"I'm not eight years old anymore!" Draco struggled against his uncle's grip, but it was no use. Sirius had a death hold on his arm. "Ow! Honestly! Uncle, I have been mauled!"
Sirius' eyes were flashing angrily. "You know better, young man. I've bloody taught you better. And your arm is just fine. You think I didn't check in on you? Don't you dare lie to me."
Sirius was usually calm, even when he was in trouble, so Draco stopped struggling as Sirius pushed him into his chambers. The man's anger scared him. "Fine," he said coldly, "I shouldn't have taunted the thing, but Potter and his friends-"
"I don't CARE what they were doing, Draco!" Sirius' voice boomed through the room. He released the boy and pointed to the couch. "Sit."
Draco wasn't brave enough to refuse. He perched in the middle of the sofa and looked up at his uncle.
Sirius knew he needed to calm down. Draco was hiding it well enough, but Sirius saw the hint of fear in the way he sat. "Sit here," he said. "I think we could both use a few minutes to collect our thoughts." He left Draco in favor of the loo. He splashed water on his face and took several deep breaths.
Draco had never seen his uncle so angry. Sirius all but manhandled him. He was scared of whatever punishment Sirius planned to dole out, but his feelings also hurt. He blinked back tears as he waited for his uncle to return.
"Alright." Sirius slid next to him on the couch and wrapped an arm across Draco's shoulders. "You scared me, Draco. You could have been seriously injured today and you were very lucky Hagrid knew how to stop that animal."
"He brought him into the class!" Draco protested.
"He also told you not to bother it," Sirius reminded him. "You are not a small child anymore, as you so aptly pointed out, so why did you act like it today? Just to get back at Harry? Really?"
Draco knew his uncle always got angrier when Harry was involved. He didn't want them bickering and, mostly, they were okay with each other, but when their friends got involved...
"I know it was stupid," Draco said finally. "I am sorry, Uncle. I'll apologize to Hagrid too."
"You bet you will," Sirius said firmly.
"Alright, I'll go do that then..."
"Don't even try it," Sirius cut in. "You know very well why I brought you here."
Draco didn't say anything, but gave a slight nod.
"Let's get it done then." Sirius looked at Draco expectantly.
Draco hesitated, but seeing Sirius' stern gaze changed his mind about arguing. He swallowed hard, pushed down his pants, and laid across his uncle's lap. It wasn't an unfamiliar position although it had been at least six months since Sirius punished him this way.
For the next few minutes, Sirius spanked Draco harder than he ever had before. He was tired of Draco's attitude. He was tired of Draco's jealousy. And he was EXTREMELY tired of Draco putting himself in harm's way because of said attitude and jealousy.
He paused. "I KNOW you are a good boy, Draco. I KNOW you have a good heart in there. But I will NOT put up with these airs, do you understand me? I don't care what your father says. I don't care about this bloody rivalry with Harry. You are going to start behaving like the boy I raised and you are going to STOP putting yourself in harm's way."
"Yes, yes! I am SORRY, Uncle!" Draco was doing his best to hold back his sobs, but Sirius had NEVER smacked him so hard in his life.
Sirius felt Draco's silent tears and heard the desperation in his voice. He really hoped he never had to punish him so severely again. He sighed, summoned a ruler, and, without warning, landed a few token swats with the wooden tool. At that, Draco gasped, but he still didn't cry out although Sirius felt the tears coming harder. "Alright," he said. His tone was resigned. He had never been so disappointed in this child before. He eased Draco's pants up and pushed him so he was sitting next to him again.
Draco saw the disappointment in Sirius' face. He guessed that was the end of the man's unconditional love spiel. He looked down. "I am sorry, Uncle Sirius." At that, he finally broke. "Please, I am so sorry, I'll be better, I promise." It all came out in a jumble of sobs.
Sirius' eyes filled with tears too. He had been hard on him, but he feared the boy's path more and more as he grew older. But it would do the child no good if he thought his uncle gave up on him. "I know." The block of anger in his stomach was gone. He reached out and drew Draco close to him. Guilt wrenched his heart when he felt Draco shuddering inside his arms. "It is okay, kid. You just scared the living hell out of me, you know. I love you. I don't want anything bad to happen you. Not ever." He ran one hand through Draco's hair while using the other to rub the boy's back. Relief washed over him when he felt Draco calming down.
The boy turned watery eyes up to his uncle, but made no move to leave the comforting embrace. "I don't care if I disappoint my father," he choked out. "I don't want you to look at me that way ever again."
Sirius wiped at the wet spots on Draco's cheeks with one thumb. "Hey, now. If your father has half a brain, he'll know what a brilliant son he has on his hands." Of course, Lucius didn't have a half a brain, but Sirius held that back. "And remember? No matter how angry I may get, I will always believe in you, Draco Malfoy."
Draco sniffled and buried his face into Sirius' shoulder. He wrapped his arms around the man's neck and refused to let go.
Sirius' heart was breaking. He wasn't at all sure he did the right thing now. He bit back his own emotions. What was done was done. He leaned back and gently maneuvered Draco so the boy was resting on his side. Draco pulled his legs up, making it quite clear they were going to be there for a while. "I love you too." He hadn't said it in a long time. "I wish you were my dad." The last words were spoken extremely softly.
Sirius' breath caught. "You know, I said that to James Potter's dad not long after I met him. His mum too. That family was more..." He tried to think of a way to phrase it so Draco didn't think he meant him too. "They were more parents to me than mine. Sometimes titles are just that, Draco. Titles."
Draco fell silent for a few minutes. But then...
"Then Harry is more your nephew," he said. "His father is like your brother and we're only technically cousins and..."
"Draco." Sirius peeled him back so they could look at each other. "Did you just hear what I said? Hm? YES, I consider the Potters my family. YES, I consider Harry my nephew. But I've told you before, haven't I? You are the closest thing to a son that I have." That didn't come out right. Damn it. "No," he amended, "You ARE a son to me in every way that matters."
Draco bit his lip. Sirius seemed sincere and he supposed it made sense he was harder on him than Harry for that reason, but, still, it wasn't bloody fair. Still...he'd take that over nothing. "Good," he replied, "If you are going to wallop me like that, you should take some responsibility."
Sirius laughed. Draco was back to his cheeky ways, was he? "I hope I never have to wallop you like that again," he said sincerely.
Draco straightened up and smoothed his shirt and hair. "Oh, yeah, your hand must really hurt. I feel for you." He grinned at his uncle.
Sirius lightly cuffed him in the back of his head. "Oy, go clean up. You have some apologizing to do."