Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 27 ⚡️

Snow was swirling against the icy windows once more; Christmas was approaching fast, and Vega was missing Fred all the more when watching the snow fall from the tall Owlery tower on her own. Her everyday habit of visiting the Owlery early in the morning had not left her yet she rarely ever found anything to do there but sit with her thoughts – it felt boring to be there without Fred talking or teasing her whenever the snow began.

Hagrid had already single-handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees to the Great Hall but given that neither Ron nor Hermione wanted to work together, Vega had to stand in for the pair of them and help out the new Prefects with the decorations. It wasn't something Vega had done before but she didn't dislike decorating – it was enjoyable.

But Hermione and Ron weren't the only ones who refused to show up – Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and their junior Prefects did not arrive either. However, those who did arrive were eager to work on the decorations and they had no hurdles.

And by the time they had finished, garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs; everlasting candles glowed from inside the helmets of suits of armour and great bunches of mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors.

If there was one thing that Vega did not like – it was those mistletoes themselves. Unless it was her Fred who had caught her under one of them.

However, Fred was not here, and Vega's popularity was sky-high after her performance in the Quidditch match. Many individuals seemed keen to see what would happen if she landed beneath the mistletoe – something that became a hassle.

"I'm really not sure how you handle it," Harry muttered as he followed Vega's example and ducked under a tapestry to take the secret passageway downstairs.

"Just get used to it for a bit," Vega replied quietly.

Harry was having a fairly similar trouble – large groups of girls tended to converge underneath the mistletoe bunches every time he went past, which caused blockages in the corridors. And to avoid it, he often joined Vega to take the mistletoe-free routes.

"Never mind this, how's your time going with Ron?" Vega asked.

Ron, who might once have found the necessity of these detours excuse for jealousy rather than hilarity, simply roared with laughter about the situation Vega and Harry were in. And while they much preferred this new laughing, joking Ron to the moody, aggressive model he had been enduring for the last few weeks, the improved Ron came at a heavy price.

The heavy price was none other than Lavender Brown, who seemed to regard any moment that she was not kissing Ron as a moment wasted. But Vega was more concerned about how Ron and Hermione would ever overcome this shard in their relationship.

Or if they should ever do it.

Especially since Ron, whose hands and forearms still bore scratches and cuts from Hermione's bird attack, was taking a defensive and resentful tone whenever Vega mentioned that they needed to sit and talk this problem out once and for all since Year Four.

"She can't complain," Ron told her, and Harry. "She snogged Krum. Som she's found out someone wants to snog me too. Well, it's a free country. I haven't done anything wrong,"

Harry did not answer, but pretended to be absorbed in the book they were supposed to have read before Charms next morning, which was Quintessence: A Quest – Vega, who had been helping the two of them earlier, raised her eyebrows, however.

"That's a bit rich coming from you, given that you were being rude just because Ginny said Hermione snogged Viktor," Vega admitted. "But the thing is – she's not complaining about you snogging Lavender. Lavender isn't the problem, it's the way you and Hermione treat each other. It's not normal to be extra nice one day and then rude the next... over something from four years ago, too,"