Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Punish Me	By : Sparrowhawk Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 133350 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 45
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form and make no profit from this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 1-Assertion
- 2-Attack
- 3-Breakdown
- 4-Encounter
- 5-Punishment
- 6-Contact
- 7-Bitten
- 8-Scars
- 9-Play
- 10-Invitation
- 11-Abduction
- 12-Obedience
- 13-Tease
- 14-Learning
- 15-Venture
- 16-Protecting
- 17-Mistakes
- 18-Visit
- 19-Impromptu
- 20-Trigger
- 21-Healing
- 16
- 17
- 18
Special thanks to BAFan for pointing out a spelling error. I actually didn't know there was another way to spell loathe that had the meaning that matched what I wanted there a lot better - loath - so thank you very much for bringing that to my attention!
All righty, as promised, here is the next chapter! This one is definitely in the top 3 of my favorites out of all the chapters I've written. Anyway, regarding 2 reviewers who wanted to be added to the update list - arnoldad1 and Calmzone1 - I was not able to find an e-mail to send the update notification to, so if you could leave that in a review or else e-mail me at lyran1017@gmail.com, it would be my pleasure to add you both to the update list.
Warnings: disobedience, angst, punishment of a different type, recklessness, profanity, a guilty Harry and a guilty Severus (you'll see why), distress on Harry's part, aaaaand ... nope, nothing else is coming to me. Hopefully I'm not missing anything, lol.
Onto the chapter!!
Chapter Seventeen
Several hours later, Severus was kneeling at the Floo where he threw in a dash of Floo Powder and then said clearly, “Malfoy Manor.”
A house elf answered. “Master Snape,” the elf greeted, “you is be needing something, sir?”
“Yes, Tilly, I need to speak to Lucius. It’s rather urgent.”
“Tilly is being understanding, Master Snape. Tilly be getting Master Malfoy right away.”
Her face then disappeared from the small fire left in the fireplace and Severus waited impatiently for his partner to come so he could speak with him. The talk with Harry’s friends had left his sub understandably upset as they related further details of what had happened. They, too, had warned him not to go visit Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami since that would expose him to the people who were looking for him. He had glanced back at Severus, who had given him a look, and then agreed that he wouldn’t go until she was released and he could Floo to her house. Once they had finished their conversation, Severus had spent almost an hour and a half just holding the young man who had, indeed, asked him to stay the night.
“Severus,” Lucius greeted from the fire, pulling him from his memories of earlier that night, "what do you need? Tilly said it was urgent.”
“Yes. Another of Harry’s friends were kidnapped and tortured earlier today, though she was able to get word to the Aurors soon enough to prevent them doing much damage. I did not inform Harry of this, but it was another Azkaban escapee.”
Lucius’ brows furrowed. “Another? Who?”
“Augustus Rookwood.”
The other wizard’s eyes grew wide. “I can understand Abbas Scott-Morris; he was in one of the lower security areas; however, Augustus Rookwood was in one of the cells of the highest security. Unless the guards of Azkaban are getting lax in their security measures, which I doubt as I went personally to inspect them just last week, escape from the high security area should not be possible.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“You think someone within the Ministry is using them,” Lucius surmised.
Severus nodded. “Or several someones. I need you to investigate this. I cannot trust this task to anyone else.”
Lucius looked thoughtful. “If it is someone within the Ministry, they are being rather reckless in freeing a high security prisoner such as Augustus Rookwood. Surely they realize it would draw suspicion to them.”
“Perhaps not,” Severus said. “It is hard to determine. It is the reason I suggested multiple people might be involved. If that’s so, it may have been one of the lower peons that foolishly acted on their own.”
“That is certainly a possibility,” Lucius agreed. “I will look into it.”
“Thank you.”
“How is Mr. Potter handling it?”
Severus sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Not well. I managed to convince him not to go running off to see his friend, but he is still distressed over the matter. He harbors much guilt over the fact that it is his friends they are taking to try to locate him and I fear what he might do if this continues. It is more than possible he would purposefully reveal himself to them in order to spare any more of his friends hurt.”
“Yes, that does sound like something he would do.”
“Indeed.”
They both fell silent as they focused on their own thoughts. A few minutes later, Lucius spoke. “How is he coming along?”
Severus let a small smile grace his lips. “Very well. His responses are … intense. He is one of the most sensitive submissives I have had the pleasure of training.”
