Chapter 21

The next day, Severus was busy taking care of Sirius. A case of Wizard flu was harder on adults than children. Harry helped some but mostly stayed in his room away from Professor Snape and his sharp tongue. More than once he'd already been on the receiving end of a tongue lashing for not obeying what he'd been told.

"It's not my fault, I don't know one potion from another! They all look the same to me. He grumps at me for bringing the wrong potion when I don't even know what they are! I'm so tired of being stuck inside!" Harry complains to his stuffed dragon. "You know what dragon, I'm going outside. It's warm enough today to try out my new broom Dad gave me for Christmas. I'll fly just a little and be back before anyone knows I'm not here." With that he takes his broom from the closet, opens his window and flies out into the sunshine.

Ohhh, this feels great. This broom is much faster than my old one. If I was a Quidditch player I could really do well on this broom! After flying for what he thinks is a short amount of time, he flies back to his bedroom window. That's strange, I left it open not closed. Oh well, I'll just go in thru the front door. Harry thinks.

Walking into the house carrying his broom he heads for the stairs. Just as he reaches the foot of the stairs he hears "HOLD IT! Just where have you been young man? You have been gone over two hours! Didn't it occur to you to ask permission for this?"

Surprised, Harry turns to see Professor Snape standing in the dining room.

"Dad's asleep again. I couldn't go in and wake him up now could I? You told me to stay out of there anyway! How was I supposed to ask for permission?" Harry snaps back.

"Why you impertinent child! I'll teach you to speak to me that way." Snape takes three steps and grabs Harry by the arm pulling him back into the dining room. Sitting in a chair he drapes Harry face down over his lap.

Realizing what position he's in and what usually happens in this position, Harry says quickly "NO! Please professor! I'm sorry for what I said to you. I won't do it again. Please don't…."

That's all he gets out before he feels a steel hand smack down on the seat of his pants. In rapid succession he feels six more smacks. Losing control at the third smack, he's sobbing hard by the fifth.

"Oww, please stop, you're hurting me, owww!"

Finally being lifted to his feet Harry has to grab hold of the chair to keep his balance. Wiping the tears that keep rolling down his face he says "I'm very sorry Professor. I was rude and disobedient." Then rubbing his hand over the seat of his pants he says "You spank way too hard Professor. My bottom is numb!"

"Well young man, maybe this will make you think twice before you foolishly run off to do something without letting anyone know where you will be. What if you'd been hurt or gotten sick again out there in the air. I wouldn't have known where to look. As long as I'm taking care of you, you had better always ask me for permission to leave the house. You don't and I'll put you over my knee again! You hear me Harry?"

"Yes Sir. Professor? Are you going to tell Dad about this?"

"As soon as he is well enough to listen, I certainly will be telling him. He needs to know his son is running around doing whatever he pleases without permission. He should know to set some limits for you. I would in his place. Speaking of limits, you will ask before leaving the house, you will do what I tell you at all times and bedtime is eight o'clock every night. Do you have anything to say?"

"No sir. " Harry answers wanting to go to his room.

"Good, now that we have this settled, go to your room until lunch. After lunch I have some chores for you to do."

Turning, Harry walks up the stairs to his room. In the room he puts his broom back in the closet and sits on the bed. Springing back up seconds later he rubs his hand over his bottom. "Darn ole Snape. He didn't have to wallop me! Dad wouldn't have. He probably would've just grounded me from my broom for a day or two. I'd rather lose my broom than get a walloping any day!" he grumbles to his toy dragon.

"You know what dragon, if you were bigger, I bet I could ride on you. Let's try it!" Harry places his toy on the floor and waves his hands at it. "Magnus Maior Maximus Verus Dragon"

With a puff of smoke, the live dragon whisks its tail back and forth. Delighted, Harry claps his hands! A middle sized real dragon to play with! How great is that! Suddenly he has to jump out of the way as the green dragon tail whisks close to his legs. Giggling he jumps over the tail as it swings back the other way. The dragon seems to have a smile on its snout. Playing jump the tail several more times makes Harry a bit winded. He has to sit on the bed to rest.

"You're just a little taller than me but I can still ride you. We'll try it outside." He tells his new playmate.

"Harry!" He hears Professor Snape call as he also hears footsteps getting closer. Grabbing his invisibility cloak he quickly throws it over the dragon as he tells it "curl up in a ball and stay quiet and still." Seconds later the door to his bedroom is flung open.

"What are you doing in here? What was all that thumping around I heard a few minutes ago?" Snape asks eyeing Harry suspiciously.

"I was playing with my dragon Sir. I was just jumping around."

"Well, come on down for lunch. After lunch I'll let you visit with your Dad a little. He's feeling some better and has asked for you to visit."

"Dad, I've missed you. Professor Snape is not fun. He won't even let me go out to the yard by myself. He spanked me for going outside! It's not fair!"

"I'll tell him to let you out in the backyard Pup. I want you to mind him though. He's doing us both a favor by staying here with you. I don't want to hear about any disobedience from you. I'm doing much better and Severus thinks I'll be able to get up by tomorrow afternoon. Don't worry so about me. I'm strong and I've got this great kid to look after so I have to get better. Thank you for loaning the dinner bell to me by the way. I found it on my nightstand." Sirius says as he sees Harry frown.

