Ginny Weasley stormed into her first class of the day armed with a horrible attitude. The fact that she was one very angry girl was clearly written on her face – that and she stomped all the way to her desk, slammed her books down, flopped into her seat and even crossed her arms over her chest. It had been a terrible morning, and Ginny was the kind of girl where one wrong thing would set off a chain of events that would go wrong all day long.
Professor Remus Lupin watched as the young girl stormed into his class, and even cringed as she slammed down her books. He wondered briefly what she was upset about, but wasn't sure if Ginny would even appreciate him asking.
As Ginny continued to scowl at the world in general, she thought about everything that had happened so far this morning. First, she had been running a bit late. While trying to catch up, she had managed to come flying down the stairs of the dorms and run smack into Harry. Both of them full backwards, and all of Ginny's books and homework scattered down the rest of the stairs. Leave it to her brother to be so amused that she had bumped her forehead so hard against Harry's chin that she was getting a small goose egg!
And why Harry, of all people? Ginny thought. The one boy she really likes and doesn't want to seem silly around! She certainly was silly all right, blushing and stammering some apologies while her brother laughed his fool head off! Stupid Ron. Ginny's scowl grew darker as she thought about Ron. He just had to tease her about her crush on Harry. So, of course, she had to slap him. Ron had to slap her back obviously. If it hadn't been for Harry and Hermione intervening, the two siblings would have likely ended up rolling around on the floor trying to smack each other a good one!
As Remus watched the emotions flash across Ginny's face, he contemplated his options. He had two. He could say something or he could pretend not to notice her foul mood and quiet attitude. If he chose the first option, he'd risk upsetting or frustrating the second year further. If he said nothing, her attitude could escalate until she had an emotional explosion. Neither option seemed very appealing.
He thought back to a conversation he'd had with Molly Weasley the previous summer. Having known Molly and her husband, Arthur, from the Order of the Phoenix in the years before Voldemort's fall, he'd kept in touch with the mother of seven and had subsequently heard numerous stories about her energetic children. One story that stuck out in his mind in particular was that of a five-year-old Ginny accidentally 'misplacing' older brothers Fred and George onto the roof of the burrow because they wouldn't stop pulling on her bright red pigtails. Accidental magic was unpredictable anyway, but the fact that such a small child had managed to become so enraged with not one but TWO people that she moved them like that was, well, incredible. Indeed, Remus had heard several stories of Ginny's infamous temper. It was something the young professor wasn't eager to experience himself.
Glancing at his watch, Remus realized it was time for class to begin. Seeing as talking to Ginny seemed the lesser of the two evils, he needed to find an opportunity to speak with her. Of course, that shouldn't be too hard. With Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs together for second year Defense Against the Dark Arts, he didn't have to worry about the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry that occurred in other DADA years. They were set to have a test that day anyway, so it would be little trouble giving them an extra five or ten minutes of study time before he handed out the parchments. They certainly wouldn't need the entire period to complete the exam, anyway.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," he greeted his class, his customary warm smile on his face. "As you know, we have an exam this morning. I asked you to bring your books with you regardless, and I hope you did, for I'm giving you an extra few minutes to study before I hand out your tests." There was a happy murmur through the class as Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs alike hauled out their books and notes and made use of the extra time. Remus walked to his desk at the front of the room and took his seat before calling out neutrally, "Ginny, might I have a word with you?"
Ginny was still scowling at the world, and only barely heard her professor when he announced extra study time. She continued her scowling a moment longer, until she realized that her name was being called. Ginny blinked and looked around, her face growing red as she realized she was being called up front. She tried to remember if she'd done anything, and nothing had come to mind. Sighing, she got up and went to Remus' desk, looking at him blankly for a few seconds, before saying, "What? Don't I get to study too?" Look at my luck, he's cutting into my extra study time, Ginny silently fumed.