“You have started his training, then.”
“Yes, but we’re going to be taking it slow. If this continues to be the kind of relationship he wants, I believe it will still be some time before he will feel comfortable trying to include you in our dynamic.”
“I see.” He nodded. “That is perfectly acceptable.”
“Have you found a sub yet?”
“No, but I am not worried about finding one anytime soon. I am satisfied with just our interactions for the time being.”
“Mmm,” Severus hummed in acknowledgement of that. “If that’s the way you feel, I have no reason to argue.”
“May I ask what you’ve learned about Mr. Potter so far?”
Severus smiled a little more. “Of course you can, Lucius, but I will need to receive permission from him first to share such information with you.”
Lucius sighed in disappointment, but nodded nonetheless. “You’re right-”
The wards Severus had erected around Harry’s room suddenly started up an alarm. It was a ward that would only alert him if the young man exited them. His eyes narrowed as he looked back over his shoulder.
“Something wrong?” Lucius inquired, noting the other Dom’s expression of concern.
“I fear Harry might be doing something foolish tonight after all.”
“Go,” Lucius said, and disappeared from the flames without another word.
Face set, Severus got to his feet and strode toward Harry’s bedroom, not bothering to hide the sound of his footsteps. When he reached the bedroom, he pushed the door all the way open and peered inside. As he suspected, Harry was not on the bed. Lips pressed into a thin line, he checked the attached bathroom. He wasn’t there, either. He released his wand from the holster on his forearm, then, and gave it a flick. The spell registered only one other living body in the house that it identified as Kreacher, the old house elf.
Nostrils flared, he strode quickly back down the stairs. Surely he hadn’t gone to see his friend. Surely not. They’d clearly gone over the reasons it’d be too dangerous and even his friends had said so. He’d honestly believed the young man would, for once, heed their warnings. He’d certainly looked sincere when he’d agreed to stay there. Could something have changed?
As soon as he opened the front door, he had his answer. Although he couldn’t see Harry, his departure was made plain by the unmistakable crack of apparition.
“Damn it, Harry,” he cursed. The idiot wizard was going to get himself killed.
Concentrating on his destination, he apparated straight to St. Mungo’s and then activated the tracking spell in the pendant he’d given the younger man to pass through his wards and cursed again when it registered as being back in Grimmauld Place. His sub was going to be in a mountain of trouble when Severus found him, and the brat knew it.
He entered the hospital and went straight to the information desk. Unless Harry was thinking straight, which Severus rather doubted, he would be headed directly for his friend’s hospital room.
“I need the room number of Mrs. Luna Lovegood-Murakami,” he stated without preamble.
“Name?” the receptionist asked without looking up.
“Severus Snape.”
“Are you family?”
“I am not.”
She looked up with a severe frown. “Then I’m afraid you will have to return tomorrow. Visiting hours for those unrelated to the patient are over.”
“That is unacceptable,” Severus stated, ignoring the annoyed expression the woman was giving him when he didn’t leave right away. “I have it under good authority that Mr. Potter has come to see her.”
The woman shook her head. “There have been no visitors since her husband and daughter left four hours ago.”
“I assure you, Mr. Potter is here.”
She pursed her lips. “And I assure you, Mr. Snape, Mr. Potter has not entered through those doors. I am certain I would recognize him if I saw him.”
“I’m certain you would,” Severus sneered impatiently, just barely holding onto his temper. “However, you would not see him were he under an invisibility cloak, and I know for a fact that he owns one. In any event, he did not necessarily come in through the front entrance.”
“Even if he has managed to bypass the information desk if he came in the front entrance and security if he did not, Mr. Snape, I still cannot allow you back there.”
Severus’ hold on his temper snapped and he leaned forward with a growl and fixed her in a dark, dangerous gaze under which she shrank back in her chair. “You will allow me into Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami’s room. You have no idea the danger Mr. Potter is in by coming here tonight. Unless you want to be responsible for his subsequent abduction, torture, and/or death, I suggest you call security and let me pass.”
Visibly shaking, the receptionist nodded and scribbled a quick note, which she then pointed her wand at and magicked away. “Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami is in room number two fourteen on the second floor.”
“Thank you,” Severus gritted out, then turned on his heel and violently waved the doors open with a burst of magic that slammed them back into the walls. The security guards standing just inside flinched at the loud noise and the thunderous face of the Potions master as he passed them by.
