A Father's Love by Azony
Against his father's commands, Draco touches a mesmerizing but dangerious toy, and is punished.
Warning: Corporal Punishment. Do not read if you are offended by it.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related, or Draco, or Lucius. Its all J.K. Rowling and I made no money off of this whatsoever... sadly. Oh well.
When Draco Malfoy heard that his father wanted to see him, he almost jumped in excitement. A house-elf led him to his father's study through dark, winding hallways and grand, dimly lit staircases. An orange ember glowed from the fireplace as Draco strode by. Draco's confidence faltered as he glimpsed out at the pitch-black sky outside. Wasn't it a tad odd that his father wanted to talk to him at this late hour?
The elf interrupted his thoughts. "Wait here, if you please sir." The elf pointed to the grand hall. Draco strolled to the spot, his eyes wandering to the velvet curtains, velvet chairs, and velvet carpet, all shining blurrily in the darkness. The hallway lead to his father's study, but another door stood slightly ajar next to Draco. Fifteen minutes passed before Draco took the liberty of opening the mystery door. The ancient door creaked open, leaving Draco to gaze into the gateway. He squinted into the darkness and walked in.
Cauldrons of green, boiling liquid shot foul steam, spider webs damaged from the corners, and jars of everything detestable filled the room. A transparent teal ornament with eight tentacles caught Draco's eye. The glistening hanging legs looked so smooth, and Draco's hand began to reach towards it. The twirling, the dancing, and he was so close to it ... only a few inches closer and he could –
A burst of light streamed into Draco's eyes. He blocked his eyes before he made out his father's silhouette. Feeling his heat beat faster, Draco quickly ran out of the room and behind his father. Finally, Lucius closed the door and turned towards his son,
"Fascinating as this room is, I must ask you to not trespass in that dangerous room. You are forbidden to go into it. Do not ever enter this room ever again, Draco."
"Yes, sir."
A silent gaze from his father concluded the short warning, "Now Draco, let us get on to business. Follow me."
A short walk later, Draco found himself in his father's study. Lucius took a seat behind a desk, leaving Draco to stand before him. Lucius tilted his head toward a towering stack of books nearby, "You will be learning from these books for the next four weeks. I will be unable to tutor you myself as I have business I must attend to, but," he looked upon his son, "I will come each night to make sure your lessons are properly learnt. Is that understood?"
"Yes, father."
A week had passed since that meeting with his father, and true to his wishes, Draco studied from the dusty volumes of dark magic in his desk, facing the same window, day after day after day. From early morning until now, the teenager had sat here reading the large book. Each day he learned about spells to fight off werewolves, rabid mongrels, inducing pain and today, he was learning how to silently rip apart limbs of people. He could feel his head filling with new knowledge after each paragraph. Draco vigorously rubbed at his eyes, begging them to not feel itchy. A half moon could be seen in the night sky. Collapsing roughly into his chair, Draco threw down his pencil and stared at the ceiling.
"This has got to be the dullest task he has ever made me to do. What is the point of reading of all these spells and histories? I want to do real magic!" Draco impatiently thought, "Does Father not believe I can do dark magic? I can show him I can do real magic."
Slowly, the memory of the forbidden dark magic room entered his mind.
"I must ask you to not trespass in that dangerous room. Do not ever enter this room ever again, Draco." Draco hesitated for a moment, "I can... I can show him that even I can defend myself against dark magic. I've learned enough. A room of toys is nothing against me." His eyes lit up and he marched out of his confining study room.
The familiar green steam moistened Draco's skin. The turquoise spider-like ornament still hung from its old spot. This time Draco took no time in grasping and examining it. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" His triumph was premature, as bright flashes of light rocked the trinket, simultaneously giving Draco a queasy feeling. The trinket stood by itself, as animate as a ... spider. Dizzy and stunned, Draco couldn't react or move, but only watched as the blue insect prepared to sink its teeth into his palm. The head of the insect raised and the sapphire teeth could be clearly seen.
Quick as lighting, a force shoved Draco to the ground and the spider flew out of his hand. Immediately, the spider resumed its old hanging tentacle form. His head clearing, Draco saw the form of his father, breathing hard, standing above him
"Get up."
