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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.)
Disclaimer 5: The Glizzard family and Gringolf Glizzard belong to my friend Pega Pony. Thanks for letting me borrow them!
A/N - Once again very special thanks to Zebee for her help and don't forget to R/R her latest chapter of Alternative Dragon. It's Sevi's view on market day and crowds.
Chapter 20: Blue Sharks and Love Problems
This time Mike had to go to the market with his own family and so Draco was left to do some shopping on his own. Sarah gave him a list of fruits and vegetables and though he wasn't quite sure which ones to buy first, he wasn't as nervous as the last time. At least he knew how to bargain now.
He stuffed 'That Dog' into his backpack ignoring his protests and set off through the dense crowds. To his surprise he found that those were much easier to navigate when he was on his own. He didn't have to try and keep up with anybody or wait for someone all the time and could adapt his speed to the movements of the crowds and use whatever opportunities presented themselves to slip through.
Slipping out of a particularly dense crowd with a newly purchased bag of apples he noticed Mary standing in line for a vegetable stand with an old little witch who was leaning heavily on her walking stick, obviously her employer for the day. Mary waved when she caught sight of him and he smiled back at her since he had no hand free to wave.
A while later he got to the less crowded part of the market near the meat stands. The smell was exciting 'That Dog' even though it wasn't all that bad yet and Draco was already turning away when he saw a familiar face in a group of kids nearby.
"Hey Charlie!" he called out to his friend and Charlie smiled at him for a moment and waved back. She didn't come over though and Draco soon realised why. Those kids had to be from her ballet class and they were practising their dance moves. A small group of spectators had assembled around them and one of the smaller girls, probably somebody's little sister was making the rounds with an upturned cap, collecting money.
Draco slipped closer and caught a quick peek into the cap. The money they'd been given was all knuts, but probably had the value of several galleons. The little side-show was obviously worth the effort. He stopped to watch a little wishing he'd something to give them as well, but the only money he had were two knuts left over from his purchases and those belonged to the Snapes. He couldn't just give them away.
When it became obvious that Charlie wasn't going to stop dancing and come over to talk anytime soon, Draco decided to go have another look at the muggle shop instead before he went to meet the Snapes for lunch break in the side alley.
Slipping through the crowds he made his way around the marketplace and had almost reached the shop when he heard a voice calling him from behind.
"Hey Dragon! Wait up!"
Draco stopped and turned around to see Larry trying to push through a group of chatting witches to get to him. "Hi, Larry! Why don't you try to go around the group!" he suggested.
Larry pushed one particularly fast talking witch aside roughly and finally managed to break through as the rest of the group scattered complaining loudly about his rudeness.
"Phew, you're fast!" Larry exclaimed as he finally reached Draco's side. "I can't squeeze through as fast as you do. What was that you were trying to tell me? I couldn't quite understand over that witch's babbling."
"Oh, never mind. I was just suggesting you take a different route that might have been faster. Doesn't matter anymore now."
"Faster route is easy for you to say. You're smaller. I wouldn't fit through the gaps you use."
"Probably not." Draco agreed looking Little Larry up and down. "You want to come along have a look at the muggle shop?"
Larry shrugged. "Why not. I haven't got anything better to do anyway. The witch I was going to work for fell ill and her nephew is going shopping for her instead of me." he sighed. "That's five sickles lost, because of the stupid flu."
"Why didn't she come over for some of Uncle Severus' pepperup potion? That would have cured her instantly."
"No idea." Larry shrugged.
They walked side by side for a while chatting about this and that. No, Larry hadn't seen any of the Sharks either, but Jo, the little wannabe who lived next doors to him had seen Pretty Ricky take out the trash early in the morning and he'd still been having fits of laughter when he'd told Larry.
Draco told the story of Alice's visit to the Snapes and summed up his meeting with Jeremiah in a few sentences.
It was a while before Larry finally came out with what he really wanted.
"Dragon?" he asked suddenly.
"Yes?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"A girlfriend?"
"Well, you're not going after Cathy Cat all that much even though everyone can see that you like her, so I thought you must already have a girl from that fancy school of yours."
"There's a girl I dated last year, yes, but I'm not sure she's really my girlfriend. My father expected me to marry her someday, but now I haven't decided what I want yet and I don't know if she still likes me at all."
"Ah, but you do have some experience with having a girlfriend then?"
"I guess so."