He entered the elevator and told it to take him to the second floor. Once the doors opened, he stalked down the hall, eyes flicking to each number until he came upon the room of Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami. Taking a deep breath in order to keep his temper in check and to prevent himself from entering in anger with noise that would no doubt wake the—hopefully—sleeping woman, he pushed the doors open and stopped just inside where he erected a sound-proof barrier around Luna Lovegood-Murakami’s hospital bed. She was, indeed, asleep.
“Mr. Potter,” he growled, “take that cloak off and come here.” The sound of shuffling feet confirmed his suspicion that the younger wizard had, in fact, come to see his friend and had not come here with a clear head. “Now! Do not make me come get you. You are already in serious trouble.”
“I had to see her,” the small voice of his sub whispered from across the room. “Besides, I was under my invisibility cloak. No one saw me.”
“That is not the point, and you know it. You purposefully exposed yourself to danger when I expressly told you to remain in the house. You broke one of the rules I gave you—the most important rule I gave you. What’s more, you did not consider that those who are seeking you have discovered a way to track your general location when outside the wards of Grimmauld Place. Given their knowledge of your friendship to Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami, they can easily deduce where you are and, no doubt, have done so and are on their way here now.”
The feet shuffled against the floor again. “I had to see her,” he repeated.
“Wrong. You wanted to see her. You could just as easily have waited to see her when she recovered from her injuries and returned to the safety of the wards around her home where you’d be able to Floo directly there.” He narrowed his eyes and pointed to the floor in front of him. “Now come here and remove your cloak before I lose my patience. Believe me, you will not like the consequences of disobeying me for a second time tonight.”
Slowly, very slowly, the feet shuffled his way and then came to a stop in front of him, though the other wizard did not remove his invisibility cloak. Severus reached out to the approximate location of his wayward sub, grasped the cloak in his fist, and yanked it off.
Harry looked up from under his fringe, but quickly looked down at the floor again at the blazing fury radiating from the man’s dark eyes. “Master …”
“Do not speak,” Severus ordered sharply. “You are in serious trouble and you will not speak until I say otherwise. Clear?”
Swallowing heavily, Harry nodded.
Severus then grabbed Harry by the ear, twisted it to a small whimper of pain, removed the ward from Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami’s bed, placed a disillusionment and notice-me-not charm over him, and dragged his sub from the room. Once outside the anti-apparition wards surrounding the hospital, he apparated to the doorstep of #12 Grimmauld Place, opened the door, and threw Harry inside where he canceled the spells that concealed him. Harry had caught himself against the wall and was staring up at him with wide eyes. “You are to go upstairs to your room, kneel on the bed, and wait for me. You will not move and you will not speak.” He gestured to the stairs with his chin. “Go.”
Licking his lips, Harry did as he was told and practically sprinted up the stairs. He had anticipated some anger on Severus’—no, his Master’s—part, but nothing as strong as this. And he hadn’t anticipated his reaction to the man’s anger and obvious disappointment. He felt awful—like there was a fist clenched around his heart, a huge tight knot in his gut, and a lump in his throat that barely let him breathe. He reached his bedroom with tears in his eyes and quickly went through the open door to his bed where he crawled up and knelt with his arms clasped behind his back—left wrist in his right hand, legs apart, and head down.
Time seemed to crawl as his mind kept going over and over the events of that night. Severus had held him so gently after his friends had disconnected from the Floo. It had felt good, but it did little to appease his guilt. He’d fallen asleep sometime in there and had woken in his bed an undetermined amount of time later with sweat beading on his skin from a nightmare involving Luna being tortured by a faceless person who constantly asked where he lived and just kept hurting her and hurting her and hurting her the longer she refused to tell him.
He’d immediately jumped out of bed, pulled out his cloak, and had almost left the room before he remembered the pendant Severus had used to track him before. Now that he was thinking about it, it seemed silly to take it off, given the man would know exactly where he was headed, but he’d done it anyway. Then he’d left the room under his invisibility cloak, put a silencing spell around him with the rudimentary wandless magic he knew, and crept down the stairs.
Severus must have had some kind of ward to alert him if he left, for not an instant later, the elder wizard was stalking up the stairs to his room. He held his breath until Severus passed him and then continued creeping down the stairs to the front door, which he opened and shut as quietly as possible. He apparated not a moment too soon—just as he saw Severus throw the door open again.
