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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 and so do all of Gringolf's songs. Thanks for letting me borrow them!
Disclaimer 6: My friend Edmund owns himself though I had to change his last name.
Disclaimer 7: Old Joe belongs to Zebee.
A/N - Here's the long awaited big Soccer game. Want to know who won? Well, read and find out.
Chapter 29: The Big Game
Draco was terribly nervous during breakfast and kept fidgeting about until Sarah finally got so unnerved she asked him what was wrong.
"Uh nothing." Draco said then changed his mind. "It's just that I don't think the Lions even take us seriously. Are they really that much better than us?"
"Don't take you seriously?" Sarah asked surprised. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"They didn't even train yesterday. They all just hung out around town with their friends." Draco told her miserably. "They think they've already beaten us."
To his surprise Sarah laughed. "Oh no, Draco, they don't think that. They don't think that at all. I even think that they're taking you very seriously indeed."
"They are?" Draco asked incredulously.
"Yes, it's a Lions' tradition not to train on the day before a difficult game." she explained. "That way their players will be well rested and ready when it counts."
"Are you sure of that?"
"Of course I am. I was a Lion once, Draco. I know my old gang." she smiled at him encouragingly.
"You were a Lion?" Draco asked alarmed. Then what side would she be on today?
"Yes, but that was a long time ago. I hardly even know today's gang members."
"But then why do you want Billy to grow up a Raker?" Draco asked. "I thought kids joined their parents' old gang."
"The Lions aren't and never were an option for Billy." Sarah told him calmly. "When I moved out of their territory I knew that my kids could never be Lions. We live on the border between the Rakers and the Sharks and Billy wouldn't be safe if he didn't join one of those two gangs. All in all the Rakers are the better bunch in my opinion so I'd prefer my son to be a Raker. The Sharks have completely forgotten who they are. Ratting their own kind out to the aurors, attacking babies. I don't want Billy to grow up to be a criminal."
"Some of the Rakers steal though." Draco admitted very softly.
"They all do when they get the chance." shrugged Sarah. "That doesn't mean that they have to grow up to be thieves, but the way the Sharks used the aurors against you was absolutely amoral. That's something you don't do."
"The aurors," Severus cut in. "Are the enemy. They have been for generations. The people of Merlin Park cope with them by sticking together and helping each other out. What gang you belonged to has never counted under those circumstances at all. If you were in trouble with the aurors, the neighbours would stick up for you. The Sharks crossed the line when they abandoned that tradition. They proved untrustworthy. If they'll betray other Merlin Park kids to the aurors, they will also betray each other. Even their own families can't be sure if they're safe anymore."
Draco felt a little better about their chances in the game after that talk and managed to at least seem calm when he met up with the rest of the team at the garden shed.
"You all realise that we have to win this game." Jack told them glaring threateningly at the two little wannabes still on the team. Luke once again hadn't bothered to show up.
'That's right.' thought Draco. 'No pressure at all. We just have to win.' Not losing spectacularly would have been fine enough with him, but obviously Jack had set his goals a little higher than that. His speech however was more intimidating than motivating and Draco could only hope that Susie and Sammie would relax again once they started to play.
The little wanabes joined them on the way to the Lions' Soccer field and Draco was glad to see Luke among them. He didn't look as cheery and excited as the rest of the kids, but at least he was there in case any of their players got hurt during the game.
Mely had come as well and to celebrate the big occasion had discarded her red t-shirt and was instead wearing a blue bandanna and a blue towel tied squarely across her chest.
"Didn't have a blue t-shirt." she explained with a shrug. "And I have to show who I support somehow."
Mely wasn't the only outsider who'd come to watch the game as it turned out when they arrived. The Sharks were having a sort of picnic under Mely's favourite tree and waved a green banner at them tauntingly when they caught sight of them. Mely stuck out her tongue at her gang as a response which caused a little uproar under the tree, but none of the Sharks dared to cross the Lions' border.
The Black Ring on the other hand had claimed two park benches right beside the field where they had an excellent view. They seemed to be there by invitation for none of the Lions reacted to their presence at all. They hadn't brought along any symbols of support either, Draco noticed, so they'd probably only come to watch what all the commotion was about.
Little wannabes of all four gangs were running around everywhere obviously very excited. Only Toby didn't look happy about the game at all. He was sitting on the lowest branch of a tree a little out of the way and glaring accusingly at Mely who didn't seem to notice him at all and was happily chatting with little Linda who seemed to be getting really talkative. Maybe she'd been missing another girl to talk to all this time? Beth probably intimidated her and Susie didn't seem to care much for her company either. The age difference was probably a little too big between them.
