Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.
Warning for Corporal Punishment scene in this chapter. If this upsets you in any way please skip this chapter.
"Well?" Enzo asked eagerly as Cassius inspected the potion. Classes were back in session after the Christmas holiday and Cassius had snuck off to check on the potion, Enzo coming with him.
"It's ready," Cassius said, holding up a vial of the potion triumphantly. It looked pretty good. Maybe a slight shade or two off from the picture in the book but he was pretty sure he had done everything right.
"Brilliant, let's do it," Enzo said, holding out his hand for a vial.
"Let me go first," Cassius said. Just in case didn't work right, he didn't want his friend hurt. "If this works, Draco will be so proud of me." he said wistfully.
"Isn't he already?" Enzo asked in confusion.
"I don't know. I messed up in that class he taught. I got distracted by two Gryffindors saying I was stupid and pathetic. That I even let muggles push me around." Cassius admitted.
"That's why you've been so upset," Enzo realized.
"It's true. The muggles I lived with did push me around," Cassius said unhappily. "And I'm not smart like Draco. That's why I wanted to do this, even knowing he will be upset initially. He is bound to be somewhat impressed, right?" He downed the vial and made a face. "Ugh! Tastes gross!"
"How do you feel?" Enzo asked eagerly.
"Fine, I -" Suddenly Cassius felt a horrible pain in his stomach and he doubled over. The pain rapidly spread and his body felt like he was on fire. He heard screaming but didn't realize that the screaming was him. He looked down to see black little paws. Paws! But the pain continued and he couldn't stop shifting from human to animal over and over. His screams filled the bathroom and he didn't notice Enzo running and calling for help. Finally he blacked out.
/
Snape's doe Patronus galloped in front of Draco, who was heading to the Slytherin common room to get his brother, slightly startling him. "Hurry to the infirmary. It's Cassius." Panicked, Draco broke into a run.
"What happened?" Draco demanded as he entered the infirmary. He stopped in shock at the sight of his brother, changing from boy to panther repeatedly.
"He made the Animagus potion," Snape said angrily, looking at Enzo who was crying.
"He made - but I told him not to!" Draco yelled. "What was he thinking?"
"Now is not the time," Snape said quietly.
Draco watched anxiously watched as Poppy cast healing spells on his brother. She looked worried and Draco felt incredible fear rush through him. What if his brother had done irreparable damage to himself? O what if...no, he couldn't finish the thought. "Cass," he whispered. He felt his godfather put his hand on his shoulder in silent comfort.
Poppy spelled a potion into Cassius and waited, her features relaxing as Cassius finally stopped transforming. She ran another diagnostic and nodded to herself. "It stopped, he should recover fully," she said in relief.
Snape and Draco also sighed in relief.
"He's lucky, it was almost too much for his system," Poppy said seriously. "His heart could have easily given out."
Draco sucked in a breath. He had almost lost his brother...again.
Snape rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm going to go clean up the potion."
"Where was he making it?" Draco asked, not taking his eyes off Cassius's sleeping form.
"The second floor girls lavatory." Snape answered.
Draco gave a humorless laugh. "Of course." First the Polyjuice Potion and now this. Would his brother ever learn?
Snape spun around and glared at Enzo. "So you two thought it would be fun to make a dangerous potion? And just where did you get the ingredients?"
"Um," Enzo bit his lip.
"Whose idea was this?" Draco demanded. As if I don't know...
"Well, Cass's." Enzo admitted. "We all did the spell, which got a little intense. We were really tired afterwards, our magical cores were draining. Sadie and Jason refused to try the potion though and Cassius had even changed his mind...but then he said he had decided to do it and he that he had the ingredients. So I helped him since I wanted to try the potion too."
"Unbelievable." Draco snarled as he paced, unable to keep still. He glanced back at his sleeping brother. His brother had deliberately disobeyed him, had put himself into great danger. Cassius was lucky he was asleep as he was going to be a very sorry little boy once he was well enough to leave the infirmary. Draco would make sure of it.
