|
|
|
runaway dragon
Disclaimer 1: Draco, his parents and teachers all belong to JKR. (As if you didn't all know that.)
Disclaimer 2: Severus Snape owning a raven belongs to J.L. Matthews. (Go read her story everybody. It's great.) I found a new name for him this time though.
Disclaimer 3: The gang name Sharks is borrowed from the musical West Side Story of course. I don't remember where I found the name Rakers, but I know I read it somewhere.
Disclaimer 4: The idea for Snape having a family comes from Al's fic Time of Trial. (Thanks Al. I always seem to get the best ideas when reading your fics.)
A/N - Any of you remember my first fic 'My Name's Severus'? If you liked it read 'War of the Hexes' by Black Rose and Emerald Star. It's already got 15 year old Sevi and Greenie might make an appearance as well. Even if he doesn't the fic's really worth reading.
Chapter 11: Meeting the Enemy
When Draco came down to meet the gang the next morning, 'That Dog' once again barking and jumping up and down right beside him, and saw the scowl on Jack's face he almost wished he'd turned himself invisible instead of that jar.
"So your uncle didn't even want you, did he?" Jack attempted a sneer.
Draco sneered back at him, just to show him how it was done. He could do an almost perfect imitation of the famous Snape sneer and thought that he could use a little practise to perfect it.
"I didn't want him either. Turned out he's a grumpy old man, who enjoys living alone." he shrugged.
"So are you staying here then?" Sammie asked eagerly.
Draco smiled at the small boy. "No Sammie, I can't just stay with the Snapes forever. I'll just move in with another relative."
"Then why are you still here?" growled Jack. "Why didn't you just go there already?"
"I don't have an address for any of them yet. Professor Snape said he'd bring home a book from the Hogwarts library to look them up tonight."
"So you're going to leave us again tomorrow?" asked Cathy.
Draco regarded her closely. Had she really sounded sad when she'd said that? Or was that just wishful thinking? Did Cathy care about him?
Probably not, he decided. Why would she? Well, maybe she did care about losing a good keeper, or even a pal she could talk to. He suppressed a sigh at that thought.
"Probably not." he answered. "I think Snape has better things to do tomorrow than to drag me through half the country to meet relatives and even if he didn't it will most likely take some time to chose the right one."
"It didn't take you long to pick that uncle you went to on Sunday." challenged Jack.
"That's just because I'd heard his name before and mentioned him when Professor Snape asked me about my relatives. This time we'll try to find one who's actually the right age to have a kid."
"Pick one who's married then." suggested Mike. "Then you'll have two parents like it should be."
"But they'd probably have kids of their own and wouldn't want another." argued Matt. "Especially not somebody else's. I say pick an unmarried aunt, if you have one. Someone who's old enough not to be likely to have kids of her own anymore. Witches like that love to have other people's kids around and they usually spend all their time on finding new ways to spoil them."
Draco laughed. "I don't even know what kind of relatives I have yet. Let's wait with the suggestions until we know who to chose from, okay?"
"Can we start to play now?" Jack growled weighing the ball in his hand. "I don't have all day, you know."
"Sure!" laughed Draco.
"What teams?" asked Mike.
"Same as last time!" announced Jack. "You got lucky then, Dragon. This time you lose!"
Draco just shrugged and gestured for his team to assemble over by their goal. He didn't want Jack to overhear their strategy.
"Do we play the same as last time?" Cathy asked him as soon as they were a safe distance away from the other team.
"For the moment, yes, but I don't expect Jack to stick with his old strategy as well. He's had enough time to cool down and think about it. He'll probably leave Larry by the goal, which might be a problem for you, but as I said last time, if that happens you have to work around him. You're both faster than he is and he's likely to abandon his post every once in a while. Try to outmanoeuvre him and if he gets in your way, pass to Sammie and let him shoot. You may have better aim, but that doesn't mean Sammie can't get a shot in as well. Give him a chance. Charlie, you play the same as last time. That was perfect. Matt, you stay with me again and concentrate on getting in Jack's way. Maybe he'll get impatient again and lose the ball. Even if he doesn't, it will keep him from shooting at the goal and I can concentrate on Mike."
Draco watched proudly as his team ran off to take their positions. He knew he could rely on them to stick to his plan and not let their excitement carry them away from their assigned task. Jack's team might be the better players, but the only one he really envied him was Mike.
Larry was too unreliable and despite his abilities more a hindrance than an asset in Draco's eyes. Mary was a good keeper, but Draco didn't need a keeper. He couldn't play any other position himself and, he realised with a start, he didn't even want to. He was good at this and his position gave him a good view of what was going on on the whole field which was a great advantage for a captain. Jack who spent most of his time in the front of his team never saw the strengths and weaknesses of his team and strategy as clearly as Draco did.
But then again. Jack himself was in Draco's opinion perhaps an even greater weakness than Larry. Larry might have problems playing with a team in the heat of the game, but when the momentary excitement was over, he'd return to his assigned post. Jack let his temper run away with him and once he started making mistakes, he only got worse with increasing frustration. Jack was a good player as long as his team was clearly winning, but a problem once they were behind.
