Author's Note: Enjoy!

Hogwarts: Assignment #9, Beauty Therapy Task #10, Write about letting go of something

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Warnings: NA

Old Homes

He and his son had established a system—one scoop of leaves for the yard waste bag, another scoop for Teddy's pile. It was the only way any kind of work was going to get done, and even that was a stretch.

"Is this big enough?" Remus asked after dumping more leaves on the small mountain they'd been nurturing.

Teddy examined the pile and then looked around the woods, as if to assess how many more leaves were at their disposal. He turned back to Remus and nodded solemnly.

"Alright," Remus said, lowering the rake and backing up. "Off you go, then. Make sure to get a good running start this time—last time you said starting at that tree wasn't good enough…"

Teddy backed up even further and then pulled down the burnt orange toque over his ears in preparation.

"Ready?" Remus asked.

"Ready!" Teddy nodded. "Can you count down for me?"

Remus grinned and leaned on his rake.

"One… two… three!"

As soon as he said the words, Teddy bounced off into a sprint, launched himself into the air, and landed smack in the middle of the pile. He sent the orange, yellow, and red leaves flying, which prompted the always honest and always good-to-hear laughter of his mother.

Remus turned around to flash Dora a smile just as she walked out of the cottage, equally bundled up in the face of autumn and just as vibrant as its leaves. She'd coloured her hair a dark burgundy that seemed to fit the scenery.

"How big was that jump?" Teddy inquired, drawing Remus' attention back to him.

"Definitely a 10," Remus said. "Out of 10."

"I want an 11!" Teddy said.

"Well, we're going to have to give it another go," Remus said. "Are you up to helping me build up the pile again?"

Teddy got to work and Dora chuckled again. One of her arms snaked around Remus' waist.

"No wonder you've gotten nearly no work done out here," she commented.

"I've been sneaking some of the leaves away, clearing the pathway to the cottage," Remus defended. "Though to be honest, it's more important to make sure that the pipes are clear and that the fireplace is cleaned out. Then there's covering the chimney, getting to any small fixes, cleaning out gutters, making sure the roof is fit for winter…"

"I know," Dora said. "We've prepped the cottage for winter before."

"Sorry," Remus said. "Just going through the motions of it."

He hadn't used to have to do this before. Back when he was living in the Yorkshire cottage year-round, that was. When his mum had passed, the Muggle life insurance had given Remus just enough to buy the run-down cabin—which he had immediately done after James and Lily had passed away and Sirius had been hauled off. He'd been fighting with the cottage to usurp its seemingly natural inclination towards collapse and shambles ever since. It had been like a hobby, back in the days when he'd been largely alone and usually unemployed, to try to keep the roof from falling on his head.

Now, Teddy called it "little house," but they didn't really spend much time there. It was virtually empty—the few items and pieces of furniture that had been in any fit shape had moved into their London flat or to Remus' quarters at Hogwarts years ago now, and there hadn't been much. A few quilts were now resting on his bed at Hogwarts, and he was quite certain that Dora had smuggled her favourite teacup away and was keeping it on her desk in the Auror's office, but Harry refused to confirm this. That was all, to be quite honest.

"Why do we still prepare it for Winter?" Dora mused.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, sliding one of his arms around her shoulders as she spoke.

"I mean, the cottage," Dora said. "Why do you still have it? I don't mind—I don't mean—I'm not saying anything. It's just that it's not being used at the moment, is it?"

"I suppose you're right," Remus mused. "It really isn't."

They watched Teddy experiment with various ways to grow his pile of leaves—kicking them into place, gathering them in his coat…

"I suppose it just didn't occur to me that I wasn't using it," Remus said. He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "That I don't need it, that it's from a different time in my life, that I have another home now…"

Teddy was now using his toque to ferry leaves to his pile.

"Edward Remus Lupin, put that hat back on before your ears freeze," Dora called out.

Teddy put the hat back on so quickly, he forgot to take the leaves out and they fell onto his face. Remus laughed.

"And my mother said I'd be too lax of a mum," Dora scoffed. "See that? That was me striking the fear of Merlin right into my son's heart!"

"I saw," Remus said. He kissed her ear.

He had something better than a home, actually, he had a family. That was essentially a portable home, from what he could tell. One that he could carry with him wherever they went and within whatever four walls they found themselves. They could probably make do in the pouring rain, if they had to. But they didn't.

"We could come here more often," Dora said. "Teddy likes climbing the trees, and it's far enough in the middle of nowhere that the Aurors might have trouble tracking me down for work…"

Remus gratified her with a smile, though he was still mulling it over.

"Actually…" he mused. "I think I should sell it."

"I wasn't trying to suggest it," Dora clarified immediately. "You don't have to."

"I know, but I can," Remus said. He kissed the top of her head. "I can because I've got you, and so I will."

Stacked with: MC4A; Hogwarts; Shipping War; Fall Bingo; Solemn Husbandry of Exultation

Individual Challenge(s): Black Ribbon; Black Ribbon Redux; Small Fry; Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Fall Leaves; Seeds; Times Go On; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Family); Themes & Things B (Joy); Tiny Terror; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

Representation(s): Lupin family

Bonus Challenge(s): NA

Tertiary Challenge(s): Terse

Word Count: 979

Fall Bingo

Space (prompt): 5D (Rake)

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks (Technicolour Moon)

List (Prompt): Fall Medium 1 (Leaf Pile)