By request.
"Want to play with us?" Lily asked in a hopeful voice.
She loved both of her older brothers. In fact, she practically idolized them. In her mind there wasn't anyone cooler than them. She was definitely more like James though.
It was rare that the three of them actually played together. Al was much happier reading a book or playing a board game while she and James were much more incline to do something a bit more mischievous.
Lily wasn't stupid, even at eight she knew that she would get into far less trouble if she spent more time with Al and less with James. She couldn't help it though James just always had the best ideas.
"What are you guys doing?" Al asked apprehensively.
"We found this old book," Lily held up a spell book that James had found in the attic. "We're just looking at it."
Albus eyed the book in Lily's hands, his attention then drifting to their mum's wand that was sitting on the table near them. He could easily see where this was going and quickly shook his head. "No thanks."
"Awe Al come on," Lily tried once more. "We're just looking at a book."
"Seriously we aren't even doing anything wrong," James added from his spot on the couch.
Albus wanted to point out that it didn't take a genius to realize that the book would likely lead to them picking up the wand and then getting into trouble but he knew his warning would fall on deaf ears. He had warned them plenty of times in the past only to have them roll their eyes and poke fun at him for it. It was almost as if his siblings didn't care if they got into trouble or they were just so thick that they actually thought they wouldn't get caught. Either way Albus wanted no part of it.
"It's okay," he replied. "I'm busy anyway."
"With what? What are you doing?" Lily asked.
"I was going to go out in the barn and mess around with that muggle alarm clock that grandpa gave me."
"Boring," James declared with a fake yawn.
Lily ignored her brother. She liked that Al was interested in muggle things like their grandpa was. Partly because she thought it was sweet and partly because Al's being interested got her and James off the hook and saved them from having to fake interest.
Like Lily, Albus ignored James' comment and instead turned on his heel and headed towards the barn.
He may have been boring but he could count on one hand the times that he got into major trouble and he was sure his siblings would go through both hands before they even came close to finishing off their count.
"The Unbreakable Curse," Lily read the title of the spell in a dramatic voice. "Pretend to do it to me Jamie, it'll be fun."
James eyes scanned over the spell before his nose wrinkled. "It sounds like dark magic."
Lily shrugged. "I said pretend, not for real."
"I don't have a wand," James replied as he slid off the couch and onto the floor next to his sister. "I can't pretend to do a spell without a wand."
Lily frowned for a moment before her expression quickly changed.
"Use mummy's!"
James turned his head to where Lily was looking.
Perhaps the biggest rule in their house was to never touch their parent's wands. It was a rule that was never up for debate and that had only one consequence. As far their parents were concerned, there was no excuse for breaking that rule.
Their parents were outside though.
They were both out doing some yard work and they would hear coming into the house long before they would see them.
After a moment's pause he quickly grabbed the wand.
"We need to come up with something," Lily said as she read over the spell once more.
"How about your vegetables," James suggested. "You don't like them anyway."
"Perfect!" Lily squealed in delight. "I have to give all my vegetables to you for the rest of my life; that will be easy."
James smiled as he looked down at the book. "We're supposed to hold hands," he instructed as he took his sister's hand in his own. "Now repeat after me, I Lily Luna Potter."
"I Lily Luna Potter," Lily repeated in a clear voice.
"Let go of your sister this instant!"
Both James and Lily jumped as they quickly let go of each other.
"Daddy," Lily said in a surprised voice. "We were only playing."
"Playing?" Harry asked. "With your mother's wand and dark magic? You two call that playing?"
"Pretending," James clarified. "We weren't really going to do the spell."
"You have a wand in your hand James Sirius," Harry said sternly. "It certainly doesn't look like pretending to me."
"It was just vegetables," Lily tried to explain. "I don't even like them anyway."
"Have the two of you any idea how serious the spell you were messing with is?" Harry asked. He was struggling to keep his anger under control and their nonchalant attitude about the level of severity in their misbehavior was not helping. "Lily if you were to eat even one vegetable ever again, just one, you would die."
His children's eyes grew wide at these words. Clearly they hadn't been aware just how serious their actions were.
That fact made little difference to Harry though. As far as he was concerned regardless of whether or not they realized the danger in the spell they still knew that playing around with magic was wrong as well as touching their mother's wand was forbidden.
It was rare that Harry punished his children. From his own upbringing with his godfather he knew that children needed rules, boundaries, and consequences. He wasn't against his children being punished. He just preferred for his wife to take care of that. He hated to be the one to inforce the consequences and much favored playing the good cop to Ginny's bad.
Today however was different.
The thought of finding one of his children dead due to their own foolishness and disobedience was too much for him to bear.