Larry seemed to think that over for a moment. He looked unsure of himself as if he wanted to ask something, but didn't quite dare to.
"What's her name?" he finally asked.
"Pansy. Pansy Parkinson. She's a nice girl from an old pureblood family. Guess I could have done worse."
"Ah, but you aren't in love with her?"
"I'm not sure. She's a really nice girl."
"You're not in love, but then a lot of people have girlfriends they're not in love with. You shouldn't marry her though."
Draco shrugged. He really wasn't thinking about marrying all that much at the moment.
"Do you and Pansy ever fight?" Larry asked all of a sudden.
"Of course we do. Everybody fights sometimes. Why?"
Larry sighed deeply. "Mary's still not talking to me just because of the things I said during that one stupid game."
"Well, you do tend to get carried away during a game. You really should try to remember it's just a stupid game while you play it."
"I know. What I don't know is what to do about Mary. I thought maybe ... What do you do if Pansy won't talk to you after a fight?"
Draco thought for a moment. "Well, I used to buy her jewellery or something like that, but back then I still had a father who'd pay for that."
"I can't afford jewellery." Larry sighed.
"And I doubt Mary would expect or even want it. Pansy's the kind of rich girl that expects expensive gifts and likes to dress up. I've never seen Mary wear anything fancy."
"Okay, so no jewellery. Anything else you can think of?"
"She definitely expects you to tell her you're sorry."
"She knows I am!"
"But did you tell her so?"
"No, but there's no need. She already knows."
"Maybe so, but girls always expect you to say it. It's kind of a ritual. You tell them that you're sorry and that you love them and then you give them something romantic."
"Okay, I can tell her that, but I don't have anything romantic. I don't even know what is considered romantic."
"That depends on the girl. With Pansy it always had to be something expensive."
"I can't afford anything expensive. I didn't even earn anything today."
Draco thought that over. "Do you have any money at all?"
"Two galleons and three sickles. I'm saving for a new bookbag for school. My old one's falling apart and I really wanted to buy something new for once."
"Well, what's more important a new bookbag or Mary?"
"Mary of course!" Larry said at once.
"In that case I suggest you invest some of that money in a romantic present."
"But what is romantic and no more than two galleons and three sickles?"
"Something Mary will like. You know her better than I do. A box of sweets in a nice heart shape works with most girls. You have to be sure she likes the sweets though. Some like stuffed animals, but I doubt Mary is one of those. Almost all girls like it if you give them flowers. Again it helps to know which flowers she likes. If you know her favourite sweets or favourite flowers, I suggest you buy those, wrap them up nicely and present them as a token of your love."
Larry thought that over. "Cornflowers, cornflowers and everyflavour beans. That's what she likes best."
"Cornflowers?" Draco repeated incredulously.
"Yes, she once had an argument with Cathy Cat about that. Cathy likes dandelions best and Mary cornflowers. I even know where I can pick them and I can still buy her the everyflavour beans."
"How come all the girls I ever dated insisted on roses and diamond necklaces or gold earrings?"
"Because they liked feeling expensive?"
When had Larry gotten this insightful? "Probably. So all we need now is to find the right box to present the beans in. Come on!"
It took them a while of squeezing through the marketplace until they found a stand that sold cheap cardboard boxes. A heart shaped one was easily found and they soon set off again for the sweets shop to fill the box with everyflavour beans. Larry had to buy two boxes of beans to fill the heart shaped box to the brim, but he wasn't satisfied until he had added a chocolate frog on the top.
"There." he finally told Draco. "Now all I need to do is get the flowers and wrap it all up."
"I'd wait with the flowers till the very last. They won't stay fresh if you pick them too soon."
Larry considered that. "Then I'll wait to get them until tomorrow morning. You want to come help me find a nice wrapping paper for the box?"
"I can't." Draco glanced around nervously. "I should have met the Snapes for lunch break a while ago. I just hope they won't be too angry that I'm late."
"Oh, okay. See you tomorrow then. And thanks for your tip. I just hope it works."
Draco laughed. "Don't worry, it will. Bye Larry!"
Only moments after Draco stepped out onto the marketplace again something suddenly dropped onto his shoulder. Draco nearly jumped, but then the something suddenly said. "Caw! Find. Boy. That Dog. Caw!"
Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "Hi, Munin! Sorry, we're late. We got held up, but we're on out way now."
"Fly!"
