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And They Didn\'t Live Happily Ever After	By : ElizabethStump Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 90306 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 76
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“And They Didn't Live Happily Ever After”

Chapter Seventy-Six
“Mele Kalikimaka”

Disclaimer: Merry Christmas. Rowling owns Harry Potter. I don't. Seventy-six disclaimers down, forty-two to go.

============

As Severus cracked an eye open that clear Christmas morning, he fixed his gaze on his bedside table at the object Ginny had left for him, wrapped with Christmas paper and a little bow.

The note attached to it said she thought he might like this one the best of the ones she had, and she hoped he liked it.

He opened it warily, accustomed to disappointment and having no prior experience with receiving gifts from Mrs. Potter – no, from Mrs. Malfoy.

There, in a silver picture frame that Ginny must have bought since coming to Malu Palekaiko, was a photograph of Hermione.

The photograph captured a brief moment in time. She was reading a book, her knees drawn up, her face holding a thoughtful expression, until she suddenly realized she was being photographed. She looked up and spontaneously smiled, lightly laughing as if to say to not take her photo, her hand waving to point the camera away from her before she gave a look of bashful resignation that it was too late, before she went back to reading her book. It was perfect.

The photo was taken after the war, but before her marriage and career began to wear her down, just as eons of erosion can wear down even the strongest and tallest of mountains. She was not nearly thin as when she first came to him, and she did not have the look of a woman made weary by the world yet, as if there was hope in her future and her dreams had not been dashed. It was a slice of Hermione's life he had not witnessed and was glad to have at least seen her as such.

He watched the photograph repeat the same scene over and over. Severus suddenly longed for a proper cup of tea.

Since coming to Hawaii, he had tried a cup of tea once. It was awful. The person did not bring the water to a full boil. The tea they used tasted stale, as if it had sat in the back of the cupboard for years, and was that horrid Orange Pekoe dross. It was presented with honey and lemon, and no milk or sugar. When he asked for milk, the waitress gave him some cream instead.

What they graded to be Orange Pekoe in the States would certainly not have been graded the same in the British Isles. Severus couldn't find anything but the American brands of tea in the local general store. He definitely would be adding a few Camellia sinensis bushes to his garden and growing his own tea once he found and bought a property.

Rising, he showered and shaved before dressing. Justina let Severus have free run of her kitchen, especially since he rented a second room in order to use as a temporary library, as he was tired of Summoning books from Hermione's handbag, then to have to sort them back into the tiny bag. It was a temporary solution, as he would be moving his books to his new shop by the New Year. Some books were to be put in his personal library at his new home, but since he hadn't found one yet, his shop would have to do for now.

After a cup of coffee, toast, an egg, and a heaping pile of fresh fruit, he was ready to go flying.

Severus grabbed his broom and flying gear and headed up the empty street towards Mounga and Rainbow's residence. They said any time after eight that morning would be fine, since the kids always woke up at the crack of dawn on Christmas, dying to open their presents.

Mounga's residence was a two-story house, built in the tropical plantation style with a covered balcony on the second story and front porch on the first. The windows were trimmed in white, contrasting against the cheery yellow exterior paint. There were swags of tropical vines that were meant to emulate the swags of evergreens that colder-climate houses had for Christmas decorations. There was a large ten-foot poinsettia bush, its bracts bright red and festive, and five palm trees in the front yard. At night, Severus could see the Christmas fairy lights in those palm fronds from his room on the second story of Justina's hotel.

Severus set his broom on the front porch before knocking on the door, using the knocker. A Christmas tune played when the knocker hit the door, charmed to be festive for the season.

Akela opened the door, but upon seeing Severus on the front porch, she screamed and slammed the door shut. Before Severus could knock on the door again, Mounga opened the door, looking at Severus in puzzlement and then back into his house.

"Akela! Why did you shut the door? I told you Severus was coming over." Mounga shrugged, shaking his head. "Teenagers."

Mounga was still in his striped pajama pants, without a top on. Rainbow popped her head out of the kitchen and said, "Mele Kalikimaka, Severus."

He had yet to master the Hawaiian holiday greeting, so he greeted her in return, sticking to English. "Happy Christmas, Rainbow."

"Mele Kalikimaka, Mr. Snape!" Iakona and Kaimi called out from the living room, from where they could still see their guest.

He greeted them back in English as well.

