No one in Gryffindor Tower managed to sleep that night. Especially not me. Harry and Ron were also having a tough time sleeping after what had happened, seeing as the three of us had been so close to being killed. We might have been, had Ron not woken up and screamed, alerting Sirius Black that he had to leave. We all knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole House stayed awake in the Common Room, waiting to hear whether or not Black had been caught. I noticed that a few people kept very protective stances around me.

Despite not being able to get back to sleep, I did curl up on the couches in between a few other people. Fred and George were at my sides. Their arms were protectively looped over me. I knew that they felt bad that they hadn't woken up. They felt terribly that I could have been killed because they hadn't heard what was happening. I kept insisting that it wasn't their fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. We just weren't paying enough attention and we were all too heavy of sleepers to have heard him creeping past us.

But no one had been able to see him or stop him before he had left. I feared that he wouldn't be caught this time. It was obvious enough that Black knew the ins and outs of the castle. They had said that he was a troublemaker. Maybe he knew all of the passages that Fred and George knew. Harry was sitting down at my feet, playing with the laces on my shoes that I still hadn't taken off. Ron was at the other side of my feet, placing with the laces on my robes. Professor McGonagall came back at dawn, only to tell us what I had feared. He had again escaped.

It led to another sleepless night, which was very unfortunate. By the time that we woke up in the morning, my eyes had dark bruises underneath them from the lack of sleep. My face was pale, making it look like I hadn't been out in the sun for weeks. I supposed that it didn't really matter. No one looked good. For the Gryffindor's, at least. We all looked horrible. Harry and I were at the top of that list. The moment that we headed out into the Great Hall for breakfast, I realized that Black's break-in to Hogwarts had once again become the talk of the school. The teachers had already told everyone.

Throughout the day, everywhere we went we saw signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognize a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. All of the teachers seemed to be speaking to us about what had happened. I noticed that they were all watching us about as closely as they could have been. They were certainly concerned for Harry and I's safety even more these days.

Things were no better throughout the rest of the castle. Sir Cadogan had been fired. No one was particularly upset about that. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had agreed to return to her job only on condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. Everyone was upset about them. They weren't very nice. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs.

As the day passed, I purposely took a few detours. There was something that I needed to see. And it seemed that Harry felt the same. Neither one of us could help noticing that the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor remained unguarded and unblocked. It seemed that Fred and George had been right in thinking that they - and now Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cedric, and I - were the only ones who knew about the hidden passageway within it. We couldn't stop to get the Invisibility Cloak though. Teachers were constantly prowling the halls and we couldn't risk being spotted.

"D'you reckon we should tell someone?" Harry asked Ron and me.

"We know he's not coming in through Honeyduke's. We'd have heard if the shop had been broken into," Ron said dismissively.

Although there was a thought that had been bothering me lately. A new issue that had occurred to me. "But... He was a student here once. He might know about it," I said slowly.

Their heads shot over to me. Clearly I had surprised them. As much as I loved keeping the passage open so that we could get to Hogsmeade whenever we wanted - which had proven to be very useful - it might have been something very dangerous. Apparently Sirius Black had been quite the prankster during his own days. Dad had mentioned a few times before that he knew how to get all over the castle. And Dad had known James Potter. James Potter had known Sirius Black. Could he have known about the passage? Was that how he was getting in and out without being caught?

"You seriously want to close that passage up? It's the only way that you and Harry can get into Hogsmeade right now!" Ron shouted.

Rolling my eyes at him, I shook my head. "Don't be stupid, Ron. Of course I don't want them to close up the passage," I said, earning a confused look from Ron. "But I'm also not fond of the idea of Sirius Black being able to enter Hogwarts and possibly kill me!"

"He walked right by you that night," Ron pointed out.

"Don't talk about it. I don't like thinking about it," I snapped. That wasn't something that I liked to think about. What could have happened...? "Fine, whatever. We won't tell anyone. We would have to explain how we knew about the passage anyways."

"Exactly," Ron said.

"I didn't think about that," Harry said slowly.

"Luckily for you, I did," I teased.

It was a good point. I didn't want to have to rat out Fred and George for having the map. Then we would have to say that we had been sitting on it for weeks and that would only make things worse for us. It seemed that we were going to have to just live with the hope that it wasn't that passage that was how Black kept getting into the school. And in the back of my mind, I was a little glad Ron took that view. If the one-eyed witch was boarded up too, Harry and I would never be able to go into Hogsmeade again. At least, until Black was caught for me.

Maybe one day my ban on Hogsmeade would be lifted and Harry would get that permission slip signed. In the meantime, we had to try and hide from Black. After the school had found out about Black entering the school - and not just entering an empty dormitory - everyone had been in an utter panic. But more people were fascinated to find out about what had happened. Once everyone had realized that no one had been injured, simply startled by Ron's screams, the school had fallen into the age-old pattern of finding out all of the details of a scandal.

With all of the people who had asked if I was alright, Cedric had been the first person outside of Gryffindor to check on me. The moment that I had walked into the Great Hall the day after Black's intrusion, he had come practically sprinting up to me. I had explained to him what had happened down in the Common Room, including the explanation that Black had walked right past me down on the couches and that I could have easily been killed. He had never looked so frightened for me. Once he had recovered from the truth, Cedric had tried to comfort me, saying that it was okay and I was safe.

It was something that I had greatly appreciated, but hadn't completely believed. If there was one upside to what had happened with Sirius Black entering the castle yet again, it was the thought that the entire school was now talking about Black's reentry to Hogwarts. It kept them all from talking about what had happened between Cedric and I after the Quidditch match against Slytherin. It was fine by me. I didn't want to answer a thousand questions. For now, our relationship had taken a back burner while everyone was concerned with what had happened in Gryffindor Tower.

Despite the fact that rumors of Cedric and I weren't the most important thing circulating Hogwarts, I did still notice the mutters that followed me around whenever I was walking back and forth through the hallways. Especially if Cedric was close by. People seemed to always be pointing and whispering. Things would get even worse whenever someone would see Cedric with me, when we had either linked hands of shared a small kiss. I was hoping that people would either get used to it or get over it soon enough.

It was pretty clear to me that many of the girls at Hogwarts hated me. Not the younger years. They couldn't have cared less. But pretty much every female from Third to Sixth Year now hated me, with the exception of most of Gryffindor. Slytherin had always hated me, so I didn't really count them. But it was clear that I was now much less popular than I ever had been before. With the females of Hogwarts, at least. The males didn't really seem to be reacting that much differently. Although Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville still weren't that thrilled with my relationship change.

As for the girls, I knew that most of them had been hoping that my relationship with Cedric had either been a ruse or something that was a little blown out of proportion. But it was the truth. Now they knew. It was something that made me quite happy. I got to throw it back in the faces of the girls that had started flirting with him once I hadn't been allowed back into Hogsmeade. Which they had thought meant that Cedric didn't want to me to come back out with him. Because I definitely wasn't going into depth with my connection to Sirius Black.

All over the castle, certain people were reacting a certain way. Some just seemed a little snottier around me. Others seemed to not care. But there were a number of people who clearly really hated what had happened between the two of us. Namely Cho Chang. It was definitely her who hated me more than anyone else. She looked like she was going to stab me at any given moment. We all knew that she had a crush on Cedric, and what made it even worse was the fact that she had hated me long before Cedric had ever been romantically involved with me.

On the other hand, Ron had also become an instant celebrity. Not for his relationship status, but because of what had happened with Sirius Black. For the first time in his life, people were paying more attention to him than to Harry or me, and it was clear that Ron was rather enjoying the experience. It was almost funny listening to him recount the details. Though still severely shaken by the night's events, he was more than happy to tell anyone who asked what had happened, with a wealth of detail.

"... I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draft... I woke up and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down... I rolled over... and I saw him standing over me... like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair... holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches... and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scampered."

Each time he told the story, I couldn't help but to roll my eyes at him. Not that I really meant to. But it was just hysterical listening to him recount the story. It seemed to be getting more and more dramatic with each time that he told it. Little details changed each time; Black was even more of a madman or the knife was closer to actually hitting him. He was clearly having a lot of fun telling the story and being the center of attention for once. So I didn't bother saying anything to him. I didn't want to step on his moment.

"Why, though?" Ron added to Harry and me as the group of Second Year girls who had been listening to his chilling tale departed. "Why did he run?"

"Because he'd been discovered. He had to leave before we made too much noise. He didn't want to be back in Azkaban," I answered.

"But he was right there," Harry pointed out.

As much as I wanted to believe that I was right about Black simply wanting to have not been discovered, I had recently had been wondering the same thing. Why had Black, having gotten the wrong bed, not silenced Ron and proceeded to Harry? He could have easily finished them off before heading back downstairs for me and then to Fred and George if they had woken up. Black had proved twelve years ago that he didn't mind murdering innocent people, and this time he had been facing five unarmed boys, four of whom were asleep, followed by another two boys and one girl, all asleep.

"Tara's right. He must've known he'd have a job getting back out of the castle once you'd yelled and woken people up. He'd have had to kill the whole House to get back through the portrait hole… then he would've met the teachers…" Harry said thoughtfully.

"Well I know one or two that I wouldn't have minded him taking care of," I mumbled slowly.

"Snape," Ron reasoned.

"Duh. Who else?" I snapped.

Snape was definitely one of the most irritating people that I had ever had the displeasure of meeting. He was only slightly lower on my list than Gilderoy Lockhart. To my surprise, Harry was shaking his head. If there was one person who hated Snape more than me, I would have thought that it was Harry. Snape had been out for Harry since day one of Hogwarts - as James Potter had been one of Snape's apparently numerous torturers. One of whom had been my own father. I turned to Harry curiously.

"Even I wouldn't want him dead," Harry said.

Perhaps that was true. "No. But maybe seriously maimed," I growled.

We weren't on good terms after I had gotten ten points taken from Gryffindor for calling Malfoy a prat following a rude comment about how Black should have stopped to kill Ron that night. "See?" Ron asked, distracting me from my thoughts. "Now that's perfect."

We all grinned at each other. Everyone would have loved for Snape to have been seriously maimed. It would have been something to make me laugh. Maybe if he fell into a hole and broke his leg or gave himself a concussion from a fall from a broom. Either way, I knew that we weren't having the worst of times. That title belonged to Neville, unfortunately enough. Neville was in total disgrace. Professor McGonagall was so furious with him she had banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, given him a detention, and forbidden anyone to give him the password into the tower.

Poor Neville was forced to wait outside the Common Room every night for somebody to let him in, while the security trolls leered unpleasantly at him. It was one of those times where I wished that we were allowed some Muggle things, like cell phones. At least Neville could have texted someone to let him in. None of those punishments, however, came close to matching the one his grandmother had in store for him. Two days after Black's break-in, she sent Neville the very worst thing a Hogwarts student could receive over breakfast - a Howler.

The school owls swooped into the Great Hall carrying the mail as usual, and Neville choked as a huge barn owl landed in front of him, a scarlet envelope clutched in its beak. My jaw dropped the moment that I had seen it. I really didn't think that what he had done was that bad. It was just an accident and no one had been hurt - rather than being slightly startled. Harry, Ron, and me, as we were sitting opposite him, recognized the letter as a Howler at once - Ron had got one from his mother the year before.

"Run for it, Neville," Ron advised.

"Open that in private," I agreed.

Neville didn't need telling twice. He seized the envelope, and holding it before him like a bomb, sprinted out of the hall, while the Slytherin table exploded with laughter at the sight of him. I rolled my eyes, feeling very bad for Neville. Even when you didn't receive them, you always felt guilty when a friend got one. We all heard the Howler go off in the entrance hall - Neville's grandmother's voice, magically magnified to a hundred times its usual volume, shrieking about how he had brought shame on the whole family and using some not-so-nice words.

