Summary: What do you do, when all your hopes and dreams crumble at your feet? Well, you take a deep breath, put on a clean pair of shoes and start all over, that's what.

Wind Beneath My Wings

WIND BENEATH MY WINGS

Chapter 3: Bienvenidos

"I'm done for the day," Harry said as they walked back to his office. "I'll just collect my things and we can leave. Where are you staying?"

"I've only just arrived, so I haven't looked for a hotel yet. If you could recommend one to me, I'd appreciate it."

"I have plenty of space at my villa if you are amenable."

"I wouldn't want to put you out. Thank you, but I'll be fine at a hotel."

"You won't put me out. I would like to have you. It will give us a chance to talk and get caught up."

Severus slowly nodded his head. "I am agreeable." Harry grinned.

They collected Harry's briefcase and left the building. Now that his 'mission' was complete, Severus was able to enjoy the view. He noted the deep green-blue of the ocean softly lapping at the pristine white sand as they walked along the beach road.

"When are you expected back in England?"

"Minerva arranged for a portkey to leave here at midnight on Sunday which will return me to my quarters at 7 a.m. on Monday just in time to prepare for classes."

"Good. Maybe I can give you a mini-tour of the island over the weekend."

"Here we are. Bienvenido a mi casa. Welcome to my home," Harry said opening a neat wooden gate fronting a cosy beach house.

"You live quite close to the school. Do the rest of the staff maintain their own homes nearby as well?"

"No, most live in town or on the outskirts with their families. I actually lived in the dormitories until just a couple of years ago. I had my own apartment there. When the beach house went on the market, I bought it immediately. It was in horrible condition," Harry said leading the way into a comfortable, yet quaint beach house. It was clear that great care had been taken to make it homey and comfortable.

"Come, I'll show you to the guest room." Harry led the way through the open great room containing areas clearly marked by furniture arrangements designating the kitchen, dining and living room areas. At the back of the house were two bedrooms with a bathroom between them.

"We'll have to share the bath. It's kind of small for a family residence but it is sufficient for me and it's all mine," his face shone with pride.

Moving to the room on the left, Harry led Severus into the guest room. Like the rest of the small house, it was decorated with lots of light-coloured wood with accents of pale greens and blues mixed with splashes of yellow and white. There were seascapes hanging on the walls and books everywhere. Each bookcase in the house appeared to contain a different topic: defence, potions, history, herbology and more. Those in the guest room however, contained fiction: science fiction, fantasy fiction and popular classics.

Severus immediately felt at home.

"Would you like to freshen up first, or shall I?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go first. After spending half the day travelling, I feel rather grimy."

"Of course. There are extra towels in the bathroom cupboard. Make yourself at home."

While Severus was washing up, Harry prepared a light dinner of ceviche and salad. He set up a table on the screened-in patio that wrapped around three sides of the house.

Severus came out twenty minutes later, his hair still damp, wearing dark jeans, a pearl grey button-down shirt and a dark green sweater vest. "I hope this is acceptable clothing for the evening. I transfigured some things I brought after having seen the more casual look here."

Harry swallowed and nodded. "You look fine. I'm going to take a quick shower, too, and then I thought we could eat a light meal on the side porch."

Severus nodded. "Would you like me to do anything?"

"No, it's all done already. There's ceviche, a leaf salad with lemon vinaigrette and fresh bread. The salad and ceviche are both chilling in the refrigerator and the bread is warming in the oven."

"Ceviche?"

"It's a marinated seafood salad. Is that a problem?"

"No. It sounds good actually. I've just never heard of it."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll be back soon." He left Severus to shower and change.

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"This is quite good, Potter."

"Thank you. Ari, please. I legally changed my name."

"What?! Why would you do that?"

"'Harry Potter' has always been a larger-than-life character with absolutely no connection to reality. I have seen all those children's books: Harry Potter and the Leaping Lethifold, Harry Potter and the Mangling Manticore, etcetera, etcetera. Harry Potter is a fictional hero.

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me – a nobody who slept in a cupboard and was treated as a house elf – to suddenly enter a world where I was revered for something I didn't do and couldn't even remember? The very something which turned me into that nobody in the first place?

