WARNING: there will be mention of spanking to a minor in this chapter. However, the scene will not be written out in detail. It is just mentioned that that is what happens.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
"Severus, you know that Potter has received four detention this week alone?" Minerva said as the two of them walked down towards Hagrids hut.
"Yes, I'm one detention away from writing to Lucius. This is seriously getting out of hand. Though it is to be expected. I don't think the child is really a trouble maker, but he is testing his boundaries. Seeing what punishments will be dealt out for his actions. How far he can push before his 'adoptive' parents finally get involved and just what that will mean for him. It really isn't uncommon for children from troubled homes," Severus explained clearly knowing what she was asking without actually saying it.
"Are you not concerned by this?" Minerva said stopping to look at him. Severus stopped and turned to face her.
"Not particularly. I'm annoyed and getting to my wits end with him, he needs a firm hand," Severus responded.
"Is that wise Severus?" Minerva asked a little concerned.
"Minerva the child needs rules he can follow. Trust me when I say he's never had a set of guidelines that do not change on a whim," Severus replied to her and started to walk faster down towards the ground as they reached the main floor. Effectively closing the conversation. The hardest part was that so far Lucius had not laid out the guidelines for Harry. He was planning on doing it at the end of term Severus was certain of this. However, right now the boy was testing his boundaries and that Weasley child was always up to mischief, which didn't help as it tended to lead Harry astray. Sighing Severus pushed open the doors that led out of the school. Minerva falling back into step at his side. A stern glower on her face for his abrupt ending to their conversation.
It was dark outside, almost midnight now, as they walked down the lawn and towards the only spec of light outside. Arriving at Hagrid hut, Severus knocked firmly on the door to see a weeping Hagrid come out. "Is he ready?" Severus demanded.
"Ye-yes," Hagrid cried harder at that word. Severus sighed turned to Minerva and gave her a look that said 'do something about him!' Severus had no time for this. He walked around Hagrid towards the back of the hut where just outside the pumpkin patch sat a large wooden crate with an semi-closed lid. Severus conjured a bowl and poured in the sleeping drought before floating it into the crate from a safe distance. He waited for the noise to stop as the creature fell asleep. Satisfied he get the lid in place. Put a featherlight charm and a levitation charm on the crate. Levitating it around the hut he was met by Minerva who'd managed to get the weeping Hagrid back in. She looked definitely less then happy as she looked at the floating crate.
"Let's get this over with," Minerva said with a heavy sigh. "Were do we take it?"
"Top of the Astronomy tower," Severus answered, raising one eyebrow at her words. She seemed even more disgruntled then he was about being with the dragon. They began the silent trek up to the school and up to the tallest tower. Finally they were standing on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower watching the sky. Severus hung back far away from the ledge, being very uncomfortable being up here. He did not like heights. Minerva had no such reservation and she leaned against the barrier and looked out towards the dark sky.
They did not wait long and soon the dragon was safely harnessed between the brooms of Charlie's friends and out of his hair. Severus turned and swept down the steps his movements faster then normal and thus he didn't stand a chance when he ran straight into a solid object half way down the stairs. There was a loud scream followed by four bodies tumbling out of the stairway at the end. Minerva having come down the stairs much slower looked down on the scene.
Laying sprawled on the floor before her were Severus, Harry, Draco and Ron. Severus pushed himself up and glared deadly at them. He'd had enough of this. "That's it. Minerva I shall be taking Potter with me down to my office along with Mister Malfoy." Severus said gently taking hold of both boys and hauling them up to their feet before turning and stalking off with both boys before Minerva could so much as answer. Severus had had enough.
They arrived in his office in almost no time, both boys were breathing heavy from having to jog to keep up with his much faster gait. Severus left them sitting on his couch as he flooed over to Malfoy Manor.
HARRY POTTER POV
"What's going to happen Draco?" Harry asked in a whisper as he sat next to Draco on the couch in Severus's private quarters where he was left. He felt terrified at the prospect of Severus waking the Malfoys.
"Were going to get in serious trouble," Draco sighed heavily. "This is really going to suck."
