Hi all! Welcome to chapter twelve of Water Worries. This is a story request from a lovely person called xxxRainLoverxxx, so credit to the idea goes to her. She is a very talented writer but unfortunately due to negative reviews she no longer likes to post her stories which is a true shame for everyone. This story is complete and is thirteen chapters long, updates should be weekly unless something drastic happens.
Summary: Harry has a fear of water, when his nightmares manage to get even Ron's attention Ron comes up with a plan for how to keep Harry's mind off the second task. What happens when they go too far? AU. Contains Spanking. No Slash.
Warning: Story contains parental spanking of a teenager, if this isn't your cup of tea, don't read it.
Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever, owned Harry Potter – as much as I'd like to I sadly do not. I did not make any money from this story, and I don't intend too. All characters and recognisable things belong to JK Rowling not me – as sad as that is for me.
A huge thank you to my wonderful Beta Jules Ann, who is again herself a very talented writer on here. Though she doesn't know Harry Potter, I am slowly trying to convert her.
~o~
Harry surprised himself by managing to eat all of his food; apparently, he was hungrier than he'd previously thought. He returned to his bed and lay back on it, staring up at the ceiling and tried hard not to convince himself that Sirius and Remus were down there discussing the best way to tell him he was too much trouble. The knock on the door startled him and yanked him from his thoughts, "c-come in," he called, hating that his voice was cracking with his nerves.
Sirius pushed the door open and shot a quick look to the polished plate of food, glad Harry had eaten. He picked up Harry's desk chair and spun it round so it faced Harry on the bed and sat down, "so, want to tell me what all this was about? It's not like you to start pulling pranks and to be playing games like this? What brought it all on?"
Harry sat up and turned to face Sirius, blinking at the question. His face flushed with shame at the embarrassing reason the whole thing had started, and he went to shake his head.
Sirius held up a hand, "before you say nothing, let me remind you that you are already in a significant amount of trouble. You don't want to be lying to me on top of almost getting expelled," he interrupted, knowing the look in Harry's eyes all too well.
Harry grimaced and looked down at his lap, "I…" he started.
Sirius interrupted Harry again, "eye contact Harry," he ordered. Mr Potter never let James or him talk to him whilst staring at the floor or their laps, it was a sign of respect and they both found it a lot harder to lie directly to the man's face when he did it.
Harry swallowed nervously and lifted his head to make eye contact with his Godfather, "I was having nightmares, about the next task, Ron saw, he thought I was worrying too much. He said we should have fun, pull some pranks, stuff like that, things that were planned so it kept my mind off the nightmares," he explained in a rush. There was something about having to look right into his Godfather's eyes that prevented him from even being able to consider telling a diluted version of the truth.
Sirius nodded, "we will be talking about these nightmares after, and about why you didn't come to me about them. Now, how did you come to the conclusion that pouring magical invisible slime over a large set of marble stairs was in any way a good idea?"
Harry winced and fought the urge to stare as his lap once more, "well yesterday…" he started, was it really only yesterday they'd had the Pellet War? It seemed like half a lifetime ago now. He told Sirius about the war, how much fun they had, how hard they worked to make it fair and not anything the Professors could object to. Then Fred's casually tossed out comment about the slime from the pellets. "It wasn't really a thought-out thing, just Fred's comment, still being excited about the Pellet War, and then we had all these containers of the slime. Neither of us actually thought much about it, just the fact Fred said it and the thought of people unable to stand up seemed funny. I don't know why it didn't sink in that people would be falling on a hard marble staircase," he confessed.
Sirius knew exactly why it didn't occur to Harry and Ron, they were fourteen years old, not thinking things through, caught up in the adrenaline and excitement of their latest game and still looking for more fun. "You weren't thinking, it was pure recklessness. There's a reason your most successful exploits were the ones that involved planning and forethought Harry, because the best kind of pranks do. It's when you act without thinking that dangerous things happen, like this one. Your thoughtless acts could have killed or seriously injured someone, and if they had then I would have had to remove you from Hogwarts to save you actually getting expelled and having your wand snapped!" He allowed some of the worry and stress he felt at that possibility to bleed into his tone.
