It's Not Exactly Safe Here Is It?

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It was a pleasant spring day and for once, Harry was able to convince Hermione that it'd be fun to get out into the sunshine and just relax. It helped that he was able to remind her of the times back in school where they would just laze around on the banks of the Black Lake or even of their 'camping trip'.

Most of the week that she'd been there, the two had either been holed up at Harry's place just talking or sitting doing little together (usually with Hermione reading a book from Harry's library) or else they'd been visiting the various museums or cultural centres dotted throughout the city that Hermione had always wanted to visit.

Today, the thought was to take a walk through New York's famous Central Park, while Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty would be left for another day.

It hadn't been hard for the two to fall into patterns very reminiscent of ones that they'd shared so many times in the past: walking slowly while talking and telling stories, Harry teasing her and Hermione getting mock-upset and giving him a shove or a playful slap on the arm. Their feet seemed to have no real direction to them, simply ambling wherever the mood took them. At one point, Hermione slipped her hands up around Harry's upper arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

It was as they were standing in line to get one of New York's famous chilli dogs from a vendor with a little cart that their day turned strange.

The sudden appearance of a policeman on horseback startled everyone there.

"I'm going to have to ask you all to move away from this area for your own safety," the officer stated.

"Why? What's going on, officer?" one man asked.

The answer to that came in a great whoosh and roar as a red and gold blur sped by overhead.

"Iron Man!" a young boy screamed excitedly, jumping up and down on the spot.

As though the hero was a magnet, a crowd of people quickly formed around where Harry and Hermione were, surging forward to see what was going on. Unfortunately, the two were dragged along for the ride, quickly holding hands to make sure that they weren't separated.

Unexpectedly, the crowd stopped moving and gave a sudden lurch backwards, leaving Harry and Hermione near the front with a clear view across the large open flat ground. They were near an edge of the park with a road to the left and trees some way to the right. Police barricades had already appeared out of nowhere to halt traffic and divert it away from the area.

But it was the two combatants in the middle of the clearing that had everyone's attention.

One was the Iron Man, red and gold armour glinting in the sunlight, the palms of his hands and circle in his chest glowing a bright white light.

The other was dressed in all black, including the sunglasses that he had on his face. A bag of some kind had been dumped at his feet as both hands held some kind of silver stick-like things that Harry couldn't identify. Looking closer, he noted that there were more of the silver things stuck through the man's belt and even attached to his legs and arms.

"Give it up, Myers, this simply isn't your day," Iron Man ordered.

"The metal man," the other, Myers, sneered. "You think you're so tough? We've all seen that you can be hurt, you're not so invincible."

"Better men than you have tried to take me down, Myers and they've all failed," Iron Man replied. "So, are we going to do this the easy way or the fun way?"

Myer's answer was to quickly bring his arm back and throw his silver stick towards Iron Man before quickly switching his stance and throwing the other as well.

Iron Man seemed to react surprised, standing up slightly, no longer in a combative stance.

"That's the best you can do? Really? Throw some sticks at me and miss?' Iron Man asked.

He was in the process of shaking his head when the two silver sticks returned from their elliptical orbit to slam into Iron Man's back and explode, throwing the hero forward off of his feet. Only some quick repulsar work stopped the armoured man from face planting.

"Boomerangs," Hermione breathed and Harry nodded, surprised with himself that he hadn't recognised them earlier, after all, he'd seen them and even thrown a few himself while he was in Australia with Hermione.

"Bad move, Crocodile Dundee," Iron man stated, having flown himself upright.

Then, setting his feet, Iron Man raised the palms of his hands, simultaneously creating a high-pitched whine, before shooting out a pair of energy blasts at Myers.

Myers dodged and spun, sending another pair of boomerangs at the hero. Iron Man, though seemed to have learnt from the first ones. A quick repulsar blast destroyed one while the second was knocked away.

Unfortunately, that second one was sent flying off-course to impact a food stand, exploding it instantly. People were sent flying and screams of terror filled the air as even more scrambled away and began to flee.

Harry, though, simply narrowed his eyes and dropped Hermione's hand. He didn't expect this to be a long fight, not after what he'd seen Iron Man do on television, but the longer that it lasted, the more chance there was for people to get hurt.

"Harry, no," Hermione hissed, obviously recognising the signs of what she'd dubbed his 'saving people thing'.

Repulsar blasts and boomerangs were beginning to criss-cross the areas between the two combatants. As a second exploding boomerang landed dangerously close to a section of crowd, Harry let his wand drop into his hand, shielded against his leg and with Hermione standing so close.

Taking a quick glance about to make sure no one was paying him any mind, he sent two quick spells.

The first was a simple banishing charm aimed at one of the off-course boomerangs headed towards a crowd of people. It wasn't a perfect shot, but it was enough to have the silver explosive weapon land in a clear patch of grass where it was able to explode harmlessly.

The other was a confundus charm, catching Myers mid-step. The man paused, seemingly unsure about what he was doing. But that pause was enough for Iron Man to finally connect with one of his replulsar blasts, sending the man flying, the boomerangs that he held falling limply from his hands.

