Chapter 6: Alone Time

Harry woke to the calm sound of birds chirping and the crackling fire. Sitting up, he saw the empty beds and felt a slight longing for the noise that came from his rowdy housemates. Shrugging off the feeling, Harry got out of bed, took a hot shower, dressed in his warmest clothes and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. When he entered, he saw that the house tables were gone and all the teachers and students who were staying for the holidays all sat at the high table.

"Good morning, Harry." Professor Dumbledore greeted with a smile. "Why don't you take the seat next to Mr. Diggory."

Harry noticed that there were a lot less students than usual who stayed. It was probably because of Sirius Black being on the loose. He saw five Slytherins sitting together around Professor Snape, three Hufflepuffs, one of which was currently smiling at Harry, two Ravenclaws and three more Gryffindors. Breakfast was soon served and the students and teachers began eating and talking to each other. Harry and Cedric talked about random things when he just remembered something.

"Professor Dumbledore, I was wondering if there's a room on the seventh floor with huge double-doors." He asked.

"No Harry, I don't recall such a room. All there is on the 7th floor corridor are a few broom closets." The headmaster replied. "But I do remember something strange that happened. One morning, I was walking around when I felt the strong urge to use the lavatory. I began heading back to my office in a rush and I found one of the cleanest and most orderly bathrooms I've ever been in after turning a few corners. I went looking for it another time, but I could not find it."

Harry and Cedric looked at each other confused, and then returned to their breakfast.

After breakfast and a long discussion about the strange rooms in the seventh floor corridor, Harry and Cedric decided to go walk around. The two were in the courtyard while Hedwig and Archie, a fat, light brown barn owl owned by Cedric, flew overhead.

"So, what did your parents say when you said you were staying for the holidays?" Harry asked.

"Mom was worried and dad was furious." Cedric replied. "But their reactions were both caused by Sirius Black being in the area."

Harry nodded and pursed his lips. Trying to distract himself, he focused his eyes on the two owls, who were now gliding down. They landed on one of the snow covered benches and cuddled with each other. Harry smiled and turned to see the older teen looking down at him with a smile of his own.

"Those two have the right idea on how to keep warm." He said as he wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and pulled him closer.

"You'd think that with the amount fat Archie has, he wouldn't have a hard time keeping warm." Harry replied with a smirk.

"Oh yeah? I'll teach you not to insult my owl." Cedric said before flinging Harry into a mound of snow.

The Gryffindor brushed the snow off his head before quickly making snowballs and throwing them at the Hufflepuff. The two were now engaged in an all out war. Harry used the mound he was thrown on as cover, while Cedric moved from column to column under the covered walk.

"Give up, Potter. I can move around freely, while you're stuck there." Cedric called out.

"Yeah, well you're running out of ammo." Harry replied and he was right. Cedric was using the snow on the ledges and he was nearly out. He couldn't go too far back or he would've been exposed. His only hope was to cross the courtyard to get to the other side. Making three more snowballs, Cedric began running towards the other side, throwing the snowballs at Harry when he showed his head. Harry stood and aimed for Cedric, but the Hufflepuff's last snowball hit him square in the face as he threw his own. It flew off course and Harry heard a voice yell, but it was too low to be Cedric's.

"Potter!" The voice yelled afterwards, and it was clear to Harry who he had hit. Snape was giving him the glare of death while his students around him were trying so hard not to laugh. The two approached and apologized, wishfully thinking that the snow cooled his temper.

"Since you two have nothing better to do, you'll join the rest of us in refilling the potion stores." Snape said in an even tone.

"Well, this wasn't what I was hoping for our first day together." Cedric said as he and Harry knelt on the snow, trying to look for a plant that practically blended in with the surroundings.

"Well, you can trust that Snape would kill all the fun in the world, if he had the chance." Harry muttered.

Three of the five Slytherins were doing the same thing as Harry and Cedric, while Snape took the remaining two, Harry's new friend included, into the Forbidden Forest. Snape returned near noon with bags and jars full of different potion ingredients. Everyone else handed their jars. Harry and Cedric managed to fill theirs halfway, while the Slytherins' jars were completely full. Harry thought that Snape probably gave them tips or a spell to find them. They all then returned to the castle for lunch.

"Students" Professor McGonagall called their attention while having lunch. "Due to the small number of you and with Sirius Black on the loose near Hogwarts, the headmaster has decided that all of you will stay in the Gryffindor common room."

The other students began muttering to each other.

"We know it's unconventional, but it is for your safety." Professor Dumbledore chimed in. "The Fat Lady has returned to her portrait, and extra precautions have been made to ensure that Sirius Black will not be able to enter the common room again."

Later at night, Harry sat in front of the fireplace, watching the students from other houses come in and look around. Eventually, everyone had settled in and the common room was filled with chatter again.

"Interesting how your common room has a very cosy feel to it." Cedric stated as he sat beside Harry.

"I thought it always felt this way because this was my first real home." Harry replied and rested his head on Cedric's shoulder.

Harry had told Cedric how it was like living with the Dursleys and he wondered if Dumbledore knew and if he did, why did he let Harry stay there. He looked down at Harry and saw that he had fallen asleep. Taking him in his arms, Cedric carefully carried Harry to his bed and lay down beside him. The raven unconsciously move toward Cedric and pressed against him. The older teen smiled and wrapped an arm around Harry, thinking about the upcoming days they would be alone together, Christmas, New Year's. He then started thinking about the rest of the school year and come the end of it, Harry would return to the Dursleys, and that thought filled Cedric with dread and he started thinking of a way to prevent that from happening.