"He wanted you to be proud of him," Enzo explained, wiping his eyes and looking completely miserable. "He said..well, he was upset because during the potions class you taught. Some of Gryffindor boys were saying things."
"What things?"
"That he was pathetic and stupid," Enzo said softly. "That he let muggles push him around. He just wanted to impress you," he told Draco earnestly.
"Almost killing himself does not impress me," Draco snapped. He should have insisted Cassius tell him what was wrong during that class. Maybe then all this would have been avoided.
"Come with me, Enzo. We need to talk about the numerous detentions you and your friends will have," Snape said strictly, motioning for the boy to follow him out of the room
"He did succeed, even though something obviously went wrong in the potion," Poppy commented as she read the latest diagnostic on Cassius.
"He's really an Animagus?" Draco's mouth dropped.
"According to the diagnostic I just ran," Poppy nodded.
"Wonderful," Draco sighed. He'd have to monitor Cass very carefully and make sure he followed the rules he would give him. Of course, they needed to deal with this disobedience first and although Draco was not looking forward to it, he would make sure his brother learned.
/
Cassius slowly opened his eyes and blinked blearily. "Draco?"
Draco leaned over and brushed back his hair from his forehead. "How do you feel?"
"Sore," Cassius murmured as he tried to remember what had happened. His eyes widened as he did indeed remember and he looked at Draco apprehensively. His brother had a very displeased look on his face.
"Your potion, though it wasn't made entirely correct, worked. You're an Animagus." Draco said, his eyes hard.
"I..." Cassius swallowed. "I just..." This wasn't how this was supposed to go. The potion was supposed to have worked right and then he would have been able to share with his brother what he had done, make Draco understand why he had done it. But obviously something had gone wrong.
"You could have died," Draco said, struggling to keep his temper. "You could have been stuck as a half animal for the rest of your life. What in Merlin's name were thinking?" he burst out.
Cassius winced. "I thought you would be impressed," he said weakly. But Draco looked far from impressed. He looked furious.
"Impressed? That you almost lost your life? That you disobeyed me? That you stole ingredients?" Draco gritted his teeth. "I'm not impressed at all."
Cassius's face fell.
"Enzo told us about you four doing the spell," Draco continued. "That your magical cores were draining and you almost couldn't stop the spell. That at least two of your friends had the intelligence to not try the potion. That you had changed your mind but then changed it back. Because of what your peers were saying?"
"That I'm stupid and pathetic," Cassius whispered.
"You're not. You know you're not." Draco said forcefully. "You shouldn't listen to idiots like that."
"I just...wanted to prove I was smart, like you. If I made the potion then maybe you would be proud of me," Cassius said softly, tears in his eyes.
Draco was silent and Cassius wanted to break into tears right then and there. It was obvious Draco wasn't proud at all. His plan had failed completely. "I'm sorry," he said miserably.
"We'll talk more about it later," Draco said finally. "You need to recover." He sighed. "You're in huge trouble, Cass. Major trouble. But you should know, your potion did end up working."
"It did?" Cassius asked, his stomach rolling at the thought of major trouble.
"Yes. There will be rules and restrictions regarding you using your form," Draco narrowed his eyes. "Of course, I don't know if I can trust you to follow the rules." he added a little bitterly.
"You can trust me," Cassius protested.
Draco shook his head. "No, I can't. But we'll talk about it later." He ignored the tears falling from Cassius's eyes. He couldn't sugarcoat any of this, it was too serious. His brother had to realize that putting his life in jeopardy would not be tolerated.
/
The next morning, Draco took Cassius to their quarters after Poppy proclaimed him as being fully recovered. He had decided that they would both skip their classes for the day so they could deal with what Cass had done. He had already let the professors know what had happened. He pointed to the sofa. "Sit."
Cassius obeyed, his stomach a jumble of knots. He knew he was in for it.
"Start with the spell. When did you four do it?"
"The evening I said we had a group project to work on."
"So you lied to me. And then you decided to do the potion?"
"Well, Sadie and Jason refused. I wanted to, so did Enzo. But then I changed my mind. I knew it was wrong," Cassius said, his eyes downcast. "Honest, I wasn't going to do it."
