Severus was not having a good afternoon. In his attempt to teach the fifth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class the finer art of potion making, five cauldrons had exploded, three had melted, and currently fifteen members of the class were holed up in the infirmary while Madam Pomfrey tried to banish their unsightly outbreaks of boils. The one bright spot on the horizon had been finishing lessons an hour early, however, that bright spot quickly diminished into an eruption of fury as he saw Harry bloody Potter flying his damn broom unsupervised.

Severus ran as fast as he could, his robes flapping behind him, and reached the bank of the lake just in time to witness Harry tumbling fifty feet. He felt a stabbing pain in his chest and wasted precious seconds locating his wand before wielding a hurried non-verbal accio. Harry slid of his broom, and shot forwards into Severus’ arms. Without a word he put the boy onto the ground and began to walk back towards the dungeons with a grim look of determination fixed on his face, all the while keeping a firm grip on Harry’s wrist.

****

Harry was shaking. He knew that he was being silly. Daddy had explained countless times that even when someone was angry with him for disobeying – they loved him, nonetheless. Harry knew that Severus was beyond furious. He wasn’t saying anything, silence always being a sign of the man’s wrath. Severus’ lips were pursed together in an angry line, his black eyes glaring straight ahead, and his hold on Harry’s hand was rather firmer than usual.

Harry feared for his behind, remembering what Daddy had promised him would happen if he were to be caught flying on his own.

Ouch.

****

There was no way that Severus could deal with Harry right now. He knew better than to start yelling at Harry, for it would only make the boy frightened and that wasn’t the purpose of a telling off. The idea was that Harry learn from his mistakes by understanding – not just out of fear. Severus felt that a smidgeon of fear was healthy, but his own childhood had taught him the fine line between giving respect and cowering into submission.

The last time Harry had tried to fly without an adult present Severus had made it very clear what the consequences would be if he attempted to do so again. Severus was tired and irritable, he’d give anything just to be able to go back to the rooms and put his feet up and have a glass or two of elf-made wine. Alas, no. He had to punish his son so that he would learn (the hard way) not to go out and do something as dangerous and foolish ever again, for Severus was not a man who believed in delaying punishment, particularly with younger children. Severus had once wondered if Harry had got in the way of an obliviate spell ‘gone wrong’ during the early years of his infancy. Harry’s brain was like a sieve, which was part and parcel of the problem.

****

Severus softly murmured the password to his office and crossed the threshold with an unhappy Harry James Potter in toe. He wordlessly summoned a stool and placed it the corner of the room. He deposited the child on the stool so that his nose was pressed right up against the wall.

“You will sit here until you are told to move. If I find you off the stool you will be spending the entire weekend at Mr Filch’s beck and call.” Severus spat in a menacing tone of voice.

Severus opened the door connecting his office to his bedchamber. He wearily sat down on his bed. He put his head in his hands and sighed. He really did not want to have to punish Harry, but he was left with no choice. He had told Harry what would happen in explicit terms, the boy was clearly choosing to be disobedient and if Severus did not nip this behaviour in the bud, the child would perhaps go on to do all sorts of other recklessly dangerous things.

The fates were not on his side. Why could he not be raising a future Hufflepuff? A nice meek and mild-mannered child, one who would not constantly get himself into scrapes and who would take a bath willingly, without flooding the entire dungeon. Snape snorted, his little mischievous Gryffindor could run rings around any such child… Some of those Hufflepuffs had the intelligence of a flobberworm. Still, Severus supposed, they were moderately more tolerable than the know-it-all Ravenclaws who always tried to find a way to catch him out.

Severus sat still for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of Lily and Asphodel next door. Lily was singing a muggle nursery rhyme in her painfully off-key voice; it made him smile just to think of Asphodel’s little pink cheeks and her tiny tuff of red hair. She was the perfect mix of him and Lily. It made tangible the fact that he had missed out on these precious first months with Harry. He’d not seen the boy’s first steps, heard his first word… He had all these moments to come with Dell, but he would never be able to experience them with Harry. He felt sick to his stomach as he fell back to reality with a thud, he may not be able to go back in time – but he would jolly well make sure there were myriad moments still to come in his little boy’s life, moments that did not involve flying accidents before his tenth birthday.

Severus bent down and looked under the bed. He located the slipper and put it in a pocket of his robe. Bracing himself for what he was about to do, he took a deep breath, and opened the door back to his office.

