One More Time, With Feeling

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

Chapter 9

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School Daze

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Harry looked down at the end of term report glumly.

Despite starting out the term with good grades, he had quickly grown bored with his classes and as a result had slacked off. Even with the advantage he had of already going through the content his first time around, without studying to refresh his memory he quickly fell in class standing. Thus, here he stood looking at the grades that his lackluster efforts had produced.

His lack of effort had not totally erased the advantage of having already studied the content so he managed to have mostly Bs and Cs, with one exception. Latin. He had never taken a foreign language before, so he hadn't realized that only studying for tests was a very bad thing to do. On top of his poor study habits, Latin was completely new to him so he had no advantages. All those reasons combined were why he was staring dumbly at the 'D' on the paper. If that wasn't bad enough, there was a note for his guardians to arrange a meeting with the Latin teacher.

Harry looked up and with a start, he realized that he had reached his London house already. He sighed and then stuffed the report into his bag then entered the house. He quickly made his way to the house's fireplace, and a pinch of floo powder later found him sprawled on the plush carpet of Potter Manor.

"Bloody floo," Harry muttered under his breath, even with flooing twice a day, he still wasn't used to using the magical transportation system.

"Language, Harry," Remus lightly admonished, Harry could hardly take the man seriously with seeing the laughter in his eyes.

"How come I always land on my arse coming out of those things, but you and Sirius always come out neat as you please?" Harry whined.

"There are a few different tricks that you figure out with enough usage, but most people try thinking of slowing down before they get to the right grate to gain a little more control." Remus explained.

Harry's jaw dropped, was it really that simple? Why had no one told him before?

Harry's musing quickly fled from his mind as he felt himself being bodily lifted and twirled around.

"Prongslet is home! Want to go flying, Harry?" Sirius asked as he set the boy down.

Harry shook his head enthusiastically, lately the weather had been absolutely horrible, but today it looked clear despite being cold. It was great weather for flying.

"Yeah! Let me just go grab my broom," he said as he raced to his room.

"Harry, wait," Remus' voice called after him.

"What?" The boy asked impatiently, he bounced with anticipation.

"Are you finished with your homework? You should really do that first, before flying," Remus said firmly.

"Remus!" Sirius whined, "He can do that later! There is only so much daylight out nowadays."

"Sirius! School is more important than flying!" Remus said sharply.

"It's okay, I'm already done." Harry assured, having lied so many times about his homework, the lie just slipped out without a thought.

"Well, alright then, just be sure to come in before dark," Remus said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mother," he said with a voice dripping with sarcasm.

Upon seeing Remus' glare, both Sirius and Harry decided to make a hasty retreat.

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Harry realized that he couldn't put it off any longer. On Friday, his Latin teacher had asked about scheduling an appointment with his guardians. Harry knew that if he didn't have some note to arrange a meeting by Monday his teacher might take steps to speak with his Remus and Sirius directly. Harry knew that Sirius would be the most approachable for this kind of subject, he just got the feeling that Sirius didn't care that much about his school performance.

He was just about to knock when he noticed Sirius' door was ajar.

"Hello?" Harry said tentatively as he peered into the room.

There was no response besides Sirius' snores, which could be heard through the door.

Odd, Sirius normally doesn't sleep past noon except... Harry's eyes widened as he realized that the full moon had been last night and both his guardians would be dead to the world until late afternoon. The boy's eyes fell onto the wand that was on the dresser. Biting his lip, Harry wavered. I could change the progress report AND write a note to my teacher copying Sirius' signature. I just need to use magic...

Harry shook his head. What was he thinking? Remus would kill him if he got caught. So don't get caught. A voice in his head said.

Well, he WAS planning on raising his grades by the time the term ended. Remus would freak out over his poor grades when they weren't even final. He didn't HAVE to know about them if they were brought up by the end of term. In fact, maybe it was better not to get the man so worked up, especially over such a MINOR thing like this.

