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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 for taking so long, but it's hard to post a when ff.net keeps disappearing. I just hope this actually works this time.
Chapter 25: Codes and Spies
Draco and Mike met very early after lunch and quickly discussed their training strategy and Draco was quite happy with the results they came up with, even though it would be very hard on him without his defenders.
Susie bounced into the discussion announcing happily that Mely had agreed to the meeting and was rather disappointed when Draco told her that Sarah had kept 'That Dog' at home for the afternoon when she'd seen how tired he was. She'd planned to take Billy for a little walk in the evening anyway and decided that that would be enough exercise for 'That Dog' as well.
Jack arrived late and left it to Mike to arrange the training. Mary and Beth sent pleading looks Draco's way when Mike announced that the defenders were to go running this time, but they got no help there.
"You don't have to be as fast as the runners, but we want you to build up some stamina so you won't grow so tired by the end of the game." he told them. "That's particularly important exercise for you, Mary. Matt, you lead them. See that you keep it slow enough that everyone can keep up and take a break before you drop, but try not to take too many breaks."
Mary glared at him for that remark, but Draco was no longer that impressed by her glares. She wouldn't harm him unless he seriously provoked her, which he had no reason to do.
"The attackers will be working in two pairs. It doesn't matter who's with who today, but we'll try out all combinations in time." Mike continued and Cathy immediately stepped beside him. "The runners start on the other side of the field. Take two balls at a time and pass them among you as much as you can then pass one to each pair of attackers. You stay in the far half of the field, we stay in this one. We pass the ball between the partners as well, take it up to the goal and try to get it in. You two," he pointed at two surprised little wannabes who had crept closer to watch. "Will take the balls back to the other side for the runners. If you're fast enough the runners will never run out of balls."
Draco wished they had a second keeper for this exercise. Then they could have had one pair on each side and the runners simply passing the balls from one group to the other, but it would have meant to keep Mary here and she really needed the running exercise. He hoped the two little assistants Mike had just hired would do.
He soon stopped thinking about the runners at all though as the attackers usually shot at almost the same time making his job almost impossible. This time he was really getting a workout.
Mike and Cathy turned out to be a good team and it was hard for Draco to predict which one would actually shoot most of the time. Jack however almost always kept the ball to himself and went straight for the goal. Charlie soon noticed that and started to preferably pass the ball to Larry, which resulted in Larry keeping it to himself just the same as Jack did. That was less troublesome for Draco, but still against the general idea of the exercise.
When Mike finally called for a break Draco simply dropped into the grass where he was standing and closed his eyes panting.
"You okay, Dragon?" that was Sammie's voice.
Draco opened his eyes and found the others had gathered around him looking worried.
"Just exhausted." he panted. "Need defenders. Can't stop two balls at once."
"You want to change the exercise? We could try working with only one ball." Jack suggested.
"No, but I want the defenders to participate tomorrow and right now I want you two to actually stick to the exercise."
"What?" asked Larry. "What did we do wrong?"
"The idea was to practise passes not just shooting at the goal." Draco explained. "You two keep forgetting about the passes."
"That's Larry's fault." accused Jack. "He never passes the ball back and when he does he usually misses me entirely."
"Well, in that case he needs to practise it more, not less." Cathy pointed out.
"Why? I'm an attacker. What do I need passes for?" Larry protested.
"For evading and confusing defenders." Mike informed him. "If you're too boxed in, you pass the ball to another attacker who's free to move."
"Your shooting is suffering from the same problem." Draco added. "There's a lot of power behind it, but you sometimes miss the goal entirely or shoot the ball directly into my arms. That might work if the keeper doesn't expect such a hard shot, but I doubt Steve will fall for it after the initial surprise. He certainly looks strong enough to hold your balls if he catches them."
"So you think Larry needs shooting training?" Mike asked.
"Aiming training." specified Draco. "Jack's shooting is fine though, so I think he could leave that to Larry for today."
"So what do you want me to do? Nothing?" Jack growled.
"Passes." Mike reminded him. "Your shooting's fine, but you tend to forget that you're not the only attacker on the field. You often lose the ball, because you shoot even though you're blocked and somebody else is in a better position."
"I know how to make passes." Jack insisted.