Without any warning at all he grabbed ahold of James' arm and pulled him to his feet. He turned him to his side and landed a hard smack to his back side before walking him across the room and depositing him into the corner. "Do not move."
"Dad I-"
"James Sirius," Harry warned sternly using the boy's full name for the second time in less than five minutes, certainly a new record.
James quickly shut his mouth. His bum was already smarting and the last thing he wanted was to anger his father anymore.
Although it was unusual for Harry to punish his children on the rare occasion that he did he always did so privately. Today he did not care though. As far as he was concerned if his children could break such crucial rules together, they could be punished together as well.
He waved a hand in James direction as he walked back across the room casting a silencing spell on him.
He sat down on the couch and beckoned to Lily. "Come here please."
Harry often found his daughter to be the hardest of his children to discipline. Aside from the fact that she was the baby of the family, she was also the only girl and she had her father wrapped around her little finger.
Lily wasted no time and quickly scrambled to her feet and nearly ran to her father.
"Have you anything to say for yourself?" Harry asked.
"Don't be mad at Jamie," Lily replied in a brave voice. "It was all my idea. I made him do it with me."
"That is very brave of you," Harry replied. "And quite admirable as well however your brother has a working brain all of his own. He hardly had to go along with your idea."
Lily opened her mouth to protest but Harry continued before she had the chance.
"And don't for a moment try and convince me that this was all in good fun. You both know the rules and you both know that touching your mother's wand or my wand is at the very top of that list. Aside from that, pretending to do dark magic is not a joke or a game. Understood?"
"Yes," she nodded.
Harry quickly helped her over his knee and positioned her to his liking. Before he could give a second thought to his decision he raised his hand and brought it down smartly on her backside.
Lily, despite being his youngest, usually took her punishments with the most pride. It wasn't until his hand fell for the fifth time that she made any noise at all and it wasn't until the ninth that she began crying loudly and even then she did not plead with him to stop.
Despite her loud sobbing, she did not utter a single word until Harry's hand fell for the twentieth time and then suddenly stopped punishing her and started consoling her by gently rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry daddy," she said in a soft voice through her tears. "I'll never do it again."
A moment later she was on her feet and hugging her father.
"It was really dumb of us," Lily admitted through her tears.
"Just see to it that you never do something so foolish again," Harry replied softly. "I would be inconsolable if something were to happen to you."
Harry's words caused a fresh batch of tears to pour from her eyes as she hugged her father a little tighter.
"Go on up to your room and rest now," Harry said softly. "I'll come and get you for lunch."
Lily nodded in reply as she pulled herself from her father and headed towards the staircase.
Harry waited until he heard her bedroom door close above him before he waved his hand ending the silencing spell on his son.
"Come here please James."
James turned around to face his father with tears already streaming down his face.
Despite the fact that he was the oldest, he never took his punishment in stride. He always started crying before- hand and was always very audible during the process.
Unlike his sister, James crossed the room so slowly that Harry nearly asked him to hurry. When he finally was in front of his father Harry sighed softly to himself. Sometimes it was downright impossible to stay angry with his son when he was just so pitifully upset.
"Do I need to explain to you why what you did was so very wrong?"
James shook his head. If he were honest with himself he knew the moment he touched the wand what would happen if they were caught.
"Never, ever play around with dark magic," Harry said sternly.
James nodded in reply.
Just as Harry did only moments earlier, he quickly guided his child over his knee and positioned him. He began spanking earnestly though unlike his sister James was vocal from the second smack.
"I'm sorry," he sobbed as Harry's hand fell for the tenth time.
It took everything Harry had in him to deliver the ten more as James promised to behave. He was honestly starting to wonder why he hadn't put a silencing spell on himself.
Just as he had with Lily, he comforted James for a moment before helping him to his feet. His son immediately fell into his arms now sobbing onto his shoulder.
"I really am sorry," James said through his tears. "I never thought it would kill her."
"I know," Harry replied softly. "I don't for a moment think you set out to intentionally harm your sister but that is why you don't mess around with dark magic."
A silent nod.
"I love you far too much to allow you to put yourself in such danger."
Harry could recall numerous times that his godfather had spoken the same words to him when he was a child. It was only now that he said them to his own son that he realized how much worry he had likely put Sirius through over the years. He would have to floo call him later and apologize for all that.
"I love you too daddy."
Harry gently pulled the child away from him and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Up to your room for a bit of a rest, I'll come and get you for supper."
James nodded in reply, gave his father one last hug, and then headed for the staircase.
Harry sighed softly to himself as he stretched back on the couch.
"And to think it had been such a quiet morning," he said softly before closing his eyes.