Disclaimer 1: Draco, his parents and teachers all belong to JKR. (As if you didn't all know that.)
Disclaimer 2: Severus Snape owning a raven belongs to J.L. Matthews. (Go read her story everybody. It's great.) I found a new name for him this time though.
Disclaimer 3: The gang name Sharks is borrowed from the musical West Side Story of course. I don't remember where I found the name Rakers, but I know I read it somewhere.
Disclaimer 4: The idea for Snape having a family comes from Al's fic Time of Trial. (Thanks Al. I always seem to get the best ideas when reading your fics.)
A/N - For all those of you who liked Harry Potter Hogwarts Caretaker: Tubesox has written a slightly different version of that story, which I enjoyed reading very much. Go check it out! The title's Breaking the Heart of Darkness.
Chapter 6: Of Swimming Trunks and Being Nice
Draco didn't find time to ask Snape about the trial until breakfast the next morning. Somehow he hadn't even thought about it while Mike was still there and after his new friend had left he'd been too eager to catch up on his Math exercises.
Severus had handed the book back to him with a sigh. Sometimes that boy really worried him. Well, at least he'd had some fun with Mike and the Rakers. That had been quite a surprise for Severus. He'd never have expected the local gang kids to accept Lucius Malfoys pampered son. But then again if he thought about his recent discoveries about the Malfoys family life, Draco probably never really had been pampered. He wondered how much of Draco's story Mike had learned from his father. And how much had he told the other Rakers?
"So, did you get to tell them your story yesterday?" Draco asked trying to push Munin away from his plate which the raven was eyeing hungrily.
"No, but the butler finally did. They'll get around to it today. I'll take you to your uncle on Sunday. I bet he's already worried about you." Severus added when he saw Draco's unhappy face. "You'll like it there, Draco. I'm sure of that."
"I just wish I knew at least what he looks like. It doesn't feel like going to live with a relative at all. He's a total stranger to me." sighed Draco.
Munin realising that Draco was momentarily distracted quickly dove in and grabbed a slice of toast off his plate.
"Hey!" Draco jelled angrily and grabbed for the retreating raven.
Munin however hopped away easily. He grinned at Draco. Of course ravens can't grin with their beaks, but the way he was holding his head and blinking at him was definitely a grin. Angrily Draco tried to catch him again. No chance. Munin just hopped about on the table evading him easily. Draco was getting more and more desperate.
"Munin, let go!" Snape ordered calmly sounding almost bored.
The raven immediately opened his beak and the toast fell onto the tablecloth.
"Couldn't you at least have taken a piece that wasn't already buttered?" Sarah scowled at the bird. "There are enough in the breadbasket. We might even have let you have one of those."
"That's not what he wanted." Severus commented dryly.
"Right, he's just trying to be a pest again." complained Sarah shooing Munin away from her plate just in time.
Disappointed the raven turned towards Severus' breakfast. He hopped in from the side hoping that Severus hadn't seen him yet. Severus gently pushed him back with his arm. Hopping over the arm Munin tried again.
"Oh, drop dead." Severus scowled.
And to Darco's horror the raven dropped flat onto his back feet stretched into the air above him.
"Munin!"
The raven didn't move. His eyes were closed one wing had dropped away from his body. Snape continued to eat as if nothing had happened.
"Munin! Come on Munin, please move!" Draco called again near tears.
Snape looked up from his plate at the frightened boy. He snapped his fingers.
"Here, Munin!" he called softly.
The raven's eyes flew open. He turned over onto his feet and hopped onto Snape's arm in one quick movement. Snape gently stroked the ruffled black feathers flattening them back into form.
"What happened?" Draco gasped completely confused.
"Oh, that's just another of his little tricks. Just like opening doors." Snape explained casually. "When I tell him to play dead he won't move for anything until I call him."
"Really? Wow, I've got to teach that to my owl!" decided Draco.
"You can't. Owls don't do that kind of tricks. Some owls can be trained to sit still in a certain spot until they're called, but you can't teach them to drop flat on their backs or to obey a command only when it's given by a certain person."
"So why does Munin do it then?"
"Munin is a raven. Ravens can learn almost anything. They just love doing tricks and they're a lot cleverer than owls to start with."
"Then why does everybody use owls? If ravens are so much cleverer shouldn't more people have them?" Draco asked intrigued.
"Owls are easier to keep and train. In fact they are usually bought already trained. It's just buy and use. Ravens are a lot more work. If you really want to be able to rely on a raven you have to raise and train him yourself. And you've got to know what you're doing when you raise a raven. They can develop some very annoying habits."
"Like eating off your plate." commented Draco.
"They tend to steal more valuable things than food. It's their curiosity. They're attracted to things that glitter so they just grab them and fly off to take a closer look elsewhere and once they're done with them they just drop them."
"Does Munin do that?" Draco eyed the bird suspiciously even though he didn't have anything valuable with him that he might steal.
"No, he knows not to carry anything off without permission. But he is curious and sometimes grabs stuff to examine it. He'll always give it back though."
"Are you taking him along to the trial again?"
