Ch 11 Go or Stay

Ginny came home in tears after seeing all her brothers off to school. Now it was only her and her mother through most of the day. Unfortunately her mother never had been very interesting, since all she seemed to do all day was read, clean, or start knitting her annual Christmas sweaters.

That was why Ginny was happier than ever to still be working with Lupin. She was now spending even longer hours with him. Her mom had been fine with her now spending seven or eight hour days. Ginny knew this also meant an even greater chance of encountering something dangerous. She wasn't keen to have the paddle pulled out anytime soon, and she had been doing very well listening to Lupin if he told her to do anything.

Something she was having more trouble with however was going home. At the end of each day Lupin would say it was time to go home, and Ginny would do her best to stall her departure. She usually managed to stay about a half hour longer this way, and she could tell Lupin was losing his patience when she did this. But she really didn't want to be home much anymore. It felt very lonely, and the house seemed much too big.

"Can we maybe play a game of wizard's chess," Ginny asked hopefully one day, after Lupin said it was time for her to go home.

"I don't think so," Lupin said slowly. "You really do need to be going home."

"We don't have to play chess," Ginny continued. "Maybe you can teach me about another spell." Lupin had been showing her the concepts and incantations for several basic spells. Ginny felt sure she was going to be ahead when she went to Hogwarts.

"Not tonight. I've already shown you the unlocking charm today. I need to leave some work for your teachers, and some responsibility for you to study when you go to school," Lupin was trying to sound serious, but he couldn't hold back a smile. He didn't want to admit just how much he enjoyed teaching Ginny.

Ginny still didn't make any move to leave. Lupin decided ignoring her might work until she got bored, so he got up to start some of his research. He was starting to look through the second chapter of the large leather bound book he had borrowed from the ministry before he glanced at Ginny again. She was still sitting stubbornly, and playing with her hair.

Lupin sighed and closed the book. "Do we really have to make it such a struggle every night for me to get you home?"

Ginny didn't answer.

"You will be coming back tomorrow," he said. "It's not like I won't see you again." He didn't need to ask why Ginny didn't want to go home. He already knew from asking her a few weeks ago when she had avoided going home on September first. She didn't want to go home as an only child, and be ignored by her parents.

"You parents can't ignore you all the time," Lupin had said after hearing Ginny's complaint that day. "I know your parents, and they care for you very much."

"Yeah but they aren't fun to talk to. I usually like to play and talk with my brothers when they're home because we have the same interests," Ginny said miserably. Her eyes were still a bit red from when she'd been crying after saying goodbye to them. "I can sometimes talk to them, but we never have held an interesting conversation for more than ten minutes. Mum's too serious, and dad's too tired from his long days of work."

Lupin hadn't been able to think of a good argument for this. What she was saying did make sense, and probably was at least somewhat true.

"Ginny, you just don't live here. You need to spend some of your time in your own house," Lupin said, coming out of his memories.

Ginny still didn't answer, but only continued to play with and twist her hair. Lupin had enough, he understood she was lonely, but now she was being disrespectful. "Alright," he said in a cool voice. "You can stay here, but you need to be standing in that corner."

Ginny finally stopped playing with her hair and looked up at him. "I don't need to stand in the corner. If you're allowing me to now stay in your house I should be able to stay right here."

Lupin forced himself to stay calm. "I won't ask you again. Either get into that corner now until you're ready to go home, or I can give you those same options after I give you a sore bottom."

Those words did it. "Fine, "Ginny snapped. She got off the couch and stomped into the corner. Lupin watched her stand there a few moments. He really didn't want to have to punish her, and he did understand how lonely home could be since he was an only child himself. But she really couldn't be allowed to stay at his house the entire day every day. He hoped this would be a good way to make her decide to go home in a more gentle way. But he also knew this girl could be so stubborn.

Ginny stayed in the corner, trying not to back down for nearly half an hour. After that she couldn't stand in that spot any longer, not when she knew she did have the choice to leave.

Finally she turned around, and Lupin looked up. "Are you ready to go home now?" he asked. "Because if you're not, you better turn around again."

"I'm going home," Ginny muttered grumpily.

"I'm glad to hear it. I will see you tomorrow then."

Ginny didn't respond, but stomped to the door, grabbed her broom, and left. Lupin hated to make himself the bad guy once again, but he also knew she had been allowed to be spoiled her entire life and get away with anything. Some amount of discipline was needed in everyone's life, and somebody had to teach her a few things.

After the next day of work things happened very similarly. Ginny and Lupin had just finished their third game of exploding snap, when Lupin announced it was time to go.

"How about just one more game?"

"No," Lupin said firmly. "I have been fighting with you for weeks about going home. I think I am going to make a rule that by four each day you are either in the corner or heading home. So it's a little after four now, make your decision."

Ginny glared at him, and Lupin gave her a stern look. Finally with a huff she stomped into the corner. This time she only stayed fifteen minutes in the corner before grabbing her broom and going home. Lupin felt satisfied, his plan seemed to be working. Soon Ginny would hopefully just go home each day on her own.