It had been easy to get into the wizarding hospital without being noticed under the Deathly Hallow that was his cloak, and he’d quickly cast another rudimentary wandless spell to find Luna. Once it had a lock on her, he’d run to the elevator and then all the way to Luna’s room where he’d rounded the bed, placing himself as far from the door as possible, and stood absolutely still, knowing Severus couldn’t be far behind him.
He’d been surprised it actually took the man as long as it did for him to get to Luna’s room. Harry had cursed himself in every way he knew how at how stupid he’d been to think he’d be able to get here, see Luna really fast to make sure she was safe, and then get back to Grimmauld Place before Severus noticed he was gone. And, even stupider still, was the fact that he’d run right to Luna’s room and then stood rooted to the spot just waiting for his Master to show up and drag him back.
The tears finally welled enough to spill down onto his cheeks and he bit his lip to keep himself from completely breaking down. Why did he have to go and disobey his Master? It was easy to escape the house and then get into the hospital; it should have been just as easy to leave the hospital and sneak back into the house without getting caught—although he doubted getting out and making it back to the house before the man would deter Severus from punishing him. After all, there was no way Severus didn’t know he’d left.
Why the hell did he do it in a way that all but guaranteed he’d be caught? He was smarter than that.
Maybe because you wanted to get caught, a part of him whispered. You had to be sure he’d come after you and take you back like he said.
Was that the reason? It was ridiculous, but as ridiculous as it seemed, it still made sense.
But now he was in trouble. Big trouble. He had no illusions about what would be happening when Severus came up to his room. He was going to hurt, and hurt bad. Nevertheless, he knew he deserved it, and he would take whatever punishment his Master decided to mete out.
Meanwhile, Severus was sitting hunched over in an armchair in the sitting room downstairs, his hands clasped in front of him as he contemplated just what to do with his sub. First, he would need to speak with him concerning what had changed between the time he’d gone to sleep and when he’d made the rash decision to leave the house. Or, if something hadn’t changed, he needed to determine if Harry had been lying to him when he’d agreed to stay away from the hospital. He didn’t truly believe Harry had been lying—the young man had always been a terrible liar—but he had to ask, nonetheless. To speak to him, though, he needed to calm himself down.
Anger was not the only emotion coursing through him, though—there was also fear—but that only translated into further anger and it would not do well for him to punish Harry in such a state.
His heart had very nearly stopped when he’d heard that crack of apparition. Invisibility cloak or not, Harry’s pursuers could have easily been lying in wait for him at the apparition point, heard the crack of him apparating in, and then ambushed him. Of course, it was possible Harry had apparated to the hospital using a different apparition point; it was also possible the one who orchestrated the attack against Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami was a complete idiot and went into it without more than a rudimentary plan in place. Those were the only two reasons he could come up with that might explain Harry’s fortune in not getting caught that night. It was a fright he could have well done without.
Severus had hoped keeping Harry’s wand with him would help deter him if he felt tempted to try going even after their talk, but quite obviously it did not.
He shook his head, forehead creased as he thought on that. Harry had matured a lot since his time in school; he wasn’t so apt to charge right into danger without a plan, or at least without a means to escape or defend himself. The younger wizard was smart—too smart to make such a grievous mistake, especially given his training with the Aurors, though it had admittedly been some time since he’d worked as an Auror. Even so, this did not seem like a simple matter of willful disobedience. It had been apparent in the tone of his voice when he was at the hospital that Harry truly believed he needed to check on Mrs. Lovegood-Murakami; Severus only needed to determine why he believed that.
Calmed sufficiently, he inhaled and cast a tempus. Harry had been up in his room for almost an hour. The wait, he knew, would have been agonizing. It was time to go up and see what happened and what kind of punishment would be necessary.
When he quietly entered the room and shut the door behind him, the first thing he took note of was the position Harry had taken on the bed. Severus hadn’t specified that he should kneel in that position, but Harry had apparently remembered it was a position to ask for punishment or when he knew he deserved punishment. For several long seconds, Severus simply stood by the door and watched him. The attention made Harry’s entire body go rigid and caused his shoulders to curl inward.