"I was never more than a lost child hidden behind a mask all those years doing what everyone wanted me to do. I had little choice in the direction my life went. I was always 'the son of the Marauders', the Boy-who-lived, 'arrogant, lying Potter', or whatever else anyone decided I was. Every part of my life was dictated for me. I was manoeuvred into Gryffindor house, manipulated in my friendships and forced to return to being a house elf every summer. I was kept in the dark regarding my heritage, both before and after I entered Hogwarts.

"Probably the first decision I ever made for myself was to leave. I wanted my own life. I needed to discover myself –my wants and my needs. So I changed my name and, along with it, my sense of self. I like who I am now and what I have accomplished. So, please… My name is Ari."

Severus nodded. "Very well… Ari." He got a brilliant smile in return. (A/N: I will be calling Harry 'Ari' from this point on.)

0-0-0-0-0

An hour later, they headed out to the engagement party. "'El Barco' is a permanently moored ferry just down the beach here. It is used as a venue for private parties on the Bay," Ari pointed it out in the distance. "The water around it contains billions of bioluminescent organisms, similar to fireflies. If they are disturbed, they glow. You can't see it well in daylight but at night it is rather magnificent. Imagine a star-filled sky but underwater. That makes it particularly apt for the engagement celebration tonight. I'll show it to you on the way home."

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"¡Marta! ¡Josef! ¡Felicidades!" Ari approached the happy couple. "Me alegro mucho por los dos." He hugged each and kissed Marta on the cheek. He stepped back to indicate Severus. "¿Puedo presentar a un colega de mío? Esto es Severus Snape, el Maestro Grande de Pociones.

"Severus, may I introduce Marta and Josef. Both are former students of mine. Marta is now Alex's secretary and Josef teaches the course on local magic."

"It's nice to meet you both – especially on such a happy occasion."

"Gracias y bienvenidos. We have learned much about your work during our potions lessons. It is a pleasure to finally meet the real person," Josef responded.

"Thank you. I was unaware that my name was known on this side of the pond," Severus commented with a quick glance at Ari, then around them. "I see we are holding up the reception line. Congratulations to you both."

0-0-0-0-0

"Why do they know of me here?" Severus asked once they were far enough away.

Ari turned to look at Severus. "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm Severus," he deadpanned.

"It's been a long time since I heard that one." Ari smiled, "Do you truly have no idea how important your work is and has been? You made amazing advancements to the Wolfsbane formula, you made improvements to hundreds of medical potions, you created potions to decrease the effects of the cruciatus and speed up nerve regeneration, you invented multiple spells, you…"

"Ok. Stop. I guess I just never thought of my work that way. Most of those potions and spells were created for my own benefit or to make it easier on Poppy at Hogwarts."

"Severus," Ari shook his head, "your name has much higher importance than you ever thought mine did. I was an accidental hero, then a forced one. Either way, it was a single effect. You, on the other hand, have improved the quality of life for millions – not just a one-time occurrence. Do you truly have no idea how important your work is?"

After a moment, Ari left Severus to his thoughts as they continued across the room.

0-0-0-0-0

"Buenos noches a todos. Eso es mi colega, Severus Snape. Severus, may I introduce some of our professors, Miguel Colon who teaches Transfiguration, Tinima Navaez, our charms instructor and Diego Vasquez, the herbology master."

"Bienvenidos, Master Snape," Diego greeted. "As an herbologist, I have read much of your work with the native plants of Britain. I do some brewing as a hobby. Posiblemente, while you are visiting, I can introduce you to some of our local flora."

"I am quite intrigued by what I have already seen. What can you tell me about the bioluminescent organisms in the water here?"

Ari cleared his throat and said with a smile, "I see that you are in good hands. If you don't mind, Severus, I will go say hello to some others."

"That's fine. I will see you later," Severus answered, turning back to Diego.

0-0-0-0-0

"… just a quarter turn anticlockwise at the end – that's very important," Severus was saying as Ari rejoined him an hour later. "Without that last bit of agitation, the potion will harden into something akin to cement almost immediately."

