My Godfather

Chapter V: Punishment and Rules

As Harry's eyes flickered open, he saw Sirius asleep on the chair by his bed. That was when it all came back to him. The flying, the hooded creature, his godfather's angry visage hovering over him and then the darkness. Why oh why had he decided to go flying! Sirius had given him one rule and he just had to go ahead and break it didn't he? Now Sirius was definitely going to beat him. He deserved it didn't he? Why did he always ruin everything? As these thoughts filled his mind, a sniffle escaped from his throat.

Sirius, who hadn't been sleeping all that soundly, awoke instantly. He saw his godson looking down at the covers as he silently cried. There was nothing more Sirius wanted to do than pull the boy into his lap and soothe him as though nothing had happened. But this wasn't the time to go soft. He had to be tough now.

He cleared his throat to let Harry know that he was awake. Green eyes snapped up to look at him fearfully. "How are you feeling Harry?" Asked Sirius, genuine concern in his voice. "M-m f-fine." Stuttered Harry. Sirius hated seeing the fear in Harry's eyes and hated it even more because he knew that it was there because of him. "Why are you afraid Harry?" He asked gently. "Y-you hate me n-now. You gave me a rule a-and I b-broke it. I'm s-sorry Sirius. I really am. P-please don't hurt me."

Damn those muggles. Harry still thought that he was going to be beaten. He got up from his bed and wrapped an arm around the shaking shoulders, feeling the tense posture for the first time in two weeks. "I want you to understand something very clearly. I. Will. Never. Hit. You." Sirius said, his words firm but voice incredibly gentle.

Harry was silent for almost a whole minute but then he nodded. When Sirius saw that the fear was gone, he knew that it was time to get the hard part. "Harry," he began, his voice stern, as well as his expression. Harry looked up at his godfather.

"What you did today was extremely dangerous. Did I or did I not give you explicit instructions to not go outside the house?"

Harry looked down and his expression became contrite. "You did." He whispered, not able to look at Sirius. "And what did you do Harry James?" Came the stern question. "I went f-flying even when I wasn't supposed to." Replied Harry, as he played with the loose end of his shirt. "That's right. You disobeyed me. You could have been seriously injured today all thanks to your utter stupidity and foolishness."

The boy's lower lip wobbled a little but he managed to hold back his tears. He felt an unfamiliar feeling in his stomach at Sirius' scolding. "I'm disappointed in you Harry. I thought I could trust you." Said Sirius. His voice wasn't angry now. Just sad and.... disappointed.

Those two sentences hurt more than any of his uncle's beatings. It would have probably hurt lesser if Sirius would have slapped him instead. On several occasions he had been reprimanded by his muggle relatives. He had only developed a sense of fear back then but now, he felt ashamed of what he had done. "I'm sorry Sirius." He whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Why did you go against the instructions given to you?" Harry didn't know how to answer that question. There wasn't any specific reason for his disobedience. "I wasn't thinking." He said. "That is obvious. Do you have any idea how worried I was when I saw you hurtling down from your broom?" Asked Sirius. "I'm sorry." He whispered once more, this time he met his godfather's eyes. He saw the worry in them and immediately felt guilty. The last thing he had wanted to do was anger, disappoint or hurt Sirius but he had managed to do all three of them on the same day.

"Your broom is going to remain on the ground until I say otherwise and I also want three feet on why it is wrong to disobey when something is told to you. Are we clear?" Sirius asked, as he doled out Harry's very first punishment. "Yes, sir." Said Harry, looking very upset with himself. He knew he deserved it and he also knew that he was getting off lightly. An essay and suspension of broom privileges could hardly be considered as severe punishments.