Drop in the Ocean [Harmione]

2. La Isla Bonita

La Isla Bonita

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita

(Madonna, "La Isla Bonita")

The sun was just setting in the Abaco Islands as a green-eyed man sat down outside the Café Oceana. Absently, he began reading the newspaper that someone left on the table. He took a long sip of his beer and sat back into the comfortable chair. The early evening air was quite warm, but the ocean breeze kept it quite comfortable. This is going to be a nice night, the man thought to himself. This would probably be a night that would remind him why he'd come here in the first place over six years ago. It was nights like this that would remind him of why he'd decided to stay.

This place certainly wasn't heaven, but it was the closest thing to it that could be found on earth, according to one Harry James Potter.

The people on these islands didn't know him by that name, however. They knew him as Jack Evans. But, even if he'd decided to keep the Harry Potter name, he didn't reckon anyone on this island of Muggles would bat an eyelash. There were no other wizards or witches on this island, save for his godfather Sirius Black. To everyone on these islands, he was just another tanned face in the crowd. Here, he could walk along the sidewalks or down on the marina and not have people approaching him asking to look at his scar. Here, he could walk into a restaurant or sit outside a café like this one and not have people pointing and whispering about him. For the past six years, here in the Abaco Islands, he'd managed to carve out a normal life for himself. There had been a time when he was in school at Hogwarts, when he didn't figure a normal life would be in the cards for him.

The majority of his childhood years were spent preparing to fight Lord Voldemort. While most lads his age were concerned about grades, girls and acne, he was preparing to either kill or be killed. The war that had ultimately led to Voldemort's defeat had been costly for both sides. It wasn't a time that Harry looked back at fondly. He could recall lying in that hospital bed for days, bloodied, bruised and beaten---but alive. Everyone around him was celebrating, but he certainly didn't feel like it. Many of his close friends had died in that war. Some had even died trying to protect him. It was quite a load to carry on a seventeen year old boy's shoulders. Everyone kept asking him afterward how he was feeling and the only answer he could give them was that he felt...numb.

Lying in that hospital bed had given him plenty of time to think. The question he kept asking himself over and over again was "What's next?" There wasn't a shortage of options. Professional Quidditch teams offered him lucrative contracts with endorsement deals. The Ministry of Magic said any job he wanted he could have with no question asked. When word got around that he'd helped Fred & George with their joke shop, business owners and entrepreneurs started sending him business plans wanting his backing for one project or opportunity.

It didn't take Harry long to figure out that none of those opportunities would give him what he truly wanted. What he'd always wanted was to lead a normal, peaceful life and be treated just like everyone else. In light of what he'd just done, he knew that would never be possible.

He sought advice from the three men whose opinions mattered most to him: Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. They'd all listened to him and ultimately told him that the decision was his and his alone to make. They all told him that whatever he decided they'd support him and stand behind him one hundred percent.

It was Sirius who suggested the idea of traveling around the world after graduation. As Sirius pointed out, Harry hadn't traveled before. This would be the perfect opportunity for him to see and experience what the world had to offer. The idea intrigued Harry.