Chapter 5

1.8K 79 0
                                    

Translations (in the order they appear):

Signore Prince?-Mr. Prince?

Sí?-Yes?

Mia sorella Bella vuole sapere se hai bisogno di aiuto l'anno prossimo per vendere prodotti.-My sister Bella wants to know if you need help next year selling produce.

Non sarà fino al prossimo anno, ma potrei aiutarmi. Portala entro la prossima primavera e la sistemeremo.-It won't be until next year, but I could use help. Bring her by next spring and we'll get her set up.


The two spent countless hours working on the garden beds. The stone had come in and they set the cobblestones aside in favour of turning and fertilizing the dirt and then lined the beds with flagstones. The wall took almost an entire week to get it built and treated for the weather on its own. Needless to say, Harry was exhausted at the end of every day and from the looks of it Severus was as well.

Severus outlined when they would be starting to grow seeds in the greenhouse and roughly when each plant would be ready to be transplanted to the ground. The only issue was, they still had a long time before much could be planted. They would be starting lettuces and some hardy root vegetables now for harvest just before the cold really settled in and then they'd have to wait until after Christmas before they could safely start growing more of the less hardy varieties in the greenhouse.

"Let's go out to the vineyard today." Severus looked up from his oatmeal and raised an eyebrow.

"What's got you so curious about the vineyard?"

"Well, there's really only a handful of small things left to do that won't take hardly any time at all and we've been so productive I just thought we could take a day off of work and enjoy what we have here already." Severus seemed to think on that, and he smiled when Severus started nodding.

"I'm not opposed to checking up on the vines. I've been debating if I should continue my grandfather's wine or if I should simply sell the grapes as they are. There's far too many to be of use to just us."

"Your grandfather made wine?"

"Yes, he quite liked it. It didn't take too much effort, only a bit of space and time. It was his pastime, they used to give out bottles as gifts. I've actually found quite a few bottles from his last batch that have been stored away."

"What else is down in that cellar?"

"Not much else besides that. They kept extra preserves down there so they didn't take up room in the fridge and have a freezer they kept excess meat and premade food in as well. Grandmother would premake a ton of meals with leftover vegetables and fruits and simply freeze them for the winter. All they had to do was take it out of the freezer and bake it."

"That's ingenious."

"Yes, well one does what they must. They grew up learning all of this because they were in such poverty. The two got married young and with what little money they had saved, bought the property just up to the vineyard. Their gardens did so well, they were able to make enough off of the produce in town that they could afford the land the vineyard is on now and the wine they sold paid for the greenhouse." Harry listened with rapt attention.

"That's fascinating. I'm a bit sad I can't meet them, if I'm honest. They sound like wonderful people." Severus smiled a bit, just a turn of his lips.

"They would have liked you."

They finished their meal and made their way out to the vineyard, both carrying large baskets. Severus showed Harry what to look for in the grapes and told him to simply pick entire bunches rather than individual fruits. They only made it a quarter of the way through the first row when their baskets were full and a young teenager found them.

Un Nuovo InizioWhere stories live. Discover now