(Author Note: This is Part 1 of a 3 Part Story.)

"Andy! Wake up, ya big sleepyhead!"

Andy Newton opened his eyes and peered over the covers at his 8-year-old brother, Mike. "Quit shouting, ya doofus, I'm awake."

"Well get up, lazy bones," said Mike. "Santa brought snow!"

Andy turned to look out his bedroom window and sure enough, he could see in the early dawn light that it was snowing outside. "I don't think Santa brings snow, Brainiac. That's just called weather."

"Who cares?" said Mike. "Let's go open our presents!"

"Okay," said Andy as he kicked off his covers and climbed out of bed. "But simmer down, Squirt, no need to wake the whole house."

"Quit calling me Squirt!" said Mike, stamping his foot. "Just cause you're 10-years-old, you don't get to tell me what to do."

"I do when you're in my bedroom, Squirt."

"Well, then I won't come in here anymore."

"Promise?" said Andy, hopefully.

"Very funny, Andy. Let's go!"

"I'm coming."

As the brothers headed downstairs it became apparent that Mike had, in fact, woken up the whole house. Their 6-year-old sister Jenny was soon right behind her brothers on the stairs. "Hurry up, slow pokes!" she complained. Their mother called down, warning them yet again to not run on the stairs.

All three siblings made it safely down the stairs, then Mike and Jenny sprinted into the living room and announced that Santa had, in fact, been there! Even better, he left loads of presents under the Christmas tree and in their stockings!

Andy knew the truth about Santa Claus and had started wondering when his parents were gonna tell Mike. He was pretty sure that he knew the truth by the time he was eight... or was it nine? Anyway, he resisted the temptation to sprint over to the tree, opting instead to stroll over. Of course as he made his slow, mature way over to the tree he was in fact scanning the wrapped gifts, looking for tags with his name on them.

Thirty minutes later the Newton family's living room was awash in torn and shredded wrapping paper. It looked like some bizarre ticker tape parade had occurred inside the nearly 200-year-old farmhouse. The three children happily played with their new toys while their parents opened the last of their own wrapped presents from under the tree.

Mike had received a new toy wand and was darting around the room pretending to cast hexes on everyone and everything. Andy shuddered to think of his little brother actually in wizard school learning to cast real spells. That thought was quite scary.

"Alright," said Mom. "Time for me to start breakfast." This news brought cheers from her offpsring. "Meanwhile you three clean up this mess." This order was greeted by a chorus of boos. "I'm not kidding!"

Once his mother was safely in the kitchen working on breakfast, Andy approached his father, who was seated in his favorite easy chair. He whispered, "Dad, do you think you could help us with this?" He gestured at the wrapping paper remains scattered across the floor.

"I don't know, Andy," said Mr. Newton, speaking barely above a whisper. "You know how your mother feels about that sort of thing."

"But it's so easy for you, Dad!" said Mike, who had walked over to listen in.

"Simmer down, Squirt," said Andy, quietly but urgently, "or Mom will hear you."

Mike remained silent, but stuck his tongue out at his older brother.

"Well, seeing as how it's Christmas," Mr. Newton looked towards the kitchen to see if the coast was clear. Then he reached into the pocket of his bathrobe and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at the mess on the floor and said, as quietly as he could, "Evanesco!" Suddenly the scrap paper vanished from a sizable section of the room, revealing the hardwood floor beneath. With just two more castings of the Vanishing Spell, the room was free of scrap paper, although still littered with toys. Andy purely loved seeing real magic performed, and Mike was nearly beside himself - practically squealing with delight.

The Newtons were one of the oldest wizarding families in Pennsylvania. One of Andy's ancestors had built their stately old farmhouse back in the early 19th century, well before the outbreak of the American Civil War. Newtons had been living here in Pebble Hill, Bucks County, Pennsylvania for about 200 years.

Andy's parents, Daniel Newton and Alice Garfield, met when they were both students at the Franklin School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, located in a rural area of Pennsylvania. Alice was muggle-born, which helped to explain her insistence that her children learn how to do things 'the old fashioned way', and not just by using magic. Andy and his siblings had all tested positive for magical talent and would be formally trained in the normal course of events. Andy was looking forward to next September, when he would finally be able to enter the Franklin School as a student and start learning real magic!

The three Newton children, with many muggle relatives on their mother's side of the family, were much more attuned to the non-magical world than the offspring of the average wizarding family. They would, of course, always need to hide their magical abilities from muggles, even their own relatives. Their mother insisted that this requirement made knowledge of both muggle and wizarding worlds even more important since it would allow them to blend in with their muggle relatives as needed.

