Severus Snape gazed at the small bottom of the boy across his lap. Severus' hand was stinging after the tenth spank and he guessed that the small boy's bottom was already red enough, so he ended the spanking with two more smacks over the sitting spots.

Harry was sniffling as he pulled him up, tears streaking down his cheeks. The boy was the picture of contrition.

“Stand in the corner, Mr. Potter and think about what you have done. I am going to see to Mr. Malfoy and be back in twenty minutes.”

Harry felt Snape’s hand pushing him gently to the corner. He could not see with the tears in his eyes. His backside was throbbing, and he knew this was a very big mess.

He stood in the corner and felt a tissue being placed in his hand.

“Do not move from there, Mr. Potter, we will talk when I’m back.”

Harry sniffled… he knew that Malfoy was going to be treated to the same… and he knew that he had something to say, he sniffled again and said “Professor…”

“Yes, Mr. Potter?”

“It was not Malfoy’s fault… I just hit him…”

“Wasn’t he teasing you, Potter, about your homework...?”

“No, Sir. He… only… he only asked me where I had placed his slippers… He said that… if I was coming here this afternoon I could find his slippers and place them where he could find them.”

“Why did you hit him then?”

“I don’t know…”

Snape sighed. What was going on inside this child’s head? Anyway he had to hear Draco’s version.

“Think about it while you are standing there… I will require an answer when I come back.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Snape went to his study and used the floo to call the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey informed him that Draco was all right, his nose had stopped bleeding, it was not broken and the bruise on his face would be gone by the morning.

“Don't you want to have a talk with the young fighter, Severus?”

“Not at all Poppy, might you keep him for the night?”

“I was going to suggest that he stay here, but I am sure that he will not sleep until he talks to you…”

Snape took more floo powder, threw it into the fireplace and stepped into the infirmary.

Draco was half-sitting, half-laying on the bed, he had a small towel in his hand and cleaned his eyes and nose alternatively. He saw his Head of House enter the room.

Snape sat on a chair in front of the blond boy. There was a tray with food by the bedside, it looked like it had not been touched.

“Professor… I am sorry…” After the failed duel in the Armor room, Severus had promised heavy pains if either of the children got into another fight with each other particularly.

“What did you tell him, Mr. Malfoy?”

“Nothing… nothing sir, I was just asking for my slippers… I don’t know why he got angry…” Snape kept quiet. Malfoy was distressed… but Snape couldn’t figure out why. Malfoy should be angry, he should be threatening to call his father and to sue the school and the Gryffindors…! “I thought that… I know he is not my friend, but… he helped me when we had the accident… and we were in detention together… Why was he so upset?"

“I don’t know, Mr. Malfoy, but I will try to find out. Meanwhile you will stay here, eat your dinner, then go to sleep and we will talk in the morning.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Draco cleaned his eyes again.

“Am I in trouble, Professor…?”

“Not at all. Mr. Potter said that it was not your fault.”

“Thank you, Sir…”

Snape went back to his quarters. He used the floo again.

“Mr. Potter, you may leave the corner now. Come here…”

Harry turned and cleaned his nose. The tissue was already wet… Snape gave him a clean one and sat in a chair by the table. Harry stood close.

“How is Malfoy?” Did he have a right to ask? He remembered that soft feeling as his hand connected with the blond-boy’s nose… was it broken? Was he really worried for Malfoy?

“The bleeding has stopped and his nose is all right. He will stay for the night in the infirmary…”

Harry was relieved. It had only been one punch but he had thrown it with all his might…

“I guess I should apologize…”

“You will. Have you thought about why you hit him?”

“Yes, Sir… but… I am not sure… This morning everything just started to go wrong.”

It was the second Potions Lesson of the New Year. Snape was not in a good mood. He had had a very busy week, he’d have been called almost every afternoon for consultation to St. Mungo’s and had to brew special potions; he had gone to sleep late every night, keeping up with grading essays and homework, and he had already contained an explosion in his third year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class, that morning.

