Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [1]

⚡️ Chapter 15 ⚡️

But Tuesday came and went, and Quirrell was still there. In fact, weeks had long passed and he was still there. It seemed like out of them all, only Vega had noticed that Quirrell was getting unnaturally paler and thinner as the time went on and on. She wondered what kind of pressure Snape was putting on that man.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Vega, Harry, Ron and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe.

However, Vega was starting to have strange nightmares that involved Quirrell – mostly containing his expression from their first Quidditch match. The same black liquid inside of her was pulling her away from him, something she could not understand.

It also was strange that even though Harry and Ron were having no problem standing up for Quirrell, Vega suddenly found her hands shaking and fingers twitching whenever she neared Quirrell or sat in his classroom. It made her hard to do anything in his vicinity.

While Vega's mind was occupied with Quirrell, Hermione had started drawing up study schedules for the finals that were still ten weeks away. Vega had told her that she was satisfied with how her studies were going but that answer didn't satisfy Hermione and she continued to make schedules for her as well.

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. It worse for Vega, for she shared the dorm with Hermione.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window.

It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming. Quite honestly, Vega wanted to go out and spend a nice time by the Great Lake. Her grey eyes fell upon a large figure through the library –

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?" Vega asked, watching as Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," Hagrid said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," Ron said impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St –"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid said as he looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry said. "About what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy –"

"SHHHH!" Hagrid said again. "Listen – come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh –"

"See you later, then," Harry said. Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione said thoughtfully. She looked at Vega, expecting her to know for some reason. "Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," Ron said, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table. "Dragons! Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide,"