Akela came out looking far different from when she first opened the door. Instead of mussed hair and pajamas decorated with palm trees and snowmen wearing sunglasses, her hair was now neatly brushed and braided, ready for flying, and she wore appropriate flying apparel.

"Mele Kalikimaka, Mr. Snape," she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. She turned to her mother and hissed under her breath, "Why didn't you tell me he was coming over this early, Mom?" giving Rainbow a petulant glare that only teenagers can give their parents.

"I assure you, you looked no worse than hundreds of other teenage witches in my House over the years who were up all night studying for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s," the former professor assured her.

Akela's jaw hit the floor. "You had hundreds girls in your house, and they were studying owls and newts?" she gasped with astonishment.

Mounga laughed and said, "I told you I couldn't say anything. You can explain that one, dude."

Rainbow had an interesting expression on her face, her eyes changing subtly from green to black, before Severus began to explain the House system at Hogwarts. He also gave a brief description of the Sorting Hat, his role as Head of House for Slytherin, and the examination protocols for the British wizarding educational system. The strange look on Rainbow's face disappeared as he described the context behind his choice of words, and her eyes changed to a more calm blue.

"Oh, my God. You were a Potions teacher? You must have been the nicest teacher in the whole school," Akela rhapsodized, looking at him a bit dreamily.

Had Ginny and Draco been there, he was sure they would have burst into gales of laughter, and taken a long time before they could stop dissolving into hysterics.

"You'll have to ask Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy when you see them next," the former Hogwarts professor deferred diplomatically.

"You taught them?" Kaimi chirped excitedly. "Really? That's awesome."

"I'm sure Ginny and her brothers would beg to differ," he replied quietly so that only Rainbow and Mounga caught his remark.

"Would you like some coffee?" Rainbow asked, trying not to laugh at Severus' sotto voce comment.

"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you."

Severus and Mounga moved to the living room where they could sit in peace while Rainbow finished cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast, and the rest of the kids could finish getting dressed for flying.

The Christmas tree was a traditional fir tree Portkeyed over from the Pacific Northwest. It was decorated with little snowmen who crept up and down the branches, reindeer that pranced about, and angels which played hide-and-seek behind glass ornaments, in addition to the assortment of decorative, non-magical ornaments. There were torn-up Christmas wrappings on the floor, and an assortment of gifts that had been unwrapped but were yet to be put away in their respective rooms.

Mounga asked Severus about the progress of getting his shop ready for opening in the New Year. Severus asked about how Mounga became the town judge, learning about the differences between the American and British wizarding judicial systems. Mounga had already been given a brief of how the British system worked, based on Severus' rather lengthy confession the night he arrived seeking sanctuary.

The front door flew open with a bang. A young raven-haired witch bolted through the door with a wrapped Christmas present in her hand, and ran down the hallway, using her wand over her shoulder to slam the door shut with yet another bang.

"And a Mele Kalikimaka to you too, Kiki," Mounga called out dryly, just as the door to Akela's bedroom door slammed shut.

"That would have been ten points from whatever House she would have been sorted into, had that been a student who entered my classroom like that," Severus thought aloud.

"Hmmm, maybe I should do that point system around my own house as an incentive for the kids to pick up their rooms and do their chores and school work," Mounga mused.

"Be forewarned, the rivalry between Houses at Hogwarts could get rather intense, with some sabotaging other Houses, setting them up for point deductions," the former Head of Slytherin warned, not clarifying that his own House was the one most notably known for that dirty trick.

"Yeah, there is that."

Off down the hallway, the screams from Akela and her friend Kiki could be heard, even through the door and walls. There were squeals and other common sounds that the teenage witches made. Severus was fully versed in the various noises and figured they were probably talking about boys.

Mounga wanted another cup of coffee before going to change his clothes, offering Severus use of the guest bedroom to change into his own gear that he’d brought with him.

As they were in the kitchen, Akela and Kiki rushed in and went up to Mounga.

"Look what Kiki got me for Christmas, Papa!" the young witch raved, a blissful look upon her face as she held it up for her father to inspect.

Before Severus could figure out what it was, she thrust it under his nose and sighed wistfully, "Isn't he just dreamy?"

There in front of Severus was Ron Weasley astride his broom, shirtless, with bulging pectorals, rippling abdominals and all exposed in the 2004 Mercury Broom calendar. The palm trees were swaying in the background, extolling the beauty of Tahiti.

