Care From a Father: Snapshot of 'Love of a Father'

Author: HpFanficFan
Disclaimer: Ok...so I don't own Harry Potter. What? You do?

Summary: Severus has been taken care of his son Harry since the summer before first year. Harry breaks the rules and Severus is strict. But Harry, being a fragile, emotionally abused boy needs a mindful balance of care and discipline. Can the stern potions master discipline Harry without being too harsh? Or too soft?

Words Count: 4235

Rating: K+

A/N: One-shot. This is a snapshot from 'Love of a Father' universe. Love of a Father is another story of mine, in working progress. WARNING: corporal punishment (spanking). If you like Severitus, try my other fic—Occlumency is on Monday.

Care From a Father.

"Come here Harry."

Harry bit his lip; oh he was in so much trouble. He felt his heart pounding against his ribs, he was going to get a spanking now, he just knew it. Reluctantly he shuffled towards his father, head down and dragging his feet.

"Harry, pick up your feet and come here," Severus said firmly and Harry immediately sped up. His father meant business and Harry didn't want to upset him even more.

Harry stopped in front of his guardian head bowed, he lifted his eyes to look at him warily.

"Harry, what have you done?" His father's voice was so sharp he wanted to cry right there and then. Harry nibbled on his bottom lip and stared determinately at his shoes as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. His hands twisted around his robes as he fumbled with them.

"Stop that and look at me Harry," Severus reprimanded. Harry let go of his robes and started fumbled with his own hands instead. But could not bring himself to look at Severus. His father reached out for his chin and lifted until eyes of emerald green met deep onyx ones.

"I am very disappointed in you Harry," Harry felt terrible, absolutely terrible. He hated when Severus was mad at him, he could never get over he look of disapproval in his father's eyes when he was angry.

"I'm sorry," he muttered quietly.

"Are you, Harry?"

"I am," Harry was near tears already, "I am sorry. Really."

Severus frowned and sighed. He let go of Harry's chin and grasped his son's hands.

"What have I told you about dueling Harry?"

"Not suppose ta."

"Did you not remember this rule when you were dueling in the halls this morning!" Severus raised his voice and Harry shrugged, looking away.

"Well?"

"No," Harry answered in a whisper.

"What was that?"

"No, sir," He repeated, louder this time.

"So you did remember this rule?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then why did you ignore it?" Severus demanded, his face stern with disapproval.

"I…I'm sorry," Harry said as he felt his eyes start to burn.

"That wasn't the question Harry."

"I…well…he was saying mean things." Harry pouted his lips together and protested.

"Who was? What did he say?" Severus asked.

"Ronald Weasley. He said that I cheated at Quidditch, called Hermione a mud…mudblood. And he said Draco was a spoiled brat who didn't know up from down and he said you were a greasy old bat who was the worst teacher ever..."

Severus sighed.

"What Mr. Weasley said may have been conceded and wrong. But that does not give you the right to fight him."

"But it's not true!" Harry cried. "It's not. I didn't cheat, Hermione is the smartest witch in school, Draco is not spoiled and you're not a bad teacher."

"I know it's not true Harry and you know its not true. So does Ms. Granger and Draco. Mr. Weasley was just saying that to be mean, surely you know that."

"But…"

"Furthermore," Severus interrupted, "While Mr. Weasley might have been the first to start the verbal spout, you were the one that landed the first hex were you not?"

"I…yes, sir," Harry answered hesitantly.

"And that led to an all out brawl involving several students, many of them ended up needing a trip to the hospital wing."

"Yeah, but no one was hurt really," Harry argued, trying to defend his actions, "they weren't nothing but harmless jinxes and…"

"No, Harry. What you did was wrong, you will not be making up excuses. It does not matter if anyone was hurt You have no right to fight Mr. Weasley I don't care what he said. And you should thank your stars no one was hurt, or you'd be finding yourself over my lap right now instead of having this conversation."

"But, dad…"

"Stop that right now Harry. You know the rules, and you deliberately disobeyed them." The Potions Master rebuked harshly as he caught Harry's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Harry looked into his father's eyes, he blinked and turned away.

"I don't think you are, Harry."

"I am," He whined in high-pitched voice, glancing up at his father.

"If you can defend your actions against Mr. Weasley and the Gryffindors then you are not truly sorry," Severus paused and once again lifted the tiny chin. "Are you?"

