Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [4]

⚡️ Chapter 78 ⚡️

Whenever Vega looked back to that time, even a month or so later, Vega found that she had only scattered memories of the days following the Third Tasks. It was though she had taken in and been through too much to take in any more. In fact, when she woke up the following morning, she had no clue as to what had happened last night.

In fact, when her eyes opened that morning, Vega was confused to find herself in the Hospital Wing, the windows were only scarcely lit from the dawning skies and there was someone next to her bed – it was Fred. He was sitting in an awfully uncomfortable chair, half spread onto her hospital bed and most prominently, holding onto her left hand tightly.

And then, slowly, Vega started to recall what had happened. She had still not come to terms with it, and it turned her breathing shallow as she slowly started to hyperventilate. Her hand squeezed around Fred's, and he jumped slightly, waking up.

"Vega?" Fred asked, confused before realising what was going on with her, and it seemed like he had been warned about her reacting his way because he reached to place a hand over her mouth.

It was clear that Madam Pomfrey had told him to what to do exactly in case she started to panic.

And it took Vega several minutes to calm down but she was still looking around, anxiously. Her eyes strayed toward the bed where Moody had been and was relieved to see that it had screens around.

"Are you okay?" Fred asked carefully, and Vega glanced toward him once again. He placed his free hand onto her cheek and gently stroked her skin. "Your aunt is also here; she's resting over in that bed. Do you want me to wake her up, love?"

"No, it's okay," Vega whispered, also reaching up with her free hand to place it over the one on her cheek. "Have you been here all night, Fred?"

"I promised you, didn't I?" Fred replied, giving her a soft smile. "You held onto my hand so tightly and I just didn't have the heart to pull it away from you. What if you had woken up?"

"But... in that uncomfortable chair..." Vega mumbled. "Come on... you can sleep next to me..." She tried to move over but a pain shot through her leg and she halted herself. "I can't do it on my own,"

Fred let out an unexpected chuckle and gently picked her up to fix her posture. She didn't say anything after that and just pulled at him with her uninjured arm to lie in the bed with her. And she didn't care about anything else as she rolled herself onto her side to hug him, placing her head onto his shoulder, inches from his face.

And for a few moments, the two of them were silent – until Vega broke the silence.

"I don't remember much anymore," Vega breathed out. "About what happened... in that place..." She let out a low sigh. "I suppose Dumbledore was right about that... all I know is I was scared,"

"I'm sorry," Fred mumbled and when she glanced toward him, her grey eyes met with his brown ones. "... I shouldn't have taken any of this lightly and asked you to work so hard in there,"

"It's not your fault," Vega whispered quickly, reaching up to turn his face completely toward her. "None of it is your fault – you were just being yourself, like I like you, and just trying to support me. I think, the thought of you... really made me want to get out of there alive. I didn't want you to feel hurt... because this isn't your fault,"

"I can't see you like this, Vega," Fred said quietly, staring so deeply into her eyes that Vega was relit with the same shyness as when she had first kissed him. "I thought I lost you – I thought you were g-gone... and when I saw you like that, I felt..."

Silence descended upon them once more, and Vega knew it was too difficult for him to express his feelings. She moved her head forward to catch his lips in a deep kiss –