When Harry woke up the next morning, he had a moment of panic before he remembered where he was. He grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and looked around the room as the events of the night before came flooding back to him.

He hated to admit it, but he’d actually slept quite well. The bed was large and comfortable, and although the room was hardly what one would call cheery, there was a warm quality to the dark wood and the velvet curtains that hung over the windows.

Harry washed up quickly in the bathroom and put on his clothes from the day before.  He considered staying upstairs until someone came to get him, but decided he could be waiting there all day; besides, there wasn’t really much to do up in his room besides lay there and think about all of the horrible things that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours.

When he arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Harry could see Snape sitting in the living room with a cup of tea, looking quite pensive.

“Nice of you to make an appearance Potter," Snape said, as he put his teacup down. “And before you start whining about being hungry, breakfast is laid out in the kitchen.”

“Um, thanks,” Harry said as he made his way toward the kitchen, not wanting to invite any unnecessary conversation.  To be honest he was starved; he never got much to eat at the Dursley’s anyway, but last night he hadn’t eaten at all since the drama went down before dinner was ever served.

Harry walked into the kitchen, and began to make himself a plate of toast and jam, grabbing a boiled egg at the last minute when his stomach gave an angry growl. Snape had gotten up from the couch and followed closely behind Harry, making him a bit uncomfortable with his brooding presence. Harry ignored the Potions Master and took a seat at the table so he could start working on his breakfast. He wasn’t much of a morning talker, and was really hoping he could just eat his breakfast in peace.

“I’ll get to the point, Potter,” Snape huffed as he sat down across the table from Harry, both arms on the table as he leaned forward. “You’ll be spending the rest of the summer here with me."

Harry's heart sank, but he kept eating his food, trying not to give Snape the satisfaction of a reaction. This was worse than he thought; if he had had any idea he could end up with Snape for the whole summer, maybe he would have tried a little harder to keep his magic under control. This was way worse than any punishment the Ministry could have given him. And what was Dumbledore thinking, just leaving him here with Snape? He knows how Snape feels about him!

“Believe me, Potter, I’m as thrilled as you are. But this is the way it is, so the sooner you get used to the idea, the better things will be. There will be no complaining or begging to Dumbledore, everything has already been arranged and I will be responsible for you until the fall.”

All of a sudden Harry began to feel ill. There were more than two months left until the next term started, and he couldn’t imagine spending that much time stuck here with Snape.

His mind began spinning and he could feel his emotions rising up. He pushed his plate away and stood up from the table. There had to be a way out of this, he couldn’t stay here, he would go insane!

“Sit back down, Potter, and eat your breakfast. I’m in no mood to play games with you this morning.”

The patronizing tone in Snape's voice put Harry over the edge and his frustration with the whole situation started to boil over.

“You’re in no mood? Well I’m in no mood to spend the rest of my summer living here with you!” Harry yelled, storming off from the table, his chair making a thud as it crashed to the floor behind him.

 Harry bolted out into the hallway, suddenly realizing he had probably made a mistake storming away from the breakfast table like that, but now that was already committed to this little outburst, he decided to make his way to the front door. He made it all the way to the foyer when he felt a strong grip on his arm, jerking him backward like a rag doll.

“I’ve put up with your disrespect long enough, Potter. You may get away with it at school, but the hell if I’m going to let you act like such an impertinent brat in my house.”

Snape dragged Harry by the arm back toward the living room. Harry struggled to get his arm free, but Snape was much stronger. At one point Harry lifted both of his feet off the ground and tried to force all of his weight down so Snape would let go, but he didn’t let go, he lifted him straight up in the air and gave him a sharp slap on the butt before continuing to drag him toward one of the couches in the living room.

“Let go of me!!! You can’t treat me like this, you’re hurting me! Stop it!!!” Harry screamed as Snape grabbed both of his arms and turned him around to face him eye to eye.

“Enough, Potter! You have had this coming for a long time, but now that you are living in my house, you are under my rules, and I will not tolerate your outrageous behavior.”

Without further discussion, Snape sat down on the couch and pulled Harry across his lap and began to spank the boy. Harry was kicking and screaming, but Snape was unaffected, and he continued to rain down smack after smack on the boy’s small backside.

“Stop it! Please, Snape!!” Harry yelled, overcome with emotion from the shock of what was happening to him, and everything else that had come to pass over the last day or so. The pain was beginning to build up in his backside, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take, not to mention the humiliation of being over his teacher’s knee like a naughty kindergartener.

“I will stop when I feel like you’ve had enough,” Snape said, barely missing a beat. “I should have done this last night, for making me give up a peaceful evening at home to come cleaning up yet another one of your messes!”

Snape felt relief at finally giving the boy his comeuppance. If you asked him, the boy could have used this at several points over the last year, but unfortunately this kind of old school punishments had become passé over the last several years. Although corporal punishment was no longer technically allowed at Hogwarts, there were occasions when Snape would dole out a smacking or two to members of his own house when they were seriously out of line. Dumbledore turned a blind eye as long as no one made serious complaints about it, and Snape found a little fear went a long way in keeping his Slytherins in line.

Smack, Smack, Smack, Snape kept a hearty pace as he enthusiastically continued the spanking. Harry thought it would never stop, but eventually Snape rested his hand on the small of Harry’s back and paused for a moment.