With that thought in mind, Harry crept into Sirius' room and snatched the wand from the dresser. He hurried to his room where he penned a note and then changed the handwriting and signature to look like Sirius'. Then he changed his progress report, he now had straight As.

With the mission accomplished, Harry slipped back into Sirius' room and returned the wand to its rightful place.

Despite the sense of accomplishment he felt, he had to try hard to ignore the niggling feeling of guilt that was nagging him.

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Ring! Ring! Ring!

Remus was startled by the noise; until he realized that it was the rarely used phone that was ringing. Hurrying over to the device, he quickly picked it up.

"Hello?" He said tentatively, he couldn't imagine who would be calling.

"Hello, is either a Mr. Sirius Black or a Mr. Remus Lupin available to speak with?" A male voice said through the line.

"This is Remus Lupin speaking." Remus replied.

"Hello, my name is Liam Riley and I am Harry Potter's teacher, I understand that you are one of his guardians?" The man asked.

"Yes..." Remus said, wondering what this was about.

"I just wanted to tell you that we really must meet to discuss Harry's performance in my class. I know that Mr. Black sent a note saying that a meeting was not necessary, but I really must insist." Liam said.

"Note?" Remus asked, confused.

"Yes, today Harry brought a note from his guardian, Mr. Black, saying that he didn't think we needed to meet, despite my note in the report card requesting a meeting." The teacher explained.

"I see." Remus said tightly, he couldn't believe that Sirius would do something like this without consulting him. "When would be the soonest we could meet?"

Suspicion was forming in the teacher's mind on what was going on. "Can you meet today? I have another free period at 1:00."

"We'll be there, which room should we go to?" Remus asked.

"Go to the office and ask to go to the conference room." The teacher instructed.

"Alright, we'll both be there at 1:00." Remus promised.

"See you then." The man replied and then hung up.

Remus seethed as he went in search of Sirius.

"SIRIUS!" Remus yelled as he burst into the garage where Sirius was tinkering with his motorcycle.

Startled, Sirius jumped a little and nearly dropped the wrench he was using. "Merlin's balls, Moony! You scared me half to death! What's wrong?" He asked, as he laid a hand over his chest, as if trying to calm his heart.

All of Remus' pent up frustration came to the forefront. "I can't believe that you would go behind my back and cancel a meeting with Harry's teachers. I know that you don't value the education he is getting because it is muggle-"

"Wait, what?" Sirius was beyond puzzled now. "What are you talking about?"

That stopped Remus' rant, and he studied his friend. Sirius looked genuinely confused instead of the guilty or sheepish look he would have expected to see. Remus' mind started working through the evidence; his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he turned around and made his way to the kitchen.

Remus found what he was looking for on the refrigerator door, he undid the sticking charm on the report card that had been stuck there and studied it.

Remus pointed his wand at the paper. "Finite Incantum."

Instantly, the paper's contents changed. Where the grade's column was once populated with only As, it was now littered with Bs and Cs, with one exception. There, under the grade for Latin, was a bold 'D' and in the notes section was a request to meet with the teacher.

Sirius had followed Remus and watched as Harry's progress report card changed under the spell. He chuckled as he realized what his godson had done. "Sounds like something me or James might have pulled."

A fuming Remus turned toward his friend. "Sirius!" He hissed. "This is no laughing matter, do you know what this means?" He asked as he shook the paper at his friend.

"That Harry hates his useless muggle classes?" Sirius guessed.

"This means that he lied to us. He changed the report card, and he lied to his teacher by forging a note." Remus explained.

"Aww, c'mon, Moony! It's not like anyone got hurt or anything. It's harmless!" Sirius said with an easy grin.

Remus shook his head. "It's not harmless. Sirius, this is a matter of trust. If we can't trust Harry with the little things, how can we ever trust him with something important? And besides that, forging someone's signature is downright criminal."

"But this is just stupid little stuff. Me and James did stuff like this all the time! Besides, it's just a muggle school." Sirius protested.