"Yes, yes I know that. I'm already going as fast as I can in this crowd."
"Fly!"
"Believe me, I would if I could, but I don't have wings or a broom so I'll just have to stay on the ground and walk."
"Fly!"
"Oh shut up, we're almost there anyway."
"Caw!" Munin said then grabbed a lock of Draco's hair and pulled, not very hard luckily, just hard enough to be felt.
"Ouch! Will you stop that! It hurts."
"Fly!"
"I already told you I can't. You're such a clever bird, you should have noticed by now that humans don't fly without brooms."
Still arguing they finally reached the alley and Sarah immediately engulfed Draco in a tight hug. "There you are! We were so worried about you!"
"I just had to help Larry make some purchases that took longer than we'd thought. I'm fine." Draco mumbled feeling a little embarrassed. What if any Sharks or Rakers were around to see this? Then again it felt really nice to get hugged.
"You should have come back and told us." Severus declared sternly. "You had promised to meet us here at noon, not half an hour later. You'll have to learn to keep your promises."
"It's not that late! ... Is it?"
"It is." Severus glared. It wasn't the full force Snape glare, but bad enough.
Draco stared at the ground. "Sorry."
"Just see that it doesn't happen again. Now, lets see what you've bought."
Luckily the Snapes were happy with the fruits and vegetables he'd brought back with him and seemed willing to forgive him for being late. Draco decided to be careful not to remind them of the incident though, just in case they remembered they'd forgotten to punish him.
As soon as Draco had hastily slung down his sandwich they were on their way again to get the needed potion supplies. The potion shop's owner smiled widely at the sight of them. Draco thought he must have heard about the raid. Experience probably told him that this meant he'd get to sell large quantities of his more unusual wares.
The customers' eyes went very wide as Severus listed the ingredients he required. One little girl turned to a tired looking witch and pulled on her bright summer dress. "Mummy, Mummy! What are toad toes and what are they good for?"
The mother blushed slightly and bent down to whisper into the girl's ear. "I haven't the slightest idea, honey. But I suppose the shopkeeper must know, because he's measuring something right now."
The little girl frowned and scrunched up her face in thought. The shopkeeper was behind the counter and from where she was standing she couldn't even see him. She regarded Severus. That man had ordered the toad toes, so he had to know what they were as well.
"And add some thistle thorns as well. I'm almost out of them and might need some today."
"Certainly, Professor. Anything else you need? We've just received a fresh delivery of frogs' livers."
"No thank you, that will be all."
"Excuse me, Mister." a tiny voice said beside Severus' right leg.
He looked down at the little girl in surprise.
"What are toad toes? My brother has a toad and it doesn't have anything that looks like toes."
"They're just called that. In truth they are the roots of the magical fireflower. They just look like little toes covered in toad skin. Look." Severus pulled one toad toe out of its pack and presented it for inspection on his palm.
"Ugly." the little girl decided. "And what do you do with them?"
"I brew potions."
"My Mummy brews potions too, but she doesn't know toad toes."
"That's because you don't use them in every potion. They are very dangerous if used incorrectly and therefore you need a special license to be allowed to brew the potions that need them."
"Dangerous?" the little girl's eyes went very wide. "Do they explode?"
"No, but they can make you hallucinate."
"Halu- what?"
"Hallucinate. That's when you see things that aren't really there."
"Ah, dreams."
"Yes, dreams that you have when you're awake."
"But dreams can't hurt you. They aren't real."
"When you have them when you're awake they can. Imagine ... imagine that you'd dream that there was a bridge over the river and you'd want to walk over that bridge, but it isn't really there."
"Then I'd fall into the river."
"Right. You could drown. That's why hallucinations are dangerous."
The little girl nodded earnestly. "I see. Thank you."
"You know, you really are a good teacher." Sarah commented to Severus on the way out.
"No, I'm not. The children hate me."
"The Slytherins don't." protested Draco at once.
"You were great with that little girl." insisted Sarah.
"But I didn't teach her anything. I just answered her questions."
"Maybe you ought to try doing that with your pupils. Maybe then they wouldn't hate you anymore." Sarah suggested.
"They have to hate me. How else should I prepare them to face Voldemort?"
"Why do you have to prepare them to face him at all? You're a Potions teacher, not a general." Sarah said sounding a little tired as if she'd said those words too often to still believe they'd have any effect.
"Somebody has to do it. Albus is relying on me to be that somebody."