Apparently in the distant past muggle-born witches and wizards were cut off from their families almost entirely after entering the wizarding world. Andy's parents considered this a very old-fashioned attitude and did their best to allow Alice and their children to maintain contact with their muggle relatives. Among other things, this meant that the Newton children owned a mixture of magical and muggle-built toys.

At breakfast Alice Newton made it clear that she was well aware that Daniel had used magic to clear away the Christmas mess in the living room. Daniel pointed out that at least she wouldn't be finding stray shreds of wrapping paper in odd places for the next few weeks, which seemed to silence her objections. The happy family plowed through the bounty of pancakes, sausage, and eggs in short order. The children were less happy about being required to help wash the breakfast dishes afterwards, this time without the aid of magic.

After cleaning up from breakfast, the Newton family Christmas morning traditions continued. Wrapped presents from under the tree were always opened first thing Christmas morning, but the smaller gifts in the family's stockings were opened after breakfast. Daniel detached the stockings from the mantlepiece one and at a time and handed them to their owner, whose name was embroidered at the top. Jenny and Mike immediately dumped the contents of their stockings in their laps and began sorting through the contents. Andy preferred to pick the items out of his stocking one at a time and unwrap them before pulling out the next item.

Mike's big score from his stocking was a small set of watercolor paints and brushes. Andy had to admit that his little brother did show some artistic talent, that is if you could get him to sit still for more than five seconds at a time. Mike also got some clothing from Dad, a pack of Green Hornet underpants. That was a bit odd, since Mike had so far not been allowed to see that movie, which was rated PG-13.

Jenny received a packet of Green Hornet panties from Dad, which really seemed odd to Andy. Even if she had been old enough to see that film, which she most definitely was not, Andy doubted that she would like it enough to want to wear clothes with that theme. They must have been out of Hello Kitty panties, or perhaps their father simply got confused. Despite being married to a muggle-born witch for the past 14 years, Daniel Newton was often confused by muggle products.

Andy wasn't the least bit surprised when he unwrapped his own pack of Green Hornet briefs, a stocking stuffer gift from Dad. The silly things must have been on sale or something, like 'Three packs for $5'. That movie was at least two years old - hardly a current hit. So products related to it were probably on the discount racks by now. Well, at least Andy had seen the movie on DVD the previous summer when sleeping over at his cousin Phil's house. He didn't much care for the actual Green Hornet character although Kato, his martial arts using sidekick, was pretty cool. Still, Andy had been taught some manners, so he thanked his father for the gift.

Predictably the three children set aside any clothing gifts they received for later use, concentrating on playing with their new toys. They had hoped to go sledding later if there was enough snow. In fact the snow had gotten much heavier during the morning and was approaching blizzard conditions by lunch time. So the Newton family spent Christmas Day cooped up in the house. The snow was still coming down cold and heavy after the sun went down.

One of the activities that evening was to work on a large jigsaw puzzle, one of Alice's favorite hobbies. If you think a muggle jigsaw puzzle is challenging, try doing a wizard puzzle - where the images on most of the pieces are changing constantly. They were working a new puzzle that Alice had received for Christmas, a 1,200 piece wizard puzzle: the exterior of the famous Hogwarts School in winter tme. As they worked the puzzle Andy idly wondered if all large buildings over in England were actually castles... with hippogriffs and wizards on brooms flying around them.

The following morning Andy woke up and looked out his bedroom window. The snow had finally stopped and the sun was out.. glaring off of some pretty impressive snow drifts. At breakfast Daniel estimated that at least a foot of snow had fallen on Christmas Day. It looked like the drifts were up to three feet or more in some spots. The children had cabin fever and were itching to get outside. Unfortunately their mother insisted on them 'dressing appropriately' for the conditions, which in this case involved preparations that would not have been out of place on an Antarctic expedition.

By the time Andy had been stuffed into thermal underwear (top, bottom and socks), plaid flannel shirt, lined denim jeans, boots, hooded ski parka, mittens, knit cap and scarf he felt ready for a moon mission. He also moved about as clumsily as the astronauts did in those old videos from the Apollo missions. Once Mike and Jenny were similarly attired, the youngsters waddled outside with their father.

After all the seemingly endless waiting the snow was deep, but actually quite disappointing. It was that very light and powdery snow that blows around and drifts really well, but isn't any good for making snowballs or snowmen. They were able to make snow angels, but the wind filled them back in almost immediately with more loose snow. They briefly tried sledding, but that didn't work either. The runners of the sleds immediately sunk into the deep, loose snow and the sleds refused to move.

