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

Chapter 119 Going Out to Play

"Da, da, da."

Severus tapped his long, slender, pale fingers on the table. His patience was clearly running out. He was waiting for Emeric to confess, but if he didn't speak in five minutes, he would have to take action.

"Tell me honestly, what did you do when you went out today?"

He didn't want any more unexpected things to happen in his home. Last week he went out and brought back a pot of sunflowers, which was one thing, but three days ago he brought back an ugly flower that was so ugly that he almost couldn't eat. And today he came back looking guilty again.

"It's nothing, just a plant... a slightly hyperactive plant... it likes to eat its own kind... wait, my sunflower!!!"

Emeric ran straight to the balcony to rescue the sunflowers that were almost eaten. He completely forgot that the dancing plant liked to eat flowers and simply put them together.

The sunflower was brought from the manor as payment for his father's official duties, so it wasn't exactly stealing; the ugly flower was said to have miraculous effects on people with sharp minds, so he brought it back casually, but he didn't expect it to have such a miraculous effect, which almost made Severus vomit; the dancing grass was purely accidental, as he had never seen a rare mutated species in the wild before, and he had intended to give it to Severus for research.

"Ha, serves you right for bringing back random things."

Severus pretended not to be worried at all, coldly mocking Emeric, without mentioning that he had been taking care of him these past few days.

"Alright, the flowers are fine. I put a protective spell on the flowerpot. Hurry up and cook something, I haven't eaten all day."

"!!!"

"I'm going right now!!!"

Emeric put down the flowerpot and hurried to cook, grumbling as he went, "How could you not eat? Is it gone from your ring? Why didn't you tell me? I'll make something to put in after we eat. Oh well, I'll sort through your ring after we finish eating..."

The man ignored the nagging; he was simply too sleepy to notice. When he woke up, Emerick had just returned—perfect timing!

Soon, two bowls of wontons were served. They were both wrapped and kept in the refrigerator. They just needed to be cooked in boiling water. These were emergency food supplies that Emeric had prepared.

Severus found it strange. He hadn't been staying up late recently, so why was he so sleepy these past few days? And the tests didn't show any problems.

"Could it be related to me?" Emeric replied uncertainly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll be an adult next year, and I'll have different reactions every month from now on. This month it just happens to be sleepiness. You, as my partner, are being affected. It's okay, get some more sleep." Emeric accidentally revealed a little something.

"What do you mean by 'as a partner'? I haven't given you a formal title yet, have I? Tell me, what exactly have you done?"

"It's the same ceremony...it's a couples' ceremony..."

Severus's gaze grew increasingly strange as he recalled the incident, even taking on a scrutinizing quality. He knew Emeric was a little psychopath, but he never imagined that this little psychopath had liked him back then.

"Are you really not a fanatic?" he couldn't help but ask, even though he had asked this question a long time ago, he really wanted to ask it again.

"Severus!!! If you doubt me again, I'm going to get angry!!!"

"Shut up, you're hurting my eyes. Who taught you to talk so loudly?" Severus couldn't help but close his eyes for quiet, feeling like there were a bunch of exclamation marks floating in front of him.

"Don't just stand there, hurry up and pack your things. We're going out tomorrow."

They're going to Albania this week, a tradition they have every summer, and Emeric is almost an adult, so it's definitely worth a trip back.

The next day, in the morning

"I'm all better now, let's go."

Emeric covered all the furniture with dust cloths. There wasn't much to pack for the trip; he just needed to bring the books Severus had been reading recently. He had plenty of other things in his ring, and the food and drinking water had been prepared yesterday.

The two didn't use Apparition until they were out of Spider's End. Now that Emeric was no longer dizzy, they traveled at a rapid pace.

Two days later, the two appeared on the outskirts. They could feel the breath of the entire forest, and some bold little animals even climbed onto Emmerich.

"Severus, let's go inside."

He comes here every year, and these little creatures' tricks to get food no longer tempt him. Emeric casually hangs the squirrel beside his leg on a nearby tree and tosses the little bird off his shoulder.

They estimated the trip would take a week, and upon arrival, they headed straight for their destination: the southeast corner. Last year, they heard a small snake say that the place smelled bad, and Severus suspected that there might be snake-repelling herbs there, which were quite rare.

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"Gail, did Ellie and the others come looking for me?"

"No, what exactly did you do?"

Gellert couldn't help but ask Dumbledore if things got serious and Emeric would punish him as well, so he should think of a way to make Emeric forget about it.

"It's nothing... I asked Severus to come with me to Crouch's house to investigate, but Allie disagreed, worried that Severus might be in danger... and then the two of them started arguing..." Dumbledore sounded increasingly guilty as he spoke.

"Al, let's settle this while they're in Albania. They're busy traveling this week and won't have time for us. Otherwise, if they come back and find there's still no result, Ellie will be so angry she'll sleep between us." Gellert closed his eyes, not wanting to face the world.

"He's so old, how could he do something like this?" Dumbledore didn't believe it, looking at Gellert with a suspicious gaze.

"Why not? You've been tricked so many times already. What isn't that little rascal capable of? Forget everything else, remember the huge gift he gave you before the holidays?"

Mentioning this, Dumbledore's eyes instantly cleared; he didn't want another bottle of chili candy. He didn't know where this magnanimity came from; all he was doing was telling Severus to be mindful of his behavior and not be so gentle with him—was it really necessary?

"Do you have any good ideas? If Barty Jr. is still alive, he probably won't be very healthy. He definitely won't trust anyone other than Death Eaters."

"If anyone wants him to believe it, just steal him out and feed him emetics. It's a simple and effective method, and you don't even need to show your face."

Gellert proposed a particularly swift method, so swift that Dumbledore wouldn't even realize whether it was burglary or unauthorized entry.

"Wait, Airi said his people can't infiltrate, your method is completely useless."

"Just because his men aren't good doesn't mean mine aren't." Gellert's calm tone revealed confidence. "Within three days, whether Barty Jr. is dead or alive, he will be here."

Dumbledore shrugged, indicating he didn't believe it and would wait until three days later to laugh at Gellert.