Harry Potter Junior Level: Year Two

Ch. 36

Peer Pressure

Waiting for Severus to speak to him, Harry is nervously bouncing his foot and twisting his hands. He feels close to tears and no one has even spoken to him about his venture into the Forbidden Forest. Hearing Draco's bedroom door open, Harry looks up anxiously as his Uncle enters, closing the door. Moving over to the desk, Severus pulls out a chair and sits facing the bed.

"Harry, before we talk about today, I want to talk about my accusation of you cheating, not long ago. I owe you an apology, Harry. I was having a terrible day that day and I jumped to conclusions before thinking or looking into the matter. I should have talked to you about the homework essay and not just assumed you were cheating. I know you better now than in the past and should have realized I was wrong. I am deeply sorry for my actions and ask you to forgive me. I know this has been bothering you as you've seemed more anxious around me than you usually do. Do you understand what I'm saying, son?" Severus asks

"Yes sir, I do. I'm just happy you believed me at the end. I don't cheat Uncle Sev. I remember the spanking I got for that last year. I don't want to feel my Dad's paddle ever again. Are you going to spank me for what happened today? I know I did wrong and I didn't really want to do it but I did anyway."

"If you really didn't want to go, why did you? What happened, Harry? I discussed this with Draco but I want to hear your side of this also. Why did you boys go where you know is completely forbidden? You haven't broken that rule in the two years you've been at the castle so what was it that convinced you to do so this time?"

"Well, Draco said he had something fabulous to show me and I went with him. I wanted to see what the big special secret was. I knew we weren't to do it but I just couldn't stop following along. I've tried hard to follow the rules since before Christmas and now I've messed up! Dad will be so cross with me and disappointed too. I thought I was growing up and now I've gone and messed it all up again!"

"Harry, part of growing up is admitting when you have made a mistake and accepting the consequences. You are admitting to your mistake now instead of getting defensive or trying to cover up your misdeed. That is a very big step in growing up, son. I'm proud of you for being honest."

"Thank you,Uncle Sev. Are you proud of me enough to not punish me?" Harry asks using his best pitiful look.

"Don't you turn that look on me Harrison James Potter Black! I know not to fall for those deep green eyes. I'm not going to punish you. I am..." Severus says before Harry is off the bed and hugging him around the chest!

"Oh, Thank you Uncle Sev! You are the kindest, wonderfullest, Bestest Wizard Uncle ever!" Harry exclaims almost all in one breath.

"You didn't allow me to finish, young man. Do let go of me and sit your bum back on that bed. I am not finished discussing the incident at this time! As I was saying before you interrupted me, I am not going to punish you but I am going to be discussing this with Sirius. What you did was extremely dangerous. There are things in the forest that could kill you. Finding adventure is all well and good but putting yourself in danger while doing it in a forbidden place is not. There are plenty of activities you boys could have done other than traipse into the Forbidden Forest, young man! I'm pretty sure you know what Draco's punishment was. I expect you also know that you deserve to be punished. Am I correct?"

"Yes sir, I heard what went on. I don't want to be punished though. I only followed him, I did not make the decision to do it in the first place." Harry answers mournfully.

"Yet, you admitted to knowing it was forbidden and that you knew you shouldn't go along. You made the choice to break one of the biggest rules we have and you put yourself in danger by doing it. Isn't that right?"

"Yes sir. But I still don't want to be punished!" Harry replies sniffing back tears.

"No one WANTS to be punished, Harry. You have to accept the punishment whether you want to or not. I've told Draco he is to remain in this room for the rest of today. You are to wait for your Dad in the living room. You are confined to the couch until I tell you to get up. Go to the loo and then find a seat on the couch." Severus tells the now crying boy in front of him.

While Severus is reaming out the two miscreants, Sirius is enjoying his trip to Hogsmeade.