"You and James had someone to make you tow the line, whether it was Professor McGonagall or Mr. Potter. Do you remember what happened that one time you skivvied off your Friday classes?" Remus questioned.

Sirius winced at the memory. "Don't remind me! My arse still hurts when I think about it."

"What do you think would have happened if Mr. Potter hadn't spanked you and Professor McGonagall hadn't given you a couple of weeks of detentions?" Remus asked, looking pointedly at the other man to prevent him from giving a 'Sirius' answer rather than a serious one.

"Moony!" Sirius whined before he was quelled by the look the werewolf was giving him. With a sigh that was just as much a pout, he replied. "We probably would have skipped classes more often, and maybe we would have failed some classes."

"Exactly!" Remus said. "Harry needs someone to hold him accountable. We both know that Harry is a good person, but that doesn't make him perfect. He may have learned how to be brave and fearless in the face of danger, but he needs more than that. We are not raising a martyr, seeing Harry walk to his death was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen. Harry needs us to help guide him to grow up to be a trustworthy individual. As well as law abiding, if he had done the same in the magical world, the consequences could be more drastic."

Sirius shifted a bit uncomfortably upon hearing Remus' speech. "Yeah, okay, I guess so..." He said dubiously.

"What would James have wanted?" Remus asked as he stared intently into his friend's eyes.

Sirius blew out a breath. "He would have wanted Harry to grow up with the morals that he grew up with."

Remus nodded, satisfied. "Yes, just like what Mr. Potter would have done if James had misbehaved in such a manner."

Sirius looked uncomfortable. "Look, Remus, I won't argue that he has to be punished anymore, but well... Could you take over for this? I don't think I have a lot of credibility for this kind of stuff."

"I already told you I would pick up the discipline if you ever felt uncomfortable." Remus laid a reassuring hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Thanks, Moony." Sirius said, relieved.

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"Harry really is a bright student, but it seems that in the last few weeks his motivation has dropped. He started out this term well, he turned in every homework assignment and scored well in every test, but a few weeks in, he started missing assignments. Now, a few missed homework assignments here and there wouldn't affect the grade all that much, but then it got worse. Currently, less than half of his assigned work is up to par, his answers are quite sloppy, and it is obvious that there is a difference between the assignments he takes his time with and the ones that he has probably scribbled on just before coming to class. His grades on his tests have dropped from As to Ds or Fs. I can tell from what he does turn it, that he could do well if he just consistently did his work." Harry's teacher, Liam Riley explained.

"Is there any way for Harry to catch up and pass by the end of the year?" Remus asked. He was fighting not to show the irritation he felt. He KNEW that he asked Harry practically everyday if the boy was done with his homework, and that Harry always answered 'yes'.

Liam looked at the man; he could tell that he cared about the child's education, unlike some other parents that he had seen lately. He decided to give them a chance. "Well... I suppose, if Harry were to redo those assignments that he scored under 50%, I would give half credit. I can assign extra assignments as well. As long he raises his performance for the rest of the year, I don't see why he wouldn't be able to raise his grade to a C or B. But understand, Harry is going to have to work hard for this."

"Could we get a list of the assignments that Harry did poorly on?" Remus requested.

"I can do you one better. Let me go make a copy of the syllabus for the term. I'll mark the assignments that Harry missed. You should be able to monitor from the schedule what work that Harry has for the day." Liam explained, then excused himself to go make the copy.

"What class is this for, again?" Sirius asked, somewhat bored.

"Latin." Remus answered.

Sirius jolted, surprised. "I thought you said it was for his muggle classes? Latin is important in our world!"

"Latin is a subject taught at this school as well." Remus explained.

"It will only help him with spell casting if he knows Latin. I thought he knew this." Sirius said puzzled.

Remus shook his head. "I don't think anyone told him how it relates to magic, we just assumed that he would make the connection."

Sirius sighed. "I guess that will just be one more thing to talk about..."

The rest of their conversation was cut short by the teacher walking back in. After getting the syllabus, they thanked the teacher and made their way home.