Finally Severus walked to the bed where he sat down with his back against the headboard. “Come here, Harry,” he ordered, voice soft but firm. Harry’s face turned toward him, though his eyes remained fixed on the bedcovers, and Severus saw the tear tracks as clear as day on his cheeks. The scolding he’d received combined with Severus’ anger had clearly hit him hard. He came meekly and then resumed his kneeling position directly in front of him. Severus sighed and leaned forward, grasped Harry’s upper arm, and pulled him over onto his lap. Confused eyes flashed up to his face as he wrapped his arms around the young man, though hands braced against his chest and locked arms held him back from embracing him fully. “You are in trouble, Harry, but before I can decide what your punishment should be, I need you to answer some questions for me.”
Harry opened his mouth, then quickly shut it again. His Master hadn’t told him he could speak yet.
“You can speak now.”
Wetting his lips, Harry nodded.
There was still tension in the young man’s arms that kept him held away, so Severus murmured, “Relax. I want to hold you. You can refuse if you wish, but I’d prefer to speak to you and hold you at the same time. Though I will punish you, it is because I care for you and because I intend to discourage you from risking your safety in this same manner again. You gave me quite the scare taking off like that, but you are safe here. You always will be.”
Exhaling a heavy breath, Harry allowed his arms to go lax, relief pouring through him as he felt his Master’s arms encircle him fully. Tears welled in his eyes again, but this time it was because, even in anger, Severus was still willing to hold him and comfort him and assure him of his place as his submissive and that he was safe.
“Now, tell me what happened. You agreed that you would not go to see your friend and even promised your other friends, and yet only a few hours later you did just that. Were you lying?” Harry jerked in his arms as if to push himself back, but Severus tightened his grip and continued to hold him close. “It will mean a harsher punishment if you have lied to me and your friends and we will need to break you of resorting to such measures again, but that is all.” He paused to let that sink in, then asked again, “Did you lie?”
Burying his face into his Master’s chest, Harry shook his head back and forth.
“No?”
“Nossir,” Harry mumbled.
“Good. I already suspected that was not the case, but I thank you for confirming it. Now, what changed?”
Feeling stupid, Harry turned his head and muttered, “Nightmare.”
Severus hummed. “You didn’t take your potion.” The young man shook his head and Severus sighed again. “An oversight on my part. It does not excuse what you did—you should have come to speak with me about it before you did anything else—but as it is my mistake, I will reduce your punishment.” Rather than relaxing, Harry tensed up again. Severus didn’t know why, but thought it might be because he knew what question was coming next. “What did you see in your nightmare that upset you so much?” The raven-haired man curled further into him, his whole body trembling. “Please answer me, Harry.”
His voice came out half-strangled. “Luna, she was … she was being tortured.” He pulled back, but just enough to look up into his Master’s calm face. “I’ve seen torture, Severus. I’ve seen it happen, seen what it does to people. Voldemort tortured me with the Cruciatus Curse, but I know there are worse ways to torture a person. I saw it when I unintentionally entered Voldemort’s head. I know what it feels like even in it’s mildest form and I couldn’t … I just couldn’t-”
“I understand,” Severus told him and kissed his forehead.
“But you’re still going to punish me,” Harry replied.
“Yes. You need to remember this, Harry. You should have come to speak with me; I would have put measures in place to ensure your safety and taken you there myself. I need you to remember to think before you act. I need you to trust me enough to come to me when you are distressed.”
“I do trust you,” Harry insisted. “I just … I couldn’t think properly and I thought you would stop me from going. You said you would … earlier.”
“That’s true, and I apologize for saying such so definitely that you thought you would not be allowed to go even if you requested it of me in such a distressed state. I made a mistake in assuming you knew that without needing me to say so. As new as you are to D/s relationships and as much as you have yet to learn I, too, have much to learn about you. This relationship will be a learning experience for the both of us; mistakes are inevitable, even on my part. As experienced a Dominant as I am, I am not experienced as a Dominant to you. Do you understand?”
“Yeah … Yes, Master, I understand.”
And he did. He’d known from the beginning that he would be punished and that he would deserve to be punished. It made no less sense now that Severus had spoken with him than it had before, but it made him feel a lot better to know Severus was also capable of making mistakes and would admit to them and take them into account when deciding what punishment he would use.
“You gave me quite the scare, brat,” Severus repeated.
Harry nodded and pushed himself closer to the older man. “M’sorry.”
“I know you are.”
