Chapter 9
Draco resisted the urge to smirk when Lucius visibly gulped at the sight of him. Good. At least the boy has some sense of self-preservation. If he hadn't been so irritated with the child, he would have laughed at the way his charge had adorned himself in Slytherin attire. Alas, though, his irritation won out.
His gaze lifted over the boy's head, to the red-head standing just behind the child.
"Weasley." He said in acknowledgement.
"Actually, it's Potter now." The woman replied.
"Hm." Draco hummed in response. He had known that, but her flaming red hair would always make her a Weasley in his book. Catching sight of the toddler next to her – who was currently in the process of dismantling a display of quidditch strategy posters - he almost scowled at how very much the child looked like Potter – well, absent the glasses and that ghastly scar, that is.
"This is James." The witch said, having followed his gaze.
James. Potter must have named the child after his father. And speaking of fathers . . .
Ignoring the woman's words, he redirected his attention to his child-father in front of him.
Lucius, who had been following the terse interaction with keen interest, noticed the shift back to himself immediately. With his guardian's stern eyes trained on him, he did the only thing he could think of – he tried to deescalate the situation. Maybe he could make Draco forget how cross he was.
"Look," he said, closing the book in his hands and holding it up for his guardian to see. "It's you!"
His attempt at redirection, though, fell flat. "So it is." The elder Malfoy said, his tone icy to match his stern expression. "Unfortunately, a pressing matter has arisen that requires our immediate attention, so we do not have time to waste looking through picture books. We will be returning to the Manor right away."
With that, Draco reached forward and unwrapped the green scarf from around the boy's neck – his movements surprisingly gentle despite how irritated he was. Next, he took the book from his charge's hand and placed the folded scarf on top of it before silently handing both of them to Ginny Potter.
"Malfoy, I don't work here." The red-head said as she accepted the items, but the wizard had already clamped a hand down on Lucius' shoulder and started leading him back down the rows of shelves – away from the woman and her toddler.
The boy allowed himself to be ushered down the aisle, his mind still preoccupied with his guardian's previous statement. "What sort of matter do we have at home?" He asked as they rounded the corner of the shelving unit.
"The sort where I give you a smacking for deliberately disobeying me." Draco said, his curt remarks just loud enough for his charge to hear.
Lucius stopped dead in his tracks. "What?! No!" He protested loudly, drawing the attention of several customers near the front of the store. He started to squirm, struggling to evade the man's grasp.
"Lucius." The boy knew it was a warning, but he didn't want to hear it. He did not want a smacking!
"Let me go!" He shouted, knocking over a full display of quaffles with his struggling and causing the balls to roll all over the floor. Several customers dodged out of the way of the cascading spheres.
Draco did let go, but only for a moment. A second later Lucius felt a hard smack on his backside and then he was pulled tightly against the man, his guardian's stern voice in his ear.
"Stop this at once." The firm command was laced with irritation, and Lucius stilled at the tone, a chill running down his spine. He looked up to see several children from around the broom display watching them. One of the shopkeepers was already trying to pick up the quaffles, tutting as he did so.
His guardian, however, seemed oblivious to their audience - though his voice was quiet enough that no one else in the front part of the store could hear him.
"You can absolutely expect a thorough smacking when we get back to the Manor for your behavior today." The man paused, allowing his charge to fully take in his statement. "However, if you continue to misbehave and cause a scene, I promise you that I will give you a smacking where we stand, and that will be in addition to the punishment already awaiting you at home."
Lucius felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he processed his guardian's words, even though he knew that no one could have possibly overheard.
"Draco, no." The boy whined softly, turning his head to the side a bit toward where his guardian's voice had been. He didn't dare do anything more, though. He could only imagine how embarrassing it would be to receive a full smacking in the middle of a shop.
The man didn't respond to the child's whine and instead just led his charge out of the store. It was to be expected, after all. Few people went willingly to the gallows, even if those gallows were only a smarting backside.
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The two Malfoys emerged in the drawing room fireplace a quarter of an hour later. The moment they crossed the threshold, Draco grasped hold of his ward's wrist and led him straight into the nearest corner.
"Fifteen minutes. And then you and I will be having a discussion about your behavior."
Lucius, whose had started silently crying as soon as they left the shop, let out a small sob at being ushered into the small space. Fifteen minutes was a long time! And it wasn't really fair.
