Harry Potter Junior Level

Chapter 28

Unexpected

The evening after the boys played in the snow with Sirius, Draco waits to see if his Uncle keeps his promise. So far, nothing has been said about Draco having a wand with him today or his use of magic either. The two boys are playing with the Trouble game Harry brought. Draco has been on his best behavior tonight hoping Sirius will not tell his Dad about the wand. Every now and then, he has been stealing looks at his Uncle waiting for Sirius to tell of his misbehavior. In his experience with Lucius, men didn't keep promises, especially to children. Catching his nephew's glance again, Sirius winks at him.

"You know, Sev? There's something you should know about Dragon here." he announces causing Draco to stiffen and stare at him wide eyed.

Noticing Draco's reaction to the words, Severus narrows his eyes at the child before asking "What would that be Sirius? Has Draco been trouble today?"

"He's absolutely fantastic on the snowboards! I knew he had talent on skis, I've seen him, but you should see him snowboard. He's a natural at it! It looks as if he could be a competitor someday. He's that good. Some other boys were jealous of his talent and tried to cause Harry and Draco trouble. I took care of that and I don't believe they'll cause trouble again. Padfoot came to visit and those boys were... how should I say this?... how about... not impressed with him." Sirius answers sharing a grin with Draco and Harry.

"You should have seen it, Uncle Sev! Those kids screamed and ran for the lodge. I think one even wet himself on the way." Harry says giggling at the thought.

"Harry, that's not something to laugh about." Severus scolds mildly.

"They were really scared, Dad. They were calling Padfoot a 'monster dog'. It was funny if you were there."

"I'll take your word for it, boys. Now, I just hope we don't find ourselves being asked to leave because we have a 'monster dog' with us. I still have meetings with the suppliers for Potions tomorrow."

"How are you and the men talking about potions, Dad? I thought we couldn't let anyone here know we are wizards." Draco asks.

"We are discussing it as if we are muggle doctors conducting research. The ones who might overhear wouldn't hear anything unusual as one of the men has a translating spell on the area where we meet. All words overheard that are not terms muggles know, are translated into something familiar when they hear it."

"That must be a new spell. I don't know that one." Sirius replies, grinning at Severus. "Alright boys, time for baths. Whose turn to go first tonight?"

"AWWW, come on Dad. We haven't finished our game. It's only nine o'clock too." Harry complains.

"We have a winner! Mr. Harry James Potter-Black, you just won an all expenses paid trip to ... your bath! It comes complete with warm clean towels and comfy pajamas and slippers! Aren't you excited, young Mr. Black?" Sirius exclaims sounding just like a game show host, as Draco rolls over on his back suffering from a giggling fit.

"Off you go, Harry. We'll have hot chocolate as dessert after both of you are ready for bed." Severus tells him as Harry glares at his Dad.

"Fine, but it was Draco's turn to go first tonight! Just for your information." Harry huffs, sounding sarcastic.

"Watch your tone, Harry. I'm counting down, be in the bathroom by one. TWELVE ,...ELEVEN, ... TEN, ..." Harry is up and running for his room to get his pajamas by the count of ten, knowing if Dad gets to one he gets his bum smacked. Snatching up his pajamas, robe and slippers from the room, Harry rushes for the bathroom. He reaches the door by the time his Dad is on the count of five.

"I really hate it when he does that to me. It makes me feel like a sodding toddler!" Harry huffs to himself as he runs water for his bath. Now that he's actually in the warm water, he finds himself enjoying it. Feeling the stiffness of his muscles relaxing, taking a second to wash his face, he leans back against the tub with a sigh.

Suddenly jerked awake by a pounding on the door, Harry calls "What!"

"Harry, time to hop out now. It's Draco's turn for the bathroom." Sirius calls through the door.

Extremely irritated at being forced to take a bath first and now feeling he's being denied his warm water, Harry loses his temper.

"First you bloody well order me in here like a sodding toddler and now you are bloody telling me to hop out 'cause Draco needs to come in? Bloody Hell, Dad!"

The last is said right straight to Sirius' face as he opened the door and came in at the word 'sodding'.

"Out of there young man! Dry off, dress and meet me in the front room. You have five minutes and then I'm coming back. Believe me, you do not want me to come back in here." Sirius orders before leaving the room.

Climbing out and wrapping the towel around himself, Harry reaches for his underwear and slides them on. About to pull on his pajama pants he stops at a knock on the door.

"Harry, it's me. Please let me in. I'm dying here." Draco calls through the door.

Rolling his eyes at his cousin's drama, Harry opens the door and is nearly knocked down by Draco's rush for the toilet.

"Draco! You could at least let me get dressed and leave before you go!"

