Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [7]

⚡️ Chapter 19 ⚡️

Vega kept a look-out throughout the night but it remained silent as ever – she had heard some distant noises of animals, and all of this made her miss her pets back at home. And she missed her family; she couldn't imagine how they were doing after being tortured, how Dora was managing her pregnancy, and if Lupin had returned back to her cousin after all.

If there was anything that Vega wanted more than ever, it had been helping her cousin through her challenging time as a pregnant individual, and Vega wanted to bond with her niece or nephew the moment they were brought into this world.

But all of this had been her dreams before the fate of tomorrow was thrusted upon Vega. Now, she had the burden of making sure that Voldemort was defeated.

The only way that Vega could get around to returning to her family, seeing their faces again and being able to hold them was if she defeated the peril upon her.

There was a rustle of cloth, and for a second, Vega thought that it was the swish of a robe but as she looked around, she saw that it was actually the tent's flap brushing aside – Harry had stepped out and Vega looked at him in concern, "Is everything okay?"

It was still very, very early in the morning, and as far as Vega could tell, Ron and Hermione were still fast asleep, and she had hoped Harry would sleep longer, too.

"I'm going to go bury Mad-Eye," Harry answered quietly. "Do you want... to come along?"

Vega didn't say anything but stood up to follow him.

Together, Vega and Harry found out the oldest, most gnarled, and resilient-looking tree they could find. There in its shadows, Harry buried Mad-Eye Moody's eye and Vega marked the spot by gouging a small cross in the bark with her wand.

"It's not much," Vega mumbled. "But Mad-Eye would prefer to be laid here rather than being stuck on that toad's office door to do her bidding," Harry nodded in agreement. "Let's go back... we should be packing and leaving now. I don't feel safe any one place for long anymore,"

The two of them returned to the tent to wait for the others to wake, and discuss what they were going to do next. Harry and Hermione agreed with Vega and felt that it was best not to stay anywhere too long, and Ron agreed, with the sole proviso that their next move took them within reach of a bacon sandwich.

Vega and Hermione therefore removed the enchantments she had placed around the clearing, while Harry and Ron obliterated all the marks and impressions on the ground that might show they had camped there.

Then, they Disapparated to the outskirts of a small market town.

Once they had pitched the tent in the shelter of a small copse of trees and surrounded it with freshly cast defensive enchantments. Harry ventured out under the Invisibility Cloak to find sustenance. This, however, did not go as planned. He had barely entered the town when an unnatural chill, a descending mist, and a sudden darkening of the skies made him freeze where he stood.

"But you can make a brilliant Patronus!" Ron protested, when Harry arrived back at the tent empty handed, out of breath, and mouthing the single word, Dementors.

"I couldn't... make one," Harry panted, clutching the stitch in his side. "Wouldn't... come,"

Vega stared at Harry, concerned.

"So, we still haven't got any food," Ron said.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Harry, what happened? Why do you think you couldn't make your Patronus? You managed perfectly yesterday!"

"I don't know," Harry replied. He sat low in one of Perkins's old armchairs. Vega tried to think of a reason why Harry could no longer make a Patronus when Ron disturbed her thought process by kicking a chair leg.