Disclaimer: We do not own any characters from Harry Potter or the Patriot. The character Mary belongs to SteeleRanger and is not to be used without permission.

"Checkmate!" Jae Barrington shouted gleefully, pointing at her black bishop, who moved across the board and wiped her cousin, Draco Malfoy's king off his square; the two had been in one of the many rooms at the Malfoy Wiltshire Mansion all day, playing chess.

Draco scowled.

"Did ya lose again?" Jae's sister, Jula asked.

"What do you think?" Draco snapped.

Jula smirked.

"Sorry Draco." Jae replied mockingly.

"Shut up Jae."

"Ooohhh... poor baby..."

Draco gave his cousin a dirty look.

"DRACO, JAE, JULA! Downstairs, now!" a sharp voice called from somewhere within the mansion; it was Draco's father, Lucius.

"Coming!"

Rushing down the stairs, with her sister and cousin, Jae stepped on the hem of the emerald colored robes Draco was wearing and he tripped, nearly tumbling down the stairs.

"Sorry!" Jae said hurridly as Draco gave her a dirty look.

"Whatever."

"We're waiting!" Came Lucius' sharp yet drawling voice from one of the rooms in the mansion.

"Ok, where is your dad?" Jula asked.

Draco gave an exasperated sigh and replied, "In the dining hall."

Slipping and sliding on the polished marble floors, Jae, Draco, and Jula ran into the dining hall; Jae slid on the way in and crashed head first into the stair bannister just outside of the hall.

"Ow.." she said sitting on the floor rubbing her forehead and glancing at Lucius, who was seated at the head of the table in the dining hall, which was decorated in emerald, crimson, and silver; enchanted silver snakes with green eyes wrapped themselves around the rafters of the dining hall ceiling and the stair bannister.

Lucius smirked at Jae, his cold grey eyes glinting maliciously, while his wife Narcissa, who was seated to the right of him rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Very nice Jae, the bump matches your crimson and silver dress." Lucius drawled.

Jae rolled her eyes, still holding her forehead and muttered, "Shut up."

"Come sit, you three, I ordered the house elves to bring the food five minutes ago; you don't want your Christmas feast to get cold now, do you?"

"No.." Replied Jula, taking a seat next to Draco on Lucius' right.

"Like it's going to get cold in just five minutes." Jae scoffed. "It's still steaming like crazy."

Draco rolled his eyes, pulling his cousin into a chair next to him.

"Sit down, shut up, and start eating before Father decides to revoke the food and starve you!" he whispered harshly in Jae's ear.

Lucius pursed his lips and took a breath to say something harsh, but Narcissa placed a hand on his wrist in warning and he decided not to; instead he sighed, rolled his eyes and reached for the roast.

"Well, now that everyone is present, you may begin."