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

Chapter 5: Sábado por la tarde (Saturday Afternoon)

"Tío Ari!" was heard just before a small blur jumped into Ari's arms as they were heading out after lunch.

"Hola, mi niñita. ¿Cómo estás?"

"No soy 'ñita! ¡Soy niña grande, tío!"

"Perdóneme. Lo siento. Yasmina, I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is Severus. Severus, this is Alex's granddaughter, Yasmina."

"It is very nice to meet you, young lady," he said, bowing lightly over her hand. She gave a shy smile and buried her head in Ari's shoulder until she remembered what she was holding.

"¡Mira, tío! Eso para ti."

"For me? Thank you. It's a lovely picture, mi niña grande."

"Nosotros volandamos, ¡como pájaros!" she exclaimed, making her little arms flap like wings.

"Yes, I see – we're flying just like birds."

Just then, Alex and a lovely young woman joined them.

"Hola, Ari," she said leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Hello, Dahlia. Please meet my friend, Severus Snape. Severus, this is Dahlia. She is Alex's daughter and this little imp's mother."

"I no imp! Y I no little!"

"It's nice to meet you, Severus. Are you enjoying your visit so far?"

"Yes, I am. Very much. I am quite impressed with the school and I am looking forward to seeing more of the island."

"Do you two have plans?"

"Yes, I am taking Severus to explore Old San Juan this afternoon and tomorrow we will visit the Rainforest," Ari answered.

"That's a lot to fit into one weekend."

"I know, but I want to show him what a great place this is…," Ari started as Yasmina interrupted.

"Quiero volar más ahora!"

"…and give him a few good reasons to come visit again," he added in a whisper to Dahlia. She smiled at him.

Ari turned back to Yasmina. "Not now, Sweetie. I promise I will take you flying again next week. But today, I am spending with my friend."

"¿Me compras un regalo?"

"We'll see. Mámi will have to tell me if you are a good girl."

"I good girl!"

"Then you will get a surprise."

As they watched the two men leave, Dahlia turned to her father and asked, "Ari es contento, no?"

"Si, mucho."

"¿Qué podemos hacer, Papi?"

"I offered him the Deputy Headmaster position for the upper school."

"Perfecto!"

0-0-0-0-0

The two men headed back to the cottage to drop off Ari's book bag with his lesson plans and collected assignments. He explained that they would be apparating into a secured area of a hotel next to the port. It was basically a guest room hidden by notice-me-not and muggle deterrent spells.

Ari grabbed a backpack, added a couple of water bottles and a lightweight jumper. He put on his sunglasses and a hat. "It's important to stay hydrated, so just let me know when you want a drink. Otherwise, I'll just hand you your bottle every time I take my own. Have you got a jumper or a jacket? It gets cool in the evening. And, you're going to need a hat and shades for the afternoon. That will be one of our first stops." He added the jacket Severus handed him.

"Okay. Ready?" Ari put his hand on Severus' shoulder and a moment later they exited the hotel guest room. They walked down the grand stairs of the hotel and out the front doors.

Severus was shocked by the pair of cruise ships that were in port. Each ship looked like it alone could swallow the hotel they had just left at least 4 times over. And there were two of them right in front of him! Once he was able to tear his eyes away, he took in the deep blue of the Caribbean. Britain was never so bright and welcoming.

Ari let him take it all in for a moment, then gently directed him to the right where they walked along the Paseo de la Princesa to Parque de las Palomas. On the way they stopped to look at the Raíces Fountain. "This fountain was built in 1992 to mark the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the New World. It represents the mixed African, Spanish and Taino peoples of Puerto Rico. As part of the celebration of the voyage, the port also plays host every few years to replicas of his three ships – the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. I had a chance to tour them when they were here in November for the Discovery Day Celebration. The Nina and Pinta were surprisingly small – only about 20 metres long and they could only hold up to 30 sailors each. It is difficult to imagine crossing the ocean in something so small. The flagship was larger, but relatively small too for an ocean crossing – only about twice that of the others."

"This plaza is called Parque de las Palomas. 'Palomas' means 'pigeons'. This is sort of like a refuge area for them."

Next, Ari pointed out La Fortaleza, the Governor's mansion. "It was built in the early 1500's, and is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the New World. There is a story that says that just before the United States invaded Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War in 1898, the governor of the island at that time smashed a grandfather clock with his sword, causing it to stop and marking the exact moment that Spain lost control over Puerto Rico."

Then Ari directed Severus past La Fortaleza along El Paseo del Morro towards the main gate of historic San Juan. Ari mentioned the fort but said that Severus will just have to come back and see it another time because there wasn't enough time to do everything in one day. "Another stop we won't be making today," Ari noted, "is La Casa Blanca down that way. It was built in 1521 for Ponce de Leon and his family. Today, it's a museum with 16th and 17th-century artefacts and well worth a visit." He smiled.

Going through the gate, they stepped onto the old cobblestone streets. Ari led him through the streets to Calle de San Francisco where they stopped at a vender to buy Severus a hat. After some searching, he decided on a Panama style version and purchased some sunglasses at the counter as well.