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Dinner was a quiet affair. Harry had to struggle to not play around with his food. He wasn't very hungry, guilt took away most of his hunger. He didn't even notice that Sirius and Remus seemed quieter than normal.

Kreacher was clearing the table and Harry asked to be excused.

Sirius and Remus shared a significant glance as Sirius left the table.

"Your teacher had some interesting things to say today." Remus said casually.

Warning bells were going off in Harry's head. "You talked to my teacher?" He blurted out, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Yes, he insisted that we meet with him, in spite of the note that Sirius sent him assuring him that the problem would be dealt with." Remus' voice took on a thoughtful note. "Funny that, Sirius doesn't seem to recall sending him a note..."

Harry's eyes widened. He was soooo busted. He gulped and thought about how he could salvage the situation. "Erm... Well, I-I, uh might know something about that..."

Remus' look turned attentive. "Yes?" He asked, prompting the boy to continue.

"Um, well... I didn't want to disturb you, a-and I swear! I was gonna work harder and raise that grade, so I, um..." Harry trailed off as he studied his empty plate.

"Harry." There was a note of warning in the man's voice that made Harry's stomach flip.

"I... um... IwroteanoteandforgedSirius'signature!" Harry blurted out all in one breath.

"Say that again, slower." Remus' voice held an edge of steel beneath it.

Harry took in a deep breath and summoned up all of his courage. "I wrote a note to my teacher, and forged Sirius' signature." Harry tried desperately to look anywhere than at the werewolf.

"And the report card? It showed you having As in everything." Remus looked intently at the boy.

"I uh, might have changed that, a little..." Harry admitted, squirming in his seat.

"Oh? Do tell, how was it that the D turned into an A?" Remus' voice clearly said that lying now would be a very, very bad idea.

"Erm... I snitched Sirius' wand while he was asleep after the full moon, and used magic to change it." Harry's heart sank as he had to recount his transgressions.

"I see, so you used magic, which you are still forbidden to use, to lie to us by changing your grade. Then you lied when you forged Sirius' signature to write a note to your teacher. Not to mention all the times you lied about having your homework done, when you have only been doing your Latin homework at the last minute half of the time. Have I missed anything?" Remus asked.

Harry's head dropped as Remus listed his crimes, despairing that he would ever sit again.

"Harry, look at me." Remus commanded and Harry reluctantly wretched his gaze at the table to look at his guardian. "You are in deep trouble little boy. You are going to go upstairs and get ready for bed, and then you are going to put your nose in the corner to wait for me. You are going to receive a mouth washing for your lies followed by a rather thorough session with the slipper."

"Not with the brush?" Harry was so surprised that he blurted it out before he could stop himself. He didn't want to give the man any ideas! Still, with as deep in trouble as he was, he thought for sure that he would get it from the dreaded hairbrush.

Remus' eyes softened a little. "The brush we reserve for when you put your life in danger. For now. Although that might change to the belt when you get older."

Harry's eyes widened at the thought of getting spanked with the belt.

Remus sighed. "Much older, like maybe 15 at the earliest, but most likely 16 or 17." He explained.

Harry took the small amount of comfort in that, even though he didn't like the thought of being spanked when he would be that old.

"Now enough stalling, go. You had better be all ready for bed and in a corner in 20 minutes, otherwise I'll double your grounding and add a day to your bedtime spankings." Remus warned.

Harry was off like a shot to go do as he was instructed, even though he wanted to ask about the bedtime spankings. He remembered the last time he had bedtime spankings all too well, that week had been absolutely horrible. He winced in remembrance even as he scrambled to get ready for bed.

Twenty minutes later found the now repentant boy shifting nervously in the corner. With dread, the child heard the telltale sounds of footsteps approaching the door. Even as he heard the door open, he knew better than to turn around.

Harry heard the creaking of the bed alerting him that someone had sat down on it.

"Come here, Harry." Remus said firmly.

Harry reluctantly turned around; his eyes were automatically drawn to the slipper in Remus' hands. He remembered that even with its lightweight, it stung like nothing else. Like a condemned man, he walked over to his guardian.