Severus was overcome with a flood of memories, most clearly one when he’d walked in on Weasley banging his employer on her desk. A rage quickly engulfed Severus, remembering how Hermione came crying to him about her husband's emotional cruelty – how he had made Hermione hate her body and question her own sexuality and self-worth. Every grievance against Ronald Weasley came rushing back, right down to the incident with the flying Ford Anglia.

His head tilted back and a sneer curled upon his lip as he snarled in a low and dangerous tone, "Get that thing out from underneath my nose this very instant, Miss Finau."

Akela looked at Severus in shock, her eyes brimming with tears that the wizard she was so smitten with had suddenly turned so hostile towards her. She bolted out of the kitchen and into her room, followed by Kiki, who slammed the door.

Feeling suffocated, Severus ran out the front door.

Mounga found Severus leaning against a stout post on the front porch and breathing heavily.

"Severus," his friend said, bewildered by Severus' sudden change in personality and hostile attitude towards his daughter. "What was that about?"

"Ronald Weasley," Severus said as he tried valiantly to regain control of his emotions.

"Yeah..." waiting for further clarification.

"Hermione's husband."

"Whoa... You mean..."

Severus' breathing finally slowed. "Yes, the very one who was having an affair with my employer all those years," he said quietly, should Rainbow or certain teenage girls be eavesdropping.

"Dude, I didn't connect the dots. You mentioned there were a lot of Weasleys, so I thought it was a common name, but I had no idea it was the very same. I never would have let Akela show it to you if I had put two and two together," Mounga apologized.

Severus looked over his shoulder at his friend. "I suppose I should go apologize and explain myself. I think I frightened the poor girl." Severus did not want to apologize, but for some inexplicable reason, he was feeling generous, knowing the girl would not have known and was not at fault.

"Maybe she'll be over her crush on you now, so there could be a bright side to it," the larger wizard added, trying to find humor with the situation. "But yeah, you should tell her since I can't."

Severus went back into the house and knocked on Akela's door gently. Kiki opened the door and looked at Severus with wide and timid eyes.

"May I speak with Miss Finau for a moment, please?" he asked in calm and soothing tones.

Kiki looked back over her shoulder and Akela nodded, still clutching a large stuffed dog, her eyes full of tears. The friend excused herself saying she'd come back later after they were done flying.

Severus left the door open so Mounga could listen in from the hallways, knowing that's exactly what he would do if he were Akela's father.

Akela was still sniffing and wiping away tears. Severus conjured a handkerchief and handed it to the upset witch, who took it tentatively from him, now a bit more skittish around him.

"I feel I must apologize. How I reacted was uncalled for. I'm sorry I frightened you," he began as he took a seat in the chair at Akela's slightly cluttered desk, covered in bits of parchment with half-finished school work and doodles. Severus even caught the sight of one piece of parchment with the signature of "Mrs. Akela Snape," but pretended not to notice it.

On the bed next to Akela, he spotted the calendar opened to a different month. He caught the sight of Weasley dressed in full winter-weight Quidditch gear, with a majestic view of the snow-capped Canadian Rockies and a glacial lake with milky blue waters in the background.

"I know that wizard in your calendar," he confessed, his voice straining to remain calm and impassive.

"You know Ron Weasley?" Akela said with amazement.

"Unfortunately, yes."

Drinking in Severus’ response, Akela surmised, "And I guess you don't like him?"

"Dislike would be putting it mildly." Severus clenched his teeth and restrained himself from letting his anger seep into his voice again.

Akela should not bear the brunt of his hatred for the boy, he reminded himself. She was just an innocent girl with a silly crush on a wizard with more brawn than brains, and little knowledge of how the wider world worked, sheltered by a family and community that loved her. She would soon be exposed to boys as callous and vapid as Weasley soon enough, unfortunately.

Severus took a deep breath before soldiering on, since Akela didn't know what to say next, still recovering from the shock of her crush reacting in such a hostile fashion to her favorite Christmas present. "He was a former student, and not a very good one at that, who broke many rules and was disrespectful to me. But what angers me the most about him is that when he was older and an 'adult,' he was very cruel to a dear friend of mine."

Akela looked down at the calendar next to her, then looked back to Severus, with a confused look knit upon her delicate brow. "But he looks so nice."