They sat together like that for long minutes that turned into a half hour and then into an hour, and then passed the hour mark before Severus finally sighed and shifted. Harry tensed, then sat up and moved off the other man’s lap to once more kneel in the position for punishment.
“You understand this infraction against the rules I set for you is severe,” Severus stated more than asked.
“Yes, Master,” Harry answered anyway, his insides trembling in a manner that he thought must show on the outside.
“Then you also understand that this punishment will not be like those I have given you before.”
Harry swallowed the anxiety rising in his throat and whispered again, “Yes, Master.”
“Harry, look at me please.”
Exhaling a shuddering breath, Harry raised his eyes to meet those of his Master.
“This is a punishment,” Severus told him, dark eyes solemn. “That does not mean you cannot use your safe word, though. If something is truly too much for you, you are to use your safe word and the punishment will stop.”
“But … why?” Harry asked, brow creased. He deserved whatever punishment Severus gave to him, and he knew his Master knew he deserved it. But if that was so, why was he still allowed to use a safe word?
“I’ve given you the option to use your safe word on every punishment previous to this, have I not?”
“Yeah, but you said the rule I broke was the most important one you’ve given me.”
Pleased his submissive had been listening so well, Severus nodded. “Indeed I did. That does not, however, mean that I will punish you without your safe word. Punishments, though they often involve pain, are not meant to truly hurt you. They are there as deterrents so you will think twice about breaking the rules I give you. If I were to punish you without allowing you to use your safe word, I may cross a line you do not wish me to cross. I may even do something to trigger you, and that neither of us wants.” The Potions master hardened his gaze and rose from the bed, standing with his spine straight and his feet shoulder-length apart. “You will use your safe word if the punishment becomes too much.”
Master. Tipping his head and eyes back down to the bedspread without conscious thought at the sudden change of position and attitude, Harry accepted that with a murmured, “Yes, Master.”
“Good boy,” his Master praised, though Harry dared not look up to see the expression on his face. “Now, you are to get off the bed, strip—this means everything—and go stand in the corner. You will not speak during this time except to repeat the rule you’ve broken when I tell you to do so.”
Harry frowned, not understanding fully why his Master thought this an adequate punishment. The only part he could understand as being part of the punishment was the vulnerability the other man knew he’d feel when he was fully exposed. Nevertheless, he got up from the bed, removed his shirt, unbuttoned his pants, and pushed both them and his boxer briefs down until he could step out of them. Then, skin prickling in awareness of the fact that he was naked while his Master was not and the feeling of his Master’s eyes taking in every naked inch of his skin, he shuffled over to the corner and stood with his arms folded over his stomach.
“Arms by your sides,” Severus ordered when he noted the position. It was a coping mechanism to lessen the vulnerability Harry would feel, and that just would not do. He was not supposed to be even remotely comfortable with his punishment.
Hands now visibly trembling, Harry forced them to drop to his sides. They clenched into fists and he dug his fingernails into his skin, but quickly stopped. He wasn’t supposed to hurt himself, no matter how much he wanted the pain.
“That's right. Very good,” he heard his Master murmur from across the room.
And that was it. There were no more words spoken, only oppressive silence and the feel of the man’s intense gaze on his back. He licked his dry lips and resisted the urge to look back over his shoulder. He could feel his Master’s eyes as clearly as he might feel sunlight beating down on him from a cloudless sky and though he was almost positive the man was standing directly across the room from him, there was nothing to tell him he was right.
He shifted from one leg to the other, then yelped and went up on his toes when a painful sting shot through his naked backside. It was like a hard smack, except without the weight of a hand or object. There was no sound, not even the murmur of words to give warning of a spell being cast. There was only the pain. It felt cold. It felt clinical.

It felt awful.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry forced his feet flat and tried to stay still only to have another magical smack stinging his backside not thirty seconds later when thoughtlessly tried to cross his arms over his chest again.
No covering up.
No moving.
No speaking.
No bloody doing anything except standing there naked, face in the corner, hands at his sides, his Master’s silent, disapproving, heavy eyes pressing down on his shoulders like great weights.
“What rule did you break, brat?”
Harry jumped at the sudden sound of his Master’s voice as it shattered the silence. The voice was so different from what he was beginning to grow accustomed to hearing from the Dom—with no inflection to indicate his mood, more cold and clinical than even the magical swats had been, more so than any voice Harry had heard him use in his life.