When the boy was beside Remus, the man pointed his wand at the boy and said the mouth-washing spell.

The bitter taste of soap bloomed in his mouth, and tears sprang to his eyes as Remus lectured.

"I am very disappointed in you, Harry. I expect you to be honest with us at all times. You are going to have to endure that mouth washing spell for five minutes, one minute for all your lies about your homework being done, one minute for changing the progress report and three minutes for forging that note." Remus said, disappointment tingeing his voice.

Five minutes later the spell ended and Harry was allowed to rinse and spit into a conjured glass.

"I hope this is the end of your lying, because that alone would get you a mouth washing and a spanking." Remus warned.

"Yes, sir." Harry said glumly, even though he was able to spit out, most of the taste lingered.

"Now, let's not put this off any longer, bare your bottom and lie over my lap." He commanded sternly.

With great reluctance, Harry obeyed. He pulled down his pajama bottoms and pants and quickly draped himself over the man's lap.

As soon as the boy was situated, Remus brought the slipper down on the unprotected bottom. SLAP!

Harry gasped at the sting of the slipper as the pain blossomed in his bottom.

Remus was laying on the smacks with the slipper hard and fast causing the boy to wiggle and squirm, trying desperately to move his bottom out of the line of fire.

"Owww! Remus, I'm Oww! Sorry!" Harry cried out, tears streaming down his face, his bottom was on fire!

"I certainly hope so! If you were struggling in your classes you should have come to us! We would have helped you." Remus lectured, not letting up in the least.

Harry's legs kicked out with every swat, the sting was even worse than the hairbrush, even if the swats weren't as heavy. Each swat felt like a million hornets were attacking his poor bum.

"I'm sorry! Owwww! Please owie! stop! Owww" The boy broke down in sobs.

"I want you to remember how this feels next time you think to lie to us." Remus said firmly. Lowering one leg and lifting the other brought Harry's sit spot to a very vulnerable position. Remus targeted his next swats on the very place that his charge would remember them the most.

"You ((SLAP!)) Will ((SLAP!)) Not ((SLAP!)) Lie! ((SLAP!))" Remus impressed his point onto Harry's very sore sit spot.

"I w-won't! Owww! I won't lie again! OWWW!" Harry sobbed out, kicking and squirming for all that he was worth, in a vain attempt to alleviate the maddening sting.

"Good!" Remus said as he landed six more powerful swats to the boy's bright red bottom.

By the end of it, Harry had gone limp, sobbing miserably.

Remus rubbed Harry's back until the worst of his sobs had subsided. He then fixed the boy's clothes before scooping him into an embrace.

Harry clung to the man, sobbing out all his feelings of guilt that he had been feeling the past few days. He let those heavy emotions drain from him leaving him feel light and strangely empty.

Remus could sense that Harry was upset over more than just the pain. He whispered assurances into the boy's ear. "Shh... it's okay... All forgiven now."

"Remus? I'm really sorry. I knew better than to lie to you and do all that stuff. I really am a disappointment." Harry said with tears streaming down his face.

"Hey, now. Listen to me, Harry James Potter. You are NOT a disappointment." Remus said firmly. "You may do some disappointing things, but you, yourself are NOT a disappointment."

Harry protested. "But-"

"No, Harry. All children make mistakes, and have to learn from them. Despite any mistakes you have made or will make, I know that you, Harry James Potter, are a good person. You are the person that ran into the girls loo even knowing that a Troll had walked in there, just to save a person that you didn't even know very well at the time. Although I wish you had gotten a teacher, your heart was in the right place." Remus said firmly.

"Sirius and I don't expect you to be perfect, but you certainly know the difference between right and wrong. Harry, you knew it was wrong to lie, change the report card and forge the note, right?" The werewolf looked intently into those brilliant green orbs.

Harry averted his eyes at the intense gaze. "Yeah, I did know. I just didn't want to be spanked." The boy admitted.

