Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [1]

⚡️ Chapter 2 ⚡️

On the 1st of September, Vega found herself awake rather early in the morning. For the first time, it wasn't because of Dora sneaking downstairs to get some food and tripping over the air. Vega's own nerves had jumpstarted her day and she had no capacity to return to sleep.

Aquila hooted at the black-haired girl, having noticed that she was awake from her eyes that were wide open. Vega didn't keep Aquila in a cage, which was why the owl was curiously hooping around the place. The sound of his talons was almost rhythmic enough to lull Vega back to sleep but her insides were twisting out of nervousness.

Dora had already finished her last year at Hogwarts earlier that day, something that Vega was rather disappointed about. She had hoped she knew at least one person in the castle before she left but alas, things were rarely ever in her favour.

Once it was clear to her that no sleep would bestow her that morning, Vega decided to leave the security of her bed. It was only 5 o' clock in the morning, but Vega ended up having a shower and getting changed into the Muggle clothing before she ventured out of the room and downstairs.

The house was silent, giving away the fact that everyone was still in their beds. Vega found Aerglo the Kneazle and Pluto the Crup in the hallway, curled up in their beds. Aerglo gave her a glance of acknowledgment before going back to sleep. Pluto, however, got up to follow Vego down the stairs to the living room, wagging his forked tail.

Pluto had been the first animal that Vega had taken in, at the age of just 2, and the terrier-like magical dog had been named by her after Mickey Mouse's pet. Later, Vega had wanted a Matagot but Ted had gotten her a Kneazle (for which he had to undergo extensive training at the Ministry of Magic to assure he was capable of caring for it).

Clearly, Ted had been the most accepting of her love for animals. Dora was always overwhelmed by the duties that came with them and Andromeda was always worried about something going wrong with all those animals. Dora wanted a pixie in the house, but Andromeda banned the insanely mischievous creature because there was no way she would allow two of them to live under the same roof.

But Vega was grateful for them to allow her to have so many animals – they were her only friends.

The living room was a bit more alive due to the presence of Apus and Apollo, a fair of Fwoopers as well as four Jobberknoll females Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, and a pair of Golden Snidget named Lyra and Harp. They were, of course, all kept in large cages. Vega often let them out in the house but they were only allowed outside early at dusk and dawn.

"Good morning," Vega greeted them as she poured them some food, doing a small roll-call. "Io, Ganymede, Calliso, Europa... Apollo... Apus... Lyra... Harp" She turned to give Pluto his breakfast as well.

Turning around to the sitting room, Vega found Mars the Firedrake hanging out in the fireplace and threw him his food, which he gobbled up quickly. Vega hadn't bought Mars, he just suddenly appeared in their garden and pretty much self-domesticated himself.

On the sofa, a tiny family of puffskeins, a poffle, laid curled up, named by Vega as Virgo and Janus, with their kids Dorado, Leo and Venus. They were all emitting low humming noises, giving away their cosy contentment. Vega decided against waking them up and headed right outside the house and into the garden that sat outside.

It was a garden that was cared for by both Vega and Andromeda, filled with both magical and non-magical plants. There were flowering plants and herbs, along with some poisonous plants as well, such as aconite. Others included Dittany, Fanged Geranium, Flitterbloom, Gillyweed, Gurdyroot, Flutterby, Niffler's Fancy, Sugar Shrubs, etc.

Vega liked the garden because it was often frequented by families of Coco Rumsey Catchers, Bowtruckles (Oberon, Ophelia, Orion, Ophiuchus) and Fairies as well as Flitterbys, Knarls and Glow Bugs. Often, Billywigs made their way over the garden and Vega was always careful to avoid their sting.