Not realizing the frown is for the misbehavior Harry has already done, Sirius continues to console Harry.

"Relax Pup, I'll be back to normal soon. We'll go to Diagon Alley and visit the Quidditch store and then go to the Ice Cream Parlor for a giant sundae to share. How does that sound to you?"

"Sounds great Dad! I can't wait."

"Alright Harry, out of here! My patient needs to rest so he'll feel up to that trip he just promised you. Go on now, go play in your room." Harry hears Professor Snape say from the doorway.

Sending a pleading look to his Dad, Harry hears Sirius say "Severus, let the boy go out back to play. He needs to get out in the sun. He'll be safe in the backyard and he knows he's not allowed out of the yard without an adult. Isn't that right Harry?"

"Yes sir. I'll stay in the yard, I promise I will. Please may I go outside? I've played in my room until I'm tired of seeing it." Harry says earnestly.

"Very well, but you best stay within calling distance. I may need you for something." Severus replies.

"Yes Sir."

Going into his room, Harry shrinks the dragon and tucks him into his pocket before grabbing a jacket and heading out back. As soon as he gets far enough away from any windows, he enlarges Dragon once more. He and Dragon have a wonderful time playing together. Dragon isn't very good at hide and seek but he's excellent at flying just under the treetops. Harry is enjoying himself so much he doesn't notice he's gone out of bounds. So caught up in his game, he fails to hear Severus approaching. He whirls around in surprise when he hears "Why didn't you come when I….IS THAT A DRAGON?"

Walking quickly, Severus grabs Harry and pulls him away from Dragon. "Get away from it foolish child. It's dangerous! What's a dragon doing here in the first place, it must be lost."

"It's not lost, it's my toy. I enlarged it to play with. I made him alive too. He's a lot of fun."

"So much fun that you can't hear me when I call you, I called you four times. I'm surprised at you Harry. I thought you were much better behaved at home than this. You know better than to use magic without permission! That's against school rules and I know for a fact it's against your Father's rules too. What do you suppose he'll have to say when he hears about this?"

Biting his lip Harry answers "He'll punish me, sir. Please don't tell him. He's not well enough to get up to punish me and he'll think he needs to." Harry says dropping his head.

"Just what punishment do you anticipate receiving from him?"

Sighing, Harry replies "He would probably spank me. He's warned me several times not to use magic without permission. Since I did it anyway and did it to Dragon again, I'd get a hard spanking."

"What do you mean 'you did it to Dragon again'?"

"Last spring, when I first moved in with Dad, I made Dragon come alive. He was a real live dragon. Grandpa sent him off to Romania and then Dad conjured a new stuffed dragon toy for me."

"Well that leaves us with a problem. You broke the rules and deserve to be punished. Your Dad isn't up to the task so I guess I'll be his stand in. Go to your room and wait. I'll be up as soon as I put Dragon back down to his normal state."

Waiting in his room Harry felt very uneasy. Professor Snape's first spanking hurt badly. What would he do for this? After all Harry himself had told him Dad would have given him a hard spanking. Oh he hoped he wouldn't get a brush used on him. Ron said it stung for hours!

After what seemed to Harry to be at least an hour, the door opens and there is Professor Snape. Coming over to the bed, Snape sits on the side of it and pulls Harry up next to him. "Alright Harry, you will be receiving a spanking with this table tennis paddle this time. Use of magic without permission by underage wizards is expressly forbidden outside of school."

After four hard licks Harry is squirming and crying over the man's lap. After six he's pleading with him to stop, by lick number ten he's sobbing so hard he can hardly breathe and can't see for the tears. He hears the door to his bedroom open and then his Dad's voice. "That's Enough! Leave him be, Severus! I agreed to a spanking with the paddle, but not a hard paddling! Six light smacks is plenty and you've given hard smacks over that amount!"

Letting Harry stand up, Severus says "If you'll excuse me, I'll let you two finish this alone." With a severe look at Harry, he leaves the room.

Sirius pulls Harry into his arms hugging him closely as the boy sobs on his shoulder. "You deserved that spanking Harry James and you know it. I'm surprised at you for breaking that rule. If the Ministry of Magic found out it was you who performed the spell, you could be kept out of Hogwarts! Underage magic is forbidden without supervision outside of the school. You have been told this before! This is why when Severus told me all about what you have done and asked for my permission to spank you the way he did. I gave it. If I had been well enough, I would have done the same thing just not so hard!" Still holding the boy closely, he waits until Harry's sobs have stopped before saying,

"Harry, you are grounded from your broom for three days. You are not to perform magic without permission, son. Remember how we have talked about you magic being unsteady and your ability to control it at your age is limited. This is the reason for the rule. You could harm yourself or someone this way." Sirius tells him, giving Harry a very stern look.

"Yes Sir, I understand and I won't do it anymore. I don't want to be kept out of Hogwarts or paddled either. My bum is burning, Daddy! Would you please do a soothing spell on me?"

"No, Harry. You deserved that spanking and now you have to suffer the consequences of your actions. I will allow you to have a cooling cloth though. Lie down and I'll put one on your bum. The burning will go away soon. While you wait, you can lie here and think about what you did to deserve such a harsh punishment. You will wait here in your room until someone comes to get you for supper."