Harry walked stiffly down the corridor. When he felt at a safe distance he looked around to make sure there wasn't anybody who could see him and started rubbing his aching backside. However, it didn't help much. He then decided to look for a bathroom where he might inspect the damage. Turning around a corner he almost bumped into Ron and Hermione who were pacing the corridor nervously, obviously waiting for him.

‘Harry!' Hermione exclaimed when she caught sight of him, ‘How..?' But she didn't finish the sentence when she saw his face. Harry was sure she had noticed that he had been crying.

‘Are you alright, mate?' Ron asked in an uncertain voice.

‘I'm okay,' Harry lied.

‘Oh, Harry, what happened?' Hermione asked very quickly, ‘There were rumours that you almost killed Malfoy, and Colin Creevey said he saw you and Snape in the Great Hall and Snape was carrying a cane!  He didn't, did he Harry?'

‘Let's not talk about it here, Hermione,' Harry said pointing with his head to where he had come from. ‘I'm not so keen on meeting Snape again when he goes to dinner.'

‘Of course,' she replied, ‘Anyway, we thought you probably wouldn't want to have dinner. Fancy a walk around the lake? I've brought sandwiches just in case. I asked Dobby to prepare them for us.'

‘Thanks, Hermione. I'm going to wear my Invisibility Cloak until we get there.'

A little while later they were walking along the lake shore. Ron and Hermione listened silently when Harry told them what had happened in the bathroom.

‘Honestly, I was glad Snape came in, although he scared the wits out of me,' he finished.

‘Oh Harry, how terrible!' Hermione struggled for words. ‘But what were you thinking? I always told you this book of yours wasn't to be trusted!'

‘Come on, Hermione, give it a rest,' Ron said. ‘So what happened next? Did Snape really cane you?'

Harry blushed. Both of his friends were looking at him with concerned expressions on their faces. However, seeing how much they worried and cared about him, Harry decided not to hide anything from them.

‘Yeah, he did,' he admitted slowly and heard them both gasp in shock.

‘But surely Dumbledore wouldn't allow...' Ron suggested.

‘He did. Snape took me to his office, and Dumbledore said he would expel me if it weren't for Voldemort, so that's why they came up with ‘corporal punishment', as he put it.'

‘Bloody hell...' Ron muttered, whereas Hermione merely looked at Harry with a thoughtful expression on her face.

‘But Dumbledore hasn't ever done that before, has he?' Ron stammered, ‘And even if he was so determined to tan your hide, couldn't he think of anybody else instead of the greasy git? He must have known that Snape could probably kill you!'

‘Well,' Harry began, feeling awkward, ‘he actually gave me the choice between Snape and himself.'

‘And you chose Snape?? Are you mental?!' Ron stared at Harry, his mouth open.

‘I don't know,' Harry said, ‘It was just.... Dumbledore was so disappointed...the way he looked at me.... and I just thought I couldn't bear it if he beat me as well.'

‘Yeah, well, but still...Snape...'

‘So Harry,' Hermione interrupted him, ‘when Professor Snape punished you, was he very ... mean?'

‘Yeah, sure, I mean, he hit me really hard.  Honestly, I never thought that a caning could possibly hurt that much. That man's got some strength in his arm...'

‘Yes, but I meant, did he make fun of you?  Did he tease you about it?'

‘Well,' Harry began, looking slightly confused as he thought about Hermione's question. ‘To tell you the truth, not as much as you'd think. On our way to the dungeons he did, saying things like I'd even topped my dad's performance...oh, and he did say that he was going to enjoy it. But once we got there, he just told me to bend over, and he counted the strokes. That was basically it,' he finished somewhat surprised at his teacher's behaviour.

‘Git,' Ron muttered, ‘Tormenting you by counting the strokes... I'm sure he loved that!'

‘Well, actually, it sort of helped,' Harry admitted. ‘And he sort of helped me through the last strokes, telling me it was almost over.' He couldn't believe it: was he really defending Snape? ‘But before I left he told me I would have my first detention tonight, and he forbid me to reduce my pain!' he added sighing.

