Avery made her way around the outside of the edge of the enclosure towards where she had seen the tent from her seat inside. When she got there, she quickly realized there were two tents- one with gold detailing where she could see three figures silhouetted inside. She assumed this was the champions tent where Harry, Fleur, and Krum were awaiting their turn to face the dragons. The other tent was marked with a red cross, and Avery assumed this is where Cedric would be on account of his burns. She hurried over to it and burst through the opening in the fabric.

"Cedric!" she cried, looking about for him. She saw that the tent was divided into cubicles, each with a cot to treat patients. But she did not see Cedric. Instead, her eyes fell upon Madam Pomfrey at the far end of the tent.

"He left to get his scores," she said, sounding quite miffed at the idea. She was fiddling like a sort of orange salve in a mortar and pestle. "He'll be right back."

"Is he alright? How bad is it?" Avery asked her anxiously, her legs carrying her a few more steps into the tent without her say-so.

"He'll be fine if I'm ever allowed to finish treating him," she grumbled irritably. Avery chuckled, part from relief, and part at the irony of this nurse, who truly seemed to be the only person at this school that actually cared about the students safety and well-being.

Avery became aware of Ludo Bagman's voice in the distance, narrating Cedric's score.

"THAT BRINGS MR. DIGGORY'S SCORE TO 38! WELL DONE, LAD!" He paused momentarily to allow the roar of the crowds approval to be heard. "AND NOW, WE HAVE A WELSH GREEN IN THE RING. THIS SPECIES-"

At that moment, Cedric emerged through an opening in the far side of the tent, and Madam Pomfrey immediately seized Cedric and steered him to a cubicle. "Sit, sit!" she barked at him, "let's get this on that burn."

Cedric obeyed and took a seat on the cot, placing his hands in his lap. He was half smiling, seeming to be very happy with his scores, but that smile was replaced by a wince as Pomfrey being dabbing the orange goo from the mortar onto his ear and cheek. He then seemed to notice Avery for the first time, who was shifting her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably, watching.

"Hullo," he murmured, a hint of his smile returning.

"Hello," Avery breathed, more tears welling in her eyes.

Madam Pomfrey, who seemed oblivious to the tension between them, announced "you need to let that sit for a while. It should draw some of the heat out and begin the healing process. Lie down and let it work… I said lie down!" she added, when Cedric made no move to switch from his sitting position. He tore his eyes away from Avery for a moment to smirk at the nurse before laying down on his uninjured side as requested. At that, Madam Promfrey stood and bustled off towards the opposite corner of the tent. Avery watched her for a moment before looking back to Cedric.

He was staring at her, still smirking a bit. She took a few tentative steps in his direction before positively hurrying to his side. She knelt down beside the cot so that they were eye to eye.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly, her eyes still watering as they rolled over his marred face. He had been burned from the edge of his eyebrow down to his strong jaw, his ear hardly recognizable as one, as it looked black and shriveled under the orange paste. His shoulder, too, had caught some of the flame and had become blackened, and so it was also covered in the salve.

"It's better now," Cedric started, still unblinking. She locked eyes with him before he finished, saying, "with the salve, I mean."

"Right," Avery replied with a nod, looking away for a moment to subtly wipe away the tears that threatened to escape her right eye. She turned back to him.

"You were brilliant out there," her voice came in a squeak as she nodded reassuringly, "really... daring."

"Thank you," Cedric replied quietly, his expression finally softening. He reached out and grasped her upper arm. "Don't cry, Avery. I'm really alright." He looked so concerned at her display of emotion, and Avery mentally berated herself for making him worry about her when it was her who should be worried about him. She nodded some more and bit her lip, trying again to staunch the tears with her free hand.

Internally, she was kicking herself. She had come here to set things right. To tell him that she didn't want to stay angry at each other. That she cared about him and wanted to try to put things back to how they'd been. But she could barely speak as it was, and she knew if she tried to say everything she was feeling, she would completely break down, and she didn't want him to think she was weak. So, instead, she took a deep steadying breath and exhaled.

"Alright. As long as…You're alright," she stammered. The deep breath had helped and she was calming down, especially because the salve seemed to be working quickly. His ear was recognizable again, and his skin was becoming less and less charred by the minute. Cedric still had hold of her arm, and was moving his thumb back and forth along her skin soothingly.

"Listen," he began, still looking deep into her eyes and speaking tenderly, "I wanted to ask you-"

Just then came a commotion from the tent opening that led to the stadium. Fleur was ushered in by Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody. She had also caught a bit of flame from her dragon, it seemed, as a large portion of her skirt had been singed away. Madam Pomfrey rushed to her at once.

"Goodness! Have a seat here, I'll fetch the paste," she was saying to Fleur, who looked too shaken to respond.