To everyone's surprise Mike stayed near his team's goal to help out Mary. Draco scowled at that. He hadn't expected that little trick. It certainly weakened their opponents' attack, but their defence was strengthened much more than Draco had expected. Mike was fast enough not to let Cathy outmanoeuvre him the way she could Larry and he wouldn't be coaxed into abandoning his post either. Cathy was entirely blocked from action, by Mike's persistent interference and Draco had to call for a time out only a few minutes into the game.
"I don't know what to do!" Cathy complained. "I just can't shake him."
"No problem." smirked Draco. "I don't even want you to. Jack and Mike are the only ones that really give me problems in the goal. Matt's keeping Jack tied over in our half, while Mike's attached himself to you. Just keep him busy and try to distract Mary by running around and pretending to go for the ball every once in a while. We've still got Sammie free to score for us while they only have Larry and he's too obvious to give me much trouble. Sammie, stay a little closer to their goal, but try not to change your game too obviously and Charlie, you'll have to take the ball further into their half and pass only to Sammie. Pretend to go in Cathy's direction sometimes, but don't risk losing the ball to Mike. Don't get nervous everybody. We've got everything under control and one goal is all we need to win."
"But what if we don't get that?" asked Sammie anxiously.
"A draw isn't a bad result either. If they keep playing the way they do now and we stick to our strategy, that's the worst that can happen."
"And if they change their strategy?"
"That would mean, they'd have to exchange Mike for either Larry or Jack. The first option would improve our chances, while the second wouldn't really change anything at all. Matt would just cover Mike instead of Jack and Cathy would keep Jack busy. The only real chance to score for them would be if both Jack and Mike attacked our goal, but they aren't likely to do that, because it'd leave Cathy and Sammie free to score as well and we've already had that situation last time and back then we clearly won."
"They could use Larry to stop us." suggested Cathy.
"They could." conceded Draco. "But Larry doesn't like the job and he's too slow to block you the way Mike does. If they assign Larry to follow you, that would improve our chances to score as well as theirs. Just keep playing the way we planed and don't get nervous, if it takes us a while to score. It doesn't really matter. It'd be great if we won, but a draw's fine with me."
They smiled at that and returned to the game looking a lot more relaxed about it. The game resumed and for a while nothing exciting happened. Both Larry and Sammie made about an equal number of attempts at their respective opponents' goals, but neither got the ball through. Neither Cathy nor Jack risked to shoot themselves at first, but after a while of this Draco could see first signs of frustration on Jack.
Jack was beginning to try in earnest to shake Matt, but Matt had become quite accustomed to his manoeuvres over the last week and didn't fall for them anymore. That only served to fuel Jack's frustration even more and about twenty minutes into the game he made a first attempt at the goal. Matt stopped the ball easily and sent it off to where Charlie was waiting with a quick kick.
Jack and Larry dashed off after Charlie with an angry scream, but it was too late, of course. By the time they'd caught up with Charlie, she'd already passed the ball to Sammie and he was about to shoot.
Mary caught that ball easily and threw it out to Jack again, but that didn't really matter to Draco at the moment. Jack had lost his patience and the ball once now. He'd do it again.
Indeed the same sequence of events was repeated more and more often and Draco found he had less and less to do while Mary was getting busier all the time and beginning to tire. She didn't have Larry's stamina and all her strength was useless if she wasn't at the right place at the right time. Charlie's and Cathy's feints kept her running to the wrong side of the goal and having to race back every time Charlie passed to Sammie instead.
Mary wasn't as stupid as she seemed on first glance though. She did realise that Cathy never really did get the ball after some time and began to concentrate only on Sammie. Draco decided to content himself with a draw. Sammie wasn't good enough to score on Mary, if she saw him coming this early on.
And then Charlie surprised him once again and passed the ball to Cathy despite Mike's hampering presence. Draco perked up at this. Charlie was clever! Now Mary would have to take Cathy seriously again and maybe tire herself enough to give Sammie a chance to score after all.
Cathy however was having trouble after Charlie's unexpected pass. She zigzagged across the lawn with the ball sometimes running away from the goal, sometimes towards it trying to shake Mike long enough to pass the ball on to Sammie or even back to Charlie so they wouldn't lose it to Mike.
Mary was following her manoeuvres in her goal confused about what Cathy was planning and tiring rapidly. Draco grinned. Charlie's little idea was looking better by the second.
Cathy was just passing by the goal again in an attempt to get a free shot at Sammie when Charlie came into view somewhere to her right. Maybe she could surprise Mike with a sudden shot towards Charlie? But Mike had seen her as well and moved over to block her right side cutting her off from both Sammie and Charlie again and coming in almost taking the ball with a quick swipe.
Defensively Cathy turned pushing the ball towards the left and turning her back on Mike at the very last moment. And suddenly she realised she was facing the goal. Without a moment's thought she just kicked at the ball as hard as she could, Mary lounged for it at once, but her exhaustion slowed her down just enough for the ball to plunge through.
For a moment everyone just stopped in their tracks and stared. Not even Draco would have given Cathy a chance to score with Mike on her tail like that, but it had just happened.
Mary lay on her side panting and staring incredulously up at Cathy for a moment who was staring equally surprised at the ball which had been stopped by the trunk of a large tree and was now lying still between its roots.
Having caught her breath a little, Mary climbed to her feet to get it and as if that were the signal they'd been waiting for the others started to move again. Jack started cursing and yelling again, but that was drowned out by Draco's team's shouts of joy and congratulations to Cathy.