Mike and Jenny were really getting cranky and impatient after all these failures, and Andy was feeling quite frustrated and short-tempered as well. Since they were near the family apple orchard, which began at the top of the best sledding hill, their father led them on a walk in the orchard. The Newton family farm encompassed just over 300 acres, more than two-thirds of which were taken up by orchards and gardens, including some magical herb gardens. These were bordered by the orchards and gardens of the three other wizarding families that owned the adjacent farms.

The Newtons, Buckleys, Hesses and Fletchers owned nearly 1,500 adjoining acres between them. This was more than two square miles of land that made for plenty of privacy so their children could practice quidditch or just generally practice flying on brooms without attracting undue attention from muggles. In fact the 'No Trespassing' signs that lined the outer borders of the four combined properties had been charmed to confound muggles and cause them to wander away if any of them tried to enter the protected property.

The walk in the orchard didn't last very long. The three children had increasing difficulty moving through the deep snow as they tired, in fact Dad eventually had to pick up Jenny and carry her. At that point the expedition headed back towards the house.

Andy was just barely able to get through some of the larger drifts on his own, and he had to help Mike get through them. Instead of being grateful for the help, Mike angrily wrenched himself away from Andy as soon as he was clear of the drift. This irritated Andy, and the situation continued to degenerate as they exited the orchard and made their way back down the sledding hill towards the house. Not only did Andy have to help Mike through the worst drifts, but he had to tow Jenny's sled as well as his own back to the house. Of course the sled runners kept sinking down into the loose snow, so this was easier said than done.

At the bottom of the sledding hill the emotional pressure cooker finally blew its top. In the process of Andy helping Mike through a drift a fight started between the two brothers. Jenny immediately pointed this out to their father, but she used a very rude word in the process. Daniel Newton gave his daughter a disappointed look, set her back on her feet and ordered her to get back inside the house. Then he plowed his way back through the snow to break up the fight between his sons.

All three Newton children had some idea that they were in trouble at least as deep as the snow outside, but they were all so tired and cranky by this point that they couldn't stop grumbling and snapping at each other as they stripped off their arctic gear in the mud room, which was by the back door of the house, next to the laundry room. In fact it wasn't until their mother actually yanked down their thermal underwear bottoms and planted a few firm open-handed swats on their bare backsides that the children finally quieted down. Once it was announced that all three of them should strip completely naked Jenny and Mike started sniffling.

Andy was suddenly horrified at the way he had been behaving, and more to the point at what was certainly about to happen to him and his siblings. Finally the door opened and his father stumped into the mud room from outside. The look Dad gave him as he started to take off his winter coat made Andy gulp in fear. His father was very angry, and Andy knew the man had every right to be. They had all been acting disgracefully that morning. Andy, as the oldest, was most responsible for the fight with Mike starting, and continuing until their father came and pulled them apart.

While Dad took off his boots, Mom handed each of the children a shirt to wear so they wouldn't be completely naked in the relatively cold mud room. Soon three very contrite children, each clad only in a long-sleeved shirt, stood facing their angry parents. After Mom and Dad tooks turns berating their offspring for their recent behavior, it was time to issue some orders. All three children were to march straight up to their bedrooms and put on a pair of the Hornet underpants they had received in their Christmas stockings. Jenny was ordered to wait in her bedroom for her mother, who would be upstairs soon. Andy and Mike were ordered to report back to the living room after putting on their Hornet Briefs. Their father would deal with them there.

The three siblings trudged upstairs quietly, each child lost in his or her own thoughts about what was coming their way. Andy was following behind and saw Mom's handprints in blazing red on the otherwise pale white bottom cheeks of Mike and Jenny as they climbed the stairs. He could still feel the tingling sting from the sharp spanks Mom had applied to his own hind end and knew that he was offering the same rear view as his siblings.

Andy wondered how much trouble he and Mike were really in. It wasn't like they had made fists and punched each other - it had been more of a slap fight than anything else. Of course they had definitely been fighting, and that was something that their father took a very dim view of. They had been repeatedly warned about fighting and Andy was frankly afraid of what was coming and feared that he and Mike, at least, would be eating their lunch standing up.

Andy entered his bedroom, Hmm, where were those... they there were! His mother had placed the packet of new briefs on the top of his dresser. Terrific! He got to finish opening his final Christmas present. He ripped open the plastic - there were two pairs of briefs inside. At first glance they looked much like the plain white briefs that he and Mike wore everyday.