"Father, I –"
"Did I stutter? Get up!" Lucius' voice was sharp as a dagger and his eyes murderous. Roughly, he pulled Draco up by the arm. Lucius spun on his heel stalked out. Draco scrambled up to follow his raging father.
Standing mutely his father's bedroom, Draco kept his eyes down as his father slowly paced around him,
"Not only unnecessarily placing yourself in danger, you blatantly disobeyed me."
He now stopped his pacing and stood right in front of Draco, "Look at me." Draco slowly lifted his head and met his father's eyes, "Did I not explicitly tell you that the room was dangerous? Did I forbid you to enter that room?"
Not knowing what else to say, Draco lowered his eyes and nodded.
"When I issue a command, I expect that command to be followed. Not to be disregarded or deemed as something not important. You are not a child anymore, Draco. If you continue to behave in this manner, you will turn out to be nothing." Lucius paused to examine his son, "You have been sneaking around me, Draco. This is unacceptable."
Draco whispered, "I'm sorry."
He wished a hole would come out of the ground and swallow him. Moisture started to pool around his eyes. A hand reached out and lifted the boy's quivering chin, so that Draco's eyes were under the scrutiny of his father's. "
I do not say this because I want to make you miserable. I say this because I love you. You are my student and heir, but first and foremost, you are my son. A son whose first priority is his safety."
Draco inwardly cringed. His cheeks burned remembering his foolishness. He put himself in danger without any regard for his life. Even more so, he worried the one person whom he loved more than anything else in the world. How could he disappoint his own father? No, never would he do anything like this ever again.
Lucius clasped both of his hands on Draco's shoulders and lowered himself to his son's eye level, "You scared me horribly today. I thought I had lost you." Draco's eyes started to water as Lucius continued, "I will punish you to make sure that nothing of this sort ever happens again."
Draco nodded, knowing his father's standard punishment for disobedience. "Get my cane, Draco." Numbly, his legs feeling like lead, Draco crossed the room and picked up his father's silver cane. Placing it in his father's hands with respect, Draco then turned to undo his pants and underwear and push them to his knees.
"Walk over to the bed, and place your feet two feet from the base. Lean on the bed, and hold your torso parallel to the bed with your elbows." After Draco did so, he could hear Lucius walking behind a little to his left. His body trembled anticipating the pain that would come next. Soon his bare bottom felt a cold sensation where his father placed the tip of the cane for aim.
Draco braced himself when he heard the crack of he cane and gasped when a split splash of pain exploded over his buttocks, with a sharp, stinging sensation afterwards. Before he could catch his breath, another swat came and landed just above the first blow. After a dozen blows landed, Draco was openly sobbing. His bottom was covered in dark red, angry welts, but Lucius wasn't done yet. He was going to make sure Draco never did anything to endanger his life like this ever again.
Now the blows came in the sensitive spot where his bottom met his thigh. Again, the cane swooshed and smashed that very sensitive area. Draco cried in earnest as more strokes there followed.
"You are my son, and I expect you to obey my commands." Thwack!
"You will not foolishly put yourself into danger." Thwack! "
You will never again go into a room in which I had forbidden you to go into." Thwack!
"Do – I – make – myself – clear?" Each word was followed by an attack of pain.
Sobbing his throat sore, Draco felt he could no longer stay in this position any longer without collapsing, "Y-Yes, F-Father."
A few more bombs of pain landed on his sensitive spot before he heard his father's voice, "It is over. Lay down on the bed."
Draco all but fell on the bed, sobbing his last tears. His bottom had received over thirty strokes. His bottom was maroon and blue spots dominated his upper thighs. He sobbed for what seemed like an eternity before he felt his father's hand stroking his hair, "Hush, Draco. Hush. You're forgiven. I still love you."
Knowing that he was forgiven through all his disobedience, Draco cried. Fresh tears of relief mingled with the tears of pain on his cheek.
Kneeling by his father, Draco cried out until there was nothing left to cry over. Lucius and Draco came together in a silent embrace. Draco treasured the fact that he was safe and loved.