His first year Gryffindors and Slytherins felt the tension, and for once, did not cause any kind of emergency. He had the papers he graded on the desk. He was not happy about them either. Particularly on the one the green-eyed menace delivered. As he looked at Potter mincing the nightshade, he was planning to have him clean cauldrons all afternoon during detention… At the end of the double class he passed back the graded papers. He felt Potter’s eyes on him. Surely the child thought that he had successfully deceived him… well he was in for a surprise…

“Granger… You must learn to say more with less words. From now on your will only deliver 2 feet maximum…”

Harry flinched, Hermione was always adding facts to her compositions. He saw her receiving the paper and her face turned red.

“Mr. Malfoy. Good job.” The blond boy smirked proudly… Harry was expecting his name to be next. Everyone knew by now that Snape gave back the papers in a special order. The first was always the best… He knew his paper was good. May be not as good as Hermione’s or Draco’s… But he had researched all the facts and the properties of neuro-toxic venoms, and had also looked for the characteristics of the creatures that produced them. He had delivered 4 feet instead of the required 3, and had written it three times, until his letters were all round and without blotches, he was hoping for Snape’s approval.

Harry was disappointed when Snape kept delivering the papers and he was not called. Had Snape kept his paper because it was so good…? fat chance! Snape gave back the last paper and he realized that he was the only one missing. He felt bats inside his stomach…

“Potter…” Harry extended his hand and saw that his paper had a big F in red ink and detention was written beside it… He looked at the papers and saw that the pages were criss-crossed with the same red color… why? He was so confused and angry that he missed the last instructions that Snape gave to the class. He heard a loud buzz in his ears, and Ron had to nudge him to make him place his things inside his bag. How could this be possible? He had invested so much time… He walked following his friends but was detained by Snape’s voice before he reached the door. The man sounded angry!

“Detention, Potter, today at six. My study. Be ready to wash cauldrons.”

Harry only nodded… he was so confused.

He walked out to the corridor and saw that Ron and Hermione were waiting for him by the stairs. He heard steps behind him and turned… It was Malfoy…

“Potter… if you are going to Snape’s quarters tonight… Please look for my slippers. Snape told me that you used them on New Year, but I can’t find them…”

This was the last straw… Snape had failed him in his homework but allowed Malfoy to sleep in his quarters… Harry did not allow the other boy to finish his speech, he punched him in the nose. The rest of the events were a blur inside his head.

Hermione and Ron had run towards him, but strong arms had literally pulled him up... Looking down, he saw Malfoy with blood in his nose… He was placed, not too gently, inside the potions classroom again and told to stay there. He stood repeating the punch inside his head. He heard that Madam Pomfrey was called and Malfoy covered in blood was taken to the infirmary floating in a stretcher.

He had hit Malfoy! Snape was going to kill him. And he already had detention… The buzz had left his ears as heavy lead landed inside his stomach… Snape entered the classroom… and looking at Harry with his piercing eyes said. “Explain, Mr. Potter…”

Harry only looked at his hands, one of them had blood in the knuckles; they were placed over his lap. He moved the hand and felt pain in the knuckle. There was no way for this man to be proud of him… ever! Snape saw that they were being watched from the corridor, so he pulled the kid up and took him to his quarters, once there he sat on a straight backed chair and stood Potter beside him.

“You know that you shouldn’t fight with your classmates… Mr. Potter. Don’t you?”

Harry nodded and found his shoes very interesting then. Snape used his hand to pull the child’s face and made him look him in the eye.

“A verbal answer…”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Do you have anything to say to explain your behavior?”

Harry looked at the black eyes and found only anger where he wanted something else… He was lost. He had lost it all…

“No, Sir.”

“So, do you know what to expect?”

“You are going to spank me,” Harry answered. Snape placed his hand on the child’s back and positioned him on his lap.

After talking with Malfoy, Snape wanted to get to the bottom of the problem.

“Sit here, Mr. Potter.”

Snape saw Harry flinch as his bottom made contact with the seat of the chair.

“Take out your essay and read it to me.”

