Disclaimer: Not mine, doesn't belong to me. Belongs to JK Rowling and her team. I make no money from this story. All the characters but Alicia are theirs.

The Snapes: A Troublesome, Tropical Vacation in Tahiti
Part II
by: ataraxis

Albus patted Alicia on the back as he looked at his two bewildered boys. His blue eyes twinkled mischievously as he realized what had happened.

Albus' quiet chuckled snapped Harry and Severus out of their shock and they started questioning their daughter.

"Alicia, did you invite, um... Grandpa Albus to visit us before we went on holiday, so that you could say goodbye?" Severus tried to keep a tight reign on his short, volatile temper. For the past few months since Harry, and now Alicia, had come into his life, he was attempting to correct years of his verbal abusiveness. It was an up-hill battle, especially with moments such as these.

Alicia hugged her surrogate grandfather tighter as she shook her head. She knew she was in some small amount of trouble for what she had done, but she was not yet prepared to face it.

"No, you didn't invite him?" Harry asked quietly as he knelt down to be close to his daughter.

Alicia shook her head once more.

Harry and Severus were becoming confused. Harry reached for Alicia gently and extracted her from Albus; he turned her around and tipped up her face so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Alicia, did you invited Al .... Grandpa Albus to go with us on vacation?"

A quick nod and Alicia stood still, waiting for the inevitable blow-up. She watched as her Papa sucked in a deep breath and clenched his fists repeatedly. She waited some more for the verbal explosion.

During the confrontation, Molly had come down to investigate. When she Albus at the door, she lifted her eyebrow questioningly, afraid that if she actually said anything, it would disrupt the charged atmosphere. For once, she was not going to rush in head long.

Albus caught her glance and nodded down towards Alicia. Molly instantly understood. She hadn't known what Alicia had wanted with Hedwig several days ago, but hadn't seen any reason to keep her from using the owl. Molly smiled at Alicia with indulgence.

Harry looked up at Severus with a twinkle in his eyes to currently rival that of Albus'. Harry thought the situation quiet amusing and had no problems with the idea of Albus joining them on their holiday. Severus looked around him, seeing the look on everyone's face and his shoulders slumped with resignation.

"Fine, he's family. And since this is a family vacation, he's welcome to come along."

Alicia yelled with delight and threw her arms around her Papa and then her Daddy to show her love and thanks.

Severus sidled up to Albus once Alicia's attention was snared by Molly and spoke in quiet undertones, "Shouldn't you be running the school?"

"My dear boy, I'm surprised you haven't heard," Albus spoke equally quiet.

"Heard what, Albus?" Harry joined in on the conversation and stood on the other side of the old wizard.

"I've retired. In fact, we're neighbors now. I've just bought the house not three stones throw away."

"What?!" was exclaimed by the married couple.

"Why hasn't this appeared in the Daily Prophet? This is headline news," Severus frowned as he asked. He read the Prophet from cover to cover each morning over breakfast, and not once had there been mention of such an extraordinary event.

"Severus, the only people who currently know are the Board members and the next Headmaster of Hogwarts. It will not be mentioned publicly for at least two more weeks. Which makes this vacation fortuitous, as I can relax and enjoy the time before I get bombarded with howlers and owl mail."

"You said 'the next Headmaster' and not Headmistress. Does that mean Minerva won't be in charge?" Severus asked seriously.

"That is correct. Though she was nominated for the position, she declined, stating that she did not want to give up teaching. The next candidate was Professor Caelid. He has second seniority and amazingly no true House affiliation, which makes him near perfect for the job."

Harry shot a puzzled look at his spouse, who responded to the silent enquiry.

"Michael Caelid is the Ancient Runes professor, or I should say was. Ms. Granger could tell you more about him. Since his class was not in the core curriculum, he was only required to be at the school two days out of the week." Severus turned to Albus once more. "I take it you are all packed and ready to go with us to the lush and warm Tahiti?"

"Indeed, I have my trunk right here," he patted a breast pocket on his colourful robes, "and a cooling charm placed on my current wardrobe."

"Um, Albus, we're going to a Muggle hotel, that's why we're not dressed in robes," Harry informed his mentor.

"Oh, well. That's not too difficult a problem to correct. I was the Transfiguration professor at one time." Albus took out his wand and swished it in a figure eight configuration and cast, "Consui iterum vestis."

The others watched as Albus' robes restitched themselves to form a colourful, gaudy shirt the Yanks would call a Hawaiian shirt. It was beyond tacky. His trousers, thankfully, were khaki and plain. On his feet were rainbow coloured socks and leather sandals.

"Well, that's ..." Severus looked the retired Headmaster up and down. "That's an improvement. I guess. It certainly fits yours personality, Albus."

Albus also looked over his new clothes, stopping to admire his new shirt. "Yes, it does suit me quite well. Now I'm ready to go on hols."

Severus called for Dobby, who popped in a blink of the eye later.

"You calls Dobby, Master Severus, sir?"

"Yes, Dobby. I just wanted to make sure you were clear on your instruction for the next two weeks while we are away." Severus gave the house-elf a stern glare.

"Oh, yes, Master Severus. Dobby is quite clear. I is to feed Hedwig and Sliver and make sure house is kept spotless until you and Master Harry and Mistress Alicia return."

"Good, that is all. We will be leaving in a moment." Severus' frown deepened as the house-elf wished them a safe journey and vanished to who knew where inside the house. He was about to speak, when Harry interrupted him.

"Everything will be fine, love. Dobby has it all under control."

Severus gave a heartfelt sigh. He held out the object Arthur had granted them to use as a Portkey to their destination. It was an empty Muggle cola can, that they could throw away as soon as they arrived.

"All right, everyone. Place a finger on the can and be ready." Severus held the can in this palm of one hand and with the other waved his wand to activate their transporttion.

With a jerk, they were gone.

TBC

A/N: I said I would yank my stories from here after the last chapter, but I've decided to wait until this story is complete.