He yelped when a third magical smack stung his naked butt and hurried to answer. “I’m not to harm myself or seek punishment from anyone else, or allow anyone else to hurt me.” He wasn’t sure what to expect after he answered—more silence, perhaps—but that wasn’t what he got. Instead, he got another question, delivered in the same tone—or lack of tone—as the question before.
“And that means what?”
His stomach clenched into one huge, uncomfortable knot. He hunched his shoulders and whispered, “Not putting myself in danger.” Which he’d done. Spectacularly so. He hated that he’d disobeyed so thoroughly. He hated that he’d disobeyed so thoroughly as to earn such a cold punishment that didn’t allow him to even feel his Master’s emotions. That bothered him even more than not being touched.
“And?” his Master prompted.
Harry startled and frowned at the wall, brought out of his mounting guilt by confusion. And? And what?
“Distress.”
His eyes widened at the single word and he hurried to say, “To go to you when I’m feeling distressed so we can talk about it.”
Silence. He shut his eyes. He was beginning to understand why his Master had decided on this punishment. He’d never realized how comforting the pain of his previous punishments had been. Compared to this, to being ignored, it hardly seemed a punishment at all.
Across the room, Severus watched his sub and the guilt clearly eating at him. He didn’t like bringing that emotion forth. Not at all. It reminded him too much of how prone Harry was to blame himself for anything and everything, even when it wasn’t his fault. However, for this punishment to stick in Harry’s mind, the guilt was necessary. He needed to understand how serious his infraction was and this was the only way Severus knew how to show him that.
His chest ached and burned at the silence lingering between them, knowing how it must be tormenting his wayward submissive and adding to the guilt. He deliberately counted the seconds encompassing the five minutes of silence he would take before speaking again. It was a poor distraction from the pain and guilt he was taking as punishment for his mistakes of that night. How could he do otherwise when he also needed to punish his submissive for something that was as much Severus’ mistake as it was Harry’s? As distressed as Harry had been after his friends’ departure, he should have thought to administer the potion himself. The other mistake was understandable given his ignorance concerning Harry’s thought process where it concerned what should have been only logical, but that did not relieve him of the responsibility. So he counted the seconds and suffered along with his submissive who stood so dejectedly in the corner.
Finally, the seconds were over and he could speak once more, though he could not yet offer the comfort he desired. “What rule did you break, brat?” he repeated the same question, in the same manner and lack of tone as he did previously. He had to steady his heart, center his emotions, and focus his thoughts on the reasons for this particular punishment when Harry flinched and seemed to curl in on himself even more.
His voice shook when he answered. “I’m not to harm myself or seek punishment from anyone else, or allow anyone else to hurt me, which means not putting myself in danger and going to you when I’m distressed so we can talk about it.”
Severus fell into silence once more, the air thickening as the oppressiveness increased with every additional moment that passed. He would need to require Harry to repeat the rule just that way from now on, he decided. Harry needed the reminder of exactly what that rule meant and how important it was that he follow it.
One, two, three, he counted as he forced himself to observe his submissive’s discomfort and the way his body was beginning to shake. It was the least he could do. This time he reduced the amount of time between asking the question so heavy with guilt. He didn’t do it merely because the silence was painful for himself, but because he knew how the silence would seem to stretch much longer for Harry than the actual amount of time Severus counted out in his head.
Two-hundred and forty seconds …
“What rule did you break, brat?”
As much as Harry tried not to, he flinched at the repeated question. It hurt. It hurt that he’d angered his Master so much that he’d resort to such a terrible punishment. It hurt that he’d scared him. But most of all, it hurt that he’d disappointed him. His eyes burned and his voice came out sounding hoarse. “I’m not to harm myself or seek punishment from anyone else, or allow anyone else to hurt me, which means not putting myself in danger and going to you when I’m distressed so we can talk about it.”
The burning behind his eyes increased when silence descended once more. Horrible silence. Fucking horrible silence. He couldn’t bear it anymore. “Master …” he whispered. Then more loudly, “Master, please … I’m sorry.” More silence. His breath started to come faster. The silence grew icy and he could feel his Master’s disapproving, piercing gaze on his back. “Sorry,” he whispered one more time, and then quieted, shoulders shaking as he cried.
The silence dragged on—longer than the previous time—and his breath hitched into quiet sobs that he could not stop for the life of him.
