A/N: I was watching Prisoner of Azkaban and had a lightbulb moment when Lupin was scolding Harry for using the Marauder's Map after dark. If ever there was a scene ripe for a slippering it's this one. The first half of this one-shot features dialogue from the film.

Harry wandered down the dark corridor with his lit wand aimed at the Marauder's Map. The name had caught him completely off guard and he'd read it a few times before it sank in: Peter Pettigrew. There he was, scuttling back and forth in the corridor right by the History of Magic classroom. Harry couldn't believe what he'd seen. Pettigrew was supposed to be dead. But if he was dead, then how was he on the map? George and Fred had been using the map for years. "Flawless," they said it was. Either Pettigrew was alive or the map was wrong. Suffering a bout of insomnia, Harry had gotten out of bed straight away and headed immediately for the corridor. He slowed his steps as he passed the Charms classroom and stepped carefully, silently along the long, dark hall.

There.

Pettigrew was still wandering around somewhere in the dim in front of him. Harry watched the map as the footsteps got closer. He looked up, expecting to see the man materialize out of the blackness any moment now. Nothing. He looked back at the map, only to see Pettigrew's name scurry past him and around the corner behind him. Huh? Did he have an invisibility cloak? There was no way he could—

Harry's gaze landed on another name heading towards him.

Severus Snape.

Shit. Harry muttered a quick "mischief managed," followed by, "nox!" and everything was dark for about two seconds before the place lit up again and he was staring into Snape's black eyes. The man's wand was pointed right at him.

"Potter. What are you doing wandering the corridors at night?"

He said the first stupid, sarcastic thing that popped into his head. "I'm sleep walking."

Snape narrowed his eyes at him. He didn't believe that for a second. "How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter. He too was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle."

"My dad didn't strut, and nor do I. Now if you don't mind I would appreciate it if you would lower your wand."

Snape did, marginally. His lumosed wand highlighted the straight edge and sharp corner of the map Harry had jammed in his sweatshirt. Snape, unfortunately, noticed too.

"Turn out your pockets." Snape said.

Harry froze.

"Turn out your pockets."

Harry slowly pulled the map out.

"What's this?"

"Spare bit of parchment." Harry said, trying to sound nonchalant. Snape wasn't buying it.

"Really. Open it."

Harry did and Snape pressed the tip of his wand to the surface. "Reveal your secrets."

Down the at the other end of the corridor, Remus Lupin heard Snape's deep voice. He was talking to someone. Lupin saw the bright light of lumos and wondered which unfortunate student had the displeasure of being caught out by Severus on this fine evening. As Lupin came closer he heard Snape demand,

"Reveal your secrets."

Lupin listened, hearing the faint rustle of paper and then Snape demand: "read it!"

Harry started speaking. Harry! Harry was out of bed at this time of night? Whatever for?

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs offer their compliments to Professor Snape and…" he paused, reading ahead. Snape would kill him if he said this.

"Go on." Snape prompted.

Harry glanced at him and kept reading. Fine, he was just the messenger.

"And request that he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

In the darkness behind Severus, Lupin bit back a laugh. Merlin it had been decades since he'd seen that old map! He couldn't believe it was still knocking around. Where had Harry gotten it?

Severus didn't see the humor.

"Why you insolent, little—"

"Professor!" Lupin finally made his presence known. Snape whirled around and cast his wand on Lupin, who gave him a cheerful smile in return.

"Well, well. Lupin." Snape all but growled. "Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?"

Lupin ignored him. "Harry, are you alright?"

Harry nodded and Snape ripped the parchment from Harry's hand. "That remains to be seen." Snape grumbled. "I have just now confiscated a rather curious artifact from Mr. Potter. Take a look, Lupin. That's supposed to be your area of expertise. Clearly, it's full of dark magic."

Harry bit his lip, watching his favorite and least favorite professors handling the map. He half expected Snape to incinerate the thing after it had insulted him. There was no way they'd figure out what it really was. Right? If Lupin did find dark magic on this map though, Harry would be in huge trouble. He should have asked Fred and George more questions.

Lupin rolled his eyes at Snape's estimation that the map was a dark object. Hardly. He bit back his fondness at holding the old Map again. He opened the flap. God, they had some good times with this map. He made up some tosh for Snape about it being a Zonko product but of course he knew the truth. Holding this in his hands was like running into an old friend.

He promised Snape he'd examine the map and then beckoned to Harry. "Harry, would you come with me, please?"

He led Harry back to his office. Harry didn't know whether to thank Lupin for rescuing him from Snape or beg off the no-doubt incoming detention for being out of bed after curfew.

"Er, I don't think that has dark magic, sir." Harry said as they walked.

"We shall see." Lupin said.

They got to the Defense classroom without further incident.

"Now I haven't the faintest idea, Harry, how this map came to be in your possession. But quite frankly I am astounded that you didn't hand it in. Did it ever occur to you that this, in the hands of Sirius Black, is a map you?"

Harry clenched his teeth. "No, sir."

"Your father never set much store by the rules either but he and your mother gave their lives to save yours. Gambling their sacrifice by wandering around the castle, unprotected with a killer on the loose, seems to me a pretty poor way to repay them!"