Ari cleared his throat, causing Severus and Diego to look at him. "Oh, Ari. I thought you were going to say hello to some others?"

"I have – that was an hour ago. Have you two been at it all this time?"

With a sheepish look, Diego answered, "Sí, I was interested in how to increase the production of my ferns and mosses. Severus took pity on me and explained how to brew the fertiliser I need."

"I see," Ari answered with a grin. "Well, I was on monitor duty last night and I have my study groups to lead tomorrow, so I was planning on heading back now. You are welcome to stay longer if you'd like, Severus. I'm sure someone will offer an escort. I'll set the wards for you."

"Thank you, but I think I will go back now as well. If you'll remember, I arrived from England just this morning, so my day has been several hours longer than yours." He turned to Diego. "It has been very nice meeting you. Thank you for the conversation and let me know how the fertiliser works. Please extend my goodbye to Tinima and Miguel as well."

0-0-0-0-0

"So did you get to meet more of the staff than just Diego? I thought I saw some of the others heading in your direction, but I wasn't sure."

"Yes. I also met the mathematics and composition instructors. We should consider providing instruction in mathematics during the first two years at Hogwarts, then more students might gravitate towards arithmancy and have a better understanding of interactions in potions. And I will recommend to Minerva that we hire a composition professor at Hogwarts – it would be extremely beneficial if our students could begin their Hogwarts career learning to write their essays properly. It would save us hours of time and effort, not to mention our eyes and patience."

"Maybe some points too."

"Yes, maybe some of those as well."

"Here we are, Severus. I promised to bring you by the Bay for a better look at night. Watch," Ari said as he dropped a few grains of sand into the water.

A small gasp of surprise came from Severus as a mini-fireworks explosion took place under the water. "That's really something! What causes that reaction?"

"Magic, of course." At Severus' glare, he amended, "Well, the scientific explanation is that an enzyme, luciferin, is released when the organisms are agitated and it reacts when exposed to oxygen. But we tell the children it's magic."

Severus leaned over scooping up and dribbling the water back in. A moment later, Ari handed him something. "Here, you can use this."

Severus looked up with a questioning expression to see a jar held in front of him.

"It's an unbreakable stasis jar. I always carry some with me because I never know when I might get a sudden inspiration for a potion ingredient."

Severus nodded his head and accepted the jar. He filled it two-thirds of the way and sealed it tight.

As he turned back toward the cottage with the jar in his hand, Ari stopped him. "May I?"

Confused, Severus handed him the jar. He watched incredulously as Ari opened a small case about the size of a deck of cards and the jar shrunk and slipped into the empty space between two others. "What did you do? I didn't hear you say anything to shrink it."

"The charm is on both the vial and the case. They are connected by a ward that activates when coming in contact with each other. When a linked vial is brought within the space between the lid and base it is automatically shrunk to fit."

"That's impressive charm-work. Where did you get a case like that? I think I might need to procure one for myself."

"I created it. It was my Master's project for Charms."

Severus stopped short and looked at Ari. "You have a Mastery in Charms as well as in both Defence and Potions?"

Ari coloured slightly as he nodded his head slowly and started walking again. "I had a lot of free time in the beginning. I was lonely and lost, and I needed to fill my free time to keep from thinking too much about my situation. I threw myself into studying. The charms came much easier than I expected – maybe something else besides my eyes that I inherited from my mother's.

"Soon after starting my studies, I began working here as a housemaster and substitute professor. Alex suggested I work towards a potions mastery as well. He evidently saw an important need for it in my future, but I just thought he wanted to make sure I could be an adequate substitute professor in those classes as well."

"So you have multiple Masteries?" Severus clarified as they neared the cottage.

"Yes, but remember I completed my Defence Mastery during my post-Hogwarts apprenticeship," Ari responded. "Listen. It's late and I still need to review my lessons for tomorrow. After the study groups, we can tour Old San Juan, then on Sunday, I'll take you to El Yunque, the rainforest. I think you'll enjoy the different flora. I'll bring along a supply of stasis jars for you."

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(A/N: Where necessary, I have tried to use simple Spanish that can easily be understood from the context and/or from responses. I hope I have succeeded, but please let me know if I have not.)