Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 22 ⚡️

Vega whipped around, snapping out of her shock to find that her cousin, Dora, had appeared out of nowhere, her mousy hair wet with sleet and had been the one to separate Harry, "Mundungus will probably be in London by now. There's no point yelling,"

"He's nicked Sirius's stuff!" Harry shouted. "Nicked it!"

"Yes, but still," Dora replied, who seemed perfectly untroubled by this piece of information. "You should get out of the cold – Vega, you shouldn't be getting in trouble,"

"I'm sorry," Vega answered instinctually, and she glanced at her friends – torn between what was going on as it was hard to jump from one thing to another.

But Dora didn't allow her to think too much over it, and while keeping Vega in front of her, led the four students to the Three Broomsticks. Vega waved Dora goodbye, and Dora made sure that they had all gotten inside properly before she left them.

The moment the four of them were inside, Harry, however, burst out, "He was nicking Sirius's stuff!" Vega turned to look at him and she looked quite equally upset.

"I know, Harry, but please don't shout, people are staring," Hermione whispered. "Go and sit down, I'll get you a drink – Vega, go with him,"

"Come on, Harry," Vega muttered, ushering him along to the table in the corner of the pub.

Harry was still fuming when Hermione returned to their table a few minutes later holding four bottles of butterbeer. Vega took one of the bottles and snapped it over, handing it over to Harry first, hoping that he would calm down a little bit as well.

"Can't the Order control Mundungus?" Harry demanded of the other three in a furious whisper. "Can't they at least stop him stealing everything that's not fixed down when he's at headquarters?"

"Shh!" Hermione said desperately, looking around to make sure nobody was listening.

Vega looked around the pub – there were a couple of warlocks sitting close by who were staring at both her and Vega with great interest, and Zabini was lolling against a pillar not far away, although he did not seem to be currently interested in them.

"Harry, I'd be annoyed too," Hermione told them. "I know it's your things he's stealing –" Harry gagged on his butterbeer. He seemed to have momentarily forgotten that he owned number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

"Yeah, it's my stuff!" Harry said. "No wonder he wasn't pleased to see me! Well, I'm going to tell Dumbledore what's going on, he's the only one who scares Mundungus,"

"Good idea," Hermione whispered, clearly pleased that Harry was calming down. She noticed Ron's gaze from where he was sitting next to her. "Ron, what are you staring at?"

"Nothing," Ron said, hastily looking away from the bar, but Vega knew he was trying to catch the eye of the curvy and attractive barmaid, Madam Rosmerta, for whom he had long nursed a soft spot.

"I expect 'nothing's' in the back getting more firewhisky," Hermione said waspishly.

Ron ignored this jibe, sipping his drink in what he evidently considered to be a dignified silence, and Vega and Harry shared a look with each other. Vega took a deep breath, staring at her butterbeer and then looking back up to her friends.

"I hope that Dumbledore puts a stop to Mundungus," Vega mumbled. "And... Sirius never liked those goblets anyway... it's just the thought that Mundungus would stopp this low is what bothers me... I'm going to talk to Dumbledore,"

Hermione drummed her fingers on the table, her eyes flickering between Ron and the bar. The moment Vega and Harry drained the last drops in their bottles, the brunette said, "Shall we call it a day and go back to school, then?"