"Draco..." Harry whispered then got scared and just looked down with tear filled eyes. Draco looked at him and his eyes grew wide at the small shaking child next to him.
"Harry it's ok, look he might spank us, but he's not going to hurt us. Seriously, it'll be ok, we just broke one of his biggest rules and that is to not put ourselves in danger. He'll be angry, but he won't yell, which is actually kinda scarier," Draco said trying to explain to his frightened brother what would happen. That didn't seem to help as Harry drew his legs up to his chest and laid his head on them wrapping his arms around his legs and cried silently. "Come on tell me what's wrong? It's not like this is the first time you're in trouble so what is it? Did you get hurt when we fell down the stairs?" Draco was frantic to find out what was going on.
"Your dad's going to see how much of a freak I am and he's going to get rid of me," whispered Harry. Not having heard the floo sound.
SEVERUS SNAPE POV
Severus stepped out into the floo room at Malfoy manor. He walked out of the room and headed out towards the central staircase and stopped as Lucius came down to the final step.
"Severus? What brings you here at such a late hour?" Lucius asked confused.
"Your sons have been caught out of bed after curfew again. This time after being specifically told not to be out of bed this night or they would be facing you for it. They both said to my face they wouldn't be out of bed and lo and behold I run right into them under that infuriating cloak," Severus growled out. Clearly out of patience.
"I see and so you get me out of bed at after one in the morning to deal with it?" Lucius asked with one raised eyebrow.
"Harry needs to see that he's gone too far this time, they were both in a very dangerous situation Lucius," Severus stated.
"What do you mean by that Severus?" Lucius demanded getting frustrated and confused by the half answers.
"He has spent the majority of the term in detention, his assignments and homework along with his classwork is suffering from his lack of attention towards his subjects. He's testing his boundaries and getting in trouble, but detentions are no longer doing anything. He needs a firm set of rules and their punishments to set him back in line. For that to happen you need to be involved Lucius," Severus stated. Explaining briefly.
"Yes I was planning on going over the rules I expected him to live by at the start of the summer, what is a few months?" Lucius asked. Though he was not pleased with what Severus was saying. He couldn't help but wonder what the child was getting up to.
"Unfortunately Lucius if this behaviour keeps up he'll run afoul of Quirrell before the summer starts," Severus sighed heavily.
"No he wouldn't dare! The Dark Lord gave us an order to leave the boy alone until he is seventeen!" Lucius demanded infuriated.
"Quirell will not listen. He has already tried to kill the boy. I am certain he will try again," Severus stated.
"Alright, but one thing Severus, what were the boys doing that forced your hand in calling me in the middle of the night?" Lucius asked. It was clear he wanted answers.
"I made a promise to Minerva that I wouldn't tell you the specifics Lucius, but I will tell you this. Tonight Minerva and I were disposing of a dangerous creature and the children decided to follow us to watch," Severus said and had the pleasure of watching anger flash in Lucius's eyes.
"I take it that the reason you had to deal with this dangerous creature is because the children were helping in concealing it from the staff?" Lucius asked with a deadly calm voice.
"Yes, but they were sufficiently punished for not informing me," Severus stated.
"Be that as it may, I think I need to have a word with my son," Lucius said with a heavy sigh. "Come let us deal with this," Lucius said simply. Though he only had his outer robes over his pyjamas he followed Severus through the floo. As soon as Lucius stepped out he froze at the sight before him, but it was the softly whispered words from the boy that caused his blood to run cold.
"Your dad's going to see how much of a freak I am and he's going to get rid of me," whispered Harry. Who was curled up on the couch next to a startled Draco. The boys defensive position was all too familiar to Severus and made him wish he could torture some muggles. Silently he glided over and sat down next to the child placing his arm around the boy's shoulders ignoring his flinch. As soon as Severus moved Lucius shook himself out of his shock and walked until he stood before the child. Kneeling down he gently tilted the boy's chin so their eyes could meet.
"No Harry, even if you break the rules I will never send you away child," Lucius said gently. Watching the child's eyes grow wide with fright. It was clear to Severus that Harry didn't know what to make of any of this. After a few moment's he leaned into Severus's side, but he didn't move his arms from their tight hold around his legs. He did try and look away from Lucius, but the man's gentle and firm hold prevented him from it.