"I…I'm sorry," Harry grumbled as he let a tear fall.

"Well, that's once offense taken care of. Now about last night..."

Oh boy...

"I want the truth from you young man, do you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

"No lying," Severus continued firmly.

"No, sir," Harry answered timidly.

"Good. What did you do at the party last night Harry?"

"I…well. You know, Slytherin won the game and we were just…celebrating."

"Yes, I knew that much. Anything you have to say about that?"

"Well, I…we stayed up longer than we were allowed." Harry knew his father was testing him, there was no way the Head of Slytherin, his father, would be so oblivious as to not know about a late night party in his own House. Severus Snape allowed parties and knew they were fairly common, especially during Quidditch season. He leaves them to do what they wish, his only request is that they follow all the rules. One of them was curfew and for the first years, it was 10pm..

"Is that so? And how long was 'longer'?" Severus questioned further in a calm voice that made Harry uneasy.

"Um…1 am?" Harry muttered. Severus raised an eyebrow, but was clearly unamused.

"Was that the answer or a question?" Harry blushed.

"An, an answer, sir." Severus looked at him with disapproval and questioned once more.

"What is your curfew Harry?"

"Ten o'clock, sir."

"So you disregarded the rules and broke your word to me twice in the past twenty-four hours?"

Harry didn't answer, that sounded like a rhetorical question.

"Anything else you would like to tell me Harry?"

Harry frowned and nibbled further on his lip. Severus looked at his son and waited patiently for the answer.

Harry was growing more and more agitated as the silence dragged on. He shuffled his feet and played with his fingers, all the while bitting his lower lip. He did like how his dad always made him confess. If he lied, his dad would know; he always knew. But confessing was just so damn hard! After a minute or two of fidgeting, Harry took a deep breath and said, "I…I had some firewhiskey, sir." And he braced for the rebuke that was sure to follow.

Severus was not surprised. It is not uncommon in Hogwarts for students to sneak firewhiskey and forbidden products into the school. Sometimes he wondered if Dumbledore even tried to enforce the rules. His Slytherins though knew very well to follow Severus's rules or face the consequences. Students under 17 were strictly forbidden to consume any amounts of alcohol, no matter what the occasion.

"You don't say," Severus said in an even tone.

Harry looked at his dad nervously.

Oh boy, oh boy, now I'm in for it.

"I see that you've decided to disregard that rule as well," Severus scolded.

Harry sniffed.

"And not only that, you broke the law."

He looked up confused. "The law?"

"Firewhiskey is illegal to under-aged wizards, I am positive you knew that."

Harry did know.

"That was three transgressions in all," Severus chided, shaking his head, "What am I going to do with you Harry?"

Harry sniffed as tears dripped from his eyes.

"Lower your trousers please."

Harry groaned but complied, he knew this was coming. There was no point in arguing, it would only get him into more trouble. Unbuckling his belt and lowering the trousers to the floor. He sniffed some more as Severus pulled him over his lap. He hooked his fingers up and over the elastic over Harry's shorts and pulled them down as well.

Harry squeezed his eyes and clenched his fists around his father's robes, waiting in trepidation for the first smack to fall. He couldn't help but tense up everywhere and whined.

Without warning Severus raised his hand and delivered the first smack to the small bum in front of him. Harry yelped in surprise, that stung, it really stung. Before he could recover from the burn of the first smack, his guardian delivered 9 more in quick succession, hardly pausing at all between the smacks.

Harry bit his lip and whimpered. Why did he get himself into these situations. It wasn't his fault, it wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't! He wanted to yell, and scream, and pout. But that probably wasn't the best idea, so he remained quiet.

"What are your transgressions Harry?" Severus stopped spanking and asked.

"I, sniff, I fought with the Gryffindors"

"And?"

"I, I stayed after curfew."

"And?"

"I broke the law and drank firewhiskey," Harry finished.

"Very good," said Severus as he reached grabbed his wand and summoned the slipper..

"You will receive twenty-five. Five for staying up, another five for the firewhiskey and ten for fighting.

Harry didn't answer. It wasn't fair, why was he the only one getting punished?

SMACK SMACK

Harry gasped and held his breath as the down.

"What is the first spanking for, Harry?"

"For, for staying up after curfew."