The longer he stood in the corner, the more Lucius dwelled on those feelings of unfairness. Nothing had happened! He had been fine. And Draco had been being mean. Suddenly feeling indignant, he crossed his arms over his chest with a huff and began kicking at the baseboard.
"Lucius." There was that warning tone again.
"S'not fair" The boy muttered.
From his place on the sofa in the center of the room, Draco's eyes narrowed at the child's words. He glanced at the clock. His charge still technically had nine minutes left in the corner, but Lucius did seem calmer now, which was really the whole point of placing him there in the first place. He sighed, not sure whether he was making the right decision. "Turn around."
The boy complied with the command, and Draco was somewhat taken aback by the glare suddenly pointed in his direction from that corner of the room.
"What's not fair, Lucius?" He asked, trying hard to keep the irritation out of his voice.
"You were being mean!" The boy asserted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Draco raised his eyebrows at the statement. "In what way was I 'being mean,' as you put it?"
"You – you didn't want me to do anything fun! You just wanted me to sit there. And when I finally did something fun, you came and ruined it and dragged me away."
The elder Malfoy opened his mouth to say something, but the boy continued.
"And then you gave me a smack in the middle of the shop. You're not even sorry!" He emphasized the small tirade with a stamp of his foot.
Draco clenched his jaw. Of course, Lucius would be more concerned about the smack and about missing out on fun opportunities. He was six, after all, and clearly had not grasped the seriousness of his actions. Well, that would have to be amended.
He crooked his finger at the child. "Come here."
He wasn't surprised when Lucius hesitated. The child was clearly expecting the smacking he had been promised.
"I believe I do owe you an apology." Draco tried again. "Come here please."
The boy's eyebrows rose at his guardian's statement. He moved forward, albeit at a glacial pace. When he was finally in reach, Draco grasped his arm gently and pulled the child to stand in front of him.
"I am sorry that I had to give you a smack in the shop, but I'm not sorry for doing so."
When the boy's forehead creased in confusion, he explained further. "I don't like punishing you Lucius, but I won't apologize for doing so when it is needed."
Lucius scowled, clearly unhappy with the proffered statement of regret. "That's not a real apology."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Let me provide you with a real one, then." He said, taking the boy's chin in his hand and lifting his head so that they were eye to eye. "Not once since arriving at the Manor have I properly put you over my knee," His words caused the boy to try to take a small step back, which proved impossible with his chin firmly held in Draco's grip. "And after seeing your behavior today, I believe that has been a mistake on my part. I apologize, then, for being too lax in enforcing the rules, and I promise you that it will not happen again."
The child's lip began to tremble slightly. "You're not …"
"Too lax?" His guardian finished for him. "Oh, but I am. If you believe that you can do whatever you want without consequence, then I would argue that I have been very lax in my responsibilities."
"I don't believe that I can just do whatever I want." Lucius said.
"Oh no?" Draco released the boy's chin and sat back on the sofa. "Perhaps you could explain your behavior today, then?"
When the boy didn't respond, he narrowed his eyes.
"Tell me one thing you did wrong today."
Lucius shuffled his feet. "I was naughty in the shop." He said, but quickly added: "But you already smacked me for that."
"You threw a tantrum." Draco corrected, "and yes, I did. But you were already in trouble at that point. Tell me why."
Another shoe shuffle. "Dis'beyed," came the muttered reply after a moment.
The man rubbed the bridge of his nose. This conversation was starting to feel like pulling teeth. "Tell me how you disobeyed me."
"You told me to stay in the shop and I didn't. But you weren't being fair!"
Draco ignored the complaint about fairness. "When we first began this arrangement, I gave you three rules that I expect you to follow. Can you tell me what those are?"
The boy looked past him to the wall or perhaps paintings behind him, and he could tell that the child was clearly thinking back to that early morning conversation held several weeks ago.
"Don't touch wands." The boy said and Draco nodded. Clearly that rule had stuck out to the child due to the promised consequences.
"Good breeding." Came the next response. The man gave another nod. He then saw the boy's eyes widen upon remembering the final rule.
"No wandering." The younger Malfoy said finally, albeit reluctantly. "But I was fine! I was with Miss Ginny."
Draco almost rolled his eyes at the familiar title the child had given the former Weasley, but there were too important of matters at stake to become sidetracked.
