STOP AND TURN
Disclaimer: This is a non-profit tribute to the works of JK Rowling who created and, together with her publishers and licensees, owns the characters and settings elaborated herein.
A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers and especially to my previewers, Bellegeste , Cecelle and Lady Memory.
They stood on the summit of a hill, their backs to the cairn and the pole planted in it. Through the thinning fog she caught glimpses of rough moorland. Despite her parka and wool trousers, she shivered.
"Too exposed," he said, and Apparated them into thick woodland, away from the wind, the mingled scent of heather and peat bog, and the view.
"Where was that?" she asked, letting go of his hand and falling into step beside him.
"A place Lily found on a map once and laughed about for years after. Part of the Forest of Bowland. Although it's more moor and fell than forest." He closed his eyes and breathed deep. "We wanted to see it, but I couldn't afford the fare. We planned to go when we learned to Apparate, but by then we were no longer friends. I never did go."
"What was so funny?"
His lips quirked up briefly. "Its name," he said. "Fair Snape Fell."
'You did,' she thought, but smiled anyway. It was funny. Fair wasn't an adjective she'd ever applied to him, in any sense of the word.
"And where are we now?" she asked.
"We haven't gone far," he said. "Ribble Valley. The happiest hours of my childhood – of my life – were spent in the woods, wandering through the trees or sitting under them. There was a little copse at the back of the park between my house and Lily's. Petunia didn't follow us there. Well, just the once."
They walked on. The leaves were green and gold and blazing orange. Many were still on the trees.
"Sometimes we'd even see deer. And we'd talk about – oh, everything." He stopped and turned to her. "So much of my life centred around Lily, so much that I lost because I didn't have the heart for it without her. Now, I'm taking it back."
'With you,' his eyes said.
She smiled and touched his arm lightly. "This looks a likely place," she said. "Just on the edge of the glade. What have you brought for lunch?"
"I hope you like cheese sandwiches," he said. "Real Lancashire cheeses."
"Creamy or Tasty?"
"Crumbly," he said, transfiguring a fallen leaf into a thick rug and inviting her to sit. There was a tree-trunk to lean against. She left it for him.
The cheese was mildly tangy yet sweet, studded with raisin and bits of apple, and coated in cinnamon. He laughed at her surprise.
"I brought some plain, if you don't like it," he said.
She hadn't seen him laugh before. "I think I do," she said. "I think I do."
Eating didn't take long, even with conversation. She looked across at him as he leaned back, watching the clouds, and had a sudden mad wish to breathe sleep into his face and kiss his closed eyes, to trace the contours of his stern mouth as it relaxed.
She jumped up. "Er, it's been a lovely day," she said. "We must come back some time."
A/N There really is a Fair Snape Fell in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire; it's also known as Fairsnape Fell and, to the locals, Paddy's Pole. It has spectacular views and is popular with fell-runners and hang-gliders. And Bowland Cheese, with its apple, raisins or sultanas, and cinnamon really exists, although it's a fairly modern invention. Crumbly, creamy and tasty are the three traditional styles of Lancashire cheese.