Having never spoken to Neville's grandmother before, I could only take guesses on her personality. But everyone knew from Neville's own words about what a menace she could be. I had heard her shouting at him many times before. I assumed that it wasn't too nice to have a Howler with her voice now shouting at him. I was too busy feeling sorry for Neville to notice immediately that I had a letter too. It was rather strange. Mom and Dad were normally the only ones to send me one, and I hadn't gotten one recently. Dai got my attention by nipping me sharply on the wrist.

"Ouch! Oh - thanks, Dai," I said.

In the meantime, something very similar was happening with Harry and Hedwig. After a moment, before I could grab the letter, Dai shot up into the air. It was at the same moment that Malfoy had said something rude about my 'tasteless' pet. Not that he didn't have an owl... I watched out of the corner of my eyes as Dai swooped over to the Slytherin table, whopped Malfoy over the head with his wing, bit him roughly on the ear, stole a piece of toast from Blaise Zabini, and shot back over to me. I smiled brightly at my owl as the rest of the Great Hall erupted into laughter.

Malfoy was glaring at me as Parkinson started wiping blood off of his ear. I laughed softly and went back to Dai, now that he seemed to be back for good. I smiled and rubbed in between his feathers. I hadn't seen him in a little while. I hadn't been getting too many letters from Mom and Dad after the initial revelation of their past with Black. In the meantime, we had either been too upset with each other, too busy, or had just forgotten. And I hadn't gotten much of a chance to go to the Owlery. So I was glad to see that he had finally brought me a letter.

Dear Tara,

How has school been? We haven't talked in a little while. We've missed hearing from you. But we know that you're busy and have exams to worry about in the coming weeks. We heard about the Quidditch game. Well done! We knew that you would be wonderful. The Firebolts are quite something, aren't they? I've loved riding my own. We'll have to take them out together one time.

We miss you at home. Everyone misses you. Vernon and Petunia don't, but what else is new? They've been very happy to tell everyone that Harry is doing dismally at his school for troubled boys, whatever it's called. We can't wait to see you when you get back home. We'll have to train a lot over the summer. You'll be full-time on your team next year!

How are classes going? How are things going with Sirius Black at the school? Has anything interesting been happening lately?

Love always,
Mom and Dad (Hale, too).

Smiling softly, I folded the letter back up and placed it down on the table. For a moment I started sipping on the coffee that I had set out in front of me and chewing on a piece of bacon. I had been busy - but it wasn't with exams. It was with their stupid old friend. I appreciated their comment about the Quidditch games. Sometimes that was the most important part of school for me. As for Vermin and Horse-Face... damn them. Classes were a massive pain in the butt, Black had been eerily close to me, and anything interesting... I wasn't ready for them to know about Cedric just yet.

"Who's that from?" Harry asked.

"Mom and Dad. They say hello," I said.

Harry nodded, reading the letter over my shoulder. "Tell them that I said hello back." I nodded blankly, pulling out a blank piece of parchment. "Ah, anything interesting? Are you going to tell them about Diggory?" Harry teased.

"No! I'll tell them on my own time. If you tell them yourself, I'll kill you," I snarled.

Harry laughed, taking my letter to read it over. "They'll just catch you two snogging," Ron said, not even bothering to look up from his letter to Charlie.

"Who asked you? Shut up," I snapped at Ron before looking back to Harry. "What does your letter say?"

As Ron read over Charlie's letter - who apparently was doing very well and having a wonderful time with his dragons - Harry tore open the envelope that had come from his own sender. It definitely wouldn't be from Vermin and Horse-Face. They liked to pretend that Harry wasn't even alive while he was out at Hogwarts with us. IN the meantime, Hedwig and Dai were helping themselves to some of Neville's cornflakes. Dai kept squawking at me to pet him though. The note inside of Harry's folder said:

Dear Harry, Tara, and Ron,

How about having tea with me this afternoon 'round six? I'll come and collect you from the castle.

WAIT FOR ME IN THE ENTRANCE HALL; YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED OUT ON YOUR OWN.

Cheers,
Hagrid.

Right... I had almost forgotten that Harry and I weren't allowed to be alone at any given moment. It was a new rule. Not that they could really enforce it, but they definitely wouldn't be happy if they managed to catch us out in the halls by ourselves. We weren't even allowed to be alone, together. Mostly because that was pretty much just as bad as being alone. It meant that I spent most of my time with the rest of my friends, trying very hard to avoid being dogged by questions about Sirius Black or Cedric Diggory.

"He probably wants to hear all about Black!" Ron exclaimed.

"He has to already know," I commented.

"But not the whole thing," Ron continued.

"You honestly think that the rest of the professors haven't told each other what really happened? Hagrid knows, I promise you that," I said.

"So what else would he be calling us for?" Harry asked.

What else could he have been calling us for? I wasn't sure. "I don't know, but I don't think that it's to ask about Sirius Black. I mean, how can you be so sure about that?" I asked Ron.

"What else could it be?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure, but he doesn't seem that happy about it," I said, rereading the letter.

"He seems perfectly fine," Ron said flippantly.

Rolling my eyes, I went back to my breakfast. "Alright," I muttered.

I'd barely taken two bites when a voice came from behind me. "Hey, Tara."

Turning back, I smiled when I saw that it was Cedric. The two of us instantly locked eyes. There was a slight hush that fell over the Great Hall and I rolled my eyes, hesitating and waiting for the speaking to start again. I wanted to wait for whispers to start. Granted, they would be able the two of us, but at least they wouldn't be able to overhear what we were saying. Being a weekend, the two of us would be able to do something other than a five-minute conversation between classes or a quick hello in the Great Hall for breakfast or dinner.

Cedric was standing slightly back from the table as Ron and Harry rolled their eyes. I dropped the parchment, having forgotten about my letter to write to my parents. "Have fun with your boyfriend," Harry muttered, freeing me from them for the day.

"I'll be back at the Common Room before six," I said.

"See you," Ron said.

"Hi, Harry. Ron," Cedric greeted nicely.

"Hey, Cedric," Harry said bluntly.

"Hey," Ron greeted, emotionless.

That was all the two of them said before standing from the table and leaving the Great Hall, probably to do something far away from wherever Cedric and I would be. Cedric watched them leave, grinning at their backs. "Look at how happy they are whenever they see the two of us together," Cedric teased, looking back at me.

"They'll get over it," I said.

"Has the rest of the school?" Cedric asked.

"It's like you're deaf," I laughed.

How could he have possibly not heard all of the whispers that circulated the school about us? Cedric laughed, giving me a hand. "I've told you before, I don't listen to the gossip," Cedric said truthfully.

"Wanna go somewhere?" I asked.

"I would love that," Cedric said.

That was what I really wanted. I really didn't want to be around the rest of the school. I didn't care that they knew about the two of us. Not after what had happened at the game. It really didn't matter these days. Cedric offered me his hand up from the Gryffindor table so that we could leave the Great Hall. I could hear the chatter rise again as Cedric looped an arm over my shoulder and I blushed madly. Cedric snorted under his breath, knowing that I was embarrassed with all of the attention. As the two of us made our way out of the Great Hall, I smiled up at Cedric.

"You know, not listening to the gossip; that's a skill that I wish I had," I growled.

"You'll learn eventually," Cedric consoled. "So what are they all saying?"

"Well Sirius Black has more become the talk of the school lately. They've become a little less interested in the two of us. But I still hear the rumors. Most people seem to just be curious how the two of us ended up together," I explained.

"How did we end up together?" Cedric asked teasingly.

"You just couldn't leave me alone," I teased.

Cedric laughed, pulling me a little tighter. "Cute."

"Aren't I?"

It was probably the single most confident that I had ever been around him. Mostly because now I knew how he really felt about me. Cedric laughed and pulled me into a kiss. The hall wasn't that crowded because breakfast was still going on, but one or two people were wandering around. Thankfully no one commented on it, as couples kissed all the time and much more graphically. I had accidentally walked into those situations a number of times. Cedric and I stayed together for a few moments before I finally backed away, grinning up at him.

"Nice to do that without worrying about who's going to see us," Cedric commented.

So it turned out that I wasn't the only person who had been embarrassed for someone else to see us... "Maybe it was a good thing that you kissed me during the game," I said slowly.

"Me?" Cedric asked, aghast. "That was definitely you."

"Shut up," I snapped.

We both laughed as I shoved him away from me. That was absolutely his fault. Cedric waltzed back over and looped an arm over my shoulder as we walked. "What were Harry and Ron talking about?" Cedric finally asked.

"Oh, we got a letter from Hagrid. He wants to have tea with us tonight. To talk about something - Sirius Black, I'm sure - or something of the likes. He's coming to collect us at six," I explained.

"That should be fun. Hagrid's always been so nice."

"He is. Literally a gentle giant."

We walked in silence for a few moments before Cedric spoke again. "How are you doing with everything about Black?"

"Honestly, I'm a little creeped out," I admitted.

"He went up the boys' staircase, didn't he?"

"Yes... I fell asleep on the couch that night after the game. Down in the Common Room. He walked right past me. He had to have. That's the only way that he could get up there," I said, still unnerved by the thought that Sirius Black had walked right past me, sleeping and defenseless. "I know that he wants me dead. Why didn't he kill me? I was right there. Powerless to do anything to stop it."

Cedric sighed and pressed a kiss against my temple. "Well I'm glad that he didn't. Maybe he wanted to take care of Harry first," Cedric said.

Unfortunately Cedric's words didn't make me feel much better. "That's what they were thinking. But why go after Ron?" I asked.

"If the curtains were drawn, he might not have realized that it was Ron and not Harry," Cedric reasoned.

It was what everyone else had been thinking, including me. "But he slashed them open. Wouldn't he have noticed and turned? Ron said that he was still facing him when he woke up," I continued.

"Trying to make a clean getaway?"

"I don't know. The whole thing gives me a headache."

"Did you see anything when Ron woke up and screamed?"

Should I tell him what I saw at the base of the staircase? I didn't want to make him even more paranoid about my safety. But I decided to give it a try. "I thought that I might have seen a shadow in the corner of the Common Room, but now I'm wondering if I was just imagining it. I really don't know. I wish that I did," I muttered.

Cedric shook his head. "It's probably not safe to fall asleep down in the Common Room."

"I know. I'll have to start sleeping up in my dorm."

"What were you downstairs for?"

For whatever reason, I didn't particularly want Cedric to know that I had slept on the couch with Fred and George. "There was a party going on. You heard about that. I just fell asleep downstairs while I was trying to clean everything up. Didn't want to get yelled at by Professor McGonagall for the mess," I explained as loosely as possible.

"Were you alone?" Cedric asked. "Maybe Black didn't want to risk hurting you with others around."

There was really no point in lying. "Fred and George were downstairs too," I admitted.

To my complete pleasure, Cedric didn't seem bothered by the fact that we had been together. Perhaps because both of them had been there. "He could have wanted to try and avoid them seeing him attack you," Cedric reasoned.

Groaning, I ran my hands through my hair. "This is a nightmare. My entire life is a nightmare," I mumbled.

Cedric smiled, pulling my hands away from my face. "Come on. It's not that bad. So... you have a serial killer out to get you," Cedric said slowly and somewhat awkwardly.

"I think you've just helped my case," I teased.

"Your life is interesting."

"It's a disaster."

"Maybe. But it's a fun disaster," Cedric said seriously. My head snapped over to him as I laughed irritably and smacked him. He merely laughed at my irritation. "I'm just kidding. Tara, you're safe here."

"Sirius Black has broken in twice," I deadpanned.

Cedric's face flushed slightly. He knew that I was right. "The Fat Lady is back in her place, right?" Cedric asked. I nodded. "They have extra security measures all throughout the castle. Everyone is looking out for you and Harry. They're not going to let anyone hurt you two. It's going to be alright."

"I guess. Come on. Let's talk about something else. This drives me insane," I prompted.

"Alright. Wanna help me study for my O.W.L.'s?" Cedric asked.

"No," I said bluntly.

Cedric laughed. "That was honest."

"I don't even want to do my own homework."

"Bad student."

