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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 - Sorry this is so late, but I couldn't reach Zebee so you'll have to put up with my mistakes at least until she gets a chance to read this and correct me.
Chapter 21: Cornflowers and a Green Hat
Tuesday was once again unbearably hot and when Draco arrived down on the Soccer lawn he heard several voices arguing in favour of going swimming instead of playing Soccer. Jack wasn't feeling like swimming though. Maybe he was still trying to get back at Draco for the last defeat and hoping that the heat would work in his favour.
Draco smiled and dropped into the grass beside Cathy. So Larry thought she liked him? Should he try go for it? Cathy Cat sure was one very pretty girl and who knew if Pansy still cared for him at all. He could imagine living in a nice little West Hogsmeade house near the marketplace with Cathy. Pansy would probably kill him for suggesting to move into an ordinary house instead of a mansion. If he mentioned West Hogsmeade to her he was as good as dead.
So what spoke against Cathy? Pansy might not like being displaced. Then again she might find somebody richer and more influential more to her taste anyway. She'd probably go out with Blaise or that sixth year Ian. Both were on the Quiddich team and from very rich pureblood families. Not as rich as the Malfoys had been, but rich enough to keep Pansy Parkinson in style.
Cathy was Jack's ex though. And everybody knew that Jack wasn't over her yet. Did he really want to risk challenging the gang leader now that they were finally getting along? Who was the girl in green he'd seen him with at the market last week? Was he serious about her? Could she make him forget Cathy? Draco thought he'd seen the two of them together again when he'd been looking for cardboard boxes with Larry, but it had been only a short glimpse and he wasn't entirely sure. Maybe he ought to ask Severus what he thought about it?
Then there was that one last big argument against asking Cathy on a date. He was going to move to America on Sunday. He had no idea if he'd ever get a chance to return to England at all.
"What about you Dragon?" Jack asked all of a sudden. "You're awfully quiet today. Do you want to play or not?"
"Huh? Of course I want to play. I was just thinking, that's all."
"Thinking? Thinking about what?" asked Mike stretching comfortably on the grass beside him. "It's much too hot to think."
"About the fact the next pair of relatives I'm supposed to go live with live somewhere in America."
"America!" exclaimed Charlie excitedly. "Oh wow! I've always wanted to go to America! That's great Dragon!"
"No, it's not. They're probably going to send me to some American school and owls can't fly from America to here. I'd need an albatross to owl you and I bet I won't get one."
"Well, stay here then." said Sammie. "We all want you. We've got a school here and you don't need a bird at all, because you can always come over and talk to us yourself."
"Sammie, I don't have any relatives here. I already told you I can't just stay with the Snapes forever."
"So lets just hope the Americans don't want you either. None of the ones you wanted did, so why are you so sure they will?" said Matt from a small shady patch under a bush a few paces away. He'd arrived too late to get a spot under the tree where the rest of them were lying and had had to either sit in the sun or put up with the distance.
"If they don't want me, I'll be stuck with my mother's impossible brother. I couldn't bare living with him."
"Why? What's wrong with him?" yawned Mary almost asleep leaning against the tree trunk.
"He's a sort of ... well like a boy band singer. Only he has no actual boy band. He just sings."
"Really? Do we know him?" asked Charlie.
"Gringolf Glizzard." Draco ground out between clenched teeth.
"Gringolf Glizzard! Really! You're related to Gringolf Glizzard? Oh, wow! That's so cool!" several voices shouted.
Draco covered his ears with his hands to block them out. "If you tell anyone I'll kill you. The guy is a total idiot, honest. Just listen to the stuff he sings. He might be rich and famous and all, but I couldn't possibly live with him."
"Well, I'd love to live with Gringolf Glizzard." said Charlie dreamily.
"Oh really?" asked Cathy all of a sudden. "You do realise there'd always be those pretty movie star type girls hanging around him, don't you? They'd probably make you fetch and carry for them like a dog." she indicated 'That Dog' who was sitting at attention by Draco's legs hoping he'd get to chase the ball again.
"I bet they've got house elves to do that for them." protested Mary.
"And they'd love to show you that you're no better than a house elf in their eyes. You don't really think Gringolf Glizzard would give you any sort of attention at all, do you?" asked Mike. "He's all stuck up in his world of the rich and famous. I bet he's going to marry some model or actress someday."
"Just wait until I'm a famous dancer." Charlie said dreamily. "He'll have to notice me then. They all will."
"Yeah, sure Charlie. He'll probably be yesterday's news by then anyway." sneered Jack.
"I still think he's great." sighed Mary.