Being the chaperone only requires him to be available for any problems that might occur and to generally keep an eye on the kids. The students know any misbehavior off the campus will result in a forfeit of the next Hogsmeade trip. There are rarely any problems. The students are allowed to roam at will and as long as they return to the meeting point on time, there are few restrictions. Sirius, being one of the more popular professors, is enjoying the camaraderie and teasing the students have with him. They respect him but at the same time feel less inhibited and openly enjoy sparring with him at times.

Deciding to look around Quality Quidditch Supplies, Sirius spends time examining the new brooms, the broom servicing kits, the latest gear available for matches, the magazines and books. Looking for a book for Harry, he finds Quidditch Stars From Durmstrong and Hogwarts and peruses the index. Smiling at the listing of James Potter, he decides to purchase this one. Choosing a Quidditch Quartlerly magazine for Draco, he purchases both and walks out. Hearing a rustling beside him and perhaps a whispered sigh, he scans the area for a few minutes. To his surprise the door to the candy shop opens and closes by itself with no one nearby.

Deciding to investigate, Sirius walks into Honeydukes Candy Emporium, looking around as he does so. Finding a few older students he just stands by the door watching. After his third scan around the room, he sees candy disappear off a shelf and into thin air. Walking closer to the shelf, he sees more treats leap off the shelf and disappear. Frowning now, Sirius reaches out and feels around in the air where the candy disappeared. Feeling the silky fabric of what he suspected, an invisibility cloak, he takes hold before speaking.

"I strongly suggest you put that candy right back where you found it!" he announces in a quiet but stern voice. Hoping his suspicions are not correct, he pulls the cloak away from whoever is underneath. Expecting his son, he's surprised and somewhat pleased to find Blaise and Ron instead. Both boys have mouthfuls of candy and don't speak. Not letting them see his relief, he sternly commands "Blaise Zabini and Ronald Weasley go stand by that door and DO NOT MOVE!"

The two boys scurry to the shop entrance and stand nervously while Sirius completes his purchases.

"I'd like a small bag of Whizzing Whizzbees, eight chocolate frog packs, six red Witches Hair licorice packs, one medium bag of Honeydukes fudge and one of gumballs please." Sirius tells the man behind the counter. "Also I need an extra large bag of lemon drops."

"Yes sir, coming right up. The lemon drops are for Headmaster Dumbledore, I imagine." The man says as he moves to fill the order.

"Here you are Professor Black. That comes to one galleon, one sickle, including the price of the candy the two boys swiped. I, too, was watching. Not much gets by me. The two have more than the pieces you saw. They also took several large handfuls of eyeballs and teeth treats. The value of those treats would be about six sickles."

Thank you and here is your money. I apologize for the boys. They were not to be here today. Have you had any trouble with any other students today?"

"Only one. Matthew Pippen came by demanding free samples for himself and his friends. When I denied him any free treats, he proceeded to smash two jarfuls of candy before I charmed them to stick to the shelf. His friends then pulled him out of the store. He's a hot head whom I've seen before. I know the Pippen boys quite well as his father used to bring them in and let them run amok. Matthew and his younger brother, Jeremy are both pampered children who have been allowed to do as they please. I had no say in their behavior then but I do now as the Father is not here."

"This will be dealt with, sir. You have my word. Hogwarts students do not come to cause trouble. If they do, they are disciplined. It will be some months before you see young Master Pippen here again. Please send an owl with an invoice of the cost of the damages to the Headmaster. You will be reimbursed, sir. As for the two by the door, they will not be here without an adult until they reach third year. They are in the Junior Level and are not to be here today. If you do happen to see any students below thirteen, unaccompanied by an adult during school term, do notify the Headmaster."

"Yes sir, I certainly will. Here's an extra bag of fudge for handling these troublemakers." The clerk replies adding a small bag of vanilla fudge with butterscotch swirls to Sirius' order.

