Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 42 ⚡️

When Vega, Ron and Hermione returned to the castle with the rest of the students, it was right in time for dinner. Harry wasn't in the Great Hall but Vega convinced that they should start with their food as Harry would find his way to them with his Marauder's Map. She wanted to be done with dinner so she could get down with her homework.

"There's Harry," Vega said suddenly, nodding over the heads of Ron and Hermione, who turned to watch Harry walking through the Great Hall doors. "Hey, Harry, here!"

"I did it – well, kind of!" Ron exclaimed once Harry was within earshot of them. "I was supposed to be Apparating to outside Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and I overshot it a bit, ended up near Scrivenshaft's, but at least I moved!"

"Good one," Harry replied. "How'd you do, Vega, Hermione?"

"Oh, they were perfect, obviously," Ron said, before Vega or Hermione could answer. "Perfect deliberation, divination, and desperation or whatever the hell it is – we all went for a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks after and you should've heard Twycross going on about them – I'll be surprised if he doesn't pop the question soon – Fred better hurry himself –"

"And what about you?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron while Vega turned pink, looking down at her steak. "Have you been up at the Room of Requirement all this time?"

"Yep," Harry said. "And guess who I ran into up there? Tonks!"

"Tonks?" repeated Ron and Hermione together, looking surprised.

"Dora was here?" Vega asked, sitting up straight and looking at him. "Is she already gone? I was hoping to run into her... what was she doing here?"

"Yeah, she said she'd come to visit Dumbledore..." Harry started and told them about how Dora had been acting, which made Vega feel very concerned for her.

"If you ask me," Ron said once Harry had finished describing his conversation with Dora. "Sshe's cracking up a bit. Losing her nerve after what happened at the Ministry,"

"Ron, watch it," Vega responded. "Dora's gone through a lot,"

"It's a bit odd," Hermione said, who for some reason looked very concerned. "She's supposed to be guarding the school, why's she suddenly abandoning her post to come and see Dumbledore when he's not even here?"

"I had a thought," Harry said tentatively. "You don't think she can have been... you know... in love with Sirius?" Vega's jaw dropped as she turned to look at him.

"What on earth makes you say that?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno," Harry said, shrugging. "But she was nearly crying when I mentioned his name... and her Patronus is a big four-legged thing now... I wondered whether it hadn't become... you know... him,"

"Dora's not in love with Sirius, we're related to him a bit too closely," Vega interjected, upset. "Sirius is our cousin, once removed. And besides, none of this actually answers the question as to why she'd be bursting into the castle to see Dumbledore..."

"Goes back to what I said, doesn't it?" Ron said, who was now shovelling mashed potato into his mouth. "She's gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve. Women," He said wisely to Harry. "They're easily upset,"

"And yet," Hermione said, coming out of her reverie as Vega glared at Ron. "I doubt you'd find a woman who sulked for half an hour because Madam Rosmerta didn't laugh at their joke about the hag, the Healer, and the Mimbulus mimbletonia,"

Ron scowled.

Patches of bright blue sky were beginning to appear over the castle turrets, but these signs of approaching summer did not lift Vega's mood as they were still struggling to start a conversation with Slughorn that might lead, somehow, to Slughorn handing over the memory he had apparently suppressed for decades, currently sitting at null.