****

Harry was sitting on the stool, proving that he could at least follow some instructions. He was feeling annoyed that he had been caught, but above all, he was wishing he had remembered what his Daddy had said he would do if he ever caught Harry flying a broom on his own again. If only he had remembered that before he decided to embark on his adventure! Daddy always kept his promises, and this was the worst kind…

It wasn’t fair. Harry was sure that other little boys didn’t have to spend all their time worrying about consequences. It was Daddy’s favourite word. He was forever saying ‘You have to think of the consequences of your actions.’

Blah blah blah was all Harry thought to that. Sure, if it was a matter of life and death, but really – just a little trip on his broom? It wasn’t like he was hurting anybody. Well, he supposed he could have fallen… And he was flying over the lake… Oh, and nobody knew he was on his own... But still, that was only him – he wouldn’t have hurt anybody else. Harry wondered if that would be an acceptable argument to use to weasel his way out of a spanking…

****

Severus marched back into his office and sat on his desk chair. He saw that Harry was following his order, for once, and called the boy over to him.

“Come.” He said, and his voice brokered no argument.

Harry slowly slid of his stool and walked over to Severus’ side. He knew what was coming next and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Just to clarify, do you remember what I said would happen if you were to take a broom out on your own?” he asked.

Harry looked at his feet. He remembered, but the fact was that the words were not to his liking, and would not roll easily off any child’s tongue.

“You’d sp---- sp---- spank me.” Harry muttered, hoping that Severus would deem this humiliation enough and leave his behind well alone.

“Well, I am glad we got that cleared up.” Severus said in a decidedly casual tone of voice.

He pushed his chair back from the desk and reached out to pull Harry so that he was facing him. His hands moved to Harry’s trousers so that he could unfasten them. Harry made to push his Daddy away, but only received a light slap to his hand for his troubles.

Trousers and pants removed, Severus easily pulled the child over his lap and positioned him so that the target of his ire was easily accessible. He raised his hand in the air and brought it down with a tremendous smack. He planned to make an impression, both with his hand and the stern lecture he was going to deliver.

Harry tried to reach back to protect his poor, defenceless bottom but it was no use. Severus easily caught the little hand and pinned it to his back in a loose grip.

Smack, smack went the man’s other hand, and Harry found it hard not to kick his legs in frustration. Severus began his traditional lecture.

“You” smack “were told,” smack “not to fly” smack “on your own” smack, smack.

“I’m sowwie….” Harry sobbed, hoping his sincere voice would soften Severus’ steely resolve, but knowing deep down that Daddy never stopped before he was good and ready. Severus paused, and then became doggedly determined to carry on.

“Sorry isn’t good enough,” came his reply, as he brought his hand down again.

Harry thought that his bottom would surely ignite and set his Daddy’s hand on fire, which Daddy would justly deserve for hitting so hard. Every time he was spanked it felt worse than the time before. Daddy had a hand of steel, or so it felt like. Harry was sure he charmed it to be so.

“Little boys” thwack “should obey” thwack “their Mummy or Daddy” thwack “at all times” thwack, thwack.

Severus abruptly stopped spanking, and Harry felt surely that God or Merlin or Albus Dumbledore must have heard his fervent prayer. However, his relief was short lived.

Severus decided to deliver the rest of his lecture before alternating to the much-loathed slipper. He wanted Harry to be able to listen to what he had to say very clearly as he did not want to be in this situation again.

“You could have been killed Harry James Potter! Flying with out an adult present is utterly irresponsible, and YOU know better. If you were to fall midair what would have happened? You could have caused yourself an irreparable injury, just for the sake of a few minutes on a bloody broomstick. Had you not even thought to ask myself, or Pomona? Someone would have had the time to watch you, and we would have applied the appropriate safety parameters to your broom!

Do you not think, boy?

DO YOU NOT REALISE HOW TREASURED YOU ARE TO US? HOW DISTRAUGHT YOUR MOTHER AND I WOULD BE IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO YOU?”

Severus let his anger ebb away and took a few calming breathes. He could hear Harry’s whimpering and it all but broke his heart. He could not stop now, he had to keep his promise or else Harry would find something equally dangerous to do just to test the boundaries. He knew his son… If ever there was truly a blend of Slytherin and Gryffindor then it would be Harry, not that he would tell the child who had already picked up on ‘house politics’ and construed that Gryffindor was the ‘only’ place to be.

Severus took the slipper out of his pocket and steadied himself.