"Correct" and with that Severus brought the slipper down three more times. Harry cried silently, he was sure that wouldn't last for long.

"What is the second spanking for, Harry?"

"For drinking alcohol sir," Harry sniffed.

"Correct," Without further delay Severus started the spanking for the second transgression.

"Ow, I'm sorry," Harry started struggling a little, though he should really know better. He hiccoughed and sniffed loudly. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't. "It's not fair, it's not fair," he shouted.

"You broke the rules Harry, this is very fair." Severus scolded.

"No, no, no!" Harry cried. "It's not! Why am I the only one getting punished. There were loads of other people who broke those rules!"

SMACK

"Ow," Harry whined.

"That is none of your concern, their transgressions will be taken care of. You just worry about yourself now young man." Severus said firmly. "Now, what is the last spanking for?"

"For…for duel, dueling Sir." Harry crying hard now, and he still had 10 smacks to go. He bum already felt like it was running a high fever.

Five more sharp smacks came down.

"Ow, ow Daddy, please stop. I'm sorry." Harry was upset, really upset and Severus was not blind to that. This was the hardest spanking the boy had received, the least he could do was offer some type of comfort.

"Hush now, only 10 more," he soothed, trying to get Harry to calm a little.

But Harry continued to cry.

Severus rolled his eyes at the boy's antics. He wasn't hitting hard at all, at least not hard enough for Harry to be hollering like a god-damned ax murderer was after him.

"It's not fair," Harry whimpered and continued to cry, more upset than ever. Severus sighed with exasperated. Damn the boy for being so heartbreaking when he was crying. Putting the slipper aside for now he pulled turned Harry around so the boy sat on his lap.

"What's not fair Harry?" He asked softly, gently stroking the boy's back.

"It's my fault, you think everything's my fault." Harry whined, he shifted around on his bum, trying to get comfortable. When he found the softest spot, he stopped and buried his head in his father's robes for comfort.

"Fault Harry? Fault has nothing to do with it, I don't care who started the fight, or who pushed you to stay after curfew. This has everything to do with choice and responsibility. You are responsible for your actions. When you choice to ignore the rules and stay past curfew or drink firewhiskey, you made those decisions on your own. Nobody forced you to do those things."

"But everyone was doing it…"

"No Harry, not everyone was doing it. Furthermore, just because everyone is doing it, does not mean you have to do it. If all your house-mates suddenly took flight off the Astronomy Tower with no assistance from magic, would you follow them?"

"No." Harry answered quietly after a pause.

"You will always be held responsible for the choice you make in life Harry. You cannot blame anyone else for your own actions. Mr. Weasley will serve the consequences for his own actions, have no doubt about it. And so will each and every person involved in that duel. Now I know he provoked you and said some mean things that mad you angry, and sad. That was his wrong. But, starting a fight with him was yours, and you should not have done it. I will not condone physical violence from my charge. Do you understand?"

"Yes. But...but,"

"What is it?"

"Blaise, Draco and loads of others broke all 3 of rules I broke. I bet you can't hit them 30 times! It's not fair." Harry sniffed.

"Trust me Harry, if I had the authority to do so I would. You know very well Dumbledore does not approve. What's more Harry, you are my son and I hold higher expectations with you than Draco, Blaise and the others. I expected better from you Harry, I really did." Severus said softly, but firmly. "The others are my students and nothing more, they will come and go and I will forget about them. I do not have the energy to worry and ponder over each and every one of my pupils. I can only do what I can for them when they are in school, and that is to teach them at potions and guide them as Head of House. But of hundreds of students I've taught, I cannot expect each and every one of them to excel. After they leave Hogwarts that will be that. For the most part, I really could care less where they end up. But you Harry, are different. I am not only your teacher and Head of House, I am above all your father. You are my son and I will do everything in my power to teach you, to guide you and make sure you turn out to be a better man than I am. And I expect you, above anyone else, to excel. Do you understand Harry?"

"Yeah."

"Besides Harry, their parents will be informed of their misbehaviour, and I am quite certain they will not be pleased."

Harry sniffed and rubbed at his itchy eyes.

"Okay now?" Severus questioned.

"Okay."

"Good. Now lets get this over with."

Harry sniffed and pouted, there wasn't much he could do.

