Harry's eyes widened. Ha! That had wiped the smirk off the little snot's face. "Y-yes, sir," he stuttered.
"And what did I say I would do if you deliberately disobeyed?"
"The same thing, sir."
"Obviously you didn't believe me," Snape said coldly.
Harry looked up at that. "No, sir! I believed you! I just тАУ I justтАж"
"Since you obviously require a reminder of how seriously I take such behavior, I am happy to provide you with one. Or two, as the case may be." Snape spun Potter by the shoulder until the boy stood at right angles to him. "You are not to put yourself in jeopardy." He gave the boy a sharp swat on the seat. "You are not to disobey your instructors тАУ without a very good reason," he added cautiously, then administered a second brisk smack. This one wrung a little yelp out of the brat.
"I trust I have made my position clear?" he said sternly, turning the boy back to face him. If the little brat thought he wouldn't make good on his promises, he had just been disabused of that idea.
Harry's expression of shock was almost comical. Snape fought down an unfamiliar feeling of guilt. The brat had deserved it. He'd been warned, and he'd gone ahead anyway, then had the temerity to snicker at his scolding. Well, if it took a stinging backside to get the boy to take him seriously, then he would accommodate him.
#--#
"Potter, do you remember what I said I would do if you were foolish enough to place yourself in jeopardy?" Harry's heart sank. He remembered all too well.
"Y-yes, sir." He hung his head. He hadn't even been the man's responsibility for a full day and already he'd earned his first whipping.
Although, Harry remembered hopefully, the professor had said he wouldn't use a belt. Or a cane. So maybe he'd just get walloped with a hairbrush. It wouldn't be much fun, but at least he'd be able to keep any marks hidden from the other boys.
The professor sounded awfully disappointed in him. That was bad. But Harry couldn't help feeling just a little bit happy. Even if he was getting smacked, for the first time it was because someone was worried about him. Harry decided that wasn't such a bad thing to get whacked for.
Harry was sorry to have been foolhardy. Professor Snape was so smart; he would have known what to do in that situation. Harry just blundered ahead without thinking. No wonder the man was annoyed with himтАж But the fact he was annoyed sort of proved that he thought Harry should have come up with a better plan. And that meant he thought Harry was at least a little smart. Uncle Vernon would never have whacked Harry for doing something stupid тАУ he was always pointing out how dumb Harry was. He'd have been only too glad if Harry did something foolish. But Professor Snape had higher expectations of him. He expected Harry to use his brain, and he was disappointed when he didn't. Harry straightened up a little. It didn't feel nearly so awful to be punished for not living up to your potential. He rather liked the idea that Professor Snape expected a lot from him. No one else ever had.
"And what did I say I would do if you deliberately disobeyed?"
"The same thing, sir," Harry spoke up more strongly. It had just occurred to him that the professor was keeping his promise about the punishment, and that meant he was likely to keep his other promises. Like the one about being Harry's guardian. Besides, he wouldn't go to the bother of smacking Harry if he weren't planning to stick around, right?
"Obviously you didn't believe me."
Harry was startled. He hadn't doubted Professor Snape for a second. "No, sir! I believed you! I just тАУ I justтАж" He trailed off, not having the words to describe how he felt. He just didn't think in terms of his own safety. He'd never had any reason to do so. No one in his life had ever cared enough to get annoyed with him if he put himself at risk, so he'd never learned to consider his safety. But now he had Professor Snape. And the professor was making it very clear that he did care about Harry, and he wasn't going to allow him to do stupid stuff any more. That realization was worth a month of spankings, as far as Harry was concerned.
"Since you obviously require a reminder of how seriously I take such behavior, I am happy to provide you with one. Or two, as the case may be."
Harry gulped. Two hairbrush smackings? This was going to hurt a lot, but he guessed he deserved it. And Snape had warned him.
When the professor put his hands on his shoulders and moved him about a quarter turn to the right, Harry wasn't sure what was happening. When was Snape going to have him drop his trousers and bend over? Or lie across his lap?
But the professor was speaking again. "You are not to put yourself in jeopardy." Almost before he knew what had happened, Snape had landed a swift whack on Harry's bum. Harry jumped, more in astonishment than pain. The professor hadn't even pulled Harry's robe aside, let alone had him lower his trousers.
"You are not to disobey your instructors тАУ without a very good reason." A second slap fell on the same spot, and Harry was so befuddled he actually let out a yip. Was this the promised smacking? But it barely stung.
Before he could sort out his whirling thoughts, he'd been pulled back around to face the professor. "I trust I have made my position clear?" Snape asked sternly. Harry could only gape at him, eyes wide and mouth in an "O" of shock.
Snape struggled with himself. He would not apologize. He had told Potter what to expect and he had followed through with the consequence. The fact that the boy had been abused by his Muggle relatives didn't earn him a free pass on all future behavior. All the books had been most explicit about setting consequences and enforcing limits.
But when the child was staring at you with such a look of shock тАУ and betrayal? тАУ it was hard to obey the bloody books.
"Well? What is it, Potter?" Snape's patience ran out. If the boy was going to howl or protest, he should just do it!
"That тАУ that was it?" Harry stammered. "But you said тАУ "
Snape scowled. "I was perfectly clear, Potter. I told you that if you disobeyed me in this, your backside would feel my hand. And you did. You got one swat from my hand on your clothed backside for putting yourself in jeopardy, and another one for disobeying. In future, if you don't want two swats, then don't break both rules at once."
"But it didn't really hurt," Harry blurted out. His hands had automatically flown to cover his rear, but what little sting there had been was fading fast.
Snape rolled his eyes. "Potter, don't be a dolt. First off, if my goal was to hurt you, I would hardly use Muggle methods. There are Dark curses that will leave you screaming in agony for days on end." Harry's eyes widened, and Snape abruptly remembered he was supposed to be reassuring the brat. "I am your guardian тАУ it's my job to protect you, not hurt you. It was only because those bastard Muggle relatives of yours have such a perverted views of the world that you think adults are supposed to cause you pain and misery. We are actually here to try to ensure you don't experience those things." At least that's how it's supposed to be, Snape thought. You and I both got stuck with atrocious childhoods, but it wasn't either of our faults. "I told you that if you were foolish enough to break the two most important rules тАУ about keeping yourself safe and following the rules тАУ then you could expect a special punishment, and that is why you were smacked, Potter тАУ to show that I am very unhappy with you. But that's all the swats do. If I were to want you to truly suffer, I have many other, more efficient ways to do that." And he gave him a very Slytherin glare.