Title: Les Feuilles Mortes Pairing: Snupin Rating: G Disclaimer: JKR owns the characters. I just play with them. Summary: A companionable autumn walk.
Autumn swept through the castle grounds like a watercolour paintbrush, smearing the summer's verdant foliage into a profusion of manic crimsons and golds. Acorns and hazelnuts crunched ubiquitously underfoot, while great warty pumpkins and fanciful gourds burst forth around the Gamekeeper's hut in an absurd fairy circle. Severus was not interested in the scenery, however; he kept stealing anxious glances towards the castle, hoping there were no witnesses to observe his journey into the Forbidden Forest. Remus, who did not have a reputation of querulousness to uphold, gazed pleasantly ahead as he sipped absently from a stein of mulled cider. A whiff of the sweet, spiced fumes caught Severus' nose, and he regretted declining a portion of his own.
They talked idly as they traipsed through the forest, Remus' amiably balancing Severus' abortive cadences of conversation. Leaves fell around them in quiet torrents, spinning like frantic dancers before coming to rest on the loamy soil. One errant leaf lodged in Severus' hair, and Remus brushed it away tenderly. Severus clasped his hand and pulled him against the nearest oak for a fervent kiss, savoring the tingling taste of mulling spices.
"This season," he murmured, caressing Remus' cheek, "it suits you."