Remus blinked in surprise. He knew he shouldn't have been completely surprised; he knew about Ginny's temper, after all, but he'd never heard of her being openly disrespectful to a teacher, and he certainly hadn't had a student treat him with such disrespect since he'd taken up the post in September. Any other teacher would be fuming by now, assigning detentions and taking away points, but Remus was a generally patient man and he wanted to give Ginny the chance to explain her behavior without the threat of punishment. Knowing how students gossiped, he made sure to keep his voice soft so that he wouldn't be heard by any eavesdroppers. "Actually, Ginny, I thought you might like the chance to talk for a moment. You seem to have something on your mind."
Her face flamed red again. "No, no I don't have anything to talk about that's any of your business." Ginny's eyes were almost shooting flames now. "I want to study, I don't want to talk. There is nothing to talk about at all. Can't a person just be angry?" she snapped.
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, a silent warning that her behavior wouldn't be tolerated much longer and that she was walking on thin ice. "There is nothing wrong with being angry, Ginny," he told her calmly, thankful that the full moon was weeks away. "Don't you think you might have a difficult time concentrating on the test if you're upset, though?"
"I don't know," she told him exasperated. "I don't want to talk about anything. Why would I want to talk to a teacher about anything? That's just silly." Ginny defiantly turned around and stomped all the way back to her desk without another word.
Remus was dumbstruck. Had she really just turned her back and walked away? Well one thing was for certain; he couldn't ignore her behavior any longer. "Come back here, please, Miss Weasley," he called out, loud enough to be sure she heard him and in a tone that booked no argument. Several heads popped up in surprise at how he addressed her formally; they'd NEVER heard him address a student by their last name before. Never.
Even Ginny was surprised at the normally soft-spoken professor's tone. It unnerved her that that tone was being used for her! She turned around, having not even managed to sit before being called back, and walked rather slowly now towards Remus' desk. He could see in her eyes that she was still quite angry, but he also saw that Ginny was nervous now as well. She went to stand in front of his desk, looking at him once, then her eyes darted around trying to find something more comfortable to focus on.
"Look at me, please." He waited as she slowly, nervously, lifted her gaze back up to his eyes. "I can see that you're angry about something, and I can sympathize, but that is no excuse for you to take that anger out on me. I've been very understanding, Ginny, and you have been nothing but disrespectful, so you've just earned yourself a detention for this evening. I expect to see you here at 7 'o clock sharp. Now, I suggest you control your anger and use the few minutes you have to study."
Ginny was stunned, her mouth falling open and her eyes growing wide. Oh, she knew she was angry and taking it out everywhere and anywhere, but she really hadn't anticipated this. She'd never had detention before! In what seemed like a split second, Ginny looked like she might burst into tears. For now, her anger was rather squashed by her surprise. She stared at Remus for a long moment, fighting back tears. This was going to be such a long day, and right then it didn't look like it was going to get any better. Ginny wanted to run right back to her seat and bury her face in her book, but she was already causing herself enough trouble and didn't think she had better sit down until she was told to! When she finally broke her gaze away from Remus' face, it settled on a book on his desk instead. Ginny stood there in silence, beginning to chew on her lip.
Remus watched her with interest, noting her posture and how the anger seemed to deflate almost instantly. Maybe she would calm down enough to focus on the test; he didn't think it would help her mood at all if she received a failing grade on anything in his class. "Ginny," he said softly, "would you like to talk or would you prefer to go ahead and study?"
"I really don't want to talk about things," she said quietly. Nobody else in the school needed to know she had a crush on Harry, let alone a teacher! Just the thought of Harry made her flush slightly. "I'd like to study." Ginny still wouldn't look at his face, unsure if she felt badly for being rude to a professor she really liked, embarrassed at being in trouble, or angry at all of the above.
He nodded in understanding. "Off you go then. You've got about ten minutes left."
Ginny nodded and practically ran over to her desk and buried her face in her book. She could feel several people looking at her, but put all her effort into concentrating for her test.
