Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [5]

⚡️ Chapter 18 ⚡️

Vega looked up from the magazines and toward the compartment door, only to find that it was Draco Malfoy, flacked by his pair of cronies, Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. The sight of them was the last thing that Vega wanted to see at Hogwarts, much less on the Hogwarts Express. She had hoped that his parents had changed his school since Hogwarts was just so beneath them.

"What?" Harry demanded rather aggressively, before Malfoy could open his mouth.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," Malfoy drawled, whose sleek blond hair and pointed chin were just like his father's now. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments,"

"Yeah," Harry said. "But you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone," Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed but Vega just continued to glare at Malfoy, whose lip curled in anger.

"Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?" Malfoy asked.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione interjected sharply.

"I seem to have touched a nerve," Malfoy said, smirking. "Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line,"

"I bet you understand how that feels when you see eleven-year-olds being better Seekers than you," Vega responded as she got onto her feet, pulling out of her pocket. "Get out of here – unless you want to show off your pseudo-power by hiding behind that badge?"

For a second, Malfoy's eyes flickered from her to Neville but Vega didn't show him any reaction, knowing that he was thinking about severing the friendship between the two of them. But when he saw no reaction in her, Malfoy rolled his eyes and left the compartment, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering in his wake.

If only my friends were also not quick to burst out.

They don't have to show Malfoy any reaction.

With her cousin gone, Vega sat back down on her seat and ran a hand through her short, black hair. Hermione slammed the compartment door and then turned to look over where Vega and Harry were sitting, and it took Vega a second to remember the choice of words Malfoy had just used.

Dogging.

"Chuck us another Frog," Ron said, who had clearly noticed nothing. But they could not talk freely right now – not with Neville and Luna sitting between them.

Vega was feeling uncomfortable now – what if Malfoy really meant it in regards to Snuffles, to Sirius? Maybe they shouldn't have been so lenient with getting Sirius out, but she also felt bad for him. But if the wrong people knew about Sirius being an Animagus, then it would be even worse.

What if the Death Eaters go around London,

killing large black dogs?

It could be that one of the Malfoys noticed the black dog – Lucius Malfoy – and he was the only who told his son. Draco Malfoy was too thick to pick up on signs. Maybe he also knew that they all – her, Harry, Dora, Lupin, Moody and the Weasleys – all knew exactly where Sirius was hiding.

I must write a letter to the Order as soon as possible.

The weather remained undecided as they travelled farther and farther north. Rain spattered the windows in a half-hearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. Vega kept flicking through the magazines, trying to keep herself distracted from Malfoy.