Author's Note: A response to a few different requests I recieved :) This story stands on it's own and is not related to TWICHB at all. Enjoy and feel free to tell me what you love or hate about it :) And if you have a request for a short story the link to my tumblr is on my profile and you can leave them in my ask box.

Mira

"We have to be quiet," Ron giggled as he leaned against the cold metal lamp post.

He had been repeating these words for the past ten minutes.

"Stop saying it and just be quiet," Harry replied. He had been trying to sound annoyed but a giggle escaped his lips regardless.

His head was beginning to feel a bit strange. It didn't necessarily hurt but it certainly wasn't a normal feeling either.

"Everyone is sleeping," Ron replied unable to speak without a giggle escaping after every word.

Harry thought about these words as he retrieved his wand from his back pocket. There were six people somewhere inside the large house. Ron was right though, time was on their side; they hadn't left the house until well after everyone was asleep or at the very most in bed, and now it was nearly three in the morning.

"Right," Harry tried to nod, "so we don't want to wake them."

Ron nodded before erupting into giggles. "That girl…Jess… she gave me a piece of parchment with numbers on it."

"It's a muggle thing," Harry tried to explain in a slurred voice. "It's her phone number."

"Her phone number," Ron nodded giggling louder than ever.

Harry gave his mate a tired look. The street and pavement were beginning to sway.

"I'm sorry," Ron said in a much more serious voice. "I'm done…I'll be done."

With no sign of amusement in his best friend's voice, Harry aimed his wand in the direction of the building. The entire world around him was slowly spinning now, and with Ron acting serious for the first time in at least an hour, Harry knew this could likely be their only chance to get into the house undetected.

He wasn't so worried about getting into trouble himself. He knew Sirius really wouldn't care, if anything he'd probably congratulate him on getting out undetected, but if Mrs. Weasley found out…Ron was done for.

"I might sick up," Ron muttered in a dreadful sounding voice as he leaned forward, his hands resting on his knees.

Harry gave his friend a concerned look as he tried his best to form words.

"Just wait 'til we get inside," Harry finally slurred though even in the state he was in he was sure his logic didn't make any sense; getting sick once inside would likely be loud and hard to hide.

There was a long moment of silence after Harry spoke before Ron finally stood up straight once more.

"I'm okay," he declared in a shaky voice.

Harry was about to ask if he was sure when an ear piercing scream rang through the night, sending a chill down his spine.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley!"

Harry slowly turned around to see not only Mrs. Weasley standing on the front stoop of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, but Mr. Weasley as well as Sirius just a step behind her.

"Mum," Ron practically squeaked as he attempted to appear as though he was fine.

"Get in this house this instant!" Mr. Weasley spoke in a low voice.

To Harry's utter amazement, Ron practically ran up the stairs to the house as though he hadn't drank half of his body weight in alcohol. Then again if someone had given Harry an order in that tone of voice he figured he'd jump to attention as well.

Harry's head dropped as he concentrated hard on his feet. It wasn't so much that he feared getting in trouble he just wanted to give Ron as much privacy as he possibly could.

It wasn't a hard task. His head was spinning so quickly now that he could hardly hold it up. The last thing he was capable of doing was hearing any of the conversation between Ron and his parents.

Harry wasn't sure how much time had passed since Ron ran off, it could have been ten minutes or less than ten seconds, before he heard his godfather's deep voice.

"You too, Harry."

Harry's head slowly rose to see Sirius waving him up the stairs. The Weasleys were gone and Harry hoped his friend was in bed and not in the middle of being lectured. The man didn't look angry at all. He actually didn't look much more than tired, but then it was the middle of the night.

Harry walked up the stairs much slower than Ron had.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked when Harry finally took the last step and stood next to him.

Harry shrugged silently.

"Wanting to lie down, I'm sure," Sirius observed.

Harry glanced up at the man. Of course he hadn't expected his godfather to be angry, but his response was so opposite of the Weasleys that Harry couldn't help but feel a bit confused by it.