A short flight and Iron Man was standing over the guy before he stepped back, gesturing to a pair of police officers not too far away.

"Okay, it's safe now, he's down for the count," Iron Man called, before shrugging at the crowd. "Sorry about the mess, folks. Tourists, eh? Love 'em or hate 'em, they always end up here, just can't keep them away from the Big Apple."

"Come on, Harry," Hermione hissed, tugging on his arm.

One look was enough to tell him that she wasn't exactly pleased with what he'd just done and he was in for a right telling off. He couldn't help but give a wry grin. It was just like old times.

ooo00ooo

"That was incredibly reckless, Harry," Hermione scolded. "You could have been seen!"

Harry'd known this was coming. He was only surprised that she'd been able to restrain herself until they were safely behind the doors of his apartment. He knew the signs and he knew the laws. In fact, he thought it might be something that he could use to at least gain a stalemate in the argument.

Unfortunately, he was stopped before he could reply by a knock at the door. As he moved to answer it, he caught Hermione's eye telling him that the discussion wasn't over. He made a mental note not to forget his counter-arguments.

He blinked at the two uniformed men at his door.

"Oh, it's you two," he deadpanned.

The two aurors glanced at each other before they turned back to him.

"May we come in, Mister Potter?" the one on the right asked.

Stepping aside with a barely supressed sigh, he gestured them in.

"Do you remember us, Mister Potter?" the one who ha first spoken asked.

Harry did, although their names escaped him. These were the two who confronted him in the basement of the Den just after he'd bought the place, thinking that he was using magic in a muggle area.

"Aurors ... Steven and ... Jerry?" he asked.

"Close. I'm Jenkins. My partner is Auror Stevenson," Auror Jenkins replied. "May I ask who this is?"

"Hermione Granger," Hermione replied, shooting Harry a Look that told him that he had a story to tell her as soon as they were gone.

"I take it you're from Britain as well?" Stevenson asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. I'm here on holiday."

The two aurors turned to Harry. "Do you know why we're here, Mister Potter?"

Well, he did, but that didn't mean that he was going to make it easy for them.

"No, I'm afraid that I don't," he replied.

Hermione's roll of eyes told him that she knew that he was lying through his teeth.

"Mister Potter. Two spells were detected being performed in a highly public area. Both spells were low level but contained your magical signature," Jenkins stated.

"Is that right?" Harry asked.

"You know that that's correct, Mister Potter," Stevenson replied. "The last time we were here we informed you that we kept a careful eye on magic being performed within the greater New York area as well as the fact that we now had your magical signature on file."

Harry shrugged. "Fine. I did the spells. A banisher and a mild confundus."

"And you know that performing both of those spells in a nomaj area is a breach of the International Statute of Secrecy, a breach that carries a fine at minimum?" Stevenson asked.

This, Harry thought, would be the perfect time to use those arguments that I was going to use against Hermione.

"Isn't there a clause within the Statute that states that magic may be used in the defence of non-magicals or to aid the saving of lives?" Harry asked.

Hermione's gasp was music to his ears. She'd worked out exactly what his argument was.

Jenkins and Stevenson looked at each other, a slightly uncertain expression passing across their faces for a fraction of a minute.

"There is," Jenkins allowed. "Perhaps you should give us your version of events that would justify using those spells within a nomag-inhabited area."

A parchment and quill had appeared in the auror's hand to take notes.

"Hermione and I were in Central Park," Harry began, "when there was some altercation between Iron Man and some other guy with exploding boomerangs."

"We're aware of the situation that occurred this afternoon," Stevenson stated.

"Then you'll know that with the way the two were fighting, people were getting hurt. A couple of those boomerangs were knocked off course by Iron Man and exploded where there were people. There were at least a dozen people injured before I did anything," Harry relayed. "I saw one the boomerangs heading for the crowd and used a banisher to knock it away where it could explode harmlessly. And then I used a simple confundus to confuse the guy so that Iron Man could take him down quickly and easily.

"No one saw me. I made sure that Hermione was between me and anyone else," he added.

"Under those circumstances, I believe that we can let you off with a warning today," Jenkins said. "A note will, however, be placed in your file."

"Make sure it doesn't happen again," Stevenson stated bluntly.

Harry couldn't resist. "Make sure what doesn't happen again? Stopping people from getting hurt? Or helping Iron Man?"

Jenkins' eyes darkened. "You know exactly what I mean, Mister Potter. We'll see ourselves out."

The door had barely closed before Hermione was on him.

"Did you want to get arrested? Mouthing off at an auror like that. Honestly!" she slapped his arm and shook her head, but before he could reply, she was pointing at the nearby couch. "Now. Sit and tell me why it is that aurors know your magical signature."

ooo00ooo

"In some ways I envy you, Harry," Hermione said.