"I am not!"

Cedric laughed again. "Come on... Let's go study," he prompted.

"Buzzkill," I grumbled.

"I'll throw in a Sugar Quill."

A Sugar Quill... That was almost worth having to study on a weekend, which was honestly something that I should have been doing anyways. There was a lot of work that I could have been doing right now. Work that I had been too preoccupied to think about doing before. Cedric reached down into his messenger bag that was slung over his shoulder, pulled out a Sugar Quill, and tossed it to me. I laughed and caught it, immediately opening the wrapper and biting off the top.

"Think that you were going to run into me?" I teased.

Cedric smiled, pulling another one out for himself. "Actually I was looking for you. Hoping to run into you after breakfast," Cedric said.

"If only we could have phones here," I groaned.

Cedric grinned again. "It would make things much easier." At least he knew what a phone was. "I thought about sending Rusty with a letter asking you to meet me somewhere," Cedric continued.

"Luckily for you, it worked out. Are you serious about the library?"

"Yes, I am."

"Damn you," I barked.

While everyone else would be out having fun outside or enjoying their two days off of school, I would have to be in the library. It definitely wasn't the way that I wanted to spend my weekend. Cedric laughed at my irritation as he wrapped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me along with him. I rolled my eyes as we headed up towards the library. But we did have to take a detour to the Gryffindor Tower so that I could grab my things. Cedric waited for me out in the hall - apparently getting a few dirty looks from the Gryffindor boys - before I came back out.

It seemed that none of the Gryffindor boys were happy about our relationship. They liked me and didn't want to see me get hurt. I was glad that Cedric found the whole ordeal somewhat funny. As we headed back downstairs towards the library, with our things in tow, I made numerous complaints about how he was ruining my supposedly fun weekend. He merely ignored me, whopping me over the head. I really didn't want to study, but it was something for us to do together, since we had no classes together, weren't in the same year, and weren't in the same House.

We ended up taking a brief detour - Cedric's way to keep me from complaining that he didn't even give me the morning to not study - before winding up in the library. More complaints followed when I realized that it wasn't even ten in the morning yet. Cedric laughed and pulled me along with him, only stopping briefly to apologize to Madam Pince about the noise that we were making. I moved towards a table at the front of the library, the same place that I normally would sit at with Hermione. The same place that Malfoy had bothered me at the other day.

The moment that I went to sit in the chair closest to me, I felt Cedric's hand wrap around my wrist. He yanked me back from the seat - surprising my slightly - before dragging us back towards the furthest shelf of the library. The same place that we normally would sit together to avoid the stares of most of the students and Madam Pince's watchful eye. We took the floor rather than one of the dusty tables and spread out our homework. It took me a few barks from Cedric to actually get to work rather than just munching on my Sugar Quill and watching him work.

Eventually I finally gave in and started doing my Divination homework. Mostly because I really did have homework that I needed to get done. It was definitely my least favorite subject to work on - as I still thought that it was absolute hooey - but I had to get it done. I mostly just completely wrote down made-up answers on my assignment. Cedric looked like he was working on something with Defense Against the Dark Arts. I knew that he was good at it, but it was one of those subjects that you always had to study for.

"What are you working on?" I asked curiously.

"Defense," Cedric said.

"I know that. What in Defense?"

"Full Body-Bind Curse."

"Seriously?" I snorted.

Cedric finally looked up. "What?"

"That's such an easy one," I said.

Cedric scoffed and placed own his quill. "Alright, smarty pants. You do it," he huffed.

"Okay." I brought out my wand and lowly cried, "Petrificus Totalus!"

To my absolute pleasure, the spell ended up working absolutely perfectly. Just the way that it had when Neville had taken the spell from Hermione. Clearly I had surprised Cedric, who likely hadn't thought that it would work quite that well. His body snapped together on the ground - which was rather funny as he didn't have much place to move - before collapsing in his place. I leaned backwards, laughing loudly. The look on his face - frozen in time - was one of the funniest things that I had seen in a long time. It was very funny to see the horrified look in his eyes.

Even better was the fact that he wouldn't be able to get out of that position for a few minutes. I didn't know the Counter-Curse - or if there even was one - and I wouldn't have used it anyways. It was about five minutes before the spell finally wore off. My laughter had finally gone down to just a little giggle, but it kicked back up when he finally managed to come back to. He sat up slowly, clearly slightly dazed, as he stared at me blankly. It was enough to make me burst out into another fit of barking laughter.

Once he had finally managed to recover from what had happened to him he darted towards me and pushed me back against the wooden floor. I laughed as he placed himself over my back, sitting on me. At least he didn't shoot me back with the same spell. We had to be quiet enough to not get yelled at, but we weren't very good at it. The entire time that we were wrestling with each other, Madam Pince came back to yell at us three times. She had warned us that if she had to come back again, we would be kicked out. That was what finally got us to stop.

It took a long time, but we finally managed to settle down and get back to our work. We ended up spending a number of hours getting caught up on work. I made sure to catch up on all of the work that I had been behind with and I even managed to get ahead on the work that was going to be due over the next few weeks. It would at least make studying a lot easier. We went back and forth between talking to each other, sitting back and taking a half-nap, and actually doing our work all day. Not to mention some kissing that went on from time to time.

Thankfully no one caught us doing that, because I knew that it would get back to Harry and Ron and I would never hear the end of it. A few people did walk by during our time together, but I tried very hard to ignore them. Especially with all of the giggling and pointing that kept happening. Just after five-thirty, Cedric and I got to our feet and headed back to our own Houses for the evening. Cedric to spend time with his friends from his own House and me to go and see Hagrid with the boys. We were standing in front of one of the staircases before separating.

"Have fun with Hagrid," Cedric said.

"I will. See you later?" I asked.

"I think you will. I hear there's another Hogsmeade weekend coming soon."

"Did you?"

"I did. Think I might have a shot at a date?" Cedric asked brightly.

"If you're lucky," I teased.

We both laughed. "I'll see you at breakfast, yeah?" Cedric asked.

"See you there."

The two of us smiled at each other and laughed again. As much as I liked seeing Cedric at breakfast, there were always so many glances sent across the tables, seeing as we couldn't even sit together. That was one thing I missed about Ilvermorny. We could sit wherever we wanted. Everyone would always notice when Cedric and I locked gazes and that would just start a new wave of conversations about the two of us. So I would try to avoid his gaze, which was even worse, seeing as it would bring on teasing kissy noises from everyone near me.

At least we would have the summer to not have to exchange glances from across multiple tables. Cedric grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him. I giggled slightly as I stumbled into him, pressing my lips against his own. His arms tightened around me slightly as my own wrapped up around his neck. It wasn't long before I heard a few giggles and I pulled away from Cedric. Parvati and Lavender were passing by us and laughing. They gave me the 'you-owe-us-an-explanation' look before disappearing up the staircase.

After another brief kiss, Cedric and I went about our business. He apparently wanted to spend the evening with his friends before dinner, and I had something else to be doing. Getting ready to head down to Hagrid's with Ron and Harry. It would be nice to see Hagrid, at least. As I walked into the Common Room, I spotted Ron and Harry, both of whom instantly asked about what I had been doing all day. Rolling my eyes, I ignored them and headed upstairs to my dorm. To my surprise, Hermione was already perched on her bed. For once she wasn't doing her work downstairs.

"Hey," I said, somewhat awkwardly.

It had been a long time since Hermione and I had really spoken to each other. I couldn't remember what had happened that had really made the two of us stop speaking. Either Hermione was just nervous to speak to me because of Ron, or she thought that I was really that angry at her. But I wasn't; in fact, I was trying to get Ron and Hermione to make up. Hermione glanced up from the book that she was reading and gave me a weak smile. She hadn't spoken to me since her eruption at the party after the last Quidditch match.

"Hi," Hermione said sheepishly.

Perching myself on the edge of her bed, I noted that she didn't yell at me to leave her alone. I took that as a good thing. "No homework down in the Common Room?" I asked.

"Ron doesn't want me there," Hermione said.

"So? Free country."

"I don't want to listen to his comments all day."

"I guess that makes sense."

We sat in silence for a few moments. I was glad that Lavender, Fay, and Parvati weren't here right now. They wouldn't let us take the chance to talk things out. "I didn't see you down there," Hermione finally commented.

"No. I haven't been around for most of the day."

"Where have you been?"

"Library."

"That's good to hear. Studying?"

"Somewhat."

Hermione smiled. She knew that it wasn't easy to get me to study. "Cedric must have been there," Hermione said.

She was definitely right about that. I smiled and blushed. "Good guess. Yeah, he found me at breakfast in the Great Hall. We started to spend the day together but he has O.W.L.'s soon. He was studying for those and I had stuff to do," I explained.

Hermione was smiling. "He's a good influence on you," she said.

"You know what? He is a good influence on me," I said, laughing. He definitely tried to get me to think things through and he got me to actually do my homework on time. "Do you like him?"

"I think the more important question is, do you like him?" Hermione pointed out.

That was definitely a good point. "Well it wouldn't really make sense if I didn't like him." Hermione smiled as we both giggled. "Yeah, Mione, I like him a lot. I've liked him for a long time. But you knew that," I said.

"I did." She had been the first person that I'd told when I had shared my first kiss with him. It's been a long time since you called me that," Hermione said.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

"Mione," she clarified.

A sharp pang of guilt went through me. I should have said something to her much earlier. More than just the few moments whenever we needed to use the Time-Turner together. "We're best friends, Hermione. I'm really sorry for the way that I've been icing you out because of Ron. It's not fair to you. I'm going to have to sit them down and talk to them about it. We're all best friends," I said, grabbing her hand.

"We were," Hermione said sadly.

"Are," I corrected.

She gave a small smile. We would be fine, I just had to get Ron to stop being such a prat about things. "Are you going to talk to them today?" Hermione asked, somewhat nervously.

Obviously she didn't want to be turned down. Harry was easy. Ron was another story. "Yeah. Maybe with Hagrid is a mediator. He asked us to come see him today," I said.

"Oh."

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Enjoy your trip."

"I promise that I'll get them talking to you again."

"Thanks." Hermione and I flopped back onto her bed, staring up at the stone ceiling. Her head slowly turned to look at me. "You and Cedric make a really cute couple, by the way," Hermione said. I blushed softly, still embarrassed about everything. "Everyone's talking about it. Even with Sirius Black having broken into the school, you two are the center of attention."

"Honestly I can't believe that we're actually together," I said, a furious blush flooding my face.

Hermione leaned up on her forearms. "So you two are officially dating?"

"Yeah."

"Congratulations. I think you're one of the rare people that manages to turn their first crush into a real relationship," Hermione teased.

She was right. I hadn't even thought about that. I had actually managed to make my first crush turn into my first relationship. I laughed under my breath and gently kicked Hermione. "Better mine than yours," I teased.

Hermione's eyebrow rose. "What are you -?"

"Lockhart."

Hermione's face turned bright red. "Oh, stop."

"You deserved that. I can't believe that you ever had a crush on him. That man tried to erase my memory!" I barked.

"Okay, okay. I get it. He's not a good man."

We both laughed again. Not a good man was a bit of an understatement for Gilderoy Lockhart. I wasn't sure what would have been a better description for him, but it definitely wasn't good enough. Hermione and I laid in her bed for a while, legs draped over the others, as we chatted back and forth about Cedric, my new relationship with him, and the rumors that were running rampant around the school. Apparently my reputation had suffered slightly, considering that the two of us would disappear for long stretches of time. I blanched nervously at the thought. Not for a long time...

Finally I sat up and stared at the Muggle alarm clock that Hermione had. "It's almost six o'clock. I should leave. Hagrid will be here soon," I said, really not wanting to leave her alone again.

"Say hello for me," Hermione said.

"I will," I said, jumping up from the bed. "See you later. Hey... We'll talk later, okay?"

Hermione smiled and nodded, grabbing the book back from her bedside table. "Good. Five minutes isn't nearly enough time for you to tell me all about you and Cedric," she teased.