"I thought you were in love with Larry." Cathy reminded her. "And he really likes you, you know. Gringolf Glizzard would give you an autograph at best. Larry loves you."
"Oh, and what has he ever given me? Where is he anyway? He could have at least said he wasn't coming so we'd know not to wait for him. I want to play."
Indeed Larry was nowhere in sight and Draco was the only one who had any idea where he might be. He knew better than to mention that though. So Mary was disappointed that Larry had never given her any presents? Just perfect. He just hoped Larry was right about her loving everyflavour beans and cornflowers.
"Why don't we just start the game without him. If he comes a little later he can still join in." he suggested.
"And what if he doesn't come at all?" asked Jack. "Maybe he's got house arrest and I'll be playing with two people less."
"Take Matt until Larry comes then." Draco offered.
"No, I want Cathy." Jack snapped almost automatically.
"I'm not playing on your team. Get that through you thick skull, will you." Cathy glared at him.
"I thought you'd found a new girlfriend anyway?" ventured Draco. "Or is she just a friend?"
"Who?" Jack looked surprised.
"That blond you were with at the market. Who is she anyway?"
"Oh, Babs. Yes, I think she does like me, but I'm not sure I should really go with her."
"Babs?" Cathy asked surprised. "You mean Big Babs? I thought she was going with Steve."
"Not anymore." grinned Charlie. "They broke up sometime last week I think. She caught him kissing Robin they say."
"Just a moment." interjected Draco. "Who is Big Babs? She didn't wear Black Ring or Avenger insignia. And I know she's not a Shark."
"She wouldn't. She's the Lions' second and their colour's green." explained Mike. "What's the matter?"
Draco was rolling on the ground laughing so hard he could barely breathe. "Green lions?" he finally managed to gasp.
"Yes, what's so funny about that?" Mary asked confused.
"Slytherin's green. And the Gryffindors are the lions."
"The guys with the red rooms?" Charlie asked remembering their trip to Hogwarts.
"Exactly." Draco managed through another laughing attack. "If Potter only knew that."
"Who'd be blue?" Sammie wanted to know.
"Ravenclaw. You know, the bookish types. The next best thing to Slytherin, really."
"Oh, and who'd the Sharks be?"
"Nobody. We don't have any fish at Hogwarts. Just lions, ravens, badgers and snakes."
"So what were you doing with Big Babs, boss?" Mike turned to Jack.
"Nothing much." Jack shrugged, but he had blushed a little, Draco thought. "I was just trying to arrange a game against the Lions. I'll have to catch Steve for that though. You know how much you can rely on Babs' promises."
"Really! A game?" Sammie squealed excitedly. "A real game against another gang?"
"Don't rely on big Babs' promises, Sammie." Jack reminded him at once.
"Why not?" Draco asked. And here he'd thought he finally knew all the kids around here.
"That's where she got her name. Originally it was Big Mouthed Babs, but she shortened it to Big Babs." Cathy grinned. "It's a little more flattering."
"Okay, enough about Babsy!" Jack commanded. "Larry's obviously not coming so let's play. Sammie, you're with me."
The moment they all got up was the moment Larry finally showed up coming down the path that led towards the river a big bunch of cornflowers in one hand and something that looked like a blue heart in the other. At first Draco regretted he hadn't gone to buy the wrapping paper with Larry, but then he realised how well the colour went with the flowers and after all it was the Rakers' colour. Red wrapping paper would probably have been very bad style in this gang.
"Mary?" Larry asked almost timidly once he had reached the gaping group. "Mary, I'm sorry for the way I behaved last week. I shouldn't have yelled at you over a stupid game. And I wanted to ... Well, I wanted to tell you I'm sorry and I love you and I've brought you a little gift and some flowers to show you how sorry I am." he ended in a rush.
Mary had jumped up the moment she'd realised the flowers were for her. "Oh, Larry!" was all she said before engulfing him in a big hug that almost threatened to crush the flowers, but Larry managed to get them out of the way in time.
"Oh, how romantic!" sighed Charlie.
"Yes, isn't it?" smiled Cathy. "I'd never have thought Larry could come up with something like this. And those are her favourite flowers as well. How thoughtful. I wish I had a boyfriend who did things like that. Of course, I always end up with the bossy kind who'll shout at me and then expect me to forget and forgive everything the next morning." she glared at Jack who was still gaping at Larry.
"Well," Larry admitted. "actually it was Draco's idea about the gift and the flowers. I really just chose which ones to pick. I'd never have had such a great idea on my own."