Harry was staring at his chest, clearly contrite. Lupin knew that Harry certainly hadn't thought of his actions in that light. Still, Lupin let that castigation sit for a moment with the ashamed boy. He ran his finger over a crease in the thick paper thoughtfully. "You can report back here tomorrow after dinner for your punishment."

Harry looked up. "Sir?"

"I'm afraid you've earned the slipper, Harry."

Harry's jaw dropped open. He stepped back and licked his lips. Everyone knew about Lupin. Corporal punishment wasn't outlawed at Hogwarts and every year there were at least a few teachers who, on occasion, gave a kid's backside what for. Lupin was the only teacher to employ corporal punishment in regular classroom use. Whereas other teachers punished the penitents in private, Lupin preferred using class time to discipline the unfortunate right there in front of everyone. The public display was effective. Lupin had warned them their very first day that he ran his classroom on the foundations of order, discipline, and honesty. Anyone who mucked around, mouthed off, or forgot their homework more than once was invited to the front of the room to receive whacks. In Lupin's second week it had been poor Seamus who got it first. The rest of the horrified students fell into line after witnessing their soft-spoken professor take a ruler to Seamus' backside and Harry had never once seen anyone talking out of turn in his classes. That his classes were loads of fun and an interesting challenge softened his image a bit, however. Lupin was pretty funny and Harry had never had as much fun or learned as much in any class at Hogwarts as he did in Lupin's classes. He knew his friends agreed.

While Lupin punished kids in class, he apparently also had no problem doling out discipline outside of class time. "For this? Sir, can't I-"

"Do not argue with me, Harry. You've earned the slipper and the slipper is what you shall receive. Directly after dinner tomorrow. Come straight here. If you don't? I shall know." He pointed at the map.

Harry paused, then let out a small sigh and headed for the door. Before he left, he said, "Professor, just so you know, I don't think that map always works. Earlier on it showed someone in the castle, someone I know to be dead."

"Really? Who might that be?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

Lupin froze. An icy hand seemed to grip his vocal cords and he said, "that's not possible" in a harsh voice.

"It's just what I saw." Harry walked out the door. "Good night, Professor."

"The slipper?" Ron said the next morning. They had hung back in the boy's dorms before breakfast, Harry having feigned losing his tie so he could tell Ron his fate in private.

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"That's rough, mate."

"Angelina said he gave her the slipper for forgetting her homework again. She said it hurt like hell."

"Yeah, thanks for that."

A nervous sort of thrill of dread tickled his guts. He'd never been spanked before. His uncle had slapped his head and boxed his ears and his aunt had given his bum the occasional single swat but he'd never been formally, actually, smacked before. He was nervous all day. He didn't have Defense class today and he wasn't sure if it would be better or worse to not see Lupin before their Meeting. He tried and failed to not to think about his soon-to-be-sore behind all morning when Fred dropped to the bench beside him and George sat across from him at lunch, converging on him like some two-part creature. He shifted and glanced up at both of them.

"Hey, guys." He said.

"Spill it." George said.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with us, Harry."

"We know the signs of an imminent punishment,"

"it is us after all."

"By our estimation,"

"you're going to get something more than a detention."

"Wha-like what?" Harry stammered.

"All the signs are there if you know what to look for."

"Fidgeting."

"Squirming."

"Lack of appetite."

"Keep looking at the teacher's table."

Harry flushed. Had he been so transparent?

"Now, who's the lucky Professor?"

Harry gaped at them. "How did you know? Did Ron tell you?"

Fred put his hand on his heart in mock outrage. "You told ickle Ronnie and not us?"

George dropped his voice lower. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe we've experienced just about every punishment this fine institution offers?"

"Pranks come with a price, you know." Fred said sagely.

"Detention."

"Suspension."

"Extra homework."

"The paddle."

"The slipper."

"The ruler."

"Which is it, Harry?"

Harry glanced between them again. He'd never get used to their give-and-take way of talking.

"Er, the slipper."

They both hummed in sympathy.

"How," Fred said, "pray tell, did a fine upstanding young man like yourself earn the dreaded slipper?"

"You're not gonna like it." Harry said.

"The map?" They both said sadly.

"Yeah."

"Ah, Harry."

"Bugger."

"We'll get it back."

" 'Course we will. It could be worse."

"How?" Harry asked.

"You won't get it again from mum once the school's finished with you." George shivered. Fred nodded, eyes wide.

"Good luck." George said, rising.

"See us after." Fred said to him. "We'll give you something to take the bite out of your bum." The twins walked off and Harry turned back to his lunch, strangely feeling a bit better about all this.

The day moved by simultaneously slow and fast. Each class seemed to drag by but the last course of the day came all too soon. Harry nervously sat in Gryffindor tower trying to keep calm and focus on getting some homework done before dinner. He knew he wouldn't want to do anything after his encounter with Lupin.

At dinner he looked at his empty plate and tried not to feel sick.

"Slipper's not the worst." Fred told him, spooning a clump of mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Be glad it's not the cane." George said.