"Absolutely," I said brightly.

The two of us hugged each other before I grabbed my coat, heading back downstairs to the Common Room. Ron and Harry immediately started bugging me about where I had just gone - to which I had snappily replied that at least one of us had to be speaking to Hermione - which had silenced them almost immediately. Ron was still grumbling about Crookshanks. I knew that he would get over it. He just needed to hear someone reason it out and remember that, no matter what, he loved Hermione. As much as he would never admit it.

We were sitting on the couch for a few moments before Fred and George appeared at my sides. I almost instantly shooed them away, sensing where the conversation was heading. They wanted to tease me about where I had been all day. After a few missed tries of them teasing me about where Cedric and I had vanished to all day - which had caused a loud uproar from Ron and Harry - I had finally managed to get the twins to leave me in peace. Now that things with Black had died down, I could tell that the rumors with Cedric would start to spin up again.

Maybe there would be another break-in or something of the likes. The rumors about where we vanished for hours on end would quickly embarrass me. I was only fourteen! I didn't want... that. After barking at Harry and Ron to leave me alone and not believe the rumors, they finally let it rest. For a while, at least. When the clock finally struck six o'clock in the afternoon, Harry, Ron, and I left Gryffindor Tower, passed the security trolls at a run, and headed down to the entrance hall. Hagrid was already waiting for us.

"Hi, Hagrid!" I chirped. "Hermione says hello."

"Tell her I said the same," Hagrid prompted.

"When were you talking to Hermione?" Ron asked.

"When I was upstairs. We're still friends, Ron! So are you two, whether or not you like it," I snapped.

"Not until she gets rid of that damned menace of a cat. All right, Hagrid! S'pose you want to hear about Saturday night, do you?" Ron asked as we walked up to the giant.

"I've already heard all abou' it," Hagrid said, opening the front doors and leading us outside.

"Oh," Ron said, looking slightly put out.

Of course he had wanted to tell Hagrid about what had happened with Sirius Black. He was running out of people to tell. But the professors were normally the first people to end up hearing about any attacks in the castle. The four of us headed off together through the misty grounds. There was a slight chill in the air but the sky was clear. At least the Quidditch Final would likely be played in sunnier conditions. But it also meant that Slytherin would be playing in the easiest conditions. It didn't matter. We would beat them. I knew it.

The first thing we saw on entering Hagrid's cabin was Buckbeak, who was stretched out on top of Hagrid's patchwork quilt, his enormous wings folded tight to his body, enjoying a large plate of dead ferrets. Averting my eyes from that unpleasant sight, I saw a gigantic, hairy brown suit and a very horrible yellow-and-orange tie hanging from the top of Hagrid's wardrobe door. Was Hagrid planning a date? I immediately bowed to Buckbeak, who quickly gave one in return. Just so that I could pet him when he was done with his... dinner...

"What are they for, Hagrid?" Harry asked, pointing to the clothes.

"Buckbeak's case against the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures. This Friday. Him an' me'll be goin' down ter London together. I've booked two beds on the Knight Bus," Hagrid said.

Idiot! Of course he wasn't going on a date. I felt a nasty pang of guilt. Judging by the looks on Harry and Ron's faces, I figured that they must have felt guilty about it too. We had all completely forgotten that Buckbeak's trial was so near. There was an uneasy look on Harry and Ron's faces. I could only hope that Hermione had been helping Hagrid with the case. The rest of us had also forgotten our promise about helping him prepare Buckbeak's defense; the arrival of the Firebolts and my new relationship with Cedric had driven it clean out of our minds.

As evening dawned, Harry, Ron, and I took our seats in the oversized chairs. Fang the boarhound darted over and plopped himself in my lap. I grunted as Fang's overly-large body crushed me underneath him. At least he was cute. Hagrid poured us all tea and offered us a plate of Bath buns, but we knew better than to accept; we had had too much experience with Hagrid's cooking. If there was one person who might have been a worse cook than I was, it was definitely Hagrid. Although he did make good tea.

"I like that tie, Hagrid," I said awkwardly, wanting to break the silence.

Hagrid smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Thank yeh, Tara. I got somethin' ter discuss with yeh three." I gulped deeply. That was what Hagrid wanted. To talk about Hermione. "Mainly yeh two," Hagrid clarified, sitting across from us and motioning between Harry and Ron, all while looking uncharacteristically serious.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I figured," I commented.

"Hermione," Hagrid said, giving me a small nod.

"What about her?" Ron asked sharply.

Obviously he didn't want to talk about her. But that was enough to annoy me. "Are you kidding? She's hurting," I snapped.

The look on her face this afternoon had been heartbreaking. Hagrid pointed a thick finger at me, nodding. "Absolutely. She's in a righ' state, that's what. She's bin comin' down ter visit me a lot since Chris'mas. Bin feelin' lonely," Hagrid said, making me feel a little sick. She was worse-off than I had thought. "Firs' yeh weren' talking to her because o' the Firebolt, now yer not talkin' to her because her cat -"

" - ate Scabbers!" Ron interjected angrily.

"Shut up!" I barked.

There was no need to protect his gross little rat. He could get a new one. Scabbers had been lucky to live as long as he had, anyways. "Because her cat acted like all cats do," Hagrid continued doggedly. "She's cried a fair few times, yeh know. Goin' through a rough time at the moment. Bitten off more'n she can chew, if yeh ask me, all the work she's tryin' ter do."

The Time-Turner... Did Hagrid know about that? Probably not. I assumed that he at least knew that she was taking far more than the average load. "That's what I told her at the beginning of the semester. Every time that I try to talk to her, she's always doing some work. She won't listen to me. She always ignores me and tells me to leave her alone and do her work. Today was the first time that I really got to speak to her," I explained.

Hagrid nodded somewhat blankly. I assumed that Hagrid was more upset with Ron and Harry - who had barely spoken with her. "She's afraid yer jus' gonna reject 'er," Hagrid explained.

That was what I had figured was happening when I'd seen her earlier. "I know."

"Still found time ter help me with Buckbeak's case, mind… She's found some really good stuff fer me… reckon he'll stand a good chance now," Hagrid said.

"That's wonderful news," I said brightly.

The last thing that I wanted was for Buckbeak to lose his case. He really was a sweetheart. "Hagrid, we should've helped as well - sorry -" Harry began awkwardly.

"I'm not blamin' yeh!" Hagrid roared, waving Harry's apology aside. I was definitely glad that Hagrid wasn't blaming us for not being around to help. "Gawd knows yeh've had enough ter be gettin' on with. I've seen yeh practicin' Quidditch ev'ry hour o' the day an' night - but I gotta tell yeh, I thought you two'd value yer friend more'n broomsticks or rats. Tha's all."

Hagrid was completely right. We had been valuing things that were far less important than Scabbers and Crookshanks. Who cared about those two? Not me. Not really Ron or Hermione either. They were just upset with each other more than anything else. It was time that we changed that. We were best friends and nothing - not even Hermione's cat eating Ron's rat - was going to change that. As I scowled at the two boys, I noticed Harry and Ron exchange uncomfortable looks. They knew that Hagrid was right too.

"You're right, Hagrid. We've been terrible to her. I haven't been trying hard enough to help her out with her work," I reasoned.

"Really upset, she was, when Black nearly stabbed yeh, Ron," Hagrid said, earning a guilty look from Ron. "She's got her heart in the right place, Hermione has, an' you two not talkin' to her -"

"If she'd just get rid of that cat, I'd speak to her again!" Ron interjected angrily.

"You're going to let that cat ruin your friendship?" I asked sharply.

"It's a menace!" Ron shouted.

My teeth ground together. "So? You know how many people hated Scabbers? Or how much I hate Hale? I don't let that ruin the relationships that I have with the owners," I snapped, thinking of Ron and my parents.

"But she's still sticking up for it! It's a maniac, and she won't hear a word against it!" Ron yelled.

"Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou' their pets," Hagrid said wisely.

That instantly shut everyone up. No one wanted to be the person to hurt Hagrid because of what was happening with Buckbeak. It was definitely time that we talked about something else. Not our slight ousting of Hermione or Buckbeak's upcoming trial. Interrupting my thoughts, behind us, came the sound of Buckbeak spitting up a few ferret bones onto Hagrid's pillow. We ended up spending the rest of our visit discussing Gryffindor's improved chances for the Quidditch Cup. At nine o'clock, Hagrid walked us back up to the castle.

Not before I could spend a long time sitting and playing with Buckbeak. He was a sweetheart who I really didn't want to see get hurt. As we walked around the corner to the Great Hall, I smiled at Cedric, who was on watch for students out of bed. He gave me a little wink as I walked past and I blushed instantly, looking down to the ground. I could practically hear Ron and Harry rolling their eyes. To my absolute horror, Hagrid laughed. After grilling him for a moment, he promised that he wouldn't say a word to my parents as long as I told them when I saw them in person next.

It was something that I would have to tell them at some point. I couldn't just leave them in the dark. I wanted to be the one to tell them, not let someone else tell them or have us get caught - just the way that Amos did at Christmas. When we got back to Gryffindor Tower, we all hugged Hagrid and promised to see him soon. The first sight that I was met with when we entered was the large group of people who were bunched around the bulletin board in the Common Room. I raised my eyebrows as we headed towards it.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Hogsmeade, next weekend!" Ron chirped, craning over the heads to read the new notice.

"Yes!" I cheered excitedly.

"What d'you reckon?" Ron added quietly to Harry and I as we went to sit down.

Obviously he meant about us sneaking into Hogsmeade. We had to! I wanted to go out on another date with Cedric. "Well, Filch hasn't done anything about the passage into Honeydukes…" Harry said, even more quietly.

"Perfect," I said, grinning madly.

The two boys glared at me. "You'll be going with Diggory, then?" Ron asked.

Rolling my eyes at them, I nodded slowly. "I'll spend some time with him, but I'll have to stay under the Invisibility Cloak for the most part. I can't get caught out there by the teachers. I'll spend most of the time with you guys," I said, trying to reach a compromise.

"We're honored," Harry teased.

I was about to snap at him that he was still my best friend and I had known him longer when a voice hissed, "Tara! Harry!" in my right ear.

Both Harry and I started and looked around at Hermione. It was the first time that she had really spoken to us out in public. At least, when it wasn't whenever she wasn't snapping at us to leave her alone so that she could study. Beforehand, the only times that we had spoken to each other were in private - upstairs in the dormitory. But right now she was sitting at the table right behind us and clearing a space in the wall of books that had been hiding her. All of those classes... she would definitely have to drop at least one of them.

"Hi, Hermione," I greeted.

This time she didn't seem very happy to see me. She actually looked rather worried. "Harry, Tara, if you go into Hogsmeade again… I'll tell Professor McGonagall about that map!" Hermione threatened.

My jaws dropped. Looking between Harry and Ron, I realized that I hadn't misheard her. "Are you joking?" I asked dumbly.

"No!" Hermione gasped.

"Can you hear someone talking?" Ron growled, not looking at Hermione.

Apparently things wouldn't be getting better between them anytime soon. "Ron, how can you let them go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you!" Hermione shouted, looking heartbroken. "I mean it, I'll tell -"

"So now you're trying to get Harry and Tara expelled! Haven't you done enough damage this year?" Ron yelped furiously.

Well that definitely wasn't the nicest thing in the world that he could have said. I thought about snapping at him to be nicer to her, but Hermione actually beat me to the punch. Or, rather, Crookshanks beat us both to the punch. Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but with a soft hiss, Crookshanks leapt onto her lap. Hermione took one frightened look at the expression on Ron's face, who looked like he might have a fit, gathered up Crookshanks, and hurried away toward our dormitory.

"So how about it?" Ron asked Harry and I as though there had been no interruption. "Come on, last time we went you didn't see anything. You haven't even been inside Zonko's yet!"

"Oh, yeah! You have to see it. It's great," I said excitedly.