"But you don't use that knowledge enough." Draco told him. "Maybe practise will make you consider passing instead of shooting more often. And Larry needs someone to practise passing with him."
"New rule." Mike announced. "You're not allowed to go for the goal unless you have passed the ball at least three times first. Try to make it more."
"And you could try to put more force behind your shots." Draco told Mike. "You're relying too much on your tricks and too little on strength. Your balls are too easy to hold once I catch them."
"If you catch them." Mike reminded him.
"Indeed, but a little more force behind your shots couldn't hurt." Draco grinned.
"And what about me?" Cathy asked. "What should I improve?"
Draco considered that for a moment. "Try to shoot sooner. You hesitate too much before you shoot which makes your shots more predictable than the others'."
"How'd the runners do?" Mike asked. "We've been discussing the attackers all the time, but you really wanted a look at the runners, didn't you?"
"I had no time for that." Draco answered. "I was too busy with your attacks. Charlie, how'd it go back there? Is Susie fitting in with you guys?"
Charlie regarded the small girl for a moment. Despite all the hard training of today she was still bouncing. "Well, she's definitely fast and she doesn't tire easily. Her shooting is even less precise than Larry's though."
"Okay, she only needs to pass. Actually scoring isn't necessary." Draco decided. "Keep practising passes. That ought to help. Any other problems?"
"Sammie seems to prefer Jack. He always forgets to pass to Larry and rarely passes to Mike." Charlie reported.
"I'm more used to working with Cathy and Jack's just always there." Sammie defended himself.
"We'll have to consider that the Lions' defenders will most likely concentrate on Jack though. They know that he's our leader and maybe also that he's the best shot and will expect out attack to depend on him mostly. They might make it impossible for him to do anything at all." Mike predicted. "We have to prepare in a way that we can work without him, if that happens. Try to pass to all attackers in turn, Sammie. Even if the one you want is in a less perfect position at the moment. That way you'll be prepared to work with all of them and maybe even to confuse the Lions with passes they don't expect."
"Not choosing to make the most obvious move when another is possible sounds like a good strategy." Draco mused. "It'll confuse the Lions if they can't predict what we're going to do."
Jack nodded. "I'll think about it. Do you really think they'll cut me off?"
"They'll expect our strategy to center around you so it'd be the logical thing to do." Draco agreed. "Our advantage is that they'll probably not consider that Mike might lead the attack. That'll throw over their game plan."
"Mike's shots aren't as good as mine." Jack protested. He didn't like being second to anyone at all.
"But they are very hard to predict and if we want our strategy to be to confuse the Lions with unexpected moves that suits us just perfectly. You'd draw their defenders away from the others and Mike would be free to play his tricks with Cathy and Larry to back him up." Draco elaborated.
"They'll figure that out after a while and send the defenders after Mike." Jack warned him.
"Which would leave you free to take over." Mike grinned. "They'll have to make up their minds which one of us is the more dangerous then."
"That means it'll all depend on the runners." Draco concluded. "We can't shout over the whole field who they're supposed to preferably pass to, if it's supposed to be a surprise. They have to judge for themselves."
"You expect the runners to make strategic decisions?" Jack yelped.
"Charlie's good at that." Mike stated calmly. "She's changed Dragon's plans to suit a momentary advantage before. It's not Sammie's forte though and we definitely can't expect our little dance mouse to have that kind of experience."
"We'll make them take their clue from Charlie then." Jack decided suddenly calm again. "Find some hand signs or something to communicate the necessary commands. Something that isn't obvious so only the runners will understand what you mean."
"You'll need signs for people and positions." Mike advised Charlie. "Like 'Pass to Jack.' or 'Stay more to the right.', 'Get further back.', 'Leave the ball to Sammie.'."
"'Leave the ball to Sammie.' wouldn't be necessary." Cathy objected. "One sign for Sammie would be enough. It could mean both 'Pass to Sammie' and 'Leave the ball to Sammie.' according to the situation. One sign for each person and for front, back, left and right should be enough."
"They won't need symbols for the defenders or me either." Draco added. "They'll only pass to each other and the attackers."
"You'll need your own code though." said Mike. "To assign the defenders to the attackers."
"But we don't even know who they are yet! I've only seen three Lions so far and of one of those, I don't even know the name." Draco protested. "We can't make up symbols without knowing who they'll refer to!"