Flipping Harry over on his stomach again Severus reached for the slipper. Harry cried out on cue with the smacks but didn't complain anymore. The final 10 smacks were delivered just above the thighs on the sensitive sit spots, turning them more red than pink.

Letting the slipper fall the the floor, Severus pulled up Harry's shorts and trousers and moved to comfort the crying child. "Hush now, Harry. All over. That wasn't so bad now was it." Harry wrapped his arms around his father and pushed his face into the hard chest. The worn robes weren't exactly made of silk and was rough against his cheek, but who cares. After several minutes the sobs died, the hiccoughs stopped, leaving only gentle rolling tears.

"Come Harry, what's with all the tears?" Severus soothed. He summoned a wet towel and proceeded to wipe Harry's teary face. "There, there. It's all right now, stop crying." With another wave of his wand Severus summoned a glass of water and held it out for Harry. Taking several large gulps Harry finally let the tears stop.

"Dad?" Harry called timidly.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Are you still mad?"

"No, Harry, I'm not mad anymore"

"Promise?" Harry muttered against the fabric of the robe.

"I promise."

"Kay."

"Alright, stand up now," Severus lifted Harry off his lap and onto the floor. He ran his thumb over the boy's cheek and smiled. "You're a good boy Harry, just try to stay one okay?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Good boy," Severus praised as he ruffled Harry's hair, drawing a reluctant smile from his son.

"Okay, you are grounded for 2 weeks Harry, and you will be writing lines for me tonight"

"What? But…" Harry started to protest, but Severus cut him off.

"Don't you start Harry, I mean it," He said in a voice hat left no room for argument.

"Sorry, sir." Harry apologized and dropped his head.

"That's alright," said Severus as he took Harry's hand led the boy to a table at one corner of the room.

"Sit," He commanded.

Harry bit his lip once more and sat down gingerly on the hard, wooden chair, which felt softer than usual for some reason. But it still made him squirm.

"Stop squirming, sit still." Severus chided and with a wave of his wand, a quill and sheet of parchment appeared on the desk. "You will write; I am not above the rules, disobeying them will pilot serious consequences. Alcohol is illegal to under-aged wizards and I will not consume any amount without specific permission from my father. Dueling in the school halls is forbidden. I will not lower myself any more indecent acts such as starting a fight. No matter what the provocation."

Harry scrambled to write down the long paragraph. Severus had to pause a few times for the boy to catch up. He even had to correct Harry on several words the child misspelled.

"You will write that 100 times."

"100! But it's soooo long!" Harry whined.

Severus raised his eyes brows, making Harry go silent. "I could make it longer, how about I add something about you staying up after curfew."

"No, no! I'll write them. Sorry."

"Very good, you don't have to finish tonight. I will be at my desk marking some essays written by your potions class."

Harry gulped.

"Call me if you need anything."

"Kay," said Harry, slouching in the chair.

"Back straight," Severus chided, tapping at Harry's back. Harry groaned, this was not helping his sore bum. "Your next lines had better be better than this scribbling or you'll find yourself writing every single word over again. Clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Start writing," said Severus as Harry started writing the second line. This was going to take forever.

.

10 MINUTES LATER

.

"Back straight."

Harry looked up. His father had his head down, not even looking up as he continued to mark the essays.

"You're not even looking," Harry complained.

"But you are slouching are you not?"

"Well…"

"Back straight, keep writing."

Harry pouted, he hated when Severus ignored him like that.

15 MINUTES AFTER.

"Harry! Back straight, I will not tell you again."

Harry looked up at his dad, who now had his head buried in Potions Monthly: Professional Journalism for the Above Average Potions Master. Harry frowned some more, his bum was feeling better, but now his fingers were starting to ache. He hated sitting straight up like this, it was so tiring and useless. Why wouldn't his dad just let him slouch, what's the harm in slouching anyways?

"You're still not looking, how do you know I'm slouching!" Harry accused, back now perfectly straight.

"So you were not slouching?" Severus said without looking up.

"Well…I. Yeah, but…"

"So I was right," Severus interrupted from behind his periodical.

Harry was quickly growing angry. Why wouldn't his dad look at him. He always demanded Harry pay attention when he was talking. He told Harry off a million times for not looking at Severus when holding a conversation, and now he wasn't even practicing what he preached.

"How many lines have you got done?" Severus asked suddenly.