The adults must have dragged all the benches in the park to the Soccer field, Draco thought. Or maybe they'd just levitated or summoned them? He could imagine Uncle Severus just waving his wand to arrange the little groups of benches that were set up around the field. The two of them closest to the path had been taken over by old witches and wizards who couldn't walk that well anymore while a much rowdier group of unemployed had settled down on the other end. The young mothers with their baby buggies eyed that group suspiciously from time to time, but Draco doubted there'd be any attacks on the babies. The unemployed were just bored and maybe had had a few too many beers, if the empty cans that surrounded them were any indication. None of them were looking as drunk as Lucius had been when he'd killed Draco's mother, though.
'Guess you need to drink a whole lot of beers to get that drunk.' Draco thought. 'And they probably don't have the money to afford that.'
Severus, Sarah and Billy had found excellent places with a mixed group of mothers and elderly people. There were a lot of very small kids milling around them and Sarah had let Billy out of the buggy so he could get to know them.
Several little wannabes and people from other groups came over to Severus and Sarah's group and at first Draco didn't understand why. Only after some of them had wandered off again he could see the little stand a witch had set up there. It didn't look exactly like a market stand, but close enough that Draco wondered what she might be selling.
The witch looked up once she was done with her last customer and smiled when she saw them.
"Ah, there are our players!" she waved at them happily. "Come here kids, have some free lemonade before the game. You'll get thirsty running around in all this heat."
Lemonade? Now that sounded like an excellent idea. The Rakers and Lions didn't need to be told twice. They rushed over to the stand and each grabbed a paper cup of cool lemonade from the friendly witch.
She smiled at them all while they thanked her then suddenly asked: "Say children, did you think of getting a referee for your match?"
"Referee?" Jack and Steve gaped at her. No, they obviously hadn't thought about that.
"Such a big event needs someone to ensure that everything remains within the rules, don't you think?" the lemonade witch prompted.
"Yes," Jack agreed. "It probably does, but we forgot to arrange for one."
"I'll do it!" piped up Mely. "I know all the rules."
"No, no way!" protested Steve at once. "No little Raker brat's gonna referee our game."
"How about Mark the Shark or Angel Anna." suggested News Nick. "They're not part of either gang. Lets ask them."
"What?" yelled Mary. "Mark the Shark? Over my dead body! And Anna doesn't even know what a Soccer ball looks like!"
"Oh, children, children, calm down." the lemonade witch intervened just in time before the argument got physical. "I don't think any of those are what you really need. Such a big game needs someone who has a little more authority than just another kid, someone who is respected by both sides. I think you ought to ask one of the adults."
Steve and Jack glared at each other then reluctantly nodded.
"Okay," said Steve. "But who? It has to be someone who knows what he's doing."
The lemonade witch smiled at them once again and then turned to Snape. "Severus, you're a teacher. You're used to handling teenagers. Why don't you help the kids out?"
The Rakers cheered, but the Lions immediately protested. The lemonade witch turned towards them looking surprised.
"No," declared Steve. "He'll favour the Rakers. His boy's on their team." and he glared at Draco as if it were his fault.
"Then let me do it." said the old wizard who'd been sitting beside Severus. "I've got grandchildren on both teams, after all. Do you agree with that, boys?"
Everybody fell silent all of a sudden. It was as if the minister himself had spoken, thought Draco.
Then a few little whispers started up again. "Yes, yes, let Old Joe be the referee. He's wise and fair."
Old Joe still looked expectantly at the gang leaders.
"Yes, yes, of course." Jack agreed as humbly as Draco had ever heard him.
Old Joe looked to Steve.
"Yes, that's fine." said Steve with a little more dignity.
"All right then. Give me just a little moment to get ready." smiled Old Joe and pointed his wand right between his eyes. "Occuli aquilae. There now I can see everything as if I had binoculars, but don't have to limit my field of vision with the glasses. So don't even try to cheat. I see everything."
The Rakers and Lions just stared at him for a moment. Even Draco had never heard of that spell before. He looked towards Severus for help.
"A standard far seeing spell often used by aurors and hunters." Severus supplied calmly. "A lot of people claim that it makes them dizzy though. That's why it's rarely used for other purposes, I guess."
"Will we learn that at Hogwarts?" Draco asked excitedly. "It could be very useful."
Severus shrugged. "You'll have to ask Professor Flitwick about that. It certainly doesn't belong into Potions class."
"Let's start the game. Take your positions, everybody. Severus, please watch the kids for me, will you." and without even waiting for an answer he dumped the little baby girl that had been siting in his lap into Severus' arms. "Be good, Nora. Grandpa has to go play with the big kids for a bit. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Draco watched with bated breath how Severus would react to a baby suddenly getting dumped into his lap, but Severus just put an arm around little Nora and watched the players run out onto the field. He didn't seem to mind at all. Maybe he considered Nora a good potential friend for Billy? She did look about the right age.
