Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [7]

⚡️ Chapter 28 ⚡️

The four of them packed up the tent next morning and moved on through a dreary shower of rain. The downpour pursued them to the coast, where they pitched the tent that night, and persisted through the whole week, through sodden landscapes that Vega found very bleak and depressing and only made her miss Hogwarts more and more.

It was true that Vega and Harry could only think of the Deathly Hallows. It was as though a flame had been lit inside them that nothing, not Hermione's flat disbelief nor Ron's persistent doubts, could extinguish. It was a light in the darkness, in one way.

But unlike Harry, Vega was keeping her opinions only to herself. Maybe Ron and Hermione's silent thoughts were correct. She wanted to get the Elder Wand on their side to ensure Voldemort's defeat but could they go out of their way and search for the Elder Wand? It could be anywhere in the whole wide world... weren't such wands usually piled off to wandmakers? Or acquired by them somehow? So that they could study or pass them along?

As far as Vega was aware, this was common among olden times when ownerless wands were given to wandmakers so they could find new and possibly better owners... where in the world was the Elder Wand? Vega had no idea and no time to think about it...

Not when she should be looking for Horcruxes.

On the other hand, Vega was constantly thinking about Luna, and if she was alright. She knew she would never be able to forgive herself if something happened to Luna just because her father decided to support Vega and Harry. She hoped that Luna wasn't in a place like the prison of Azkaban, or in the presence of Dementors. It was too cruel.

Harry continued to share his theories about the Deathly Hallows to Vega, fully believing her in that it would help both of them survive against Voldemort. Vega was a little assured by Harry's words but didn't say anything in case they did not end up finding the Elder Wand.

However, Harry's belief in and longing for the Hallows consumed him so much that he felt isolated from Ron and Hermione and 'their obsession with the Horcruxes'.

"Obsession?" Hermione asked in a low fierce voice, when Harry was careless enough to use the word one evening, after the brunette had told him off for his lack of interest in locating more Horcruxes. "We're not the one with an obsession, Harry! We're the ones trying to do what Dumbledore wanted us to do!"

"'The last enemy shall be destroyed is death,'" Harry quoted calmly.

"I thought it was You-Know-Who we were supposed to be fighting?" Hermione retorted, and Harry gave up on her. Vega sighed softly.

Soon, even the mystery of the silver doe, which Ron and Hermione insisted on discussing, forced into Vega's mind and she wondered what, what and what was happening.

Who did it belong to?

Another thing that happened over time was that something about Voldemort was causing Harry's scar to prickle again and that meant there was a constant pain in Vega's own scar. While this fact was known to both Vega and Harry, neither of them mentioned it to Ron or Hermione. Often times, Harry would leave for one reason or another while Vega would pretend like everything was all right by keeping the pain at bay and not letting it show.

However, these pains brought along very vague visions. The images that Vega, Harry and Voldemort were sharing had changed in quality; they had become blurred, shifting as though they were moving in and out of focus. Usually, the images were sharp as reality, made her feel all sorts of things even though she did not share the body with Voldemort in them.

Rather than Harry, Vega found Ron leading the group with her.

Ron seemed to be taking charge. Perhaps because he was determined to make up for having walked out on them, perhaps because Harry's descent into listlessness galvanised his dormant leadership qualities, Ron was the one now encouraging and exhorting them.