For 16 Galleons

Chapter 6

Harry's training was going rather well. The tasks had proved easy, but the manners and learning to serve someone was really hard. There were so many things he had to remember to do and not to do. Mr. Bell said he was learning quickly, but Harry had heard the kitchen staff talking about one of the stable boys being whipped for doing something and that made him shake with fear. Uncle Vernon had whipped him with a belt once when he had thrown a fit like he'd seen Dudley do the day before. His butt had stung all day. He never wanted to have that happen again. Harry was pretty sure what the stable boy had done was worse than using the wrong title when addressing a guest but he wasn't really sure just what 'buggering a ewe' meant. He didn't want to take any chances.

He was having even more trouble with the serving part. He was really good at doing what he was told. The problem was trying to figure out what to do before he was asked to do it. Mr. Bell called it 'anticipating your master's needs' and Harry was just lousy at it at first. They spent days on it with Mr. Bell pretending to be Master Draco and Harry trying to figure out from 'body language' what he was going to be needing in the next few moments. Mr. Bell said he was improving but Harry was really nervous about it. He had started watching Master Draco in the evenings while they played, trying to see if he could guess what the boy was about to do.

Mr. Bell had told him that he wouldn't be serving Master Draco in the dining room until he was bigger. He just wasn't tall enough or strong enough to do it. He would be serving Master Draco whenever he ate in his own rooms. The table and dishes of food were much smaller. He would also be helping Master Draco get dressed in the mornings and get ready for bed in the evenings. The best part was, his most important duty was to play with Master Draco. He really was supposed to be the boy's best friend.

Once Mr. Bell was satisfied with his progress, the lessons changed. Harry was roused early in the morning and taken to Master Draco's rooms. There, under Mr. Bell's supervision, he quietly got Master Draco's clothes laid out. When it was all ready, he went over to the boy's bed and, for the very first time, woke him up. This experience confirmed for him that yes, Master Draco was truly a spoiled brat. It took ten minutes to get the whiny little snot out of bed and it had been all that Harry could do to keep from grabbing a glass of water and dumping it on Draco's head like Aunt Petunia had done to him that time. He knew that Mr. Bell would be really mad if he did that. Harry touched his collar, reminding himself that he had to behave.

Harry began to notice that every day he did more things on his own and Mr. Bell instructed him less and less. Mrs. Carter and Governess began leaving the boys to themselves for short periods of time.

One day, they told him that he would be moving into Master Draco's rooms. Harry had been shown the room that would be his. The door was right beside Master Draco's bed so that he could hear if his master called for him. It was much smaller than Master Draco's but bigger than his old cupboard. Come to think of it, it was bigger than Dudley's room. That made him grin. Oh, how he would like to rub that in Pig-In-A-Wig's face. So, Harry hung his few robes up in the wardrobe, and placed Puff smack dab in the middle of the bed to guard everything. He didn't care who knew that he had a teddy dragon. Mrs. Carter had said that it was perfectly fine for big boys to have stuffed animals. She said all her sons had had them, might even still have them.

The grown ups had been leaving Harry and Master Draco to play for hours at a time for several days now. The staff had found that Mrs. Carter's prediction that the boys would be absolute hellions together had proved true. The two of them ran everywhere. They had been scolded by Mr. Arieta for sliding down the banisters. The gardener had chased them out of the hedge maze three times. The portraits had taken to leaving their frames when they heard the boys coming. Not a biscuit jar in the Manor was safe. One of the walls of the stable now sported bright chalk drawings of knights and dragons. Harry was having more fun than he had ever had. He thought maybe it was worth it to belong to someone.

Then came that fateful day... They had been chased out of the kitchen before they could get to the pastries. One of the stable hands had caught them before they could get up the ladder to the loft. The gardener was trimming the maze. The boys were bored. Draco had finally told Harry to sneak into the play room and get his broom. Harry knew that if he got caught he would get in trouble and Draco would get off scot-free, but Draco was his master and he had to do what he was told. Besides, if he got the broom, Master Draco would give him a turn on it.

Harry almost got caught by Jane, the downstairs maid, on his way in but ducked behind a curtain just in time. He got the broom and slipped out of the Manor without incident. He took it out to Draco, who immediately hopped on it and went racing around the yard.

What seemed like hours later, Harry yelled at the blond, "It's my turn now, Master Draco."

"Not if I don't want to give you one. It's my broom."

"But I snuck in and got it!"

Draco flew up close to Harry. "It's my broom and if I want to ride it, I can. I don't have to let you ride at all. You're just my slave."

Harry was fuming. His fists were clenched at his sides. He knew his face was red. He had been playing with Master Draco for days, doing whatever he asked. Now he was furious. "That's not fair! You said I was your best friend. You lied to me! You're... you're a... a poop-head!" he screamed.

Draco's eyes got huge and his face went white. He yelled and flew right at Harry, knocking him down. Harry grabbed on and pulled the blond to the ground. They rolled around, pulling each other's hair, trying to punch each other and screaming in rage. The next thing they knew they were pulled off each other by two very angry men.