Ginny trudged towards the DADA classroom right after supper. A large red stain was glaring angrily from on her shirt, thanks to a mishap with the spaghetti at supper. She'd scrubbed at it for a few moments before giving up; she didn't want to be late for detention, she'd already lost enough points today. Slinging her book bag over one shoulder, she knocked on the door before entering the classroom. Ginny looked almost exhausted, very frustrated, and either angry or cranky – perhaps even both!
Upon hearing her enter, Remus looked up from the stack of tests on his desk and glanced at his watch. "Right on time, Ginny." He stood, stepping around his desk and up to one of the front tables, tapping it gently. "Come have a seat." He waited patiently as she nearly stomped up to the table, her anger having obviously increased tenfold. "I'm going to have you write lines tonight. I've provided parchment, a quill, and ink. 'I will be respectful of my teachers and not take my anger out on others.' One hundred times, in your best penmanship. When you are finished, let me know, and you will be allowed to leave." Remus turned and walked the short distance back to his desk, taking a seat and resuming his grading of papers.
If Remus had looked up, and looks could kill, the one from Ginny right then would have put him a good twenty feet under! Stupid lines, she mumbled under her breath. Did he and Snape get together and decide it was fun to give lines? She thought about the three hundred lines Snape had given her since she already had detention with Remus tonight. Between the two teachers, Ginny would have hand cramps for a week! She swung her legs, and though it was childish she rather hoped it irritated Remus to hear her shoes bang against the chair.
Remus continued to work on the second year Gryffindor's and Slytherin's tests, opting to ignore her obvious attempts to make noise. He could only guess that the look she was giving him was murderous, as he refused to give her the satisfaction of looking up. Remus was quite good at determining when someone was trying to push his buttons, and Ginny had certainly started off with gusto. No, she'd earned this detention, and he wasn't about to get riled up over something as trivial as her kicking the chair legs. He really wasn't even mad at her; it was more concern than anything.
Eventually Ginny grew tired of kicking her legs and banging her shoes since it didn't get any response. She worked slowly on the lines, the time passing equally as slow. Boredom crept up on her and she sighed. One hundred lines wasn't nearly as bad as three hundred, she tried to remind herself. As she continued to write out her lines, Ginny began to feel very sorry for herself, growing restless and feeling very down about life. How did days like this happen?
Every so often Remus looked over at Ginny; each time she was focused on writing, but still looking upset. Frustrated, perhaps, was the better word. She didn't notice him watching her as she wrote and sighed on occasion. Finally Ginny had completed half the lines. She stretched her upper body and tried to massage her hand slightly.
Remus thought things for the most part were going quite well, but unfortunately he thought that too soon. As Ginny stretched, she bumped the jar of ink. It spilled all over the parchment, leaving just a dozen or so of her fifty lines still visible. Ginny screeched, looking about ready to murder somebody. "STUPID STUPID STUPID LINES! I'M DONE!" she shouted. A moment later, ink-soaked parchment, a half empty ink jar, and a quill were hurled at Remus' face, the jar missing his head by a fraction of an inch, but the parchment smearing ink on his forehead and nose.
Ginny grabbed her bag up, nearly knocked the desk over as she got up, and stomped towards the classroom door. As far as she was concerned, the sooner this day ended, the better; the only way to end it was to go to bed!
In a heartbeat, Remus had his wand out and pointed it at the classroom door, wordlessly locking it. He then pointed the wand at his face and, muttering, "Scourgify," cleaned the ink from his skin. The offending parchment, which had once displayed Ginny's fifty lines, was now on the floor. He stood, pocketing his wand and crossing his arms in a stance that made him appear as intimidating as Snape, easily. "Hold it right there, young lady." His voice was stern, but he still wasn't yelling. Still, he hoped she realized by now that he was fed up.
"I want to go back to the dorms and go to bed so this horrible, horrible day will end!" Ginny shouted at him, looking extremely distraught. "Just let me go back to the dorms!" She had discovered by now that the door was locked and she wasn't getting out on her own. She stood with her back to the door, facing him, her own arms crossed. Though she was shouting, it was easy to see Ginny was much less brave then she had been when throwing things at him; less brave, but no less upset.