"Oh, but you remembered my favourite flowers and my favourite colour!" Mary exclaimed and rewarded that with a big kiss while everybody else was staring at Draco in surprise.
Draco looked back at them and shrugged. "I just made a few suggestions about how one could make up with one's girlfriend. It wasn't even anything special. Larry just put a few ideas together and adapted them to Mary's tastes."
"Oh, who'd have thought Larry of all people could be so romantic!" sighed Charlie. "Why doesn't anyone ever give me flowers?"
"I thought you were waiting for Gringolf Glizzard?" Mike laughed.
"No, I'm waiting for a romantic boyfriend, who'll love me and bring me flowers." decided Charlie.
"Maybe you just have to be a little more patient." Draco suggested. "Maybe you just haven't met him yet. Or," he continued seeing Sammie elbow Matt behind Charlie's back. "Maybe he just needs some more time to get up his courage to tell you."
"You think there will be someone someday?" Charlie asked hopefully.
"Of course there will." Cathy encouraged her. "You're a dancer after all. Boys love dancers."
"Yeah, they love dancing girls in shabby bars. I don't want to end up like that."
"Not the kind of boy who'll give you flowers." insisted Cathy. "Those prefer the real dancers and appreciate ballet."
"Are you sure? I've never met a boy who really liked ballet dancing."
"Ah, but I bet you've seen a lot of young men come to your dance shows." cut in Mike. "Bet the older girls all have great boyfriends, right?"
"Well, yes, but nobody was ever interested in me." Charlie sighed. "I'm just not pretty enough."
"You're just too young." Mike insisted. "Boys only start to like ballet when they're a little older so they'll also be more interested in the older girls then."
"They're more romantic when they're a little more mature anyway." decided Cathy. "The immature ones are nothing but trouble, believe me."
Cathy was still glaring daggers at Jack who was twirling his ball in his hands nervously.
"Can we finally start our game?" he asked as everybody turned to stare at him.
"I have to put the flowers in a vase first!" protested Mary finally letting go of Larry. "And open my gift!"
Jack rolled his eyes and sighed demonstratively. "Really Larry, did you have to start all this nonsense? I've had little spouts with my girlfriend too and I've never made a big show of it, did I?"
"And you no longer have a girlfriend." Larry told him with a shrug. "Unlike you, I don't want to go off and chat up another. I love Mary and no other."
"Maybe you ought to give Babs some flowers boss?" Sammie suggested in a whisper Draco could just barely understand.
Jack glared. "I'm not even serious about Big Babs."
"Have you ever been serious about any girl at all?" Cathy asked.
"Well, you might consider it whenever you are serious." Draco said lightly. "At least it worked great for Larry and I've seen a few boys pull off similar scenes in school too."
"Pah, rich kid nonsense!" Jack snorted and took off without an explanation.
"Everyflavour beans!" Mary shrieked excitedly. "Oh, I love everyflavour beans!"
"I know." mumbled Larry. "That's why I chose them."
"Oh, Larry! I don't know why I ever doubted your love."
Mary followed that declaration with another long kiss and Draco turned to look for Jack again, but the gang leader had disappeared and he'd taken his ball with him.
'Well, I guess we're not playing Soccer today after all.' Draco thought, but then had a better idea. "Hey Matt, why don't you run get your ball while Mary's taking care of her flowers?" he suggested. "I don't think we've ever used it in a real game before."
"Oh yes! Sure! Be right back!" Matt dashed off beaming with joy.
Jack was back with them when they went swimming in the afternoon. He didn't say where he'd gone in the morning and Draco decided not to ask. He had other things on his mind anyway. Larry and Mary still were impossible to separate and looked perfectly happy together.
Should he go pick a few dandelions and present them to Cathy? There were more than enough growing down by the river and they were close enough that it would take him less than five minutes to pick a nice bunch.
But did he really want to break up with Pansy? If he brought Cathy flowers that was a commitment. He couldn't go back to dating Pansy then. But what if Pansy didn't want him anymore? He'd rather break up with Pansy than have Pansy break up with him.
Then again if Pansy wanted to keep him? He'd been expecting to marry her someday all his life. Well, he'd also expected to serve Voldemort someday and to inherit Malfoy Manor.
But if he decided to go out with Cathy and then his family in America wouldn't let him go back to Hogwarts after the summer, was that fair to Cathy?
He was still weighing his options by the time they reached the lake, but the fight over the tree trunk banished all those thoughts from his mind.
"I saw Mark the Fishy in the market yesterday." Jack announced once he was settled comfortably on the trunk.