Harry cringed and wished to curl up into a little ball to avoid his Godfather's tone and scolding, "I'm sorry Sirius, I really am. Please believe me, we never wanted something like this to happen," he begged.
Sirius did his best to ignore the fact he felt like a hypocritical git for this, "I do believe you Harry. Trust me, if I actually thought you had set out with the intention to seriously harm people then the consequence would be far more severe. Unfortunately, although I know your intentions were not malicious, the fact is, people did get hurt and it could have been far worse, and I need to make sure you never do something so thoughtless again." He knew now was the moment of no return, he needed to let Harry know what was going to happen and give him what he'd earned.
Harry bit his lip hard, dreading what the outcome was going to be. What was Sirius going to do? The possibility of being told he was too much trouble no longer seemed likely, but he couldn't be sure. "Please, I'll do anything, just don't… don't throw me out," he whispered.
Sirius reeled back as if struck, "throw you out? What? Harry, I would never do that! You're my Godson and I love you so very much, this is your home and will be forever. Even after you graduate Hogwarts and you want to move out and move into a different Potter property, or you buy your own place, this will still be your home and I hope you'll always see me as someone you can come to when you need support or guidance. There is nothing you could ever do that would make me throw you out," he insisted firmly.
Harry felt like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders, but he still wanted to make sure, "nothing? Like nothing at all? Like… not even if I did get expelled?" He questioned hesitantly.
"Nothing whatsoever, even if you were at risk of being expelled, I would simply remove you from Hogwarts and have you registered as home schooled before that could happen anyway, but even then," Sirius assured his Godson. "No, you'll never ever be thrown out, nothing could make me do that to you. What I will do however, is thoroughly warm up your backside," he finished pulling the transfigured paddle out of his robe pocket.
Harry blanched when Sirius pulled what was clearly recognisable as a paddle. He squirmed uncomfortably where he was sat, sure that was not going to be pleasant.
"Now I believe we have covered everything, so unless you have anything else you feel you need to say, I think it's time we got down to business. Remove your robe, bare your bottom, and lay yourself over my lap," Sirius instructed firmly, patting his lap for emphasis.
Harry flushed and tried desperately to think of anything he could say in his defence, but there was nothing. Hands shaking slightly, he pushed himself to standing and shrugged off his robe, unbuttoning his trousers and pushing them down to his knees. He took a deep breath before yanking down his boxer briefs and almost throwing himself over his Godfather's lap.
Though he had specifically instructed Harry to do so, Sirius was still taken aback to so suddenly find himself with a lapful of half-naked teenager. He reminded himself this was how it had to go and put a steadying hand on Harry's back. Taking a deep and somewhat calming breath he rested his other hand on Harry's bottom, "so I can make sure there is no misunderstanding, tell me why, in a full sentence, you are about to get a spanking." Mr Potter had often made him do this when he had earned himself a spanking and though he'd hated it at the time, he couldn't deny it kept his mind firmly on why exactly he was in the position he was.
Harry squirmed uncomfortably and his face flushed with embarrassment, "I'm getting a spanking because Ron and I pulled a stupid prank without thinking about the actual consequences and people got hurt and it could have been much worse, and because I got sent home from school." He thought that covered everything but wracked his brain trying to think of anything he might have missed, just in case.
"Correct, and if you ever do anything so stupidly reckless again, we will be right back here. Recklessness is a sure-fire way to end up getting a spanking," Sirius confirmed. With that he raised his hand and started bringing it down sharply on Harry's bottom. It took him a few swats to find the right force and rhythm, but he found it easier than he thought it would be to judge how hard and fast he should swat based on Harry's reaction. He did not lecture as he spanked, just letting his hand do the talking.