"Looks can be deceiving."

He could give Akela a long history of wizards who looked "nice" but had a cruel streak a mile wide, starting from the once handsome and charming Tom Riddle, to James Potter and Sirius Black, down to this red-headed Quidditch star now plastered across her calendar.

"Draco is really handsome." Then she stopped and got a silly smile on her face. "Really handsome," the young witch added once more a little dreamily. "But he's really nice."

"Draco wasn't always the gentleman you now know him to be," Severus informed her. "He was unkind in his youth sometimes. The difference is, he grew up and became a better person. As an adult, he cast away what he finally realized was wrong."

Severus' last statement had many layers to it besides the topic at hand, but he would not delve into it.

"But Weasley, he never grew up, remaining the same as if he was a boy without taking into consideration the feelings of others. Never let another person take away your self-worth or make you question your mind, feelings, or looks, as he did to my friend. Especially don’t let another wizard do it to you," Severus added somberly, hoping to prepare her for some boy's hurtful comments that might be thrown at her someday.

Akela seemed to ponder his comments deeply, nodding, lost in contemplation.

"And if I might warn you, please do not show this calendar to Ginny. Not at least until I have prepared her," he asked.

"Why, does she know him too? Was he cruel to her too?" Akela asked, her face full of anxiety. She only knew Ginny's first married last name, not her maiden one.

"Well, it all depends on if you think Iakona is cruel to you."

Akela's eyes lit up with comprehension with the reference to her brother.

"You mean Ginny and Ron are brother and sister?" she asked, her face stunned by the revelation.

"Yes. And I hope that you will consider this conversation we had as a private matter. You can share with your father, but I ask no one else. There are a lot of things about Ginny, Draco and my own past we are trying to move beyond with our transition here. We are not running away from them or trying to forget them, but it will take some time for us to deal with some of the things we have recently gone through."

"Of course, Mr. Snape. Not even Kiki, my best friend, or my mom," she added, her face very serious. She made a cross over her heart with the tip of her wand to express the sincerity of her promise.

'Oh, certainly not your mother, unless you want it spread all over town' Severus thought to himself.

How is it that a man as discreet as Mounga married the town chatterbox and biggest spreader of news, Severus could not fathom.

"I appreciate your discretion on the matter, Akela." There was a pause before he asked, "So I hope you understand my reaction to suddenly seeing that?" His eyes darted to the calendar beside her.

"Yes, I can, Mr. Snape. I think I'll go and burn it now," she said, a little sadly. "Now that I know what a big, fat jerk he really is, I don't want it up on my wall now." It was once her favorite present and now she couldn't stand the sight of it.

Severus was secretly pleased that Ron Weasley would now have one less witch in his fan club, but it was also a bit regretful he had made her favorite gift something she wanted to destroy within minutes.

"Don't burn it, but save it for Ginny," he suggested. "Maybe she'll tell you some more unflattering stories about her brother. And maybe one day I'll tell you about the time he stole his father's flying car, broke the International Statute on Wizarding Secrecy Law by flying it in front of Muggles, and crashed it into the school grounds, which almost resulted in his expulsion. But that is a story for another time."

Akela's eyes gleamed with this little tidbit of information.

"And that story about him and the flying car you can share with all your friends," Severus added with a smile, looking forward to tarnishing Weasley's name from half-way around the world. Then he added for good measure, "And that he's a cruel 'jerk,' too."

Severus stood up from the chair. "So I hope you will accept my apology."

"Of course, Mr. Snape. I think I would have acted the same way if he was a low-life creep to my friends too. There's nothing to apologize for, I totally understand," she assured him.

"Good. I hear that the winds are favorable for a bit of flying this morning," Severus said as he excused himself from her bedroom.

Out in the hallway, as he suspected, Mounga was standing there, having heard their conversation, which Severus did not mind at all. He'd want to hear everything said between an older wizard and his young daughter in her bedroom, too.

"Thanks," the father said, patting Severus on the back. "I think you just saved me a lot of hassle trying to explain about some aspects of boys when she gets older. I think it meant more coming from you than hours of talking from me," which was a strange thing for Mounga to say since Severus couldn't imagine Mounga talking for hours on anything, since he was very economical with his words.