"Had you faced the music, you would have gotten off lighter than you did by trying to hide it. I would have still spanked you, but it might have been a hand spanking rather than one with the slipper. And you wouldn't have had the grounding and bedtime spankings you are now going to get." Remus said firmly.

"Grounding? Bedtime spankings?" Harry asked with dread.

"Yes, you are now grounded for the next two weeks, and will have bedtime spankings for the next three days." The man explained. "Harry, you do realize that forging Sirius' signature was a criminal action, don't you?"

Harry's head shot up and his eyes widened. "Criminal?" He squeaked.

"Had the school found out… Well the normal course of action for such an offense would be suspension, but with your earlier suspension for fighting… You would have probably been expelled." Remus said seriously.

"No! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" Harry exclaimed. "I-I didn't think about it that way."

Remus knew that having the school find out about Harry's little forgery could have some grave consequences, but he didn't want to deprive Harry of seeing Hermione every day. He hoped that this punishment would be enough of a deterrent that Harry would never try a stunt like this again.

"Your punishment is so that you really THINK about your actions, and the consequences. You know that had this been the magical world, we would not have been able to be so lenient. The magical world takes oaths very seriously, and by extension forgery is a very serious crime. Your bedtime spankings will be a bit harsher than the last time to reflect this, even if they don't go on for as long. You will receive 10 smacks with the slipper before going to bed for the next three days." Remus said sternly.

Harry looked down, shamefaced and just nodded.

"Since you cannot be trusted to do your homework by yourself, you will now have to keep a daily agenda of your homework, which we will check. I expect honesty, but since you have misused our trust in the past, I might check with your teachers on occasion to make sure you are writing down all your assignments. Do I need to go over what the punishment might be if you are found to be dishonest?" Remus questioned with a hard voice.

Eyes wide, Harry fervently shook his head. He was hurt by the loss of trust caused by his little stunt. He resolved to make it up to his guardians.

"Right then, let's get you into bed, young man." Remus said with a warm smile.

Harry didn't protest at the early bedtime, he knew that whenever he was in trouble he always had to go to sleep early, as part of the punishment he supposed. The boy got into bed, lying on his stomach. Remus went to tuck him in, then sat by him on the bed and rubbed the child's back in comforting circles.

Despite thinking that he would never be able to fall asleep with his burning backside, he soon fell asleep to Remus' ministrations

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Please Remus? Can't I have a cushioning charm for at least when I do my homework? My sore bum makes it hard to concentrate." Harry pleaded.

Remus studied the boy, then relented. Honestly, he wasn't asking for much. "Alright, but you are still writing your 100 lines of 'I will not lie, change official reports, or forge signatures' without the cushioning charm. It is part of the punishment."

Harry, smiled, relieved that he got the small concession. He really didn't want to do all his course work with his sore bum on the hard wooden chair without something to soften things.

"Remus? I don't think I can get top marks in my classes with all the work I've missed." Harry bit his lip, as he asked the question he had been dreading. "Are you- Are you gonna spank me again at the end of the year?"

"Harry, as long as you do your best, I won't punish you." Remus explained. "I don't expect you to be perfect, as long as you have tried your best, that is good enough for me."

Harry was comforted by the sentiment, even as he realized that he would have to change his work ethic somewhat. He knew that he had not been trying his best in his Hogwarts classes, with the exception of perhaps Defense Against the Dark Arts. He knew that his guardians would care about his grades unlike the Dursleys, who would have preferred to see Harry fail.

"Now why don't you get started on your lines?" Remus suggested. "The sooner you get them done, the sooner I will cast the cushioning charm."

With no small amount of reluctance, Harry started his lines.

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Author's Note: Thank you all for your kind reviews, Janie Lucy's in particular helped to motivate me to write more. And she helped me with some of the fine details on this chapter. I had originally not made much note of the fact that Harry forged the note. Janie Lucy pointed out that forgery is a very serious offense. I didn't want to have too much of a fall out of this so Harry probably got of a bit lightly.