The snow had melted, the days were warming up, and Virens Vite was excited to get back to work. She woke up just as the sun was rising, leaving all of her friends still fast asleep at home, and headed to a clearing not too far away. This was her designated gardening spot every year. It was a small space, but it allowed for a lot of sunlight and was bordered by a stream on one side.
She fluttered around the empty clearing, digging her paws into the soil. Virens started drawing shallow lines in the dirt to mark off the garden's perimeter. Within the square space, the topsoil was course and covered in weeds. To soften the soil, Virens brought water over from the stream and let it wash over the ground. Then she got to work weeding the garden and digging up the dirt until to expose the lower, more nutritious layers of soil.
Any other fox might find the work slow and tedious, but Virens loved it. It was just a little lonely, if anything. The friends that she lived with would stop by occasionally and help out, but she could tell it was more for the sake of helping her out. They each had their own passions, and gardening was hers.
Virens had been doing this for years now. Every Spring she'd bring the seeds of different flowers and tend to them until Winter came again. Some of them would remain the entire year, others were replaced as the weather grew hotter a few months later. Virens hummed while she worked and mentally planned out the layout of her garden in the meantime.
[277]
Severus was enjoying a stroll through the woods. It was a lovely morning, the temperature rising as the seasons began their slow change, heralded by the delicate sprigs of emerald green and the increasing variety of bird song. It was still just cool enough that the shafts of sunlight reaching through the thin branches and delicate buds of new growth felt pleasant against his back, though as the day progressed Severus had a feeling that the shade from those same branches and buds would be equally welcomed.