"Up to bed with you then," Sirius spoke once more.

Harry took the stairs up to the second floor two at a time. He pushed open the door to the bedroom he was sharing with Ron to find the redhead already under his covers, half asleep.

"We got caught," Ron said in a tired voice, although half of a giggle escaped with the words.

"Yeah," Harry replied. He literally fell into his bed. The last thing on his mind was changing out of his clothes. With the use of just his feet for help, he managed to kick off his trainers before he pulled the blankets half over his body.

"Is Sirius mad?" Ron asked in a slurred voice.

"No," Harry said, his voice muffled by the fact that he was talking into his pillow.

"You're lucky- Mum is going to kill me."

Harry was quiet for several minutes as Ron's words went through his mind.

"Maybe she'll calm down by the morning," Harry finally spoke in a tired voice.

The room went back to its silent state and then seconds later Harry heard Ron's heavy breathing signifying that the redhead had fallen asleep.

"He did what?"

"They went out for a bit last night," Sirius explained in a relaxed voice. "Had a few drinks, no harm was done."

"No harm was done?" Remus asked in a shocked voice. "No harm was done? Have you forgotten who your godson is? Anything could have happened!"

"But nothing did, Moony," Sirius replied as he leaned back in his chair.

Sirius was tired. He had been woken from a dead sleep at nearly three in the morning by a very irate Molly Weasley. She had been absolutely ridiculous with worry over the boys and seemed to be annoyed by the fact that Sirius was quite calm. Throughout the thirty minutes before the boys returned she verbalized every awful scenario that went through her mind. When the boys appeared just out front of the house, perfectly fine, aside from a bit drunk, it took every ounce of self-control Sirius possessed to keep himself from saying, "I told you so."

Once the boys were accounted for, Molly had instantly sent Ron to bed, promising punishment to follow in the morning. Sirius actually found himself feeling a bit bad for the fifteen year old.

Remus sighed loudly as he gave Sirius an annoyed look. "But it could have! How would you have felt if something happened to Harry? What if Death Eaters saw those boys out, and-"

"Now you're beginning to sound like Molly," Sirius cut his friend off with a smirk.

"It wouldn't hurt for you to sound a bit like her, you know" Remus replied. "Perhaps take a page from her book. I know that Ron is being punished for his actions last night."

Sirius shook his head at the words. "He's fifteen, Moony; he was probably tired of being stuck in this house all the bloody time which I can certainly relate to. I'm not going to punish him for that. I spoke to him about it this morning. I told him that drinking can be dangerous and got rid of his hangover for him."

"You can honestly sit there and tell me that if James were here he wouldn't punish Harry for his actions? He wouldn't make sure his son knew just how dangerous what he did was? He wouldn't give him the potion for a hangover and then give him the hiding of his life for being so foolish?"

"I'm not James," Sirius replied.

"Well, one of us has to be!" Remus snapped. "And if you don't plan on stepping up then I will!"

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little?" Sirius asked.

"Not at all, I think you're underreacting!" Remus practically yelled. He took a deep breath, calming himself before he spoke again. "Now I can understand you relating to Harry's feelings of wanting to get out of this house, but he's fifteen. Someone has to teach him right from wrong and make sure he is aware that what he did was dangerous."

Sirius opened his mouth to reply but Remus continued speaking before he could get a word in.

"And if you don't want to…or don't feel comfortable doing so then I fully intend on punishing the child exactly how I feel his father would."

Sirius felt his ears grow warm at the words. "He's fifteen!"

"And as I recall you and James were sixteen the last time Mr. Potter had to punish the two of you," Remus shot back causing Sirius to blush a bit more.

"You think it's the right thing to do?" Sirius asked in a hushed voice. If he was completely honest with himself, Remus' words did have some effect on him. He thought about how horrible it would have been if something would have happened while the boys were out on their adventure. Still, despite the fact that he felt something shift inside him, he still couldn't bring himself to march upstairs and put his godson over his knee.

