Autumn Leaves
Severus Snape stood at his sink and looked out the back window. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon, the leaves on the trees were changing into beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red. This was his favorite time of year. The leaves still, blessedly, provided privacy as they had not yet fallen off with the first frost of winter. There were, however, plenty of leaves that had begun to pile up in his back garden.
The potions master sighed. He was mentally preparing himself to go out and tidy up, piling the leaves up to banish them somewhere else. He didn’t mind the work, he just had other priorities up until now, so his workload had doubled. Just as he had resolved himself to put his boots on and get to work, he heard the back door slam shut, followed by the sounds of pattering feet and giggles.
Severus smiled to himself as he watched out the window. His wife and child, wrapped up like little presents with their matching knit hats and scarves, Slytherin green, of course – he’d never allow his daughter to wear any other color, if he could help it – were frolicking around outside. His heart strained with the love he held for his witches. His beautiful wife was using a muggle rake, scooping up large piles of the crunchy leaves. His young daughter toddled around, eagerly waiting for the pile to rise above her head.
“Up! Up!” she cried when she could wait no longer. Her mummy lovingly gathered her up, cradling in her arms as she rocked her back and forth.
“Count with me, love. One… two… three!” the tot giggled and screamed as she flew, landing in the pile of leaves. She burrowed deeper, throwing the fall foliage around like confetti.
Severus beamed in paternal pride as he pulled on his own scarf and boots and strode out the door towards his family.
Fall really was the best time of year.