Draco decided not to worry about Severus that much. After all he had a job to do right now. The Rakers seemed to have been assigned the right side of the field for the first half of the game and he ran over to inspect his goal. It was rather exciting to get to defend a real Soccer goal for once. The net was torn in two places, but it still looked much cooler than the two stones that marked his usual 'goal'.
He was so fascinated that he hardly noticed the way the Lions stared at him and Mary. They obviously hadn't expected the Rakers' change of keeper.
Jack and Mike however noticed the confused looks and shared a secret smile. So far their strategy was working out perfectly.
The defenders were already positioned close to the goal and Draco quickly waved them over to go over their assignments once again. "Mary, you'll take Babs, just like we planned on."
Mary nodded gleefully. "And just like I wanted to. I'll show her she isn't that great. You can rely on me."
"That's good Mary." Draco confirmed looking through the ranks of the Lions. No sign of Nino anywhere and over there was little Frank the Wolf fidgeting excitedly next to News Nick. "They're not playing Nino after all. That means you can take over Nick, Matt and Beth you pick either Rob or Bob. Let the other shoot, but don't let them pass to each other. Each of you, concentrate on your opponents and leave those left over to me and remember not to follow them out of our half under any circumstances. If your opponent starts acting as a defender, take over either Rob or Bob, whichever is still free."
Charlie was having a similar conversation with the runners, probably telling them once more not to get too close to either goal and to look inconspicuous.
The attackers however weren't doing much at all. They stood near the center line just staring over at the Lions who had taken similar positions. Both sides seemed to be waiting for their leaders to return from their talk with referee Old Joe.
Finally they returned and once Steve had reached his goal a shower of sparks from Old Joe's wand signaled the start of the game. Excited exclamations of the spectators documented Nick's first run for the goal, but Matt met him before he'd even gotten half way there. Nick tried to trick and pass him, but Matt recognised the manoeuvre as one of Mike's favourites and managed to kick the ball over towards Charlie.
The Lions' attack stopped disoriented. They'd lost track of the ball and what the hell had just happened?
"Behind you!" Steve yelled out to them. "Charlie's got it!"
This caused even more confusion as none of the attackers seemed to know where Charlie was. They'd only been paying attention to those players who'd remained in front of them when they'd started their attack and written all the others off as attackers. Charlie and her runners had taken the first opportunity to position themselves behind the Lions' attack line then followed them.
By the time the attackers finally turned to look the runners were already back at their positions looking innocent once again and Mike had the ball. The Lions' defence had reacted immediately however. Jack had been cut off from the rest of his team from the moment the game had started. Elena and Greg never left his side, but that was what they'd been expecting and Jack was keeping them busy with sudden changes of position and feints. Maybe he could tire them out and lose them in a sprint.
Pat had run out to meet Mike's attack and when the attackers turned they saw those two seemingly locked in a standstill. Then Mike suddenly turned around as if he were going back towards their own side. Pat stopped in confusion and with another quick turn Mike went around her. He could go straight for the goal now, but that would attract the defenders attention to him and might draw them off Jack and towards him which they didn't want this early in the game. Larry was facing Jerry leaving Cathy Cat free to do whatever she liked. Of course they'd underestimate the girl. They should have expected that. Mike passed the ball to Cathy who shot immediately.
Steve had come forward towards Mike expecting him to shoot and managed to change direction only just in time to catch Cathy's ball. Much too close for the Lions' taste. Less than a minute into the game Steve requested a time out.
Old Joe halted the game with another shower of sparks and Steve ran out to meet up with his attackers. "Nick! What the hell happened? You were supposed to take the game into their half!"
"I ... I don't know." stuttered Nick. "Didn't you say the Rakers had no defence to speak of? Matt just took me completely by surprise."
"They didn't four years ago." Steve growled. "I thought I'd explained to you that they might have improved after the defeat they took against us back then. They saw that their lack of good defenders gave us an advantage back then, so it's only logical that they worked on that weakness."
"I don't think I can trick him, Steve!" Nick sounded slightly panicky.
"Then try to outrun them and pass the ball." Steve decided. "Make use of Babs before she gets too tired then bring Rob and Bob into the game. And don't forget Bianca and Frank either. They weren't covering all of you completely when you came in on them. They expected you to take the lead. If we can confuse them about who's going to attack we've got them wide open. And you back there!" he yelled out to the defenders. "Get somebody to cover Cathy! That shot was much too easy for my taste."
The game resumed once again and this time Nick left it to Bianca to start the attack. Beth started to go after her to get the ball. It looked like she was an easy target, but Draco thought it might be a trap.