"I do," Remus nodded. "In fact I think not punishing him and ignoring this whole situation will hurt him more than it will help him in the long run."

Sirius let these words sink in before he nodded. "I just…I can't…I'm not ready to take on the role of-"

Remus nodded. "I know," he cut the man off, "and so this time I will."

Sirius nodded quietly.

"You're going to have to work on it though, mate. If Harry is going to come and live with you, you can hardly let him get away with these things…and like his father he does have a knack for getting into mischief," Remus said with a sad smile.

Harry was in his room with Ron, fully engaged in a game of exploding snap when Remus knocked on the bedroom door.

"Hey, Remus," the boys said practically in unison as the man pushed the door open and entered the room.

"Boys," Remus smiled with a nod. "In the middle of a game I see."

"Harry's winning," Ron replied, "pulverizing me actually."

"I was wondering if I could speak with you, Harry," Remus said.

Ron looked up at Remus and then almost as if he knew what was coming, he pulled himself up off the floor. "Yeah," the red head nodded, "I'm going to go see what Fred and George are doing."

And with that, the boy was gone, pulling the bedroom door shut behind him.

Remus crossed the room and took a seat on Harry's bed. He patted the space next to him, inviting Harry to come and join him.

Slowly Harry pulled himself up off the ground and took the two steps towards his favorite Professor. He had a sinking feeling that Remus had heard about the previous night's adventures. It was no secret to Harry exactly how Ron had been punished and although it felt strange to him that Ron was in trouble and he had basically gotten a two second talk about it from his godfather, he certainly didn't envy what Ron had gotten either.

"What do you want to talk about?" Harry asked as he sat down next to the man.

"I was just downstairs speaking with your godfather, and he filled me in on some very interesting events that took place last night. Do you care to tell me about them?"

Harry shrugged silently. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. He could feel heat radiating off his ears. He had only been scolded by Remus once before, when he had snuck off to Hogsmeade, and he certainly didn't want to relive that moment.

Though he never verbalized it, Harry always thought of Remus as somewhat of an uncle figure to him. Of course they were of no relation, but he had been such good friends with his parents and Remus treated him far better than his blood related uncle and aunt ever had.

"A shrug is far from an acceptable answer," Remus replied in a stern voice. "What were you thinking leaving this house in the middle of the night? And drinking, at that? How did you boys even manage to get served alcohol?"

Under normal circumstances, Harry would never divulge such information as he would never get Ron in trouble. He knew, however, that everyone already knew. Mrs. Weasley had discovered their invention last night and although Sirius hadn't mentioned it, Harry was sure he knew as well.

"We bewitched some fake ID's," Harry admitted, "made our birthdates of age."

"Where is this fake ID?" Remus asked.

Slowly Harry got up and walked across the room retrieving the identification card from a desk drawer and carrying it back to Remus.

Remus took the card from Harry's hand and after inspecting it for a moment he slipped it into his pocket.

"You have absolutely no business being in a pub," Remus spoke sternly. "Have you any idea how dangerous drinking can be? Especially when you are so young?"

"I didn't really care for it," Harry admitted as he sat back down next to the man.

"And wandering off through London in the middle of the night. What in Merlin's name were you thinking, Harry James?"

The use of his full name caused Harry to blush involuntarily. "I don't know."

"I don't know is not an answer!" Remus nearly hollered.

"We were bored," Harry said in a soft voice.

"Bored? So you risk your life?"

"It didn't seem like such a big deal when we decided to do it," Harry admitted.

Remus sighed loudly forcing himself to calm down before he spoke. The last thing he wanted to do was holler at the child. "Do you realize that anything could have happened to you boys? Do you know what it would do to me if something happened to you…to Sirius?"

"Sirius doesn't even care that I did it," Harry replied in a soft voice.

"That's where you are wrong. Just because Sirius didn't punish you for it doesn't mean he doesn't care, and I can assure you that if you ever do something so foolish again you'll be dealing with your godfather as well as me."

