Disclaimer: Me no own Harry Potter. Also, this is NOT my fanverse. It belongs to halo-n-horns. I am simply playing in it, with express permission, of course. If anyone needs a refresher course…it's a Remus/James/Sirius/Severus fic in the marauder era, with a poly-amorus discipline relationship going on. There's a visible hierarchy. No need to explain that here. You'll see it.

Warnings: The usual friends. The usual. Oh…and slash. Lots of slash. Though there's nothing explicit. Hehehe.

James was beyond furious. If it weren't for Moony's reassuring hand on his arm and the warning glance that same friend was shooting him, every breakable item in the room would prove that it was, in fact, breakable. James was nearly renowned for his temper.

"Easy now Prongs. We'll sort this out." Moony's voice was low and calm in his ear, but it held an underlying threat. 'Control yourself or else.' James understood and made a point to unclench his fists and relax his muscles. Remus was visibly pleased.

"Good boy. Now we can go look for our little miscreant. I'm sure he'll make himself hard to find."

James smiled ruefully. "I'm sure."

Severus was finding studying complicated, not because the text was difficult or because he didn't understand the material, but because he could not help but constantly glance at his study partner.

Severus could only guess as to why Sirius found it necessary to be in the library today of all days. The weather was great, James was probably out flying, the common room would be deserted, except for Remus, of course, and Severus was sure he could use a bit of 'company.'

He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning at that. Remus and Sirius had been enjoying each other's presence as of late. They didn't love each other more than him or James and he knew that, but with their relationship the chemistry was constantly changing as they all went through phases. It was only natural. He and James had been quite busy this week as well, Severus remembered, as he bit back another grin.

That still didn't answer the question as to why Sirius was in the library. He had shot him a questioning glance earlier and gotten a glare for his efforts. That hadn't been very reassuring. He risked a forthright inquiry.

"Is everything alright Sirius?" His tone was complacent and a bit on the meek side. Sirius looked up at once, into the questioning eyes of his still occasionally insecure lover. He managed a grin for him.

"Everything's fine Sev. I'm just camping out here for a bit." The slight shift of his eyes and the nervous note in his voice told Severus everything he needed to know. He winced in sympathy. He offered no words of comfort, knowing from experience that they did no good. He went back to studying, mystery solved.

Meanwhile, James and Remus had searched nearly every part of the castle. They were currently in the owlry, where they had come across Peter sending his sister a letter. Peter was bored, and more than willing to assist, even though Sirius would kill him later.

"Where haven't you guys checked yet?" Peter asked, bouncing on his toes from repressed nervous energy. Remus made a note to try and surreptitiously limit his friend's sugar intake.

James started ticking off fingers. "The shrieking shack, the Ravenclaw common room, Dumbledore's office, the locker rooms, and the Forbidden Forest."

"You forgot the library," Remus added quietly. His two companions glanced at him oddly before turning back to each other.

"You reckon he's in the Forbidden Forest then?"

Lunch time had come and gone, and Sirius was still hiding out in the library. He was beginning to wonder if he had chosen too good of a hiding place. Thin tendrils of dread were working their way around his insides and by this point he sincerely wanted to be found. He wanted it almost as much as he wanted to remain hidden forever.

Severus had decided to go to the Gryffindor common room in search of James. After asking around, Lily had finally told him that James was off with Remus looking for Sirius. He nodded in understanding before making his way outside. Best to leave them alone for now.

Back in the library Sirius was reviewing Defense with Regulus. His little brother had an eerie ability with the dark arts. While never going so far as to cast an actual dark spell, he had used several shadier ones. The subject fascinated him, as did its counterpart. Regulus was as good, if not better, with Defense as Sirius.

None of Regulus's Slytherin friends were there, so Sirius wasn't embarrassing him. It felt good, if strained, to spend some time with his brother. They were so different now. They believed in different things. Sirius wondered if the gap between them would ever be bridged.

Suddenly a shout from across the room alerted Sirius. He ground his teeth as he recognized the voice.

"You were right Remus! He is in the library!" Madame Pince sent a death glare at Peter, effectively banishing him from the library. James and Remus grinned apologetically and stepped in, spotting Sirius almost immediately.

Regulus, who was far too perceptive for his own good, smoothly questioned his brother. "Not in trouble, are we Sirius?" His voice was nearly a purr. Sirius could feel his face burn.

"Shut it Regulus. I won't lose any sleep if I break your face." Regulus only smirked.

"See you around then. Maybe," he called over his shoulder, as he smoothly exited the library. James and Remus took his place a few moments later.

"Good to see you and Regulus talking," Remus mumbled, respectful of the atmosphere. Sirius 'hmmed' in answer. Moony may have been relaxed, but James was making no effort to hide his displeasure.

"We need to talk Padfoot. Now." His voice nearly crackled with unspent emotion. Sirius audibly gulped in response, but made no effort to remove himself from his seat.

"Don't make me start counting Sirius." He swallowed again. James would count, even if it was low enough so that no one else could hear it.

"One" The number was nearly growled.

"No James, don't count. Please don't count, I'm coming." Despite his words he remained firmly seated.

"Two"

"Stop!" The word had a whiny quality to it that made Sirius wince. "Please? I'm getting up. Just stop counting!" Without meaning to, Sirius had raised the volume of his voice.