Harry took out from his backpack the crumpled parchment and started reading. At first his voice was a little chocked but he kept on reading. He stopped when he arrived to the page that was crossed in red… he realized that he was reading the same thing that was in the first and second pages… how could that be? He understood now… he had copied the same part…

“This is wrong…”

Snape could see genuine confusion. The child had made a mistake, he had not tried to deceive him, by placing copies of the essay in hope that he would be too busy to read it complete…

“I take that you did not read your paper before delivering it, Mr. Potter.”

“I did… I read it many times… Sir, but… last week… I tried to write the letters perfectly and… I was not trying to deceive you, Sir… Please believe me… I can show you… I have the paper here…” Harry looked in his school bag and took out a bunch of papers, he placed them on the table and looked through them while apologizing… “I am so sorry… I was tired, but I kept copying and… Here… this is it.” Harry gave Snape a bunch of crumpled papers.

Snape took them and looked through. He saw that there was a part that Harry had not copied…

“Why was it so important, Mr. Potter?”

Harry was picking at his nails.

“Mmm? Sorry, Sir?”

“Why was this homework so important? Why did you have to copy it so many times?”

“I don’t know… I wanted to show you that I could do it. I wanted you to tell me that I had done a good job…”

Snape left the child sitting at the table and went into his office, he returned with paper and quill in his hands. And  placing them in front of Harry, said.

“Well you have a chance to copy it once more, Mr. Potter.”

Harry looked at his professor incredulously.

“Really… Sir, but… you said…”

“You may come tomorrow to scrub cauldrons, Mr. Potter. I will give you three points for it.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Harry copied his essay once more. Seated on the chair he felt first, his bottom throbbing, and as the time passed his stomach started grumbling…

He remembered what Snape had said about meals… He turned to look at the clock in the wall, it was dinnertime. Harry heard Snape in the nearby room…

“Professor…?”

“Yes, Mr. Potter.”

“It is time for dinner… and I am a little hungry, I... it will take me a while to finish and… May I go to…? I will come back fast…”

“Get your hands washed, Mr. Potter, dinner is waiting in the kitchen.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Snape saw Potter run to the bathroom and heard the splash of water… How could it be…? The child had gone through so much in few hours, but still had energy to jump and run… Harry came back with clean face and hands.

Snape had ordered chicken broth with vegetables, chicken wraps and mashed potatoes… Harry knew that he was not completely out of disgrace, but if Snape was bringing food for him, it meant that he was still interested in him… was he not? He ate slowly, the food was good and his stomach was thankful after the emotions of the day. He was not surprised when at the end of the meal the plates vanished, but no dessert appeared.

Snape had a cup of coffee.

“Keep on with your work, Mr. Potter.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Harry took his papers and read them all again before starting writing again.

“Malfoy's slippers are on the bottom bookshelf, Sir…”

“Why did you place them there?” Harry shrugged and kept looking at his papers.

“I… thought that… after all you are his head of house and… I should know better… I was angry with him because… because you invited him to stay here. I thought that you… that you only allowed me to… and you were angry with me…” The man was going to make him say it all… why did he not read his mind this time?

“I do not make it a custom to have children sleeping in my quarters, Mr. Potter.”

“Don’t you…?”

“All the students have their own beds and dormitories. It is only in special occasions when I allow some one to stay on the couch.”

“You have let me…”

“I am your appointed guardian, Mr. Potter. I have to treat you differently from the rest of your schoolmates.”

“But Malfoy…”

“I have also a responsibility to the children that belong to my house, Mr. Potter. I am in charge of them while they are at school. There is always a special reason to allow anyone to sleep here…”

“I see. I am sorry… I thought… Would you let me take him his slippers to the infirmary…? he may need them.”

“He will only stay for the night. You may give them to him when you apologize.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Harry kept writing. This task seemed endless… he felt his hand cramping. It hurt where he had hit Malfoy.

“Have you finished, Mr. Potter?”

“No, Sir… I have still half a page to copy…”

“Mark your place and come here.”

Harry went to the living room. Snape was seated in one armchair and Harry sat on the couch.