"Sorry, I couldn't wait any longer. Merlin Harry, you've been in here over an hour." Draco says as he's washing his hands. "I heard what you said to your Dad and I think you better go put on another one or maybe two pairs of pants before you go meet him." Draco whispers as Harry buttons his pajama top.

"Can't, my time is up and I have to be there before he comes looking for me. If I don't survive, you can have all my toys and my broom too." Harry whispers back pulling his robe closed and leaving the room. Walking very slowly he goes into the front room.

"Come here, Harry James." Sirius commands from the chair he's sitting in.

Moving slowly, Harry obeys, eyes pleading to Severus for help as he does so. Not getting any response at all from his Uncle, he stops beside his Dad's chair.

"What you said in there is completely forbidden, young man. You know how I feel about children using those words. Isn't that so?"

"Yes sir, but the older boys at school use them. I've heard them say those words many times."

"Yes, I know they do but they don't say them to adults or around adults. They are also at least five years older than you are. When you are fifteen we will discuss the use of those words again. For now they are completely forbidden. Understand?"

"Yes sir. I'm sorry Dad. I fell asleep and you woke me up and I wasn't really knowing what I said." Harry answers hoping he isn't about to be turned over Sirius' lap.

"Your punishment is going to be five minutes in the corner with this bar of soap in your mouth. You have one minute for each word. I counted three bloodys, one sodding and one hell. That's five. Open please." Sirius instructs holding the bar of soap in front of Harry's mouth.

"Dad, nooo. UMMMPFFFHH. " Harry says as the soap is inserted into his mouth. Tears are already sliding down his cheeks as Sirius walks him to the corner.

"Five minutes and think about how to clean up your language while you are standing here. If you don't, we can easily repeat this no matter where we are."

Four minutes later, after much whimpering, standing with his mouth burning, tears and saliva running down, Harry wipes his hand over his chin. Then wiping the tears, he feels the soap burning his eyes now. Not being able to speak or turn around, he begins to bounce up and down mumbling over and over "MMMFFFDDDDPPFF!"

Looking at the clock, Sirius sees one minute left but he can't take the sounds coming from his son one more second. "Harry, come to me." he calls to the boy.

Jerkily, Harry walks to his Dad standing by the kitchen sink. Reaching out, Sirius takes the soap and hands Harry a glass of water. "Rinse your mouth until you can talk."

"Dad, my eyes. I rubbed and they're burning." Harry whimpers as he takes another big gulp of water.

Removing Harry's glasses, Sirius takes a wet cloth and wipes his son's eyes and face.

Finished rinsing his mouth, Harry sets the glass on the counter and whispers "I'm sorry again, Dad. My eyes are okay now."

"Thank you for the apology, Harry. I hope this reminds you not to use such language again. It's time for bed so go on. When Draco is finished, I'll come tell you both good night then."

"Yes sir." Harry says as his shoulders slump. Remembering the promise of hot chocolate but knowing better than to ask, he turns towards his room.

"The other part of your punishment is to give up the treat tonight, son." Sirius tells him having seen the look crossing Harry's face as he turned to go to his room.

After Draco joins him in the bedroom, Severus comes to tell them good night. "Sleep well boys, I'll see you in the morning. We are having breakfast here tomorrow. We have the croissants and I found a few other things to have with them."

"Night Dad." Draco answers sleepily.

"Good night, Uncle Sev." Harry answers quietly.

Taking his turn, Sirius comes in. Tucking the blankets up around Draco he says "Sleep well, Dragon. You have more snowboarding to do tomorrow."

"G'night Uncle Siri. Than's fr not tellin'." Draco slurs as he fights sleep.

"Good night, Pup. We'll start fresh in the morning." Straightening the covers and making sure Harry was tucked in, he turns to leave. "You are forgiven son." Sirius whispers as Harry apologizes again.

Hearing muffled sobs coming from Harry's bed, Draco whispers "What's the matter? Why are you crying now? Did he wallop you that hard?"

Rolling over to face his cousin, Harry whispers sniffling, "He didn't spank me. He made me stand in the corner with a bar of soap in my mouth for five whole minutes! It tastes awful and I can't get the sting out of my mouth or eyes. It got in my eyes too."

"Oh! I thought he really paddled your bum! Well, your eyes must really be hurting then to cry like that."

"It stings but that's not why I'm upset. He didn't tell me he loved me. He always says "Good night Pup. I love you. Sleep well." He didn't say it tonight. I messed up so bad he doesn't love me anymore." Harry whispers breaking down in sobs again.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Draco huffs, getting out of bed and leaving the room.

A few minutes later, Harry feels someone stroking his hair and the bed give as a person sits on it. "Pup? Draco tells me you are upset. Stop crying now and listen to me, Pup. Roll over so I can see you listen."

Obeying, Harry looks through tear filled eyes.