"Great idea, Charlie!" Draco yelled to be heard over the distance separating the two goals once the noise had died down a little. "Now keep it up for a few more minutes and we'll win this one."
Draco tried not to rub it in this time, but it was difficult not to grin triumphantly at Jack. He forced himself to concentrate on cheering up Sammie who was deeply disappointed that he hadn't played a more decisive role in their victory instead.
"Everybody else had a part in it. Cathy's the one who scored. It was Charlie's idea to pass her the ball. You and Matt kept the others from scoring. I did nothing." Sammie told him staring at his feet.
"You did a lot, Sammie." Draco tried to reassure him. "You confused Mary and kept her running about tiring herself. If it hadn't been for you, Mike would most likely have intercepted Charlie's pass and taken the ball back to Jack or Larry in the first place. It only got through, because he was expecting her to pass to you like she'd been doing all game."
"It's still not the same as actually scoring."
"Oh come on, Sammie!" Draco tried to laugh it off. "That's something I'd expect Larry to say. You know better than that. A game isn't won only by those who score. If it was, we'd never stand a chance against Jack and Mike. I've never scored in my life and do you see me complain about that?"
"You're keeper. That's different."
"Okay, take Charlie then. Or Matt. Neither of them even got a chance to score and still we couldn't have won without them. Actually that's why we won. We have players who're willing to let others score in their place. Look at what Mike did today. He stayed back even though he's probably the best player on the field. He decided that helping Mary defend the goal was more important than scoring himself."
"Jack plays better than Mike." stated Sammie.
"Jack shoots more precisely, but even that only when he's staying calm. Once he loses his temper he's actually the worst player in the gang. The moment his team is behind he starts shooting without thinking and loses the ball at precisely the worst possible moment. His team has the better shots, but still the worse players, because they're all playing alone and not making use of their team mates' strengths."
"You'd still rather have Jack, or Mike, or Larry on your team than me, wouldn't you?"
Draco thought about his answer for a moment, then decided to be honest. Sammie deserved that and it would help him more than any obvious lies.
"Well, I guess you're right about Mike there. As I said, he's the best player. He shoots better than anybody on our team except perhaps Cathy and he can come up with a really good game plan on short notice as well. So yes, I'd probably trade any of our players for him, but that's got nothing to do with you specifically. As for the other two, I've had my chance to play with Larry and found that he can't stick to a strategy he doesn't like. He tries, but that's not good enough. I prefer a lesser player I can rely on and I'm not even sure he's better than you at all. He shoots more precisely, but he's too slow. I always see him coming long before he actually shoots. You can surprise an opponent with a sudden shot, he can't. And I meant it when I said Jack's the worst player under pressure. I wouldn't want to have either of them. They cause too many problems for their own team."
"But you'd still rather have Mike."
"Yes, I'd really, really love to have Mike, but I can't and I don't have any players I don't want so I'm fine with the team as it is."
A small girl of about nine or ten years came running towards them from the edge of the lawn at that moment. Draco had noticed her watching them play a little while ago, but since her blue t-shirt clearly marked her as a Raker wannabe and he remembered seeing her around before, he hadn't thought anything of it. After all she was probably just watching her heroes dreaming of the day she'd play with them herself.
She stopped a few paces away from them, smiled shyly at Draco and then turned to address Sammie.
"The Sharks are going to attack the garden shed. I think they're planning to set it on fire." she reported staring wide eyed at Sammie.
"What?!" gasped Sammie "When? ... How?"
Draco realised Sammie was completely confused and Jack was almost out of shouting distance, if he didn't call him back now...
"Jack!" he yelled after him. "I think you'd better hear this!"
Jack turned to glower at him, but Draco decided to ignore him and returned his attention to the girl instead, he didn't want to make this situation a staring contest. It was bad enough as it was, if she was telling the truth.
"The Sharks are gonna attack! You have to do something!" she sounded nearly hysteric by now.
Draco gently put a hand on Sammie's arm to stop him from asking even more confused questions. That would only agitate the little wannabe even more.
"Okay, we're listening." he told her calmly. "Now calm down. Susie, is it?"
She nodded surprised and proud that he knew her name. "Yes, Dragon."
Now Draco was surprised. Who'd told the wannabees the name only the gang called him by? Then again knowing everything about the gang seemed to be their main interest in life and he'd remembered her name from the occasional mentions a wanabee got in the conversations of the gang.
"You'll have to tell Jack what you know, Susie and he'll want the whole story. So I suggest you start at the beginning."
The whole gang had come over by now and he and Susie were practically surrounded. 'I'd probably get scared, if I were her right now.' Draco thought.
Susie just looked up at Jack who was standing right behind Draco and glowering down at her.
"You'd better have a good story to tell for stealing our time, little rat." Jack informed her coldly.
To Draco's surprise Susie didn't seem to take objection to being called a rat and beamed up at the gang leader proud to have been noticed by him at all.
"I snuck up on the Sharks in their basement lair." she announced.
Draco could tell that she really had the gang's full attention now. He wondered how difficult it had to be to sneak up on the other gang. Considering the security of the garden shed and the fact that Susie'd said 'basement' he supposed it was quite a feat. He'd never even thought about where the Shark's center of operations actually was, but it seemed only natural that it was as well guarded as the Rakers' and if it was in the basement of a building, surrounded by stone walls it was probably entirely impossible to listen in from the outside. Susie had to have at least been right outside the door to hear them talk.