Severus made a promise to himself when the stationery store opened tomorrow, he would buy a lovely calendar for Akela to replace the one she was possibly burying in the bottom of a drawer this very instant.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione Floo’ed back home, still stuffed to the gills from Christmas dinner and bone-tired. The Christmas roses in Albert's garden took longer than expected, and she barely made it over to her parents before they started carving the turkey.

They had given her a large plastic container full of leftover turkey, stuffing, roasted chestnuts, roasted potatoes, bread sauce, and some Brussels sprouts. There was a little container of extra gravy to go along with the food she brought home.

She was also holding a large paper bag, decorated with Christmas motifs, which contained presents from her parents. There was a nice jumper and a very expensive looking leather handbag. Hermione didn't want to tell her mother that witches didn't carry handbags, as they usually carried everything in their charmed pockets. Handbags were more for accenting a piece of clothing than serving a functional purpose, though the one she gave Severus was decorative with an older outfit she once had and was very functional with its Extension Charm. If anything, she could use the new handbag for going about London if she needed to blend in with the Muggles.

Hermione gave her parents an I.O.U. with the promise to purchase tickets for a particular musical which was going to open in the summer of 2004 that they were looking forward to seeing, since she couldn't find anything in the Muggle stores for them. She was going to try for opening night tickets, if possible, or at least within the first week of its premiere. Her parents were thrilled with her gift, even though it would take a while before they could enjoy it.

The exhausted Potions apprentice was glad she didn't have to go buy anything, since she had little time as it was to purchase anything, much less put up a Christmas tree, which she didn't. It was becoming more difficult to shop for her parents as they got older. They had everything they needed and wanted little else.

Marf relieved her of her various bits, putting the food away and storing her gifts in the appropriate drawers.

Once done, he came up to Hermione and said, "I must give this present to you, Mistress Hermione."

She looked down at the small creature and said, "I feel awful, Marf. I didn't get anything for you."

The house-elf blinked twice with its large luminous eyes and said, a little perplexed, "I did not get Mistress Hermione anything. Should I have? Am I a bad house-elf?" Marf's lower lip began to wibble.

Hermione could tell that Marf was about to go on another self-induced masochistic punishment bender if she didn't nip it in the bud.

"No, no, Marf. That's perfectly fine, you didn't have to get me anything. But if you aren't giving me a present, then who is this from?" the witch asked, confused as to the origin of its giver.

"Master Snape said to give this to you at Christmas, should it be safe and the Aurors gone," Marf informed her.

Her hand tentatively reached out and plucked it from the house-elf's outstretched hands.

She reverently caressed the outside of it, noting the perfect folds at the end, the precision in which the seams of the plain red gift wrap met into a symmetrical shape at the end, the small white ribbon wrapped around it, and a hand-tied bow atop.

Unwrapping it, she found a wooden box with three vials in it, each capped with a different color, along with a note.

--------

My Dearest Hermione,

If you are reading this, than you must have chosen to stay behind. It is my hope that the memory contained in the red-capped vial will help with your endeavor to clear my and Draco's names.

The yellow-capped vial is for you personally.

The blue one is for you, should you choose to join me. It contains my last memory of Dumbledore as he told me where to go, should I need to seek sanctuary.

It has been an honor and a privilege to call you my friend and lover.

Eternally,

Severus Snape

-------

Hermione sat on the bed staring at the note. It became harder to reread it once again as her eyes were full of tears, blurring her ability to clearly see the spiky script.

The box was simple and brown on the outside, with slightly tarnished brass hinges and a small swiveling hook closure. The inside was lined with a deep midnight-blue velvet with little depressions for each vial.

She would have taken one out and examined the silvery threads that floated within, but considering how her fingers had recently lost grasp of the vial containing a few whiskers of Ron’s, she was not going to risk losing these memories Severus had left behind for her.

Heaving a great sigh, Hermione realized she didn't have a Pensieve. She couldn't even view the red-capped one tonight, even if she wanted to.

Pensieves were expensive and she would either have to borrow one or buy one. She didn't know anyone who had one, but she would have to ask Albert if he had one she could use.

Staring out at the night from her window, the despondent witch saw the overcast ceiling of clouds, lit from underneath with a sickly orange and gray from the city street lights and glare of brightly shining advertisement lights in nearby Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus. She wondered what Severus was doing at that very moment. Was it warm where he was, and could he see the stars at night wherever sanctuary was?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Skimming above the ocean at the same altitude as a flock of pelicans that flew in a loose formation a few hundred yards off to his right, Severus' heart was elevated with the feeling of freedom upon his broom.