"Draco told me what is upsetting you. Yes, you did mess up as you call it. You were punished for it and as I said you are forgiven. Nothing you could ever say or do will make me stop loving you, Pup. I am sorry you felt I did. I didn't mean to leave that out of my good night wishes. Now, will you forgive me?"

Nodding, Harry reaches out for a hug.

"Thank you for forgiving me. Now, Good Night Pup, I love you. Sleep well." Sirius says returning the hug and laying the boy back down. "Go to sleep now, Pup. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night again, Draco. Sleep well and I love you too." Sirius whispers to the boy standing outside the room as he sends him in to go to bed.

Going back in to the front room, he sits back down with a sigh causing Severus to ask "Is Harry all right, Sirius? Was he upset with being punished tonight? In my opinion, you went easy on him. He deserved a spanking too. He's lucky he didn't talk to me that way because I would have bared his bum and turned it pink!"

"No, he wasn't upset by my punishment. We have a nightly routine when I put him to bed. Tonight I was trying to spare him from being embarrassed with Draco listening. I left out "I love you." and he took it to mean I didn't love him anymore after his bad behavior. He's extremely sensitive and a bit young for his age sometimes too. I know you have seen this also."

"I have occasionally, yes. I believe it's from the trauma of seeing his parents killed. He reverts back to his younger self when stressed. Draco reacts more with anger than by becoming younger. Now, it's time to tell me exactly what Draco was up to today. You've protected him long enough. Out with it."

"Only if you promise me you will not punish him for it, ever. I dealt with the problem and it is over. Do you promise?" Sirius asks.

"Sirius! He's my son and I decide whether or not to discipline him."

"Yes, that's true. In this case, I already have disciplined him and he doesn't need more. Now are you going to promise or do I keep quiet?"

"Very well, I promise not to discipline him. What happened?"

"While we were romping in the snow, he used his wand to throw snow on me. Apparently he took his wand from your room this morning. I know you put it there last evening. I was playing around with the boys and had him upside down when the wand fell out of his jacket. I paddled his backside right there for having it and for using magic without permission. I kept the wand, also. It's now in my suitcase with a non removal charm on it. I'm the only person who can remove it. Do you want it?"

"That boy! It's a good thing you had me promise not to discipline him! I feel like going in and paddling him right now! He knew not to take that wand! We had a talk about him bringing it just yesterday! He has been acting up more this trip than I've seen in months. I don't know what is going on with him but I told him today it had better stop. Now, I find out he's used magic without permission and in a muggle area!"

"Calm down, Sev. As I said, I have the wand secured. He can't use it again. He seemed much better tonight. Maybe he's wised up and decided not to push either of us again. His bottom was probably still stinging too. I didn't go easy on him."

"I hope you are right. Anymore trouble with him and he's going over my knee for a session with the hairbrush! I'm going to bed. These meetings discussing handling the possible return of V. are tiring. I didn't tell the boys why I'm really meeting, you noticed. No use to worry them. I'll fill you in later on the details. I'll see you in the morning."

"That will be fine. Thank you for going to the meetings. I don't do well with unknown people. Sleep well, Sev. I'll lock up and then I'm headed to bed after I check the boys again." Sirius replies

The next day after completing another ski lesson, Draco tells Harry, "Let's walk over by the cafe where we had breakfast the other day. There's something I want to see."

"Okay. You did really well this morning, Drake. I think the instructors were impressed with how well you can do the side to side ski moves. It really has come back to you or you were holding out on me about how talented you are."

"Thanks Harry. I just find it easy, I guess. Once they show me what they want me to do, I can do it. You are doing better too. You didn't have to sit down on the slope at all today."

"If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell the Dads?" Harry asks as they walk.

"I promise. What is it?"

"I'm ready to go home. This was fun but I'm tired of it and wish we could go play at home. I want to ride the racecar track and play with my new Christmas toys and just be home. We don't get to stay at home much unless it's summer."

"Harry? You know something?"

"What? That you think I'm being a baby for wanting to go home?"

"No, that's not it. I feel the same way. I really want to spend some time at the Manor. I've never lived there just visited a few times. I wanted to have time to spend with Dad, just us or even you and Uncle Siri. I didn't want to come here at all. It was nice of Professor McGonagall to offer it to us but I wanted to stay home for a change. Last year we went to America for part of the summer and I just want to be home with my new Dad some more."

"Is that why you've been acting the prat, the whole time?" Harry asks giving Draco a slight shove sideways.

"Hey! No shoving! I haven't been acting the prat the whole time. I was nice last night and today."

"Un Huh. Only because Uncle Sev said if you caused one more speck of trouble he would use the hairbrush to light up your backside!"

"You heard that? We were in his room. How did you hear? Eavesdropping maybe?"