For a moment there was silence. Susie volunteered nothing more.
Draco turned his head to look over at Jack wondering what he was thinking. Jack caught his look and gave him a sight nod towards Susie in response. Go ahead? Well, if Jack wanted him to.
"See anything special there?"
"The whole gang was in there ... and they were talking." Susie sure knew how to make a big show of her knowledge now that she had found the right audience for it.
Draco paused for effect crossing his arms in front of his chest in much the same posture as Jack. He looked over at Mike, who'd taken his post right by Jack's side for a moment before he went on.
"So, what were they talking about?"
"They said, they'd meet there again right after lunch and bring their weapons. And they talked about the garden shed too and about fire. I think they're planning to burn down the shed."
Jack suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Susie hard by the collar.
"What exactly did they say?" he hissed.
"I don't know." wailed Susie. "I couldn't get close enough to understand everything. They'd have seen me."
"I think she's telling the truth there. Jack." interjected Mike casually before Jack did any actual harm to the girl. "It's almost unbelievable that she got that close at all."
Jack dropped Susie as suddenly as he'd grabbed her and she nearly fell over.
"Anything else you have to tell us?" He snarled at her.
She shook her head frightened.
"Then why are you still here?"
Susie bolted. Draco wondered if she'd ever come back. He hoped the little scene hadn't convinced her to join the Sharks instead, but then again it wasn't really likely that the Sharks were any nicer to their little wannabees than the Rakers.
Jack cursed a little. Draco was by now used to that and for once the curses had nothing to do with him which was almost comforting.
"It doesn't really matter, you know." Mike said once the worst of Jack's anger had blown over. "We have a very good idea of what they're gonna do and even when they're gonna do it. That's all in all not a bad situation. We just need to decide what we're gonna do about it."
"I don't suppose there are any fire proof charms on the shed, are there?" Draco asked him hopefully.
"There might have been one placed when it was built, but I can't imagine it was ever reinforced afterwards. Definitely not in the last ten years or so." answered Cathy Cat.
Draco nodded to himself in response. That meant it had dissipated a long time ago. Protective Charms needed regular service to remain active over years.
"Hey, maybe if we just put a new one on it, that'll stop the Fishies right there and..."
"Right, Sammie. And the ministry isn't going to notice at all. I'm sure the Underage Magic Department is going to be so understanding." Jack sneered.
Draco decided not to demonstrate his own sneer for Jack once again. He hadn't sneered at him and the momentary peace felt rather good. No need to remind Jack of their little differences right now.
"Maybe it'll rain." suggested Charlie looking up at the bright blue sky hopefully. "If the wood were soaking wet, they wouldn't stand a chance."
"Rain?" Draco asked her. "With the weather we've been having lately? That'd be a really lucky coincidence."
"We could pour water over it to make it wet." suggested Larry.
Mike sighed. Jack rolled his eyes, even Mary shook her head at that idea.
"And where do you suggest do we take that much water from? We'd have to get the whole shed really well soaked in it and we'd have to do it fast before the sun can dry it all out again." Draco reminded Larry.
"There's lots of water in the river." Larry insisted unperturbed.
"And how do you suggest we get it up here?" sneered Jack.
"In a bucket of course."
"Larry, it's almost five minutes walk from here to the river. How many bucketsful of water do you think we'd need? It'd take us forever. The Sharks will be here long before we're done with that plan."
Jack's answer reminded Draco of a Math problem. How much water would be needed to soak the shed? How much could the bucket hold? He almost felt like making up a set of numbers for it and doing the problem. But then again they had a very different kind of problem right now.
"We can't protect the shed from fire." Mike decided. "And even if we could and did, the Sharks wouldn't just leave it alone. They'd find another way to destroy it instead. We're gonna have to fight them off."
Larry grinned eagerly at hearing that and Mary got a very special gleam in her eyes as well.
"But what if they attack before we're all ready?" asked Matt. "Susie said they were planning to come right after lunch."
"They're planning to meet right after lunch. They'll need some time to organise and prepare which ought to give us time to meet up at the shed." stated Draco.
The plan could work... if they managed to beat the Sharks.
"Okay, we'll all hurry with lunch then and meet up in the shed right afterwards." decided Jack.
"It'd be better to meet outside." suggested Mike. "We won't see them coming if we're inside."
"But we shouldn't let them know we're there either." countered Draco. "We ought to surprise them by coming out of the bushes unexpectedly."
Jack stared at Draco for a moment sizing him up again just like he'd done that first time they'd met in the garden shed. Suddenly Draco wondered what he was thinking. Would he accept a suggestion from a rival?
"Oh well then. Each of you try to sneak in alone. Don't let anyone see you walking towards the shed especially not in a group. That way if they do see one of you they might think you just came to get something you forgot in the morning. Lets see if we can fool them into thinking we're not even there."
Draco answered with a curt nod. That sounded like a plan and Jack had actually listened to him. Of course now he'd have to prove himself in a fight. Maybe then Jack would really accept him.
All during lunch Draco couldn't shake off the thought about the weapons Susie had mentioned. When he'd fought the Sharks in the basement they'd only used their hands and feet against him. What kind of weapons might they have to use in a fight?