"Oh? I thought the Sharks had all stayed at home. At least I didn't see any blue hair anywhere." Charlie commented.
"He was wearing a hat." Jack grinned. "An ugly old green hat. Susie and Beth swear they saw him with it again this morning."
"Oh, I wish I'd seen that!" said Sammie. "I haven't seen a single Shark since we dumped the water bombs on them."
"I saw four yesterday." Draco smirked.
"Four? In the market?" Charlie asked incredulously.
"No, at home. The twins' Mum wanted an antidote and Uncle Severus and I had a little fun with them. We'll be able to tell them apart for about a week now."
"Tell them apart?" Mike repeated. "How?"
"Well, for this week Andy is the one with the pink hair." Draco waited for a moment to enjoy the laughter and shocked looks. "And Alex is the one who's breathing smoke."
"Breathing smoke?" Matt asked incredulously. "How did that happen?"
"Side effects of the antidotes Uncle Severus tried on them. You should have seen their faces when they had to drink them. We mixed in a whole pepper root and ten lemon leaves for each potion."
Splasch! Sammie hadn't been able to hold on to the tree anymore because he was laughing so hard. Larry tried to fish him out, but was laughing too much as well and Sammie didn't want to wait. He tried to climb back up on his own turning the tree trunk over and throwing all of them into the water.
"Ahh! Sammie!" squeaked Charlie who didn't like unexpected baths at all.
Sammie recognised the tone of that and took off before she came back up to the surface. Charlie followed him the moment she'd regained her bearings.
Draco started to climb back on, but Mike shook his head at him. "No, we'd better get after them and stop Charlie before she kills Sammie."
"Charlie?" Draco asked surprised. "Kill Sammie?"
"She might not get angry very often, but when she does she gets really angry. Believe me, Sammie's no match for her in this state." Cathy confirmed.
"She probably won't actually kill him, but she might really hurt him." Matt amended.
By the time Draco reached dry land however Mary had already separated the two and Sammie looked no worse for wear. Charlie was glowering a little, but that was all.
So Draco just flopped down on his towel to let the sun dry him and told the rest of his story to the amusement of not only the Rakers, but also a bunch of smaller kids who'd been playing in the shallow water when they'd arrived and had crept closer when nobody had shooed them off.
"I think this calls for a patrol tomorrow morning." Jack decided stretching comfortably on his own towel. "Lets go Sharkspotting."
"Do you think they'll even be about?" Draco asked surprised.
"They can't stay at home for an entire week." decided Mike. "The very least they have to do is come out to take down the trash and as hot as it is, I doubt they'll be staying away from the lake for long. We just have to be patient and keep watching."
Draco got home late again that day, but not as late as he had the first time he'd gone swimming with the Rakers. Billy greeted him with a very hungry sounding "Dako!", but the Snapes' dinner wasn't ready yet.
While he fed the baby he noticed that Severus was once again buried in some book and this one looked like it contained maps.
"Did Jeremiah really send the Colemans' address?" he asked when he finally sat down by the table a very sleepy Billy in his arms.
He ought to put the baby to bed now, but he was too curious to hear what Severus had found out.
"Yes, it appears they live in a town in New Jersey. It doesn't look like they'd have a big mansion there, but I think we can expect a big house and a garden. ... And lots of other kids in the neighbourhood you can make friends with. I just have to work out how to get there."
"You went to Hogwarts today then? Is the headmaster back? Did you ask him if I can still go to Hogwarts?"
"Slow down Draco! One question at a time. Yes, I spent the whole afternoon in the castle. No, Albus hasn't returned yet, but Minerva is back and as annoyingly Gryffindor as always."
"McGonagall? What's McGonagall doing at Hogwarts in the middle of the holidays?"
"Right now she's writing the acceptance letters to this year's first years and that's put her into a bad mood." Severus frowned.
"Oh, is that such a bad job?"
"It's a lot of work. After all there will be about forty new kids coming to Hogwarts this year which means she has to write forty almost identical letters."
"Aren't there spells to do that?" Draco asked surprised. McGonagall couldn't possibly have to write all those letters by hand could she?
"There's an enspelled quill to copy the letters once she has written the first one of course, but it needs to be properly supervised and the names of the students and the signature have to be added by hand and they get a little more complicated for the higher years where pupils have different classes and therefore require her to write individual book lists. Then there are the letters to the new prefects and the head boy and girl. Minerva always gets a little irritable when she has a lot of work ahead of her. She'll calm down by the time she gets to the seventh years and most of the letters have been owled off."
"Will the letter even reach me, if I'm in America? Owls can't cross the ocean, can they?"
