Author's Note: By Request.
"That's two weeks without pocket money," Harry said in a stern voice.
Albus' face fell at his fate. He glanced at his brother who was sitting on the couch. James had been just as involved as he had in breaking the old vase but fortunately for him he had ran out of the room on the search for a spell book with a solution when their dad had walked in. It had been Albus who had been caught with a piece of the broken vase in his hands and the rest shattered around his feet.
Albus would never tell on his brother, it just wasn't in his nature but he really couldn't believe that James wasn't confessing.
"This vase belonged to your mother's great aunt," Harry continued. "It's far too old to be repaired with magic."
"I'm sorry," Albus said in a small voice. "It really was an accident."
Harry didn't respond as he waved his hand over the broken pieces of ceramic causing them to relocate to the kitchen rubbish bin.
"I understand that accidents happen," Harry replied once the mess was cleaned. "But please be more careful."
Albus nodded. "I will, promise."
"Good," Harry replied with a smile. "Now why don't you and James go play upstairs?"
Albus nodded in reply as James stood up and headed for the stairs. He wasn't stupid. He knew that he had gotten away with his involvement in the breaking of the vase and he wanted to get out of there before something happened and he ended up losing his pocket money too.
Albus was silent until the two of them were in his room. He could feel the anger at his brother boiling inside of him. He knew that his punishment could have been worse. He had broken a family antique, he was lucky he didn't lose his pocket money for a month or worse. He just couldn't believe that James would let him take all the blame.
There had been quite a few times in their lives where the two had gotten into mischief together and only James had been caught. Every one of these instances had ended with Albus confessing his part. He always figured that fair was fair and that maybe their parents would go easier on them if they were both guilty. He wasn't sure if that was ever actually the case but he supposed it didn't really matter as it was more about being fair towards his brother.
"What was that?" Albus asked in an annoyed voice.
"What?" James asked innocently.
"You know what?" Albus replied his annoyance and anger growing. "You broke the vase too! You pushed me into it!"
James shrugged at these words.
"You should have told dad," Albus said loudly. "I always confess when you get caught and I don't."
James shrugged again as he sat down on Al's bed. "Then I would be in trouble too," he nearly laughed.
Albus nearly stomped his foot at his brother's response. "And that would have been fair you git!" He could feel his anger growing at the smug look on his big brother's face. A second later a stack of books that had been on his desk flew off and scattered on the floor.
James jumped up. "How did that-"
His words were cut off by the lights in the room flickering wildly.
"Al are you doing this?" James asked in a voice that was a mixture of fear and amazement.
Albus shrugged and then nodded slightly as the lights calmed down. "I think so but I don't know how."
"Accidental magic," James breathed in a flabbergasted voice. "That's amazing Albus! Really amazing!"
Despite the anger he had felt at him only seconds earlier, Albus couldn't help but smile at his brother's words. Although he and James often got along and despite the fact that they were quite close it wasn't often that his big brother paid him a compliment. Albus lived for the moments when he did.
"Seriously," James went on. "You are going to be amazing when you are old enough to actually do magic for real."
"You think so?" Albus asked in a hopeful voice.
James nodded earnestly. "Absolutely."
Albus smiled widely at his big brother's words. "Thanks James."
"You have to be careful though," James said in a concerned voice. "Accidental magic is still underage magic. If you can't figure out how to control it you'll get in trouble for it eventually."
"Let's see if I can control it," Albus suggested. He starred down the scattered books on his floor concentrating hard on making them move.
The two boys watched as they shook for a moment and then slowly stacked themselves on the floor.
"Al you're a genius!" James nearly shrieked. He watched as his little brother's face lit up at the words. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell dad that I broke the vase too. I guess I was just worried that we would get in more trouble than you did. I'll share my pocket money with you for the next two weeks."
"Thanks," Albus said softly as he sat down on his bed.
"Are you still mad at me?" James couldn't help but ask.
Albus thought the situation over for a moment before he shook his head no. His brother letting him take all the blame had been annoying but he could never stay mad at James for long.
James smiled softly. "I'm going to go see what Lil is doing. Maybe the three of us can play a game."
"Okay," Albus agreed.
James turned and took two steps towards the door when a wooden ruler that had been sitting on Albus' desk suddenly flew through the air and smacked his bum.
"Hey!" James said in an annoyed voice as he attempted to swat it away.
The ruler was quicker than he was though and managed to land three more equally as hard smacks before dropping to the floor.
"Al!" James practically yelled. "That wasn't fair!"
"I didn't do it," Albus quickly replied. He could feel the panic in his chest. He really didn't think that he had caused the ruler to do anything. If he had he certainly hadn't tried to. How could he have controlled his magic only a moment ago and then not been able to control it or even realize he was using it now?
James looked like he was about to cry as he involuntarily rubbed the seat of his jeans.
Albus was sure his brother's bum was in some pain. He had never been whacked with a ruler but he couldn't imagine that it didn't hurt. "I swear I didn't," Al continued. "I wouldn't do that to you."
James held his stare for a moment before he shrugged. "That was weird then."
"Very," Albus agreed in a serious voice.
"I'll go find Lil."
James took a step towards the door and then quickly turned around to make sure the ruler hadn't moved. When he was convinced that he was in the clear he quickly hurried out of the room.
Albus watched him go the fear that he had caused the ruler to attack his brother still weighing heavy on his mind.
"You alright?" Harry asked as he walked into the room.
Albus could hear the concern in his father's voice and he was sure that the man was feeling guilty for punishing him.
"I'm okay."
Harry bent over picking up the ruler from the floor. "What is this doing here?"
Albus racked his brain as he tried to think of an excuse. He didn't know how he could explain the story to his father without tattling on his brother in the process.
"It's almost as if it flew off the desk to deliver a well-deserved punishment," Harry said as he returned the ruler to its spot on the desk. "Not that under normal circumstances I believe that using a ruler for a spanking is necessary, but I suppose if someone were to blatantly lie to my face about something that they did wrong a few smacks with a ruler would be getting off easy."
Albus starred at his dad as the pieces began to come together in his mind. "Dad you-"
"Just stopped in to make sure you were alright," Harry cut him off with a smile. "I'm going to go see if your mother needs help with dinner."
He paused at the doorway. "You're an exceptionally good brother Al but always remember, your mum and I know more than you three think."