They couldn't use wands any more than the Rakers could, that much Draco knew, but what else might one use for a weapon? He considered asking Sarah, but feared that she might forbid him to go out, if she knew there was going to be a fight. Instead he tried to distract himself by concentrating on feeding Billy.
His own meal he gulped down hurriedly then rushed through washing the dishes. Sarah noticed that of course and kept shooting him suspicious glances.
"What's the big hurry?" she finally asked him.
"Oh, nothing. We're just meeting a little earlier today. Jack said not to be late and you know I'm not on too friendly terms with Jack. I don't want to make him angry, that's all."
Sarah didn't quite seem to buy that, but she didn't ask any more questions and Draco luckily managed to slip out before she could remember to ask him to take 'That Dog' along.
The corridor was very quiet except for occasional sounds coming through the thin walls of the flats. There seemed to be nobody about in all the house and Draco suddenly realised that this was the first time he was going down all alone. Until now Professor Snape or Mike had always been with him when he'd left the house.
'So?' he thought. 'I'm not scared of an empty staircase. I know my way around here with or without them.' Still he walked extra carefully trying to produce as little sound as possible. When he reached the door he pushed it open just a tiny crack at first and peeked out. Nothing. Except for two old witches sitting on a park bench and chatting away happily there was nobody in sight.
Relieved he pushed the door open all the way and stepped out. There was one more person about he noticed. A wizard of about thirty to forty years was walking through the park at a brisk pace heading in the direction of the town center. He was probably going either to the marketplace or headed for the bridge and the better part of Hogsmeade and had been hidden by the door before.
It didn't matter though. He clearly had as little interest in the Sharks or the Rakers as the two old witches. Adults didn't get involved in children's affairs.
Draco stepped away from the door and jogged over to the group of bushes and trees that hid the garden shed from view. He didn't run fast enough to seem terribly eager to get there, but he wanted to cover the distance quickly before any of the Sharks happened to come out and see him and hoped that he seemed like he was just sprinting over for a quick stop at the shed to pick something up and move on. If anybody saw him he wanted them to assume that he'd left the shed again as quickly as he'd come and they'd just missed to notice his return.
Of course any spies sent to watch the garden shed by the Sharks would be watching too closely to be fooled like that, but Draco assumed that even Shark wannabees did have to go home for lunch so there was a good chance that there hadn't been any spies available to keep watch the entire time. As long as the Sharks had no idea that a Raker spy had heard their plans, they had no reason to expect any Rakers out this early in the afternoon.
Draco slipped in between the bushes and found Sammie sitting on one of the lower branches of the largest tree waiting. Draco took a quick look around, but it appeared they were the first. He walked over to sit beside Sammie.
"Hi! Seen any of the others yet?"
"Nope, you're early, Dragon."
"I assumed the earlier I got here the less likely there'd be any spies about yet."
Sammie nodded at that, but didn't respond. For a while they just sat there, Draco watching Sammie and Sammie staring at nothing seemingly unwilling to look at Draco.
Draco hoped that one of the others would show up to end the awkward situation, but the seconds ticked by and nothing happened. He had to do something about the situation himself.
"Are you still angry, because you didn't score today?" he finally asked Sammie.
"I just wish I could play as well as Cathy or Jack." the smaller boy sighed. "It's okay for you if you can't score, because you're a great keeper instead and Matt and Charlie have their own strengths as well. I'm supposed to score goals for the team and I can't."
"You're fastest. That's your strength."
"It's useless, if I can't score. What use is it to be able to avoid all pursuers, if I still just lose the ball to the keeper? The others can get past Mary so why can't I?"
"The others are all older than you, Sammie. They have more experience. The skill you need will come in time."
"Sure." sighed Sammie and returned to staring unhappily into empty space.
That hadn't gone too well. Draco suppressed a sigh of his own. What to do about Sammie's problem? There had to be a way to help him. He really was an important member of their team, but how could Draco prove it to him? How could he assure him of his value without reducing their chances to win by holding back Cathy?
"Sammie?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a ball?"
"What?"
"A ball, Sammie. For playing Soccer. Do you have your own ball?"
"No, we always play with Jack's ball. Only need one, after all."
"That wasn't Jack's ball we used the day he didn't come though, was it?"
"I don't know. Probably not."
"So whose was it then? Who else owns a ball?"
"Mike's? Or maybe Larry's. I think Matt has one too, but I've never seen it and we arrived together that day so I'd know if he'd brought a ball."
"Mike didn't bring one either, so I guess it must have been Larry's." concluded Draco. "But that's not important right now. Do you think we could borrow Matt's ball?"
"I'm not even sure he has one. Why don't you just ask Mike for his? You two get on so well I bet he'll lend it to you anytime."
"Because he's on Jack's team and I don't want them to know what we're doing. Matt's on ours
and he's your best friend. Just try to find out if he really has a ball, okay?"
"Okay, but what do you need it for anyway?"
"I don't need it. You do."
"I do?"
"Well, you say you want to learn how to score more often so you're gonna have to practise more."
"Oh and you think, if I practise kicking Matt's ball about that will help me score against Mary?"
"If you can get past me, you can get past Mary and we'll just keep trying until you do."