"We already know that Big Babs is an attacker and we'll use Mely to find out the rest." Mike reminded him. "Maybe you could even use the same symbols the runners use with different meanings. That would confuse them even more."
"It'd also get very complicated." Draco objected. "Are you sure we really need that?"
"You'll have to switch defenders between attackers until you find the best way to combine them and it'll be easier if they don't figure out that the gestures refer to specific persons too soon. If they refer to different persons according to who's giving the sign that'll take longer to crack." Mike insisted.
Draco thought about it for a minute. What symbols could he use to name people? What would fit Babs without being too obvious? And then it hit him. Of course!
"Charlie, what symbol are you giving Jack?" he asked into the runner's discussion about the Sammie symbol looking too much like the Larry symbol.
Charlie turned to him with a proud smile, held her left hand in front of her chest, palm facing right fingertips almost touching her chin, then pulled it down.
Draco grinned back at her. "Good then that'll be our Big Babs symbol too."
"Hey!" Jack protested. "Will you stop that! I'm not in love with Big Babs!"
That only made the rest of them giggle even more and Draco calmly informed him "But that wasn't what I was thinking at all. You're our leader and Big Babs is their second. Since Steve plays keeper, she'll be the leader of the attack and that's why she gets the same symbol as our leader." before bursting into giggles once again.
"I thought we'd decided Mike's the leader of our attack?" Jack reminded him.
"Only to confuse them, remember?" Draco grinned back.
"Ah well, alright." Jack conceded. "Lets get back to work then. If you can laugh like that, you can train as well. Charlie, I want you guys to start using your pass to commands, Larry and I will try to practise some real passes and Mike and Cathy work on their shooting. Dragon, ... What about Dragon? Anything we want him to do?"
Draco thought he'd do well not to collapse from exhaustion, but Jack had accepted all his suggestions so he probably ought to at least try to improve as well.
"Well, I think he ought to try kicking the ball back to our little assistants instead of throwing it." Cathy suggested.
"Kick it?" Draco repeated surprised. "Cathy, I can't aim a kick at all. I'd force the kids to run all over the field and that will slow down the ball supply."
"But if you could learn to aim them your kicks could get the ball a lot further behind the Lions' lines than if you throw it." Mike commented. "That'd give our runners a clear advantage since their attackers won't be able to catch up with them and they won't tire so much. At least give it a try. We won't be any worse off, if you can't learn it."
Draco nodded. Okay, he'd try. It didn't seem like anyone cared much if the two little wannabes had a hard time running after the balls anyway.
The training turned out a little less exhausting that way. Having to wait for the return of the balls forced the attackers to shoot at longer intervals and they no longer attacked at the same time either. Jack despite his obvious dislike for holding back restricted himself to passes and Larry's shots still were a lot easier to hold so Draco could concentrate on Mike and Cathy and on trying to kick the balls as far as he could. He also tried to aim for the center of the field and thought that he was getting better. At least he managed to keep the ball inside the field most of the time.
He was almost ready to collapse once again when finally a tall, dark clad figure showed up walking down the path towards them. Draco dropped the ball he had just caught and raced out of his goal without even a glance for the surprised attackers.
"Uncle Severus!" he called out relieved to have him back and threw his arms around his teacher.
Severus hesitated a moment before hugging him back. This was the kind of greeting he expected from Billy, not Draco.
"Where were you? I thought you were going to start testing our potion for poisons this afternoon?" Draco asked once he pulled away.
"Yes, but I can always do that tomorrow, or the day after. I heard a rumour in Knockturn Alley today that I needed to check out for myself. It looks like I'll have to contact Headmaster Dumbledore about this." Severus answered gravely.
"Why? What happened? Did you see death eaters?" Sammie asked excitedly and Draco realised that his friends had followed him. He'd been so focused on Severus that he hadn't even noticed.
"That too, but that's not unusual in Knockturn Alley. It's usually full of them." Severus answered openly to Draco's surprise. "The rumours are saying that Voldemort has found out Harry Potter's address, though and that's rather alarming news."
"But won't his family have all sorts of wards around him?" asked Luke.
"Idiot," hissed Draco. "His aunt and uncle are muggles. They can't protect him at all."