"No, they can't, but don't worry about that. We can always hire an albatross from the post office or send someone via the floo network."
Send someone? Well, that sounded nice. Draco smiled. "Do you think she'll get around to owling the fifth years before I have to leave for America?"
"No Draco. She might manage to get started with the third years this week, but no more than that."
"But will she know where I am when she owls my letter? What if the owl comes back?"
"If an owl sent to one of the older students comes back unopened the first step taken is usually to inform the headmaster and the student's head of house. And I will know where to find you. You'll get your letter."
Draco smiled. It was good to know Severus would be around to help him even if he was no longer there himself.
The Rakers' patrol the next morning was very successful indeed. The Sharks were actually meeting under the same tree Draco had first seen them under and glaring daggers at the Rakers when they arrived. Mark the Shark himself was still wearing that ugly old hat while Pretty Ricky had tied a scarf over his hair which made him look more ridiculous than the blue hair had.
The twins had given up trying to cover their hair with their bandannas. Maybe seeing Ricky's scarf had convinced them that anything was better than looking like that. They just wore them normally now which clashed horribly with Andy's hair. Chris and the two smaller girls were missing, but Draco couldn't tell if they were still hiding or had been sent on some mission. It didn't matter to the Rakers much anyway. They'd wanted to see some Sharks and they'd found some Sharks.
"Hey Alex, don't you know smoking's bad for your health?" Jack called out to the still blue haired twin and was rewarded with the sight of a big angry puff of smoke blowing out of the Shark's nose.
"Why it's the blue hair club!" Draco feigned surprise. "Are you sure you belong here Pinky? You seem to have the wrong colouring."
Andy jumped forward at that and had to be held back by his brother and Robin.
"Say Ricky, don't you know only girls wear scarves like that? Or is your new name Ricketta?" Charlie asked.
"Maybe it's Rickina or Ricka." suggested Cathy Cat.
"Where'd you find that hat Fishy? The trash bins?" Mike grinned for only a moment before Mark lounged at him and immediately pinned him down under his weight.
Draco had just enough time to notice that Jack threw himself onto Mark before the twins had reached him brandishing their knives. Damn! He suddenly remembered his lost door handle.
Just when he thought he was in real trouble now, Mary and Larry appeared from either side each grabbing a twin.
Draco looked around for an opponent, but found everybody busy. Ricky had already disappeared. Charlie, Matt and Sammie were playing with Bobby and Marvin had had the bright idea to attack Mike the moment Mark had let go of him to take care of Jack. Draco grinned evilly. Marvin might be more than Sammie could handle, but that didn't mean he could take on Mike.
Seeing no truly worthy opponent Draco grabbed a hold of Robin's hair and pulled her off Cathy. He hesitated for a moment wondering if it was bad style to hit a gang girl and Robin took the chance to turn around and run. Bobby and Marvin immediately followed her lead and soon the rest of the Sharks fled as well. Only Mark dared to slow down long enough to yell "We'll get you back! Just you wait!" at them, but that didn't bother the Rakers much. They'd already known that the Sharks were going to take revenge on them. After all, what else should they do?
A few little Shark wannabes who'd come to watch the fight quickly disappeared around corners or under bushes. That was a normal enough occurrence after a fight and Draco wouldn't have paid them any mind at all, if they hadn't reminded him of something else.
"Did you guys ever do anything about those two little rats who stole our ball for Mark?" he asked into the victory cheers.
That silenced Jack immediately. They'd completely forgotten to teach the two little wannabes a lesson. "Do you have any of that potion left?"
Draco shook his head sadly. No, he'd let all the rest dry out already.
"They'd be expecting that anyway and it's a little harsh for the children." Mike decided. "A little blue spray paint should suffice for them."
Jack thought that over for a moment, then nodded. "All right. Do we have any blue paint left?"
It turned out that there wasn't much, but they decided that two cans ought to suffice to paint two little wannabes and green paint would work almost as well just in case it didn't.
Now all they had to do was find Toby and Mely. A first search during the afternoon proved unsuccessful since all Shark wannabes had wisely disappeared from anywhere near Raker territory.
Jack finally called the search off and postponed the revenge on the two children to the next day. They'd let a whole week pass after their transgression so another day didn't really matter anymore.
A/N: Will Draco really move to America? Will Dumbledore allow him to continue to go to Hogwarts if he does? And will he give Cathy Cat some dandelions to say goodbye? Please R/R!
In the next chapter: Draco gives Munin an accidental command, the Rakers invade Shark territory and Draco gets a quick glance at a real Soccer field.
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