"Let's go, Ronald and Blaise. You will be confined to your dorm room until I or someone else sends for you." Sirius informs the boys as they walk out of the shop. Stopping by a rubbish bin, he commands "Drop all the treats you stole into this trash bin. When you take things without paying, that is stealing. Anything stolen does not belong to you so drop them! Both of you are old enough to know stealing is very wrong. We'll talk more at Hogwarts. For now stick right beside me until I say differently! The older children are not ready to leave so you will have to be my shadows for the rest of the day."

Back at Hogwarts, Harry is watching the clock. It's been two hours since he was confined to Severus's couch. Boredom is taking a toll on him so he calls out "Uncle Sev?"

Not receiving an answer he tries twice more. Still not receiving an answer, he eases up off the couch, creeping on tiptoes to the door to look out. Not seeing or hearing anything he carefully walks down the hall to Draco's room.

"Draco? Are you awake?" He whispers opening the door.

"Umm hmm, close the door." Draco whispers back.

"Was it awful? What did he spank you with? I heard but I couldn't tell what it was."

"Just his hand but I had to take down my pants. I think I counted at least twelve whacks! He was really mad! I didn't get grounded so that's one good thing. I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have insisted you go with me. Did he spank you too?"

"No, he scolded me hard and is going to tell my Dad. I'm in serious trouble too. Putting myself or someone else in danger is a huge problem for him." Harry answers.

"You have another problem, young sir! I told you to stay in the living room on the couch! I don't believe either of those two things are here in Draco's bedroom!" The boys hear from the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Sev. I got a numb bum being still so long and just had to move." Harry answers as Draco snickers at "numb bum".

"I can fix your bum being numb right now. Get your bum into that living room and stay there! That is an order!" Severus commands spinning the boy around and landing two very strong smacks to the seat of his pants.

"Owww! You didn't have to smack me, I was going!" Harry complains rubbing his stinging backside.

"If you are going to be cheeky, I can add several more! You disobeyed me. Do as I say and you won't have a stinging bum. Your Dad should be here anytime now. Wait in the living room until you are called." Severus replies walking him to the room.

Finally hearing the sound of his Dad's voice an hour later, Harry fidgets nervously on the couch.

"Harry?" Sirius calls from the next room.

Moving slowly, Harry walks into the front room gnawing nervously on his bottom lip.

"Hi, Dad. Was your chaperoning trip a good one?" Harry asks.

"Not really son. What is going on here, Harry? Severus said he has placed you in isolation for misbehavior and that you defied him by leaving it. What did you do to deserve isolation?"

"I'd rather talk about it at home. Can we go now, please?"

"We are going to discuss what you did right here. I may need Severus to fill in the gaps in the story. Now Spill!" Sirius answers, giving Harry a firm look.

"Draco and I went into the Forbidden Forest." Harry answers quietly but quickly. Not hearing anything from his Dad, he risks raising his eyes from the floor to look at Sirius.

Finding his Dad staring at him with his eyes blazing, Harry drops his eyes to the floor with a sigh. This is it, I'm toast for sure. he thinks.

"Harry James Potter Black! The Forbidden Forest! You know better! Why?" Sirius asks, barely able to keep from raising his voice.

"Draco said ..." Harry starts but is stopped by Sirius' "Harrison!"

"Sir?"

"I want to hear why you went to the Forbidden Forest not about something Draco said."

"I'm TRYING to tell you, I went because Draco ..." is all Harry manages to say before being stopped again.

"Young man, you are seconds from being over my knee for your cheek! Then we will deal with your disobedience!" Sirius exclaims struggling to keep his temper.

"Sirius? I think it would be beneficial for you to let Harry go home and both of you take time out for cooling down. You aren't going to get anywhere this way. Take a few minutes to just calm down before you try to talk to him. Harry, you go home to your room and wait for your Dad. Right Sirius?"

"Yes, go on home. I'll be there in a few minutes and we'll talk." Sirius answers handing Harry the floo powder.

After Harry has stepped through to his own quarters, Severus turns to Sirius.

