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

Chapter 163 To Say Yes or No

The pure white moonlight shone on the window, and the deepening night made the street appear even darker.

Emeric sat alone in the living room, his brow furrowed, glancing at the clock every now and then, wondering how long Severus had been gone.

The only good news is that no pain is coming through, so Severus is at least not suffering right now, whereas normally he should be home by now.

He tried to calm himself down and find something to do to keep his mind from wandering. But after walking around the house, he couldn't find any chores he hadn't done. The only thing left was the dirty clothes in the bathroom that hadn't been washed; they were Severus's underwear.

Normally, they wash their own underwear, and he washes his coats and trousers once a day, but now he can't care less. If he doesn't find something to do, he'll drive himself crazy.

With a determined look, she pushed open the bathroom door and stood in front of Severus's laundry basket, inside which lay a small wad of black fabric. Although they had done what could be considered intimate, this was the first time they had so openly touched each other's underwear.

With no time to think about anything else, Emerick, his face flushed, rubbed the wad of fabric, paying extra attention to the seams, until the whole piece of fabric smelled wonderful.

After squeezing out the water, hang the underwear on a hanger, push open the bathroom door, walk to the balcony, reach down the dried clothes, and replace them with the hanger in your hand.

Back in his room, finding nothing to do, he felt a void in his heart. His gaze wandered around before finally settling on the wardrobe. Emeric walked over to the wardrobe, opened it, and saw their clothes laid out together, with their pairs of underwear in the small drawers below. He hung up all the clothes he had collected, one by one.

He opened the small drawer, put the neatly folded underpants inside, and took out the clothes he would wear tomorrow. After fussing around for a while, he finally heard the sound of a door opening downstairs.

"Severus, you're back." Emeric ran downstairs in his slippers, reaching out to hug the man he hadn't seen for a long time. Even with the contract between them, he was still afraid that Severus would get hurt.

"Yeah, he's gone mad," Severus finished a glass of honey water and casually placed the glass on the coffee table. "The more Horcruxes he destroys, the crazier he gets. Now he's starting to kill Death Eaters."

"Are you hurt?" Emeric hurriedly released the man and circled him to check for bloodstains, fearing that Severus would find a way to block the contract.

"My injury will get back to you, have you forgotten what you did?" Severus rolled his eyes, but stood there obediently, letting Emeric toss and turn over.

After a while, he grabbed Emeric's arm and told him not to turn around. "There are still two Horcruxes left. Make Dumbledore find them quickly. I'm not sure when they will be exposed. He's gone mad and has sent Lucius to pressure the Board of Governors in an attempt to get rid of Dumbledore."

"I understand. I'll write the letter in a bit, and I can blend in with the pile of stuff and leave tomorrow morning." Emeric calmed down immediately when he heard about the important matter. After handing a piece of cake to Severus, he went upstairs to his studio to write the letter.

The man sat in the restaurant, slowly eating his late-night snack. He trusted Emerick to handle things. He had been on edge all night and was exhausted, so he desperately needed to eat to replenish his energy.

As he finished his cake and was sipping his tea, Emeric came downstairs after finishing his letter. He pushed open the door next to the bookshelf and went into the house next door, with Severus following curiously behind him.

"Are you planning to let them take it away as construction waste?" Severus asked, looking at the house that was still under renovation.

"Hmm, we need to clear out some trash tomorrow, so we can just stuff it into the scrap wood." Emeric selected two similar scrap planks, stuck the envelope on them, and cast a Confusion Charm to ensure that no one other than his own people would notice.

Then, he turned to Severus and said, "Alright, let's go back. Even though the people monitoring us are gone, who knows if Senior Tom might suddenly go crazy and call someone back to keep an eye on us?"

The man took his outstretched hand and looked around the living room. The basic decor was to his liking, almost entirely designed according to his preferences. However, the details all seemed to reflect Emeric's tastes, seamlessly integrated into the design.

Emeric noticed his gaze and explained, "This house will be used for receiving guests from now on. We'll only allow close relatives to come, so that those who don't know what's good for them won't damage our home."

Hearing him keep referring to his family, Severus was secretly pleased, but he said, "We're not even married yet, who's family with you?" He immediately regretted it, knowing that Emeric would definitely take advantage of the situation.

Sure enough, Emeric's eyes lit up. He pinned the man against the wall to prevent him from escaping. "Severus, if I propose to you now, will you say yes?" He held the man's waist firmly with one hand and braced himself against the man's side with the other.

"You wish! You're not asleep yet, why are you already daydreaming?" Severus's face flushed red, but he uttered hurtful words, turning his head to look at the open space on the other side, not wanting to meet Emeric's gaze.

"Since it's my dream, you should say yes now and offer me a kiss." Emeric saw through the man's stubbornness and watched his increasingly red ears with anticipation, reaching out to touch them. "Why are your ears getting redder? Are you this easily embarrassed even in my dreams?"

"If I kiss you now, won't you faint from embarrassment?" he said, moving closer to her red ear until their lips almost touched. "Let me taste if it's sweet."

After saying that, the kiss landed, moving from his ear to his lips, one kiss after another. Soon Severus was kissed until his lips were red and swollen. When Emeric left, his lips were red and hot, with a trace of saliva at the corner of his mouth.

"Will you agree or not? If you don't, I'll kiss you."

"Phew... I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now, where did you learn your kissing skills? Tell me honestly."

Severus grabbed Emeric's chin, preventing him from looking away. He was determined to get a clear explanation today, or he wouldn't be allowed to sleep in his room.

"Oh, I was just wondering if it's really possible to tie a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue, so I tried a few times and practiced until I succeeded." He shrugged, looking at the man in his arms. "So, Severus, are you jealous? I've been with you since I was little, and you don't even believe me."

He pretended to be injured, buried his head in the man's shoulder and neck, and viciously bit a piece of flesh from his neck.

"I didn't doubt you, hiss... don't bite me..." Severus felt the wet heat on his neck and his heart skipped a beat. He knew that if he didn't give an answer today, this little rascal would leave his neck covered in hickeys, so now he could only show weakness and gamble on whether Emeric would soften his heart.

"I'm so tired right now, stop bothering me," the man softened his voice, putting his arms around Emeric. "I'm a little sleepy, let's go back to sleep."

Sure enough, he guessed right again. Emeric couldn't bear to see him suffer. As soon as he said he was sleepy and wanted to go to bed, he immediately let go and pulled him back, not forcing him even though he knew he was faking it.