HP: It's a snake, not a badger.

Chapter 188 Setting up the venue

Thaddeus Manor

"Coo-coo-coo".

The big owl landed on the windowsill, tilted its head, pressed its face against the glass, and tried to see if its target was in the room. After standing there for a while and finding that no one was paying attention to it, it tapped on the window with its beak to make some noise. Whether it was because the soundproofing was too good or because they were too engrossed in their kiss, no one paid any attention to its tapping for a long time.

"Coo?" It pressed its other eye against the glass, wanting to see when the two humans would notice that there was a poor owl outside.

Severus felt like he was being watched. He pushed away the person on top of him and looked at the source of the gaze. It was a chubby owl, and at that moment, they made eye contact.

"Go open the window. I'm really looking forward to Mr. Emeric's results." Severus knew exactly what it was coming to deliver. The bet it made earlier was finally going to be fulfilled. But judging from how Emeric was studying, it would probably take a whole day of keeping him company.

"Gurgle—"

The big owl tossed the report card to Emerick as soon as it entered, then flew over to Severus and began scrutinizing it intently. As a frequent owl on cellar orders, it had a fairly good relationship with the professor and had never seen him act this way before.

Seeing curiosity on the owl's face for the first time, Severus didn't know whether to be angry or amused. He could only glare at Emeric, completely forgetting that he had been tempted by the owl's good looks and hadn't resisted.

"Sifer, come out with me tomorrow~"

"Going out? Okay, when are we going?"

"Let's go after lunch tomorrow, around 1 PM."

He thought Emeric would be glued to him all day, but it turned out he was just going out to play. He realized he had thought too badly of him, and Severus felt a rare pang of guilt.

"You don't think it's a waste of half a day?"

"We'll be living together for so many years to come, a little extra time won't make a difference." Emeric shook his head, denying the claim, never feeling that his sacrifice was a loss. "Besides, it's a holiday, we can sleep in a little longer."

"Smooth talker." The man muttered but didn't deny it. From the moment he sent out that contract, they had been family, except for the lack of a formal proposal.

The next day

"Severus, I have to go out first. I'll be back for lunch."

Emeric woke up exceptionally early today, kissed Severus on the cheek, threw on some simple clothes, and went out. He even left a note on the bedside table in case Severus woke up and couldn't find him.

"Fufu, could you please watch Sief eat breakfast? I have something to do this morning and won't be home."

"Okay! Fufu will take good care of Professor Snape!"

He then walked to the fireplace and sprinkled Filro powder inside. He had connected the two manors long ago, all for this day.

Looking at the proposed location he had chosen long ago, Emeric took out a large pile of materials from the ring, preparing to spend the morning setting up the venue. He didn't invite anyone else to witness it, because Severus didn't like large crowds.

Three hours later, a door appeared in the garden, covered with irises, purple and white in bloom. A pebble path stretched out from inside the door, where a small unicorn was placed, carrying a rose in its mouth.

Following the path, a little black panther awaits, a rose resting at its feet. From here, many origami cranes appear in the sky; Slytherin's origami cranes only fly to their loved ones. To make them look beautiful, he adorned each origami crane's belly with a small star made of thread.

After turning this corner, a kitten sits on a small table, with a rose stuck in a drawing board next to it. Green irises are added beside it; he adds a different color of iris for each section of the road.

There were no small animals behind them, but rather small dessert platters and handmade ornaments, placed in ten different locations. Adding the flower in his hand, that makes exactly eleven flowers.

At the end was a vast sea of ​​flowers, in the very center of which he had created a waterfall of blossoms, starting with black irises at the top, the colors gradually fading downwards to white irises at the bottom. Beside it stood a large stone slab, inscribed with a love poem that Severus loved. When the afternoon sun shone on it, the openwork slab would project the entire poem onto the ground.

Emeric walked the entire route three times to make sure there were no problems. This was a lifelong matter, and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Back at the manor, they saw Severus coming out of the plantation, with Fufu beside him carrying a small basket filled with all sorts of small fruits.

"Severus, I'm back." Emeric placed a small bunch of irises on the table; he had just picked some on a whim, the green color that men like. He arranged them in a vase and placed them on the table, looking particularly refreshing. "I'm going to take a shower first; I'm all sweaty from a busy day."

"Hurry up, don't stand there in the way." The man was busy picking fruit and couldn't spare any attention for him. Severus was particularly happy eating the fruit, not expecting there to be so many fruit trees in the plantation; that basket was picked by Fufu.

When Emeric came down from his bath, he found that half of the basket of fruit was gone. Fufu stood beside him with tears in her eyes, biting her little handkerchief as she looked at the nearly empty basket.

"Severus!!!" It was obvious the man had thoroughly enjoyed the fruit; his stomach was now full, and he definitely wouldn't be able to eat lunch. "Eating so much fruit will make you feel unwell!!"

"I didn't eat much." Severus swallowed the fruit in his mouth, waved his wand to destroy the pit and peel in front of him, and then looked at Emeric with self-righteousness, "Look, just one pit."

"?"

"Severus, I saw it with both eyes. You brought back a basket of fruit, and now there's only half a basket left. If you didn't eat it, where did it go?"

"It disappeared on its own; I didn't eat it."

"Oh, I see. Then what's this red stain?" Emeric quickly wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and pointed to the stain.

"You made my lips bleed from rubbing them," Severus lied through his teeth, particularly self-righteous, taking advantage of Emeric's reluctance to get angry at him.

Emeric was so angry he laughed. He kissed Severus, silencing him with his mouth, and his tongue immediately tasted the sweetness of the fruit.

They kissed until their lips were swollen before separating. Severus wiped the saliva from his lips, reached out and pinched Emeric's cheek. "If you kiss me any more, my skin will really break. Don't go too far."

"Eat a couple of bites of rice later, and your stomach will be full of fruit so you won't get acid reflux." Emeric was extremely helpless. What could he do about spoiling his child? Of course, he would continue to spoil him.

Lunchtime was finally over, and Emeric placed the two newly made outfits and matching jewelry on the bed. Except for the different colors of the embroidery on the clothes, all other details were exactly the same; they were clearly matching couple outfits.

We'll wait until Severus finishes his bath and comes out. When we get to Iris Manor, we'll blindfold him first, otherwise there won't be any surprise.