"Headmaster Dumbledore and a few others did surround their house with several very strong protection wards, but Harry himself isn't as well protected and he won't just stay inside the house for the entire holidays. All it would take is a little walk to visit a friend or to buy some milk or bread and they could get him." Severus explained. "If death eaters are watching his house we'll have to get Harry out and hide him elsewhere."
"So you've sent Munin to find Dumbledore?" Draco guessed.
"No, I'll need to send him an albatross this time. I sent Munin to inform the agent who's protecting Harry. If ... that agent confirms possible death eater presence in the area, I will have to alert Albus ... and Potter." Severus added through clenched teeth.
"Of course, protect Potter." Draco growled. "So where are you going to hide him? Here?" He didn't even know why he was so angry about the thought. All he knew was that Harry Potter had no right to come to the Snapes' flat. No way!
"Here?" Severus repeated obviously appalled at the thought. "I'm no hotel. I have no room for a kid. If Potter has to stay in Hogsmeade, Minerva can take him. I know she's in town. I only met her a week ago."
"Okay, that's better." decided Draco. "She won't send him over here to visit, though, will she?"
"She doesn't even know I live here, much less that you're here." Severus answered patiently. "But she does know, that West Hogsmeade is a dangerous place for rich celebrities, so I trust she'd keep Potter away."
"Your colleagues don't even know where you live?" Mike asked incredulously.
"Dumbledore knows and Filch might have heard from his friends in town, maybe Hagrid as well, but I doubt it. I think most of them think I spend my holidays at Hogwarts."
"But McGonagall must know. After all she's at Hogwarts during the holidays to write all those letters." Draco reminded him.
Severus shrugged. "She must know I have a home somewhere else, but she's never asked where. Maybe she thinks I spend the holidays with relatives somewhere. Are you coming up for dinner with me or do you want to sleep outside tonight?"
Draco started. He'd completely forgotten the time! "Oh no, I'm coming. See you all tomorrow!" he called out to his friends.
After dinner he helped Severus fill some of their transformation blocker into test tubes and watched him add different substances to each, then label them carefully.
"There, tomorrow we'll check the results of the alchemical tests and do the checking spells." Severus told him.
Munin didn't show up again this evening, but Severus thought that was a good sign. The agent would most likely have sent the raven back immediately, if there'd been any obvious death eater activity anywhere around Privet Drive.
Munin did arrive during breakfast the next morning carrying a letter and feeling very hungry. Severus immediately opened the letter he carried and didn't react to Munin's loud protests of "Eat! Eat! Fly! Eat!"
When Severus didn't react the raven decided that Draco's breakfast egg would do.
"Hey! Stop that! Get yourself some toast from the breadbasket! That's my breakfast!" Draco tried to shoo him away, but to no avail.
Munin didn't leave his breakfast alone until Severus had finished the letter and fed him. That finally distracted the bird and Draco was left to stare morosely at the egg splattered all over the table.
Sarah wasn't too happy about the situation either. "Did you have to do that?" she asked, it wasn't entirely clear which one of the three. "Now I'll have to wash the tablecloth again! As if there wasn't enough laundry already! This will require another machine full!"
"Wash!" Billy cheered happily.
"I can do that as soon as I get home." Severus offered. "Leave it to me."
"No, no way! You'll get back too late and then it won't dry in time and we won't have a tablecloth tomorrow morning." Sarah scolded.
"So? What's the problem with that?" Draco asked. "We won't have one for lunch or dinner either, so why do we need one for breakfast?"
"In case something like this happens." Severus indicated the egg stains.
"Then what's wrong with it happening now? If that's what the tablecloth is for in the first place ..."
"Oh, just go and get yourself cleaned up!" Sarah interrupted his question.
Get himself cleaned up? Draco looked down at himself and realised that he too had been splattered with egg. Just great! Now he'd have to wash and change once again.
"Just don't eat all the toast before I get back." he warned Severus and Sarah before heading off to the bathroom. And all this on the day he was supposed to meet up with Mike, Jack and Mely! He hoped he wouldn't be too late to hear her report on the Lions.
He didn't remember the message Munin had brought until Severus got up from the breakfast table and got ready to leave.
"Where are you going?" he asked curiously.
"Dover." was the short reply. "And no, I can't take the dog. I'm in too much of a hurry. He'd only slow me down."