Harry's stomach churned at the thought. He could hardly imagine a fate worse than the two people he had found family in angry with him at the same moment.

"I won't," Harry promised. "I really won't do anything like this again."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Remus replied. "However, the subject of your punishment for this matter still needs to be covered."

"My punishment?" Harry asked. He was familiar with punishment during the school year, of course…detention. But he was on summer holiday. The most the Dursleys had ever done as far as punishment was lock him in his room and cut him off from the magical world completely. Harry figured Remus' punishment would differ.

"I spoke with your godfather and he is aware that you are going to be punished. And as I said Harry, despite the fact that it is not Sirius punishing you today, should you ever do something that warrants such a punishment again I can assure you that your godfather will be the one delivering it."

Harry nodded. "So do I have to stay in my room for awhile or…"

"No," Remus interrupted the teenager. "I think it's only fair that you receive the same punishment that Ron received."

At these words, Harry jumped up from his spot on the bed. "But you can't!"

"I assure you that I can," Remus replied in a calm voice. "And it would be nice if you would cooperate but I promise you, your refusal to do so won't change the outcome one bit."

Harry's stomach did flips as he digested Remus' words.

"I'm fifteen," Harry whined sounding much more like a five year old.

"Your age is hardly a factor, I assure you," Remus replied as he gently took the boy by the arm and guided him to his side. "You are not of age and honestly even if you were seventeen, if you pulled a stunt such as the one you did last night there is a good chance you'd find yourself in this same position."

Remus' grasp on the boy tightened a bit as he began to guide Harry over his lap. He instantly noted that Harry gave in, allowing himself to be guided. He'd have to speak with Sirius about that, the teenager accepted punishment much too easily…far quicker than any child Remus had ever known.

Once Harry was over his knee, Remus reached into his back pocket pulling out his wand. He quickly whispered the spell for a silencing charm. With the amount of people there were walking about the house, he figured the least he could do was offer Harry some discretion.

With the silencing charm in place, he dropped his wand on the bed bedside him and raised his hand, bringing it down firmly on the boy's jean clad bottom.

Harry's body jerked as he made a small crying sound, though Remus assumed it was more from the shock of the first spank than the actual pain of it.

He began spanking in earnest and when his hand fell for the tenth time, he heard the sounds of muffled crying.

Remus forced himself to ignore the soft cries and promises of being good and finished out his planned twenty five strikes before he stopped and began gently rubbing Harry's back.

"Shh," Remus said softly after several moments of silence. "It's all over now."

At these words, Harry realized just how ridiculous he must look and quickly pulled himself to a standing position, frantically brushing the tears from his face. Not only had he behaved so badly that Remus had felt the need to punish him but now he was crying like a sodding toddler about it.

"There now, just relax," Remus instructed as he pulled the boy in for a hug. "There is no shame in crying after a spanking. "

"I'm sorry," Harry blubbered through his tears.

"And you are very much forgiven," Remus replied in a soft voice.

At these words he felt Harry's body tense.

"No one is angry with you. Not myself and not Sirius. You've been punished, and now it's over with."

Harry nodded into Remus' shoulder, his tears finally subsiding a bit.

"Perhaps you should go clean yourself up a bit…see what Ron is up to."

"Everyone will know," Harry said in a voice so low it was practically a whisper.

"People will only know what you want them to know. I placed a silencing charm on the room…as far as anyone knows I could have just given you a bit of a stern lecture."

Harry nodded softly at the words. "Thanks."

"Perhaps you should find your godfather as well," Remus suggested as Harry headed for the door. "Let him know you survived the ordeal and that you're sorry for what happened last night."

Harry nodded once more as he opened the bedroom door. "I will," he promised brushing one last stray tear off of his cheek.

Remus smiled softly as the boy left the room knowing for certain that although he was glad this situation was dealt with, the next time around, Sirius would be the one with the stinging hand and heavy heart, not him.