"But then that potions class happened."
"I wanted to make you proud of me," Cassius said. "Class started really well, you gave me points and everything. But then I heard those boys talking and it me feel like nothing. I felt dumb and useless. And I couldn't concentrate on my potion and kept messing up. I'd wanted to make you proud of me and instead I just angered you."
"I wasn't angry," Draco said. "I was frustrated because you wouldn't tell me what was wrong. I wish you had."
"I decided to make the potion and stole from Uncle Sev," Cassius said shamefully. "I thought it would be worth it if you were proud but -"
"But what?"
"You're not proud of me and I feel horrible for what I did," Cassius said unhappily.
"Cass, I was already proud of you." Draco said with a sigh. "I already think you are smart. Merlin, I think the world of you. I thought you knew that."
"But I'm not smart like you," Cassius whispered.
"You are smart." Draco said forcefully. "You act like I never struggled in any of my classes over the years. I did. Why are you so hard on yourself?" But he knew why. It went back to those muggles telling him he was worthless for so many years.
"I didn't want to be a disappointment to you," Cassius said. "You've been so brilliant to me."
"Cass," Draco shook his head. "You are my brother, I love you. And I think you are an incredible kid. Merlin, ask your Uncle Sev. I'm always bragging on you."
"You are?"
"Yes. I think you are smart and loving and clever. I think you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. Cass, you're amazing."
Cassius threw himself at Draco and hugged him tight.
"I love you, cub. So much." Draco whispered as he hugged him back. For several minutes they just stood there and he relished that his brother was safe in his arms.
Finally, Draco pushed Cassius gently back to sit on the sofa again. "You should have told me what those Gryffindors had said. We could have have had this discussion then. I thought you were going to tell me if someone hurt you."
"Physically, yeah. But these were just mean words," Cassius said.
"Mean words can be extremely hurtful." Draco nodded. "And look what it led to." He pointed out.
Cassius nodded shamefully.
"Stealing those ingredients was wrong," Draco scolded. "You know that. You'll do extra chores to pay for getting them replaced. Also, you and Enzo have detention for two weeks with your godfather, Monday through Friday. Sadie and Jason have it for one week for doing the spell."
"Okay," Cassius said softly.
"As for your consequences with me," Draco took a deep breath. "You're grounded for three weeks. No Quidditch, no common room, no hanging out with your friends at all. You'll go to classes and all meals will be here with me or one of the house-elves. The only time outside of classes you're allowed out of our quarters is for you detentions."
Cassius bit his lip. Three weeks restriction? No Quidditch?
"You'll spend time doing your homework as well as the lines and essay I'm going to assign you," Draco continued, hating the despondent look in his brothers eyes. He had known this would be difficult and he wasn't even done yet. "As far as you being an Animagus, I'll train you but I will be putting a tracker on you as well. You are not allowed to shift without my permission and the tracker will alert me if you do. It will also tell me where you are."
"You don't trust me?" Cassius asked in a hurt voice.
"I don't trust your decision making right now," Draco said carefully. "I'm hoping you will earn back my trust though. Eventually." He hated the crushed look on Cass's face but he wouldn't change his mind. "Also," he took a deep breath. "You've earned a spanking. And some of it will be with the slipper this time."
Cassius's looked away and nodded. He had expected this.
"Go to your room and wait for me," Draco said.
/
Draco walked into Cass's room to find his brother sitting on his bed, looking so forlorn. He wanted to scoop him into his arms and forget this part of the punishment but he knew he could not do that, he had to be consistent. And he needed to make sure his brother learned a lesson, for his own good. He stood Cass up before taking his spot on the bed, sitting down and wordlessly pulling Cass over his lap. He adjusted him, trying to make him as comfortable as he could. He pulled down his brother's trousers and pants, baring the small bottom. "Why are you getting punished, Cass?"
"I lied and stole. I disobeyed you and put my life in danger," Cassius said, already crying.