"You're going to send that albatross." Draco guessed. There weren't many post offices that kept albatrosses for hire and only Dover had enough of them to guarantee that one would be available at all times. "You sure you can't send one from Hogsmeade?"
"Hogsmeade doesn't have any, Draco. They'd be too conspicuous around here. Only the post offices on the coast are allowed to keep them." Severus explained.
"Are allowed? You mean by the ministry?"
Severus nodded. "You need a special license to keep an albatross further inland. They're seabirds and supposed to stay near the sea."
"Oh, I didn't know that." Draco grabbed the last empty plates and put them in the sink. If he hurried with the washing up, he might still make it on time. "Does that mean you're going to spend the day rescuing Potter?" he didn't like that thought. Stupid Potter taking his Uncle Severus!
"No, M .... Our agent reports nothing suspicious anywhere in Potter's hometown so I doubt he'll need rescuing at all." Severus told him already on the way to the door. "I'm just going to inform Albus of the rumour and wait for his decision. It wouldn't look good to lose the little nuisance this easily."
"Who cares." grumbled Draco at the plate he was just polishing since Severus closed the door behind him right after that.
The plate however had no opinion on the subject and refused to answer. Billy and 'That Dog' had no idea who Potter was and didn't care about death eaters or Voldemort either. Sarah might have had something to say, but didn't speak up either. Maybe she hadn't even heard Draco since she was busy stuffing the tablecloth into the already overflowing laundry basket. Draco had to help her carry it down the stairs to the washing machines because it was so full.
He was almost tempted to stay and watch again, but the meeting with Mely was more important then learning how to use a washing machine. He just worried a little how Sarah was going to drag the full basket back up again afterwards when all the laundry would be wet and she had to bring Billy along as well. Well, obviously she thought she could manage.
He dashed back up the stairs to the ground floor 'That Dog' following at his heels and barking madly. As usual nobody seemed to mind. One of the older Shark wannabes, a girl called Danny, if he remembered correctly was just coming down and nearly dropped her laundry basket when 'That Dog' dove through between her feet. Draco thought for a moment how lucky it was that he hadn't had time to use the lead.
Mike and Jack were waiting impatiently under the same tree they'd used for their strategy meeting yesterday and Jack wouldn't quite believe that it was Munin's fault that Draco was late even though Mike assured him that the raven could be worse than 'That Dog' if he wanted to stir up trouble.
"Where are the others?" Draco asked as much to distract them as out of real interest.
"Waiting in the garden shed until we've spoken with Mely." explained Jack. "If she comes."
"She didn't have to tell the dance mouse that she would." Mike pointed out. "She'll come."
Indeed Mely arrived about ten minutes later and came over hesitantly. It almost looked like she expected to get jumped the moment she crossed the border, but when nothing happened she seemed to take heart and moved a little faster. Still she regarded each bush with distrust and tried to stay as far away from them as possible.
Finally she stood in front of them trembling and looking ready to bolt at any sudden movements.
Mike exchanged a quick look with Jack and when the gang leader made no attempt at talking to the little wannabe spoke himself. "We have noticed that you seem to like Soccer, Mely."
"Yes, yes I do?" she made it sound like a question.
"And you might have heard that we're playing against the Lions next Wednesday." Mike continued.
"A game! A real game? Really!" Mely squealed suddenly excited.
"Yes, a real game with full teams. Eleven players on each side and you'll get a good look at it from that little spy post you have on the Sharks' border, won't you?" Jack suggested unexpectedly.
Mely jumped, but nodded. "Yes, you can see the Soccer field quite well from over there. There's a tree that's pretty easy to climb and is quite comfortable to sit on. If you stay on one of the lower branches the Lions can't even see you."
"So you watch them play quite often, don't you Mely?" Mike took over once again.
"Yes, of course. It's a lot easier to watch there then it is here. Here I can't hide."
"And I'm also sure you'd like to watch a good game." suggested Mike.
"Of course."
"Well, you see, the Lions have us at a slight disadvantage, because we don't have eleven players and had to hire on a few kids from outside the gang and we won't have enough time to train them properly." Mike went on. "So it would really help us prepare them, if we knew more about the way the Lions play. All we know at the moment is that Steve is their keeper and Big Babs one of the attackers. I bet you know a lot more about them though."