Honestly I didn't think that Hermione would tell Professor McGonagall. At least, if she did, I would have been really upset about it. Hermione was one of my best friends and I loved her, but she could really be a buzzkill at times. Harry hadn't seen much of Hogsmeade yet and I hadn't gotten much of a chance to hang out with Cedric, as a couple, outside of Hogwarts walls. Actually, I'd gotten almost no time. Not as an official couple, at least. Harry and I looked around to check that Hermione was well out of earshot.

"Okay. But you're right. We're definitely taking the Invisibility Cloak this time," Harry said.

There was no way that we couldn't go without it. We would be expelled for sure if they caught us out in Hogsmeade without it. There was no chance that we would get out of breaking even more rules. We had already broken far too many. As the days passed as we moved into next weekend, I noticed that Hogwarts was winding up for another Hogsmeade weekend. It was clear that a lot of people were hoping to go out to Hogsmeade with Cedric - considering that I couldn't - but I had a much better idea. One that I knew he would agree with.

A few days after I had seen the posting for the Hogsmeade weekend, I had found Cedric in the hallway between classes. After a brief moment spent catching up, Cedric had mentioned the upcoming weekend and what my plans were. I had just briefly told him to meet me at the Shrieking Shack at noon and told him to not dare mention it to anyone else. It would be private enough that no one else would see us. I could tell that he wanted to ask me how I was going to manage it, but he had merely laughed and rolled his eyes, playfully warning me not to get caught.

These days' rumors were getting even worse about things with Cedric and I. Mostly because we had passed the almost two weeks mark and there had been no more words from Sirius Black. Some were innocent enough - catching us kissing in the back of the library or stealing a smooch between classes - but others were much worse - evidently seeing us stumble from an empty broom cupboard with ruffled clothes and hair. That one was absolutely false and I had never felt quite so embarrassed. Parvati had been the one to ask me about it.

The rumor had traveled all throughout Hogwarts in a matter of days. Thankfully it had ended when Cedric himself had told some of his friends to stop laughing about the very obviously made-up story. People were still suspicious that we might not have been completely innocent - which we were - but I was trying not to care. My real concern was that I was worried about how it might get back to my parents, both of whom I was planning on eventually telling, but in person and with time. Not right now and not through a letter. They would get far more protective once I told them.

On Saturday morning, Harry and I packed up his Invisibility Cloak in his bag, slipped the Marauder's Map into his pocket, and went down to breakfast with everyone else. We were both trying to look a little put-out about not being able to go. Hermione kept shooting suspicious looks down the table at us - as she obviously didn't believe me when I said that I wasn't going - but we avoided her eye and were careful to let her see us walking back up the marble staircase in the entrance hall as everybody else proceeded to the front doors.

"Bye! See you when you get back!" Harry called to Ron.

"Have a great time!" I added.

We were trying very hard to give somewhat upset looks. It had to be just the slightest bit believable. Ron grinned and winked. Before leaving, Cedric stopped at my side for a moment. He gave me a quick kiss - promising to pick me up something from Honeydukes - sent me a sideways grin, and walked off with his friends. They instantly started to harass him. I could tell by the look that I was getting from Cedric that he wanted me to be careful on my way out to Hogsmeade. Once most people were gone to the carriages, I turned back to Harry with a smile.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

"Let's move," Harry confirmed.

There was a little bit of a time limit that we had. So Harry and I hurried up to the third floor, with him slipping the Marauder's Map out of his pocket as we went. The two of us weren't supposed to be wandering the halls by ourselves, so we definitely had to be careful to ensure that no one saw us. Crouching behind the one-eyed witch, Harry smoothed it out. A tiny dot was moving in our direction. My heart skipped a beat as I squinted at it. We couldn't get caught out here. If nothing else, at least the minuscule writing next to it read Neville Longbottom.

But we had to get out of here before Neville spotted us. Harry quickly pulled out his wand, muttered, "Dissendium!" and shoved his bag into the statue, but before either one of us could climb in ourselves, Neville came around the corner.

Instantly we took a step backwards. "Harry! Tara! I forgot you two weren't going to Hogsmeade either!" Neville cried excitedly.

"Hey, Neville," I greeted awkwardly.

"Hi, Neville," Harry said, moving swiftly away from the statue and pushing the map back into his pocket. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," Neville shrugged. "Want a game of Exploding Snap?"

We could have brought Neville with us, but it would have been even more complicated and Neville wasn't the best person in the world to help keep secrets. As much as it would have been polite to ask Neville if he wanted to come with us, I knew that we couldn't. Plus there was also the issue that we knew how clumsy Neville could be. If we needed to move swiftly, Neville would definitely prove a hindrance. And we really didn't need to make and of the professors even more upset with Neville. So I shook my head with a little smile.

"We're a little busy, actually," I said dumbly.

"Er - not now," Harry started awkwardly. "We were going to go to the library and do that vampire essay for Lupin -"

"I'll come with you! I haven't done it either!" Neville said brightly.

"Er - hang on - yeah, I forgot, I finished it last night!" Harry corrected.

"Mine's been done for a while," I answered.

As much as I liked Neville, I really wanted him to take the hint. "Great, you two can help me!" Neville yelped, his round face anxious. Harry and I exchanged a look. What could we do? "I don't understand that thing about the garlic at all - do they have to eat it, or -"

Neville broke off with a small gasp, looking over Harry's shoulder. I turned with him to see what was happening. My stomach lurched itself into my throat. Not good. Absolutely not good. It was one of the last people that I wanted to see. Right now and in general. It was Snape. He absolutely didn't look happy to see any of the three of us. Out of all of the Gryffindor students, we were likely his least favorite. Although Ron and Hermione were likely pretty high on that list too. Neville took a quick step behind Harry and I, whom he knew would defend him from Snape.

"And what are you three doing here?" Snape asked, coming to a halt and looking from one of us, to the other, to the last. "An odd place to meet."

To my immense disquiet, Snape's black eyes flicked to the doorways on either side of us, and then to the one-eyed witch. Harry and I quickly exchanged a look with each other. We knew exactly what was going on. Snape knew what was beyond the one-eyed witch statue. He had to have known. He must have been at school around the time that the Marauder's Map was created. Or, if nothing else, he had to have known that this was a way out of the castle. At least he hadn't managed to catch us in the act of getting into the opening.

"We're not - meeting here. We just - met here," Harry stuttered.

"Just ran into each other. Happens sometimes," I said, as carelessly as I could.

"Indeed. You two have a habit of turning up in unexpected places, Potter, Nox, and you both are very rarely there for no good reason," Snape said. I supposed that he was right. Ms. Norris, Justin, and Nearly-Headless Nick had been Petrified just moments before we had found them. Not that we had done anything. "I suggest the three of you return to Gryffindor Tower, where you belong."

Damn him. He had to have known that we were trying to get out of Hogsmeade. He likely wanted to expel us, but he couldn't, considering the fact that he didn't see us doing anything against the rules. Seeing as Harry and I weren't supposed to be wandering the halls most of the time anyways, Snape was well within his rights to tell us to go back to Gryffindor Tower. So Harry, Neville, and I set off without another word. As we turned the corner, Harry and I looked back. Snape was running one of his hands over the one-eyed witch's head, examining it closely.

So I was right. Snape did know about the statue. Maybe not how to open it, but he had to have known that it was a passage to Hogsmeade. Harry and I wandered back to Gryffindor Tower slowly, only managing to shake Neville off at the Fat Lady by telling him the password, then pretending that we had left his vampire essay in the library and doubled back. I had promised Neville that I would help him later, finally managing to get away from him. Once out of sight of the security trolls, Harry pulled out the map again and held it close to his nose.

There was no way that we could run into Snape again. He was surely bring us to Dumbledore, insisting that we were doing something against the rules - which was completely accurate. The third floor corridor seemed to be deserted by now. We had to get moving. We were already running late to meet Ron, and I was definitely running late to meet Cedric for our date. Whoops. Harry and I scanned the map carefully and saw, with a leap of relief, that the tiny dot labeled Severus Snape was now back in its office. We would make it out there.

Together Harry and I sprinted back to the one-eyed witch, muttered the spell, opened her hump, and I stepped back to watch Harry heave himself inside. For a moment I listened to him slide down to meet his bag at the bottom of the stone chute. Harry called up to me and I lifted myself somewhat awkwardly into the hump of the statue. I slid down the little slide and into Harry's arms. Once I had straightened myself out, I stepped back and let Harry wipe the Marauder's Map blank again. A moment later, the two of us set off at a run.

"Damn that was close," I panted, slipping on the stones.

"I'll say. We're gonna be a little late," Harry panted back.

"I know. I'll have to go straight to the Shrieking Shack. But I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Okay."

We would actually managed to make it there in time. I checked the watch on my wrist and saw that we were already pushing past twelve o'clock. By the time that I actually made it to the Shrieking Shack, there was a good chance that I would be at least half an hour late. Hopefully he wouldn't leave, thinking that I had gotten caught. Why can't wizards use cell phones? He was usually good about waiting for me - as my timing was never that great. The two of us jogged along the corridor, sweat soaking my forehead as we continued down the path.

Once we finally arrived at Hogsmeade, the two of us stopped, wiping our brows, before stepping underneath the Invisibility Cloak. It took us a few moments to wrap ourselves completely in it before we could leave. The moment that we were sure that we weren't going to be caught, Harry and I, completely hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, stepped into the cellar. It was finally easy to make it out into the store. We simply had to be very careful about not bumping into someone. After a minute, we emerged into the sunlight outside Honeydukes and prodded Ron in the back.

"It's us," Harry muttered.

"What kept you two?" Ron hissed.

"Snape was hanging around," Harry explained.

The clock inside Honeydukes was still ticking away, making me later and later for my date. "Drop me off near the pathway, alright? I need to go to the Shrieking Shack," I whispered.

"Okay," Harry said.

Together, the three of us set off up the High Street. As we walked, we stayed directly behind Ron, ensuring that our footsteps in the snow would mingle with Ron's. We definitely didn't want anyone to start getting suspicious. Harry kept an arm around my shoulders as I kept the corner of the Invisibility Cloak in my hands. The wind was whipping at us and I didn't want the Invisibility Cloak to fly off. As we continued towards the Shrieking Shack, I glanced around. I could see Cedric's friends and he wasn't with them. Maybe he was still waiting for me.

"Where are you two? Are you still there? This feels weird..." Ron kept muttering out of the corner of his mouth.

"Don't talk to people who others can't see. You'll look crazy," I snapped quietly.

"Right," Ron said.

"Here's the road," Harry said as we emerged on the edge of the pathway that led to the Shrieking Shack. "See you...?"

"Give me half an hour or so," I said.

"Have fun," Ron said.

"See you later. Be careful on your way back," Harry warned.

"Of course," I said.

Ducking out from underneath the Invisibility Cloak, I waved the boys off before darting away. I definitely needed to hurry up before Cedric got tired of waiting. Smiling at the feel of fresh air - rather than being stifled under the cloak - I headed over towards the Shrieking Shack. I could see Cedric standing near the fence, leaning back on it. As I walked up, I could see that Cedric kept looking down and checking his watch. Obviously he was wondering where I was. Which made sense, as I was almost half an hour late. I felt terrible that he might have been thinking that I blew him off.

"Hey," I panted, darting up to Cedric.

His head shot up in my direction. His bored and slightly irritable look vanished from his face as he smiled at me. He pushed himself off of the fence and towards me. "Tara. There you are," Cedric greeted.

"Sorry I'm late," I said.

Cedric caught me in a hug as I walked up to him. "That's alright. Something hold you up?" Cedric asked.

Scoffing under my breath, I nodded. "Snape. He caught Harry and I over by the three-eyed witch statue and we had to do a very circuitous route back to the statue. And we had to lose Neville along the way," I explained.

"Neville?" Cedric asked confusedly.

"Yeah. Did I not tell you that he wasn't allowed into Hogsmeade anymore?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Cedric shook his head. "No. What happened?"