"Oh yes, that way I have at least one intelligent person to talk to when all those lawyers start acting up again."
Draco regarded Munin. He still looked like an ordinary big black bird.
"He doesn't really answer you, does he? I mean, I know he can talk, but he doesn't understand what he's saying, does he?"
"Yes, he does." Snape smiled proudly. "He doesn't usually repeat words he doesn't understand."
"But... ?"
"He doesn't understand most of what we say, but he does know and mean what he says."
"Oh, really? Then what does he mean when he tells me 'Fly!'? I already told him I don't have wings. If he's so clever he ought to know that humans don't usually fly."
"It means 'Lets go!' or 'Come on!'. Or maybe 'I fly. You walk.'."
Munin who had been listening closely to their conversation suddenly flapped onto Snape's shoulder.
"Fly!" he cawed.
"So what does he mean now?" Draco challenged.
"He means: If we're going to the trial again, we'd better go now or we'll be late.' And he's right as usual." Severus explained getting up. "Now, have a nice day. Don't spend all your time studying and don't go walking through the park alone. Wait for Mike to take you."
Draco nodded obediently and started clearing off the table wondering if Mike would really come over again. Sarah took off the stained tablecloth as soon as he was done and stuffed it into the laundry basket.
"If things keep going on like this, I'm going to have to wash the laundry tomorrow." she grumbled.
"Oh great! Can I come along and see the washing machines again?"
"Maybe. Just hurry up with the dishes. Mike will probably be here any moment now and you're not leaving until you're done." Sarah declared sternly.
Draco almost burst out laughing. By now he knew that she didn't mean it, but he did want to have the dishes done before Mike arrived, if he really did. It was a little bit of work that he could do for Sarah to make up for the lot of additional work his presence meant for her. The Snapes didn't have to be so nice to him after all.
Mike indeed showed up only a few minutes later accompanied to Draco's surprise by Cathy Cat. Bloody Mary however was nowhere in sight and she wasn't waiting for them on the stairs either. Neither Mike nor Cathy seemed to be worried about that fact in the slightest however. So Draco decided not to ask. Maybe Mary never did come out on Thursday mornings.
This time they didn't meet in the old shed Draco noted with interest. They walked directly to the soccer lawn instead and Mike once again tried to teach Draco how to guide a ball with his feet. Draco tried his best, but his shots kept going far off target. At least they did go in roughly the right direction by now though.
Jack arrived last except for Mary who didn't arrive at all. He sneered at Draco's efforts and wondered loudly why Mike was even bothering to teach Draco at all.
Draco glared at him, but remembering Mike's advise to try and be nicer to Jack didn't respond. Jack glared back and against what he'd said the day before didn't chose Draco for his team. Instead he chose all the good players and put Sammie in charge of the other team.
Draco remembered that Sammie had been the only one on their new team who'd come close to scoring a goal in his first game, but he clearly didn't have any leadership qualities at all. It was obvious that he didn't know what to do with the team and the others simply ignored him most of the time. Draco however was getting more and more used to his position as keeper and managed to keep Jack's team from scoring. Almost at the end of the game it seemed like there wouldn't be any goals at all today.
Then Cathy made another go for Draco's goal and Draco once again caught the ball easily and threw it over to Charlie who looked like she'd been getting bored, because being the worst player in the gang she never managed to get at the ball. Draco thought it couldn't do any harm to include her in the game that was practically over anyway.
On the other side Larry started yelling at Cathy for not scoring again. Cathy cursed back at Larry and he raced out of his goal still shouting insults at her.
Charlie took off with the ball going in the direction of Larry's goal. 'Well, at least she's trying.' thought Draco. 'Nice effort, Charlie, even if you don't have a chance to score.'
Cathy turned and ran back towards Larry eyes gleaming with rage. Jack turned towards the pair as well. Whatever Larry had said must have really hurt Cathy, but Draco had been too far away to understand what he was really yelling.
Charlie unexpectedly passed the ball to Sammie at the same time Cathy slapped Larry hard across the face. Jack stepped between the two saying something to Larry and pointing back to the goal. Larry turned. Sammie shot...
And the ball went in.
Jack was furious. He yelled at both Larry and Cathy and when Mike tried to calm him down he nearly punched him in the face. Larry again shouted at Cathy and Mike had to restrain Cathy physically to prevent her from going after either Larry or Jack. It wasn't entirely clear which one she was more angry with at the moment.
Only a few paces away from Jack's raging team Charlie and Matt were hugging Sammie delighted and surprised at their victory. They hadn't even expected to manage a draw against that team. Much less to win.
Draco ran over to his team to congratulate Sammie as well. Of course he'd only scored because Larry had been stupid enough to leave his goal unprotected, but Charlie would probably have missed it anyway, if she'd shot herself. Any other player would have gone for the goal and the glory, but Charlie had passed the ball knowing that Sammie had a better chance of getting it in.
"Well done, Charlie!" the words were out of his mouth before Draco had realised he was intending to say something at all. "We couldn't have won without you."
"Without me? But Sammie scored the winning goal."