"You are not a freak Harry, why do you think that?" Severus asked very gently. Lucius looked up at him with a disgruntled expression.
"Because I can do freaky things," Harry said as if that explained everything.
"You mean Magic?" Severus pressed gently. Harry nodded as much as he could with Lucius still holding his chin. Severus sighed, "tell me Harry am I a freak? Is Lucius? Or Draco?" Severus asked the boy.
"No!? Why would you say that?" Harry asked startled by the words.
"We can all do magic, so if your a freak for being able to do magic then that makes us all freaks," Severus explained and Harry shook his head emphatically. Lucius dropped his hand from the boy and appreciated Severus's tactic.
"No, no your not. You can't be! Freaks aren't loved, freaks don't have families!" Harry declared emphatically. Almost panicked.
"If we are not freaks Harry then neither are you. What you are is a Wizard Harry. Just like Lucius, just like Draco, just like me. They were wrong and prejudice. What those muggles told you was a lie Harry," Severus sneered the word Muggle as he spoke. Though his voice was soft it was still cold and firm. Harry stared at him.
"It's late, clearly you boys haven't slept yet, so tell me what you were doing out of bed tonight?" Lucius inquired rising to his feet and coming to sit in the comfortable armchair across from the couch.
"We'd been doing homework in the library," Draco began.
"Ron was just starting to like me again," Harry added in quickly. Almost talking on top of each other. In such a hurry were both boys to explain.
"I head Weasley and Harry were going to sneak out to go see it off," Draco went on.
"Ron said if I didn't go with him then I wasn't the friend he thought I was," Harry went on as well.
"I couldn't just sit around in my room without knowing if Harry was ok!" Draco declared.
"I wanted Ron to still be friends with me," Harry finished sadly. "He said if we were under the cloak we wouldn't be seen."
"I followed them to their tower when they left the library and waited for them to come back out. Weasley was a prat," Draco added the last.
"When I saw Draco I didn't want him to get in trouble for being out of bed after curfew so we all three shared the cloak," Harry decided to add to try and make things more clear.
"Let me get this straight, Mr. Weasley decided that he would ignore what he'd been told and sneak out to see the creature being disposed off. Instead of staying out of it, or coming to me, you both decided to join him?" Severus inquired from where he sat. Lucius regarded them with a frown.
"Yes sir," both boys replied as one.
"Do either of you know how dangerous your nighttime wandering is?" Lucius inquired.
"Yes sir," both boys answered.
"Harry I must apologize, I did not give you my rules during Christmas," Lucius began slowly. Watching the small child who had yet to uncurl from that position. He continued on, "I was going to do this at the start of summer holidays, but I think it must be done now so you fully understand what I am going to have to do tonight. I know you've never had a set of rules that do not change on a whim so let me tell you the rules I expect you to live by. You will respect your elders. You will do you utmost best in school and follow all school rules as if they were my own rules. You will not put yourself in harms ways. There are other's that you'll learn as you learn what is expected of a pureblood son, but those are the main rules. Tell me Harry what do you think you did by sneaking off to follow Severus tonight?" Lucius inquired.
"I put my life in danger," Harry whispered staring up at Lucius with a stunned expression. He couldn't believe the man actually cared about his safety.
"You did, Draco what punishment do you receive when you disregard that rule?" Lucius asked.
"A spanking," Draco whispered. He didn't want to be spanked by his father.
Severus bade Lucius a good night as the man flooed home. By the time their evening had finished both boys had been placed in Severus's guest bedroom as they had fallen asleep. He left them only to see Lucius off before going back into the room to check on them. Draco and Harry were curled up on the large bed in peaceful sleep. Hardly a sign of the earlier tears both boys had shed. Severus hated that he'd had to see them both spanked for their constant night time wanderings, but his fear that Quirrell would catch them out of bed at night and succeed in taking Harry's life and likely that of anyone with him was far more pressing in his thoughts then the discipline of the children. As Severus had explained to both Draco and Harry, they couldn't wander the halls in the dark because they could both get hurt, kidnaped or even killed. He'd tried not to scare Harry as he still didn't want to really get into the whole Death Eater thing with him. Yet, the boy had already known. He shook his head. Feeling tired and worn out. Knowing that breakfast would see questions being asked of him he slowly went to bed.