He smacked the slipper down on Harry’s pink bottom, delivering a total of seven spanks before he felt that Harry was suitably reprimanded. Harry’s legs were flailing, and his hands were firmly clenched around the folds of Severus’ long robes. His shoulders shaking with sobs and he cried out at each impact of the slipper.

Severus banished the slipper away and gave Harry’s behind one last almighty slap with his hand before flicking his wand to return Harry’s clothing to its rightful place. He let go of Harry’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, and began to pat the boy’s back, rubbing soothing circles to settle down his sobs and make sure Harry knew that he was still very much Severus’ beloved son.

****

Harry thought that he was on fire. Surely it wasn’t possible for a flimsy little slipper to sting so much? Harry hated slippers. Especially that slipper… He was sure that he had thrown it in the lake after Daddy had walloped him from here ‘til kingdom come for giving Dudley an acid pop. As soon as Harry felt back to his old self he was going to comb the apartment and destroy whatever slippers he found. Even his own! He felt quite sure that he would never be able to sit comfortably again, and swore that he would never make his Daddy mad ever again.

It made Harry feel miserable that he had upset his Daddy. He was pretty sure that it made Daddy sad to spank him, and he knew that Mummy would give Daddy an earful when she found out. Harry had to admit that he’d rather take Daddy’s punishment than Mummy’s. She always made him stay in his room and ‘think about his actions’ without any toys to play with. She forced him go to bed at a ridiculously early time, or gave him extra schoolwork to do and refused to let him have chocolate ALL week. He could barely stand it.

Harry quietened his sobs and tried to hoist himself off Severus’ lap. He stood up and put his hands behind his back to surreptitiously rub some of the sting out of his bottom.

****

Severus took Harry’s hand and led him back to the footstool in the corner. He picked Harry up, and sat him down firmly – again with his nose in the corner. He would have Harry sitting there for seven minutes - one for each year of his age - so that the boy could collect his thoughts and digest what had just taken place.

Severus always delivered his punishments in precisely the same order. He thought a routine was necessary for both himself and Harry, as it was something so wholly lacking from his own childhood. Tobias Snape had been an unpredictable man, with a volatile temper and the propensity to strike out without rhyme or reason. Tobias had not been one to think about consequences, thus Severus had not thought much of them either – leading him into make a mistake of an absolutely enormous magnitude during his last year as a student at Hogwarts.

James Potter had also been a somewhat impulsive man. It did not do well to speak ill of the dead, but James had proven himself, time and time again, to be the sort of man who rushed head first into a situation without thinking of the outcome. James wasn’t here anymore, and Severus was the only father figure Harry had truly known, therefore he was determined that history would not repeat itself. Harry was being raised by Severus’ ‘all actions have consequences’ mantra, and right now because of his rule-breaking Harry had a sore bottom and sitting on a hard, wooden stool for seven minutes served as a painful reminder that the boy would surely heed next time he even so much as thought of a broomstick.

Severus had been head of Slytherin House for close to six years, and in the capacity ‘loco in parentis’ he had had to discipline several of his ‘snakes’ (as they called themselves) in the very same fashion as Harry – spanking, corner, discussion.

For Harry, however, discussion always involved copious amounts of affectionate head patting, and other various forms of mollycoddling, all interspersed between Severus’ gentle scolding and Harry’s mournful apologies. Once Harry’s seven minutes corner-time was up, the child would gingerly hop back on his Daddy’s knee and no doubt start snuggling up against Severus’ chest. There they would stay until Harry indubitably make a cheeky remark, proof to father and son that his punishment was behind him and he was back to his happy-go-lucky self again.

****

Harry hated the stupid corner. He wondered if he could rub his behind quickly without Daddy seeing. He felt like a little kid, a five year old or something, being stuck in a timeout. He could hear the clock ticking and it felt like it was moving extra slowly, just to make Harry as uncomfortable as possible.

He squirmed and tried to shift his weight so that the pressure was on the tops of his (thankfully unpunished) thighs. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Daddy’s distinctly neutral face. Severus bent down so that he was on eye-level with the child, and Harry slid off the stool and leaned into his father’s forgiving embrace. Severus enveloped Harry in the folds of his cloak and carried him over to his desk chair. He sat down and positioned Harry so that they would be able to maintain eye contact for the rest of their conversation.

Severus gently patted Harry’s back.

