And Then There Were Three

Chapter 17

Snape and Evelyn sat together on a small bench in the back garden, enjoying the quiet of the evening and each other's company.

Harry, Draco, and Brielle were all inside, hanging out in the parlor, and Snape was glad to find that they were getting along well. They had formed a friendship, Draco and Brielle, especially, and Snape was grateful that he would have a friend in Slytherin this year.

"You know," Evelyn said, pulling Snape from his thoughts, "while you're in the mood to redecorate back here, you should think about adding a garden."

Snape looked down at her with a raised brow, though she couldn't see it from where she sat with her head resting against his chest. "I have a garden," he pointed out, gesturing to several beds of plants and herbs on the east side of the manor.

Evelyn let out a small laugh. "That's not what I mean. You need flowers, Sev."

"What on Earth do I need flowers for?"

"To brighten up the place, obviously."

Snape huffed, then pulled her closer against him and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "You brighten it up plenty."

Evelyn smiled and shifted so that she could look up at him. She poked her finger at his chest and said, "Flowers, Severus Snape."

He smirked. "I'll get right on it."

Evelyn scooted further away with a sigh. "You'd better get on with tonight's project, otherwise Harry won't have his biggest gift tomorrow."

"Technically, this is for both of them."

Evelyn only hummed in response.

"You think I'm spoiling him?" he asked, uncertainty causing him to pause. He wondered if he was doing too much.

But Evelyn smiled again. "I think if anyone deserves to be spoiled a bit, it's him."

Snape watched as Evelyn stood up and walked to the edge of the small patio and looked out across the grounds.

"It's not as if you haven't got the space," she said.

Snape came to stand beside her. He raised his wand and said, "Do you want to help?"

Evelyn grinned up at him as she retrieved her wand from inside her sleeve. "Of course."

Over the next half hour, Snape and Evelyn walked around, quietly reciting the spells needed to change the landscaping of the entire back portion of the property.

Evelyn was right, of course, Snape Manor was spacious enough that even with everything they were adding, there was still quite a bit of room left.

The small Quidditch Pitch that Snape had put up months ago was furthest away from the Manor, near the grove of trees that separated it from the pond, but now there were two different concrete sections to the right with a short walkway that led to them from the back door. One was a basketball court, and the other was an area for skating. It was complete with ramps and rails, even a half pipe at the very end. Snape had gotten both Harry and Draco a pair of Muggle skates and a skateboard, along with every piece of padding he could find. Draco had been thrilled with the idea, though he'd been sworn to secrecy about it. And even he didn't know that Snape was planning the additions to the yard.

Snape didn't actually know if Harry or Draco would even want anything to do with basketball or skating, or even the bike track that Evelyn was constructing on the other side, especially when one considered that flying in the air on broomsticks was another option. But if this brought them even a small measure of joy over the next few years while they were still kids, Snape thought it was worth it.