"Yes, but what if you had not run into Mrs. Potter? What if you had run into someone like Mr. Collins instead – someone who may have wanted to hurt you? What would you have done if that had occurred and I was not there to protect you?"
The elder Malfoy watched as the boy bit his lip – absorbing that idea – and then decided to bring this discussion to a close
"You've accused me of being unfair and mean, Lucius, but I don't make the rules to be mean to you. I make them to keep you safe, and straying from my side does not allow me to do that. I cannot allow you to get away with disobeying me or wandering away – or even worse, being defiant and purposefully running away." He gave the boy a look. "You were quite naughty today."
The boy took a step back at the look, his lip trembling. "I'm sorry."
"Hm. I'm afraid 'I'm sorry' is not going to be enough." Draco eyed the boy as he sat up a little straighter. "I promised you a smacking and I intend to deliver one. Shall we get this over with?" He reached out and grasped the boy's wrist. He started pulling him to his side.
"No!" The boy protested, struggling for the second time that day against his guardian's hold. "I didn't know that there might be mean people, that it might not be safe! I didn't know!"
Draco's expression turned stern. "But you did know the rules, and you knew better than to deliberately disobey me, correct?" He raised an eyebrow, practically daring the boy to object.
"Yes, but – Draco!" The child began to protest, but he cut off in a whine as his guardian once more gently pulled him, this time succeeding in moving the boy to his side.
The elder Malfoy didn't respond, and instead just tipped the boy over his knee. He was beyond ready for this whole ordeal to be over with.
Lucius, however, was not ready to give in so easily. "Let me up!" He yelled as he began struggling, trying to worm his way off his guardian's lap. He was rewarded for his efforts by the man's arm wrapping tightly around his waist before a sharp smack landed on his upturned backside. "Ow!" He protested, though the first smack hadn't really hurt that much.
That first smack, though, was followed by a second, and then a third, and on and on until Lucius lost count due to his intense focus on the growing burning in his backside. "Stop!" He demanded after a sharp smack to his undercurve brought tears to his eyes, but that demand just earned him a harder swat still.
After a few more smacks, his guardian paused but kept his arm firmly around the younger Malfoy's waist. The boy hoped it was over, but that hope was dashed when the man spoke.
"Lucius, if you ever run away from me like that again, not only will I smack you where I find you, but I'll also bring you home and repeat this lesson on your bare backside, is that clear?"
The boy wiped at his eyes. "Yes, sir."
Draco nodded, not that the child could see. "Right. Let's finish this then." He said before unleashing a flurry of increasingly hard smacks, being sure to cover the boy's entire backside and thighs. This was not a lesson he wanted to repeat anytime soon.
By the time he was finished, Lucius was a sobbing mess. He helped the child to stand and was somewhat relieved when the boy practically fell into him seeking comfort. He pulled his charge into his lap and reclined back on the sofa, holding tightly to the child and offering soft reassurances in the boy's ear.
After a few minutes, when the boy's sobs had diminished into quiet hiccups, he delicately pried Lucius' hands from around his neck and guided the boy backwards so that they could look at each other face to face. Silently summoning a warm washcloth, he wiped the tears from the child's cheeks and nose.
"Are you still cross?" Lucius asked, regarding him with uncertainty.
Draco shook his head. "No, love. You've been punished, and you're forgiven."
"Alright." The boy said, nodding. And Draco knew that in the child's mind, the world had been set right again.
Just then, an eagle owl swooped into the room and dropped a parcel on the sofa next to them. Draco reached over and retrieved the attached letter, opting to open it first.
"It's for you." He said to the boy, "From one Ginny Weasley Potter."
Lucius smiled and ripped open the package. As expected, inside lay the Slytherin scarf and the quidditch book that the man had dismissed earlier that day. Draco wasn't sure how he felt about the gift. He knew he ought to be irritated, but he couldn't quite manage to make that feeling manifest after seeing the joy on the child's face.
The elder Malfoy picked up the book. "I suppose you'll want to hear the story of this match, then?" He said, indicating the picture on the cover.
Scarf already wrapped around his neck, Lucius nodded eagerly and settled in next to his guardian on the sofa, the pain in his backside already receding and becoming a distant memory.
Draco smirked. "It was November of my second year . . ."