He shook his head. No way was he letting her leave like that. He wouldn't be held responsible for who she might kill in the hallways. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for that little fit, Ginny. And I'll let you leave when I feel you've calmed enough to ensure that no one else is hurt by your anger tonight."
"No no no!" Ginny shouted. "No more points from Gryffindor! Snape already took twenty!" She was growing closer and closer to either a blowup or breakdown as each moment passed.
Remus raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, purposely letting her shouting at him slide. Maybe he could get her to talk after all. "Why did Professor Snape take twenty points from Gryffindor?"
"Because I messed up my potion in class he took twenty points and wanted to give me detention, but you had already given me detention. He announced it to the whole class and gave me three hundred lines due tomorrow!" Ginny threw her book bag on the floor, tears clouding her eyes.
He sighed softly and held out a hand. "Why don't you come sit down and we'll talk about this."
Ginny looked at Remus tentatively for a moment, chewing on her lip. Everything she did today seemed to turn out wrong, not to mention the fact she had just thrown objects at a professor, her favorite professor in fact! He didn't look quite as angry as he had a moment ago, but that didn't mean he was any happier with her either. It seemed to slowly be dawning on her that she was in the worst trouble she'd ever been in at Hogwarts, at least on her own anyway. Riddle and the diary didn't count. Ginny finally moved closer to him, still trying to read how angry he was, and let him take her hand.
He led her back to the table she'd written her lines at just minutes earlier, motioning for her to take a seat. He sat next to her, giving her his undivided attention. "What's going on, Ginny?"
"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "I woke up late and ever since then everything has gone wrong all day! I can't do anything right at all, every time I turn around I'm messing something up or getting into trouble when I don't even mean to!" Since she couldn't read him as well as she could her parents, Ginny avoided looking at him, instead looking at her ink-coated parchment on the floor.
Remus nodded slightly, thankful she wasn't screaming at him or throwing something or, worse, trying to hurt him. He was no stranger to bad days himself, after all. "Have you had any trouble with any other teachers besides Professor Snape and myself?"
"Please, please give me the points back," Ginny pleaded quite suddenly. "I can't lose forty points in one day. Everyone was already hassling me for the points I lost in Snape's class. I just can't take anyone else coming down on me about anything else!"
"No, Ginny," he told her gently, yet firmly. "You lost the points because you threw the parchment and ink at me, something that should've earned you a week's worth of detentions as well. I do not condone lashing out at people in anger. Period."
Ginny immediately got out of the chair, knocking it over this time, and stormed towards the door once again. She kicked her own book bag away from her path, and stood at the door glaring at him. "Let me out NOW! I just want to go do my homework and go to bed! Let me out! Let me out!" She screamed, adding a stomp.
That was it. He'd had it with her anger and little temper tantrums that were more reminiscent of a child half her age. Standing, he walked over to his desk, moving the armless chair to an area where he had room around him, and sat on it, giving her the sternest look he could muster. Detention hadn't worked. Deducting points hadn't worked. He could only think of one more option. "Come. Here."
"NO!" Ginny shouted, staying right where she was, arms over her chest. She was just too angry and tired at this point to put two and two together and come up with why Remus had moved his chair and ordered her over to him.
He took a deep breath and willed himself to remain calm. Remus was quickly becoming frustrated, and it wouldn't do to punish her while angry. One of them had to be the calm one. She needed to know he was serious, though, and she needed to know fast. His voice was stern, his gaze steely. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, you have exactly three seconds to march your behind over here, because if I have to come get you, I will summon a hairbrush and paddle your behind with it until you don't want to sit for a week."