They continued wandering along the streets peeking in at stores and galleries here and there as Ari continued providing a brief history of San Juan. They looked at vejigante masks and hand-carved Santos figurines. Severus picked up handmade soap for Minerva, a wine-laced candle for Pomona, some pineapple coffee for Filius and additional small gifts for the other staff members. Ari picked up a kite with a bird on it for Yasmina.

Eventually they ended up at Plaza de las Armas. "This plaza dates back to Spanish colonial times and was originally the main town square. This building," he said, indicating a stately red building to their left, "is San Juan's official town hall building and the one over there is the Puerto Rico Department of State."

"Come, I want to go into that shop," Ari said, heading towards a men's clothing store on the corner. They stepped in and let their eyes adjust for a moment to the dark and cool interior. Ari headed to the right and started pulling out a few shirts.

"What are you getting?" Severus asked.

"I am choosing a couple of guayaberas for you." He handed Severus a few in a variety of colours and styles. "Go try them on," Ari said directing Severus towards the changing rooms.

"What am I going to do with them? I don't have any need to wear something like this. You know I don't wear anything with colours or short sleeves."

Despite Severus' attitude, he did end up buying a long sleeved version in charcoal grey with dark red stitching down the pleats and a short-sleeved version in deep green. Ari seemed pleased.

"I don't know about you, but I am getting rather hungry. I know of a diner nearby that serves great Puerto Rican style food."

"I wouldn't say no."

They headed down the next street over to a restaurant that was quite busy. Due to the fact that it was just the two of them however, they didn't have to wait long for a table.

"I don't know what most of these things are," Severus commented, looking over the menu. "Why don't you order for me? I trust you."

"Okay." Harry got the attention of a passing waiter. "Estamos listamos."

"Si, un momento, señor."

The waiter returned with glasses of water and a bread basket. "¿Qué les gustaría esta noche?"

"Para mí, el Mofongo de Pollo y para él, el Chillo Entero."

"Sí, señor, ¿y para beber?"

"Dos vasos de coco rico."

"Bueno. La comida estará lista en un cuarto de hora."

"So, what did you order?"

"I got two traditional meals – I thought you might be interested in tasting both. Mofongo is spiced chicken wrapped in a mashed plantain shell. And Chillo is a snapper that is served whole and fried. To drink, I ordered coco rico which is a popular coconut-flavoured drink. Everything will be out in just a few more minutes."

The drinks arrived just then and Severus took a small sip. "Interesting. And quite refreshing. I never would have thought to mix coconut with carbonation."

The waiter brought over the meals and set them down. "Buen provecho."

"Well, it looks quite good and smells even better."

Ari cut off a section of his entree and put it on a bread plate to pass to Severus. "Here's some of mine. It's a little more unusual than yours, but I didn't want to overwhelm you too much." Severus returned the favour with some of his fish.

"Excellent choices, Ari. Yes, I prefer the fish, but yours is quite unique as well. Thank you."

The men continued to talk throughout the meal.

"… Anyway, over the next ten years, I completed two more masteries in Potions and Charms, a sub-mastery in Herbology, took over the defence professorship and became the housing director.

"In my free time…," Ari continued.

Severus started laughing. "You had free time with all that?!"

"You have to understand where I was coming from, Severus. I had no home and no family. I was depressed and lonely and I was afraid of what I might do if I allowed myself to wallow for even a moment. All I had was me. I pushed myself to be more and do more because no one else would.

"Growing up, my relatives continually pounded into me that I was a worthless, stupid freak who would never amount to anything and whom no one would ever want, let alone love. Then I fell through the proverbial rabbit hole into the wizarding world where, suddenly, I was revered as a hero and had fans throwing themselves at my feet. I needed to prove to myself that I was more than 'the freak in the cupboard' or 'The Boy Who Lived'. That I was worth something as me. I look back now and I don't know how I accomplished what I did. I was… driven, I guess."

"So what did you do in your 'free time'?"

"I coached the quidditch and quadpot teams. I opened a duelling club and proctored the homework study groups for most subjects. I organised the older students to begin a school newspaper and I joined the school board."

"Do you do any less now?"

"Well, I am no longer in charge of the housing, the student newspaper nor do I coach the teams. Although I do fill in when Jose needs me to. I am still on the school board and I run the defence and potions study groups. The duelling club falls under my jurisdiction, but I am no longer in charge of it. I am currently head of both the Defence and Potions Departments, however, nowadays, I only teach the upper level courses for both those disciplines. And I am the Deputy Headmaster."

"And what do you do when you are not working?"

"Well, I enjoy potions research and I write articles for the main publication of each of my three masteries." He shook his head as he smiled, "That's enough about me, Severus. Tell me about yourself. What are you doing these days? What's happening at Hogwarts? How is everyone and what are they doing?"

Just then he noted Severus suppressing a yawn. "Never mind. Tomorrow is soon enough. We've had a busy couple of days and you are still on BST (A/N: British Standard Time). Let's go home – tomorrow is another full day. I'm planning to take you to see the native flora in the rainforest in the morning. In the afternoon, we can hang out on the beach – let you relax some before you have to head back."

0-0-0-0-0

Please review!

(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.)