Harry's heart was beating very fast. Part of him was glad that he wasn't the first to be smacked, but the other—and much bigger—part felt absolutely terrible. He truly felt that he should be the only one getting smacked. It had been his idea to follow Draco Malfoy. True, neither of the others had really tried to stop him or even argue with him, but it was still his fault they were all in trouble now. It was always his fault.
Harry heard Mrs. Weasley tell Hermione to drop her pants, and he gulped. He was about to turn around and come to Hermione's rescue (surely Hermione didn't need to pull down her pants in order for Mrs. Weasley to make an impression on her?) when he heard Mrs. Weasley's declaration that they, the boys, would not look if they valued their bottoms. Upon hearing that, Harry decided he'd better stay put, for both his and Hermione's sake.
He jumped when he heard the first smack and then winced as he heard another seconds later, followed by Hermione's cry. Mrs. Weasley began to hit Hermione in a steady rhythm. Harry heard the sharp smack of the slipper on Hermione's poor bum, followed almost immediately by her cry of pain. It was almost too much for Harry to take; he soon found himself crying quietly.
"Please be over soon, please be over soon, please," Harry repeated over and over. It began to be almost a sort of chant. He heard Hermione crying and apologizing, and prayed that Mrs. Weasley would stop already. But no matter how much Hermione cried or how many times Harry chanted his wish for it to be over, the slipper continued to fall.
"OW! Ouch! Please Mrs. Weasley, not so—OW! OW!—so—AH!—h-hard—Ouch! Ouch! Ow!" Hermione cried, and Harry's heart ached for her. He hated hearing her cry, and now Mrs. Weasley was hitting her too hard. Harry found himself becoming angry with Mrs. Weasley. She was taking it too far.
Harry was half turned away from the wall when he heard Mrs. Weasley say it was almost over. He heard the hurt in her voice, like it was painful for her to cause Hermione any discomfort. But that was what she had planned, didn't she, in spanking them? To hurt them?
"Please, Mrs. Weasley, please—OW!—stop! I-I've learned my—Ow!—lesson! Ouch! I-I'm sooooooorry!" Hermione yelped.
Again Harry felt his anger rising as Mrs. Weasley landed two more swats after that. How could Mrs. Weasley still spank Hermione after she had begged Mrs. Weasley to stop? But then a moment later he heard Mrs. Weasley speak. "Shhh, it's all over now, Hermione," she said in a gentle voice. Harry could have sworn he heard a change in Hermione's crying. Before it had been cries of pain, but now, it almost sounded as if they were tears of relief.
It all didn't make much sense to Harry, who had never been smacked before. His aunt and uncle never gave him so much as a warning spank. If they hit him, they preferred to do it upside his head, before dragging him to his cupboard—or as the case was now, his bedroom—and throwing him inside. They would then leave him there for days, refusing to feed him until they felt he had learned his lesson.
Harry continued to ponder it all when he suddenly heard Mrs. Weasley tell Hermione to change places with him.
Harry's mouth went dry and his heart felt like it was about to pound out of his chest. It's just a spanking! Calm down, you've been through much worse! he scolded himself. It was true; Harry had been through so much worse than a little spanking. He had had his arm broken in second year, and then had to go through the painful process of re-growing his bones after the idiot Lockhart had removed them all. He had to battle dementors and dragons. And how many times had he fought Voldemort now? Yet here he was, The Boy Who Lived, trembling from head to toe because he was about to be spanked.
Hermione tapped his shoulder, and Harry couldn't help but jump. She gave him a sheepish smile and grabbed his hand for a moment, squeezing gently. Harry squeezed back. He was grateful for her support, even if he couldn't tell her.
"Harry," Mrs. Weasley called. Harry met her eyes and nodded once. With one more squeeze to Hermione's hand, Harry let go and made his way to Mrs. Weasley's side.
Mrs. Weasley noticed that Harry looked absolutely frightened. Not wanting to scare him, she leaned forward and took his hand, pulling him closer. Harry tensed.
"Harry dear, have you ever been spanked before?" Mrs. Weasley said just loud enough for Harry to hear. The boy shook his head. "I promise it won't be nearly as bad as you're imaging. Pants down."
Harry fumbled with his jeans, but managed to get them undone. He then slowly lowered them to his knees, waiting for the next step.
Without a word, Mrs. Weasley took Harry's hand and gently pulled him over her lap. Just as she had with Hermione, she made sure Harry was as comfortable as he could be, given the circumstances. She then pulled down his boxers and began the spanking.
Harry was more than a little surprised when Mrs. Weasley pulled down his boxers. He felt extremely vulnerable, not to mention embarrassed. But once the first swat of the slipper came, all thoughts left him.
Mrs. Weasley had already given Harry twelve smacks with the slipper, and aside from the occasional grunt, he was completely silent. She knew that because of everything Harry had been through, he would try to be stoic. He guarded his feelings and seldom let himself cry. For Harry, this had to be as much a therapeutic spanking as it was a disciplinary one. Harry needed to have a good cry; he really had not let himself deal with his pain of losing Sirius. And maybe that was why he was taking risks now. He needed to know he was loved and cared for, and that he had someone who would hold him responsible for his actions.