"Beth!" he called out and showed her the Rob and Bob symbol. To his relief she nodded and turned towards Bob instead.
Bianca came up unhindered and passed the ball to Babs who managed to lose Mary in a sudden burst of speed and shot. Too slow. Draco grinned. He'd seen that one coming and caught it easily.
The disappointment on Babs' face was obvious. This had most likely been the best chance she'd get in this game. If Draco could catch this shot so easily, she probably couldn't get the ball past him at all. And if she couldn't do it, Bianca and Frank stood no chance. A hopeful look towards Nick revealed that he was still blocked by Matt. That made Rob and Bob the Lions' best chance now.
In the meantime Charlie was on the move once again. Already behind the attackers she'd taken off fast and took the risk of darting through between Jack with his two defenders and Mike who was now closely trailed by Pat and passed the ball to Larry.
Steve caught Larry's shot easily enough, but the move pointed out to him that he had an uncovered attacker right in front of him and Larry and Cathy never retreated far from the Lions' goal. They were definitely too close for Steve's taste, but he couldn't afford to leave Jack whom he suspected to be the most dangerous player on the Rakers' team free and Mike had already proven that he could be dangerous as well.
He had two options if he wanted all four attackers covered. Either take Nick out of the attack which meant he had to rely completely on Rob and Bob to score once Babs burned herself out and she was already slowing down a little or use his least reliable player.
"Greg, cover Larry!" he shouted out hoping he was doing the right thing. Seeing how Larry towered over Greg he immediately regretted the move.
Draco watched the change with slight disappointment. That wasn't what they'd wanted to achieve. They'd hoped that Steve would not trust Greg to work on his own and assign Pat to Larry and Nick to Mike leaving Matt free to take over Rob.
This time Rob and Bob were on the attack. Beth proved to slow them down, but couldn't stop them completely. Draco got ready. Beth was staying between him and Bob perfectly even if she couldn't stop her from passing which meant that Bob had almost no chance to shoot. It would have to be Rob, if they wanted to score.
Still it was Bob with the ball darting left and right attempting to move past Beth. What if she was going to shoot after all? Draco was getting a little nervous. He was just about to shift his position for a shot from Bob when she finally passed to Rob, who shot immediately. One second later and Draco most likely wouldn't have caught the ball.
He took a few moments just to breathe after that one. It had been a hard shot and he'd caught it against his chest. Yes, the 'twins' certainly stood a chance to get through. Without Beth this could easily have been the Lions' first goal.
"Damn," he heard Rob say to Bob. "I thought he was supposed to be the weak point of their team. He might be even better than Steve."
Draco grinned. 'You bet I am.'
In the meantime Charlie and Sammie were approaching the Lions' goal as a team this time. Charlie passed to Sammie, raced past Jack and Elena, got the ball back and passed it on to Cathy when she saw that Pat was coming up to meet her. Pat stopped in front of her in confusion for a moment and Charlie shrugged at her with a wide smile.
Jerry tried to get at the ball, but Cathy was faster. Steve moved to the right side of his goal ready to jump.
But he'd missed Mike coming up on the left. With Pat off chasing after Charlie he was finally free to do whatever he liked and Cathy was fully aware of that. She pretended to shoot at the goal, but at the very last moment sent the ball flying off to the side instead. Mike's shot came much too fast for the surprised Lions.
Another shower of sparks and Old Joe's magically amplified voice announced: "First goal for the Rakers. 1:0 and fifteen minutes left to play in the first half."
Draco almost couldn't hear him over the sound of the little wannabes' cheering. Mely was waiving some blue piece of cloth as their flag and Cedric and Linda were jumping up and down like Susie the Dance Mouse when she was extremely excited. Even Angel Anna and her gang were applauding politely and Draco wondered if they meant it in tribute to Mike's skills, Cathy's trick or Charlie's cleverness not to pass to Mike immediately. In Draco's opinion they'd all three earned the applause and maybe even Sammie deserved some as well. Of course his part hadn't been spectacular, but if it hadn't been for him, Elena might have stopped Charlie too soon.
Another attempt by Rob and Bob followed, but Beth had learned from the last experience and took the ball off Bob before they ever reached the goal. Rob raced over to help his sister win it back, but Beth saw him coming and shot it off only roughly in Charlie's direction. Both Pat and Elena started to run for it, but Steve ordered them back to keep the attackers covered. Both Jack and Mike on the loose in front of his goal was the last thing he needed. Better to leave the ball to the Rakers for now.
Charlie and Sammie repeated the last manoeuvre, but this time Pat stayed with Mike. No problem for Charlie. She picked Larry this time. Poor little Greg tried to get between Larry and the goal and only got knocked over for his trouble when he ran smack into Larry as he shot. The shot went far past the goal and Greg climbed back to his feet immediately assuring everybody that he was fine, but Steve took another time out and called his whole team together.
