As Harry's eyes flickered open, he saw Sirius asleep on the chair by his bed. That was when it all came back to him. The flying, the hooded creature, his godfather's angry visage hovering over him and then the darkness. Why oh why had he decided to go flying! Sirius had given him one rule and he just had to go ahead and break it didn't he? Now Sirius was definitely going to beat him. He deserved it didn't he? Why did he always ruin everything? As these thoughts filled his mind, a sniffle escaped from his throat.

Sirius, who hadn't been sleeping all that soundly, awoke instantly. He saw his godson looking down at the covers as he silently cried. There was nothing more Sirius wanted to do than pull the boy into his lap and soothe him as though nothing had happened. But this wasn't the time to go soft. He had to be tough now.

He cleared his throat to let Harry know that he was awake. Green eyes snapped up to look at him fearfully. "How are you feeling Harry?" Asked Sirius, genuine concern in his voice. "M-m f-fine." Stuttered Harry. Sirius hated seeing the fear in Harry's eyes and hated it even more because he knew that it was there because of him. "Why are you afraid Harry?" He asked gently. "Y-you hate me n-now. You gave me a rule a-and I b-broke it. I'm s-sorry Sirius. I really am. P-please don't hurt me. I-I know that you h-hate me know but p-please don't h-hit me."

Damn those muggles. Harry still thought that he was going to be beaten. He got up from his bed and wrapped an arm around the shaking shoulders, feeling the tense posture for the first time in two weeks. "I want you to understand something very clearly. I. Will. Never. Hit. You." Sirius said, his words firm but voice incredibly gentle.

Harry was silent for almost a whole minute but then he nodded. When Sirius saw that the fear was gone, he knew that it was time to get the hard part. "Harry," he began, his voice stern, as well as his expression. Harry looked up at his godfather, bracing himself.

"What you did today was extremely dangerous. Did I or did I not give you explicit instructions to not go outside the house?"

Harry looked down and his expression became contrite. "You did." He whispered, not able to look at Sirius. "And what did you do Harry James?" Came the stern question. "I went f-flying even when I wasn't supposed to." Replied Harry, as he played with the blanket, feeling very stupid indeed. "That's right. You disobeyed me. You could have been seriously injured today all thanks to your utter stupidity and foolishness." Sirius saw his godson's lip wobble and he felt terrible and guilty for making the child cry but then he remembered the way Harry had been hurtling down from his broom and the guilt evaporated. He took a deep breath and said what he had to. "I'm disappointed in you Harry."

That particular sentence hurt more than all of his uncle's beatings combined. It would have probably hurt lesser if Sirius would have slapped him instead. "I'm sorry Sirius." He whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Why did you go against the instructions given to you?" Harry didn't know how to answer that question. He had been feeling bored so he had decided to take a quick spin on his broom, not considering what would happen if things went wrong. "I wasn't thinking." He said. "That is obvious. Do you have any idea how worried I was when I saw you hurtling down from your broom?" Asked Sirius. "I'm sorry." He whispered once more, this time he met his godfather's eyes. He saw the worry in them and immediately felt guilty. The last thing he had wanted to do was anger, disappoint or hurt Sirius but he had managed to do all three of them on the same day.

"Your broom is going to remain on the ground until I say otherwise and I also want three feet on why it is wrong to disobey when something is told to you. Are we clear?" Sirius asked sternly, as he doled out Harry's very first punishment. "Yes sir." Said Harry, looking very upset with himself. He knew he deserved it and he also knew that he was getting off lightly. An essay and suspension of broom privileges could hardly be considered severe.

Sirius saw the forlorn look on Harry's face and knew that the point had been driven into his godson's brain and so there was no need to press the matter any more as of now. "Let's go have dinner now pup. We'll talk more about this afterwards." He said, giving Harry a reassuring smile and a pat on his hip to prove that he wasn't angry anymore. Harry also managed a small smile. The gentle tone and the nickname assured him that Sirius wasn't angry now.