Mely thought that over for a moment. "So what do I get, if I tell you? Besides seeing the game, because I can watch that either way."
"You get permission to use our Soccer lawn when we aren't using it ourselves. We'll tell Beth and her bunch to leave you alone." Jack said evenly. "Maybe they'll even let you play, if they need to even out their numbers."
Mely considered again. There were nine Raker wannabes at the moment. An uneven number. They'd need an additional player quite often even though right now they were down to six due to the three players they'd lent to the gang. It had to be a very tempting offer for a girl who had noone to play with and didn't even own a ball. "That permission will remain after the game as well?" she asked Jack trying hard not to sound too eager.
"Yes, that permission remains unless you do anything to abuse that right to help the Sharks gain an advantage over us." Jack told her still very businesslike. "Steal our ball ever again and the deal is off."
"I won't. It was just to prove I could shoot a real ball, anyhow. I didn't know the whole plan, honest!"
Jack shrugged to indicate that it didn't matter either way. "So what do they play like? Same as us or do they have their own style?"
"Oh, nothing like you at all." answered Mely. "Or maybe more like you than like Dragon, but still very differently."
"How differently?" Draco asked her and she jumped again probably having forgotten that he was still here since he hadn't said anything so far.
"They play with a lot of attackers, like you always used to before Dragon came, but they've also got a strong defence which you never used much." Mely reported.
"What about the runners? Do they use runners a lot in their game?" Mike demanded.
"Runners? You mean like Dragon uses Charlie?" Mely asked surprised. "No, not at all. They're a specific Dragon thing as far as I know."
"A specific Dragon thing?" Jack repeated.
"That might be our advantage." Mike pointed out. "The runners keep their attackers out of the defensive game, but Dragon's strategy used our lack of a strong defence there. If they have that the runners will be less effective."
"But they won't expect them at first. It might take them a while to get used to them and figure out how to react." Draco pointed out. "What worries me is that that means they have more attackers than we expected."
"Indeed." confirmed Jack. "What are the numbers Mely? How many attackers and how many defenders have they got?"
"Six attackers and four defenders." Mely replied dutifully.
"Six!" Draco repeated in shock.
"Nick sometimes players defender as well though, so they might play five - five." Mely added as an afterthought.
"We can't possibly use Luke." Draco decided. "Even with three perfect defenders we'd still have to worry about three attackers."
"Then we'll have to draw Nick into the defence." Mike decided. "Our attack simply has to be so strong that we tie up their whole defence. Or maybe the runners can draw their defenders forward into the middle. ... I'll have to think about it. I'm sure we can make some use of Charlie there."
"What does that Nick look like?" Draco asked. "Come on, help me out. I don't know the Lions."
"Nick's the kid who sometimes helps out at the newspaper stand. Tall thirteen year old, long black hair." Mike obliged.
Draco remembered the kid. He looked a lot like the one he'd seen in the market with Steve only taller. "Does he have a little brother? Same dark hair, but a little smaller?"
Mely nodded. "That's Jerry. He's eleven. A defender."
"Jerry?" Jack asked. "Isn't he a little small for a defender?"
"He's fast, but not very good. They'll probably assign him to Cat or Larry." Mely decided.
"Cathy can probably handle him with a few tricks then." Draco decided. "And Larry would walk right over him. They won't assign the smallest defender to him."
"Ah, but Jerry isn't the smallest defender. That's the new kid, Greg." Mely corrected him at once. "I think he's their week spot. He'll probably play as a team with Elena. She's the best defender, I think."
"So they'll most likely set those two on Jack and Jerry on Cathy or Larry." Draco assumed. "If I were them, I'd leave Larry alone and set the last defender on Mike."
"That'd be Pat. She's really fast, but easier to trick than Elena." Mely reported dutifully.
"Good, I can handle that." grinned Mike.
"And if Greg can't handle an opponent on his own, that means they have to use Nick as an additional defender, if they want all attackers covered." Draco continued.
"But he's their best attacker. Nick is the best player they've got." Mely protested.
"If we just keep walking over Greg and Jerry, they can't do anything else." Mike told her. "They have to strengthen their defence somehow."
"What about the other attackers then?" Draco asked. "You say Nick is the best. How does he play? Like Jack, Mike or more like Cathy?"
