Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [1]

⚡️ Chapter 20 ⚡️

Vega felt herself surrounded by something dark and sticky as she gained sense of what was going on. She moved uncomfortably through it and tried to look for a spot to tear through it. She dug with her fingers desperately, feeling like she was running out of oxygen.

The stickiness of her surroundings stuck to her fingers and she could not find any way out of it – until it all vanished out of nowhere and she felt herself falling, falling, falling...

Gasping, Vega came back to her bodily senses and looked around desperately to make sure she was really out of that sticky, gooey liquid. She struggled to get her breathing back to normal and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.

As Vega felt herself, and saw that her head was wrapped up in bandages, and so were both of her legs and arm. What happened? She got herself that hurt? How could that have happened to her? She was perfectly fine just a moment ago!

Remembering that Harry had been with her that moment ago, Vega looked around frantically but found herself to be completely alone in the hospital wing. There was no one around her or in the beds – in fact, there was absolutely no one. She eyed the curtains around one of the cots. Was that Harry?

"Mr Potter is perfectly alright, Miss Lestrange," Professor Dumbledore's voice came through and Vega snapped up to look at him at the entrance of the hospital wing. She tried to sit up. "It's alright, stay comfortable," Vega still sat up, leaning against the header of the bed. "Good afternoon,"

"Good afternoon, Professor," Vega said, her voice unflatteringly hoarse, causing her to flinch. Dumbledore passed her the glass that was sitting on the side table. "Thank you," She quickly went through it before putting it away. "What happened? I think I fainted..."

Vega looked at him and noticed that there was a strange look in Dumbledore's eyes as he looked at her. Some sort of... weary or wary look... But it vanished the moment he met eyes with her. Vega looked away.

"Oh, everything is perfectly okay," Dumbledore replied rather casually as he sat down next to her. Vega looked at the table next to him and saw it filled with all sort of sweets and cards. "Your friends Mr Fred and George Weasley tried to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it,"

"Did they really?" Vega asked, trying to keep the smile from her lips. She felt like Dumbledore was changing the conversation. "Professor, what is going on? How long have I been out?"

"What happened down in the dungeons between you, Harry and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows," Dumbledore replied. "Three days. Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come around, they have been extremely worried. Mr. Potter came around a while ago, he's just resting,"

"But, professor, the Stone..." Vega asked.

"I see you are not to be distracted," Dumbledore said. "Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you two were doing very well on your own, I must say,"

"You got there?" Vega asked. "You got Hermione's owl?"

"We must have crossed in mid-air," Dumbledore replied. "No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you –"

"It was you," Vega realised out loud.

"I feared I might be too late," Dumbledore said.

"You nearly were, we couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –" Vega replied, looking off to the direction of Harry's bed.