"Ummm…" Harry looked down, he'd only written 15 lines. "Um…15." He said as he looked at his father apprehensively.

That made Severus look up. "15? It's been nearly half and hour and you've only written 15 lines?" Severus demanded. He put the journal down, stood up and walked over to Harry's side. Harry gulped as he watched his father coming towards him, taking long strides. Way to soon he was towering over Harry. Harry glanced nervously at the man and pulled back as Severus reached for the parchment.

"Did I not tell you I wanted perfect handwriting?" Severus demanded from his son. Harry's face dropped.

"Sorry. Don't make me write them again."

Severus sighed. "Keep going, but if I don't see some improvement I will make you start over."

"Yes, sir" Harry mutter dejectedly.

Without saying another word Severus moved back to his desk and picked up his journal once more. Harry watched his father as he walked away. Was he still mad at Harry? Why was he being so cold, as if Harry had done something bad again. His dad was completely ignoring him, looking at him only when he came over to check on his lines. He didn't think the handwriting was so bad, well sure it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't as bad as his dad made it out to be.

Why did his dad have to make him feel so bad, he said he was sorry didn't he? And didn't Severus say he wasn't angry anymore.

10 minutes later Harry was crying again, wet splashes of tear fell on the dry parchment as he tried unsuccessfully to blink them away.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Severus questioned worriedly; what was wrong with the boy now? Harry just shook his head and kept on writing. Frowning, Severus walked over to Harry knelt so he was at eye level with the boy. Putting one hand on his shoulder, and the other below the boy's chin Severus questioned again.

"Harry, why are you crying?"

"You...you said. You said you weren't an..angry no..no more," Harry sniffed, crying harder now that his dad was there.

"Harry, I'm not angry. Where did you get such an idea."

"You…you won't even lo..look at me." Harry cried, hiccoughing as more tears fell.

"Oh Harry, come here." Why did he have to get stuck with the child with emotional instability. He couldn't blame Harry for getting easily upset, with the childhood he had, it's a miracle the boy was as open as he is. The strict potions professor has always been known for his harshness and ironclad discipline towards his students. He knew how to deal with mischievous teenagers with raging hormones, that was his area of expertise. This, this comforting stuff, this…TLC he had little experience for. Yet, this is what the his neglected son needed.

He held the boy tightly and felt the tears wet his robes. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm not angry, I promised didn't I?"

Harry sniffed. "You were ignoring me"

"No I wasn't, I was just…absorbed in my work."

"Too absorbed to even look at me." Harry whined, eyes drooping a little.

"Okay, okay. It's late, lets get you to bed, hmmm?"

"Kay," Harry muttered and wiped the tears away. He was a little tired. He yawned, okay, more than a little tired.

Severus picked the small boy up and carried him off to the bathroom. "Now clean up and go to bed."

"Kay."

Several minutes later Harry walked out of the bathroom only to have his father pick him up again, carry him off to his room, and dump him unceremoniously onto the bed.

"Hey!" Harry shouted with indignation, even as he wiggled under the covers.

Severus smirked and muttered a spell, a second later Harry dawned his green and silver Slytherin pajamas. The older wizard took off Harry's slippers and pulled the covers up and over Harry's chest and tucked them down at the neck.

"Go to sleep," Severus said gently, removing the spectacles and setting them on the bedside table.

"Kay. Night Dad."

"Good night, Harry. Sleep well." Harry sighed with contentment as he felt a hand brush his forehead. Life was good when you had a dad, even if he just had to be Severus Snape, the most feared and loathed professor of all time.

Severus shook his head as he watched his son drift off to sleep. Harry was such as child at times; a child half his age. Sometimes he acted like any other eleven year old boy, other times he sounded like a six year old, especially when Severus was disciplining him.

What was he going to do? How could Albus have so much confidence in him to give the child a good and proper upbringing. His own father had been abusive towards both his mother and himself, and his mother had died early on. So he hardly had a role model of what a good parent should be like. Albus was the closest thing to a father he's ever had, but Albus hadn't always been there for him. What Harry needed was a proper family, one who knew how to deal with emotionally abused pre-teen. But Severus found that he could not give the boy up, no matter what, not even if Albus demanded it. Harry was his; his child, his boy, his flesh and blood son. He had failed his son for 10 years, and he would spend the next 100 making it up to him.

--End--