As always, enjoy!

August 1976

"Into the study this instant," Mr. Potter said in a stern voice, "The both of you."

The two teenagers scrambled to their feet, Sirius knocking a pillow off the sofa as he did.

They had only just finished breakfast less than half of an hour ago. They had even helped their mother clean up the kitchen before she had left for the market. They hadn't even had time to get in trouble yet.

"But dad we-"

"Now James!" Charles cut him off in a dangerously rigid voice. "I'll be there in just a moment."

James threw a curious look in Sirius' direction as the two of them headed to the study. He couldn't think of anything that they had done lately that would cause their dad to react in such a way. He couldn't help but wonder if Sirius had done something on his own.

"Don't look at me like that," Sirius said as they walked into the study. "I didn't do anything."

"I never said you did."

Sirius made an annoyed face as he sat down in one of the two chairs in front of their father's desk. "I know that look on your face. You thought that I did." Sirius wasn't truly hurt by James' assumption. In fact he didn't blame him for it at all. It wouldn't have been the first time that he broke the rules in some way only to have James nearly blamed for it as well. Nearly. Sirius never allowed James to be blamed for anything that he himself did.

"Sorry," James offered as he sat down beside Sirius. He never wanted to make Sirius feel accused of anything. Despite the fact that James was the younger of the two, he often found himself playing an older brother role to Sirius, always attempting to protect him.

"Not mad," Sirius replied honestly. "Just confused about what we're in trouble for."

"Maybe we aren't in trouble," James replied in a hopeful voice. "Maybe he just wants to talk to us about something."

"When was the last time he sounded so mad over just wanting to talk to us?"

James shrugged in reply. He knew that his dad was mad. A blind man could have seen that. He didn't know why though and if the answer wasn't obvious then he couldn't help but think that maybe he was just jumping to conclusions.

Charles walked into his study closing the door behind him. He noted that his doing so caused both boys to jump slightly before turning their heads to confirm that he was in the room.

Both boys quickly turned back around; Charles couldn't help but notice the look of confusion on their faces before they did.

He knew that they likely had no idea what they were in trouble for. For weeks he had been finding little clues around the house. At first he had been baffled. When he had finally started putting the pieces together he had been convinced that he was wrong. He had been convinced that there was no way that the boys could have or would have done such a thing. He had himself so convinced that they wouldn't have that he had forced himself to forget about the entire thing.

Then last night he hadn't been able to sleep.

He had decided after lying awake in his bed for nearly an hour, that he should get up and do some work in hopes of it tiring his eyes.

He had looked out of his bedroom window simply out of habit when he had spotted the two of them. At first he had been sure that his eyes were playing tricks on him. Surely he was still half asleep and wasn't seeing things correctly. As he realized that that wasn't the case he had to use every ounce of self-control in his body not to march into the yard and reprimand them on the spot. Instead he watched until they went back inside and then he went back to bed.

He had lied awake for the remainder of the night trying to digest what he had seen. Trying to accept that what he had suspected for weeks now was in fact true.

The moment his wife had opened her eyes he had shared his discovery.

He had expected her to side with the children as she often did. He expected her face to be one of disappointment but for her to instantly make up several excuses for what they had done, trying her hardest to convince him that it wasn't nearly as big of a deal as he was making it out to be. It was her way. She was often the good cop to his bad.

What he hadn't expected was her anger over the situation. He had been shocked to find that she was perhaps angrier than he was. She had, possibly for the first time in her life, immediately agreed with him that the boys would need to be punished.

Despite her agreement though, she never was one to dole any punishment out.

Charles walked across the room in silence.

As he walked past the boys he retrieved the old worn slipper from his back pocket and tossed it onto the middle of the desk causing it to land with a thud. He shocked himself by his actions. Given the severity of the situation he certainly didn't regret what he had just done but he was also quite sure he had never been so abrupt about a punishment either.

James jumped involuntarily at the sound and the sight of the thing. Neither of them had felt the slipper in over a year and he still couldn't figure out what they had done that was bad enough to change that.

Charles walked behind his desk and sat down in his desk chair.

He was silent for a moment as he observed his sons. Both of them looked quite nervous but he also noticed that they still looked confused as well.

"Am I correct in assuming that neither of you have any idea as to why we are sitting here?"

James shook his head as Sirius answered with a verbal. "No Sir."

"Over the course of this summer I have found several things in this house that quite curiously did not belong." He paused for a moment as he gave each of the boys a stern glare. "I convinced myself that these clues meant nothing. That I was jumping to conclusions. Quite frankly I had convinced myself that I was a bad father for even accusing you two of such a thing, even if only in my thoughts."

Suddenly Sirius had a horrible feeling that he knew exactly what they were in trouble for. He could feel his stomach flip with worry at the idea that they were caught.

"Then last night I couldn't sleep," Charles continued. "I got out of bed to come down here and do some work. On my way I just happened to glance out the window and what do you think I saw?"

"Us," Sirius answered in a soft voice his every fear coming true.

"We can explain," James quickly added.

"Explain? Explain how on earth the two of you managed to turn into animals without being registered animagus? I'm not sure there is an explanation James aside from the very obvious one which is that the two of you have broken the law!"

He was yelling now.