Things weren't looking good for the Lions at the moment. The Raker's attacks were too unpredictable and none of them seemed to be able to get past their new keeper.
"It was the size difference." Steve told Greg in an attempt to keep up moral. "You're just not big enough to stop Larry."
He glanced over at the Rakers trying to find an attacker who was about the same size as Greg. There was Susie, but she hadn't done anything in this game at all so far. He wasn't even sure she was an attacker. The next in size was Sammie, but he seemed to be almost as harmless as Susie and he needed those four who were staying in front of his goal constantly covered. If he set Greg on Susie or Sammie, he'd have to use Nick and from what he'd seen of the Rakers' defenders so far he doubted Matt would follow Nick, if he retreated into the Lions' half of the field permanently. Steve had a feeling Matt would attach himself to Rob instead who was the only one who actually stood a chance against Draco at the moment.
"Switch places with Jerry." he ordered Greg in the end. "Cat's a bit smaller and she's a girl."
"She's still pretty big." Jerry commented remembering how easily she'd gotten past him with that pass to Mike that had prepared the game's only goal so far.
"We need to cover the Dancer." Pat insisted.
"Yes," confirmed Elena. "She seems to be the only common factor in all their attacks. Charlie starts them off, then seems to pick another attacker at random who'll shoot. If we can stop her early on, they'll never even get the chance to shoot."
"We can't risk having a free attacker right in front of our goal." Steve snarled. "And with the Rakers in the lead we can't afford to hold Nick back."
"The Rakers are risking it, though." observed Big Babs. "They haven't even made an attempt at stopping Bianca or Frank and they seem to be using Bob to slow down Rob. Leaving three attackers for their keeper to handle."
"Yes, they have much better defenders than four years ago, but still only three of them." Steve tried to analyse the Rakers' game. "But that's probably deliberate to strengthen their attack. They know Frank and Bianca aren't a threat to their keeper and they don't have any defenders left to stop Rob, so they've decided to risk that."
"It's strange that they're not at least trying to use Susie or Sammie against him." Babs commented. "Even if they can't stop him, they could at least annoy him. Okay, Sammie seems to be some sort of assistant attacker, but what is Susie's function?"
"Being number eleven?" Steve suggested. "The Ripper wasn't happy when I insisted on full teams. He's got only nine players and found one useful stand in in Beth, but most likely couldn't come up with another on such short notice."
"I don't know." insisted Babs. "He didn't seem that desperate to me. I've got a feeling she's just waiting for us to make a cerain move. She has some kind of trick we don't know about."
"Ah, nonsense." Steve snorted and finally obeyed Old Joe's repeated reminders that they had to return to the game.
Only minutes later the Rakers were attacking again however. Steve once again moved to the right expecting Cathy to shoot. With Greg as her opponent she stood the best chances to get through. Always assuming that Charlie wasn't intending to shoot herself this time. Steve kept an eye on her as long as she had the ball, just in case.
But Charlie didn't shoot nor did she pass to Cathy. She picked Mike instead. Pat did her best, but a sudden sidewards move brought Mike past her and the ball went in.
"Second goal for the Rakers. 2:0." Old Joe announced.
"Damn it! Rob, do something!" Steve yelled desperately, but the first half was almost over.
Still Rob and Bob tried once more giving everything they had. Beth fought them all the way, but this time she couldn't get at the ball no matter what she tried. The two Lions' combinations really were great, Draco thought. Beth managed to force them into some awkward moves though and only metres from the goal it seemed like she had Bob cornered.
Bob hesitated probably considering to shoot herself since there was no way she could pass the ball back to her brother. She eyed Draco for a moment. He was ready for her. Yes, she could shoot, but it was very unlikely that she'd get past Draco from this unfortunate position. She tried to get past Beth again, but Beth had seen those tricks from Mike and didn't fall for them.
Time was running out for the Lions. There was probably just a minute or so left until the break. Bob had to do something.
In a surprise move Bob shot the ball almost straight up and over Beth's head. Draco quickly turned towards Rob, but then relaxed. The high shot had gotten the ball out of Beth's reach, but it would also sail over Rob's head as well. There was no way Rob could reach it with his foot.
To Draco's surprise Rob jumped anyway. The ball collided with his forehead and bounced off into the goal. 'What the?'
"First goal for the Lions. 2:1." Old Joe stated and sent them into the break.
"But he hit the ball with his head!" Draco protested. "I thought he was only allowed to use his feet."
"No, Dragon." sighed Mary. "He isn't allowed to use his hands, but the head's just fine. It's just too difficult to aim that way. That's why none of our attackers do it."