Harry was sobbing and his body was heaving with each cry, but he was no longer fighting against the punishment.

“In this house, Potter, you are a guest, and I am your guardian, and you WILL show me respect. Is that clear?” Snape asked, punctuating his question with a few more sharp smacks.

Harry, still crying freely, managed to sob out “Yes…” Smack “Oww, yes..ssssir.”

“Good, then get up and finish your breakfast and we will discuss all of this in a rational way. But if you cannot control your emotions, and you storm off again or talk to me rudely, you will find yourself back over my knee for a spanking that makes this one seem like a happy memory.”

Snape waited for Harry get up and watching the boy rub snot all over his hands and sleeves, he gave in and pulled out a handkerchief from one of his pockets.

Harry took the handkerchief without saying a word, still making little sobbing noises and obviously feeling quite sorry for himself. Snape was tempted to say something snide, but decided to hold back for the time being while Harry got himself together. It was fairly clear that the boy had never been spanked before, and he was quite distraught, so he figured he would spare the little brat even more embarrassment by saying nothing more about it.

After wiping his face and giving his bottom a good rub, Harry walked slowly back to the kitchen and sat back down (gingerly) at the breakfast table. He didn’t really feel like eating, but he also didn’t want to give Snape another reason to punish him, so he kept his head down and took his time putting jam on the toast before nibbling reluctantly at the corner of it.  

The two sat in silence for a few moments before Snape finally spoke up.

“Now, as I was saying before, you will be spending the rest of the summer here. I have signed a contract with Dumbledore and the Ministry giving me temporary guardianship for you over the summer. Part of that includes a statement saying that I am personally responsible for ensuring that you do NOT use anymore magic this summer, under any circumstance. So, you can see, Potter, that my name and reputation are on the line now, so I will be keeping you on a very short leash.”

Snape glanced over at Harry to make sure he was paying attention. Harry didn’t look up, too embarrassed to look his new guardian in the eyes, but he had heard every word. Very clearly.

“So what are you going to do with me, then? Lock me in a dungeon somewhere and chain me up until school starts?” Harry asked with a slight hint of indignation, but not enough to get him in trouble.

“Honestly, Potter, you’re such a drama queen,” Snape sighed, as he leaned back and took a long sip from his tea. “While it would certainly be much easier if I just threw you in a dungeon for the next few months, feeding you table scraps and ignoring you while I carried on with the many things I have planned, we have some serious work to do.”

“Work?”

“Yes, Potter, work. Do I need to define it for you? I know it isn’t a concept you are overly familiar with, but I’m afraid Dumbledore expects me to get this little “emotional magic” problem of yours under control before the Ministry decides to lock you up in kiddie Azkaban."

Harry looked up from his plate and his eyes got wide. “It isn’t a problem. It isn’t my fault, it just happens when other people are mean to me, when they say horrible things about me…my family…and I, I, “ and Harry started to cry again. He didn’t want to, but he started thinking about all of the terrible things the Durselys had said to him, especially Dudley who loved to rub it in that his parents were “freaks” and all sorts of other derrogatory words.

Snape stared at the crying boy for a moment and rolled his eyes. He really didn’t want to spend his summer dealing with an overemotional adolescent wizard. And not just any wizard, but Harry bloody Potter, the Boy Who Lived to annoy his professors by breaking the rules and looking for trouble at every turn. Seriously? This was going to be the savior of the wizarding world?

“Honestly, Potter, get a hold of yourself.” Snape wasn’t sure what else to say, that was pretty much as sympathetic as he could get. He knew it didn’t come out very well, but what was he supposed to do? Give the boy a hug and a damn lemon drop? He sighed to himself, shaking his head in disbelief at what his calm, peaceful summer had become. But he also thought about what Dumbledore had said to him the night before, and knew he had made a commitment to keep the brat safe, and help him get his magic under control before he really hurt someone, or himself.

“You don’t understand! You have no idea what I’ve been through!” Harry shouted, not caring anymore if Snape thought he was being rude. At this point his face had started to turn red and he was getting really angry.

“Watch your tone, Potter. Do not test me. I told you we could discuss things like rational people, but I will not continue to speak to you if you are going to throw a fit.”

Frustration was building up in Harry, and he knew something bad would happen soon. Snape could see it too, and he decided he had to put an end to it before things got out of hand.

Snape jumped out of his chair and swooped over to Harry, who had balled his fists up on the table and was breathing hard, tears streaming down his face. Harry braced himself for Snape to grab him, or slap him, but instead he felt a light pat on his shoulder.

“Take your dishes to the sink, Potter, and follow me to the study. We will have a cup of tea, read the Daily Prophet, and try to have this conversation again later- with a little less theatrics if you think can manage it.”

As Snape made his way toward the study, Harry sat there in disbelief, his balled up fists still on the table and the tears fresh on his face. He was shocked, and confused, but the angry feelings that had been welling up inside of him started to melt away. Not knowing what else to do, he took a deep breath, picked up his plate, deposited it in the sink and started following Snape down the hall, subconsciously reaching back to rub away some of the lingering sting in his backside.

“Well, this should be an interesting summer” Snape sneered quietly to himself as he pushed open the door to his study.