Chapter Text
Harry Potter was shuffling his feet through the snow that had blanketed the streets in the last few days. He wasn’t aware of how cold it was when he left his apartment that morning and was only dressed in skinny black jeans and a green polo. Harry folded his arms across his chest as if hoping to shield himself from the onslaught of the piercing cold that had descended upon New York. Officially he was on holidays from the wizarding world and Britain, however unofficially he was searching for peace which for now involved distance from the wizarding world.
Since his defeat of Voldemort, the wizarding world had been suffocating in their affections; he received hundreds of letters at his home address with offers of jobs, dates and the very persistent general fan mail. It had gotten so bad that he wasn’t able to leave his house as wherever he went he was swarmed by his fans. It had been by sheer miracle alone that he had been able to return to Hogwarts and finish his education; while Harry didn’t particularly care one way or the other, Hermione had been rather insistent that he return and with the help of Headmistress McGonagall, the experience hadn’t been too bad.
It was immediately after graduating that Harry had decided to leave and get some space between his past and himself at least for a while. It turned out that Hermione had a cousin that owned an apartment in New York, since they wouldn’t be using it for a few months had managed to get the approval for him to stay there; her cousin was currently overseas himself studying the ancient Egyptians and their pyramids. Apparently having a high intelligence and a thirst for knowledge is written into the Granger DNA.
After four days of complete relaxation in his new apartment Harry decided to go exploring. Coming from Britain, Harry assumed that although it had been snowing he would be able to deal with the cold without a jumper. He continued his walk through the streets marvelling at the sights around him and cursing his stupidity under his breath as he tried to remain as warm as possible. He could easily use a warming charm on his shirt and pants but the downside to living in such a lively city was that he didn’t get much privacy away from his flat. He knew that it would be awkward and difficult to explain, the reason he broke the decree of secrecy was because he was too cold.
As he was rounding a corner he heard a loud bang from one of the alleys near him that made him halt in his tracks. The sound reminded him of the old westerns that Dudley used to watch that involved trigger happy cowboys. After a few seconds of silence, Harry just shrugged figuring it was just a car backfiring or something before he began to move forward through the crowd. Suddenly a woman’s piercing scream followed by a sickening crash sent a horrible jolt through his body. Putting on a burst of speed, Harry spun around and headed into the alley behind him that he thought the sounds emanated from.
Standing barely ten metres in front of him was a tall bald man wearing a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans. But what really caught his attention was the gun that was in his left hand, pointing directly at the prone woman at his feet. Without thinking Harry whipped out his wand from his back pocket.
“Petrificus Totalus!” Harry screamed flicking his holy wand at the assailant. Instantly the man’s limbs snapped together with such a force that he fall flat on his face next to his victim, the gun on the ground.
Harry ran towards the woman and fell to her other side, feeling secure in the knowledge that his spell would hold over the muggle until the police arrived. The woman was in poor shape and barely conscious; her skin was extremely pale and clammy and she was losing a lot of blood from her stomach to the stage it was starting to pool around her. As Harry turned his wand on the stranger and began performing the limited healing magic he knew, he gently touched the side of her face to get her attention. “I need you to focus on my voice and stay with me.
What is your name?” Harry asked trying to keep his voice calm.
“S-Skye.” She muttered softly in reply as her brown eyes rolled back in her head.