Harry looked at her, having to squint into the wind even with his glasses to do so. They were currently leaning on the rail of the ferry that was taking them back from Liberty Island. It'd been a brilliant day for them both, one of their last together before Hermione's holiday would come to an end. They'd spent it travelling on ferries around the bay before stopping to see New York's most famous monument. Now, they were heading home, the sun slowly sinking behind them.

Hermione was staring at the city, the tie that held her ponytail doing very little to keep her long brown hair from flying about in the wind.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

She looked at him them and her eyes held something that he couldn't quite identify. There was a hint of sadness, of wistfulness, of pride and something else.

"You've been following your dreams, Harry," she said. "Ever since you left Britain, you've been following your heart, living life on your terms and getting out of it exactly what you want. And now ... now you've begun settling down and again you're doing it your way. You're doing what you want, living in a place that you love and even have a job that you enjoy."

"It'd be pretty silly to start a business doing something that you didn't enjoy, Hermione," he smiled.

"True, but how many people are doing exactly what they want to do?" she asked.

"You, Luna and Neville from what you've told me," he replied.

She shrugged, vaguely conceding the point.

"Come on, you know it's true!" Harry countered. "Neville is immersed in his plants; Luna is still having fun looking for crumple-horned snorkacks and nargles and what have you. And as for you, I've heard how proud you are of the work you're doing for the Ministry. Yes, I think that you're putting in far too many hours and forgetting to take some Hermione time, but you are doing what you enjoy – researching and making life better for others. Everyone's different, Hermione; we can all find our happiness in our own different ways."

She bumped shoulders with him, smiling up into his face.

"And just when did you get to be so smart?" she asked.

"I've been to a lot of places and visited a lot of cultures; something was bound to rub off somewhere along the line," he replied.

"I just wish that you'd found somewhere different to finally find your happiness," she said after they'd stopped laughing.

Harry raised a quizzical eyebrow at her.

"Even you have to admit it: it's not exactly safe here is it?" she stated. "I've followed the news since you've been here, Harry and New York has had some crazy stuff happen. Robots blowing up one suburb; two giant unidentified monsters flattening another; all the strange crime starting to emerge. There was even some speculation about some masked vigilante in some place called Hell's Kitchen on the television the other night."

Harry shrugged, not sure what to say to that.

"And then there's you, Harry. You and your saving people complex," she added. "You know what happened the other day and if I thought that would be the last time you'd do it; I'd be lying to myself. It's who you are, Harry Potter. A good man who can't help but look out for people in danger, for those who need saving."

"I can't stop being me, Hermione," Harry told her. "Besides, a little good every now and again isn't a bad thing."

"No, Harry, it's not. And I'd never want you to be anything but the man that you are," she smiled. "Just promise me one thing."

"You know I'd do anything for you, Hermione," he smiled.

"Be safe. Help others if you have to, but do it safely. I've seen you hurt more times than I ever want to. I don't want my next trip out here to be because you got yourself in some sort of trouble that you couldn't get yourself out of," she told him.

"Really, Hermione? You want me to stay out of trouble?" he leaned in, then, to ensure that they couldn't be overheard. "Isn't that like asking a dragon not to breath fire?"

ooo00ooo

The big board told the story and it wasn't one that the two under it were all that impressed about. When one read the fourth line down, the one that said 'JFK to London Now Boarding', it didn't produce a happy feeling.

"I'm going to miss you," Harry said. "I've enjoyed the last couple of weeks."

"Me, too, Harry. It feels like we've almost caught up and now it's time to leave," she agreed.

"Guess you'll just have to come back again soon," he stated.

"And why should I be the one to have to fly back over here?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "You could come for a visit, too, you know. Britain is still your home and there's a lot more than just me that would love to see you and spend time with you."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe. One day," he temporised.

"It's been nearly six years, Harry, I think you can safely walk down Diagon Alley without getting mobbed," she reasoned.

This time it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"They even know who I am over here, Hermione," he told her. "The-Boy-Who-Lived or The Chosen One or The-Man-Who-Conquered or whatever stupid name they're calling me now is still huge over there. And I've never wanted fame. I just want to do my bit and live my life."

He sighed, seeing her downcast expression.

"But for you, I'll ... I'll make an effort. It may not be anytime soon, but I'll visit. Promise."

A huge smile broke out across her face and she threw herself into his arms.

"Thank you, Harry," she whispered into his ear.

"Final boarding call for British Airways Flight one seven eight," a near-muffled voice announced. "Please have your boarding passes ready."

"Time to go, Hermione," Harry said, releasing her and pushing her back slightly. "Take care of yourself."

"I will, Harry, you too," she leaned in and kissed his cheek before meeting his eyes. "Write. And don't forget your promise."

Then, with one last squeeze of his hand, she grabbed her luggage and stepped up to the gate. One final wave later and she'd disappeared into the tunnel.

Harry stayed until the plane had finally pulled away from the terminal, taxied to the runway and then taken off.

His promise. He wasn't sure exactly which one she was referring to – the one to visit her in Britain or the one to stay out of trouble. Either way, he'd do his best to fulfil them.

o


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