Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 22 ⚡️

Once they were finished with their sweet shopping, Vega, Harry, Ron and Hermione bundled their scarves back over their faces and left the sweetshop to the cold outside world – the bitter wind was like knives on their faces after the sugary warmth of Honeydukes. Vega wished that she could return to Honeydukes... or hurry over to Three Broomsticks.

The street was not very busy; nobody was lingering to chat, just hurrying toward their destinations. The exceptions were two men a little ahead of them, standing just outside the Three Broomsticks. One was very tall and thin; squinting through his rain-washed glasses Vega recognised the barman who worked in the other Hogsmeade pub, the Hog's Head.

Just as Vega, Harry, Ron, and Hermione drew closer, the barman drew his cloak more tightly around his neck and walked away, leaving the shorter man to fumble with something in his arms. They were barely feet from him when Vega recognised who the man was.

"Isn't that... Mundungus Fletcher?" Vega asked, confused as she stared at the short man. "What in the world is he doing here in Hogsmeade in this weather?"

"Mundungus!" Harry called out, hoping answers for the same questions.

Very suspiciously, however, Vega watched as the squat, bandy-legged man with long, straggly, ginger hair jumped and dropped an ancient suitcase, which burst open, releasing what looked like the entire contents of a junk shop window.

"Oh, 'ello, 'Arry," Mundungus Fletcher said, with a most unconvincing stab at airiness. "Well, don't let me keep ya," And he began scrabbling on the ground to retrieve the contents of his suitcase with every appearance of a man eager to be gone.

"Are you selling this stuff?" Harry asked, watching Mundungus grab an assortment of grubby-looking objects from the ground and Vega frowned.

"Oh, well, gotta scrape a living," Mundungus responded, and something caught Vega's eyes as she reached down to grab a silver goblet off from the snow. "Gimme that!"

"Wait a minute," Vega muttered as she noticed the very familiar family emblem on the front of the goblet – the emblem of her maternal family. "This is –"

"Thank you!" Mundungus shouted, snatching the goblet out of Vega's hand and stuffing it back into the case. "Well, I'll see you all – OUCH!"

Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand. Vega stared at Mundungus in shock, disbelief and disgust over what he had been attempting to, regardless of dislike for the Black Family heirlooms.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed.

"You took that from Sirius's house," Harry said coldly, who was almost nose to nose with Mundungus and was breathing in an unpleasant smell of old tobacco and spirits. "That had the Black family crest on it,"

"I – no – what –?" spluttered out Mundungus, who was slowly turning purple.

"What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?" Harry snarled.

"I – no –" Mundungus choked out.

"Give it to me!" Harry shouted.

"Harry, you mustn't!" Hermione shrieked in horror as Mundungus started to turn blue. "Vega, do something! You have to stop Harry before he –"

There was a bang, and Harry's hands flew off Mundungus's throat, and gasping and spluttering, Mundungus seized his fallen case, then – CRACK – he Disapparated. Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot to see where Mundungus had gone,

"COME BACK, YOU THIEVING –!"

"There's no point, Harry,"