“There, there. It’s all over Harry.” He said, mildly. Harry looked up at his Daddy with green eyes that were glistening with unshed tears. His lower lip quivered as he opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m sorry Daddy that I…” Harry’s throat caught in a sob that played on Severus’ heartstrings, “dis--- dis---obeyed you.”

“I’ll never do something you tell me not to again…” Harry finished, shakily – all the while looking at Severus with an utterly pathetic expression.

Severus leaned forwards and grazed a kiss to the top of Harry’s forehead. He knew through years of experience (as well as stocks of infinite wisdom, he liked to think) that this would not be the last time Harry found himself in this position – though it was touching that Harry could make such a sincere, heartfelt pledge.

He looked at the child with a searching gaze.

“I do not expressly forbid you from doing something just for my own amusement, Harry. You have to understand that.” He said, with a definite emphasis on the word ‘amusement.’

“I wanted to do a new trick that Charlie showed me…” Harry whispered into Severus’ chest, thinking that he should have stayed at home with Mummy, it would have been a lot less painful to say the least.

“Well, when you are a student and have been taught proper flying techniques you may undertake as many ‘tricks’ as you so wish. However, Mr Potter,” Severus said with a poke to Harry’s stomach, “you most certainly are not a student for another three years.”

Harry scowled at that reminder, and huffed out sigh of resignation. Severus raised an eyebrow and gave Harry a pointed look that clearly said ‘don’t even think about it.’

“I cannot impress upon you just how important it is that you do not take risks with your own life.” Severus reproached the little boy.

Harry moved a hand back to shield his rear in case Severus decided to demonstrate his meaning of the word ‘impress’ any further. Harry was quite positive that Daddy had firmly ‘impressed’ how important it was not to risk his life; in fact, Daddy had probably left his impression in the form of a handprint, so Harry thought that Daddy need not worry himself that he had not done his job properly.

Harry nodded his head solemnly and was rewarded with a pat to the head. Severus’ hand moved and rested on the back of Harry’s neck.

“You and I had a narrow escape with LeStrange and Pettigrew, surely you remember how utterly devastated Mummy was when we were hurt?” Severus said gravely, and Harry burrowed inside his robe so that Daddy wouldn’t see his face flush with shame.

A few minutes passed and both father and son sat in silence taking stock of the situation.

****

There was a knock at the door.

Severus extricated Harry from where he was clinging on his chest and pushed him forward so that he was sitting face forward in his lap, and tried to smooth down his messy black hair.

“Enter.” He called.

“Ahh, Severus – oh and Harry, what a pleasant surprise!”

Severus shot Albus Dumbledore a considered glance, knowing full well that the man was near omniscient so Harry’s presence in the office was no real surprise at all.

“Quite. To what do we owe the ‘pleasure’ of your company, Headmaster?” Severus frostily replied.

“Well, quite frankly I felt like a bit of a promenade, and before I knew it I found myself perusing your fine collection of pickled molluscs.” Albus cheerfully answered the dour man.

“Fascinating.” Severus smirked.

“I suppose I did have an idea to run past you… It seems that Hagrid is in need of some help with a new project. We thought that you might like to volunteer young Harry, here. What with your teaching schedule and Lily tending to our new Miss Snape – I had gathered the impression that Harry might be in need of something to occupy his attention…” Dumbledore said with a knowing wink in Harry’s direction.

Harry sat up straight, alternating between looking at the Headmaster and his father. It would be Christmas come early if he got to hang around with Hagrid and look after all the forest animals. He might even get to see a baby unicorn again!

Severus was not fooled easily, he drawled, “And you just so happened to think of this?” scrutinising the Headmaster.

Dumbledore smiled and withdrew a chocolate frog from his pocket, which he then handed to Harry under Severus’ frowning eyes.

“It was just a thought, Severus. Old men like myself fill our heads with such an array of ideas. It just seemed like something you might approve of, Harry getting some exercise and plenty of fresh air… rather than lazing around on his ‘behind’ all day…” Albus trailed off, smiling serenely at the now blushing Harry Potter and darkly scowling Severus Snape. He took a lemon drop from his pocket, put it in his mouth and left the office as quickly as he came.

“Bloody interfering old coot…” Severus muttered, looking up in sudden surprise as Harry reached out and smacked his Daddy’s leg.

Harry pasted a mock-serious frown on his face, “Respect your elders, Daddy! Don’t be so naughty!” Harry then slipped off his father’s lap and made for the door before Severus had time to retaliate with a tickling hex.

“Brat.” He mumbled fondly, with a smile on his face.