"Stone," Moody said, noticing her at Cedric's bedside, "you shouldn't be in here while Pomfrey is trying to heal. Go on. You can offer your congratulations in your common room later."

"Oh come on! I'm not hurting anything!" Avery exclaimed indignantly. Moody stayed fixated on her and crossed his arms, as though to reinforce that he would not budge on this.

Avery glared at him for a moment before looking back at Cedric, who gave her a small smile and one last squeeze on the arm before releasing her and pushing himself into a sitting position. Avery stood and, under Moody's stern gaze, left the tent from the same opening that she had entered it. She didn't feel much like watching the rest of the task- it was too anxiety provoking. And now that she knew Cedric was going to be okay she had seen all she could bear to see, and so she decided to walk back to the castle instead. It was virtually empty, as everyone else seemed to be waiting to see how Viktor and Harry fared against their creatures.

She thought of all the places in the castle that she might go, and wasn't sure what she should do. So, she wandered aimlessly for a bit, going where-ever her feet carried her, thinking back to seeing Cedric in the first-aid tent. He hadn't seemed upset with her, or angry that she was there. And he had started to say something- there was something that he had wanted to ask her. What could it have been? Was he going to ask her how she got Harry into the tournament? Or had he finally realized she was innocent and had something else he needed to know of her?

After a while, Avery found herself on the seventh floor, coming upon the familiar stretch of wall where one could summon the room of requirement. On a whim, she decided to pass back and forth past the wall three times, asking for the room in which she and the twins used to work on the skiving snackboxes. She thought she might sit by the fire in one of the armchairs where she used to sit and work on recipes. That maybe the warmth of the flames might help her relax and clear her head. A door appeared and she let herself inside.

Avery had expected it to look as it had the last time she entered, but she was wrong. It was the same basic room, sure, with books lining the west wall, bright lamps hanging from the ceiling, long stone tables down the center of the room, cabinets, a sink with three faucets, and the fire and armchairs she had come for. But the last time she had been there, she had burned everything that they had worked on and left the room relatively empty. But when she looked around, it was apparent that someone had been there quite a lot since she had last left it. There were beakers and paper strewn about, boxes of what looked like wands, and several pastry boxes which were full of treats. Avery examined them curiously, and it occurred to her for the first time that the twins had continued working without her.

After a few minutes of perusing some of the bits of parchment lying about, curious to see what the twins were working on, the door to the room opened and the twins toppled through.

"Oh, so this is where you'd gone!" Fred said after a moment of being taken aback at her presence. "I thought maybe a dragon had gotten you."

"Sorry," Avery replied, taking a step back from the table.

"As long as you haven't burned anything, it's quite alright," George said with a wink. He had closed the door behind them and made his way over to the table beside her. Fred followed him.

"Custard cream?" he asked, nudging one of the pastry boxes she had noticed earlier towards her.

"Something tells me I'd be stupid to accept," Avery replied, hardly bothering to look at the box.

"You'd be right. It's our latest creation- they're called canary creams. Makes whoever eats them sprout feathers for a few minutes. Lovely prank to play on friends-"

"And only seven sickles each! But for you, 5 apiece."

"I'll have to pass for now," Avery replied, chuckling. "What else have you been working on?"

The twins took a few minutes to show her their fake wands before showing her a few bits of parchment with other ideas scribbled on.

"Sounds wonderful," Avery told them, smiling at each in turn. "It's too bad I ruined our partnership. I could've been helping make these."

The twins looked at each other for a moment before Fred spoke. "Well, I wouldn't say you ruined it all by yourself… And we are still looking for investors..."

"We'd especially like your help recreating the snackboxes, if you're interested," George added on, nodding excitedly.

"Really? You'd let me help?" Avery asked, completely floored. She had thought she had burned that bridge completely, but felt ecstatic at the thought that she may be able to be a part of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes again.

"Why not," said Fred with a shrug. "It's not like you have any friends or anything else to do after the whole tournament business," he added with a wink.

Avery wanted to be angry, but she couldn't help but burst out laughing at this observation. "Too right you are."

After a few minutes of discussing the snackboxes and Avery committing to drumming up some work so that she could invest in some materials, she bade them goodbye, thinking she should join her house in the celebration of their champion.

"We ought to as well, " George replied, grabbing one of the pastry boxes, "we only stopped by to grab these. Thought we might do a bit of product testing at the party."

When she reached the Hufflepuff common room, it was alive with celebration. It seemed that every Hufflepuff in the entire house had crowded into the common room, most of which with food or bottles of butterbeer in their hands. Someone had somehow gotten their hands on a dissimulator, which was playing a cheerful tune all on it's own while emitting yellow smoke in the corner.