But for the next week this became the pattern. Around four, Lupin would simply mention the time. Then Ginny would grumble and stand in the corner. Some days she was more stubborn than others, and one day it was a full hour before Ginny finally relented and went home.

Then the day before the full moon came.

At five of four Lupin braced himself for what he had to say next. "Ginny it's time to go home, and tomorrow is a day that you need to take off," he said.

Ginny's reaction was about what he expected it to be. It was the first time Lupin was telling her to take the day off since her youngest brother had left the house. "No, come on, I don't want to stay home all day tomorrow," Ginny whined.

"You know the routine either way. Corner or home."

Ginny gave a strange snarl, but didn't move to the corner. Lupin closed his eyes and tried to relax. He was already feeling the effects of the moon, and his temper was beginning to raise faster than it would have otherwise.

"Now, Ginny. I won't tell you again," he warned, fighting to keep his voice even.

"I don't want to go stand in the corner," Ginny snapped. "I'm ten years old."

"Then go home."

Ginny didn't respond or make any move, and that was when Lupin's resolve to not punish her broke. In one stride he was in front of Ginny and had a hold of her wrist. Then he pulled her to the kitchen chair.

"Let go," Ginny cried. "Alright, I'll go home, I'm sorry."

"Now you're sorry, only because you know what's coming," Lupin said in a low voice. He swiftly pulled her over his lap. He held her down as he reached in his robe for his wand.

Ginny had seen him do this once before, and last time he grabbed his wand, it had been to bare her bottom. "No, please leave my clothes alone," Ginny cried. She reached back to grab the waist of her pants, but before she could Lupin had flicked his wand and they were instantly down to her ankles. Ginny knew how much more a spanking hurt without that protection.

Ginny began to kick as Lupin's hand swatted her over and over. She felt really stupid now. It wasn't the longest spanking she had ever been put through, but it hadn't meant it didn't hurt, especially with a bare bottom.

After Lupin gave the two dozen Ginny's clothes returned to their normal position with one flick of his wand. "Now I'm not giving you a choice, you will go stand in the corner for fifteen minutes, and then you will go home. I don't want to hear another word of argument," he said firmly.

Sniffing and Rubbing her eyes, Ginny shuffled into the corner. This time it was much worse. She wasn't standing here as long as she wanted to stay here, now she was standing here because she was being made to. It made a huge difference. Before she could come out whenever she wanted, and now she knew if she stepped out to go home she'd probably be punished more. Then there was just the fact that she had pushed things so far as to get Lupin mad at her.

When her fifteen minutes were up, Lupin called her out and told her once again to go home. She looked at him, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you today," Ginny said quietly. Lupin still seemed mad at her, even though she'd been punished. It made her scared he would never forgive her this time. She didn't know why she was always so stubborn, and didn't just listen the first time she was told to go home.

"I'll believe your apology more if we don't have to fight to get you home next time," Lupin said quietly. But he still came closer and hugged her. "You really do need to go home though."

Ginny nodded and sadly got her broom to leave. After Ginny was out of sight, Lupin stepped outside for a long walk to wait for the moon to come out. As always he was dreading this particular night of the month, and couldn't wait until it was over. Hopefully he would be lucky this time and wouldn't destroy his cabin again tonight.

Ginny had a lot of quiet free time to herself to think about how she had been acting. She spent the entire day she had to stay home outside so she could think. The way Lupin still seemed angry with her made her miserable the entire day, and she knew she was going to have to talk to him about it. She didn't want to act like a child anymore.

"You've been very quiet today," Lupin noted softly as they both returned to the cabin after finishing the scouting the next day.

"Actually, I've wanted to talk to you about something," Ginny said nervously. "I just don't know how to say what I'm thinking, or even how to start."

"Let's sit down with a drink, and you can take your time how you want to start," Lupin said gently.

The warm look in his eyes relaxed Ginny, and she could see he wasn't mad at her anymore as she had feared. This more than anything helped her to start talking. "I mostly wanted to truly apologize for how I've been acting the last few weeks," she said quietly. "You said two days ago the apology would have meant more if it wasn't right after being punished, so I'm saying it now."

"That apology means a lot to me," he said with a gentle smile. "Not just because it was a good sincere apology, but because it shows me how much you are growing up. You know you've changed a lot in the time I've known you."

"I can tell I've changed too," Ginny admitted. "I also have to say, since I've known you, I no longer feel so different from my brothers. It was almost like I was royalty or something. My brothers and I would get into trouble together often, and only they would be punished. In a weird way I actually like knowing I can do things wrong and make mistakes." She took a deep breath. "Does that make any sense?"

"It makes more sense to me than you probably realize," he replied softly.

Both Lupin and Ginny remained silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Ginny felt as light as air about finally being able to express some of her thoughts and emotions to Lupin, and from the compliment she had received. She felt she was now finally growing up, and was becoming more and more mature. While she was with her present company, that would always be a good thing.