The competing champions

Chapter 4.22 (Getting the gamekeeper back)

"Did you hear that?" Aurora asked, as she and Cedric walked up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.

"Hear what?" Asked Cedric silently, they didn't want to be caught out of bed after hours.

But Aurora didn't answer. She had a pretty good idea of who it was she heard...and he better have a good explanation for being here...coincidently at the same time as Aurora and Cedric.

"Potter!" She hissed. "Show yourself!"

"Rori...who are you talking to?" Cedric asked, looking around, hoping to see whatever she was seeing.

"Harry! Now!"

And then, right in front of Aurora's nose...Harry seemed to materialise out of thin air. "What...Potter....where did you come from?" Said Cedric.

"None of your business!" Harry snapped.

"Harry, you better have a damn good explanation for being here....Cedric's still a Prefect. He could give you detention, you know."

"I would like to see him try because then he would've to explain what you two were doing out of bed....wondering the corridors....alone..." Harry whispered, glaring at Cedric. "I particularly look forward to Dumbledore finding out that his granddaughter was alone with her boyfriend...at night."

"You wouldn't!" Aurora hissed.

"Oh yes, I would."

"Look, Rori, it's OK. I'll go now...Thanks for helping me...and Potter, I owe you one for the dragon tip so....take a bath with your egg...It might clear your mind...You can use the Prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor, fourth door on the left from the statue of Boris the Bewildered...Password is 'Pine Fresh'." Cedric then turned to Aurora, kissing her cheek. "Goodnight."

"Night." Aurora said, closing her eyes as Cedric's lips touched her cheek and she watched him go before turning back to Harry. "So what the hell are you doing here?"

"Taking a stroll." Harry lied.

Aurora narrowed her eyes at him. "You are lucky I'm in a good mood tonight, Potter!"

"Let's just get back to the Gryffindor common room." Harry said after a while, sighing. He threw the Invisibility Cloak around the two of them and started walking. Aurora only now noticed he was carrying the Maurader's Map.

"You were spying on us!" Aurora said angrily.

"No, I wasn't!"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Harry Potter! I can see right through you. Why do you have such a problem with me and Ced anyway?"

"Oh, so it's 'Ced' now."

"In case you've forgotten or simply ignored it...He's my boyfriend...I can call him whatever I like!" Aurora said. "God, you're just as bad as Ron! And-"

Then suddenly Harry spotted something peculiar on the map. "Er...Ara..." He tried to interrupt her ranting, but she kept on going. "Ara..." He nudged her and she glared at him. He pointed at the map. Aurora immediately shut up, thinking a teacher was coming. She looked down at the map. The dots belonging to Filch and Mrs. Norris were safely in their office....Nothing else seemed to be moving apart from Peeves, who was bouncing around the trophy room on the floor above...But then her eye caught something else on the map moving...something distinctly odd.

A single dot was flitting around a room in the bottom left-hand corner - Snape's office. But the dot wasn't labelled Severus Snape...It was Bartemius Crouch.

"But I thought you said Crouch was sick!" Aurora said.

"He is. Percy told me. Crouch has been sending owls to the office but other than that - they haven't seen or heard from him."