They were typical white cotton boy's briefs with an elastic waistband and... two structural oddities: no fly and a double thick seat panel. Hmm. There was a cartoon hornet on the seat panel, but it wasn't a green hornet. In fact it was a large yellow and black hornet, getting ready to sting something. On the front panel, above where the fly would normally be, there was a smaller cartoon of a hornet flying along. This one had a stinger, but wasn't brandishing it like the one on the seat panel.

Andy checked the other pair of briefs and it was identical to the first. Neither of them had any Green Hornet logos or any other connection to the movie like he had expected... really weird. Finally he examined the plastic packet itself. It said 'Hornet Briefs, Stinger training pants for boys. The remarkable new way to deal with naughty young wizards.' Part of the text on the back of the packet said, 'Administer correction with a simple flick of your wand.'

Andy gulped in fear as the meaning of all this sank in - 'administer correction with a simple flick of your wand'? 'Stinger training pants'? It sure sounded like these briefs were gonna hurt him somehow. That would actually explain why they had all been ordered to put the things on in their current situation. He checked the material in the seat of one pair. Both the inner and outer layers felt like normal cotton. How could they possibly....

"Andrew Daniel Newton!" yelled Dad from downstairs. "Quit stalling and get your butt down here!"

Oh, crap! Andy was supposed to put on the briefs and get back downstairs. He quickly slipped on the pair he had been examining and started moving towards the door. He rubbed the seat of the briefs as he walked. Other than having a thicker seat than he was used to they felt perfectly normal, both to his hands and to his bottom. There must be some other explanation for what he had read. As he went back downstairs he decided that whatever was going on with these new briefs, he would find out soon enough - possibly too soon.

Andy dashed back into the living room, not wanting to confirm his father's suspicion that he had been dawdling. At the same time he tried to make it look like he was not running, since that behavior was frowned upon in the house, and he was in more than enough trouble already. He saw Mike, clad only in Hornet Briefs and a shirt, standing more or less at attention in front of their father. So he stopped next to Mike, turned to face his father, and adopted the 'attention' posture as well.

"Nice of you to join us, Andrew," said Dad, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sorry, Dad," said Andy. "I was reading the packet these new briefs came in, trying to figure out what they are." Might as well try the truth and see how that flies.

"I see," said Dad. "Well then this is your lucky day, since you are both about to get a personal demonstration of exactly what these new Hornet Briefs can do."

"Yes, sir," said Andy. He would have actually preferred a verbal explanation. The personal demonstration could wait a few years... 20 or 30, for all Andy cared.

Dad softened his gaze just a bit, "Look boys, I know you were frustrated about not having much fun out in the snow today. But you have to learn that life isn't always fun. Just because things may not be as much fun as you were expecting, that doesn't give you the right to go around hitting other people... even your brother. Do you both understand that?"

"Yes sir," said Andy. His answer was echoed by Mike.

"Good," said Dad. "I wish I could accept that and just move on, but you've both been warned about fighting with each other before, haven't you?"

"Yes, sir," chorused the two brothers.

"And you both promised not to do it again, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir." the response echoed.

"Now I think a strong dose of discipline is what both of you need, in the form of a sound thrashing. The Hornet Briefs will help with that."

"How do they work, Dad?" said Mike.

"Did you see the double thick cloth on the seat?"

"Yes."

"Well, the inner layer of that cloth, the layer next to your bottom, has a charm cast on it. When I activate it with my wand, the charm in the seat of your pants will thrash your bottom."

"Hard?" said Mike, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.

"Hard enough," said Dad. "Why don't we just get started? You can tell me how it felt afterwards."

"Okay," said Mike, with no enthusiasm whatsoever. Andy nodded his agreement.

"Okay," said Dad. "First of all, hike up your briefs, and make sure they are tight against your bottoms. We want to make sure you get the full effect."

Andy slowly complied, hiking up his briefs until they were tight against his skin. What am I doing? This is crazy! I'm making sure my thrashing will hurt more!

"Okay, boys. Turn and face each other." After they complied, Dad said, "Now grab each other's arms."

Andy and Mike weren't sure exactly what their father wanted, so he came over and adjusted their grips as desired. Andy ended up holding Mike's arms just below the elbows. Mike, in turn, was grabbing Andy's forearms as far up as could reach with his shorter arms.