Ginny stopped cold, her eyes going wide, her flaming red face starting to go pale. Slowly she started towards him, not wanting to find out if he'd really carry out his hairbrush threat. "Y-you, you..." she stuttered. "You can't s-spank me. Can you?" As soon as she came within arms reach, her hands, out of habit, went behind her to cover her bottom. Ginny had never put much stock in the idea of teachers spanking students before, otherwise she was sure that Snape would be giving out spankings most of every day.
He was so proud of her, walking over without his having to count. Perhaps she was starting to see that maybe her actions were having negative consequences. "I can indeed spank you, young lady, and I intend to do exactly that. Obviously a detention didn't help you curb your attitude, nor did taking 20 points from Gryffindor. I will say that I am proud of you for walking over here, because I did not want to have to use a brush on you."
Ginny hadn't wanted him to use a brush on her either, already being more acquainted with brushes then she would like to be. Ginny stayed just within arm's reach, hands still covering her bottom, now staring down at the floor. Even when Remus said he was proud of her for walking over on her own, she couldn't look at him. Tears were already gathering in her eyes and beginning to spill over. Ginny just knew it was going to be so embarrassing to be spanked by him and she didn't want him to see her crying already. She bit her lip, hard, and began to fidget.
He noticed the tears and her fidgeting. It looked as if she'd stopped fighting. Finally. It was just a shame it'd taken this to get her to stop. "Come on, Ginny, let's get this over with," he told her gently. Reaching his hands out, he guided her over his lap and felt her hands immediately grasp onto his left leg. From his chats with Molly, he knew that the Weasley children were no strangers to old-fashioned discipline, and that with her personality, Ginny had probably been over her mother's lap more times than she could count.
Once he had her situated, Remus immediately flipped her skirt up, exposing her knickers-covered bottom. Ginny squealed in surprise, having not expected him to do that. "Do you have to do that?" she asked softly, feeling horribly embarrassed. She wriggled a little, trying to find a comfortable spot in one of the most uncomfortable positions in the world.
He raised an eyebrow. "I do. Frankly I ought to bare your bottom for this..." he trailed off, leaving her to ponder the implications of that statement.
Ginny whimpered as his voice trailed off, hoping against hope that he wouldn't. Her hold on his leg tightened slightly, more out of nerves then anything else. "Please don't," she said softly, followed by a little sniffle.
He wrapped his left arm around her waist, making sure he had a firm grip on her, and then without warning his hand landed with a loud SMACK! on her behind. Hearing her gasp softly, his hand landed three more times in the same spot. "I am really disappointed in your behavior today, young lady." SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! His hand had landed four times in the exact same spot on the other cheek.
Ginny gasped at how much it hurt to be spanked multiple times on the same spot. As hard as he was spanking, the fact that he was so disappointed really did hit her hard. Her hold on his leg tightened a little more and she continued to gasp.
Remus began to spank her entire bottom, paying particular attention to her 'sit spots' to make sure she remembered this any time she sat down for at least the remainder of the night. As he spanked, he continued to lecture her. "You were in a foul mood this morning when you walked into my classroom, and I could see something was bothering you. I tried to talk to you about it, but what did you do? You became cheeky and downright disrespectful. Do you speak that way to any of your other teachers, Ginny?"
Yes, Snape on occasion, but that doesn't count... "No," she replied quickly. Ginny whimpered softly and bit her lip, trying not to cry out. That didn't last very long. "Ow!" she yelped.
"Do you speak to your parents that way?" He punctuated his words with several more stinging swats.
She began to squirm slightly under the stinging swats. "No..." Ginny's voice wavered a bit as she grew closer to crying loudly.
"Then tell me why you thought it was okay to speak to me in that manner. Or to throw things at me, just because you were frustrated." Without warning, his hand fell on the top of her right thigh. He didn't give her time to think about the feel of the swats on bare skin as his hand rose and fell rapidly, peppering the previously pale skin as it turned several shades of pink.
"Owww oww oww!!" Ginny yelped, really squirming around now. "I – ow! – I don't know!" She was honest at least: she had no idea why she had done those things to him. "Owww please!" Ginny began to cry, quietly at first, then slightly louder. "Please not there!!" she begged, trying to throw a hand back.
