hey everyone! I am finally back from vacay, so I decided to write chapter 18 real quick :)

Thank you to Gustavia for her awesome comment, you are definitely right, but Godric will change...eventually (haha)

this chapter has major dialog between tom&godric and SPANKING of a minor (Sirius)

As always: #freeProtasevich

enjoy.

"Daddy!"

Aurelius was the first one to react, he ran towards Gryffindor and threw himself at him, "you are home! I missed you!"

"Missed you, too", Gryffindor responded, he sounded amused, and while he easily picked up Aurelius, he never let Tom get out of his sight.

"We did not expect you this early", Tom finally said, forcing his voice to be steady, "it…is late, I have to put the boys to bed."

Gryffindor merely smiled, "of course- don't let me stop you, Thomas."

"I won't."

His anger was rising again, he was mad at himself for almost losing his composure when he saw Gryffindor, saw the look on his face, this goddamn knowing look- and he did not want to think about it, he did not want to think about what…

"Tom?", a quiet whisper, "are…are you gonna tell Daddy that…about…", he heard Sirius swallow, "I…please…"

He bit his lips, grateful for the fact that Aurelius was currently distracting Gryffindor by telling him all about the story they had read, "don't worry, it's none of his business", he eventually responded, "come on, bedtime. It is getting late."

He carried Sirius into the next room, the bedroom he shared with Aurelius. Both boys had their own huge rooms, but they mostly preferred to sleep in the same room.

Gryffindor followed with Aurelius, and he did not attempt to engage in the bedtime ritual Tom had established with the boys, he just stood there, watching, a thoughtful look on his face.

Tom tried his best to ignore him while he tucked his brothers in, promising them to build a snowman the following day, returning their hugs and finally, he turned off the light, "goodnight, boys", he stood back, still ignoring Gryffindor, "I'll see you tomorrow."

He walked over to the door, ready to leave, but as expected, Gryffindor did not let him.

"We need to talk, Thomas."

Tom felt his heart starting to beat faster, hating himself for his weakness.

"There's nothing to talk about, Sir", he answered, putting as much disdain as he could into the last word while he opened the door and walked out into the hallway.

"Another spanking, then?", Gryffindor's voice was calm, but there was an edge to it, something dangerous, something he did not want to explore.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

He did not even pretend to sound the slightest bit respectful, he was still mad at himself, furious even, and how dare Gryffindor to threaten him with a spanking? He had done absolutely nothing wrong.

"Follow me, Thomas. We are not going to have this discussion in the hallway."

He followed him, of course he did, and his stomach clenched in fear when he realized that Gryffindor led him to his office, the same office where he had gotten punished more times he could remember.

"Sit down."

He sat, staring on the ground, forcefully biting his lips to prevent himself from speaking first.

For a moment, there was a silence- and then Gryffindor started talking.

"You did a great job with the boys tonight", he began, his voice still calm, "especially with Sirius."

Tom did not respond, he did not want to think about what it meant that Gryffindor praised him for punishing Sirius- he did not like punishing the boy, but he knew he had to, he knew…because…because…

Tom took a deep breath, "is that all? Can I go now? I am pretty tired, I…"

"It's not easy to discipline little boys", Gryffindor interrupted him, and now his voice was soft, "and you clearly don't want to talk about it because it makes you think about what I said to you the other day, right? The reason why I adopted you."

"You did not adopt me, you kidnapped me", Tom hissed, "and you hurt me, you hurt me all the time, you…you caned me for nothing, I was just..."

"I disciplined you for your disrespect, Thomas, and because you refused to listen to me, just like you are refusing to listen to me now."

He blinked back tears, "does that mean you are gonna whack me again?", he choked out, it was meant to be sarcastic, but now that he said it, it sounded…afraid.

"No, I won't. I won't do that ever again to you, Thomas."

Tom snorted, "then what? You found something that hurts even more?"

Gryffindor sighed, "Tommy…it is not about the pain, why don't you see that? When you punished Sirius earlier, you made him sit in the cold water for almost twenty minutes, because he did not want to come out by himself when you told him to, right?"

"I was upset", Tom answered, not liking where this was going, "he…it was time to come out and he…he just laughed at my face, and…I just wanted him to…obey me."

"You could have dragged him out", Gryffindor replied, "you are stronger than him, and Aurelius probably would have helped you as well."

Tom kept staring at the ground, "I…I wanted him to understand though", he finally said, "if you need to know, I wanted him to learn something, that's why I let him sit there."

There was another silence.

"And you don't think I want you to learn something, too when I punish you?", Gryffindor eventually asked, his voice low, "making you earn your furniture, eating those apples, making you work in the kitchen…"

"And making me bend over every night for a spanking", Tom finished, hatred in his voice, "how does that fit in your concept of learning, Sir? All it did is to make me afraid of you, to fear you, to…to hate you, especially after you caned me, that…that hurt, it hurt so damn much…", he stopped, choking on his tears, "I could not even write or hold my toothbrush for two days without hurting."