Mely thought hard about that question. "Most like Mike, but also like Jack a bit. Somewhere between those two."
"Dangerous." conceded Draco, but at least that hinted that he wasn't better than Mike. "What about Babs?"
"Dangerous in the first five to ten minutes. Then she gets tired. She shoots pretty well though." Mely reported.
Draco smiled. That sounded like the perfect opponent for Mary. "Good, who else have they got?"
"Bob and Rob are probably dangerous as well. They're a perfect team. You never know which one will shoot in the end." Mely answered.
"Bob and Rob?" Draco repeated. Odd that their names would sound so alike.
"Brother and sister." Mike explained. "They stick together like twins. Maybe a perfect team, but how well do they work with the others?"
"I don't know." Mely reported dutifully. "They keep to themselves even during the games."
"You've never seen them play on different teams?" Mike asked suddenly very interested.
"No." Mely reported, "Never."
"And the last two?" Draco prompted her once again when she didn't say anything for a while and Mike appeared to be lost in his own thoughts.
"Well, there's Bianca." she hesitated. "Not much to say about her. I guess she tries, but doesn't really like soccer. Her brother Nino's much better, but I haven't seen him for a while. When he shows up he's usually the second keeper, so I don't know how his shooting is at the moment."
"I thought Nino had left the gang completely?" Jack asked alarmed. "I didn't count on him showing up at all."
"They've also got a new member, Frank the Wolf, who's probably meant to replace Nino. He's got talent I think, but isn't really ready to play with the big guys yet." Mely shrugged. "I wouldn't use him in a real game yet, so I thought they'd bring Nino anyway."
"Nino has a job at the barber's." Mike commented on the way to the garden shed after Mely had left. "He might not be available for the game at all."
"Or he could have that day off and we'd be in big trouble." said Jack. "I'd much prefer Frank, but we'd better be prepared for Nino."
"Do you think he might be better than Nick?" Draco asked worried. Nick sounded like bad news to him and if Nino was even worse ...
"He's bigger, but without much training he'll probably be too slow to get many shots in." Mike decided. "He might be a target for Mary."
"Maybe, but she'd also be perfect for Big Babs." Draco told him. "I'd like to keep her out of the picture. If she's really such a good shot she might get dangerous if we leave her alone, but if she meets with opposition it'll tire her and take her out of the game."
"You could use Matt for that." Jack suggested. "He's a really exhausting opponent."
"But also our best defender." Draco objected. "I'll need him to cover Nick, as long as he's in the attack and once Nick starts defending, I'm thinking of setting Matt on either Bob or Rob."
"You think they're more dangerous than Babs?" Jack asked doubtfully.
"Mely seemed to think so." Draco reminded him.
"And it seems blocking one of them would also seriously handicap the other." Mike added. "Those two seem to depend on each other too much. That'd take care of two opponents at once. We can't afford to ignore a week spot like that."
"That'll leave Beth to play against Nino, if he comes." Jack reminded them. "If Dragon plays we won't have to use Luke and she'll be the smallest defender. Nino would be the biggest player on the field."
"She did fine against both Mike and Larry yesterday." Draco stated calmly. "I doubt Nino will be much scarier than Larry and he can't be trickier than Mike, if Mely thinks Nick is their best attacker. There's also a chance that Nino will underestimate her and give her a chance to take the ball off him."
"Should we count on Nick to be drawn back into the defence this much though?" Jack warned.
"They've got four defenders, we've got four attackers. If we prove to them that as least one of their defenders isn't good enough to stop us, they'll have to get another and weaken their attack." Mike reasoned. "The only risk with that tactic is that they might not use Nick as that additional defender at all. If they draw back Bianca instead, that might give us some trouble, though I suspect that we could outfox Bianca by offering her Charlie as a decoy attacker. Charlie's good enough to make a believable attempt at their goal even if she'd probably have no chance to actually score. If she keeps pretending Bianca would likely go after her and the Lions would be in the same situation as before. If they draw back Rob, Bob or Babs, they'll free one of our defenders to assist Matt."
"But we're leaving two attackers unguarded even if it works." Jack reminded him.
