Draco struggled against Severus but the teacher was able to position him across his lap fairly easily.

"Settle down, Draco," Snape instructed with the first spank.

"Please don't, Uncle Sev. I promise I'll do whatever you say."

"You were already supposed to do that and this is a reminder to do better in the future." Snape kept on a steady rhythm.

They were both quiet for a few minutes and then Draco burst into sobs.

Snape took that as his cue to ask, "why are you getting punished Draco?"

"Because … because"

Snape gave him a moment to gather his thoughts but when no further words were coming, gave him two more spanks.

"I hate you!"

Snape sighed internally and increased the force behind the swats. "Draco, don't make this worse for yourself. You have eaten and slept, not that those are a good excuse for shoddy behavior, but even those are not the case right now. Use your head and answer the question!"

"Because I challenged another student to a duel which is against the rules and would have involved breaking curfew Sir, please stop!"

Snape was a little surprised by the honest, sudden and rather early confession. The boy generally took much longer during his spanking to see sense.

"And why is that wrong?" Snape kept spanking.

"Because it is dangerous and against the rules and I must not put myself in danger and I must not do anything to malign the name of Slytherin house and I must not break curfew and sleep at the designated time!" Draco almost screamed.

Snape was pleasantly surprised by this list and decided to reward Draco's clear, coherent admission of guilt by announcing, "30 more with the ruler, brace yourself."

Snape silently accio-ed the ruler and started spanking. Draco was sobbing very loudly and would have squirmed himself off the potions master's lap if not for the silent sticking charm but there were no more pleas to stop or about how unfair this was. Snape was finding this unconventional behavior surprising.

He kept going and when he reached half way, took a pause and said, "are you learning your lesson?"

"Yes sir."

"And what lesson will that be?"

"Follow all the rules Sir."

Snape was willing to accept that answer for now and moved to complete the spanking.

After the last spank, he put the ruler aside and moved to rub Draco's back. "You did well Dragon, I'm proud of you. You took your spanking well and understood what you did wrong. I know you'll do better next time, hmm?"

All he got in response was a "may I get up sir?"

"Yes." Snape moved to help the child but Draco crossed his arms around his torso, blocking Snape's hands. Snape gave the child a moment to right his clothes then said, "want a hug?"

"No Sir."

Snape sighed then rubbed his hand across his face and said, "Corner."

He expected something like 'so now saying I don't want a hug from you gets me corner time' but the boy went without a fuss.

Snape kept staring at Draco's back and wondering what he should do. He knew that if he just let Draco go now, the boy would sulk for weeks and he didn't want to deal with that. He wanted this episode to be over.

He got up and made himself some tea. Then he poured two more cups of tea and put out Draco's favorite biscuits.

"Draco, you may come out of the corner now."

Draco walked over to the table where Severus was seated and stood with his hands behind his back and his head down.

"Come, join me for tea."

Draco sat down. Snape took multiple sips of his tea as Draco just sat there.

"Want a cookie, dragon? They're your favorite."

"No thank you sir."

"How are your classes going?"

"I have an O in all subjects except an E in History of magic."

"What are you working on these days?"

"I have an essay due in divination and potions this week?"

"Would you like to discuss your potions essay?"

"No sir."

Snape sighed. "How is Quidditch going?"

"I want to quit sir."

"Why?"

"It's not fun anymore sir."

"What changed?" Snape was confused, Quidditch has been a constant love for the child since he was like 6 and got his first kid broom. "Do you just want a new broom?"

"No sir."

"Are you planning to go to the Quidditch store during the coming Hogsmeade visit?"

"No sir."

"I'm not going to Hogsmeade sir."

"Why not? If Lucius hasn' got back with the signed form yet, Ican sign on his behalf as your godfather."

"I don't want to go sir."

"Why?"

"I'm just not feeling like it sir."

"So you just plan to suk around the castle all day while your friends are away?"

"Yes sir."

"Won't that cause a significant dent to your candy stash?" Severus tried humor.

"I don't care sir."

"I'm hearing a lot of don't cares and don't feel like its. What do you feel like doing?"

"I'd like to go home sir." Draco had never once asked to go home when he was around Severus. He would throw a rather rough tantrum every time he had to leave after spending a part of the summer with him, even if Severus had punished him earlier that day.

"What would you do at home?"

"I don't know, just be there, sir. Sleep."

"Aren't you sleeping well in your dorms here?"

"Yes, no, I don't know sir."

"Do you need a visit to Madam Pomphrey?"

"She won't heal my pain sir."

"Why not?"
"Because it is from punishment, sir."

Snape sighed. "If you aren't able to sleep because of the pain of the punishment after 2 days, let me know and I'll heal you."

Silence.

"I expect a response."

"That is very messed up, sir."

"How so?"

"Why would you cause the pain in the first place?"

"Are you saying that you won't learn your lesson after 2 days? And mind your tone."

"Yes sir. Sorry sir."

"Alright then, what would you like to do until bedtime? Want to play a game or would you like to make a potion? Or just read together?"
"May I just go to bed early?"

"No you may not. Draco I am tired of this whole ordeal and the sulking. And I am fairly sure so are you. You received a fair and just punishment. Please accept it and move on and let us spend some positive time together."

"That is so easy for you to say! Your butt isn't the one on fire."

"I can increase that fire and also make you sit on a surface much harder than that heavily cushioned chair."

"I don't know what you want from me sir."

"Just pick something Draco."

"I don't want to do anything with you."

"Your other option is to write lines sitting on a wooden bench."

"Just because I don't want to spend time with you, you can't punish me!"

"I can do it to break you out of your sulk."

"I am not sulking sir."

Snape spelled some paper and a quill in front of Draco.

"6 Feet essay about how you are feeling, why and how you can resolve it. Feel free to come and talk to me about the same if you happen to grow some sense and don't want to write all that down."

With that Snape got up and walked away, letting his cape swish behind him.