Wrapping her free arm around Harry's waist and pulling him close, she redoubled her efforts and began spanking much harder than she normally would have. She noticed that after only six hard swats, Harry had begun crying out.
"It's ok to cry, Harry. It's better, actually. No need to keep all those emotions inside," Mrs. Weasley said and she brought the slipper down twice more in the same spot.
"OUCH!" Harry yelped, tears spilling over. From the moment the first swat landed, Harry had decided he was going to stay as quiet as possible. He knew he deserved this spanking. He wasn't going to fight it; he was just going to take what was coming to him. He felt sorry for himself, but felt even worse for putting his friends through this as well. But Mrs. Weasley had started spanking so much harder, and Harry couldn't help but cry out. He lost it completely when she told him it was ok to cry. He didn't normally let himself cry. He needed to be strong—he was the Chosen One. He needed to destroy Voldemort, so he had to be hard. He couldn't be crying. But it was all becoming too much for him, and it felt good to let his tears fall.
"Ow! Ow! Ouch!" Harry yelped. Another smack and he was bawling.
Mrs. Weasley had decreased her strength several spanks ago; she had gotten Harry to start releasing his feelings. There was no reason to continue hitting so hard. He was learning his lesson just fine.
Eight more smacks and Harry's punishment was over. Mrs. Weasley sighed deeply. This was draining her. She did not want to spank her son and his friends, and the old saying was true: this was hurting her much more than it did them.
It took Harry much longer to calm down than it had Hermione, but Mrs. Weasley didn't mind. She would rub his back for as long as it took Harry to compose himself.
Harry didn't care that he was crying like a baby over the lap of his best mate's mother, or even that he was doing so while his two best friends stood in two corners of the room and had heard everything. For the first time in his life (that he could remember), Harry had experienced a mother's love.
Harry didn't know how long he had stayed over Mrs. Weasley's lap, but he finally stood and pulled his jeans back up. Mrs. Weasley then pulled him into a hug. "I love you, Harry dear," she whispered in his ear.
"All right Ronald, your turn," Mrs. Weasley said a moment later.
Ron had stood quietly in his corner through both of his friends' spankings. He hated every minute that Hermione was getting it. But then, there was this strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He imagined himself rubbing the sting out of her bum for her. Or maybe…Ron quickly shook his head, trying to dislodge that particular thought.
Harry's spanking had been harder to hear. At first, Harry didn't make any sounds, and then, he started bawling. But Ron supposed that was because Harry just felt worse about the whole thing. His mate did have the tendency to hold things in until it was too much for him. Then he would blow up. Ron remembered all too well how Harry would constantly try to chew his and Hermione's heads off last year after being kept in the dark the previous summer.
Harry patted his friend on the shoulder as he took Ron's place in the corner. Ron nodded and made his way to his mother. Without even being asked, Ron took his pants down and then quickly bent over his mother's lap.
Mrs. Weasley said nothing as her youngest son got in the all-too-familiar position. She simply bared his bottom and lifted the slipper.
Ron groaned at the first smack. The next five came down quickly.
"Ow! Ouch! Mum I'm—Ah! Ow!—sorry—Ouch!" he yelped, gritting his teeth. It was no use really; he knew he would soon be crying like a baby over his mother's lap.
By the twelfth smack, Ron was crying steadily. "I expect more from you, Ronald! You will tow the line, young man, or so help me, I'll make this spanking seem like a love pat!"
"No—Ow! Ouch!—Mum, I-I—OW!—will! I'll be—Ow! Ow! Ow!—good!" Ron sobbed, his bottom feeling very punished.
Mrs. Weasley turned her attention to her son's sit-spots, which made Ron howl. "No—OW!—noooo, Mum, not—OW! OW! OWW!—not there—Ow! Ow!—Please!" he bawled.
Mrs. Weasley landed the last eight on the fullest part of Ron's bum, but made sure to hit some places twice in a row for a more lasting impression.
Ron cried the loudest when his mother hit the same spot more than once. But he was glad she had spanked him fairly quickly. He guessed that she was worn out from having to spank three kids in a row, and she had wanted to just get him over with as fast as possible. At least it was all over now. His mother would love him up and he would be forgiven.
After having comforted Ron, Mrs. Weasley called the other two kids out of the corner. When all three children were in front of her, staring at her with puffy red eyes, Mrs. Weasley gave them one last talking to, telling them again how wrong they were and promising another spanking if they did it again. The three stumbled over each other in their assertions that they'd be good and would never do anything of the sort again.
Mrs. Weasley smiled and hugged them all once more before saying, "You three must be tired after all that's happened. Why don't you all go lie down for a bit, and I'll call you when dinner's ready?"
The three friends didn't need to be told twice. They were all tired from their crying, and their bums really did hurt. It would be nice to lie down for a while (on their stomachs, of course) and relax before dinner.
"Oh, one more thing!" Mrs. Weasley called, and the three friends turned back to look at her. "If there's the tiniest bit of trouble from any of you in this last week before school starts, you will be back over my knee for another round with my slipper!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all nodded vigorously and simultaneously reached back to rub the sting out of their very sore bottoms. None of them wanted to find themselves staring at the carpet again any time soon…or ever again!