Sarah sighed.
"What about the Slytherins then? We don't hate you." argued Draco.
"You're different. You don't have to learn how to face danger. Slytherins know that. What they need is someone they can trust, someone who really likes them and will fight for them. And if that person isn't me it will be Voldemort. Slytherins can be so many things, but as long as everybody expects them to be evil, that's the only thing they will be. They need to be given the chance to be something else to be it."
"And I'll be a Physics teacher." insisted Draco.
"Even if you'll have to teach in a muggle school then?"
Draco considered that. He hadn't thought about it yet. What if the wizarding society didn't want his muggle skills once he finally had them? Could he stay in the muggle world forever? Would that mean he had to live without magic?
"I'll cross that road when I get there." he finally decided.
Alice and the twins were waiting in front of their flat when they got home. The twins were trying to hide their blue hair under their bandannas which made them look even more ridiculous.
Severus regarded them closely. "Ah, I see."
"Can you help them?" Alice asked almost beggingly.
"We'll see. I'll have to conduct some tests first. But before we start that I'd like to put these away." he lifted the shopping bags in his hands slightly. "There are some supplies in here that could prove helpful. Do come in and sit down."
The twins glared at Draco as he slipped past them to tend to his purchases. Draco smiled back at them sweetly. 'My flat.' said a tiny voice in his head gloatingly. 'You'd better stay polite.'
Alice too regarded his blue cap with distaste.
"So Sarah, are you going Rakers on us?" she asked with a slight sneer.
"Well, it is either that or the Sharks in this part of town at the moment, isn't it." Sarah answered sweetly. "And considering the way Mark treats my son that doesn't leave much choice now, does it?"
"What do you mean your son?" Alice measured Draco.
Sarah calmly gestured towards the bedroom door where she'd put Billy to bed already. "That little one you just saw. His name's Billy, in case you've forgotten."
"What's Mark want with a baby now?"
"That's what I'd like to know. He's a bit to old to play with baby toys, don't you think? I don't like kids who attack babies. It's just like with dogs. A dog who'll attack a puppy has something wrong with him. You have to get rid of those before they start attacking people as well."
"Mark didn't do anything. He was just playing with the baby a bit. Just a little teasing." protested one of the twins. Draco couldn't say which one he was. They both looked exactly the same.
"He scared him and tried to push him off the table. If that is not doing anything, I don't want to see him attack anyone." he told them.
"I'm just glad the Rakers happened to come by when they did. I doubt Draco could have kept four Sharks at bay all alone for very long and there's no telling what they'd have done to Billy once they'd gotten past him."
"We wouldn't have touched him." said the other twin this time. "What do you take us for?"
"It didn't look like you weren't going to harm him." shot Draco angrily.
Severus who knew a fight brewing when he heard one poked his head out of the lab. "Draco? Can you get a cauldron filled up and on the fire? We'll be needing it once I've gotten a quick look at the twins."
"Sure!" Draco quickly got a cauldron from the lab and went to fill it with water from the tab in the kitchen. He grinned when he realised it was the very same one he'd used to brew his potion in.
It didn't make a difference of course. The rest of the potion had dried out long ago and lost it's potency and after Draco had washed it out all traces of the potion had vanished. It was just an ordinary cauldron once again, but 1001 Useless Potions said that there wasn't an antidote. Could Severus come up with one anyway? Draco hoped not. The twins looked much too funny like this.
"Please come on in." Severus told the twins from the door of the lab. "Which one of you wants to go first?"
Draco followed them inside and placed the cauldron on the burner then started the fire while Severus regarded the twins' skin through a magnifying glass and pulled at their hair a bit. Watching him out of the corner of his eyes Draco wondered how much of this was really necessary. Was Severus playing with the two Sharks? It did look like he was having fun.
"I'll need the lizard teeth, Draco."
Draco obediently went to get the jar of lizard teeth and set it on the table.
"Thistle thorns, maybe some of the fairy dust and of course the lemon leaves and some pepper root."
Draco set all of those out on the table then looked at Severus quizzically. Lemon leaves and pepper root? Sour and spicy? Didn't sound like a good combination to him at all.
"And then I'll need to borrow some of your hairs." Severus told the twins pulling a few out despite their yelps.
Then he came over to the table and threw some lizard teeth into the cauldron along with the hairs. Then started to stir.