He could finally fly again.

The Potions master's first love was Potions, but Quidditch and flying were a close second. He wasn't a Quidditch head, though he did love the game, but he loved flying most of all between the two lesser favorites.

Severus hung back from the flying Finau family, observing their styles of flying and if there was a regional difference in the way one might fly. Over the years he’d noticed slight variations in the way players from different countries rode their brooms; the Japanese grasped their broomstick handles with a looser and more relaxed grip, while the Canadians were more of the white-knuckle type, aiming for shorter games, but more dramatic dives and acrobatics. Even the way Russians rode their brooms, sitting slightly more forward than the British style of sitting farther back, did not escape his observation over the years.

Iakona, Mounga's son, rode in a middle position on his broom with a double Webster grip, one hand underneath, the other towards the side, permitting for quick hand-position change, while allowing for quick stopping. Akela was a more cautious rider, riding in the more common textbook posture and position.

Kaimi was the adventurous one, leaning far forward on her starter broom, trying to eek every last bit of speed out of the first-level broom as possible. It was a hand-me-down from her older siblings, and it was getting a bit worn out. Mounga said she would be getting a proper broom for her next birthday, since she had proven to be such a competent and responsible flier.

Mounga and his wife rode side-by-side, slightly ahead of the children, guiding their path around the island. The parents’ made sure their children stayed within the three-mile boundary of the island in order to remain behind the illusory magic which hid the island from Muggle eyes.

Having risen higher up, Severus glanced down and saw a pod of dolphins swimming underneath, chasing the shadows of the fliers above. The dolphins porpoised, leaping up out of the water as they jetted forth, expelling air quickly to exchange the air in their lungs with fresh oxygen before sliding back into the turquoise waters to join their fellow cetaceans once more.

As the pod turned to race away, chasing after a school of fish, Severus looked up once more only to see Kaimi falling from her broom towards the water below. Leaning forward, Severus put on a sudden burst of speed and raced to catch the small child before she hit the water.

Diving down, he barely caught Kaimi in his arms before she could hit the water, and whipped out his wand to catch her broom before it fell into the ocean swells below.

Placing her on his broom in front of him, he asked with great concern if she was all right.

The little witch was giggling and squirming with delight, seemingly having no concern she fell off her broom.

"Did you see that, Papa? Wow! I told you Mr. Snape was a really good flier. He caught me in mid-air. I've never seen that before!" she exclaimed with the zeal that only a young child could exhibit.

Had Severus been a Muggle, he surely would have had a heart attack.

Mounga came down beside Severus to hover alongside him. "Wow, that's was some pretty impressive flying there, paniolo."

Rainbow, Akela, and Iakona swung back around to hover alongside them as well.

"Did you see that, Iakona? Better flier than you! I told you so!" Kaimi announced proudly, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

Perplexed, Severus said, "Does no one care that this child almost fell off her broom and into the ocean?"

"Dude," Mounga laughed. "She did that on purpose."

"And you let her?" Severus retorted, his voice filled with incredulousness.

"Dude, you live on an island surrounded by water, you better know how to get back up on your broom, should you fall in the ocean," the father clarified. "It's good practice, and that way, when she's older and flying on her own, I won't have to worry about her. She'll know how to kick off out of the water. Besides, makes good exercise for when they fly above ground, if they learn how to fall instead of fighting it. Iakona had a seventy-foot fall over the grass during one game and rolled onto the ground, getting nothing more than a few scrapes."

"Yeah, all of us learned to do that before Papa would let us get our first real brooms," Iakona added.

"Here, watch." Mounga nodded his head at his daughter. Kaimi slipped of Severus’ broom and dove into the water, coming back up. "Let go of her broom. It's okay."

Severus reluctantly let go of Kaimi's starter broom and saw it fall into the ocean.

Kaimi swam over to it and straddled it. Then she kicked her legs underwater to burst forth up from the ocean swells and back into the air to rejoin her father's side.

"See, it's easy!" she claimed.

Severus sat there agog that this eight-year-old child kicked up out of the water.

"You should learn to do that too," Mounga advised. "Here, just dive down, and I'll bring your broom down."

"But saltwater is terrible for brooms," Severus whinged.

