Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 39 ⚡️

There was a silence in the headmaster's office, and Vega could not find it in herself to look at Dumbledore. She knew that she should've worked harder and that there was no excuse to what they hadn't done. And she was slightly and suddenly very that her mind was not as open to others as Harry's was when Dumbledore peered at Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles. She knew that he had seen everything that had happened that day.

"I see," Dumbledore spoke up eventually. "And you both feel that you have exerted your very best efforts in this matter, do you? That you have exercised all of your considerable ingenuity? That you have left no depth of cunning unplumbed in your quest to retrieve the memory?"

"About that," Vega said, deciding to speak and cringe. "The day that Ron swallowed love potion by mistake, we took him to Professor Slughorn, hoping to cosy Professor up with alcohol or such in a good enough mood to –"

"And did that work?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, no, Professor," Vega replied, biting her lip. "Because Ron got poisoned –"

"– which, naturally," Dumbledore said. "Made you two forget all about trying to retrieve the memory; I would have expected nothing else, while your best friend was in danger. Once it became clear that Mr. Weasley was going to make a full recovery, however, I would have hoped that you returned to the task I set you. I thought I made it clear to you both how very important that memory is. Indeed, I did my best to impress upon you that it is the most crucial memory of all and that we will be wasting our time without it,"

Vega felt a very hot, prickly feeling of shame spread from the top of her head all the way down her body. Dumbledore had not raised his voice, he did not even sound angry, but she would have preferred him to yell; this cold disappointment was worse than anything.

"I wondered if it would work after Professor Slughorn found the poisoned drink," Vega admitted. "He's spooked... I think he believes it is from Voldemort himself so it's hard to pick that conversation,"

"Sir," Harry said, a little desperately over how the conversation was going. "It isn't that we weren't bothered or anything, we've just had other – other things..."

"Other things on your mind," Dumbledore finished the sentence for him. "I see,"

Silence fell between them again, the most uncomfortable silence Vega had ever experienced with Dumbledore; it seemed to go on and on, punctuated only by the little grunting snores of the portrait of Armando Dippet over Dumbledore's head. Vega felt strangely diminished, as though she had shrunk a little since she had entered the room.

However, when Vega could not stand the silence any longer, she said, "Professor Dumbledore, we're really sorry. I believe we should have done more – at least, I should've done more. I should have realised you wouldn't have asked us to do it if it wasn't so important,"

"Thank you for saying that, Vega," Dumbledore said quietly. "May I hope, then, that you two will give this matter higher priority from now on? There will be little point in our meeting after tonight unless we have that memory,"

"We'll do it, sir, we'll get it from him," Harry said earnestly and Vega nodded quickly.

"Then we shall say no more about it just now," Dumbledore said, kindlier. "But continue with our story where we left off. You remember where that was?"

"Yes, Professor," Vega spoke. "Voldemort killed his father and his grandparents and made it look as though his Uncle Morfin had done that. After that, he returned to Hogwarts where he asked Professor Slughorn about the Horcruxes,"

"Very good," Dumbledore confirmed. "Now, you will remember, I hope, that I told you two at the very outset of these meetings of ours that we would be entering the realms of guesswork and speculation?"