"Take five thistle thorns and add one everytime I tell you." he instructed Draco. "They are used in almost all potions to restore hair colour. Very popular among graying ladies. First one now."
Draco dropped it in and Severus continued to stir. "You have to be careful not to use too many at once though, because they tend to explode at sudden contact with other ingredients. Especially the fairy dust tends to set them off. Second now. Good. The lizard teeth are for the skin, though they have their downsides. They tend to make you itch even worse at first, but ought to take the discoloration away. Third thorn now."
Draco flipped another thorn in and watched how the potion changed colour.
"You'll remember the effects of pepper root from your second year, I expect?"
Draco nodded though he felt a little confused about those. Pepper root was used as the main ingredient in wakefulness potions only though it could have a fever reducing effect as well, if one didn't have all the ingredients needed for a proper pepperup potion on hand. It was also one of the most unpleasant tasting ingredients Draco knew. A real tongue burner much worse than anything containing mint.
"Fourth thorn. Always remember to stir anything that includes lizard teeth counter clockwise as long as you're still adding ingredients. The only exception to that rule is when you've added unicorn horn or dragon scales. In those cases you have to stir clockwise. Stir it the wrong way and the potion will boil over within seconds and douse out your fire. If that happens you have to wait at least an hour until it will burn again and most potions are ruined, if they stop boiling before they are done. The last thorn now. That rule does not concern potions containing dragon breath of course as those will boil on their own. Now add the pepper root and cut up ten lemon leaves."
"Add the pepper root uncut?" Draco asked in surprise. He knew that one hardly ever used a whole pepper root, because that made the potion almost undrinkable.
"Yes, it is stronger like this. Since Sarah's attempts all failed I think it's advisable to use unusually strong means."
"And ten lemon leaves?"
Severus nodded and winked at Draco. Draco grinned. This potion was going to be sour, very sour.
After adding the lemon leaves Severus left the potion to boil for five more minutes during which he continued to lecture Draco on the use of lizard teeth and thistle thorns, and the twins and their mother stared dumbly at the bubbling cauldron shifting uncomfortably whenever Severus mentioned explosions or poisonous effects. Severus soon went into a diatribe on explosive poisons for their benefit and Draco could barely hold back the laughter anymore by the time he finally decided that the potion was done, turned off the burner and cast a cooling charm over the cauldron with a wave of his wand.
"So which one of you wants to try first?" Severus asked the twins.
They looked at each other doubtfully, but after a moment one volunteered. Severus calmly filled some of the potion into a glass and handed it to the twin. The boy sniffed the liquid cautiously then tasted it and immediately started coughing.
"Urgh! That's not drinkable." he complained.
"Well, if you'd rather stay like this." Severus hinted.
The boy stared morosely at his brother for almost a minute then with a deep sigh downed the potion. He grimaced then looked expectantly at Severus. His hair flimmered for a moment and then turned a striking pink.
"Interesting." commented Severus.
Draco grinned. The spots hadn't changed at all and pink hair was almost as good as blue.
"You wouldn't happen to have some unchanged hairs we could use for the potion?" Severus asked Alice.
"Unchanged hairs? Well, there might be a few in their hairbrush."
"We'd have to know exactly which hair belongs to which twin though."
"No chance. Their hair looks exactly the same. I couldn't tell single hairs apart."
"Ah well, in that case there's only one more potion I can come up with at the moment. Draco, get me a fresh cauldron and fill it up."
Draco smirked at the pink haired twin on his way out. This was getting better and better.
A few minutes later they had a new potion bubbling, this time without lizard teeth but with a lot of unicorn horn and some fairy dust.
"Another ten lemon leaves and the pepper root." Severus announced calmly.
Draco wondered how he was managing not to laugh. This potion might have a better chance at success, but it would taste no better than the first.
It also needed to boil for half an hour and this time Draco decided to use that time for some Math exercises. The twins stared wide eyed while Severus commented on how to calculate how much water a cauldron could hold. That sounded slightly more complicated than what Draco was doing right now, but then again it was a challenge. He put aside his book and started measuring the cauldron they'd used to brew the first potion.
"Why are you torturing the poor boy with things like that?" the twins' mother asked Severus mystified.
"I don't. It was his idea to learn Math. I'm just supporting his natural curiosity." Severus stated matter-of-factly.
The potion was done long before Draco had figured out how to solve this problem and soon Severus held out another glass to the still blue haired twin.
