU FILTH! LOOK AT YOU; YOU'RE ALL SWEATY ON TOP OF BEING LATE!"

"….." Harry said nothing as he had learned long ago, that protesting would lead to making the situation worse, never better. Dudley, on the other hand, had no qualms about escalating the situation more.

"Dad! The freak said that he was glad those internal affairs guys were talking to you! And he got me all sweaty when he tried to push me down in the hallway too!"

Before Harry could even try to deny these facts, Dudley's and Harry's attention were focused on the crashing noise as Vernon threw his glass of wine into the wall. All the blood in Harry's face drained away as Vernon started approaching him.

"How dare you, BOY! Trying to hurt my son and being late, after all we did for you! We clothe you, give you a roof above your head and this is how you repay us!? I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS BEHAVIOUR!"

"But, Unc-"

Harry barely had any time to mumble a form of excuse before he felt his uncle's punch in his gut. His legs felt weak as the force of the punch had made him lose all feeling in the bottom half of his body. He fell to his knees, his legs no longer able to support him. The beating continued to occur, blows coming from every side.

"How dare you * smack* try to *smack* infect us with your 'freakish' ways! This will *smack* make sure you remember *smack* to never try anything again!" Vernon shouted before picking the young boy up and dragged him along the floor as if he were nothing but garbage to the obese man.

"Now stay in there and don't come out for a WEEK!" Screamed Vernon as he tossed Harry into the cupboard like a ragged doll and locked the door from the outside.

As the foot steps began to quiet and leave, all that remained was a hurt and injured boy, bleeding from multiple wounds all across his body and suffering from broken bones. Bruises and cuts caused aches throughout his body as he dared not move, fearing that even the slightest action would cause even more pain.

"It hurts," Harry murmured, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…" repeating the same phrase over and over again in order to think of something other than the pain that plagued his body.

'Why was I left here? All I do is get hurt and treated like a slave, there's no one there for me, why, oh why was I left here?' thought Harry as he sobbed uncontrollably. 'Why couldn't Amestris be real? I could be an alchemist and be loved by everyone. I can picture the transmutation circle so clearly, every detail, every line and every symbol. The first thing I would do is to create crane figurines hanging all around my room. Not a cupboard, but my room. Cranes have no limits but the sky, a true freedom that I long for. It would be so easy, just clap my hands and picture every detail of a folded crane…'

Harry was so caught up in his thoughts of grief and wishes for a better future that he had been subconsciously performing the very steps that he were thinking about. It was simply a case of mind over matter as despite the pains that his body felt, Harry slowly clapped his hands and pictured the same transmutation circle that he had memorized after seeing so many times. He slowly touched his hands to the floor of his cupboard while concentrating on his crane; too deep within in his fantasies to remember that such a thing could never happen but believing it to be real.

His hands grazed the floor, and Harry was forced to squint as a flash of light brightened up the room for a moment. As soon as it appeared, the light disappeared. When he slowly opened up his eyes, his eyes widened until they couldn't any more and his jaw was left hanging. In the wooden floor, was a wooden crane figurine, the same figurine he had pictured! But before he could even question what had happened, Harry suddenly felt too exhausted to continue as blackness started to creep through the sides of his vision. As he slowly passed out and even with all the pains that racked his body, Harry fell asleep with a smile on his face, imagining the endless possibilities that awaited him.

AN: Thanks for all those people who read my story! I was really happy that I got such a turnout and hope you enjoyed this chapter! Well, the introduction is finally done, Harry knows transmutation, and begins to train in order to master his new ability. Once again, thank you to all readers who took time to look at this fic and plz, comment and review!