"I know…", Gryffindor sounded different now, and Tom carefully lifted his head, "after that dinner, after what you said about Dumbledore, and what he said to you…", he groaned, "I was mad, I was mostly mad at myself, for not seeing all the signs, for not pressing you more into telling me what he had done to you. I felt like I failed you as a father, and then you basically told me you don't see me as your father anyways…and I…just lost it. You were disrespectful, and I don't regret punishing you for it, but I should never have caned you."

Tom sat there, stunned.

"You…were mad at yourself?", he repeated slowly, "because of…what Dumbledore did to me?"

"I should have protected you", Gryffindor answered quietly, "and I didn't. I will never forgive myself for that."

"But you didn't know", Tom blurted out before he could think about it, "you did not even know…it's…I don't…blame you for that, just…"

"You blame me for the caning, I know."

Tom could only nod, "I…did not understand", he said hoarsely, "I thought you were mad at me…and…after everything…calling me your good boy…and…the bath…and the…goodnight time…I thought…I thought you loved me, or…liked me at least."

"I do love you", Gryffindor replied, looking him straight in the eyes, "I love you more than you can imagine, Tom."

Tom. Not Thomas, not Tommy…just…Tom.

He sobbed, unable to control himself much longer, "but…you…ignored me these last days, you did not even want to talk to me or spend time with me and…"

"I…I was afraid", Gryffindor admitted, "I wanted to talk to you, but…I was afraid how you would react, I was afraid that you…were done with me."

"You were afraid of me?", he couldn't help it, he laughed, "that's…unexpected."

Gryffindor smiled, "besides, I had to take care of something first", he took some papers out of his desk drawer and handed them to Tom.

He took them, frowning, and when he looked at them, he realized they were pictures. Pictures of…

"Dumbledore?"

"Or that's what's left of him", Gryffindor replied, unmoved, "he committed suicide, apparently."

"Apparently?", Tom stared at him, aghast, "and he ripped his own eyes out before? You…you killed him."

"I had to."

"You did that for me", Tom's voice had gotten quiet again, "is that supposed to be…an apology?"

"The closest you will get to one", Gryffindor smiled at him, and now he looked amused, "do you accept it?"

"Did he suffer?"

"After I cut his tongue out, it went fairly quick."

Tom winced, "I…I accept", he finally said, "but…just for the record, I still hate the spankings."

"Come here", Gryffindor opened his arms and Tom walked over to him and let the Founder pull him into a hug, "about the spankings…"

Tom looked at him, "you won't spank me anymore?", he hated how hopeful he sounded, but Gryffindor just laughed, "no, but I have some advice for you- if you don't want to get spanked- behave. Just be a good boy and I won't need to punish you."

Tom snuggled closer, "you don't like punishing me", he mumbled.

"I hate punishing you", Gryffindor confessed, "just as much as you hated leaving your brother in that cold bath, hmm?"

Tom blushed, "yeah, I guess…"

Gryffindor slowly started to rake through his hair, "he will disobey you again, Tommy…and sometimes he will disobey you just to see if you care enough to discipline him for what he did wrong."

"I…I never did that."

Gryffindor laughed, "oh, you did…the little incident in the shed- you wanted to see how far you could push me, what you could get away with."

"Nothing, apparently", Tom responded sarcastically, but despite that, he let Gryffindor pull him even closer, "silly boy", he smiled, "you knew that when you first met me, didn't you."

Tom closed his eyes, he remembered the orphanage, their first meeting, and how Gryffindor had disciplined him in Ms. Higgins office…and how humiliated he had felt, and then how good it had felt when Gryffindor had hugged him after…

"Sir?"

"Hmm?"

"You…won't punish Sirius for…earlier, right?"

The Founder looked at him, "you really care about him, don't you?"

"He…he's my brother", Tom did not want to meet his eyes, he looked at the ground, "and…he already got punished, so it would be unfair to punish him again."

Gryffindor raised an eyebrow, "that does not answer my question, Tom."

"What…do you mean?"

"I think you know exactly what I mean."

Tom bit his lips, "he…he reminds me of myself", he finally admitted grudgingly, "and…I want him to have a better…childhood than I had. I…I want him to be happy."

"And I want you to be happy- that's all I ever wanted, Tommy."

This time, he did look up, and when he looked at Gryffindor, he was smiling, "I know you did not believe me when I told you that at the lake, but I hope you believe me now."

Tom swallowed, the tears came back, he could feel it, and when he started talking, his voice was thick with emotion, "I…I do. I believe you now."

"What can Kreacher do for the young Master?"