"Sir Cadogan - the guy who took over the Fat Lady's portrait after Sirius Black broke in - kept changing the password for the Gryffindor Tower. Neville couldn't keep track of them so he started writing them down. He must have lost the paper. One day clearly Sirius Black managed to pick it up and use the password to get into the Common Room. Neville's barred from all Hogsmeade trips until Black has been captured."

"I want to say that I'm sorry for Neville, but you could have been hurt."

"It was just a mistake. Thankfully it was no harm, no foul."

The two of us smiled at each other. It was the truth. I loved Neville. He was a good friend, despite everything that had happened between us, including my hitting him with numerous spells over the past three years. It was just an accident - him leaving out the passwords. To his credit, I could barely remember them, too. It just helped that I was usually with Hermione - who always knew them. Cedric moved into me and pressed a small kiss against my lips, placing his hand at my lower back, up against my spine.

When we pulled apart, Cedric reached down into his pocket. I raised a brow. "I brought this," Cedric said.

He pulled out a Sugar Quill and I laughed. My addiction to them really was a problem. "A man that knows the way to a woman's heart," I teased, unwrapping it.

"To your heart, at least."

I giggled softly. "What have you been doing for the day?"

Hopefully not standing here and waiting for me the entire time. "Visiting all of the stores. Went through some of the stores with my friends. They're all in the Three Broomsticks right now," Cedric said. That must have been where they were heading when I had seen them earlier. "Told them that I forgot something in the Post Office so that I could meet you out here."

"And how long have you been gone?" I asked.

Cedric glanced down at his watch. "About half an hour."

Despite everything in me wanting him to stay for the day, I knew that he couldn't. "You probably shouldn't be gone for too much longer. They're going to start getting suspicious," I reasoned.

"Just a little while longer," Cedric said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Sorry I took too long to show up," I muttered guiltily.

Cedric shook his head, brushing my hair back off of my forehead. "It's not your fault. Professor Snape always seems to show up at the least convenient times, doesn't he?" Cedric teased.

"Anytime that he's around me is inconvenient," I growled.

We both laughed as we plopped ourselves down in the grass outside of the fence to the Shrieking Shack. I was definitely happy to be out of the castle for a while. I was sick of all of the people whispering about me each time that I walked past. It was nice to have a reasonably calm afternoon. Not that the two of us were going to have a long time to sit together. But we got some time to sit around and share the few Sugar Quills that Cedric had bought in Honeydukes. I had teased him, letting him know that he was getting some bad habits from me.

Embarrassingly enough, I had blushed the moment that he said none of my habits were bad. Even the simplest of comments that he made to me made me blush like mad. It drove me insane. Maybe one day I would stop reacting so childishly to the things that he would tell me. But that day wasn't today. So instead I settled for picking at the grass as the two of us chatted back and forth. Cedric had me settled against his side, our hips pressing against the others, as my head fell against his shoulder, his fingers twirling around my hair.

The two of us ended up spending our half an hour together sitting outside by the Shrieking Shack the entire time. I would have loved to go into Hogsmeade and shot at the stores or get a Butterbeer, but I knew that we couldn't. I would be expelled for sure if someone caught me out here. And I was sure to be caught if I went into the street without the Invisibility Cloak. It wasn't just me who would get in trouble. Cedric would get in trouble too. So we merely sat outside and talked, eating the Sugar Quills and occasionally switching positions.

After a while, I finally leaned forward and kissed him. More than just the one little peck that we had given each other when we'd first met up. At least when we kissed out here, we weren't dealing with anyone watching us. No broom closet rumors for now. Although I was sure that they would start up again soon enough. Cedric almost instantly responded to the kiss. His hand gently splayed out over the back of my neck, keeping me pressed up against him. Not that I would have moved away. This was one of the rare chances that we got to just be together.

One of my hands was resting against his thigh as the other pressed up against his chest. My heart fluttered slightly. He was clearly quite strong from playing Quidditch. I could feel his muscles. And his heart, which was beating annoyingly normally. Not fluttering, like mine. Cedric's hand that wasn't wrapped around the back of my neck was underneath my jaw, allowing him to deepen the kiss slightly. My head tilted backwards slightly as Cedric's fingertips dug into my neck slightly. My own hand gripped onto his shirt, pulling at the threads.

We were together for what felt like ages before someone finally cleared their throat. Already knowing who it was, I blushed and pulled away from Cedric. I had been hoping that we wouldn't be in this position when they came to find me. As I turned back, I noticed that Ron was standing there, glaring at me. Obviously Harry was somewhere very close. He was likely also glaring at me. I pushed myself to my feet and took a step back from Cedric, laughing under my breath. Here we were, having another awkward moment.

"Hey, Ron," Cedric greeted.

"Cedric," Ron said, by way of greeting.

He sounded absolutely thrilled to see Cedric. I rolled my eyes. We were going to be chatting about my kissing Cedric in semi-public again. "I should get going then. I'm going to use the other excuse that I was getting my father a birthday present to get away from my friends so that I could stay out here longer, since everyone knows that you're not allowed out here," Cedric explained.

"I'll see you later," I said.

"Bye, Tara," Cedric said.

He was extremely polite about only pressing a small kiss on my lips, stopping to smile at Ron, before heading back up the pathway to High Street. I turned back from watching him leave to see Ron glaring at me. "Stop glaring at me," I snapped.

Despite not being able to see Harry, I meant it for him too. He had to have been glaring at me. "What is this place?" Harry asked.

"It's the Shrieking Shack," I said.

"Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it," Ron said as we leaned on the fence, looking up at it. I took a moment to dip back underneath the Invisibility Cloak. "I asked Nearly Headless Nick… he says he's heard a very rough crowd lives here. No one can get in. Fred and George tried, obviously, but all the entrances are sealed shut."

"Fred and George have tried getting in there?" I asked curiously.

"Yes," Ron said.

"Idiots," I grunted.

We all laughed. They were such fools. Fred and George were going to get themselves killed if they kept making fools moves like trying to enter the Shrieking Shack. Feeling a little hot from my moments with Cedric, I was considering taking off the cloak for a few minutes when we started hearing voices nearby. I gasped softly. That was just what I was trying to avoid .Someone was climbing toward the house from the other side of the hill; moments later, Malfoy had appeared, followed closely by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy was speaking.

"… should have an owl from Father any time now. He had to go to the hearing to tell them about my arm… about how I couldn't use it for three months…" Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. "I really wish I could hear that great hairy moron trying to defend himself…'There's no 'arm in 'im, 'onest'… that hippogriff's as good as dead."

Asshole. But I couldn't be concerned about that right now. "Oh, Merlin. Malfoy. Get back, quick!" I hissed.

How could Malfoy constantly be saying things like that? First of all, Buckbeak was adorable. Despite being a little frightened of him at first, he was really cute. And he was much friendlier the second time that I saw him. Harry grabbed my arm and pulled me back a few steps. We couldn't be too close to Ron. Although I did feel a little bad about leaving Ron technically alone with Malfoy, who definitely wouldn't leave Ron without a few nasty words. Malfoy suddenly caught sight of Ron. His pale face split in a malevolent grin.

"What are you doing, Weasley?" Malfoy looked up at the crumbling house behind Ron. "Suppose you'd love to live here, wouldn't you, Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your family all sleep in one room - is that true?"

He really could be such an ass about everything. Harry seized the back of Ron's robes to stop him from leaping on Malfoy. "Leave him to us," Harry hissed in Ron's ear.

"What are we doing?" I whispered.

"Follow my lead," Harry said.

"Okay."

What were we doing? I was sure that Harry had some type of plan, but that didn't stop me from being confused about what was happening. Harry grabbed onto my hand and pulled me with him. That was when I realized where we were going. To the mud puddle not far from where I had planted myself with Cedric next to earlier. It made perfect sense now. The opportunity was too perfect to miss. Harry and I crept silently around behind Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle; we both bent down and each of us scooped a large handful of mud out of the path.

"We were just discussing your friend Hagrid. Just trying to imagine what he's saying to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures," Malfoy told Ron. "D'you think he'll cry when they cut off his Hippogriff's -"

Absolutely not. No more chatting about what was going to happen to Buckbeak once the trial was over. The only person who needed to know was Hagrid and us, if he chose to tell us. Harry and I reared back with our hands of mud and tossed them as hard as they could. I had to slap a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing as the mud splattered across the Slytherin's. Malfoy's head jerked forward as the mud puddles hit him; his silver-blonde hair was suddenly dripping in muck. Both Harry and I snorted as Malfoy tried to spit the mud out of his mouth.

"Good aim," I whispered to Harry.

"You too, Chaser," Harry whispered back.

"What the -?" Malfoy started, once he had cleared the mud out of his mouth.

The two of us were still giggling quite a bit. It was almost impossible for me to fall onto the ground from laughing. For once I could hit Malfoy without getting in trouble for it. In the meantime, Ron had to hold onto the fence to keep himself standing, he was laughing so hard. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle spun stupidly on the spot, staring wildly around, Malfoy trying to wipe his hair clean. Harry and I exchanged another look and nodded. We weren't stopping with just one handful of mud each. Not after everything that Malfoy had said.

"What was that? Who did that?" Malfoy snapped.

"Very haunted up here, isn't it?" Ron asked, with the air of one commenting on the weather.

It was a god thing that Malfoy didn't know about the Invisibility Cloak. He could have easily gone back to one of the professors with a complaint about us. But right now they would have just been taking guesses. Crabbe and Goyle were looking scared. Their bulging muscles were no use against ghosts. Malfoy was staring madly around at the deserted landscape. Harry and I were sneaking along the path, where a particularly sloppy puddle yielded some foul-smelling, green sludge. We grinned at each other again.

If there was one thing even worse than getting mud thrown up all over yourself, it was getting some foul-smelling sludge thrown on you. Picking up the small pile of garbage, I reared back and aimed for Malfoy again. Harry was aiming for the other two. We both howled with laughter again as the chunks of sewage splattered all over those three. Crabbe and Goyle caught some this time. Goyle hopped furiously on the spot, trying to rub it out of his small, dull eyes. The bit that I threw hit Malfoy so hard that he fell back to the ground.

"Idiots," I laughed.

"Keep throwing. They'll never figure it out," Harry goaded.

"Of course not. They're far too dull for that," I agreed.

"It came from over there!" Malfoy yelled, wiping his face, and staring at a spot some six feet to the left of Harry and I.

Crabbe blundered forward, his long arms outstretched like a zombie. Harry and I dodged around him, picked up a stick, and lobbed it at Crabbe's back. We both doubled up with silent laughter as Crabbe did a kind of pirouette in midair, trying to see who had thrown it. As Ron was the only person Crabbe could see, it was Ron he started toward, but Harry stuck out his leg. Crabbe stumbled - and his huge, flat foot caught the hem of the cloak. I felt a great tug, then the cloak slid off of our faces. For a split second, Malfoy stared at us.

"Oh, no," I gasped.

"AAARGH!" Malfoy yelled, pointing at our heads.

Then he turned tail and ran, at breakneck speed, back down the hill, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. Harry and I tugged the cloak up again, but the damage was done. This was definitely not a good thing. We were going to be in so much trouble the moment that Malfoy got back to the castle. And he would likely end up beating us there. I knew that he would go to Snape - who would love to get the two of us in trouble - the moment that he got back. It didn't help that Snape was looking for any reason to expel either of us.

"We're in for it, Harry," I said, panicked. "You know that Malfoy's going to tell someone that we were here! Snape saw us earlier in the hallway. He was already suspicious. He'll believe him!"

"We need to go," Harry said quickly.

"Harry, Tara!" Ron breathed, stumbling forward and staring hopelessly at the point where we had disappeared, "you two had better run for it! If Malfoy tells anyone - you'd better get back to the castle, quick."

"Wish us luck," I called.

"Run fast," Ron advised.

Well I definitely wasn't planning on walking. "See you later," Harry, said.