Harry winced a little at the first swat, and hissed, yelped, or just grunted as Sirius worked out the right force. Soon enough Sirius' swats had him hissing and shifting his weight at each one. The relentless falling of his Godfather's hand onto his bottom and the growing heat in his backside soon had the desired effect and Harry was wiggling around over Sirius' lap with tears leaking down his cheeks. When the swats moved to an extremely tender area where his butt met his thighs he gasped and called out his first apology
When Sirius noticed the tears he shifted the attention of his swats to Harry's sit spots, steeling his heart against his Godson's apologies; reminding himself that when it was his bottom being set on fire, he had promised all sorts of perfect behaviour if only the spanking would stop. Despite offering perfect behaviour for life, Mr Potter had never stopped until he'd delivered the full spanking that he had set out to give and Sirius owed it to Harry to do the same. He continued on Harry's sit spots until they were the same dark pink as his bottom and finally moved the focus of his swats to his thighs.
Harry couldn't help but let out an inarticulate yell as the swats moved to the backs of his very tender thighs. He drummed his legs hard as the tears that had been slowly leaking down his cheeks ran down them and his breath started to hitch.
Once Harry's thighs matched his sit spots and bottom and he was softly crying, Sirius did a final round of his backside before stopping and shaking out his hand. He was grateful for Remus not letting him just do this with his hand, his hand was already stinging fiercely though he knew it was nothing compared to Harry's bottom. "Pranks are supposed to be funny, not result in people getting hurt. You need to think before you act, I hope this serves as a good reminder to do just that, if not we'll be right back here," he warned. With that he raised the paddle and started bringing it down over Harry's bottom.
Harry for his part could no longer control his yells as he howled and cried as the paddle lit a raging inferno into his backside and sit spots. It was all he could do not to actively try and throw himself off his Godfather's lap. He yelled out his apologies, promised to never ever do anything like this again, that he would be perfectly behaved forever. Eventually he couldn't give any more apologies as he needed all the air each breath in gave him for his sobs.
Each yelled out apology tugged viciously at Sirius' heart, but he continued on, knowing this needed to be a serious enough consequence for Harry not to want a repeat. He needed to be sure Harry would think about this in the future and to leave a strong enough impression that he would avoid such recklessness in future.
Finally, Harry gave in to the spanking and stopped fighting, just laying limply over his Godfather's lap, and sobbing his heart out. His bottom felt like he'd sat directly on an open flame and all he could think about was how much it hurt, and how sorry he was.
Sirius finished up the spanking with ten firm swats to Harry's sit spots, making sure Harry would be reminded of this spanking every time he sat down for at least the next few days. He put the paddle down and let Harry sob it out over his knee, rubbing the teens back, letting him know it was over. When it finally appeared to sink in for Harry, he helped him up to his feet and guided them both over to Harry's bed, sitting down and pulling the teen onto his lap, letting him sob it out in his arms. "Shh, shh, I've got you Pup; I've got you," he murmured gently. "It's all over now, all done, you're all forgiven, I love you so much sweet boy," he cooed as he rocked them both.
Harry howled through the last few swats, it took him a moment to even realise the spanking was over, but he quickly found himself up and being hugged into his Godfather. He clung to Sirius tightly, sobbing into his chest, hoping he knew just how very sorry he was. It took him a while to calm down enough to talk, but when he had, he looked up at his Godfather, "I'm so sorry," he hiccupped.
Sirius cradled Harry's head to his chest, and rubbed soothing circles onto his back, "I know you are Pup, it's all over, you're all forgiven now," he promised. He knew he had to say something else though, "however, if you're ever sent home from school again, official suspension or not, you'll be over my lap every night until you are back at Hogwarts. Suspensions are serious business and can disqualify you from being a prefect or becoming Quidditch Captain," he stated seriously.
Harry shook his head rapidly, "I won't, I won't do anything to get suspended," he insisted.
Sirius allowed a small smile and kissed the top of Harry's head, "I'm glad to hear that. I love you so much Pup," he crooned softly.
Harry hugged in tightly to his Godfather, "I love you too Sirius," he murmured thickly.
~o~
So, there you go, that was chapter twelve. Please review to let me know what you thought. I really hope you enjoy this story as I certainly had a lot of fun writing it! A slice of Molly Weasley's Treacle tart for those who do review! I hope to see you all next week for the thirteenth and final chapter.