"You are not being fair to Harry, Sirius. Your disappointment and anger have you cutting him off every time he tries to explain what happened. You asked him for an explanation but will not listen to him. The explanation includes Draco so he has to tell you his part in it. Draco has been punished and is going to remain in his room the rest of the day. He is also confined there tomorrow as well. Now, go home, have a cup of tea if need be and then address the incident. You seem extremely tense today."

"Matthew Pippen misbehaved on the Hogsmeade trip. At Honeydukes, he demanded free samples and when denied them he broke several jars. I also caught Ron and Blaise Zabini in Hogsmeade. They were under Harry's invisibility cloak. I have to address that with my son as well."

"What are you going to do about the younger boys?"

"They are confined to the dorm room for now. I haven't decided on punishment as of yet. Matthew Pippen is one of your Slytherins so I turn him over to you. The shop owner knows the Pippens and told me, the parents allow the boys to do as they wish. It's time to teach them differently. Let me go talk to Harry, I'm calm enough now. Thank you for the pep talk." Sirius replies reaching for the floo powder.

Hearing the floo come to life, Harry buries his head under his pillow. He feels as if he has rocks in his stomach, it's hurting so. Hearing his bedroom door open and someone crossing the room, he waits for another sound. Instead of hearing his Dad speak, he feels the bed dip where he sits down. Still waiting for his Dad to speak, Harry feels his shoulders tense and his eyes squeeze shut of their own accord.

"Pup? Will you come out from under there and sit up?" Sirius asks the head barely visible.

Seeing the head shake, Sirius begins to rub the boy's back.

"We need to talk Pup. I apologize to you for getting all out of sorts earlier. I commanded you to talk and then when you did, I shut you off. I am ready now, to listen without scolding. This isn't going to go away, we have to talk about it and deal with it before it is over. I, for one, would like this to be over sooner rather than later."

"It's not your bum about to be whipped!" Harry's muffled voice replies.

"No, I'm not the one who is in trouble, that's true." Sirius replies, resisting the temptation to respond to Harry's exaggeration. "Will it help, if I promise not to raise my voice or interrupt you while you tell me what happened?"

"Promise?" Harry asks rolling over and looking at his Dad.

"I solemnly swear I will not interrupt, scold or raise my voice during the telling of the story." Sirius intones raising his right hand. His silliness earns him a slight grin from Harry's tear streaked face.

"It started earlier this week. Blaise got this idea to sneak out to Hogsmeade with the older kids. I didn't want to go and when I told him how it wasn't a good idea he started calling me coward and things like that. He did it away from the other boys so they didn't hear. Ron thinks everything Blaise does is bloody wonderful." Harry stops to see if his Dad will scold him for the word 'bloody'. When he doesn't say anything Harry smiles a little and continues.

"I get tired of being called a coward, Dad. I know I'm not and I know you say to ignore such things. I've tried really hard to stay out of trouble since before Christmas. Blaise has all these ideas that are guaranteed to get someone in trouble. Draco kind of thinks Blaise is great too. He wants to look good to Blaise. When we were at Uncle Sev's, Draco said he had something special to show me. When he said it was in the Forbidden Forest, I knew not to go. But Dad, Draco has been with Blaise more than me lately and I wanted to do something for him to like me more than Blaise so I went along. We saw a unicorn! It was beautiful, Dad. All shimmering and white with golden eyes. Just lovely. Okay, I'm done stretching out my explanation as long as I can. You can yell now if you want to." Harry ends breathlessly.

Reaching out to the boy, Sirius lifts, places him on his lap wrapping his arms around Harry before letting himself grin at his son's last comments. "I'm not going to yell, son. I do have a question for you about Blaise. Did you loan your invisibility cloak to him to use?"

"I don't have it to lend, Dad. Don't you have it put away somewhere?"

"No, you do have it. I packed it in your trunk when you moved to the dorm. You haven't seen it?"

"I never really unpacked my trunk, Dad. I don't have any other place to keep things I don't want the others to see. I keep my trunk locked, too. My picture album of Mummy and Daddy is in there, that scrap of red blanket you gave me from my other home and Dragon. I don't want the guys teasing me over those."

