Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 7 ⚡️

Vega took the time to change into a pair of blue shorts and a red blouse, leaving her hair shorter and open around her shoulders. She took the now-empty tray of breakfast from the room, telling Harry to change and come downstairs as well. She headed down the quiet Burrow staircase, so very unlike it now that Fred and George were no longer staying here.

On the other hand, Vega felt like Ron and Hermione were being quiet because of the prophecy that Harry had shared with them. Or well, Ron was a little bit because when Vega arrived down to the ground floor, she found Hermione in great agitation.

Mrs. Weasley, too, found something to fret over when she saw Vega's blackened eye – and Hermione turned pink, and joined to inform Mrs. Weasley what had happened upstairs.

"I looked in their boxes but I couldn't find any bruise removers," Vega informed them as she was stirred around to sit down by the kitchen table. "But it's quite alright – it doesn't hurt anymore and it'll go down in a week or two; it always does,"

"Don't say that," Mrs. Weasley replied, who clearly wasn't happy to see just how casual Vega was on the topic of injuries. "We'll find something here, it's only your first day here,"

Mrs. Weasley fetched her copy of The Healer's Helpmate open at 'Bruises, Cuts, and Abrasions' and fluttered through it to look for spells that would help out with the black eye. Vega glanced past Mrs. Weasley and noticed Harry, Ron and Ginny come downstairs.

"It just won't budge," Mrs. Weasley was saying anxiously, standing over Vega with her wand. "This has always worked before, I just can't understand it,"

"It'll be Fred and George's idea of a funny joke," Ginny pointed out. "Making sure it can't come off,"

"But it's got to come off!" Hermione squeaked. "You don't expect Vega to go around like this, do you? I'm so sorry Vega – I shouldn't have squeezed it –"

"It's okay, Hermione," Vega muttered, who knew that the brunette was being torn over two different concerns at the same time as she usually did. "What's done is done – and I will figure something out for it, hopefully before Fred finds out,"

"Fred's going to come kicking down the front door," Ron said, who was still finding all this very amusing. "And you'll be in his line of fire, Hermione,"

"Hermione should run out the back door," Vega replied, chuckling and almost poking herself on Mrs. Weasley's wand as the woman distracted herself into the book.

"Bill told me 'ow Fred and George are very amusing!" Fleur said, smiling serenely.

"Yes, I can hardly breathe for laughing," Hermione snapped and Vega gave her a look to calm down. "Vega, I feel guilty seeing you walking around like that,"

"It's okay, Mrs. Weasley, it'll get better on its own," Vega said as she stood up to her height, waving her hands around. "Look, I can cover it up easily,"

And Vega pointed toward her eye, using her Metamorphmagus abilities to turn the skin light over the injury – it didn't quite fix it up entirely but the only way it was noticeable was if one focused on her eyes to find that one of them was a bit squinted compared to the other. And no one was going to notice that in the flurry of the Burrow activities.

"See?" Vega asked, moving her hands around as if she was a Muggle magician. "It's alright! Besides, Fred shouldn't be too upset over small bruises, just last wee – I mean – last year, I fell down the stairs, didn't I? Let's just look forward to our results,"

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, suddenly returning to that worry as she returning to walking round and round the kitchen, twisting her fingers together. "Mrs. Weasley, you're quite, quite sure no owls have arrived this morning?"