Morning came quickly. Seeing as it was almost two in the morning by the time he'd gone to bed. Severus sighed as he sat up and yawned. Showering and dressing before he went to wake the boys. He found Harry awake and staring at the ceiling. Draco still blissfully asleep.
"Draco time to wake up," Severus said gently from the doorway watching as the sleepy child blinked up at him. "Both of you get ready. We shall have breakfast in my kitchen before you both head to class," with that Severus turned and left the room before Harry could ask the questions that he could see on the boy's face. Soon enough he would get the long list of questions, but for now he simply wanted to see about breakfast.
Severus was just setting out juice on the table when both boys came into the small kitchen. Sliding into the chairs. Wincing slightly at the unpadded chairs. Clearly uncomfortable. Severus sighed inwardly at that. Though he didn't enjoy the form of punishment he knew many old families used it. Shaking his head knowing that Lucius would never hurt them in his punishment, he pushed his distaste for it away.
"Uncle Severus," Draco began softly and Severus looked at him. Waving his hand to say 'go on' and Draco did, "why are you so concerned about us wandering around Hogwarts, Father used to wander at night, so did you. You told me some stories when I was younger. So why is it so bad now?"
"Do you remember how Lucius told you at Christmas that the Dark Lord had ordered his Death Eaters to leave Harry alone?" Severus asked the child. He had not approved of Lucius explaining that to them, but he knew it was necessary. Even though he didn't like it. Draco had grown up knowing Lucius and Severus where Death Eaters and it was only a matter of time before Harry figured it out. It was best that Harry heard it from Lucius or himself. Then someone like Weasley. He knew this conversation was coming. He had just not expected it to be so soon.
"Yes," Draco replied evidently uncertain why Severus asked that. Severus noticed that even though Draco kept eating breakfast Harry had stopped and was staring openly at Severus. Severus took a bite of his eggs and chewed before he answered.
"There is a Death Eater here Draco and he has already tried to hurt Harry before now," Severus stated bluntly. There was no point in dancing around this topic. After all he wasn't known for his tact when it came to saying hard truths.
"Is it Quirrell?" Harry whispered out softly.
"Why do you say that Harry?" Severus asked instead of answering. He wanted to know how the boy could possibly have guessed this.
"Well my scar hurts all the time in his class," Harry whispered so softly that Severus barely heard him. That startled him. He had to ask.
"Like a headache?" Severus inquired. Hopping that this was indeed what the child meant, but knowing it wasn't.
"No, well yes my head hurts a lot, but this feel like my scar is splitting open. It's not like a headache. Not really," Harry said to his plate. His words soft and hesitant.
"Has it happened before Harry?" Severus asked softly.
"Just when I have nightmares," Harry mumbled. And in that moment Severus knew his suspicions had been correct. He would need to do some research, but he was almost certain what had happened, the only question was how?
"Yes Harry, Quirrell is a Death Eater, and he is the one after you," Severus finally answered the boy's question.
"But why?" Draco demanded, "if the Dark Lord told him not to, why is he after Harry?"
"There are many reasons Draco, some of which you wouldn't understand, but that is not important. What is important is that you both are in grave danger when you are near him. Draco he might go after you to get to Harry now that you are Harry's brother, so when you both insist on sneaking out during the night you're leaving yourself open to him. I cannot protect you if I don't know where you are," Severus explained.
"Why does he hate me?" Harry whispered out sadly. "I haven't done anything?!"
"I don't know Harry, I can only guess," Severus said gently.
"I won't let anyone hurt you Harry," Draco said giving his brother a sideways hug.
"You have a lot of friends Harry, all of whom wouldn't let anything happen to you, but you need to follow the rules or we can't protect you, do you understand?" Severus asked gently.
"Yes Uncle Severus," Harry whispered.
"Good now eat up, you have class in fifteen minutes and I don't want you late," Severus stated simply.