"It's only fair that you should try it first this time." he explained when the boy looked to his brother for help.
After some more grimacing and coughing they all stared expectantly at the twin. For a while nothing happened. Then a thin tendril of smoke began curling out of his nose soon joined by another coming from the other side.
"Well, I guess I'll have to remember this one, if I ever want to dress up as a dragon." grinned Draco.
"That was not a common dye potion." Severus diagnosed when it became clear that that would be the potion's only effect on the boy. "Not even the Ancient Greek ones are that resistant and I'm quite sure Draco can't read Greek. Just what did you make them drink?"
"Make them drink? I didn't make them drink anything. You're the one who did that. They'd never drink anything I gave them."
"Then what did you do?"
"He dumped water bombs on us!" complained the pink haired twin.
"A tactile potion then." Severus concluded. "I'd guess Merlin's dye potion, but that's supposed to turn the hair red, doesn't leave marks on the skin and doesn't itch either. And I always thought that runic text would be too difficult for a fifth year student anyway."
"What good would that be?" Draco asked surprised. "Just changing the hair colour can't be of much use, can it?"
"Disguise. Back in Merlin's days muggles didn't have hair dye so changing your hair colour was a good way to escape witch hunts. Of course that's where the muggles' belief that all witches have red hair originated."
"So it wasn't even very successful back then?"
"Not entirely, but it did a lot of good. Now stop trying to distract me. Is this a variant of Merlin's potion or what is it?"
"It's a useless potion."
"Draco, we can discuss your opinion on Merlin's dye at some other time."
"No, that's not what I meant. The one I used is a useless potion."
"What?"
"I found it in 1001 Useless Potions." Draco grinned handing Severus the book. "See, there it is."
Severus looked at the page and ... laughed.
The twins and Alice stared at him in complete confusion.
"Looks like you found it very useful though." he managed through his laughter. "We ought to write a letter to the editor. Wrong book."
"So what about my sons' hair then?"
With an effort Severus managed to get himself under control. "I'm sorry, there is no antidote for this one. It's completely harmless and will wear off after about a week though."
"A week!" shrieked the smoke breathing twin.
"But what about the pink?" shrieked his pink haired brother.
"The attempted antidotes have reacted with the original potion." Severus explained. "That means the side effects will last as long as the blue spots do."
"But isn't there a way to neutralise at least those effects?" Alice asked exasperated.
"I could try, but it would require inventing a new potion and that usually requires at least a year of work and experiments. The effects would disappear on their own before I'd discover the right combination of ingredients."
"Well, don't expect me to pay you for this." Alice snorted and started for the door head held high while the twins trailed after her dejectedly.
"I did try to help, Alice. If you're unwilling to recognise that of course, I might think twice about trying next time."
Another snort and Alice opened the door to rush out. She had to stop short the moment she'd stepped outside however and the twins ran into her pushing her over and into Pretty Ricky and Robin who'd obviously been just about to ring the doorbell.
"Forget it." The pink haired twin told them while his brother helped their mother dust herself off after her fall. "There is no antidote. He just tried some fowl tasting stuff on us that left some nasty side effects and then said there was nothing he could do."
"I'm not dusty, you know." Pretty Ricky informed Alice with a very insulted look. "I just took a bath to try and get the colour to come off."
"Maybe if we try asking Professor Funnel?" Robin suggested.
"If Snape can't do it, that old charlatan hasn't the slightest chance." Alice snapped ignoring Ricky. She righted her clothes and then continued her rush down the corridor as if nothing had happened.
"I would not call Frank Funnel a charlatan, Alice." Snape calmly informed her quickly retreating back. "He may not be one of the top potions masters in the world, but he certainly is among Europe's best and most experienced teachers. West Hogsmeade is very lucky to have him." But by the time he got to that last sentence he was already speaking to an empty corridor as the kids had followed Alice in her rush down the stairs.
Severus shrugged and turned to Draco. "Well, I guess that got rid of the Sharks. All that remains to do is clean up the lab. If you'd agree to help me with that, I'd agree to help you with that Math problem. Okay?"
"Perfect." laughed Draco.
A/N: Will any more Sharks show up on the Snapes' doorstep? Is Professor Funnel really a charlatan? And will Mary and Larry make up? Please R/R!
In the next chapter: The Rakers go Shark spotting and play Soccer, Larry gives Mary his gift and a bunch of flowers and Draco considers picking some dandelions.
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