By request.
Harry fidgeted nervously as he sat on the hard wooden chair at the kitchen table.
He was in trouble, big trouble.
When he had ran off in search of the stone he hadn't given much thought to his guardian. It wasn't until Remus had walked into the hospital wing at one in the morning, his face plastered with concern that Harry had even realized how dangerous what he had done was.
Remus had stayed in the hospital wing with him until he was released on the last day of school. Reluctantly the man had allowed Harry to attend the final feast with the promise that they would discuss what had happened when he was home.
Harry had spent the past twenty four hours trying to convince himself that things weren't nearly as bad as they seemed. But as he looked at his guardian who wore an expression that was the perfect mixture of concern and anger, he realized it was likely much worse than it seemed.
In the five years he had lived with Remus he had only seen him seriously angry at him one other time. Nearly two years earlier he had been at the Weasley's house when Ron had shown him a car that was bewitched to fly. The two hadn't meant to make it fly they were only playing in it. It took Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nearly an hour to get them out of the air. When their feet were back on the ground and it was discovered that they weren't hurt, Mrs. Weasley had ushered Ron into the study while Mr. Weasley had promptly delivered him home to Remus. Harry had tried to explain to his guardian but the fact that had been told to stay away from the car altogether sealed his fate.
Remus had given him a single smack from time to time when he got a bit too cheeky or outright disobeyed him, but that day had marked the first time that Remus had given him a real spanking.
Harry had made a promise to himself at that very moment that he would never do anything stupid enough to find himself in that position again.
A promise that he had kept up until he dropped into the hole underneath Fluffy. Even when he had somehow managed to fight a mountain troll he had escaped punishment. Remus had been cross of course but Harry had gotten off with a stern lecture. He knew he wouldn't be that lucky this time.
"Why on Earth would you do such a thing?" Remus asked breaking the silence that had been deafening in the small kitchen.
"I wanted to help," Harry answered in a small voice.
"You are eleven years old Harry," Remus said sternly. "You have absolutely no business getting involved in such things. Were you not aware that it was dangerous?"
Harry thought about lying but he knew that his guardian would see right through it. Instead he nodded silently.
"We have discussed you keeping yourself out of harm's way have we not?"
Another silent nod. A lump was forming in Harry's throat; he swallowed hard trying to force it to go away.
"Have you any idea how worried I was when I got word of what had happened?"
"I'm sorry," Harry replied softly. "I never meant to worry you. We just thought that we could help, we weren't thinking."
"You certainly weren't," Remus agreed. "I can understand the want to help when possible but putting your own self in danger to do so is not okay, especially not when you could have easily gone to a teacher or even myself and gotten help. In the future I expect you to ask for help instead of running headlong into danger, is that understood?"
Harry nodded, "Yes."
Remus ran a hand down his face as he observed the child sitting across from him. It was obvious that Harry knew how very wrong he had been. It was apparent in everything from his hunched shoulders to his troubled expression.
When he made the decision to adopt Harry he knew that there were aspects of the job that he would not like. He absolutely hated when the child was sick and he was the one who had to plead with him to take a disgusting potion. He hated when he had to make him eat vegetables or do homework. Above all though, he really despised punishing the child.
Nothing would have given him more joy then to end this whole blasted lecture with a heaping ice cream sundae followed by a quick game of exploding snap.
Remus knew that doing so would be disastrous though. Remus had grown up with James after all; he knew that the Potter mischievous streak was a mile long. He didn't expect Harry to be perfect, he was sure that the boy would get into plenty more trouble in his youth. Unfortunately with his job as Harry's parent though, it was his responsibility to correct Harry and dole out the consequences; especially when the consequences at school involved points being rewarded. Remus had the upmost respect for Albus but sometimes he truly wondered if the man wasn't beginning to lose it in his old age.
"Shall we go into the living room and get this over with then?" Remus tried to keep his voice light though he wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't as if it was going to make this situation any better.
Harry felt his stomach go up into his throat as he gave Remus a desperate look.
"If you would prefer you can be grounded for the summer," Remus offered. Although he certainly didn't want the child to suffer for weeks on end, a small part of him hoped that Harry would agree to this and let him off of his whole horrible disciplinarian duties.
Harry considered this new option for a second before sadly shaking his head. He was supposed to go to the Burrow the following weekend and Remus had talked about taking him to Diagon Alley in a few weeks. He didn't want to miss all that even if it meant getting a spanking.
"Alright then," Remus nodded as he stood up.
Harry didn't say a word as he got up as well and followed Remus into the living room. His knees felt like jelly and he was sure that his guardian could hear his heart hitting his rib cage.
Remus sat on the couch. It was both a relief as well as a hindrance. His legs had felt weak as he had walked into the room and even know he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears.
More than once in his own childhood he had heard his father say that his punishment had hurt him more. It wasn't until he faced these own situations with Harry that he realized how true those words were. He would have liked to break his own hand rather than go through with this.
Harry stood in front of him. The tears, though they hadn't fallen yet, were already clinging desperately to his eyelashes.
Gently Remus took hold of his wrist and led him to his side before guiding him over his knees. It took him all of ten seconds to position the boy as he wanted him. He cleared his throat softly, praying that his voice wouldn't waver.
"I care for you deeply Harry. I want you to remember that." He paused taking a deep breath as he tried to steady his nerves. "Putting yourself into such a dangerous situation was foolish at best and I sincerely hope that this helps you remember not to do so in the future."
Remus didn't wait for a response. He didn't feel as though one was needed.
He raised his hand and brought it down smartly on the small backside. Harry's body jerked but he remained silent.
He began spanking in earnest forcing himself to complete the task at hand.
It wasn't until his hand landed for the tenth time that Harry cried out loudly. The sound was torture to Remus. He wanted nothing more than to stop this whole charade the moment he heard it. He had planned on twenty though, five more than he had doled out last time. He felt that was suitable for the crime.
By the twelfth Harry had begun squirming and by the sixteenth he was fully vocal.
"I won't do it again," he sobbed loudly as the Remus' hand made contact for the seventeenth time.
Enough was enough, Remus decided. He quickly delivered the last three swats and then instantly went from disciplinarian to the one to give the boy comfort.
The hand that had just been assaulting his bum now gently rubbed his back as Harry sobbed into his pant leg.
After a moment he helped Harry up and then gently took him into his arms, careful to be sensitive to his backside which he was sure was aching.
"Hush Love," Remus gently soothed him. "It's done now."
Harry wept earnestly into Remus' chest. "I'm sorry," he choked out the words.
"It's okay," Remus replied softly as he rubbed the child's back. "You are forgiven."
Several long moments later when Harry's crying subsided Remus cleared his throat, "You know how much I love you right?"
Harry looked up at Remus before nodding. "Yeah I do."