Remus mumbled in his ear. "You're attracting attention to yourself, little boy."

"Three" The glint in James' eye was dangerous. He grabbed Sirius by the upper arm and forcibly dragged him out of the library, causing some tittering in the younger students in the library. Sirius had never felt so embarrassed in his life, and tears threatened to bump the embarrassment up a notch.

Once in the hallway, and after noting it was deserted, James aimed a swat at Sirius, who yelped in response. It also shattered the last of his control, and a few tears managed to leak out.

"When I ask you to come, I mean on my terms, not yours. Do I make myself clear?" James was still upset, but his voice had gentled a bit.

"Yes James. I'm sorry."

Prongs nodded in acceptance. "Then let's get this over with little boy."

Sirius gulped again.

The walk to the common room had been long, but now inside, Sirius found himself wishing it had been longer. They were seconds away from the dorm, and he had a brief moment of insanity where he considered breaking free of James' grip and bolting back into the safety of Remus' arms. Of course, Remus would just send him back up with a lecture and a few swats.

Even so, this was not going to go well.

James bit back an affectionate smile. Sirius looked so young, and so very very apprehensive.

"Lie over my lap Sirius." The tone was all authority. It left no room for argument.

"C-can't we talk about this first?" Sirius stuttered out. He knew they would talk about it, eventually, but he wanted to stall as long as possible.

"No. Don't make me start counting." Sirius was at his side in seconds. James couldn't resist a small chuckle at that. Sirius hated it when he counted.

He drew the boy over his lap, knowing he didn't have the courage at the moment to do it himself. There was a small amount of wriggling, but nothing over the top. Just Sirius being Sirius.

He pulled down his trousers and pants and simply sat there, with Sirius bare bottomed over his lap, for about a minute. Finally he asked, "Why am I going to spank you Sirius?"

Sirius knew he wouldn't be able to answer that without breaking down. His nerves were frazzled as it was, and it wasn't an easy question.

"Because I hexed that third year Hufflepuff again." He said it into his hands, hiding his embarrassment.

"That's right. Not only did I tell you not to ever draw your wand on a younger student ever again, you drew it on the same one. The exact same one."

"But he said the same things James! He called you and Remus and Severus all kinds of nasty names. He said things that should never come out of a thirteen year old's mouth."

"That doesn't matter. I've told you over and over again it doesn't matter what people say about us. We love each other, and that's all that matters. And besides, it's not like you cast a simple 'scourgify' on him, even though that would have landed you in the same place you are now. You hexed him Sirius, really hexed him. He's hurt."

"I don't care! That little wretch deserved it." No sooner had the words left his lips than a hard smack landed on his bottom. It was followed by four others, equally as hard. He let out a small gasp. Those had hurt.

"He is not to be blamed for his parent's prejudices! He is far too young to have any opinion of it for himself. He's just repeating what he's heard. He didn't deserve your retribution. He's only a child."

Sirius was smart enough to recognize truth when he heard it. He put his face back in his hands, to ashamed to look anywhere else.

"I'm sorry James. Really."

"I know." And with that, James started spanking. It was slow at first, but then picked up speed. He had a regular pattern going, two smacks to each cheek followed by one smack to each thigh. By about the third circuit of this, Sirius was trying to levitate off of his lap.

"Lie still little boy, or I'll call Remus in here to hold you down." He wouldn't really, but it got his point across.

Sirius protested and complied at the same time. "But it huurrtts James!"

"It's supposed to; otherwise there wouldn't be much of a point."

Smack after smack rained down on Sirius's upturned bottom. He made no effort to hide his distress.

"Oww James! Prongs please, I'll be good I swear. It won't ever OW happen again."

There was a pause, and Sirius almost believed James had stopped. Instead, his next words made his blood freeze.

"This was direct disobedience Sirius. What does that mean?" Oh no. Oh no no no. Direct disobedience held dire consequences. He couldn't take a paddling on top of all of this!

A hard smack to his sit spot made him respond. "You get to hit me with the paddle, that's what it means!" He nearly wailed.

James rolled his eyes. "I don't hit you, but yes, that's what it means." He reached over to the nightstand and pulled the paddle out of the drawer.

"It's only twenty five Sirius. Only twenty-five." Sirius fought the urge to scream back that 'only' twenty-five was a whole fucking lot.

James made quick work of it; he hated using anything other than his hand. By the last ten swats Sirius was sobbing openly, limply lying over James's lap.

James began rubbing small circles into his back and whispering nonsense words of comfort. "Shh, it's alright sweet. You're ok babe. You're ok, you're safe, I promise. All's forgiven, I love you. We all love you."

Sirius picked himself up and clung to James' shirt, still crying hard. Small 'sorries' could be heard as James continued to rub his back, assuring him that everything was fine.

As Sirius began to calm down James started to talk to him. "You're going to have to apologize to that boy tomorrow. He should be out of the hospital wing by then."

Sirius sighed. "I know. I will."

"Good boy," James responded, as he nuzzled Sirius's hair. "One thing I can't figure out though."

"Hmm?" answered Sirius, nearly asleep on James's lap.

"What on earth were you doing in the library?"