"What is the meaning of this," hissed Master Malfoy. Harry noticed that Mr. Bell, Mrs. Carter and Governess were running towards them and it looked like the rest of the staff were gathered around the windows, watching.

Draco, tears smearing his face, pointed at Harry and whined, "He called me a poop-head."

Harry struggled in Mr. Arieta's grip and yelled back, "He lied to me!"

A few minutes later the men had drug the whole story from the boys. Then Mr. Arieta sat down on a bench and instructed Harry to bend over his knee. Harry immediately covered his butt with his hands, turned red and shook his head.

"Now," growled Master Malfoy, glaring at him. Harry nodded and carefully laid himself across the knees. He whimpered a bit, knowing what was coming next.

Smack! The hand came down on his arse. He yelped and tried to cover it with his hands. Mr. Arieta grabbed his hands and held them in front of him. "That was for calling your master a bad name." Smack! Harry yelped again jerked his hands. "That was for fighting with your master." Smack! Harry felt tears welling up. "That was for refusing to do what I told you to do. Now get up."

Harry stood up and rubbed his arse. It didn't hurt very bad but he was so embarrassed. Everyone was watching. They all knew he had been bad. They were going to be mad at him. He tried to keep the tears back but a small sniffle escaped. He kept his head down.

"Now, it's your turn," Master Malfoy said. Harry looked up, thinking the man was talking about him. "Go to your room, Draco. I will be up in a moment to administer your spanking. You are a Malfoy. It doesn't matter if you are dealing with a wizard or a slave, you do not behave in such a demeaning manner." Draco looked up at his father shocked. The man nodded his head towards the door and the boy took off like a shot, knowing better than to refuse his father.

Master Malfoy turned to Mrs. Carter, "If you would kindly supervise Harry for the next hour, I would appreciate it."

"Of course, Master Malfoy."

When the man had left to deal with his son, Mrs. Carter approached Harry and stood over him with her hands on her hips. He looked up at her shyly with watery eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Carter, Mr. Arieta. I didn't mean to get so mad."

Mr. Arieta grunted. "As long as you understand that such behaviour is not tolerated in this household."

"Yes, Sir."

"Very well then, go with Mrs. Carter. I think Susie is getting ready to make tea." He looked at Harry very sternly but his voice was a bit softer.

Harry took Mrs. Carter's hand and let her lead him to the kitchens.

"Honestly, I expected them to tussle before this," he heard Mr. Bell say behind them.

"Oh, me too. He really is an awfully good boy considering his background," Mr. Arieta responded. "It's so hard to stay mad at him." Both men chuckled and turned to follow Harry into the Manor.

Harry was so embarrassed. All the staff had seen him get a spanking and knew that he had called his master a bad name. He felt like everyone was staring at him as he helped put the tea things together. When he started to put a tray together for Master Draco he was told that he and his master would not be getting tea today as part of their punishment. He hung his head in shame.

When Mrs. Carter told him he could go to his rooms, he quickly got up to leave. Just as he slipped out the door, one of the young men on the staff slipped him a handful of biscuits and told him to hide them in his pockets and make sure to share with his master. With a wink and grin, he shooed Harry up the stairs.

When Harry got to his rooms, Master Draco was sitting quietly looking at a book. Harry walked over and stood in front of him. "I'm sorry, Master Draco."

Draco didn't look up but nodded his head. Harry reached into a pocket and pulled out a handful of biscuits. "I snuck these for us."

Draco looked up and Harry saw that he had cried too. "Thanks," he said and smiled. He reached out for a biscuit and patted the seat beside him for Harry to sit down. "I'm sorry I wasn't being fair."

"That's okay. I've never had anyone share anything with me before. I just got mad when you acted like my cousin Dudley."

"Ew. Was I that bad?" Harry nodded. "I've never had a best friend to share my things with. I get kind of stuck up sometimes," Draco admitted.

Harry was surprised to hear Draco say that. He just smiled and offered another biscuit. "Did your father spank you, too?"

Draco nodded and sniffled a bit. "Yeah, it was only two smacks, though. One for not playing fair and one for embarrassing him by fighting in front of everyone like a hooligan."

Harry kept sharing biscuits until they were all gone. They spent the time till supper looking at Draco's picture books together. Draco went down to eat with his parents and Harry ate with the staff in the kitchen. He was still really embarrassed but the grownups seemed to have forgiven him.

That night, after he had been in bed for a while thinking about the day, he heard a shuffling noise at the door. Then he saw Draco beside his bed, Crunch held tightly to his chest.

"Harry, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Um, sure, Master Draco." He scooted over and his master crawled in. The two boys drifted off to sleep, comforted by each other after the traumatic day. The guard dragons performed their duty flawlessly, keeping away harm and bad dreams. The next morning, Governess was concerned when she found Draco's bed empty. Then she looked into Harry's room and saw one head of bright blond hair and one of jet black peeking up out of the covers. She exited silently and went to get Mrs. Carter. The two boys looked adorable snuggled up together.

To be continued.