Aria Ashborn and the Goblet of Fire (A Harry Potter fanfiction)

Chapter 10: Flames

"He'll cover this up, you watch." Ron said. It was later that same night and he sat on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. Everyone else had gone to bed except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were all in their pajamas in front of the crackling fire. Harry sat down in front of it, trying to erase the image of Crouch's dead body, which he stumbled across in the forest, from his mind. Hermione stood behind the couch. Aria, still angry with Harry, had been ignoring him for the rest of the day. After Harry had time to cool down, he really regretted blowing up on Aria.

"Fudge will sell his soul before this gets out in the Daily Prophet." Ron said.

"Why?" Harry asked. Ron got off the couch and took a seat next to Harry on the floor.

"Look, nobody liked Crouch." said Ron, "I know this from my father. Loads of people wanted him dead. But he was a ministry official. It's not even like he turned up stiff at Knockturn Alley. He was murdered at Hogwarts. This is a big deal."

"Can't be coincidence." Hermione said, making her way around the couch to take a seat, "Harry's dreams, his scar hurting, the dark mark, his name coming out of the Goblet of Fire. Surviving the tournament isn't the answer anymore, Harry. It's bigger than this and I really think you should go to Dumbledore."

Suddenly, the trio heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They turned to see Aria, in violet pajamas.

"I heard voices." Aria said, feeling a bit awkward. She didn't look at Harry.

"Please, join us." Hermione said, knowing that Aria had often felt left out.

Aria looked back towards the stairs, regretting having even investigated in the first place, "No, I..."

"Aria wait." said Harry, "Can we talk for a moment?" Hermione and Ron looked at each other and took this as their cue to leave, each going back to their respective dormitories.

"Okay." said Aria, taking a seat next to Harry by the fire.

For a beat, Harry didn't say anything and Aria considered leaving but then, Harry spoke. "I'm sorry." he said, "I was way out of line earlier. I don't know what came over me."

"I appreciate your apology." Aria said after a moment and Harry let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He felt that wasn't a sufficient enough apology and he continued.

"I didn't really mean what I said." he continued, "You have been a great support to me and I really need you."

Aria tried to hide her smile, "You need me, eh?"

"Of course." Harry said, "I'll always need you."

"Okay." replied Aria, "I'm back in." Harry and Aria continued talking for another twenty minutes before it was time that they both went to bed. Aria walked into the girls dormitory. Mostly everyone was asleep, except Hermione, who struggled to read by moonlight. Aria took a seat next to her, by the window.

"Do you suspect he's jealous?" Hermione whispered.

"Of Cedric?"

"Well Harry did ask you to the Yule Ball," Hermione said, "but you were already going with Cedric and Cedric is Harry's competition."

"Why do you suppose that?"

"Well, boys tend to act irrationally when they don't know how to deal with their emotions," Hermione said, her book now closed.

"Are you talking about Ron or Harry?" Aria asked.

"Both." Hermione said, and Aria could tell that Hermione and Ron had just been ignoring their fight and it was making Hermione tense, "Although, Harry had the sense to apologize."
-------------------------------------------
The next morning, Harry told Ron, Hermione, and Aria that he had indeed gone to Dumbledore's office the night before to talk to him about the dream. There, he had also run into Snape who was in another argument with Karkaroff. After Karkaroff left, Harry said that Snape accused Harry of stealing from his cabinets. The four spoke about this while walking down to Hagrid's hut.

"What do you suppose is on Karkaroff's arm?" Ron asked.

"I don't know." replied Harry as they walked down the grassy hillside. Winter was melting into spring.

"Boomslang skin and lacewing flies?" Aria asked, "You're sure those are the two ingredients Snape mentioned?"

"Positive." Harry replied, "Why?"

"He thinks you're brewing polyjuice potion." Aria wondered.

"You're right." Hermione said, wide-eyed, "Can't believe I didn't make that connection." Aria smiled. Usually, Hermione was the clever one. Aria felt that it was nice that she was the one being considered clever for a change.

"I don't care what Snape thinks." Harry said, "I've got bigger problems than detention. Something's coming closer. I can feel it." Harry winced a bit.

Aria noticed, "Your scar."