Mischief Attained [The Mischief Attained series - part 1]

Chapter 13

With Jayla being busy sewing the dresses in her free time, the end of August came around faster than expected. So on the 18th she was standing in front of King's Cross Station, where she was then picked up by Arthur and the twins with their flying Ford Anglia.

"Would you mind telling me where we are going?" Jayla asked, once she had adjusted to the car flying over London.

"Technically we are going to the Burrow right now," said Fred, who was sitting in the front row next to his dad.

Panic started to rise inside Jayla. It was one thing to meet Juana's parents, who were Muggles anyway and therefore had no idea what being a Slytherin, especially one with the surname Rosier entails, but to meet a family who had lost friends at the hand of "her" people was something completely different. If she could, Jayla would have probably jumped out the car at any second. George, who was sitting next to her, seemed to be recognizing her rising anxiety, and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll just have breakfast there before we move on to our actual adventure." Then he added a little quieter, so only Jayla could hear: "Plus, neither mum nor dad know about your last name or house and, after Ron threw a little tantrum when we told the others you were coming too, he promised us not to mention it either. I think he's scared we might slip him some of our products with the more nasty effects."

He pulled her closer. Usually, being this close to George would have the opposite effect on Jayla, but right now it was just making her more nervous. She constantly kept checking the rear mirror to see if Arthur was looking at them. She did not want his parents or anyone at the Burrow to get any wrong ideas. Jayla already felt like in intruder at being the only Slytherin there.

"So, do you play Quidditch too, Jayla?" Arthur asked, oblivious to the whole situation.

Jayla immediately sat up straight, making sure to bring an appropriate amount of space between her and the redhead sitting next to her.

"I don't unfortunately," she answered, wondering why he'd suddenly bring that topic up.

"Oh, don't worry. They usually explain the rules well enough during the game, so it should be easy enough to follow. Obviously, there are always quite a few people at the World Cup finale that don't play Quidditch themselves," Arthur explained.

"Dad!" both Fred and George groaned at the same time as he had just spoiled the surprise.

"The World Cup Finale!?" Jayla blurted out. "That's where we're going?"

Fred and George just nodded, not too happy their secret was out already.

With such an exciting prospect in mind, Jayla even forgot to worry about meeting everyone at the Burrow and, luckily for her, the atmosphere at the Burrow was pretty tense with everyone being a little late and busy packing that Mrs. Weasley didn't have much time for Jayla other than ask her how she was after Fred and George had only introduced her with her first name, and give her a cup of tea and a few pancakes, which Jayla ate at the table outside with the boys, who had gotten into an argument with their mum earlier because they meant to take some of their products to show Ludo Bagman at the finale.

"Sorry about the hustle and the house in general. I guess you're used to a different standard and expected something better. We've just never had a lot of money," George said, not even looking at Jayla. "We weren't even planning to take you here, but we had no idea how we'd get you to the World Cup without spoiling the surprise. But as dad has spoilt it anyway, we could have just done that."

George sounded unusually nervous. Jayla side eyed him, realising he was actually ashamed. She turned to him, crossing her legs on the bench.

"Are you kidding me?" As he still wouldn't even look at her, she put her hands on his thigh. "This is more than I'd have ever dreamed of having. I'd honestly love to call this house my home and your mum and dad just seem to care about everyone so deeply, no matter who they are. My family's house might be grand, but there's no life in it. I've never even experienced what it's like to have a home you feel welcome in, with people that care about you. You don't even realise how lucky you are, do you?"