Harry almost jumped out of his skin, "gosh, you scared me, Kreacher! Have you been here by yourself all this time?"

The old house elf grimaced, "where else would Kreacher be?", he sneered and started slowly limping through the darkening kitchen, "it is Kreacher's duty to protect the Black's estate, even though their bastard son…"

"That's my godfather you are talking about!", Harry hissed, his eyes sparkling with anger, "I see that you have not changed much, you are still a miserable, rude, un…"

"I think that's enough, Harry", Snape's voice interrupted him from somewhere near the door, and seconds later, the Potion Master appeared next to him, frowning, "this house is in a quite concerning state- the pipes look like they are about to burst, there is no light, no wood for the fireplace…how do you manage to live here?"

Kreacher stiffened, "Kreacher manages just fine", he shot back, a frown on his ugly face, "no one bothers Kreacher, Kreacher can do how Kreacher pleases."

"And what exactly do you do all day? You don't seem to take care of the Black's estate much, lazy creature!", Harry responded, trembling with fury, he was still upset about the insult of Sirius, and now he had to find out that Grimmauld's Place was falling apart, the only place that, besides Spinner's End now, had ever felt like a home to him…

"Harry, you need to calm down", Snape said, sounding exasperated, "you yelling at Kreacher is not going to solve anything."

"Master Snape is right", Kreacher replied in a smug tone, "Kreacher has done nothing wrong, it is not Kreacher's fault that Dumbledore left the estate in such a condition, Kreacher spent most days cleaning and scrubbing and tak…"

"Dumbledore was here?", Harry interrupted him, "when? What did he do here?"

Kreacher, annoyed at being interrupted, shrugged, "Kreacher does not know", he answered in a bored voice, "Dumbledore came- and then left."

Harry was ready to strangle the elf by now, and Snape, sensing his anger, intervened, "Dumbledore was probably hiding here- and since he is gone now, there is no need to worry. It is more important that we return this house into a livable state- which means, I want you to start cleaning immediately. Harry will help you, while I take a look at the pipes."

"Yes, Master Snape", Kreacher responded, still in a bored voice, Harry on the other hand, was fuming, "I am not going to help him, it is not my job to…"

"Harry", now his voice held a warning, "the work will be done faster if you help- there is nothing else to do here anyways for now."

Harry knew that Snape was right, but he was suddenly too obstinate to give in, "I am not helping", he repeated loudly, "this is all Kreacher's fault, I am not doing the work of a lowlife elf!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Snape's face darkened.

Harry instinctively stepped back, suddenly wishing he had not called Kreacher lowlife…but now it was too late.

"Come over here, Harry", Snape demanded, and even though he his voice was quiet, Harry immediately obeyed, his heart beating faster at every step.

"We are going to have a little talk upstairs- you can go ahead and start cleaning the kitchen, Kreacher", Snape advised the elf and grabbed Harry by his shoulder, "let's go."

Harry made no attempt to disobey, he had an idea what their talk would implement and he did not want to make things more difficult than they already were.

Snape led him to a small bedroom upstairs and sat on the bed, and Harry started to panic when he realized what Snape wanted to do, "no…no Dad, no please…"

"You know what happens when you are disrespectful, Harry", Snape answered, unmoved, "come here, don't make me get up and get you."

Harry stood frozen, unable to move, "please…I am sorry, I…I did not mean it, it was all Kreacher's fault, he needs to be punished, he was…"

"Kreacher's behavior is not my concern- yours is", Snape replied curtly, "and my patience is honestly running low here, Harry. Three more seconds, or the pants will come down."

Harry stared at him, "that's…that is not fair!"

"One."

"You…you can't! You can't do this!"

"Two."

And just like that, Harry lost it, "NO! No, this is unfair, and I won't let you do this! I…I won't!", and then, he turned around and stormed out of the room.

"Tom?"

"Yeah?"

Aurelius came closer, "have you seen Sirius? I have been looking for him for almost half an hour now", he seemed stressed, "we wanted to go ice skating, and he left to get his skates and then did not show up."

Tom frowned, "that's weird…I thought he loved ice skating…do you think he is still searching for his skates?"

"I already checked everywhere", Aurelius responded, "and I can't find him or his skates."

"I'll look- I am sure he is searching some closet for his skates; you know how disorganized he sometimes is. Why don't you go to the lake and meet us there? You only have about an hour before it gets dark anyways."

Aurelius nodded, "okay. See you soon", he turned around and left, and Tom started his search for his younger brother.

About ten minutes later, while walking down the second floor in the south wing of the Manor, he suddenly stopped after hearing a strange noise from one of the rooms.

Tom stilled, a deep frown on his face. He knew that most of the rooms in the south wing were storage rooms and were barely used. What in the world would Sirius do here?

He carefully walked towards the room where the noise seemed to come from, and opened it.

Ohmygod.