Without another word, the two of us tore back down the path toward Hogsmeade. We were walking as fast as we could while still trying to cover our footprints. "Faster, Harry. We've got to beat Malfoy back to the castle," I breathed quietly.

"We'll beat him," Harry said.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. We have to move. Come on!"

"What if we don't beat him?"

"We have to. Move it!" Harry barked.

If we weren't in trouble with Snape before, we were absolutely in trouble with him now. Whether or not we manage to beat Malfoy back, we would somehow get in trouble for this. At least Hermione would never have to go to Professor McGonagall. We had managed to get on trouble without her. Would Malfoy believe what he had seen? Would anyone believe Malfoy? Nobody knew about the Invisibility Cloak - nobody except Dumbledore. My stomach turned over. Dumbledore would know exactly what had happened, if Malfoy said anything. He might have liked us, but he also liked the rules.

We had gotten away with them enough over the past two and a half years. Our luck was running out. Back into Honeydukes, back down the cellar steps, across the stone floor, through the trapdoor - Harry and I pulled off the cloak, he tucked it under his arm, and the two of us ran, flat out, along the passage. Thankfully we were both fast runners. But there was the other issue. Malfoy would get back first. How long would it take him to find a teacher? He knew where Snape's office was. Panting, a sharp pain in my side from the dead sprint, we didn't slow down until we had reached the stone slide.

"Wait!" I called, stopping Harry and motioning to the Invisibility Cloak. "Put that down. No one can see it."

"But -"

"We'll come back for it. Come on. We have to get to Gryffindor Tower."

Time was ticking. We would have to leave the cloak where it was, it was too much of a giveaway in case Malfoy had tipped off a teacher. Harry reached over and hid it in a shadowy corner, then we started to climb, fast as we could, our sweaty hands slipping on the sides of the chute. It was steeper than I remembered. Harry reached the inside of the witch's hump, tapped it with his wand, stuck his head through, and hoisted himself out. He grabbed me and pulled me out next. The hump closed, and just as we jumped out from behind the statue, I heard quick footsteps approaching.

"No, no, no," I breathed.

For a moment I thought about shouting at Harry to make a run for it. But it didn't matter who it was. If someone saw us out in the hallways, running from something, they would know that there was an issue. It didn't help that we weren't supposed to be out in public together. My heart lodged in my throat when I saw who it was. The worst possible professor for us to run into right now. The one who I had feared Malfoy would go for. It was Snape. He approached Harry and I at a swift walk, his black robes swishing, then stopped in front of us.

"So," Snape said.

The way that he was speaking told me that I wasn't going to like where this one was going. Definitely not good. Possibly the worst thing that we could have done today was get caught. There was a look of suppressed triumph about him. My heart was hammering in my chest but I tried to look as calm and collected as possible. We weren't doing anything wrong... just roaming the halls while everyone was out... The two of us tried to look innocent, all too aware of our sweaty faces and our muddy hands, which we both quickly hid in our pockets.

"Hello, Professor Snape," I said sweetly.

"Save it, Nox. Come with me. Both of you," Snape snapped.

Well that was completely useless... I stared at Harry and swallowed a lump in my throat. I should have known the two of us weren't going to be able to get out of this unscathed. Harry and I followed him downstairs, not daring to speak a word, trying to wipe my hands clean on the inside of my robes without Snape noticing. But he was too busy internally gloating with himself about how wonderful it was that he had caught us in the act. At least, that was what I imagined he was thinking. We walked down the stairs to the dungeons and then into Snape's office.

Harry and I had both been in here only once before, and we had been in very serious trouble then too. It seemed that any time either one of us were close to Snape, it was because we were in trouble. We even sat in the back of the classroom during Potions. As I glanced around the office, I noticed that Snape had acquired a few more slimy horrible things in jars since last time, all standing on shelves behind his desk, glinting in the firelight and adding to the threatening atmosphere. I felt like he was going to feed one of them to us.

"Sit," Snape said. Harry and I sat instantly and in sync. Snape, however, remained standing. "Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with a strange story, Potter, Nox."

Damn it. We didn't beat him back here. My worst fear had been confirmed. Snape wasn't just pleased with having seen us at the one-eyed witch statue that he knew led into Hogsmeade. Malfoy had told him the story and Snape had come rushing to try and meet us before we could get back to Gryffindor Tower. Malfoy must have taken the carriages back. It was the only way that he could have managed to beat us here. Because we had never run so fast before in our lives. Except maybe from Fluffy. Harry and I didn't say anything as Snape paced.

"He tells me that he was up by the Shrieking Shack when he ran into Weasley - apparently alone." Still, Harry and I didn't speak. "Mr. Malfoy states that he was standing talking to Weasley, when a large amount of mud hit him in the back of the head. How do you think that could have happened?"

We tried to look mildly surprised. "I don't know, Professor."

"Perhaps someone was hiding in the bushes and playing a cruel prank," I offered.

Obviously there was no chance that he was buying my story. He knew that we had done it, we knew that we had done it, and everyone knew that if anyone was going to peg Malfoy with mud, it was one of us. In fact, I was known for throwing things at Malfoy. It might as well have been on my resume. Throwing things at Draco Malfoy and breaking his nose. Check. Snape's eyes were boring into Harry's and mine. It was exactly like trying to stare down a Hippogriff. With that thought in mind, I tried hard not to blink.

"Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. Can you imagine what it might have been, Potter? Nox?" Snape asked.

"No," Harry said, now trying - and failing - to sound innocently curious.

I didn't speak. "It was your heads, Potter, Nox. Floating in midair."

Did he really have to say anything? I had thought that Malfoy and I might have been getting to the point that we could be friends. At least, quasi-friends. But this had set us back at least a year. I couldn't believe that he really hated at least me enough to say something that would get me expelled. There was a long silence. I didn't say anything for fear of giving anything away. Harry didn't speak, likely because he was trying to figure out what to say. Snape wasn't speaking, probably waiting to hear our excuses.

"Well Malfoy has been known to see things before," I finally said flippantly.

"Maybe he'd better go to Madam Pomfrey," Harry said. "If he's seeing things like -"

"What would your heads have been doing in Hogsmeade, Potter? Nox?" Snape asked softly.

"It's a curious question. One that likely doesn't have a simple answer," I said almost teasingly.

It didn't please Snape. His eyes narrowed. "Yes. That much I would imagine is accurate. Your heads are not allowed in Hogsmeade. No part of either one of your bodies have permission to be in Hogsmeade," Snape growled.

"We know that," Harry said, striving to keep his face free of guilt or fear. "It sounds like Malfoy's having hallucin -"

"Malfoy is not having hallucinations," Snape snarled, and he bent down, a hand on each arm of Harry's chair, so that their faces were a foot apart. I felt a little badly for Harry, but I was glad that it was happening to him and not me. "If your heads were in Hogsmeade, so were the rest of you."

"We've been up in Gryffindor Tower," Harry said. "Like you told -"

"Can anyone confirm that?" Snape asked.

"We're the only ones who were there," I said quickly.

"As for Longbottom?" Snape asked.

Shit. Didn't think about that one. Would Neville maybe confirm the story? He would probably try. Unfortunately I knew Neville well enough to know that he was terrified of Snape. That meant that he would start stuttering the moment that Snape started to speak to him. It wouldn't work out well if we tried to drag Neville into it. He wasn't Ron or Hermione - who would definitely confirm our story. Even Hermione, who so often threatened to rat us out. So Harry and I didn't say anything. Snape's thin mouth curled into a horrible smile.

"So," Snape said, straightening up again. "Everyone from the Minister of Magic downward has been trying to keep famous Harry Potter and Tara Nox safe from Sirius Black. But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the ordinary people worry about his safety! Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought for the consequences."

Now that was rude. Never had I been quite so happy to not be famous. I had been pleased that I wasn't nearly as famous as Harry a number of times before. I would have never wanted to be like him. But I was slowly realizing that Snape took it so hard on Harry not just because he was famous - although he hated that too. It was because his father, whom Snape had also hated, was famous too. Of course, he was only famous because he had died. Harry and I stayed silent again. Snape was trying to provoke us into telling the truth. We wouldn't do it. Snape had no proof - yet.

"How extraordinarily like your fathers you are, Potter, Nox. They too were exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made them think that they were a cut above the rest of us too," Snape said suddenly, his eyes glittering.

"My father was a professional player," I said stubbornly.

"Silence," Snape growled at me. "Strutting around the place with their friends and admirers... The resemblance between you all is uncanny."

"My dad didn't strut. And neither do I," Harry said, obviously before he could stop himself.

Not good. Definitely not good. "Your father didn't set much store by rules either," Snape went on, pressing his advantage, his thin face full of malice. "Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen -"

"Shut up!" Harry interrupted, shouting loudly.

"Harry!" I gasped.

As much as I hated Snape and what he was saying, I knew that this was the moment to sit and try to grin and bear it. We were already in trouble. Speaking out against a professor would only make things worse for us. Harry was suddenly on his feet. I pressed my forehead into the palm of my hand. What the hell was he thinking? I knew that he was furious, but I didn't care! I was not getting kicked out because of him. Snape's face had gone rigid, the black eyes flashing dangerously. I could tell that Harry didn't care.

"What did you say to me, Potter?" Snape asked.

"I told you to shut up about my dad! I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my dad!" Harry yelled.

Snape's sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk. "Harry, shut up," I begged quietly.

Snape obviously heard me, but he didn't dare peel his eyes away from Harry's. "Listen to your friend, Potter. And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?" Snape whispered. "Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter's delicate ears?"

Now that was a curious moment. Somehow James Potter had saved Severus Snape. What the hell could have happened that James had actually saved Snape? I wouldn't. No matter what was about to happen. After all, Snape was an ass. He probably would have deserved whatever was going to happen. Harry and I both bit our lips. The thought of Harry's father saving Snape was somewhat disconcerting. Neither one of us knew what had happened and we didn't want to admit it - but Snape seemed to have guessed the truth.

"I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter," Snape said, a terrible grin twisting his face. "Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you - your saintly father - yours as well - and their friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn't got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts."

"At least no one was hurt," I said sheepishly.

Clearly it was the wrong move. Snape's uneven, yellowish teeth were bared. "Turn out your pockets, Potter!" he spat suddenly. Harry didn't move. I groaned softly. "Turn out your pockets, or we go straight to the headmaster! Pull them out, Potter!"

He would see it. He would probably know what it was. Cold with dread, I watched as Harry slowly pulled out the bag of Zonko's tricks and the Marauder's Map. Snape picked up the Zonko's bag. Idiot! They had gone shopping while I had been with Cedric. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought about it. What was in Harry's pockets was enough to condemn both of us, since it was obvious that Harry had been with me the entire time. My only hope was that he wouldn't know what the Marauder's Map was.

"Ron gave them to me," Harry said quickly. I was praying that we would get a chance to tip Ron off before Snape saw him. "He - brought them back from Hogsmeade last time -"

"Indeed? And you've been carrying them around ever since? How very touching," Snape purred.

"We were eating them as we walked around," I interjected quickly.

"Of course. And what is this?" Snape asked.

Snape had picked up the map. Harry and I both tried with all of our might to keep our faces impassive. "Spare bit of parchment," Harry finally said with a shrug.

Snape turned it over, his eyes on Harry. "Surely you don't need such a very old piece of parchment? Why don't I just - throw this away?" Snape offered.

His hand moved toward the fire. "No!" Harry said quickly.

All I had done was gasp. Harry had managed to make it clear enough that the 'spare piece of parchment was important. "So! Is this another treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it - something else? A letter, perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or - instructions to get into Hogsmeade without passing the Dementors?" Snape asked, his long nostrils flaring.

Harry and I blinked. "It's just a spare piece of parchment," I insisted.

Snape's eyes gleamed. "Is that so? Let me see, let me see…" Snape muttered, taking out his wand and smoothing the map out on his desk. "Reveal your secret!" he said, touching the wand to the parchment.

"There's nothing there," I insisted.