Even though they were still in the lead Draco felt miserable as he trudged back to the lemonade stand with his friends. He could have stopped that ball, if only he hadn't written off Rob too soon.
"Okay," said Jack once they'd retreated out of the Lions' hearing distance with their drinks. "We're in the lead and our strategy is working perfectly. It seems I can't shake Elena, but Mike and Cathy are doing fine. We should win this one, if Dragon keeps the goal clean from now on."
"I didn't even know he was allowed to shoot with his head." Draco protested the hint. "It looked like he couldn't get to the ball to me."
"It doesn't matter." Mike reminded him. "We're winning and every move they can make now will only weaken them. They'll keep playing as they have and so will we."
Meanwhile Steve had assembled his team a little ways away from the field where there usually was a nice bench to sit on, but it appeared to have been dragged or summoned away to provide seats for people watching the game. So they were simply sitting on the ground.
"We need to change our strategy." he frowned. "Even with our special surprise we can't be sure we'll win this one. Their attack is much stronger than we expected even without Jack."
"It centeres around Charlie, though." declared Pat. "If we take her out, they're in trouble. Let me take the Dancer, Steve. I know I can do it."
Steve glared at her for a moment, but she was right. Charlie did seem to be playing a mayor part in the Rakers' attack even though she'd never even tried to score. "Very well, take Charlie, Pat." he decided. "We can't leave Mike unwatched though. He's scored twice now while the other two only managed to get close."
"I can stop him." Elena offered. "He's tricked Pat a few times, but I'm not as easy to shake."
"That would mean leaving Jack unwatched." Steve shook his head. "We can't do that."
"Neither Greg nor Jerry stands a chance against him." Elena insisted. "They're both too inexperienced. It has to be me."
"No," repeated Steve more forcefully. "Nick can do it. We can't use him in the attack anyway, since he can't get past Matt and it won't matter much, if Matt goes after Rob now." he grinned. "They've somehow figured out that Nick was our main attacker, but they won't expect this. It'll confuse them and give us a few chances to score before they adapt to the new situation."
"Their keeper is damn good though." Rob remarked. "What if he won't be confused?"
"You got past him once. You can do it again and remember that you'll have help." Steve smiled. "It'll be easy."
"I can't repeat that shot too often, Steve. It's pretty hard to aim that way and once they expect it, they can simply force us into less advantageous positions. A little further back or to the side and I won't manage." Rob insisted.
"They don't know that." Steve said calmly. "And it won't be all that important. Now why don't you go get yourselves some lemonade while I try to catch Old Joe before he restarts the game."
Bright colourful sparks called the players and spectators back to the field a little while later.
"2:1 with the Rakers in the lead as we switch sides for the second half." Old Joe announced. "And the Lions are exchanging a player. Ninja Nino now playing for Frank the Wolf."
The Rakers stopped on the way back onto the field and searched the Lions' half, but the players hadn't come out yet. They could see something green shimmer through the bushes that definitely wasn't grass or leaves, but Nino was nowhere in sight.
Draco had to fight down a moment of panic, then caught himself. No problem, they'd planned for that eventuality. "Matt." he called softly and when the boy looked over to him gave him the Frank the Wolf symbol. Of course it meant Nino right now. "Beth."
"I know." said Beth and almost managed to keep the nervous trembling out of her voice as she made the Nick sign.
She wasn't sure if she could stop Nick as well as Matt had done, but she knew she had to try.
"No problem." Jack decided after a moment of hesitation. "We've been holding Mike back anyway. From now on he'll be the only one allowed to go for the goal. That ought to get us a few more goals to compensate for anything Nino might achieve."
"And if they decide to block off Mike by concentrating their defence on him, they'll have to give either Cathy or Jack more room." Charlie continued the thought. "I'll show you when it's time to change attackers."
Confidence restored they took their positions and only moments later the Lions arrived as well and the game started once again.
Charlie soon had the ball, but suddenly Pat was in her way. Charlie tried to go around her, but Pat was faster and took the ball immediately passing it to Bianca, who started the attack.
Babs made a dash for it, but Mary blocked her off. Big Babs might be rested for now, but her reserves weren't what they'd been at the start of the first half. She wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. Mary only had to keep her distracted until then.
Matt trailed Nino who was running only slightly in front of his sister obviously not trusting her to manage a long pass. Steve felt a little touch of disappointment at that sight. He'd hoped that it would take the Rakers some time to realise that they needed to stick a defender on Nino. It seemed that had been more obvious than he'd expected.
Rob and Bob on the other hand found themselves unexpectedly free of defenders and ran up on the other side of the field from Bianca and Nino. Of course if Bianca couldn't manage a long pass that wouldn't bring the Lions anything at all.