This was hard for Snape. But the boy needed it. Snape was used to criticize and find fault in everything. He graded accordingly, but rarely said anything positive…

“Mr. Potter, since you arrived at Hogwarts you have learned a lot. You have learned to use your magic, and have coped with all the changes it implied for a child raised by Muggles. You should feel proud of yourself…”

“Do you think that I have… Sir?” Harry was not so sure.

“Yes, child. You have also followed the directions of Madam Pomfrey and you have gained weight. She wants to examine you once more, I think that she will be pleased with the results…”

“I wanted… I wanted you to be pleased with me, Sir…” Harry hoped that he had his invisibility cloak, that way Snape wouldn’t be able to see him…

“Is that why you copied your homework so many times, child?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You do not need to do that, Mr. Potter. I am pleased with you when you eat every meal on time and when you are in bed before curfew… I am pleased when you dress smartly… and follow your teachers’ requests.”

“But… you think I am stupid… I do not do well in Potions.”

“I know that you are trying and your homework was acceptable until I found that it repeated itself…”

“Then, do you like me? I know that you are taking good care of me but… I…”

Snape told himself that this was part of taking care of the child. He was not doing it because he felt like embracing the child… He sat beside Harry and passed his arm behind him. The child felt the arm and allowed himself to be hugged.

“When I was looking for the DADA classroom to defuse the explosives, I… found a mirror. It was a big mirror in a room, and at first I thought it was a normal mirror, but… If you… When I looked at it… it showed me my parents and my family. The Dursleys were not there. But my Father and Mother… I do not remember them really, and I have not seen pictures, but… everyone says that I look like him and that I have her eyes…”

“So you saw your parents in the mirror.”

“Yes, and suddenly I was not alone anymore…”

“Have you found the mirror again?”

“The following night and the next one… I used my cloak to roam the corridors, I had to see them again… I had to see if they were still there…”

“Were they?”

“Yes, every time, and they placed their hands over my shoulders and they looked happy… Professor Dumbledore said that the mirror showed me what I most wanted to see…”

“When did he say so?”

“The last night… the night before the explosives, he said that the mirror was only showing what was inside my head and heart and that… I shouldn’t look for the mirror again.”

“I understand that you miss your parents, child.”

“I know the are gone, even if I would like to have a picture… but the last time, I saw someone else in the mirror… Someone that is alive and…” Harry felt the warmth of the always-cold man. “You were in the mirror, Sir…”

Snape was dumbfounded… the child had copied a 4 pages essay several times to gain his approval, and had hit Malfoy out of jealousy… He had taken this task knowing that he could provide the child with stability and clear rules and guidance… when had that translated to warm clothes and cups of hot chocolate and hugs…? He was not what the child needed! He was a damaged man that had hidden his heart after it had been broken too many times. He did not even have the key to retrieve it anymore.

“Do you think… do you think that you could like me a little, Sir. I promise to study for all my classes, and to be on time, and to obey always and…”

“I like you, Mr. Potter.”

“I like you too, Sir.”

Harry felt tears coming. He guessed the day had not been that bad at all… Snape hugged him tighter.

“I am sorry, Mr. Potter. Sorry that you did not grow up with your parents. I know that I am a bad substitute, but I am here for you…”

Harry lost control of his tears. All the frustrations of the day, plus all the worries and the spanking… all went out with his tears. Severus just held him until the child was exhausted… Harry cried himself to sleep in his arms.

Snape scooped the child into his arms and carried him the few paces to his room. His ward deserved something more than the couch in his living room. When he tried to lay Harry onto the blankets, the boy refused to let go of his neck and pulled him down as well. With a patient sigh, Snape crawled into the bed and allowed Harry to snuggle up against his chest. After several long minutes of holding the sleeping boy, Snape admitted to himself that he enjoyed the physical contact and felt oddly protective of the bundle in his arms.

Snape closed his eyes and wished that the child in his arms were really his. His and Lilly’s. Well there was no one else claiming him…

Snape opened his eyes when he felt a tingling in his arm. He had fallen asleep along the child… He stood up and covered the boy with the blanket. He went out of the room, and turned off the lights. He went to his guest room and transformed a chair into a bed. He was so tired that he only removed his shoes before falling asleep.