Harry looked at them with wide eyes. He hadn't even considered that.

"Harry, it won't be so bad." Hermione said. "You should really eat something. Look, they have shepherd's pie. You love shepherd's pie."

Harry accepted a small piece of the pie and took a few bites. It was delicious but he couldn't properly enjoy it. He glanced at the teacher's table, at Lupin. He was talking to McGonagall and didn't look like he had a care in the world.

"It could be worse. Lupin's one of the good ones." Ron told him. "Think about it—it could be Snape!"

Harry nodded. "You're right. Shit, you're right." He finished his chunk of pie.

The plates started vanishing and students left the hall in droves. Harry hung back, lingering as long as he could before the dinner period officially ended and his plate disappeared. Harry took a deep breath and got to his feet.

"It'll be fine, Harry." Hermione said.

Ron nodded. "We'll be waiting for you in the common room. I'll get the chess board ready."

"Yeah. Thanks, guys." Harry licked his lips and willed his feet to take him to Lupin's classroom.

He knocked on door and entered when it swung open on its own. Lupin was at the front of the room at his desk, grading papers.

"Ah, Harry."

The door swung shut behind him with an ominous thud. Harry glanced back at it and turned to face Lupin.

"Come in, come in." Lupin waved him forward, his tone friendly. Harry came cautiously up to the desk and glanced about the sparse surface, looking for tonight's implement of torture. Only quills, parchments, ink, a leatherbound tome wrapped with string, and a steaming cup of tea.

Lupin put his quill in the inkpot and clasped his hands on the desktop.

"Do you remember why you're going to get slippered tonight?"

Harry felt queasy. "Yes, sir. Because I didn't turn in the map."

"That map is very dangerous, Harry."

"On its own it's not." Harry said. "It's just a map." Harry didn't want Lupin to think he was an idiot. Lupin was his favorite teacher and Harry absolutely hated that he'd earned the slipper from the man.

"With Sirius Black on the loose, any map into the castle is dangerous!" Lupin countered sternly.

"Yes, sir." Harry said with a sigh. "I didn't think of it that way."

Lupin stared at him as he pulled open a lower desk drawer. He extracted a long, shiny-soled slipper. "Then I hope this slippering will help you remember to keep your own safety foremost in your mind."

Harry bit the inside of his cheek at the sight of the thing. Flexible and wide, Harry had no doubt it packed a fierce sting.

"Hands on the desk." Lupin gestured with the slipper to the middle desk in the front row. Harry turned and put his hands on the scored wooden surface. The position made his backside stick right out.

"As you're in your third year," Lupin said behind him, "you'll receive thirteen strokes."

Harry clenched his teeth and wriggled his toes. Thirteen, blimey. He nodded and hung his head. Moments later, a faint whoosh and then thwack!

Harry jerked forward. The sound of the thing hitting his trouser-covered bottom echoed in the classroom like a shot from a gun. A few seconds, then another thwack!

Harry bit his lip. Three more firm thwacks cracked across his backside and he went up on his toes. Merlin that stung! The next smack made him hiss out a quiet, "ow." He hated this. Disappointing Professor Lupin made him feel horrible. He liked Lupin! Lupin had known his parents and he loved the long walks he and Lupin would take around the lake. Harry hated that he had upset him to the point that he'd earned the slipper.

Thwack!

Getting his bum smacked hurt, sure, but getting smacked by this man who he respected was painful in an entirely different way. It was really starting to burn now and Harry hung his head, hissing softly on the next strokes. A sharp one landed across the lower part of his bum and Harry grunted. His eyes filled with tears and he blinked them away. He was not going to cry! He was thirteen years old! He'd defeated a basilisk last year and he hadn't cried then. He didn't cry after fighting that troll either.

That was different though and he knew it. Fighting the basilisk and troll hadn't resulted in a slippering from a disappointed Lupin. There was no amount of punishment he could take that would make it worth making this man think less of him.

The final thwack! rang out and Harry squirmed. His bum burned like fire. He shifted on his feet and closed his eyes, waiting for Lupin to give him permission to stand. He heard the drawer in the desk slide shut as the slipper was put away. To Harry's surprise, Lupin leaned down beside him and spoke quietly.

"I know that hurt, Harry. I know you probably don't like me very much now. But know this: I care about you. I want you to not only survive but thrive. Your parents loved you very much and they would want the same. Please be more careful in the future or you know what will happen." He added that last bit in a stern voice and Harry nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak. His voice was locked up tight in his throat. Lupin's words had as much impact as that bloody slipper.

"Alright then." He patted Harry's back and straightened up. "Torture's over. Go on up to your dorm."

Harry's mouth went up in a grin and he pushed himself off the desk and blinked the wetness out of his eyes. "I am sorry, sir."

"I know. You were forgiven long ago. Are you still up for our afternoon walk tomorrow?" Lupin asked.

"Yes!" Harry nodded., his face breaking into a bright grin.

Lupin patted his shoulder. "Then I shall meet you at the castle doors after lunch."

Harry smiled, genuine, and bid his professor a good night.

End.

A/N: Let me know if anyone has any interest in reading more of these.