"Dude, you think there is a single broom sold on this island that isn't charmed and sealed with special waxes to repel saltwater and any moisture damage? You obviously weren't told of the finer points of the broom you bought," Mounga said with almost a laugh.

Reluctantly, Severus dove off his broom and into the water, wishing he was wearing his swim trunks instead of his flying gear. But if this was a critical flying skill living there, he would eventually have to learn it.

Mounga flew down besides Severus and gently tossed his broom atop the water. Just the sight of his new broom floating atop the saltwater made him flinch at the sight of it.

"Now, the key is to kick down hard enough that you create an air bubble beneath your feet, otherwise, you feel like you're treading in quicksand," Mounga advised. "Ready?"

"Why not just use my wand–" Severus began.

"Wands can get lost or slip from your hand," the larger wizard warned. "And then there are lightning strikes. It's better to learn the hard way so you don't drown, if seas are rough."

Severus knew that hurricanes occasionally passed through, so he guessed it was for the best.

Placing the broom under the water, he straddled it, fighting to stay atop of it as the natural buoyancy of the broom made it ride up between Severus' legs. With his feet, he tried to kick powerfully downwards to create an air pocket to catch and ride upwards. It was much harder than he had anticipated.

Severus was getting a little winded as he fought it, feeling as if he was caught in quicksand as Mounga described. He bobbed up and down, rising and falling as each swell passed him by. He was used to having solid earth beneath his feet for kicking off.

In the air, Iakona gave a demonstration of the leg movements and the synchronization of the legs in order to help create the pocket of air. After studying Iakona's movements, Severus finally shot up out of the water on the twelfth try.

Panting, he grasped his broom, trying to hold onto the handle as beads of saltwater raced off of it, watching the charm dry his broom out in the process.

"That was harder than I expected," Severus admitted, still catching his breath.

"Do that at least fifty more times, and it'll become second nature," Rainbow said before she took to a higher altitude to guide their children back home, the family's circle of the island nearly complete. But first, she led the group on a little detour to swing by a spot frequented by a couple surfers off the island’s west shore.

Iakona had told Severus about a move he and the other fliers on the island had picked up from surfers who were shooting curls. They called it 'threading the needle,' where they rode their brooms inside the air pocket of a wave as it began cresting near the shore break.

Sure enough, Shark – the clothing store owner – and another surfer were out surfing the waves on Christmas day. There were a couple cabanas set up on the beach, marking where they were having their Christmas day barbecues with their families.

As Shark sat astride his board while waiting for his next wave, he watched Iakona give Severus an example of the maneuver. Severus thought it looked challenging not to get caught in the crashing wave, to be tossed about like a rag doll in the surf. After Iakona completed the trick, Shark gave him a high five.

It was time to head back so Rainbow could get the Christmas ham into the oven in time for Christmas dinner, at which Severus would join them as their guest.

Severus could only imagine the look of horror on Ginny and Draco's faces the next time he went flying with them and took a dive off his broom on purpose. He supposed he should warn them ahead of time so they wouldn't panic like he nearly did. He should teach them this new essential flying skill. Better yet, have twelve-year-old Iakona teach Draco and Ginny, and see how well they take flying instructions from a child half their age.

The young wizard did give him a very good demonstration that made it easier to understand than Mounga's verbal instructions.

He could almost hear Draco's bitching about the saltwater on his broom. Not that Severus whinged about it; he had merely protested.

============

A/N: Severus, Draco and Ginny have a little video Christmas card they put together for everyone, wishing everyone a “Mele Kalikimaka” to everyone. You can view it on the ADTLHEA Tumblr account here: http://atdlhea-betz.tumblr.com/post/146528386305/draco-ginny-and-severus-wanted-to-send-you-a or on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/UYTc4Y7XBQ8

Thank you to my ever hard-working betas, JuneW and Cygnuz. Send them a bit of praise in your review sometime.

Of course I had to include a witch named Kiki. How could I not honor Miyazaki and his delightful film about a teenage witch from "Kiki's Delivery Service"?

Paniolo is Hawaiian for “cowboy.” So Mounga calls Severus "cowboy" after watching him wrangle Kaimi. (The first cowboys in Hawaii were Mexican vaqueros, who spoke Spanish – Español; the Hawaiian language has no “s” sound, so the word quickly evolved into paniolo.)
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And They Didn\'t Live Happily Ever After