"No, I wasn't eavesdropping, Draco. I'd get spanked if I did that. I was coming to tell Uncle Sev about Dad and I going to buy sweets for breakfast and heard him. I left after he said that. I didn't want him to get mad at me and decide to spank me for listening even though I wasn't trying to. Your Dad spanks really hard!"

"So does yours, you know. My bum was still stinging late last night and I only got five whacks with his hand. I think Dad knows about the wand incident. The way he was scolding me this morning made me think he knows. At least he didn't punish me again."

"You don't have it today, do you?" Harry asks.

"No, Uncle Sirius took it, remember? I don't even know where it is. Look! That's what I wanted to see. Come on, let's go ride it."

"We aren't supposed to go on it! Remember? Both our dads said we were to stay away from it. It isn't for kids." Harry reminds him.

"I don't see why we can't ride it, Harry. Look there's some older kids on it. If they can ride why can't we? Come on, be a brave pal and do something fun with me."

"Draco. This isn't a good idea. You were just talking about how your Dad is upset and here you are wanting to disobey again. Besides how are we to get on? We have to go by the little guard stand and I see others with some kind of pass. We don't have one of those."

"We have something even better."

"What?"

"We have you. You can do wandless magic and YOU can convince him we are old enough to get on." At seeing Harry shaking his head, Draco says "Come on! Do it for me. I've been scolded since we got here and I just want to do something fun. It's not dangerous or anything. It's just a ride to get on, just like at Disney World. We didn't get in trouble then for riding things so why would we here?"

"Because we were told to stay OFF of it, Draco! Honestly, sometimes you act like you don't hear well."

"I'm going on it. I'm not going to come to a ski resort and not go on the lift. That's like going to the ocean and not getting in the water! If you want to be a baby about it then just be that way. There are more fun things to do on the other slopes. See you later." Draco tells him walking off.

"No, young man. You must be sixteen or older to go on the lift unless you are accompanied by an adult. Those are the resort rules." The lift operator tells Draco as Harry walks up.

"My father is on the slope! I need to go find him! Please sir?" Draco tries wheedling his way on.

"I said, no and that's final, young man. Go along now and play somewhere else. I have a job to do here."

Walking off with Harry following, Draco stops far enough away he can't be overheard.

"Harry, I'm begging you. Please just this once can you make him let us on? We'll have fun, I promise. I'll teach you to ski sideways even. Please? No one will know but us."

"No, Draco. I just can't. I promised Dad I wouldn't ever do that without him with me. I really can't control it well, if you must know." Harry answers Draco's questioning look.

"Well, if you don't do it then, when we get back to Hogwarts, everyone will know how you cried like a baby because your Daddy didn't say he loved you when he tucked you in bed. I'll be sure to let them know you sleep with a plushie dragon too. You're ten not five but you acted like you were five. Is that what you want me to do?"

"NO. That's so mean, Draco. Besides, you sleep with a toy dragon too!"

"So? Know one will believe you if you say it. They'll think you're just getting back at me for telling them about you. What do you say now? Will you help?"

"FINE! Let's go! I don't like you right now, though." Harry answers walking back towards the ski lift.

"Now look, young man! I told you already why you aren't allowed on the lift. Do not ask me again!" The lift operator exclaims as the boys walk up.

"We can stand here and watch! You can't tell us we can't just watch everyone else." Draco answers back.

"Just stay out of my way, then. I have to monitor the lift."

"Go on Harry. Do it." Draco whispers in Harry's ear.

"OKAY! Don't rush me or I'll mess it up!

Raising his hands in front of him, Harry whispers "Confrungo". Waiting, the two boys look at the lift operator to see if he appears different. When nothing changes, Draco whispers " Maybe you have to say it loud and point at the same time, the way you do with a wand. Try that."

"Mr. Lift Operator, sir?" Harry asks watching the man turn toward him. Raising one hand and pointing, Harry exclaims "Confrungo!"

The snow around the ski lift blasts upwards into the people on the lift and then falls to the ground in high drifts. The lift operator is on the ground holding his head and moaning. People nearby are running and screaming at the now sliding mountain of snow coming there way.

"Avalanche!" someone screams as they run past.

Staring at the destruction all around him, Harry doesn't hear Draco say "Let's go."

Feeling someone grab his arm and pull, he looks over to see Draco motioning towards the lift. "Come ON! We have to get out of here! Let's go, Harry!"

Harry follows Draco as he runs for the oncoming seat of the lift. Grabbing the sides of the seat the boys jump into the chair as it moves forward lifting them above the panic below them. People are running in circles and yelling as the snow slides around their feet. No one is really in danger but the sliding snow has caused a panic.

"Drake, I think I messed up that spell. It was supposed to only confuse the man not make him fall down and the snow slide everywhere. What am I going to do now?"

"You are going to come with me and have fun skiing and pretend we know nothing of what happened here. No one can blame us for it if we weren't here." Draco answers.