Beth was left far back waiting for Nick to cross the center line and looking a little confused. Nick was staying beside Mike and didn't even seem to be watching the attack at all.
Draco took in the Lions' movements and smiled. He could see what Nick was up to, though Pat still sticking to Charlie worried him a little. It seemed the Lions had figured out the runners, but that also meant that Nick was needed in their defence.
"Beth!" he yelled out to the confused girl gesturing that she should take over Rob instead of Nick. She might know Bob better by now, but that unexpected goal had convinced Draco that Rob was the more dangerous of the pair.
Beth nodded happily at the command and took off after the siblings. She probably wouldn't reach them until they slowed down after this attack, but that didn't matter much. Bianca would pass to Nino. That much was obvious by now. Draco got ready for his shot.
Somehow Nino managed to get between Bianca and Matt for a moment and Bianca passed. Matt was between Nino and the goal in a heartbeat, but it was no use. Nino dove past him with ease and shot.
Draco threw himself to the side and felt the ball graze the tips of his fingers, but that wasn't enough, of course.
"Second goal for the Lions. 2:2."
Draco tried out some of the more creative curses he'd heard from his friends under his breath, because he wasn't sure how referees were supposed to react to that kind of thing, but it didn't help much. The Rakers now needed another goal.
He threw the ball out to Charlie once again, but again Pat took it after a short fight. Luckily Nino and Bianca were out of her reach and she tried to pass to Babs, who lost the ball to Mary, who tried to send it back to Charlie and soon Pat had it back again. Charlie had cleverly changed her position though so that Pat who'd had to follow her was now over on Rob and Bob's side of the field with Nino completely out of reach.
While Pat was still looking around for people to pass the ball to, Charlie took off. Maybe Pat would attach herself to Sammie, if Charlie wasn't anywhere near.
Pat noticed Charlie's attempt to break free and sent the ball off towards Bob with a quick kick, then dashed off after her.
Beth prevented Bob from passing to Rob and after a short moment of hesitation Bob took off on her own. Draco was ready for her however and caught that ball easily. A quick glance towards Charlie proved that Pat had already caught up with her again and they were now zigzagging about in the Lions' half of the field. Not good, not good at all. Charlie was obviously cornered as well as Jack.
Draco could only throw the ball out to Sammie which turned out to be a good move since the Lions hadn't expected it at all. Sammie took the ball to Mike, who managed to shoot past Nick, but Steve caught the shot.
"Bianca!" Steve yelled out as soon as the ball had left his hand again. "Cover Sammie!"
Draco almost cursed out loud this time. Sammie stood a chance against Bianca of course. His speed let him shake her for short periods of time, but this development certainly complicated matters.
Seconds later Nino attacked again, but this time Matt proved a little more effective against him and Draco caught the badly aimed ball.
It didn't help much though. Sammie managed to shake Bianca, but in his attempt to get it past Nick to Mike passed too closely by Jack and lost it to Elena. Matt caught it before it reached Nino again, but this time Sammie wasn't free and Bianca passed it to Bob once again.
Jack was getting nervous and tried to shake Elena with manoeuvres similar to Charlie's, but it didn't help. In a particularly desperate move Charlie even darted through between Jack and Elena almost succeeding in causing a collision between the two Lions, but they managed to stop just in time and all the two Rakers gained was a little distance from their hunters.
Nino kept coming at Draco and the goal and even though Matt was getting better at getting in his way Draco barely managed to prevent another goal. He knew he couldn't go on like this forever. Sooner or later Nino would succeed and now it seemed like they couldn't get the ball into the Lions' half at all anymore and the time was running out.
Once again Draco caught the ball and looked around for someone to throw it to. If only they could shoot one more goal, if only there was a way to get past Pat and Bianca.
And then he saw it. It was so obvious. Now if only he knew the right symbol! Suddenly he remembered Larry. He'd been totally confused about that symbol the day before, because it was just the same as one of Draco's own.
"Charlie!" Draco yelled out to his friend who'd finally given up trying to shake Pat due to complete exhaustion. He lifted the ball over his head with his right hand and balled his left to a fist and wriggled it in front of his chest like a mouse. "For you!" and he threw the ball in Charlie's direction.
Pat quickly moved in front of Charlie again. How foolish of Draco to announce his move like that. Charlie most likely was too exhausted to get the ball through anymore anyway. If Draco told everyone what he was up to, she really stood no chance. Pat grinned. Situation completely under control. Her grin widened even more when she saw that the ball was slightly too high and Charlie appeared to be too tired to even go after it.
It soared past them and landed exactly where Draco had meant for it to go.
"Run Susie, run!" Draco called out and the little wannabes cheered as loud as they had for Mike's two goals.
