Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [5]

⚡️ Chapter 80 ⚡️

Both Ron and Hermione left the Hospital Wing completely cured three days before the end of term. Hermione showed signs of wanting to talk about Sirius, but Ron tended to make hushing noises every time she mentioned his name, or even that night. Vega, on the other hand, was still waiting to see when Harry would come around to the topic of his godfather's passing with them, but she didn't want to pressure him into talking it out with anyone.

It seemed to Vega that Harry was feeling similarly to her – unable to wrap his mind around the truth and unable to find the desire to talk about it to anyone. Vega wanted no conversation about her relation to Voldemort and she wanted to be left on her own just as much he wanted. But unlike her, he only did bad when left with his thoughts.

And then there was Sirius Black, the person that the 13-year-old Vega had not wanted to meet or be associated with, yet she went on to find that he – out of so many people – seemed to understand quite a lot although they were quite different in personalities.

Saving him at both the Forbidden Forest and up at the tower from the Dementors had almost come naturally to her, and she had been very grateful to him for helping her ease into the history of her maternal family – and most of all, showing her that it was okay to be different from their family, to be better than how their family had been previously.

Vega's hair took a long time to change back to their coal black colour and she was slightly relieved to be not receiving attention because of them. It seemed to her that things were setting into her yet she felt too congested to feel anything with so many people around her – so many eyes that kept themselves trained on her to see her reaction.

But the rest of Vega's body took time to recover – there were still some scarring left after the battle at the Department of Mysteries. She still grimaced at the sight of them whenever she had to shower or change clothing, but Madam Pomfrey had said they'll go soon.

Whatever the scars were or the pain that accompanied, none of them could compare to the pain that she had in her heart since that night.

Summer holidays were going to be rather tough for Vega, she knew, until she could find something that would distract away from her thoughts. But even she knew that it would be hard, especially since she didn't want to be mopey around Fred.

It was such thoughts that made Vega wish that she was not alive – she wondered if the situation had been different had her twin brother was alive instead, or even with her. Yet Vega did not want to go through the pain of losing anyone again if Voldemort had come for them.

Had life been normal, what would Vega had been like? Would she have a good family with her brother and cousin, and she would've gone to a normal school year at Hogwarts... maybe Fred would've still fallen in love with her, and she would've asked him out still... or would things have been completely different? Good still, but different?

I wonder I would've still found something to be unhappy about.

Over the next few days, Vega kept to herself, spending most of her time sleeping or pretending to be asleep, and just avoiding too much conversation with people. And for the most part, they seemed to leave alone from their stares and words.

Professor Umbridge left Hogwarts the day before the end of term. It seemed that she had crept out of the hospital wing during dinnertime, evidently hoping to depart undetected, but unfortunately for her, she met Peeves on the way,

Peeves, on the other hand, took the delightful opportunity to seize as his very last chance to do as Fred had instructed and chased her gleefully from the premises, whacking her alternately with a walking stick and a sock full of chalk.