The two of them ate their dinner after which there was still an hour left for Harry's bedtime. "Pup, we need to talk about certain rules you'll have to follow so that we both are aware of the rules and what happens if you break them." Said Sirius. Harry nodded, nervous about the conversation that would take place between them now.

"First of all, no lying. I expect complete honesty from you when I ask you a question. Can we work with that?" Sirius asked Harry. That was going to be a bit hard for the boy but he didn't want to lie to his godfather so he nodded.

"Next up, I want you in bed by ten o'clock every night. Is that understood?" Now that was something Harry didn't agree with. "But it's the summer vacation and I want to stay up late. Pleeease Sirius and besides, I'm almost twelve." He protested. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his godson's protests and smirked. "Twelve? I think two years old would be a better age to describe your current behaviour. Ten o'clock and that's final young man." Harry knew that Sirius wasn't going to budge so he was pretty sure that he would have to go to bed by ten. "Ok." he said, knowing that there was no other way.

"Also, no swearing. If I catch you swearing, you may expect a scourgify spell coming your way. Same punishment goes for lying." Harry's eyes widened at this. "Ok." Was all he could manage as half his mind was still thinking of that disgusting taste of soap in his mouth. He made a mental note to never swear or lie.

"And above all, I will not have you endangering yourself no matter what the circumstances may be. I will not tolerate any dangerous tasks henceforth. The boy-who-lived is nothing but a moniker that has been given to you for publicity. You are only a child Harry. I care too much about you to let you go around risking your life with such carelessness. Do we understand each other?"

The chiding tone in his godfather's voice made Harry feel extremely ashamed of himself. He had never had an adult who care for him before Sirius so all this was really new to him. But nonetheless, upsetting Sirius was not something he wanted to repeat ever again. "Yes sir." He said.

"As for punishments, they'll be doled out according to the offence but I want you to know that I'll never use physical force as a punishment." Sirius said and Harry nodded, looking genuinely relieved.

"Lastly, how did you do in your exams?" Harry looked surprised by this unexpected question. "Um.. I did-"

"Why don't you just show me your report card?" Sirius interrupted and so Harry went upstairs to get the required document.

As he took the report card down to his godfather, he wondered whether the nervousness was normal. He only hoped that his marks met Sirius's expectations. He did not want to disappoint his godfather...again.

"Here you go." Said Harry, Giving Sirius his card. As Sirius' eyes skimmed the parchment, Harry couldn't help but fidget. Sirius wasn't saying anything. He only concentrated on the parchment but the silence was driving Harry crazy.

"I see you've done quite well in defence and charms but I feel you can do much better in the remaining subjects. What went wrong in those subjects pup?" He asked as he patted the spot next to him, inviting Harry to sit down. Harry obeyed the wordless gesture.

At Harry's lack of response, Sirius continued. "I want better results henceforth and you shall work harder. But, at the same time I want you to have fun and enjoy yourself. Can we work with that?" Harry nodded at this. Sirius tapped his cheek and said: "A verbal answer please."

"Yes." Sirius smiled at Harry and pulled him into an embrace which was immediately returned. "I don't expect you to be perfect Harry. I want you to be yourself, enjoy yourself and be happy and that's that." Harry realised that these were precisely the words that he had always wanted to hear from someone who loved him. "Thank you Sirius."

The two of them simply sat there in a comfortable silence when the clock struck ten. "Well, I think it's time for this pup here to go to bed." Said Sirius giving Harry's side a slight poke. "5 more minutes, pleeease?" Asked Harry with a hopeful look.

Sirius pretended to think and then with a mischievous grin he picked Harry up, over his shoulders and carried him upstairs.

"Goodnight puppy mine. Sleep tight and the first thing you do tomorrow is start off with that essay. Alright?" Harry nodded, cheeks reddening at the reminder of his silliness. "Goodnight Sirius" he snuggled further underneath the covers and closed his eyes.

"Night pup.I love you." Said Sirius once more, swiftly kissing his godson's forehead.

After Harry was asleep he heard the floo roar to life. He frowned at this because he didn't remember inviting anyone at this time of the night. He took out his wand and went to see who the intruder was.