Finally, his Master relented. “What rule did you break, brat?”
A louder sob escaped when Harry opened his mouth to answer, but he forged onward. “I’m not … to harm myself …” he sniffed back a whimper, “or seek punishment from anyone else, or … allow anyone else to … t-to hurt me, which means … n-n-not putting m-myself in danger and … and going to you,” he sniffled as his nose began to run, “when I’m distressed so we can talk about it.”
“One more time, brat,” his Master ordered. “What rule did you break?”
Harry took a long, deep breath before answering. “I’m not to harm myself or seek … punishment … f-from anyone else, or allow anyone else to hurt me, which m-means … not putting myself in danger and going to you when I’m …” he sniffled once more, another tear sliding down his cheek, “d-distressed so we can talk about it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a warm presence behind him, though it wasn’t touching him. Still, it felt heavenly next to the cold, heavy air. He shuddered as he inhaled, trying to get his emotions under control. But it wasn’t to be, for as soon as his Master put a hand on his shoulder, a hard palm came cracking down against the backs of his thighs in six awful swats that left his skin feeling as if it was on fire. He knew it was for speaking when his Master had told him to remain silent, nevertheless, he closed his eyes and let out a cry of relief at the less-than-gentle touch. After all, his Master was touching him.
“Shhh,” Severus soothed his distraught submissive as he pulled him around, used a handkerchief to wipe his running nose, tucked him into his chest, and held him as tightly as he dared, loath to hurt him after such a severe punishment. “Shhh, you’re all right. It’s over now. You’re forgiven and it’s over. You’re all right. You’re safe. You were such a good boy. So brave. I’m proud of you, pet. You endured it so well.”
Unable to say anything, Harry just clung to the warm body before him and bawled. He dug his fingers into his Master’s back, but when those arms didn’t do what he wanted, he reached back and tugged on them, trying to make them tighten around him.
Severus chuckled and complied, holding him even tighter. “Good boy,” he repeated. “You’re a very good boy, Harry. My good boy, and I’m so proud of you. It’s all over now. You’re all right.” Relieved to have the young man back in his arms, Severus sank to the floor and lifted Harry’s bottom onto his lap, then just held him close and tight against him while he cried himself out.
After almost a half hour, Harry’s tears dried up and his breathing was deep and calm.
“Harry,” Severus said gently, “how are you feeling?”
“Awful,” he muttered, cuddling in even more—which Severus thought shouldn’t be possible given how tightly the younger wizard was already clinging to him. “M’tired.”
Severus smiled. “Let’s get you to bed, then. Hold on, pet.” He let go, but only long enough to slip one arm under his sub’s knees and then the other around his shoulders. Harry also shifted his grip, encircling his arms about the Potions master’s neck. He managed to stand up with very little difficulty and carried Harry over to the bed where he waved the duvet down, laid Harry on the mattress, and then pulled the duvet back up and tucked it under the apparently already sleeping man’s chin. He then leaned down and kissed his forehead before moving away, only to be stopped by a rather hard grip on his arm.
“Stay,” Harry beseeched him with exhausted eyes but a peaceful face.
More than willing to comply, Severus moved the duvet back once more, climbed into the bed, and felt his heart finally unclench when Harry immediately scooted over to him and curled up against his chest. “You’re not in trouble anymore; call me Severus.”
Lids drifting closed, Harry sighed out, “M’kay … Sev’rus.”
Soft snores soon followed and Severus bent his neck to kiss the top of his submissive’s head. He’d hated punishing him that harshly, but would do it again in a second if it meant keeping his beautiful, headstrong, reckless brat safe and always having him there in his arms. As far as he was concerned, there was no better place to be, except in a place where he, Harry, and Lucius were together. That would come in time, though. At least, he hoped it would. And that hope was what lingered in his mind when he, too, drifted into sleep.
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A/N: There you have it, one of my favorite chapters by far! Hope it didn't disappoint ^_^ And, because I've had a long day of feeling ill after getting my last Lupron injection for hormone therapy yesterday, I'll actually be replying to reviews on the morrow. Sorry to put it off, but I really acn't do more than put this chapter up right now. Til next time, my lovelies!!
Anyone who wants to be added to the e-mail update list, please leave a review with the e-mail you'd like me to send it to or drop me a message at lyran1017@gmail.com!
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