Sammie's head shot round to stare at Draco open mouthed. That was certainly a big offer, but also an even bigger challenge. So far Jack had been the only one to get a ball past Draco except for that very first game when he'd still been learning how to play. Trying to score against Mary was one thing, but having to score against Draco seemed like a wholly different thing.
"It's just like Quiddich training really." Draco explained. "If something's not working to your satisfaction, you just keep practising it until it does."
"I'll never be able to get past you."
"Well, maybe you won't, but only because we don't have the time. I have to leave again on Sunday after all. Still you will get better, if you keep trying. Maybe Matt will train with you after I'm gone."
Sammie wanted to say something more, but the sound of footsteps from behind the bushes shut him up. Seconds later Jack stepped out into the open space in front of the garden shed and ended their chance to talk about Soccer practise.
He glared at Draco for a moment, but then sat down beside them.
"Seen anything yet?"
"No, they're probably still gathering their forces as well. If they don't know that we know they're coming they don't have a reason to hurry, do they?" answered Draco casually.
"Are you armed?"
Sammie pulled a fist sized stone out of his pocket and showed it to Jack who nodded his approval and turned back to Draco.
"What about you, Dragon. Any weapons?"
"I don't suppose my wand counts?"
"No. Or are you intending to use it?"
"No, no weapons then. Is that a problem?"
"You might want to stay away from the twins then." recommended Jack. "They've got knives. Mark belongs to me and Robin can get unpleasant as well. Don't think she has a knife, but she's known to use just about anything else. Maybe you'll get a chance to go after Pretty Ricky."
"Why? Mike tells me he isn't worth the time of the day."
"Not really, but I'd like to be rid of him early to even out the numbers. He'll most likely beat it the moment he sees you coming at him, but if he thinks nobody's after him, he'll stick around and be a nuisance. It'd be just like him to go for Sammie or Charlie from behind while they're busy with one of his friends. I'd set Mary or Larry on him, but you're faster so he won't dare try to dance around you like he sometimes does with them."
"I want Marvin." stated Sammie. "I still owe him for that detention he got me back in the last week of school."
"I'd rather you and Charlie went after Amber and Lyddie and Matt took on Marvin. He's a bit large for you."
"I can handle him." snarled Sammie. "I don't want to play with the girls."
"Very well, but don't blame me if you get hurt."
Sammie just snorted angrily.
"Okay, so you want me to give the guy with the mirror a little fright. What do I do once he's taken off?" Draco asked Jack. He didn't want to be restricted to fighting a known coward. He could and would do better than that.
"Lets see. Not the twins, because you're not armed and Mary and Larry will want to play with them anyway. Robin will most likely go for Mike on her own accord. That leaves you with Chris then."
"Chris? Who's Chris?"
"Dark hair, scar under his right eye. He's a bit taller than you, but not enough to have a serious advantage." explained Jack.
"He's been using that metal chain lately, though." interjected Sammie.
"Metal chain?" that didn't sound good.
"Yep," grinned Jack. "a nasty weapon really, but he hasn't really mastered it fully yet. You can avoid it, if you're fast, which means it's really either you or Mike against him, because Mary and Larry are too slow for that and he's too big for Sammie or Matt."
"Cathy could take him." stated Sammie.
"Right, and you want Bobby on top of you in addition to Marvin?" challenged Jack.
"Dragon could take over Bobby then." suggested Sammie.
"No, he can't." snarled Mike who'd just arrived and heard the last part of their conversation. "Not unless Bobby attacks him first and I doubt he will."
"Bobby isn't that much smaller than Dragon." insisted Sammie.
"Maybe not that much smaller, but that much younger." decided Jack. "Cathy can only go for him because she's a girl and he is very big for twelve. Dragon's too old for that."
The rest of the gang arrived one by one and Jack gave each of them their instructions. Draco wondered whether he'd talked them over with Mike before he'd come. It didn't sound like the plan was entirely his idea, but then again Jack wasn't as stupid as he appeared when he lost his temper on the Soccer field and he'd clearly led the Rakers into battle against the Sharks before.
Draco climbed to his position in one of the trees feeling a little apprehensive. Maybe he should try to get himself a weapon too? It couldn't be that difficult to find a stone like Sammie's or maybe a piece of wood would do. An iron bar would be nice, he thought.
But it was too late for that now as the first Sharks came into view. Draco almost didn't dare to breathe waiting for Jack's signal. It was too soon though. They were to wait until the entire rival gang was right in the middle of them.
Draco could see his target clearly now. Pretty Ricky was right beside Mark the Shark wearing a grin that probably had half the girls in his school swooning over him. Draco however wasn't a girl and thought it just looked stupid. The more ordinary looking Chris wasn't that easy to spot at first, but upon a closer look when the Sharks assembled in front of the shed Draco recognised him from the chain in his hand.
Chris was standing over to the side, near where Jack was hiding and at the moment out of Draco's reach, but that wasn't a problem. He wasn't going after him right now anyway. He had to get to Ricky first and that proved to be a problem.
Ricky had begun to lag behind a bit as they neared the garden shed and was now standing under the tree Mike was hiding in just as much out of reach for Draco's first attack as Chris was.
Draco realised he'd have to resort to jumping the first Shark in reach and then make a fast dash for Ricky before the would be attackers recovered from their surprise. Looking down from his perch he saw that that left him the choice between one twin and the other, but Jack had warned him away from the twins, because of their knives.