"Because you passed him the ball at precisely the right moment. Don't get me wrong. Sammie did really well, but I don't think that was the most difficult score he's ever made. Larry wasn't even there. You're the one who made a last run at the goal, when we all thought we'd already lost and you're the one who passed the ball to the right player for the score. You managed to sneak the ball past the other team without them noticing."
"Yes, that's right. I wouldn't have made another go at the goal, if Dragon had passed the ball to me. You at least deserve credit for seeing and using the last chance to score." confirmed Matt.
Draco was beginning to suspect that Matt liked Charlie. Somehow those two stuck together a lot.
Sammie too admitted that there hadn't been much difficulty in his shot. Mostly their victory was due to Little Larry being unable to control his temper, but that didn't stop them from gloating. None of them had ever had a decisive part in winning a game before and it just felt good to be able to rub it in.
Jack left for lunch in an even worse mood than he'd arrived in announcing that he had better things to do than to hang out with them this afternoon.
"Hey, lets go swimming today then!" suggested Matt at that.
"But I don't have my swimming trunks." Draco protested.
"No problem." said Mike still looking a little glum. "I've got an extra pair you can borrow."
"Thanks. ... I'm sorry about gloating all that much about our victory." Draco said while they were climbing back up the stairs.
Mike was trying hard not to look too down and Cathy was still fuming. He hadn't meant to hurt either of them like that.
"It's okay." said Mike softly. "It isn't really loosing that's upset me. It's the way our team couldn't take it. Larry and Jack were behaving like total idiots about it. That's what's really getting to me."
"Serves them right, too." ground out Cathy. "They aren't only sore losers. Jack was practically cheating. He took all the best players for himself just to force you to lose. He wasn't even giving you a fair chance. It serves him right that his plan backfired. And now he runs off to sulk. What did I ever see in that guy? I can't believe I thought I was in love with him."
"You're not saying you're breaking up with him?!" Mike nearly shouted.
"Yes, I am. I don't want a guy who turns into a complete idiot, just because he doesn't like Dragon. He's a bit too old for that. I can understand such behaviour from the children I baby sit. They're supposed to be immature. That's why they need a babysitter after all. But my boyfriend ought to be a little more mature. I mean. Jack's 17 and he's behaving like a five year old. Honest, even Sammie can take a defeat with more grace than Jack and he's only 12!" she walked off still muttering angrily to herself.
"Wow, Cathy Cat sure can get angry." Draco stated still feeling slightly confused.
"Yeah, well, have you ever met an angry cat? She doesn't have her name for nothing, you know." grinned Mike having obviously forgotten his own anger. "What really counts though is that she's available. And everybody's gonna know she was the one who broke up with Jack."
"Oh, think you've got a chance with her now?"
"Probably not. I would, if Larry was my only competition. He's not exactly the most intelligent or good looking kid around, but I bet Matt's gonna try for her as well and he's a lot better looking than me. Then again she might not want to date a squib, but there's always the chance that she'll fall for a Shark. The twins aren't bad looking either, Mark himself isn't all that fond of Robin anymore and then there's Pretty Ricky. He's quite the girl magnet as well."
"Pretty Ricky?" now that was one odd name. Even more ridiculous than Jack the Ripper.
"He didn't really chose that name, you know, but he's such a narcissist. The only boy I ever met who carries a mirror and a comb with him all the time. That's the one thing girls don't like about him. He's so much in love with himself, that he can't really love anybody else. Still he'd be quite a trophy for Cathy. He's practically Marks second in command too."
"Guess he wasn't there when I met them in the basement. I can't remember him at least."
"No, he wouldn't have been. He lives in another house. Number 14, I think. I saw only the ones from our house there that day, Mark, the twins and Robin. He tends to avoid fights though. It might damage his looks if he got beaten up, you know. He doesn't like to risk that."
"But he's the best looking so Cathy would want him anyway?"
"Yeah, too bad you're not staying."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because she'd most likely go for you. You're good looking, but not such a sissy as Ricky and you beat Mark. And you're a nice guy, too. That'd really give you points with her after the way Jack just lost her."
"A nice guy? I'm a Slytherin, Mike. We're known for a lot of things, but definitely not for being nice. I'm particularly famous for my insults and sarcasm."
"You're still a nice guy. Just look at the way you treated Charlie. Everybody else always tries to keep the ball as far as possible away from her, because she always loses it, but you not only gave her the ball, you even credited her with part of the victory."
"She deserved that. It may have been Larry who handed us the chance and Sammie who actually shot the ball, but she's the one who kept trying and saw the chance. We only got so close to the goal, because none of you really noticed what she was doing and then she actually gave up her chance at scoring in favour of Sammie, because he was more likely to succeed. I only gave her the credit she deserved for her efforts for the team."
"See, I told you you're a nice guy. You could have claimed the victory for yourself, you know."
"I? What did I do? I wasn't even close to your goal."
"No, you just kept us from scoring. We had a lot of better chances and the better players, but you didn't let us get a single shot through. If it hadn't been for you, you'd have lost despite that one goal."
