Severus let his instincts guide him. Instead of yelling at the boy or making Draco come to him, Severus went and sat down on the floor next to the boy. He sat there quietly, knowing that Draco would break before him.

As expected, Draco said, "Can I go back to my dorm?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to be near you anymore." A part of Severus was happy that the boy's temper was back. Maybe that was a route to purging all his feelings.

"What do you think?"

"Yes I can go. Good day, professor."

"When you get up, you will find yourself in the corner of the living room." Draco chose to stay seated.

Severus accioed a nutrient potion and placed it near the boy. When Draco made no move to take it, Severus held up one finger, then another. Draco understood that his godfather was counting and since nothing good ever came out of that, he took the potion. Then scrunched up his face as he complained, "You didn't flavor it, uncle sev!"

Severus wanted to grin at the 'Uncle Sev' but managed a neutral, "I don't want to seem to be encouraging nutrient potions instead of meals in any way."

When Draco said nothing, Severus took that as a sign to continue, "Why are you so angry, child?"

"You hit me!"

"I spanked you. You did something very wrong Draco and it is my responsibility to give you consequences for your actions to teach you right from wrong."

"It was just a word, you could have used words too. You didn't have to hit me."

"Trust me Draco, that word hurts so much more than my hand, or even my ruler or paddle ever could."

Draco rolled his eyes. That was Severus' cue to move on.

"And what will not eating achieve?"

"I just wasn't hungry."

"You're a growing boy, you're always hungry."

"I'm an orphan boy, I need to learn to survive on less." Severus almost laughed at that, the sole heir to the Malfoy fortune needs to learn to survive on less. He clearly recognised the 'orphan' comment to be the sympathy card that it was, but he couldn't bring himself to call out the boy on it.

"You're a Hogwarts student and a member of my house at that. You will eat sufficient and nutritious meals, this is not up for discussion."

When Draco said nothing, Severus prompted, "Am I clear?"

A grudging 'yes sir' was the response.

"Consider this your one and only warning. The next time I catch you not eating enough, there will be consequences young man."

"And how will I know that I have eaten enough? At least enough according to your standards because now apparently I don't even know how to judge my own hunger."

"I would have thought that a boy of 11 would know how to feed himself but since that is clearly not the case, you will find your plate to be magically filled at every meal and I expect it to be almost all eaten."

"You can't do that!"

"I can and I will. When will you learn to stop testing me Draco?"

"When will you learn to stop being a git, professor?"

Severus just raised his eyebrow in response. When Draco just continued to scowl, he decided that he needed to move things along. He got up, grabbed Draco's wrist and pulled him up. He walked out to his living quarters, led Draco to a corner, swatted him twice and said, "stay there."

Severus longed for a shot of firewhiskey but settled for a cup of tea. Once he felt confident in his occlumency shields, if not his feelings, he sat on the couch and said, "Front and center."

Draco didn't move. "Three, four, five" "Why are you counting? That's not going to do anything!"

"I'm not counting, I'm adding licks of the paddle. Six. Seven."

Draco had only ever gotten six so he went and stood in front of Severus. "Ten. Nice and even. I hope for your sake that you don't earn anymore."

Draco was finally realizing the gravity of the situation he was in. "You don't have to do this Uncle Sev. I'm sorry. I was upset and I lashed out. I promise I'll do better. Can we cuddle and talk now?"

"Certainly, Draco. But you will be getting the spanking you earned. I'll let you decide which one you want to do first."

"Aww why do you have to spank me Uncle Sev? That's what started all this in the first place!"

"Is that what you think? Then I clearly didn't spank you thoroughly enough. I'll endeavor to do better this time."

"Arrghh I hate you and I hate that I'm stuck with you. I miss my parents. I want my mom!" And Draco started bawling.

Severus felt out of place for a moment but then reached out to pull Draco into a hug. But Draco pushed him away as he said ,"Don't touch me!"

"Dragon, come let me comfort you."

"No. You're going to hit me. You can't do both. Choose one."

"I'm sorry, Dragon. But as your Godfather both of those are my responsibilities."

"No, your responsibility is to love me!"

"I do, child, more than you'd ever know!"

"What is the point of your love if I don't feel it?"

That unnerved Severus a little. He was silent for a few moments.

Severus' silence unnerved Draco. Eventually, he ventured, "Can we please forget all this and cuddle with some ice cream?"

"I know you won't possibly believe me if I say that I wish for nothing more than that. But the answer is no, takes many forms and consistent discipline is one of them. Let's get this over with. Come here."

"No! No! No! You can't do this! Please don't do this! Please" and Draco started crying again. Severus made up his mind, held Draco's wrist and pulled him towards his lap as he sat on the couch. He laid Draco over his knees and pulled his pants down. He silently accioed his brush and the paddle. He hesitated for a moment but then placed the two objects on the floor where Draco could see them clearly and know what was to come next. He hated it when Albus did this to him but he couldn't debate against its effectiveness.

As he brought his hand down on the upturned bottom, Draco seemed to have abandoned any attempts of controlling himself and screamed and howled. Severus could easily make out that much of it was a show to gain sympathy but it made his heart hurt drew on his years of occlumency practice and gave the boy the punishment he had earned. Once he was satisfied with the rose color of Draco's bottom, he pulled down the boy's shorts and picked up the brush. Draco looked back at him with tears in his eyes. He opened his mouth, about to say something then turned back and lied limply on his lap. Severus shook that image out of his head and brought the brush down till Draco's bottom was a bright red. He then quickly switched to the paddle, wanting the punishment over with so that he could cuddle and comfort. He would have normally lectured and asked questions throughout the spanking but with Draco's howls it did not sound like he had the breath to give any answers so he had some mercy on the boy but he doubted the boy would realize or recognise that.

When he had given the last swat, he gratefully banished the implements and moved his hand to start rubbing Draco's back. He did that for a few minutes but then Draco realised that the punishment was over and choked, "May I get up, sir?"

He would have liked to rub the child's back till he had his sobbing under control but reluctantly moved his hand and said, "yes."

Draco stood there for a few moments, then choked out, "may I be excused sir?"

"Excused to?"

"My dorm?"

"No. You're staying here for the foreseeable future."

"Then my allotted room here?" Severus did not miss the change of reference to his room.

"Let me comfort you."

"I'll feel a lot better by myself, sir."

"Draco, it's over. Please learn your lesson and let it go. Don't drag it any further."

"Yes sir. I have learnt my lesson."

"And what lesson will that be?"

"No calling anyone any names, no skipping meals, no seeking comfort in the potions lab and basically no asking you to love me."

"Child, you don't have to ask me to love you. I will always love you, no matter what."

When Draco didn't respond, Severus prompted, "hmm?"

"I don't believe you or trust you, sir."

That hurt Severus more than he would care to admit. So he said, "You're excused. I hope you feel better soon. I expect you to be ready on time to have breakfast. We will be eating in my quarters. Also, I will be stepping out for a bit, the headmaster has requested a meeting. I expect you to rest and study in the meanwhile alright? Feel free to grab a snack from the kitchen."

"Yes sir."

That had been Severus' last interaction with Draco before meeting with Albus and then Madam Pompfrey. He now sat anxiously at the dinner table, waiting for Draco to show up and trying to come up with the right things to say to the boy.