"Thank you for telling me. Harry, Blaise and Ron were caught using an invisibility cloak in Hogsmeade this afternoon. As far as I'm aware of, your cloak is the only one of it's kind. Later, we need to check the lock on your trunk. Right now, we need to talk about what went on today. I understand how peer pressure, friends or others' ideas and comments, can make you do things you don't want to do. I had some of that myself at times growing up and so did your Daddy James. Son, all children have to learn when to follow along or when to back away. You told me you knew you were doing wrong today but went along anyway. Isn't this true?"

"Yes Dad and I'm very sorry for following Draco."

"I'm sure you are, now. Were you sorry enough not to go along, though?"

"No. I really wanted to see that secret so I went too. I know that was stupid. Am I grounded to my room?"

"What you did was extremely dangerous, Harry. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason. It is full of dangerous creatures as well as a few beautiful ones. When you first moved in with me, I explained the forest was completely off limits and that it was dangerous. Today, you went in where werewolves, acromantulas or any other hideous creature could have attacked and killed you or Draco."

"Werewolves and giant spiders?" Harry whispers snuggling closer to Sirius' chest.

"Among other things, yes. I can't let this go, son. You mean too much to me to let you deliberately walk into danger this way. I couldn't live if something happened to you because I failed as your Dad. You asked if you were grounded earlier. Yes son, you are, for the day tomorrow. Harry? What is the punishment in this family for deliberately putting yourself or someone else in danger, our biggest rule?" Sirius asks the slightly sniffling child on his lap.

"Not that! Please don't Daddy. I'm really, really sorry. I've been really good up until today." Harry whispers.

"You have been well behaved and I'm very proud of you for it. However, there are consequences for breaking the rules. You put yourself in danger and were disobedient with Severus. Two rules broken. I'll be right back." Sirius answers gently placing Harry on his bed.

Walking back into the room a few minutes later, Sirius finds Harry face down with the pillow over his head again. Shaking his head sorrowfully, Sirius places one hand on Harry's shoulder as he sits on the bed. "This will be over soon. Remember this the next time you are tempted to do something that puts yourself in danger. I don't want to have to repeat this punishment, Pup. However, I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe!"

With his speech finished, Sirius raises his hand and pops the small bum before him with the hard soled slipper in his hand six times. Each snap of the slipper causes Harry to jump. By the sixth smack, Sirius can't take the muffled sobbing coming from under the pillow so he stops before the ten he had planned. Reaching across, he lifts Harry out from under the pillow, cuddling him to his chest.

"I know it stings. I know. I didn't want to use the slipper, son. You know I don't want to spank you, ever. You forced me to be harsher than I want to be just to keep you safe. I love you so much, Harry." Sirius whispers rocking the child on his lap until he stops sobbing.

"Draco got spanked bare, at least you didn't do that. Do you really still love me even if I was horribly behaved today?" Harry whispers when he stops crying.

"I will always love you, Harry. I always have and I always will. There is nothing that could happen to make that change. It's because I love you so much, that I am strict with you. You are my heart, son. Do you hear me? I will never stop loving you, ever. Even when you are thirty and have boys of your own who have to be spanked, I'll still love you."

"I won't spank my boys because they won't be bad like me. They will be good like you. You'll be a Grandpa and will teach them to be good. I will always love you too, Dad. Even if you do make my bum sting! Can I have a potion to take the sting out, now? I learned my lesson. Never Ever go to the forest again."

"You aren't 'bad' Harry just mischievous. As to spanking your own kids? Well, we'll see how you react when one of the future children scares you witless as you did me today, young man. The answer is No to the potion, my pup. The sting is the reminder to behave. I'm going to fix Tea. I'll bring you a tray when it's ready."

"Tea with pudding? I need treacle tart tonight. It's been a rough day today." Harry answers sleepily.

"You are right about that. It's definitely been a rough day." Sirius agrees.