"I could only have achieved a draw at best. It was still Charlie and Sammie who won the game."
"You should have led that team. You're almost as clever as I am."
"I'm what? Oh, shut up!" Draco swiped at Mike playfully with one hand and Mike quickly dove away pulling a key out of his pocket and darting towards a door only two doors over from the Snapes'.
"You're still a nice guy, Dragon!" he shouted just before he closed the door behind him. "See you after lunch!"
Sarah was quite surprised to see the way Draco was grinning from ear to ear when she opened the door.
"I suppose you won that game?" she asked him pretending to be indifferent.
"Yes, we did and now Cathy's going to dump Jack and Mike even said I'd have chances with her, if I wasn't leaving on Sunday."
"Oh, you expect me to believe that Cathy's leaving Jack just because you won a Soccer match? Draco, she's not that kind of girl."
"She's not leaving him because we won. She's leaving him, because he's a sore loser and he yelled at her and blamed her for Larry's mistake. She says he's too immature for her and she wants somebody nicer."
"And you're nicer?" Sarah asked dubiously.
"Well, Mike claims that I'm nice. Just because I said we owe it all to Charlie." complained Draco.
"Well then, be so nice and hand me the salt and I'll need some milk and..."
Draco sighed softly to himself. Cooking again. At least cooking with Sarah was a lot easier than cooking with Professor Snape. Draco was beginning to develop something akin to respect for house elves.
Mike arrived even before Draco was done with the dishes this time. He was barefoot wearing only his swimming trunks and had a towel slung over his shoulders.
"Here," he said pressing another pair of trunks into Draco's hand. "hurry up and put these on. The others are already waiting downstairs."
"But I have to finish washing the dishes first!" protested Draco. "I can't just drop everything and run off."
"I'll finish the dishes." declared Mike as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it was. Draco suddenly remembered Sarah telling him that if Billy were only a little older it'd be his job. Mike had probably been washing dishes as long as he could remember.
Draco regarded the swimming trunks. They were the same blue as the Rakers' caps, but instead of the whole name of the gang there was only a white R stitched onto them on the right front side. He wondered if he was really allowed to wear these. They were obviously part of the Raker uniform and he wasn't a Raker even though he played with them. Jack would probably throw a fit if he saw him wear these. But then again. Jack wasn't coming with them anyway and Mike and the others probably didn't own any others he could borrow.
He changed quickly then helped Mike dry off the last of the dishes. As they left he considered putting on his shoes for a moment. He wasn't used to running around barefoot outside, but then again Mike must have had a reason not to bring his shoes and he couldn't wear them into the water anyway.
"Wait a minute!" Sarah called after them when they were almost through the door. "You're not going swimming without a towel. What are you going to sit on? And don't you dare come home dripping wet either. I don't need you getting the floor all wet and dirty."
"Sorry." shouted Draco racing back and grabbing the large towel she handed him. He didn't mind her scolding anymore, but he knew he'd better obey her without questioning. She'd been kind enough to take him in. He didn't need to give her any additional trouble.
They raced down the stairs the hard steps nice and cool under their bare feet. Draco had a nasty suspicion that they were probably very dirty as well though. He wondered how Sarah would react if he left dirty footprints on the floor when he came back in.
The others were indeed all already waiting for them including Mary who looked even more intimidating in her blue bikini. Draco wondered for a moment what she might look like in a muggle dress. Womanly clothes definitely weren't for half ogres.
Cathy Cat on the other hand looked adorable. She could afford to show lots of skin in Draco's opinion. The Raker blue went well with her eyes as well and the way she smiled and winked at him...
Cathy was definitely... er ... well adorable for lack of a better word. Draco thought she was definitely something more than that, but he just didn't know what to call it.
Charlie would have looked a lot more interesting like this as well, if she hadn't been standing so close to Cathy. She was just as well shaped as her friend, but Cathy's beautiful black curls and shining blue eyes outshone her easily. Still Draco made a point of greeting her warmly. She'd won that game for their team and he wanted her to know that he appreciated that.
Little Larry seemed to have forgotten the morning's defeat. He laughed and chatted with the others as they walked through the park in the direction of the river.
Draco felt slightly uneasy about that. They weren't going to swim in the river, were they? It wasn't really wild, but the current was still rather strong and Draco didn't think it was safe to swim in. He didn't like the idea of being carried off into the sea and he hadn't even brought his wand.
The pavement was uncomfortably hot under his feet and every once in a while he stepped on a small stone. The others didn't seem bothered by this at all. They were clearly used to running around barefoot and Draco tried his best not to limp too obviously whenever it happened again, but he began to secretly wish he hadn't gone with them. He could have stayed at home and learned some Math or played with Billy.
After what seemed like an eternity to Draco, but was probably just a few minutes they arrived at a small pond surrounded by a bit of green. There were lots of kids already there splashing and shouting. Most of them were younger then they though and quickly moved over to make room for them. Draco saw no Shark bandanas anywhere, which he supposed was good. Then again none of the Rakers were wearing their caps either. Draco doubted he'd recognise the Sharks without their bandanas. Well, maybe Mark and possibly Robin as well, but he had never even seen most of them at all.
The grass was dried out and spiky from the heat and stung Draco's feet, but it was a lot better than stepping on stones had been. The others just dropped their towels under a tree and ran out into the water. Draco followed their example and found that the bottom of the pond was covered with even more and bigger stones, but the water was nice and cool and the stones stopped being a problem once he was far enough in to swim.
He noticed the others all turning in the same direction and followed them again. They were headed for a large tree trunk that was for some reason drifting in the pond. Matt reached it first and climbed onto it, but Cathy was right behind him and when she grabbed for one of the branches and pulled herself up the whole trunk turned in the water and Matt fell off with a startled squeak. Now Cathy was almost up, but Charlie grabbed her ankle and pulled her back in. Cathy retaliated by dunking Charlie under the water. Then Draco had reached the tree and saw no more of the girl's activities as Larry greeted him with a huge splash of water in the face. Draco blinked the water out of his eyes and went after Larry who dived away and disappeared.
Unable to find Larry again Draco instead dunked Sammie who dived away and held on to Draco's arm trying to pull him down with him, but had to let go when he collided with Mary under the water. Draco left those two to fight it out and made a grab for the tree. The soaked wood proved rather hard to climb. Draco constantly slipped off and the whole tree kept moving away and turning whenever somebody caught a hold of it. Add to that several splashing kids who constantly try to pull or push you back in and it becomes quite a laborious task.
It took a while until they were all safely on the tree. Larry finally pulled Sammie up and there they sat floating through the water on a wet tree and panting. Draco would never have thought that this could be so much fun. Actually he had never imagined that anything could be this much fun before. He listened to the other's conversation and laughter with half an ear while watching the reflections of the sun dance about the water dangling his feet in and wondering idly what the fish might think of his toes intruding into their realm. They were most likely used to it, though.
Cathy sat right behind him leaning against one of the branches one foot on the trunk so close that, if Draco would have leaned back only slightly they'd have touched, the other hanging into the water and occasionally splashing Draco with a quick kick.
Mike had watched them for a bit sitting on Draco's other side, but then had turned over to joke with Matt and Sammie who were constantly climbing about and threatening to throw each other or maybe even the whole gang off with their escapades. Mary and Larry were slitting at the broad end of the tree leaning against each other and obviously enjoying the company.
Charlie was sprawled on her stomach over the tree arms and legs dangling and looked almost asleep.
Yes, this was the life. It couldn't possibly get any better than this.
The peace and relaxation ended when they finally were rested enough to get bored and jumped back into the water. Splashing and laughing and dunking each other they made their way back and to shore where they laid out their towels and sat in the sun watching the other bathers. There was a group of kids accompanied by two toddlers not much bigger than Billy splashing around in the shallow water.
The babies were wearing strange red objects on their little arms. They looked like the poor little ones shouldn't be able to move their arms at all with these things on them, but obviously they weren't quite as hard as they looked. Draco wondered what those things might be. He was also feeling a little worried. Those two didn't look old enough to know how to swim. Wasn't it dangerous to take them this close to deep water?
There were some older children wearing those strange plastic things as well. At least they didn't look all that big on them.
"What are those red things?" he finally asked Mike.
"Red things? What red things?" Mike seemed confused.
"You mean the water wings?" Cathy asked from behind them. "Those little plastic wings on the kids' arms?"
Draco nodded. "What are they for? They look pretty uncomfortable to me. Especially for those babies. They're much to large."
"No they're not. They're meant to protect their lives." laughed Cathy. "They're actually little plastic bags filled with air. So when the child gets into deep water they float and therefore keep the head up. That way even a baby that can't swim can paddle through the water without being in danger of drowning."
"Oh, that's good. But what happens if they rip?"
"They're pretty strong, but you have to check them every once in a while." Mike answered this time.
"They still look rather uncomfortable to me. Why don't they use those plastic hoops instead. I had one of those when I was little and it was really comfortable."
"Maybe so, but it's also dangerous. The child has to hold on to the hoop if they let go they can still drown. The water wings hold on to the child. They have to be pulled off to get rid of them and when they're fully blown that's rather difficult for a baby to accomplish. They get really tight."
Draco went back to watching the babies play. He hoped that the wings weren't tight enough to hurt them, but they seemed perfectly happy waddling around by the water together. One picked up something from the ground and went to show it to one of the older kids probably his sister Draco supposed. She didn't look too thrilled with the object however and mostly ignored the little boy. Draco felt sorry for him.
"Dragon? Hey, Dragon!" Cathy called.
"Huh? Oh sorry. I was lost in my thoughts."
"You really like children, don't you?" she smiled at him. Draco felt himself blush.
"I was just thinking about how nice this would be for Billy. There's so much to see here for a baby."
"We wouldn't be able to swim out to the tree if we had to drag a baby along, you know." commented Matt scowling slightly. "It would have been too far for him water wings or not."
"It'd still be nice to have him here. He's so cute when he goes exploring."
"Pah, cute!" scoffed Matt. "Stupid baby."
"Never mind Matt." said Cathy gently. "He's just jealous of his little sister, because she gets all the attention right now."
"Stupid baby!" Matt repeated, this time with more vehemence. "Everybody's always going on about how cute she is and how she's got to be magical and everything. They're already talking about what kind of wand she'll have and what she's gonna be when she grows up. Little nuisance. All she ever does is cry."
"Oh come on. You can't really not like your little sister. I'd love to have one." said Draco. "Babies are so adorable."
"Adorable? They're nothing but trouble." insisted Matt. "And she isn't even really my sister." he went on. "She has a different father."
"I thought you liked your step father?" inquired Sammie sounding confused.
"I did. As long as he liked me. But now it's all 'Lora this, Lora that.' They don't even know I exist anymore."
"I sometimes thought my mother didn't know I existed either." said Draco suddenly. "And now she died for me."
"She died for you? Really?" Sammie asked excitedly. "How?"
Draco rolled onto his back and stared up at the single small cloud visible in the sky. "I really don't want to talk about that."
There was silence for a long moment. Draco wondered what his companions were thinking.
"I like my step dad." Mary finally said. "Even if he's human and hardly ever talks to me. He brings home some extra money and he doesn't make the whole house shake when he walks. It's easier for Mum now, too."
"But don't you sometimes wish you could know more about your ogre relatives?" Cathy asked her a wishful tone in her voice that Draco couldn't interpret.
"Yeah, sometimes, but it's good to have a father who actually works."
"Didn't your real father work?" asked Draco.
"Oh, of course he did whenever he could, but few people would hire an ogre. Most of the time he was just sitting at home getting drunk."
"I still wish I had a father." sighed Cathy.
"You don't have a father? How that?" asked Draco. "You've got to have one. Otherwise you wouldn't be here at all."
"Oh, sure I have one. I just don't know anything about him. I never met him, you know." Cathy sat up and crouched on her towel chin on her knees, arms slung around them.
"Didn't your Mum ever tell you about him?" asked Sammie. "Dad's always telling me stories about Mum."
"No, she doesn't like to talk about him. All I know is that he was Irish and that I look a lot like him. That and that people always stare at me when I tell them my last name and that I'm Scottish. Most of them never say anything about it though. I guess they think I'm adopted. I hate not having a dad. I'd much rather have a step dad than none at all."
"Having a dad isn't all that great either. I'm glad that mine's gone now." said Charlie ripping at the grass beside her towel. "I just hope he doesn't come back when he gets out. Either that or that they arrest him right again. He always got so horrible when he drank. He'd start yelling at us and then he'd just grab one of us and start hitting her until he finally passed out."
"Yeah, my Dad got drunk again yesterday and then Bobby dropped a plate during dinner. It didn't even break, but Dad hit him anyway." commented Larry.
"I'm glad my sister moved out. Now Dad at least can't get to her when he comes back from Azkaban." said Charlie with a sad smile. "I wish I was old enough to move away too. Or maybe I just wish he never gets out."
"So your Dad's in Azkaban for attacking you and your sister?" Draco asked surprised.
Those kids really weren't all that different from him, even though they didn't seem the slightest bit afraid to talk about these things. He suddenly wondered how many kids at Hogwarts were hiding similar stories. Could it be that they all were, he thought for a moment. That all those perfect families that people so often talked about were just facades hiding some sinister truth. Then he thought of the Snapes. No, those perfect families did exist. The question was just how many of them there really were. Most likely they were a lot rarer than everybody thought.
"No, of course not! He's in Azkaban for stealing. You don't go to Azkaban for drinking and hitting your children or wife." stated Charlie obviously convinced of her facts.
"My father will." said Draco.
They stared at him.
"Well I guess he'll actually go there for accidentally killing my mother when he hit her, but in the end it's the same thing. Professor Snape said there's no way he's not going to Azkaban even despite all those lawyers he has."
"Didn't you say she died for you?" Cathy asked softly.
"Yeah, she got between us when he was going to hit me. She tried to protect me and he killed her for it."
"I thought your family was rich?" Larry said sounding totally confused.
"Yes, so what? That's why he can afford all those lawyers, but that's just buying him time."
"But I thought rich people don't hit their wives."
"Well, whoever said that was probably some rich guy who didn't want to admit that he did it." sneered Draco.
"Does your Dad drink too then?" asked Sammie.
"Yeah, but he's not my Dad. He prefers to be called Father."
"Your Dad won't even let you call him Dad?!" they stared again.
"So what. It's just a word. It doesn't really make a difference what I call him."
"I don't know." said Charlie. "Father sounds kind of cold. So loveless."
Draco shrugged. Had his father ever loved him? He didn't think so. He'd pretended to, yes. But had he actually ever felt something for him? Draco doubted it.
Jack's unexpected arrival ended that conversation before they could get any more depressed about their lives. He dropped his towel beside Cathy and flopped down on it.
"So what's up?"
Cathy quietly got up and demonstratively pulled her towel into the small space between Mike's and Draco's. They both scooted over to make room for her.
"Cathy?" asked Jack bewildered. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. We're just having a nice chat by the pond." Cathy snapped. "Weren't you gonna play with the other children in the sandbox today?"
"I was helping my Dad repair the living room window, if you have to know. What's wrong with you? Aren't you going to kiss me?"
"No, I'm not gonna kiss you. We're through, Jack. Leave me alone."
"Through? What do you mean through? Why? I thought you loved me." Jack sounded almost panicky.
"Why? Because you're an immature idiot. That's why. Just because Dragon's team won a single game you're behaving like a two year old. Thank you, I can get a better man than that."
"Oh, so you're after the rich kid's money. Is that it?"
"This has nothing to do with Draco at all and I don't care about money. I care about the way my boyfriend treats his friends and me just because he lost one little game. You think you can yell at me for not being able to score against Draco and then come back a few hours later and tell me to kiss you and pretend nothing happened? Well, think again! I'm through with you. I'll find someone nicer. Good bye! I'm going for another swim." Cathy jumped up and ran back into the water.
"Hey wait!" Sammie called after her. "I'm coming with you."
"Yes, me too. Lets go swimming everybody."
Jack sat on his towel mouth hanging open as all the others jumped up and followed Cathy into the pond. When he had almost reached the water Draco turned and looked back at him.
"So are you going to come with us or are you just going to sit there and stare?" he smirked.
Jack just got up, grabbed his towel and walked off. Draco grinned and finally followed the others into the water. Cathy had a big head start and was already about to reach the tree. Sammie and Charlie were gaining on her though. The last thoughts of Jack disappeared from Draco's mind. He had to hurry up if he didn't want to miss out on the water battle.
Fore some strange reason the stones didn't seem quite as sharp to Draco on the way back as they had on the way to the pond. Had his feet adapted to running barefoot already? Or maybe it was just that he'd had so much fun and was so tired that he just didn't feel them all that much anymore.
They were late. It was already beginning to get dark and Draco had the slight suspicion that some people were going to be very angry with them, but he still felt perfectly happy. This had been a perfect day. Somehow he even felt good about that talk they'd had about their parents. It had made him feel better about his dead mother and cruel father to find out that he wasn't the only one with a broken home. He'd always thought that everybody else had a perfect family life and that he was the only one left out. Here it seemed that Mike was the only one who had that perfect family. Or did he? He was the only one who hadn't complained, but did that mean that he was happy? Maybe he just hadn't wanted to talk about it.
They trudged up the now cold feeling stairs and Draco wished he had brought his wand to dry his hair with. Then he wouldn't be so cold right now. Then he remembered that he wasn't allowed to do any magic anyway.
When they trotted past the dead lamp on the third floor Draco suddenly remembered his wish to learn Physics and the Math book. He hadn't done any exercises at all today and he was already feeling so tired. He should have taken the book and some parchment to the pond with him. He could have studied while lying in the sun. Charlie had brought along a novel to read as well and Sammie and Matt had played some strange game Draco didn't know. It had to be something muggle. Maybe he could convince them to explain it to him sometime? But there wasn't any time left. On Sunday he'd have to leave to go live with his uncle.
Draco sighed. Somehow he wished he didn't have to go yet. Maybe Professor Snape was wrong and the trial would take longer, but then again the Snapes probably would be glad to be rid of him again. After all he had made a lot of work for them, cost them money for food and clothing and now he was even worrying them by staying out so long.
Sarah opened the door when he rang and looked him up and down mock critically.
"Are you sure you belong in here?" she asked him hiding a smile.
"Sorry." Draco mumbled. "I guess I'm kinda late."
"You missed dinner." Sarah declared calmly pointing her wand at him and drying his hair with one quick wave.
Draco suddenly felt his stomach growl. Oh damn! He'd missed dinner and he was almost starved. He looked up at Sarah unhappily. Would begging help?
Sarah grinned suddenly. "I'm only joking. We waited for you."
She gestured for him to go through into the living room and grabbed his towel of this shoulder as he walked by. Draco supposed that it was just another item to wander straight into the laundry basket. Had Sarah washed the laundry today? He'd wanted to go with her and learn more about washing machines.
"Eat!" announced Munin in a very hopeful tone the moment Draco entered the living room.
The raven was perching on the back of Sarah's favourite chair and had probably been eying the empty plates set out on the table.
"Shut up, bird. I already fed YOU." Severus who was sitting at the table as well cuddling Billy growled at the raven, but Draco could hear clearly that he was only joking.
"Dako!" Billy announced happily and struggled to get of his father's lap.
Severus lifted him down gently and Billy ran towards Draco arms stretched out towards him.
"Dako!"
Draco picked the baby up wondering how he'd managed to run through the whole room without falling. He hadn't been able to do that back in the morning. Draco was quite sure of that. He held Billy away from him and regarded him closely.
"Did you grow while I was away?"
"Nam nam?" asked Billy in response.
"Oh great, you're hungry too?"
"Well, he was expecting you to be back in time to feed him." Snape commented sternly.