Sirius was sure that he had never heard the man yell before. That alone was enough to make him feel horrible for what they had done.

"Have the two of you any idea how un-humorous your actions are? Or how much trouble you could be in if the Ministry was to find out about this? Do you have any idea how upset your mother is about this? She was nearly in tears this morning!"

Sirius blanched at the words. He had known from the second that they had started working towards mastering the advanced magic that was required for them to transform that if they were caught they would be in a world of trouble. It hadn't bothered him so much then but now experiencing his dad yelling for the first time ever and hearing about how much they had upset mum made him wish that he could go back in time and change things.

"We really can explain dad," James said once more.

The moment Sirius heard his voice he knew that James was now crying. Not sobbing but crying gently, uncontrollably. He fought the urge to turn his head and look at his best friend. He was too afraid that doing so would only make him start to cry as well.

"For your sake you had better hope that you can," Charles replied in an irate voice.

Sirius wanted to tell James to shut it. He knew their father was fair. If under any other circumstances they explained their reasoning the man likely would have softened instantly completely understanding why they had done what they did. This wasn't normal circumstances though. They had knowingly broken the law.

"We did it for Remus," James said in a soft voice. "So that we could be with him when he changes; so that he wouldn't have to be isolated and he could have us."

Charles was silent as the words shook him to the core. He had been sure that the boys had mastered the advanced spell for a ridiculous reason; boredom perhaps or simply to see if they could, maybe even to help them sneak around and get into other mischief. He never imagined that they did so for a friend. He suddenly felt conflict over his current situation. Could he punish his boys for being such loyal friends? He struggled with trying to force himself to remember that they had broken the law.

Sirius held his breath as he waited for their dad's demeanor to change. After a moment he slowly exhaled. Just as he had expected the harshness of the man's expression had not changed at all. He looked just as angry as he had before James had shared their reasoning, if possible angrier yet.

Charles quickly tried to gather his thoughts.

"If the Ministry were to find out about this the two of you would be in a world of trouble. Do you realize that? Do you realize how dangerous your actions were?"

James nodded as he brushed the tears from his face.

"We are sorry," Sirius said in a shaky voice. "Honest."

"Unfortunately sorry isn't enough this time," Charles responded in a grave voice. He paused for a moment forcing himself once more to remember that his boys had broken the law, despite what their reasoning was, it still wasn't something he couldn't let slide. "On your feet, the both of you; let's get this over with."

He didn't miss the nervous glance that the boys exchanged. It had been quite a while since either of them had been more than scolded or grounded. He was hopeful that the fact that he felt the need to punish them more severely would drive the message home far more than his punishment would.

He reached over and picked up the slipper before standing and walking around the desk. He quickly moved the chairs out of his way before facing his boys.

"Bend over," he instructed in a no-nonsense voice, "Hands on the desk."

Sirius wasted no time complying with the man's words. James on the other hand opened his mouth in protest. "But dad we-"

"If you would prefer to go over my knee like a child that can certainly be arranged," Charles cut him off.

James quickly shook his head before turning and doing as he was told.

Charles cleared his throat before carefully choosing his words. "I want the two of you to know that I think it's absolutely commendable that you have grown to be such loyal and wonderful friends. However, that being said breaking the law is not acceptable regardless of why you thought doing so was a good idea. I would have thought at your age that you were too old to be punished in such a way but clearly I was mistaken."

Before he could doubt his words or his actions Charles raised his arm and brought the slipper down hard on Sirius' backside.

Sirius let out a small yelp as Charles moved on to James.

He alternated between the two. He was silent as he did so; the only noise in the room was the sound of the slipper making contact with two pairs of sleep pants.

James had begun crying loudly by the third smack but it wasn't until the fifth that Sirius joined him.

Charles brought the slipper down for the seventh time before throwing it on the chair behind him, suddenly deciding that the boys had had more than enough.

"Alright you two…"

James and Sirius stood and turned nearly in unison.

If often pained Charles to punish his children and this was no exception. It nearly broke his heart to see their tear stained faces, their eyes red from crying.

Without a moment's hesitation he pulled both of them close to him, wrapping his arms around them and hugging them tightly. "You'll need to be more careful. No more sneaking out at night to transform."

The two of them nodded unable to speak through their tears.

"I think it would be best if the two of you spent some time in your rooms as well," Charles continued, "Perhaps until lunch."

"Okay," James agreed through his tears.

"We really are sorry," Sirius added in a sincere voice.

"I do not doubt that," Charles replied gently. "And I want you to know that I forgive you boys. I even understand why you did what you did however I would not be doing my job as your father if I allowed you to break the law without punishing you for doing so."

"Is mum mad at us?" James couldn't help but ask.

"I'm sure that by the time she is home from the market she'll be making your favorite dessert for tonight," Charles replied honestly, "Now upstairs for a rest the both of you." He gave them each a tight squeeze before releasing his grip on them.

A moment later he found himself alone in his study, moving the chairs back to their rightful spot. Of all the things he had ever imagined his boys getting into trouble for, becoming unregistered animagus would never even had made the list.

He smiled softly to himself as he picked up the slipper and pushed it into his back pocket. Did he really have two sixteen year olds that had mastered such an advanced spell?

One day when they were grown he would have to remember to tell them how much they impressed him.