"I think, I can handle any shot from Bianca from the way she sounds in Mely's description and we're counting on the unguarded sibling to be too confused over having to play alone to be much trouble. It seems they're counting on the keeper being unsure which of them to watch out for as their most effective method of attack. If I know which one will shoot, I can probably hold their shots as well." Draco decided.
"You can probably hold them anyway." Mike grinned. "We just want to make sure."
"I'm not that good. Steve's got a lot more experience than I do." Draco protested.
"So does Mary and you beat her easily." Jack reminded him. "You're probably the one thing they'll expect even less than our runners."
"Have you played against the Lions before now, or haven't you." Draco finally asked. Jack seemed to know nothing about the Lions' players, but then he seemed to expect the Lions to know everything about the Rakers."
"Four years ago. I remember Steve and Nino quite clearly and I think Babs was already playing for them, probably Nick as well, but if they were, they were only just beginning and didn't have much say in the game. The team must have changed quite a bit since then."
"And who of us was playing that time?" Draco asked thinking hard. What consequences would it have, if the Lions knew some of their players?
"Mike couldn't play because he'd hurt his leg, but Mary and Larry were with us. Cathy was there and I think Charlie might have been." Jack answered.
"Yes, Charlie had to play in my place." Mike confirmed. "We lost of course. Charlie never was an attacker and she had about three days training."
"Mary was keeper and you and Larry both played in the attack?" Draco asked Jack.
"Yes, Rex and I led the attack. Larry just sort of ran along and looked dangerous back then." Jack confirmed. "His aim was even worse back then than it is now."
"Rex? Who's Rex?" Draco asked confused.
"Our old leader." explained Mike. "He, Jack and Mary were all that stopped us from being a complete walkover in that game."
"So they'd expect us to use Mary and Jack in the same functions again." Draco concluded. "Mary as a defender will come as a surprise and we want them to think Jack is leading the attack, so that's good. I wish we could put Larry into the defence to confuse them even more."
"Why can't we?" Jack asked. "Exchange him for Matt or Mary and it'll work fine."
"Matt's not good in the attack at all. I think he just doesn't believe he can score so he doesn't really try. And he's our best defender. I'd miss him terribly." Draco explained. "Mary has never played attack at all and she isn't too good at running. She'd be exhausted too soon. Then there's the problem that Larry always forgets his position in the heat of the moment when we make him a defender."
"We could use Sammie as an attacker, but then we'd be short a runner and they're our main advantage." Mike added.
"They'll probably expect Larry to have improved a lot since then." Draco suggested. "After all their own players obviously did."
They entered the shed and the first thing Draco saw was Mary and Larry kissing in one corner. How cute!
Unfortunately Jack didn't share this opinion. "Oh, cut that out!" he barked at them. "This is a strategy meeting not a romantic picnic."
The pair blushed and jumped apart. Maybe they'd been so busy they hadn't even noticed them come in? In the background the three little wannabes were looking around a little nervously, but also seemed to be very excited. Hadn't they ever been in the garden shed before?
"We now have a first idea of how the Lions will attack." Jack announced proudly. "Beth, you'll tell your kids to leave Mely alone. She has my permission to enter our territory and use the soccer field as long as she doesn't attack anyone."
"But she'll get in our way!" Beth protested. "What if we want to use the field too?"
"Let her play with you?" Draco asked innocently.
"What?!" thee shocked little wannabes turned to face him.
"I'm sure you have use for another player." Mike elaborated. "And she's never had a chance to play with a team before. You don't have to make it a habit, just invite her to play when she gets in the way."
Beth grumbled a little but didn't protest anymore. Maybe she was thinking about ways to prove to Mely that she couldn't keep up with the Raker wannabes anyway.
"Okay, Dragon, Charlie! We need you to work out those signs now." Jack ordered. "Mike, I need your suggestions for today's training.
"Signs? What signs?" asked Matt when Draco stepped over to him, Charlie and Sammie.
"We'll explain in a moment." Draco promised. "Mary, Beth, Susie, Luke! Over here!"
Most of the morning was spent on working out the sign code and training strategy, but at least Draco went back up for lunch with the feeling that they now knew what they were going to do, both during the training and in the game. It was a very reassuring feeling. Now if only Uncle Severus didn't force him to move to Gringolf Glizzard's place this Sunday the plan might actually work.
In the next chapter: Draco takes Billy to the park, Mely watches Nino and the team continues their training.
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