And Susie ran. With an angry shout Pat took off after her. The fastest of the Lions chasing the smallest on the Rakers' team. The ball was slowing Susie down, but she had a head start and she knew that she was their last chance to score. Having seen what Elena and Nick could do, she didn't dare pass to either Jack or Mike and she knew that she couldn't risk their last chance on Larry's poor shooting. So she took Cathy as her goal, concentrating only on reaching her. She didn't see that Mike had ducked around Nick as she raced past him. Pat's panting now right behind her never registered in her brain. All she saw was Cathy. Susie never knew how close she was to losing the ball to Pat the moment she passed it to Cathy.
Steve saw the pass, saw Mike coming up right beside Susie, and it looked exactly like the situation that had led to the first goal. Cathy would pass to Mike and Mike would shoot too fast for Steve to change his position. His only chance was to keep focused on Mike and ignore the feint towards Cathy.
And Cathy shot. Without ever stopping the ball she just kicked out to give it more speed and a little change of direction.
"Third goal for the Rakers. 3:2. Rakers in the lead with only ten minutes left to play."
Steve stood gaping at the ball for a moment trying to accept what had just happened. He'd been so sure that Susie was only there to fill up the Rakers' numbers. Even after he'd realised the Rakers' strange strategy with three different groups of players he hadn't made the connection. And he'd made another big mistake by writing Cathy Cat off as the weakest attacker, just because she was a girl and had handed her best chance to score over to Mike. She'd just been out to trick him! All through the game the Rakers had relied on tricks and unexpected moves instead of the straightforward attack strategy they'd always been known for.
Steve slowly picked up the ball and turned to stare at Jack. No, no this wasn't and never had been Jack's way. He knew Jack. They were after all in the same year and had almost all their classes together. Jack could never have come up with any of this. This smelled of Clever Mike's style or maybe, just maybe ... That new keeper of theirs was supposed to be a Slytherin as was Severus Snape. And weren't Slytherins supposed to be the sleazy ones? Snape most certainly was one of the best tricksters Steve knew of.
"Nick, get back into the attack! We need a goal and we need it now." he ordered almost before he knew himself what he was going to do about it. "Elena, cover Mike. Jerry, Jack. Greg, stop that little wannabe, no matter what." he got even angrier when he realised he wasn't even sure what her name was. Susie? Sally? Something like that. "Babs, you cover Cathy!"
"What?" gasped Babs. She'd never played as a defender before.
"You can't get past their keeper anyway, so try and be useful over here. I need help and a goal."
Mary stared blankly at Draco for a moment. Her opponent was running off to play in the defence? What was she supposed to do now?
Draco needed only a moment to rearrange his strategy though. With two quick gestures he reassigned Mary to Rob and Bob and Beth to Nick. Neither were optimal solutions, but he couldn't take Matt away from Nino. None of the the others stood a chance against him, if even Matt was having trouble. He'd just have to concentrate and catch all balls comming his way for the next ten minutes.
For those ten minutes the Lions were constantly on the attack. They kept the runners cornered and prevented any attacks by the Rakers, but Draco's defenders were giving their best as well. Bob was obviously scared of Mary and Mary knew how to use that to her advantage. Rob was left to play on his own. Nick found it rather difficult to get past Beth after she kicked his shin hard while Old Joe wasn't looking and even though Nino still found ways to shoot past Matt, he never got a good enough position to make a really clean shot.
Draco could barely believe it when there suddenly was a big shower of sparks and old Joe announced. "Game over. The Rakers win 3:2 over the Lions. Congratulations Rakers, that was a great game."
Even though he had no idea where he took the energy to walk back over to the Snapes from Draco had never felt this good before in his life. They'd won. They'd really won despite the Lions' having twelve members on their team, despite their real Soccer field, despite Nick and Nino. They'd won thanks to Mike and Cathy and Charlie and Susie and maybe just a little bit thanks to Draco who'd kept Nino from scoring a second goal even though it had been close more than once.
Sarah hugged him enthusiastically. "You did great, boy!"
Draco blushed, but it did feel good to be hugged like that, warm and safe and wanted.
Severus never comfortable with public shows of affection simply smiled proudly and handed him another cup of lemonade which right now was much more welcome than any Quiddich or House Cup ever could be. He was exhausted enough to drop right into bed and sleep away the rest of the day, but it was almost time for lunch even though it would be a cold one, because neither Sarah nor Severus had wanted to leave the game and cook, and then he'd have to wash the dishes and attend the big victory party in the garden shed. And somehow Draco didn't want to miss any of that for the world.
A/N: So do you think the Rakers deserved to win? Or would you have preferred to see the Lions victorious? And what will happen to the little wannabes now? Please R/R!
In the next chapter: Draco needs money, the Sharks take revenge and Sevi tries to find out Edmond's address.
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