A trio of Cedric's friends, Michael Frimley, Adrian Speke, and Anthony Rickett, seemed to be reenacting his attempt to get past the dragon, as one of them was running around on all fours with their tongue out pretending as if they were a dog, the other doing what Avery assumed was his best impression of a dragon, while the third was dramatically clutching his face as though he had been burned. This was all much to the amusement of a gaggle of Hufflepuff girls, including her dorm-mate Susan Bones.

It took Avery a while for her to locate Cedric among the masses, as he was surrounded by a group of students, making it almost impossible to see him. He was sitting at the table where Avery normally did her homework so she could ask advice of the plants. His left cheek was far pinker than his normal skin tone, like raw skin, but he looked otherwise unscathed, only tired. He was splayed out in his armchair, his eyes half closed while everyone gathered around him talked at him about the task. The golden egg was in his lap, gleaming in the firelight.

"You only just missed it," came a voice to Avery's right, "he opened the egg and this horrible wailing came out of it. He's supposed to somehow figure out what the next task is from that."

Avery turned to look at the speaker. It was Marilyn, her dark hair pulled back into a long braid, so that the sharp angles of her face were more prominent than ever.

"Is that right," Avery replied tonelessly, turning away from her and looking back to Cedric. Her mind began buzzing, wondering why she had approached her or why she was bothering to tell her this little factoid.

"Yes," she went on, "I wonder if dear Harry has figured that out yet."

Avery turned back to Marilyn so quickly it nearly gave her whiplash.

"I didn't put Harry Potter's name in the Goblet if that's what you're on about," Avery spat.

"Of course you didn't," Marilyn scoffed, turning to face Avery. " As if you would have the guts or the loyalty to do it… Honestly, haven't you caught on? Especially after today?"

"What are you on about? If you intend on speaking to me, I suggest you do it normally instead of in riddles."

They were both facing each other now, both wearing loathing expressions. None of their fellow Hufflepuffs seemed to notice their interaction, too distracted by the celebration, and so none of them heard what Marilyn said next.

"Isn't it obvious? Whoever put Harry Potter's name into the Goblet wants him dead, and I would be surprised if they didn't get their wish by the end of this."

"What?" Avery asked, taken aback. She hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn. What did she mean someone wanted him dead? And what did she mean that they were likely to get their wish? Everyone made it out alright today.

Barely, a little voice in the back of her mind chimed in. Cedric very nearly had his head scorched off, and the tasks are only going to get harder and more dangerous.

Marilyn smirked before whispering menacingly, "Someone at Hogwarts is doing the Dark Lord's work. And if you don't switch your allegiances soon, you'll be in for it." She then brushed past Avery towards the dormitory staircase, disappearing up the steps.

Avery stood, watching her go, flabbergasted. Could that be true? Could someone at Hogwarts really be trying to murder Harry? And what did she mean that she would be "in for it" if she didn't switch allegiances? Were there... Death Eaters at Hogwarts?

At first Avery balked, thinking it couldn't be possible. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was long gone, and so none of his followers would bother to infiltrate Hogwarts and try to kill Harry Potter or turn her into a Death Eater. And she had been almost certain that Harry had somehow entered himself- had he said he would do it as secretly as possible? Hadn't Fred and George told her he had an invisibility cloak?

But then she remembered the incident at the World Cup over the summer. Death Eaters were still active. In fact, Karkaroff, a known Death Eater was currently at the school, and who knows what he was capable of doing. And Harry may have a cloak, but would a cloak really shield him from the age line's magic?

Suddenly, Cedric's voice snapped her out of her thought process.

"Thank you, everyone," he yelled, "but I'm going to bed now! Thank you!" He began pushing his way through the adoring onlookers and up the stairs to his dormitory without a second glance backward, while the crowd moaned their disappointment.

Avery viscerally remembered how terrible she felt when Cedric had been hurt earlier that day- the terror that flooded her at the thought of him dying as a result from one of the tasks. Then she thought about Harry, and how he was also in danger. What Marilyn said was ringing in her ears-

"Whoever put Harry Potter's name into the Goblet wants him dead."

Avery couldn't help but feel that there was some truth in this. These tasks were clearly dangerous, and no fourth year was as far along as they needed to be to make it out unscathed. Surely Harry would've known this. Surely he wouldn't have entered himself. Maybe someone was trying to hurt Harry. And what if Cedric also got hurt in the process? Or one of the other champions? If someone was plotting something, she had to make sure someone put a stop to it. She had to make sure all the champions stayed safe. She had to make sure Cedric stayed safe.

With a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Avery realized there was someone who could clue her in to any dark goings-on at Hogwarts, and she should do whatever she could to find out if there was a foul plan afoot. And so, she hurried to her room to grab her school bag and then left the common room and headed for the owlery to contact her mother, the former death eater.