Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [7]

⚡️ Chapter 18 ⚡️

Ron was still grey and his face glistened with sweat. Vega passed the Blood-Replenishing Potion to Hermione, who quickly forced the ginger to have a good sip of it and help himself stable his body. Vega, Harry and Hermione stared at him quietly for a moment.

"How do you feel?" Hermione whispered.

"Lousy," Ron croaked, wincing as he felt his injured arm but colour was now filling his face – it would take time until he was fully recovered. "Where are we?"

"In the woods where they held the Quidditch World Cup," Hermione answered. "I wanted somewhere enclosed, undercover, and this was –"

"– the first place you thought of," Vega finished for her, glancing around at the apparently deserted glade. She could not help remembering what had happened the last time they had Apparated to the first place Hermione had thought of – how Death Eaters had found them within minutes.

"Do you reckon we should move on?" Ron asked Vega and Harry, and both could tell by the look on Ron's face that he was thinking the same.

"I dunno," Harry said, looking at Vega.

Vega glanced back at Ron. He still looked pale and clammy. He had made no attempt to sit up and it looked as though he was too weak to do so. The prospect of moving him was daunting. She knew that they were all waiting on her to give an 'order'.

"Let's stay here for now," Vega announced finally.

Looking relieved, Hermione sprang to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

"If we're staying, we should put some protective enchantments around the place," Hermione replied. "You should help out, too, Vega,"

"Right," Vega said quickly an got up from the ground, pulling up her wand as she followed the brunette from the other side, filling a wide circle around Harry and Ron, murmuring incantations as she went, reaching to where Hermione was.

"Salvio Hexia... Protego Totalum..."

"Repello Muggletum... Muffliato..."

Vega could see little disturbances in the surrounding air, which assured her that the spells they were casting were working. She looked over her shoulder to where Harry was sitting and nodded toward her bag, "Get the tent out, Harry, let's set it up quickly,"

"Tent?" Harry asked.

"In the bag, Harry," Vega replied.

"In the... of course," Harry said, not asking the girl anymore questions. He did not bother to grope inside the bag this time, but used another Summoning Charm.

The tent emerged in a lumpy mass of canvas, ropes, and poles.

"I thought this belonged to that bloke Perkins at the Ministry?" Harry asked, starting to disentangle the pent pegs and looking over to Vega and Hermione.

"Apparently he didn't want it back, his lumbago's so bad," Hermione said, now performing complicated figure-of-eight movements with her wand along with Vega on the opposite side. "So, Ron's dad said I could borrow it,"

"I told 'Mione to get anything and everything that could help us on the way," Vega added before pointing her wand at the misshapen canvas. "Erecto,"

In one fluid motion, the canvas rose into the air and settled, fully constructed, onto the ground before Harry, out of whose startled hands a tent peg soared, to land with a final thud at the end of a guy rope. Vega let out a sigh and finishing with, "Cave Inimicum,"