"You boys are being punished because you were fighting, now I want you to hold each other and look into each other's eyes as you are punished. So make sure you keep looking at each other until this is over. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," said both boys in chorus. Andy saw no anger in Mike's eyes. Only fear and apprehension about the thrashing he was about to receive.

"Alright, I'm gonna give you each one test whack. Then check to make sure the briefs are working as advertised," said Dad. "Michael, your turn first. Ready?"

Mike winced, fought back tears, and said in a soft voice, "Ready".

Andy usually loved to watch his father use magic, but this time he was too scared to look away from his brother's face and risk making Dad even angrier.

"Verbero!"

There was a popping sound, then Mike's eyes almost immediately widened into a look of horrified shock and he gasped loudly. Mike started moving, apparently squirming from the pain of the first magic whack of his thrashing.

"Okay, Michael," said Dad. "Did that sting?"

"Yes!" said Mike, in a whiney shout.

"Good, it was supposed to." Dad stepped up behind Mike and lowered his briefs in the back. "Just looks like a mild sunburn. Do you feel that?" It looked to Andy like he was gently poking the sunburned bottom.

Mike squeaked in protest. "Yes! Please, no more Daddy!" He squeaked again when Dad hiked his briefs back up tight in the back.

Alright, Andrew," said Dad. "Your turn for a test whack. Ready?"

"Ready," said Andy, who felt anything but ready for what was coming.

"Verbero!"

That popping sound came, this time from the seat of his own briefs, and suddenly Andy's entire bottom was engulfed in flames, or so it felt. He gasped in shock and pain, unable to find the breath to scream.

Dad moved behind Andy and pulled down the seat of his briefs. Andy felt a finger poke. "Nice sting back here?"

"Ye.. Yes!" said Andy, wincing. He squeaked involuntarily when the briefs were hiked back up tight against his flaming haunches. Wow! Those things sting even when the charm isn't firing!

"Okay," said Dad. "Neither of you is showing handprints anymore, just a nice even red sunburn effect across both cheeks. The briefs are safe. What do you say we get the rest of this over with?"

"Yes, please, Dad," said Andy, "Let's finish this." Before the thrashing started, Andy would have been content to wait forever for it to start. Now that his backside was already blazing, he just wanted it over and done with as soon as possible.

"No, Daddy!" said Mike, speaking at the same time as Andy. "Please, no more, we'll be good!"

"I'm sorry, Michael," said Dad. "I wish I could stop, but I can't. You both have a lesson to learn. Now, Michael, are you ready?"

A few tears escaped from Mike's eyes, but he finally said, in a voice barely above a whisper, "Ready."

"Verbero 7!"

That popping sound was heard again and Mike's face was suddenly twisted into a mask of pain as the first howl escaped his lips. Mike tried to release himself from Andy's grasp, presumably so he could reach around and rub his aching bottom, or maybe even take off his briefs.

Andy managed to hold on tight and keep his little brother from making that mistake. "Hold on bro, you can get through this."

After the third pop, Mike was howling nonstop and the tears started trickling down his face. In fact the howling was now in stereo - Andy could hear his sister Jenny's distant howls from upstairs as she paid a painful price for the profanity she had used outside.

After the fourth pop was heard, Mike stopped trying to free himself from Andy's grasp and instead took a death grip on his older brother's forearms as he howled and cried. This hurt Andy a bit, but it was nothing compared to the pain still radiating from his rump from a single pop from those stupid briefs.

After the fifth pop Mike's howls reached a new level of panic and his nose began leaking snot down his face to accompany the stream of tears. He continued to squirm, clearly in an effort to escape the pain being transmitted from his underpants.

The sixth pop was heard and Mike continued to howl, leak snot and tears from his contorted face, and he was apparently hopping up and down in place, trying to avoid the next stinging pop from his Hornet Briefs. Andy tried to give his little brother as supporting a look as could muster, although it wasn't clear if Mike could even see him through his tears.

After the seventh pop Mike shrieked, a sound of pure agony. His reaction was really scaring Andy. He had heard his little brother spanked before, and it never sounded this bad. Of course Mike had never been shrieking right in his face before. Andy had to hope that was the difference, because his own bottom still burned and throbbed from one pop from the stupid Hornet Briefs. He couldn't imagine how he was gonna get through an entire thrashing, but he had to find a way.

The eighth pop was heard, and Mike shrieked again. Andy was annoyed by his little brother on an almost constant basis and he believed that Mike deserved many more spankings than he actually received. But Andy never wanted to see the little guy in this kind of agony. The tears, the snot, the contorted face, the constant hopping up and down to avoid the next pop all made Mike look like a thoroughly whipped little boy. The really scary part for Andy was that he was next. He knew he would probably look exactly the same way in just a few minutes.