Draco patted his back in comfort and then raised his hand and brought it down on his backside in a stinging slap. He spanked hard, wanting to ensure this lesson really sunk in. He alternated the crisp slaps from one cheek to the other, spanking his way up and down Cassius's bottom. His little brother was crying and pleading for him to stop and it broke Draco's heart. It absolutely gutted him to cause his brother pain, even if it was deserved. He continued until Cass's entire bottom was an even shade of red and then began spanking his sit spots and thighs.
Cassius kicked and tried to twist away, but his brother had a strong grip on him. "Draco, I'm sorry!" he cried, his bottom feeling like it was on fire. "Ow, ow..."
Draco finally stopped and rubbed Cass's back soothingly. "We're almost done, cub." He summoned the slipper and hardening his heart, rose it high and brought it down. Cassius yelped loudly with each wallop and by the end of the twelve smacks he was sobbing his heart out, limp over Draco's lap. Draco's heart felt like it was breaking as he banished the slipper, hoping to never have to use it again. He rubbed Cass's back, wincing at the sight of the sore red bottom over his lap. "It's over, Cass." he said softly.
Cassius was still sobbing and Draco didn't know if he even realized the punishment was over. He transfigured Cassius clothes into soft pajamas and then pulled up his pajama bottoms carefully, mindful of how sore Cass would be. He gently pulled Cass up into his arms.
Cassius threw his arms around Draco and cried into his neck. It felt like a hornets nest had attacked his bottom! It hurt and it hurt more to know he had disappointed his brother. He wanted to tell him again that he was sorry but he couldn't form words so he just cried as Draco held him.
Draco felt tears in his own eyes as he sat there, trying to soothe his brother. "It's okay, you're okay," he whispered over and over. After what seemed like forever, Cassius had fallen asleep from pure emotional exhaustion. Draco was pretty tired himself as he had not been able to sleep well last night, thinking of how close he had come to losing his brother. He laid back against the pillows, still holding Cassius who automatically cuddled up to his side. After a minute, Draco fell asleep as well.
/
Draco woke up some time later, aware of the small body next to him. He wandlessly cast a Tempus to see what time it was. It was one and they hadn't eaten lunch yet. He softly nudged Cass. "Cub?"
"Hmm," Cassius opened his eyes, still a little red and swollen from crying.
"It's past lunchtime. Are you hungry?"
Cassius nodded.
"Okay, I'll make us something," Draco offered. Sometimes he called on the house-elves to deliver their food but other times he would just quickly make something in the small kitchen they had. He stood up and watched as Cassius went to sit up, wincing as his bottom made contact with the bed. Draco bit his lip, feeling guilty. "You can rest more, I'll let you know when lunch is ready," he offered.
"I can help," Cassius said softly as he stood up.
"You want to? Okay," Draco put his arm around his brother as they headed to the kitchen.
As Draco began gathering pots and pans, Cassius gave his backside a quick rub. He couldn't help but pout at the lingering ache, even though it was his own fault he had it. And he also had three weeks of restriction plus detentions...he really had messed up.
After making lunch together they sat down to eat. Cassius had smiled in thanks when Draco cast a cushioning charm on his chair. They ate in silence for a few minutes.
"You understand why I gave you such a hard punishment?" Draco asked suddenly.
Cassius nodded, putting down his fork. "Yes." He understood and he wasn't angry at Draco, only at himself.
"I hated doing it," Draco told him honestly. "I hated it, Cass. It broke my heart."
"I know, I'm sorry," Cassius said softly. "I'm sorry for everything."
"I know you are and I forgive you," Draco said with a soft smile. "I love you so much. You know that, right?"
Cassius gave a small smile. "I know. I love you too, Dray."
Draco's eyes brightened and Cassius realized he had never told his brother he loved him before. He should have. "You're my big brother and I couldn't ask for a better one. You've taken care of me like no one has before." He gave a small shrug. "You're like my parent too. At least, I kind of see you as one. Is that dumb?" He asked a little shyly.
"No Cass, it's not dumb at all," Draco said, feeling a surge of love wash over him for his little brother. "You're my cub. You were my cub the moment I first saw you."
TBC: