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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃, 𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓, was typically bustling with activity, and today was no exception. Constance Finkle - once Malfoy - was huddled over her arrangements of desks in the sitting room (which doubled as her home office), an array of different beakers and cauldrons spread around as she set to work on whatever home-project she was working on. Beside her, seated cross-legged on one of the unused desks, was the middle Finkle child, Kerani, witch her alchemy textbook open on her right and a notebook being scribbled into furiously on her lap. Both Kerani and her mother looked the part of a muggle's imagination of a rocket scientist - a slightly crazed look in their eyes as they mixed ingredients and murmured transfigurations, hair frizzed from the humidity emanating off of the potions.

Unlike Kerani, who strived to become an Alchemist like her mother, the eldest Finkle child, Adabelle, was much more interested in wizard news (or, more accurately, taking down her arch-nemesis Rita Skeeter). Adabelle Finkle, though having finished her wizarding schooling six years prior, still lived with her family. This was partly due to her having taken muggle University classes for journalism, and also her fear that her parents would forget to take care of themselves should nobody be there to care for them. Presently, Adabelle was seated at the kitchen counter, her eyebrows scrunched together at the top of her forehead as she went back and forth between reading the Daily Prophet and speaking outraged to her father about what the 'blonde beetle' (as she not-so-affectionately deemed the Skeeter woman) had written.

Elijah Finkle, who had somehow managed to get a day off from his job as an investigator for the Ministry of Magic, was cooking breakfast and half-mindedly answering his daughter. Elijah, having come from America sometime after he finished his schooling, was still struggling to acclimate to the European lifestyle and wizarding ways, and so while he loved his daughter, he saw no reason why she (and all of European wizardkind, for that matter) put so much thought and merit into the media - seeing as how, in America, it was well known that the media was heavily biased and actual facts played no part in it.

The last of the Finkle family sauntered in at half-past ten in the morning, eyes swollen from sleep and blonde hair (which had been impulsively cut herself three months prior) sticking up in several spaces, as she yawned and sat beside her sister at the kitchen counter.

Druella Jane Finkle was universally adored by her entire family. Her parents saw her as their baby - seeing as how she was the youngest - Adabelle enjoyed using her young age as an excuse to coddle and mother her (because she had yet to settle down and have children of her own), and Kerani enjoyed the banter that she provided. Drew was the shortest of the bunch, not that any of the Finkle family was all that tall to begin with, but she definitely held the most energy of them all - present moment excluded, of course. Adabelle - who was the most muggle-inclined and had taken several psychology courses during her undergraduate in journalism - was convinced that Drew had ADHD, due to the scattered nature of her thoughts, and the constant tapping and fidgeting she displayed.

It was during Drew's second year at Hogwarts that the endless amount of energy began to take a toll on her learning. She had no outlet and had begun to act out during class. After a meeting with Constance and Elijah, it was ultimately Madam Hooch's idea, they had all agreed to place Drew on the quidditch team. And, after gruelling tryouts, Drew had made the Slytherin quidditch team as one of their three chasers. After that, Drew put all of her energy into quidditch, and with Kerani's help, had managed to come up with a colour-coding system to write her notes in that would keep her focused. Of course, this meant smuggling in muggle gel-pens, but the thrill of it all was enough to alleviate any of Kerani's guilt of mischief.

So, for the past two years Drew had become completely obsessed with quidditch, and it was for that reason that she had dragged herself out of bed before noon during the summer.

Today was the day that Drew would be going to her Uncle's manor to join him and her two cousins in attending the Quidditch World Cup, which was being hosted in England for the first time in like, ever. And although Drew definitely did not enjoy the company of her uncle, Lucius, and she definitely hated her bratty little cousin, Draco, the only thing she could feel was excitement. Not only was she super siked to watch Ireland completely pummel Bulgaria during the match (and okay maybe her preference was influenced by her best friend, Seamus Finnigan), she was also excited to see her older cousin, Atlas. Atlas was a year older than Drew and Draco and was by far the coolest person Drew knew.

"Morning, Dee," her father greeted, placing a plate of pancakes (which were smothered with maple syrup and topped with whipped cream and strawberries) in front of her, "ready for the match?"

"Ecstatic." She answered, scrunching her nose up in annoyance as Elijah ruffled her already messy hair. Drew quickly dug in and devoured the plate of pancakes, arguing with Adabelle who insisted she slowed down - to which Drew would threaten to spit the mouthful of mushed up, chewed pancakes onto her.

"Girls," the voice of Constance spoke disapprovingly, as she and Kerani joined the other three around the kitchen counter. Constance, although her crazed appearance, was easily the scarier parent - though Drew supposed that was the Malfoy gene. While she had never met her grandfather, Drew shuddered at even a photo of the man. "Dee, your Uncle and your cousins are going to be here in less than an hour and you're not even dressed."

Drew shrugged with a guilty smile on her face as she looked up at her mother, who merely responded with a pointed stare. Sighing, Drew hopped off the stool, pushing her plate forward into the middle of the island before she dramatically began stomping up the stairs to the second floor of the house.

By the time the Malfoys arrived at the Finkle residence, they were nearly an hour late. Of course, this was to be expected seeing as how Lucius Malfoy lived life according to his own self-made timeline and expected everyone else to adapt as he saw fit.

Drew was alerted to their arrival by a loud POP sound and the annoying clicking of Lucius' cane against the hardwood flooring. She had been upstairs in Adabelle's room, watching a game of wizard chess between her two sisters, but upon the sound of her uncle, she had sighed and begun her descent downstairs.

Lucius Malfoy was stood in the sitting area, both hands resting on his obnoxious cane as he had a not-so-subtle stare-down with Constance, who was seated in the rather large plush chair that she had bought from a vintage muggle furniture store. Drew remembers her saying it was reminiscent of the chair that Abraxas Malfoy used to have in his office, and that is would positively irritate her brother to know she'd gotten a replica off of a secondhand muggle store.

Behind Lucius, Narcissa hung uncomfortably, torn between being a polite guest and standing by her husband, who was clearly in the middle of a power struggle. Despite being younger than Constance and Elijah, Lucius and Narcissa had aged quite rapidly compared to the other two. Elijah had always told the girls that this was due to them having spent many years fighting on the wrong side of a dark war - Constance, however, always argued the wrinkles came from the sour expressions they always wore on their faces.

Next were the two Malfoy boys. Draco, the younger of the two, was Drew's age and was a replica of his father - he bore the platinum blonde hair of the Malfoy boys and had gelled it back in homage to Lucius as well. Draco had always been relatively pretentious, which was apparent by the pursed lips and the way he looked down at the muggle interior of the house and the mess leftover from Constance and Kerani's alchemy project.

It was the older of the boys that had Drew smiling wide and running to embrace in a hug.

Atlas Cygnus Malfoy was fifteen years old and screamed nonchalance. He was taller than Draco by two to three inches, and where Draco's hair was a bright beacon, Atlas' hair was a dark brown - the colour of his mother's before she had begun to manipulate it to match her husband's (Drew had no idea why Narcissa insisted on mirroring her husband, but she figured it was something to do with the obsession with incest that the purebloods had). His eyes were a brilliant shade of grey (though, when he was younger they were bluer, but the darkness of his family had dulled them over time), and his smile was more of a smirk, tilted towards his right cheek.

When Drew hugged Atlas he let out a low chuckle, mimicking the embrace as he caught himself from falling over. They were quickly broken apart by an unimpressed Lucius who had cleared his throat pointedly. Drew made sure to make eye contact with her uncle as she very obviously rolled her eyes. Lucius rolled his eyes in reply before turning back towards his older sister, "Well we best be off."

"Bring her back in one piece, Lucius," Constance spoke threateningly, standing up as she sauntered towards Lucius. Constance was wearing her highest pair of heels (something she did to assert dominance over her brother) making her a good two inches taller than Lucius who seemingly gulped out of nervousness. Constance then proceeded to pat Lucius' cheek twice for good measure before grinning wickedly and spinning around on her heel. The Finkle matriarch moved towards Drew, bringing her youngest daughter in for a quick, firm hug. Constance placed a loving peck on the crown of Drew's head, "Have fun, Dee."

Drew grinned up towards her mother before jumping into her father's awaiting arms. Elijah chuckled lowly as he lifted the small girl and swung her from side to side. When Drew's feet were placed firmly back on the floor he handed Drew her trunk for the weekend and smiled down at her, "make sure to bring us back some of those Ireland rosettes, alright?"

"You got it!" Drew exclaimed, playfully saluting her family before she accepted her uncle's arm with a grown. Both Atlas and Draco held one of Narcissa's hands, and within moments the loud POP was heard, signifying that they had apparated.

The infamous Malfoy Manor was a stark contrast to the Finkle residence. Where the Finkle's had settled in a muggle neighbourhood with a comfortably sized home for the five of them, Lucius inherited the mansion that had been passed down through generations. The word 'manor' barely even scraped the surface.

The Malfoy's house was three times the size of Drew's (maybe even more), and the grandeur of the home was accentuated by the iron gates leading to a winding driveway that passed by fountains and extravagant gardens. The family had apparated into the drawing-room, which was the largest room that the manor had to offer, with its 30-feet ceilings, two chandeliers and the self-playing pipe organ.

After balancing herself Drew swallowed the bile that threatened to arise and turned to face the rest of the family. Lucius and Narcissa had already left the room, and Draco was quickly following behind them. Atlas, however, stayed behind and reached forward, grabbing Drew's trunk from her hands. In his best impression of his father, Atlas asked, "Now Druella, would you prefer your quarters in the right-wing or the left?"

Drew cackled, following behind her cousin as he led the way through the maze-like corridors. They passed by the Malfoy's replacement house-elf, Pipsy, who was significantly younger than their previously dismissed elf, Dobby, whom Drew missed terribly. Pipsy had squeaked at their sight, bowing quickly before scurrying out of sight.

After two flights and what felt like a marathon of a walk, Atlas came to his wing of the manor (yes, each member had their own wing, aside from Lucius and Narcissa who shared one), and opted for the bedroom across the hall from his own for Drew to spend the night. Drew typically only spent Christmases at the manor, and when she did herself and her family shared their own wing. However, Atlas knew that Drew detested being alone, and figured she'd prefer to spend the night closer to someone than at the other end of the house.

"You ready to lose to Bulgaria?" Atlas questioned with his typical half-smirk, jumping onto the queen-sized bed.

Drew rolled her eyes, chucking one of the ornate candle-holders from the wardrobe at him, "In your dreams, tosser."

a.n.

short chapter but it's just to introduce the characters and get a feel of everything. next chapter is the beginning of the world cup and I think we will be meeting our favourite redheaded boy! let me know what you guys think!

(dedicated to argentsvogue for being super cute and supportive of this book! she's such a sweetheart and her books are awesome so definitely go check her out!)