"Alright, Michael," said Dad. "That's all for you, for now."

"Way to go, bro," whispered Andy. "Ya got through it."

"Yes, you did a good job, Michael," said Dad. "Do you think you can hold on to Andrew's arms while he gets his thrashing?"

"Ye.. yes, sir," said Mike, between sobs. "I'll do my best."

"Good boy," said Dad. "Andrew, do not to let go of your brother's arms while you are being punished. I realize you can overpower him if you want. But if you do, you will get extra punishment. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Andy. "I'll hang on."

The sobbing Mike still had snot and tears leaking down his face, but he was looking up at his older brother. He had what Andy took to be a look of concern on his face, mixed in with the pain.

"Ready, Andrew?" said Dad.

"Ready." Andy very much wanted to close his eyes, but to do so felt like he would be letting his little brother down. Mike had made it through his thrashing without doing that...

"Verbero 9!"

Pop! The charm in the seat of Andy's briefs fired again, and the flames returned to sear his bottom with a vengeance! He yelped involuntarily. Andy fought back the tears that tried to escape his eyes, the snot that wanted to exit his nose, and the screams of agony that wanted to escape his lips.

Pop! Andy howled in response to the third pop, and the tears started flowing. He suddenly realized that he was hopping and squirming - probably since the second pop without even realizing it. Just seconds ago he couldn't have imagined it was possible to feel more pain down there, but he was very wrong. This couldn't get even worse, could it?

Pop! Andy howled loudly. Oh yes, it could get much worse! The stinging, burning pain seemed to be magnified every time the briefs thrashed him. Those briefs... he so desperately wanted to get those cursed briefs away from his bottom, before the next...

Pop! Andy howled constantly now. Unable to stand the searing pain any longer he started trying to disentangle his arms from Mike's. He had to take off those damned briefs!

"Don't do it, Andy!" said Mike, tightening his grip on his older brother's arms. Andy could just make out a look of almost desperate concern on his brother's face, barely visible through the tears. Mike was right, he couldn't afford extra punishment. With tremendous force of will, Andy renewed his grasp on his brother's arms.

Pop! There was a scream of agony. It took Andy a second to realize the scream came from his own lips. It was getting hard to tell one pop from the next - the searing flames seemed to lick at his bottom constantly. He could no longer see his brother's face clearly, he was crying so hard that the tears were blinding him. He felt a snot bubble pop on his nose. The tears streaming down his face were joined by snot. He was dimly aware that he was hopping up and down constantly now, desperate to avoid the next maddening sting from the Hornet Briefs.

From the seventh pop on, Andy was no longer completely aware of his surroundings. His world was a bubbling cauldron overheated by the flames consuming his bottom. A cauldron of pain and howling and tears and snot and hopping up and down, and desperately clinging to his brother's arms. His brother's face was always there, with what he imagined to be a look of concern, though in fact he couldn't really see Mike's face clearly through the tears.

Eventually ten scorching pops had been delivered and Andy found himself once again standing next to his brother, facing his father. The searing pain still radiating from his backside was frightening. Both sobbing boys promised never to hit each other again, and Dad promised them a much worse session with the Hornet Briefs if they ever broke that promise.

Dad then sat on the living room sofa and called his sons to him. Unable to sit, they knelt on either side of him and hugged their father. He rubbed their backs and comforted them as they cried themselves out. After they had calmed down and stopped crying he gave them tissues to wipe their faces and blow their noses. Then he asked them to lay on the sofa face down. He pulled down the backs of their briefs to check the damage since this was a new punishment method.

Andy would not have been the least bit surprised to learn that the stupid Hornet Briefs had magically burned his buttocks right off of his body. But Dad merely reported "an even shade of bright red" across all four cheeks, or what he called "four helpings of well-done rump roast." The boys groaned at that observation. After the inspection was over Dad gently pulled their briefs back up. He informed the boys that they would wear the Hornet Briefs for the rest of the day - and nothing else below the waist except for socks - as a reminder of what could happen in the future if they didn't behave.

Dad asked the boys if they wanted to take a nap before lunch and both agreed. He gently laid a blanket over them, and Mike's right hand found it's way into Andy's left hand. The brothers fell asleep lying on their tummies and holding hands.

(Author's Note: This story was inspired by the hidden magical world created by J.K.Rowling for the Harry Potter novels. No claim to any elements borrowed from those stories is made by the author.)