"I'm sorry. Really. Where's his dinner?"
Sarah pointed at a plate standing beside the sink.
"He refused to let either of us feed him and kept calling for you. He must think you're his big brother or something like that."
Draco stared at Billy for a moment. His big brother? What he wouldn't give to have a little brother like that and now he'd left Billy waiting on one of the last days he had with him.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Billy. I didn't mean to do that. I'll never leave you hanging again, Billy, never, I promise."
He sat the baby into his little baby chair and fed him without the slightest problem.
Severus smiled at Sarah. "Just what are we going to do when he leaves us on Sunday?" he whispered.
Sarah shrugged. "Do we have to give him back? They don't seem to be missing him anywhere." she whispered back.
"He doesn't belong here, Sarah. He's used to living in a huge manor and a family that can buy him anything he wants. And they are going to start looking for him sometime. He's no stray dog you can simply keep."
"I know." Sarah sighed. "It's just that he feels almost like ours to me."
When Draco was done feeding Billy he finally sat down at the table with Billy, who didn't want to let go of him, again sitting in his lap and they finally started dinner.
"So, what happened at the trial today?" he asked between two bites.
Severus and Sarah exchanged a quick worried glance.
"Things aren't looking entirely good at the moment." Severus said finally.
"You mean they're going to let him go"?!" Draco shrieked. "I can't go back to him."
"Oh no, Lucius is going to Azkaban, that's already fixed. The problem is that they've started to look into his other crimes and found that a large part of his fortune was made from deals with dark arts objects or actually by practising the dark arts. They're talking of confiscating that money as well as the manor and returning it to the victims, but of course most of them will be dead and the money will stay with the ministry."
"So? Father won't be able to use the money in Azkaban and what difference does it make who gets it?" Draco shrugged.
"The difference is that you're the one who's not gonna get it. We're talking about most of your inheritance and your home here."
"I don't really care much about the manor. It's big, dark and ugly. I'd probably have bought myself a new house anyway and I can't even live there for three more years. I'll find something else. And there's still a lot of money left that Father inherited from his parents. The Malfoys have always been very rich so losing a bit of money won't be a problem."
"Draco, Lucius is definitely spending a lot of money on all those lawyers. I have no idea how much exactly, but it has to be several millions at least. They wouldn't want anything to do with such a losing case unless it paid unusually well and their pay is definitely not coming out of the money the ministry is going to confiscate. There might be nothing left for you, if they go through with this."
"You're not gonna let them do it then, are you?" Draco asked suddenly frightened. He didn't like the idea of being poor all of a sudden. What would the Weasleys say? Ron Weasley at least would be delighted.
"I can't influence that, Draco. I have told them all they wanted to hear from me and none of it had anything to do with the dark arts or the money. All I can do now is watch and hope."
"Do I at least get my stuff back? I kind of miss my clothes and broom and everything." Draco tried not to sound too desperate, but failed miserably.
"Nothing's decided so far, but you can't use those things here anyway. Kids here don't usually wear robes unless for school and your new friends don't own brooms so you wouldn't have anyone to go flying with." Severus tried to console Draco.
"I could go flying alone."
"And make everybody jealous? They'd hate you for it. You don't want the Rakers to get angry with you, do you?."
"No, I just want to have some of my stuff with me. Something I don't have to borrow from somebody else."
"Ah, I should have thought of this earlier." decided Severus. "I'm sure they'd have let you keep a teddy bear, if we'd thought to ask. It's only one more day though. If you don't get your stuff back tomorrow, I'll ask about that teddy."
"Teddy? I don't even have a teddy."
The Snapes looked shocked.
"You don't?" Sarah asked incredulously. "How can you not have a teddy?"
"Oh I had several when I was little, but when I started school my father took them away, because he said I was too old to play with baby toys. I'm not a baby. I don't need stuffed animals."
"Draco, stuffed animals aren't necessarily baby toys." Severus said. "They're made for children of all ages. Even many adults keep a favourite stuffed animal as a mascot. I'd probably still have my old teddy if I hadn't lost him during the war."
"And I have a little stuffed bunny on my keys." said Sarah. "They just make life more fun."
"Still, I'm no baby. I don't want a teddy, I want my broom." Draco insisted. "Or maybe my owl. Do you have any idea what happened to him?" he asked Severus hopefully.
But Severus shook his head sadly. "He's probably still at Malfoy Manor, though. I'll ask for him, if they don't give him back tomorrow."
Draco nodded unhappily. He wanted something from home now, but he knew that Snape couldn't just apparate to the manor in the middle of the night and bring something back to him.
He sighed softly hoping that the Snapes didn't hear him. Why was he feeling so depressed all of a sudden anyway? He'd had a great day and been perfectly happy when he'd gotten home. Why was he feeling so down now?
A/N - Is Draco going to lose all his money? Will there be a big showdown between Draco and Jack? Will Lucius finally go to Azkaban? Please R/R.
In the next chapter: Draco and Sevi have a talk. Draco takes the dog out and considers blackmailing a bird.
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