The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Sixteen | Rita Skeeter

After the ceremony, much to Ariana's dismay, the champions and the judges had been made to stay for a photo shoot.

They had been photographed together, with their respective headmasters/mistress, then separately. They had been put in various poses, both with and without their wands on display.

Ariana hated the fact that she and Harry had been positioned at the front, under the orders of the woman in brightly coloured clothes.

Now, Fleur was sat on an ornate chair, her posture as pretty as her face. Harry, Ariana, Cedric and Viktor were arranged side-by-side behind the chair.

Each one was in their respective school uniforms, dressed up like prize poodles. Ariana simply wanted to leave; she had never liked being made a fuss of.

With a puff of white smoke, the camera captured yet another photo of the five champions was taken.

"What a charismatic quintet. Hello! I'm Rita Skeeter," said the blonde woman, shaking all of their hands enthusiastically. "I write for the daily prophet. But of course you know that don't you. It's you we don't know, you're the news. What quirks lurk beneath those rosy cheeks?" She reached forward and stroked Fleur's cheek, than slapped it lightly, much to the girl's shock. "What mysteries do the muscles mask?" Her hands ruffled Cedric's hair. "Does courage lie beneath those curls? What secrets are disguised by this snow white hair?" She ran a hand through Ariana's hair, then looped an arm around both herself and Cedric. "In short, what makes a champion tick."

Ariana's body went stiff as Rita's arms tugged on their captors, drawing them tight to her side. The white-haired girl, whose eyes were level with Cedric's nose, shared a look that portrayed their wish to get out of her grasp, both of then hating this as much as the other.

"Me, myself and I want to know. Not to mention my rabid readers. So, who's feeling up to sharing? Mmm?" Rita continued, but no one spoke up, just avoided her eyes. "Shall we start with the youngest. Lovely."

She released Ariana and Cedric, then grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him off into a broom cupboard.

An awkward silence fell over the quartet, until Ariana sighed. "Well, she's quite a character."

The others nodded their heads in agreement, mumbles of agreement coming from their mouths.

Biting the bullet, Ariana spoke once again. "Alright, I'm going to address the elephant in the room. I swear to each of you that I had nothing to do with my name being ejected from the Goblet of Fire. Nor did Harry. We never wished to take the limelight off of any of you, and I'm truly sorry this happened."

The other champions studied her for a moment, as if analysing how genuine she was being.

Fleur was the first one to react. Her lips curled into a polite smile. "Thank you."

Viktor nodded his head once, which is more than Ariana had ever seen him do, so she took it as a personal victory.

Cedric gave a pleasant smile. "Thanks, Ariana."

Ariana nodded her head. She was thankful to have cleared the air to a certain extent, although none of them were pleased that she and Harry were competing, nit that she could blame them.

Her friend emerged from the broom cupboard looking completely agitated, whereas Rita looked beside herself with happiness.

Ariana made a v-line for Harry, but Rita grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the cupboard she had just exited. It was very small inside, with a small staircase leading down to a tiny, cramped room. Ariana sat down on a large bucket, opposite her interviewer.