‘So are you going to do what he says?' Ron asked.  ‘Dobby could probably nick some more Murtlap essence for us.  I'm sure it would work on your bum as well as it did on your hand... You don't have to tell him about it.'

‘Yeah, I guess so,' Harry answered thoughtfully.

‘No, Harry, please don't even think about it!' Hermione shouted. ‘You'll be in so much trouble!'

‘But Snape won't find out!' Ron insisted. ‘And it's just mean to forbid him to treat his bum.  Why shouldn't Harry do it?'

‘Because Snape obviously considers Harry's present aching as part of the punishment!  I don't even want to think about what he'll do if he finds out that Harry didn't follow through with it! And Snape would find out! Why do you think he scheduled the first detention for tonight? He's not stupid, Ron!' She sighed. ‘Harry, please, for once, listen to me. You didn't with the book, but please do now...'

Harry gave her a little smile. ‘Okay, Hermione, I won't do anything. Maybe you're right about tonight's detention.  All the others are on Saturday mornings.'

‘Saturday?' Ron asked, ‘But that's our last Quidditch match!'

‘Oh, no...' Harry groaned. ‘I forgot about that!'

‘You forgot about Quidditch? But you are our captain!'

‘Maybe you can persuade Professor Snape to postpone your detention,' Hermione suggested, but she didn't sound too optimistic. ‘By the way, we should return to the castle. You don't want to be late for your detention, do you, Harry?'

‘No,' Harry said, shuddering at the thought of Snape's reaction. ‘Definitely not. Besides I also have to find Malfoy and apologize...if he's out of the hospital wing already...'

‘Blimey, you have to apologize to him? I think I'd rather be caned!' Ron shouted.

‘Believe me, Ron, you wouldn't,' Harry said with a painful smile, ‘at least not by Snape.'

‘Sorry, mate,' Ron replied, looking slightly embarrassed and muttered ‘greasy git' under his breath.

‘Oh Ron, come on! From what Harry's told us it sounds as if for once Professor Snape has been treating him fairly!' She turned to Harry who had emitted a snort. ‘Honestly Harrry, I know it probably still hurts a lot, and I do feel sorry for you, but, well ...you have to admit that you deserved it...'

‘Well yeah, maybe,' Harry replied, taken aback by Hermione's approval of what had happened to him, ‘but that doesn't mean I have to like it or think that Snape's fair now!'

‘Well,' Hermione inquired, ‘do you regret choosing Snape instead of Dumbledore? Do you think Dumbledore would have punished you less?'

‘How am I supposed to know? He couldn't have hit me like Snape did...maybe he would have hexed me, but no, I don't regret it. I guess Snape could have done more to humiliate me, but for some odd reason he didn't. Mind you, I still have detention with him, so that's probably when it will happen.'

‘Maybe,' Hermione said thoughtfully. ‘But maybe not. I can imagine that he felt you'd shown a certain amount of trust in him when you decided to be punished by him and the way he refrained himself from badgering you was his way of showing that he appreciated it.'

Harry and Ron looked at each other, each seeing the same bewildered expresion on the other's face.

‘Hermione,' Ron said, trying to sound polite, ‘we've always said you know about feelings and stuff, but I think this time you're talking nonsense!'

Harry nodded vigorously.

‘Well,' she replied sounding slightly offended, ‘you both think what you want to think. But if I were you Harry, I would honestly try to show Professor Snape some respect during tonight's detention!'

Ron shook his head, whispering something that sounded suspiciously like ‘barking mad' while Harry tried to keep a straight face when he imagined Snape and himself treating each other respectfully.

Meanwhile they had returned to the castle.

‘Don't worry about the others,' Ron said encouragingly, ‘after all, I'm a prefect and if anybody gives you a hard time about all this, they'll regret it.  Besides...' he grinned, ‘I can't imagine they feel too sorry for Malfoy, except for the Slytherins, maybe.'

‘We're going to wait for you in the common room after your detention,' Hermione added ‘no matter how long Snape keeps you. We'll stay up.'

‘Thanks,' Harry muttered and after a last grateful look at his best friends, he headed, once again, towards the dungeons.