It was too late to decide upon a new course of action now however. Jack's signal came before Draco could make up his mind and he had to jump. A sudden instinct told him to take the left twin and he let himself drop onto his victim as hard as he could tearing him down and giving him a quick kick as he scrambled up and dashed off towards Ricky leaving the twins to Mary who had just torn out of the bush to the right of his tree where she'd been hiding.
Mike, he saw, had ignored Ricky and just jumped off the tree and run after Robin who had been just out of reach. Out of the corner of his right eye he saw the girl turn and attack Mike with a fist blinking of metal, but he had no time to worry about his friend now. He had to get to Ricky.
Pretty Ricky saw Draco coming in his direction and tried to slip out of his way, but of course Draco wouldn't let him get away that easily. He caught a hold of Ricky's t-shirt and tried to pull him back, but Ricky turned and fled leaving his torn red t-shirt dangling in Draco's hand.
Draco cast a quick look at the garment in his hand. It reminded him somehow of the Gryffindor common room which caused him to drop it and run after the fleeing Ricky instead.
Ricky however had already rounded the group of trees and bushes and was racing towards one of the neighbouring houses. Draco stopped and watched him disappear through the door.
Time to go after Chris.
He turned back towards the fight to look for his victim. Mike was handling Robin pretty well despite all her weaponry and Draco stopped worrying about his friend. Jack on the other hand seemed to be in big trouble against Mark, but Draco reminded himself strictly that he was not to interfere with the battle of the gang leaders. Jack had just begun to show first signs of accepting him. It wouldn't do to challenge his authority now. Sammie and Cathy were fighting the two smallest Shark boys and from what he saw Draco surmised that Sammie had indeed bitten off more than he could chew when he'd chosen Marvin, who was most likely the smaller of the two as his opponent. Cathy seemed more than capable of handling Bobby and giving Marvin a bad time as well however and Draco remembered well enough that those two were too small for him to take on.
Larry and Mary were obviously having fun tossing about the twins, knives or no knives, but Chris was bothering Larry with that chain and that couldn't be tolerated especially not as Jack had mentioned that Larry was too slow to defend himself properly against this weapon. He seemed to be good at ignoring the pain though, Draco discovered. Still Chris could do some serious damage to his Raker comrade and that was not to be permitted.
Draco lounged himself at Chris from behind in an attempt to pin both of the boy's arms to his body and stop him from using the chain. For a moment it worked just the way Draco had planned it, but then Chris managed to kick him hard in the shin and the pain caused him to loosen his grip enough for Chris to wriggle out of his grasp and jump back far enough to have room to swing his chain. 'Damn!'
Draco limped home with a bloody nose and almost unable to move his right arm where Chris' chain had hit him. He wondered if it might actually be broken, but then he wouldn't be able to move it at all, would he? He wished he knew more about broken bones.
His nose was giving him trouble as well, but mostly because of the bloodstains it was leaving everywhere. It didn't matter much about his clothes anymore as they were already stained from the fight and needed washing anyway, but he was worried about dripping blood on the Snapes' carpet. Sarah wouldn't be happy about that. He also had trouble breathing at the moment, but knew that that would pass. If his nose were broken it would definitely hurt more.
His leg still hurt from Chris' kick, but that too was minor compared to the pain in his arm. So maybe he'd have a bruise for a few days. It'd go away.
Sarah didn't take it so easy when she saw him standing in the door like that. She was shocked. First she started scolding, then suddenly ran off to search for bandages. Draco could still hear her mutter faintly in the bedroom. Maybe she was scolding one of Billy's squishy toys?
He looked up at Professor Snape feeling a little lost. What was he supposed to do now? Wait for Sarah to arrive with the bandages? Come in and start eating dinner? Or maybe just go to the lab and lie down? That last one was what he really felt like doing, but it'd leave bloodstains on the bed. Sarah wouldn't thank him for that.
Snape looked rather amused though. Then of course he was used to seeing teenagers who'd just been in a fight. He probably had to break up more fights than any other teacher at Hogwarts. One reason for that being that somebody from his house was usually involved in the battle. The Slytherins were notorious for getting into fights. But also because he was usually the first person other staff members thought of to ask for help whenever they felt they couldn't manage the situation on their own. One glare from Snape could usually cool off the most hot headed fighter within seconds.
"Well, come in." he told Draco rather good naturedly. Draco could hardly believe his ears. "No use just standing around there."
"I'm dripping." Draco said by way of explanation.
Severus pointed at the bathroom door. "Wash it off, then. ... Cold water." he added just in case Draco mightn't know.
Draco obediently limped into the bathroom and tried to wash his nose as best he could with only one hand.
"You told me to fight, if they attacked." he told Snape who'd followed him in.
"I'm not complaining." Snape answered grabbing a towel and dipping it into the water. "What's wrong with your arm?"
Draco considered the question for only a second then simply gave the easiest answer. "Hurts."
"Why? What happened to it?" Snape asked again as he started to gently wash the blood off Draco's face.
Draco had to admit that the towel was a lot more effective than splashing water into his face with just one hand and while he described the fight to Snape he felt the pain in his nose slowly ebb away and breathing got a little easier. At first he didn't even notice when the blood flow stopped. Severus however did. He washed out the towel wetting it again and then used it to gently rub the left over dried blood off Draco's face. That looked much better now.