Nothing happened. Both Harry and I clenched our hands to stop them from shaking. "Show yourself!" Snape said, tapping the map sharply. It stayed blank. Both Harry and I were taking deep, calming breaths. "Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!"

That time, Snape practically whacked the map with his wand. He must have known what it was. But it was also obvious that he didn't know how to make it work. And there was no way that either one of us were going to tell him how. We just had to hope that he got frustrated and gave up. To my surprise, something started to form on the parchment. But it wasn't the map. As though an invisible hand were writing upon it, words appeared on the smooth surface of the map. None of them looked like what I had expected to see.

Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.

Snape froze. Harry and I stared, dumbstruck, at the message. We exchanged a look with each other and I shrugged. I had no idea what the map was doing. I thought that the only way that the writing would appear would be if we said the words that Fred and George had taught us. As I watched, I realized that the map didn't stop there. More writing was appearing beneath the first.

Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.

Now that wasv't very nice. Not that I really cared, considering the number of times that Snape had been rude to us. It would have been very funny if the situation hadn't been so serious. And there were even more words coming.

Mr. Mane would like to put into consideration that Professor Snape needs to keep his abnormally large nose in his own business.

The boys who had created the map must have charmed it to insult people who tried to access the map without the proper instructions. Either that, or they held a grudge with Snape. Could one of them have been... James Potter? No. That was silly. As I watched more words forming on the map, I almost grinned. There was something extremely funny about the whole thing. But I was also a little terrified to see how Snape was going to react when the map was done insulting him.

Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor.

Definitely not good. It was getting worse with each passing second. At least I would be able to laugh about this later. For a moment I closed my eyes in horror. When I finally managed to open them, the map had had its last word.

Mr. Wormtail bids, Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.

In a deafening silence, I waited for the blow to fall. "So... We'll see about this..." Snape said softly.

His voice was so low that I thought he might explode. My hands were shaking slightly. He definitely wasn't happy. He was going to kill us. He was actually going to kill us. I was sure of that. Suddenly Snape turned away from us and he strode across to his fire, seized a fistful of glittering powder from a jar on the fireplace, and threw it into the flames. Was he planning on traveling by Floo Powder? Or was he planning on making some type of fire that would likely end up permanently disfiguring us.

"Lupin! I want a word!" Snape called into the fire.

Of the many things that I had seen in the Wizarding World, I had never seen someone speak directly into a fire before. That was definitely a new one for me. It was rather interesting, at least. Utterly bewildered, Harry and I stared at the fire. A large shape had appeared in it, and it was revolving very fast. It wasn't quite Floo Powder, whatever it was that Snape was using for Professor Lupin. Seconds later, the flames had spun up slightly and Professor Lupin was clambering out of the fireplace, brushing ash off his shabby robes.

"You called, Severus?" Professor Lupin asked mildly.

"I certainly did," Snape said, his face contorted with fury as he strode back to his desk. "I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this."

Snape pointed at the parchment, on which the words of Messrs. Moony, Mane, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were still shining. Did he know what it was. By the way that Snape was speaking to Professor Lupin, I could only imagine that he knew what it was. Maybe the Maurader's Map was something that had been very popular throughout the years. An odd, closed expression appeared on Professor Lupin's face. Maybe he really did know what it was. At least I figured that Professor Lupin would keep us from getting in trouble.

"Well?" Snape asked. Professor Lupin continued to stare at the map. I had the impression that Professor Lupin was doing some very quick thinking. "Well?" Snape repeated. "This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter and Nox got such a thing?"

Lupin looked up and, by the merest half-glance in Harry and I's direction, warned us not to interrupt. I wouldn't have anyways. "Full of Dark Magic?" Professor Lupin repeated mildly. "Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry and Tara got it from a joke shop -"

"Indeed? You think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don't think it more likely that they got it directly from the manufacturers?" Snape asked. His jaw had gone rigid with anger.

It appeared that Harry - like me - didn't understand what Snape was talking about. Nor, apparently, did Lupin. "You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people? Harry, do you know any of these men?" Professor Lupin asked.

"No," Harry said quickly.

"Do you, Tara?" Professor Lupin asked.

"No," I said, just as quickly.

"You see, Severus?" Professor Lupin asked, turning back to Snape. "It looks like a Zonko product to me -"

Right on cue, Ron came bursting into the office. Harry and I both whipped back. He must have run for the carriages the moment that Harry and I had headed back for the castle. I assumed that he had been searching for us for a while. Smart enough of him to figure that Snape was the one to catch us. Everyone was staring at him confusedly. Ron was completely out of breath, and stopped just short of Snape's desk, clutching the stitch in his chest and trying to speak.

"I - gave - Harry - and - Tara - that - stuff," Ron choked. "Bought - it… in Zonko's… ages - ago..."

"Well!" Professor Lupin cried, clapping his hands together and looking around cheerfully. "That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, shall I?" He folded the map and tucked it inside his robes. "Harry, Tara, Ron, come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay - excuse us, Severus."

We all knew that we were damned lucky to have gotten out of this without anything more than a scathing glare from Snape - and likely an even more increased hatred from him. Not that he could have hated us much more than he already did. Harry and I didn't dare look at Snape as we all left his office. My heart was hammering as I was in complete disbelief that we had managed to get out of this mostly unscathed. Harry, Ron, Professor Lupin, and I walked all the way back into the entrance hall before speaking. Then Harry turned to Lupin.

"Professor, I -"

"We didn't -" I interrupted.

"I don't want to hear explanations," Professor Lupin said shortly. He glanced around the empty entrance hall and lowered his voice. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago."

"Do you know what this -?" I started.

"Yes, I know it's a map," Professor Lupin interrupted me again as the three of us looked on in amazement. "I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry."

I knew that we had expected that. Besides, I was too keen for explanations to protest. "Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?" Harry asked, beating me to it.

"Because..." Professor Lupin hesitated, "because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely entertaining."

"Do you know them?" Harry asked, impressed.

"We've met," Professor Lupin said shortly.

He was looking at Harry and I more seriously than ever before. "We didn't know just how... dangerous the map was," I said dumbly.

Professor Lupin nodded, still not looking happy with us. "Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. Or you, Tara. I cannot make either of you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the Dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on both of you. Your parents gave and were willing to give their lives to keep you two alive. A poor way to repay them - gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks," Professor Lupin said seriously.

The guilt wracked through my painfully, just as I was sure that it was with Harry. "We're so sorry," I muttered.

"I know," Professor Lupin said.

"Wait," I said, a thought occurring to me. "Can I ask -?"

"Perhaps after next class, Tara. Can it wait?" Professor Lupin asked.

"Yes, sir," I said, knowing that it wasn't really an option.

By the look on his face, I could tell that he didn't want me asking any questions. He wanted me to ask later. Once he was no longer upset with us and we were no longer in immediate danger from Snape. Professor Lupin walked away without another word, leaving me feeling worse by far than I had at any point in Snape's office. Slowly, Harry, Ron, and I mounted the marble staircase. As we passed the one-eyed witch, I remembered the Invisibility Cloak - it was still down there, but we didn't dare go and get it. Not for a few days, at least.

"What did you want to ask Professor Lupin?" Harry asked curiously.

Should I have really told him what I had wanted to ask Professor Lupin? Probably not. Because I didn't know if I was right. I thought back on my idea with the Marauder's Map and whether or not it had any merit behind it. I was reasonably sure by the way that he had reacted that Professor Lupin was one of the men who had written it. Snape knew too much about it. Could James Potter and Sirius Black have been some of the others? Moony. Perhaps Professor Lupin's allusion to a werewolf? That left two more. For my father and Peter Pettigrew... The math worked out...

"I really did have a question about the vampire essay," I finally answered.

It was a discussion for another day. "You thought about it right then?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

"Professor Lupin's comment reminded me about it," I said.

"It's my fault. I persuaded you two to go. Lupin's right, it was stupid, we shouldn't have done it," Ron said abruptly.

"We just wanted one day. Who could blame us, honestly?" I reasoned.

"But we didn't have to risk -" Ron started.

Then he broke off. We all knew what he meant. We didn't have to say anything more. There was nothing else that we should have said right now. We knew what we had done and we knew that we had let down Professor Lupin - who seemed to think so highly of us. The three of us headed back up towards Gryffindor Tower. It had been a long day that had started so well but was now ruined. I was feeling even worse than when we had been caught. I felt terribly for letting down Professor Lupin, someone who had always believed the best in me.

When we reached the corridor where the security trolls were pacing, I saw that Hermione was walking toward us. I tried to force a smile on my face. I didn't want to hear an 'I-told-you-so speech' right now. Which I knew that she would give me the moment that she realized what was happening. The stupid thing that we had done. One look at her face convinced me that she had heard what had happened. My heart plummeted. Had Malfoy not been the one to tell what had happened? Had she told Professor McGonagall?

"Come to have a good gloat? Or have you just been to tell on us?" Ron asked savagely as she stopped in front of us.

"No," Hermione said.

That was when I realized that she was holding a letter in her hands and her lip was trembling. Something bad had happened to her. "Hermione? Are you okay?" I asked carefully.

"I just thought you ought to know... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed."

A/N: Next time... As the friendship between the Golden Quartet finally returns to normal, the Quidditch final again Slytherin comes and the team works harder than ever to win the Quidditch Cup. Sorry this took so long. I have tendonitis in my right wrist, which makes it very painful to write and type. But it's slowly getting better and I wanted to write anyways. Thanks for the hearts and sweet comments! Let me know what you think! Until next time -A

422: Oh no! I'm sorry that they have you emotionally shook! It'll get worse from here, trust me. Drama will pretty much always exist between Tara and Malfoy. Malfoy definitely won't give her an answer for a long time. I wasn't initially going to have them kiss, but I just couldn't resist it in the moment! Well, like real life, no one just likes one person and stays with them forever. I'm trying to set up potential love interests for later in the story. Fred always seems like a good choice, and he definitely might be a little jealous. Maybe not for a crush just yet, but he is protective of Tara, no matter what. The drama will continue!

Melly: Oh, I'm so glad that you've liked it! Wow, that's insane that you read it so fast! I can't believe that. It definitely runs mostly with the original plot - it might deviate a little more in time - but I definitely try to alter it. Especially as it's now from Tara's P.O.V., rather than Harry's. A Griffin is a good guess! You'll find out soon, just not yet. There are some contradictions early in the story. One day I should really correct those. Thank you for pointing it out though. One day I'll definitely go back and fix them. Yes, unfortunately while the pairing with Cedric is lovely, everyone knows how it would canonically end. I won't promise that I'll keep him alive, but for now, we can focus on the happiness of their relationship! That's a good idea if I do choose to keep him alive. You're doing wonderfully. I would have never guessed that English wasn't your first language. Thank you for taking the time to read the story and I hope that you didn't have to wait too long! Tendonitis is keeping me from writing too much, but I'm slowly working on it. Very cool that you're from Germany! I love knowing my story is read by someone on a different continent! Hope you liked this one!

crazy lil weirdo: I'm so glad that you liked the chapter! I'm really glad that the characters seem to have gradually developed with Tara and she wasn't just automatically in the story, already well-loved. Her relationship with Malfoy will develop over time but it's at a bit of a stand-still right now. They could possibly work out, but I'm not totally sure if I would ever want them together as a endgame. Wow, you've read most of my stories! Thank you so much for reading them! I thought that I might have read reviews from you before lol. Either way, I'm really happy that I write for some of your favorite fandoms and I hope that you've enjoyed them all!

SafinWasi: I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter! I'm so happy that they're finally together, but it'll throw wrenches in their next year. The whole Fourth Year will be very strange. It might seem a little odd at first, but I have the next year almost completely written out already. Hope you liked this one!

Vincent: It was so fun to write! I always love writing chapters with Quidditch games. They're the most fun to write. Hope you liked this one!

ruvina sekhon: Sorry it took so long, but it's out and I hope that you liked it! I'm so glad to hear that!