Sirius spun around, "what…what are you doing here?", his voice was high, almost shrill, and his eyes were sparkling with panic.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?", Tom stepped inside the small room and closed the door behind him, "is this what I think it is?", he pointed at the piles around the boy, "have you lost your mind?"

Sirius started to sweat, "I…I was just…looking, and then…I just wanted to check something…"

"Do not lie to me, Sirius", Tom's voice became low, "what. are. you. doing. here?"

The younger boy dropped his gaze, "I…I told you…I was looking, it was a coincidence…"

"Come here."

Sirius began to sob, "no, wait, I…I tell you, please, please!"

Tom ignored his pleading, he took one step forward, grabbed Sirius and yanked him around to deliver two hard swats to his backside, "now, do you need me to pull your pants down or will you tell me the truth, Sirius?"

Sirius howled, "fine, fine! I was snooping, I told Aurelius I lost my skates so I have an excuse to look for my Christmas presents! I just wanted to see what I got! I was just curious, and it's my presents anyways, so who cares!"

He howled again when Tom smacked him once more, and struggled, but Tom held him close, "these are not your presents though- they all have Aurelius' name on them. Care to explain that, little brother?", his voice had gotten dark and Sirius trembled with fear, "I…I did not see the tags at first, that was just a…a…"

"A coincidence?", now his voice was dripping with sarcasm, "pants down, Sirius."

"Noooo! No!", Sirius started to kick, and struggled as hard as he could, but could not do much against Tom's tight grip, "I really hate doing this, you know that? Why are you lying to me, Sirius?"

"Let me go! Let me go, you asshole, let go!", Sirius was screaming now, red in his face, and his screams turned into wails when Tom calmly pulled his pants down and started spanking the younger boy on his bare backside, "wrong answer. We are going to do this until you are ready to tell me the truth, however long that is going to be."

Sirius' backside quickly turned pink, then red, but the boy did not stop kicking or shouting, not until Tom delivered one hard swat right on his lower back which made him yelp in pain.

"St…stop! Stop, no more! Stop!"

Tom immediately stopped, "ready to tell me the truth then, little boy?"

Sirius sobbed, tears were streaming down his face and he did not dare to look at Tom, "you…you won't understand."

"I think I already do", Tom replied calmly, "this has something to do with your jealousy again, am I right?"

"Y…yes", Sirius' voice was small, "I…I my presents are…back there…I found them…and…I counted them…and…it's six presents and then I found…Aurelius' and…he…gets nine, nine presents! I wanted to see why…he gets more…and then I…was mad and wanted him to only have six, too, so…so…", he buried his face in his hands.

"So you decided to make sure to destroy three of his presents?"

"Ye…yes", Sirius was crying now, "but…please…I am sorry, I…you have to help me, Dad is going to completely freak out and Aurelius will be so upset and I just…I need to…help me, please!"

Tom sighed, "we need to fix these three presents first- and then put them back where they were. Aurelius is waiting by the lake for you, he was looking for you this whole time, being worried- do you know what you have done here, Sirius? Aurelius loves you."

"I know…and I messed everything up…he will never forgive me", Sirius whispered, a pained expression on his face that was clearly not from his burning backside.

"He will. Trust me, little brother", Tom took out his wand, and after a quick spell, the presents were not only wrapped up neatly again, but also hidden in the closet, "now, let's go and meet Aurelius- where are your skates?"

"In…your bedroom, I hid them under your desk", Sirius mumbled, sounding embarrassed, "you...really won't tell on me?"

Tom hesitated. He knew he had to- but then, he also knew that Gryffindor would not just smack Sirius a couple of times, but really spank him- and again, he saw himself in Sirius' scared looking eyes…

"I promise. Come on now."

They hastily left the south wing, not running into anyone thankfully, at least, not until they came closer to Tom's bedroom.

"Master Thomas, Master Aurelius is looking for you, he…"

"Thanks, Tiny, I know, we are about to go to him", Tom forced himself to smile, "we…were just looking for Sirius' skates. He…had lost them."

Tiny looked at them, "Tiny does not see Master Sirius' skates", he answered timidly, "Tiny can help find them?"

"No, thanks, I…I just remembered, they are in Tom's room. Thanks", Sirius blurted out, "come on, Tom."

They disappeared into Tom's room, leaving Tiny alone in the hallway, who seemed deep in thought. Something about the story about the lost skates did not add up…

Tiny did not want to get in trouble again for helping one of the young Masters, the stern talk he has had with Gryffindor after he had helped Tom was still on his mind.

So, Tiny decided to investigate.

He would find out what was going on- and then, he would tell Master Gryffindor.

yep...Tiny might be the one to rat Tom out once more :D and next chapter will definitely have spanking in it, so be warned lol

I would love some feedback!

xoxo antonie :)