He turned his attention to Draco's not quite as bloody, but very red looking arm, but the boy flinched at every touch of it and he decided to leave it alone for the moment and took a look at his leg instead. That was really just a bruise, he discovered. Uncomfortable, but nothing to worry about. The only real problem was the arm.
"Okay, now that you're cleaned up a bit, lets go to the lab and see what we can do about that injury."
Draco obediently walked into the lab and sat on his bed. In passing Severus picked the bandages out of Sarah's hands.
"I'll take care of that." he told her calmly.
Snape quickly searched through his store of potion supplies and handed Draco a vial filled with a strangely blue coloured liquid.
"Drink that."
Draco sniffed the vial cautiously. He knew Snape would never give him anything harmful, but wasn't quite as convinced about bad tasting stuff.
"What is it?" he stalled.
"Just a simple pain potion so I can take a look at your arm. ... It won't bite."
With a sigh Draco gave up and took the potion. To his surprise it didn't taste bad at all. 'A bit like lemonade.' he thought. It had to be a different potion than the one Madamme Pomfrey used in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Hers always tasted of mint like most medical potions did and Draco hated mint. He didn't care for the burning sensation it left on his tongue at all. Bad enough that toothpaste had to taste like that.
"Hey, this is much better that Pomfrey's pain potion."
"Nonsense, Draco. It's the very same potion. I brewed them both myself. The effect is just the same."
"But this tastes a lot better. The other one burns."
Snape looked at Draco surprised for a moment, then smiled.
"Lemon leaves. I use them instead of mint most of the time, but Poppy hates them. It doesn't really matter though as they're really just in there to improve the taste."
"Mint doesn't improve anything." declared Draco.
"Well, for some reason a lot of potion recipes include mint for the taste and in my experience most people like it better than lemon."
"Well, I'm not most people. I like lemon and hate mint."
"So do I, Draco, but for the hospital wing I have to brew the potions the way Madame Pomfrey wants them. Now, show me your arm."
Obediently Draco held out his arm for inspection.
It still hurt a little when Snape touched it, but not as much as it had before. It was more uncomfortable than painful and Snape was gentle enough so Draco could take it.
"Can mint always be replaced with lemon leaves then?"
"Most of the time. In some potions it's required for its magical properties and in those cases it can't and in potions that contain unicorn blood lemon leaves can diminish or ever neutralise the magic. That last group can usually do without mint as well though. It makes them taste slightly bitter, but they're still drinkable." Snape explained still bent over Draco's arm. "That's not as bad as it probably feels right now." he finally diagnosed. "I'll brew you a healing potion and you'll have to try and hold it still for a while and it'll be much better tomorrow."
"Healing potion?"
"A rather simple one to help repair muscle damage. It'll only take a few minutes to make."
"With lemon leaves?"
"With lemon leaves." Severus promised with a slight smile. It was surprising how much Draco somtimes reminded him of himself. 'You could almost believe he was my son.' he thought. "Why don't you change out of those bloody clothes while I brew the potion. Sarah will probably want to wash them before all the blood dries in and you don't want to be stuffed into the washbasin along with them, do you?"
Draco laughed and started to carefully pull of his clothes trying not to upset his hurt arm. The pain potion was still keeping it from hurting too much when he accidentally moved or touched it, but he was a little worried that he might do some additional damage so he tried to avoid that. It was difficult to undress using only one arm and he decided to just slip on his night t-shirt so he wouldn't have to go through the whole procedure again this evening.
Once the potion was done Severus put some of it on one of the bandages Sarah had brought and told Draco to drink the rest.
"Inside and outside works best." he explained when he saw Draco's puzzled look. "That's one of the reasons I like this potion so much. It's fast and easy to brew and does the work of two. The only downside is that it's not very strong and can't be used for more serious injuries."
"Will you teach that in class?"
"Yes, it's on the OWLs actually, but it hardly ever comes up in the exam. It's so simple nobody could mess it up. ... Except maybe for Longbottom. Maybe I should make you brew that for the exam after all. That way he'd actually have a chance to pass." Snape mused while he tied a second dry bandage over the first one.
"I don't know. People aren't used to you giving simple exams. Somebody might die from the shock and Granger will be terribly disappointed." teased Draco.
"And I won't have the satisfaction of seeing Potter squirm waiting for his results. You're right. I'll just keep this one for Longbottom's second try after the summer. That'll look like I'm giving in to Albus' and Minerva's begging to go easy on the boy. You never know what they might do for me in return."
Later when Draco finally sat at the dinner table snuggled up comfortably into Severus' much too large bathrobe and struggling to eat with only one hand as his other arm was caught in a sling that was supposed to keep him from moving it around too much he suddenly realised that he now knew exactly what he'd have to do for his Potions OWLs. He wouldn't have to study anything else at all.
Still, something told him he'd be working extra hard in Potions this year even if he didn't need it. He'd make Professor Snape proud of him.
A/N - Will Sevi find the addresses of Draco's cousins? Will they want Draco? Will the Sharks strike again? Please R/R.
In the next chapter: Draco finds out about some other gangs in the neighbourhood, the Rakers don't play Soccer and go swimming again.
Last Chapter
Next Chapter
|
|
