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

Chapter 89 It's Love at First Sight

Early in the morning, the sound of water coming from the bathroom broke the quiet atmosphere in the house. After a while, the water stopped, and Emeric emerged from the bathroom with a flushed face, holding a wad of cloth in his hand.

He mentally prepared himself for a long time before daring to knock on the door next door. It was time to make breakfast. Otherwise, men wouldn't even think about eating breakfast; they'd only eat a few bites to get by when their stomachs ached from hunger.

"Knock knock".

"Click".

"Why are you here so early?"

"Making breakfast? What would you like to eat?"

Severus glared at him, and after a brief standoff at the door, he finally let Emeric in.

"You really should go to Hufflepuff."

"How about shrimp wontons? I'll go buy some live shrimp, peel them quickly with a spell, and then add some shredded egg on top, okay?"

"Can."

Severus was satisfied with breakfast and then went grocery shopping with Emeric. After all, he was still a child, and he wasn't heartless enough to let a child go out alone—what if something happened? Even though the child was quite big now.

Having not been to a place with so many Muggles in a long time, Severus felt somewhat uncomfortable. He frowned slightly, his face cold, and he tried to intimidate those around him with his eyes.

Emeric silently pushed aside the people who were jostling him, shoved Severus to the supermarket entrance, and found a shady spot for him to stay there.

"I'll go in and buy my things quickly. You can rest here for a while; there are too many people and the smells are too strong inside."

Without waiting for a reply, Emeric rushed back into the crowd. He wanted to buy the freshest vegetables; Severus wouldn't eat anything that wasn't fresh. But this picky eating was something he had raised in him. Thinking about this, Emeric was filled with energy.

After a fierce battle, he emerged from the store carrying several bags of fresh vegetables and meat, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead, his eyes shining with joy.

Severus, standing in the shadows, watched as Emeric walked toward him step by step with a radiant smile, each step seeming to touch his heart.

A gentle breeze stirred Emeric's hair, and it also stirred Severus's heartstrings. He slightly averted his gaze, not wanting to meet Emeric's eyes, afraid that his heart would start pounding again.

"Let's go."

"Okay~"

Emeric was so engrossed in winning against others that he didn't notice the strange behavior of the man beside him, and continued to act cute and charming as usual.

The man walking beside him held back for a moment, then reached out and covered Emeric's mouth to stop him from speaking, giving a plausible reason.

"Shut up, do you want to attract all the homeless people here?"

Once home, Severus went straight to his potion-making workshop. Emeric, who was left behind, didn't think anything was wrong; he was used to Severus's attitude of practically living in the workshop.

"Damn bastard."

Severus hid in his workshop, completely unable to concentrate on brewing potions. He pressed his hand to his chest, hoping to calm his wildly beating heart. It wasn't until half an hour later that he finally calmed down, and at the same time, Emeric knocked on the door, having prepared dinner.

"Alright, stop banging."

Severus pushed open the door and went straight downstairs, ignoring the thoughtful person standing behind him. Emeric finally realized something was wrong. Logically, Severus should have said something like "in a while" or told him how much longer he would be able to leave the workbench at this point. Even if he was reading, he would have said something like "finish this page" or "come right away," instead of leaving so abruptly as he did today.

As he went downstairs, he pondered what had happened, but Severus showed no other unusual reaction, which puzzled him.

So he began to observe Severus's movements that day, but after watching all day he found nothing unusual. Instead, he was scolded by Severus several times.

"Severus, what's for dinner?"

"It will be all right."

"We bought a lot of meat today. How about we have stewed meat and some cold vegetables to cut through the richness?"

"Um."

Emeric decided to stop thinking about it. Since they were going to live together for a long time anyway, he figured he would eventually find out. The key was to focus on cooking and winning over Severus's stomach.

"I'm going back now. Severus, you should get some rest. It's already ten o'clock."

"Go."

Once the room was completely quiet, Severus dropped his pretense, let out a long sigh, and slumped onto the sofa, the bright lights making him feel a little dizzy.

The thought of having to spend so much more time together filled him with despair. His long-dormant brain-blocking technique resurfaced, compressing all the feelings he had for today into a package, attempting to control his heart in this way.

After a quick wash, Severus lay in bed, feeling somewhat sleepless. His mind was still replaying the day's events, and the excitement he had just managed to control returned, causing his heart to pound once more.

"This is absolutely insane."

He actually wanted to confront Emerick and wanted to see Emerick's bright smile one more time.

The man got up and drank a bottle of sleeping potion to put himself to sleep, otherwise Emeric would definitely notice tomorrow.

Unfortunately, one cannot control their dreams while asleep, and Emeric appeared in his dream. Emeric smiled and leaned down to kiss him, his lips landing on his with a radiant smile, his smoky purple eyes filled with nothing but him.

The next day, Severus woke up very early. He couldn't remember much of his dream from the previous night, only the warm and passionate kiss at the beginning remained.

Therefore, when the person he was supposed to kiss in his dream appeared, he couldn't help but glare at Emeric, his slightly flushed cheeks hidden by stray strands of hair.

Despite being glared at, Emerick felt that Severus was even more adorable today, and he hummed a little tune as he went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Now, the routine every morning is for him to knock on the door, Severus to open the door and glare at him, and he thinks Severus is getting cuter every day, and then he happily goes to the kitchen to cook.

I clean every other day, do a thorough cleaning once a week, and change the sheets and duvet covers. The only downside is that I haven't washed my underwear since.

Severus was also very distressed. Spending so much time with Emeric every day, his heart was beating faster and faster, and sometimes he even wondered if it was going to jump out of his chest.

Plus, Emerick grew exceptionally fast this summer; at only 15, he was already almost as tall as him, now less than 5 centimeters shorter. Sometimes, when they were too close, Emerick's breath would blow right onto his ear, and the ear, usually hidden in his hair, would always feel a tingling sensation when it touched his breath.

This made Severus feel uncomfortable every time, and he would subconsciously turn away from Emeric. But the malicious Emeric had already noticed.

Except for the first time, which was an accident, all the others were deliberately staged as accidental. He just enjoyed watching Severus pretend that nothing had happened.