He didn't deter, however, as he effortlessly grasped her hand, pinning it against her back. "Next time you're feeling upset, I expect you to talk to me, or another adult, or even a friend about it instead of letting it brew inside until you're ready to lash out at someone!" His hand quickly turned the backs of her thighs a rather noticeable cherry red. Only then did he resume smacking her bottom, his hand falling harder and harder. "Because if I have to spank you again for this attitude, little girl, I WILL be using my hairbrush, and it WILL be on your bare backside! And I guarantee if that happens, you won't want to sit for at least a couple of days!"
Ginny nodded. "I'm sorry!" she cried out and began to sob. "Owww owww please! I'm sorry!" She pleaded before giving up and just sobbing as his hand continued to set her behind on fire.
He gave her four more walloping swats, one to each sit spot and one to each thigh (causing Ginny to wail loudly), before stopping. He was sure this was a lesson she wouldn't soon forget. His hand, which had previously been punishing her, now rubbed gentle circles on her back as she cried it all out, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
He continued to rub her back comfortingly, patiently, waiting for her to realize it was over. Even through her knickers, he could see the skin was quite red. Oh yes, she'd have difficulty sitting tonight, and there was a chance she might still feel it in the morning. "It's over," he murmured softly, noticing how much younger she looked over his knees.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," she told him sincerely, trying to get herself together. It was hard though: her bottom was hot and, probably the worst of all, Ginny was sure she had terribly hurt and disappointed her favorite professor. Her sobs did begin to slow and turn into sniffles and quiet tears.
"I know you are," he told her gently as he replaced her skirt and helped her off of his lap and onto her feet. "You have a clean slate again. And I know that next time you feel like you're having a horrible day, you'll make better choices. You're a smart girl, Ginny. Sometimes you just let your temper get the best of you." Offering her a warm smile, he pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly.
Ginny melted into his embrace, deciding this was probably what she had needed all day long – a nice, warm hug from somebody who wanted to make her feel better. Hopefully she'd remember that next time! After letting him hug her for a few moments, she looked up at him. "Are you still disappointed in me?"
Remus shook his head. "No, I am not. Clean slate, remember?" He gave her an extra hug before releasing her. "Are you ready to return to your dormitory?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah. I still have those lines to do for Snape and some History of Magic homework. Plus I am absolutely exhausted." She gave him a shy smile and hurried over to gather up her school supplies that had been scattered when she kicked her bag.
"You have lines to finish for me as well, I believe," he reminded her gently, though his voice made it clear that he was serious. Before she had the chance to protest, he added, "How many did you finish before you chucked them at me?"
She blushed. "I had half of them done. If you want all 100 of them, I'll do them; maybe I could turn them in the day after tomorrow? I don't know if I'll get 400 lines done before I fall asleep."
"I think 50 will be enough. Don't worry about completing them until after you've finished Professor Snape's assignment, first. You don't need to be in detention tomorrow night for not turning in your lines on time. I do, however, expect to hear afterwards that you were perfectly polite and respectful to Professor Snape. You might not like him, and I'll admit he can be unfair at times, but he is still your teacher and you need to treat him with the same amount of respect you show every other adult here. Do you understand?"
Ginny looked a little doubtful. "I understand what you're saying, but I don't think Snape will ever describe any Gryffindor student as polite and respectful. I really will try though."
Remus shook his head. "Professor Snape, Ginny. And he will be honest, I promise. Go on back to Gryffindor tower, now." He squeezed her shoulder gently, reassuring her, before pulling out his wand and wordlessly unlocking the door, the only evidence a small click heard across the room.
Ginny nodded at his words, hoping he was right about Professor Snape. "Good night Professor," she said softly before leaving the classroom.
Watching the retreating figure, Remus shook his head to himself. Molly hadn't been kidding when she'd said she had a little tiger for a daughter!