"We really need to get back to practice." Draco said as Aidy laid across his lap. He carefully trailed his fingers in a spiral pattern over her shoulder, making intricate shapes in her velvet robes. The glass ceiling (which, she thought, had not been entirely glass before) allowed them both to sit and watch the stars like a pair of centaurs.
"Mars is bright tonight." She said, hair splayed out in ribbons of dull, yellow gold over the squashy couch that they were positioned on. Her curls were a bit shorter now; she'd gotten them cut and her hair now swung in much tighter ringlets, to her waist instead of her thighs. Gemma and Jeremy didn't know yet (Aidy had gone to the barbershop after visiting with her sister and brother-in-law), but Draco had not been very happy. Aidy's curls may have been ridiculous and slightly frizzy, but they were pretty and seemed to be a part of his Gryffindor girlfriend. Aidy didnt care (much) about Draco's dislike of her hair length. She no longer had to worry about sitting on her curls or actually sitting on her hair and giving it a good yank.
Her hair was still slightly untameable (it always had been, but had gotten worse in recent months) but it was much more manageable and practical to keep it shorter than it was. She had briefly considered cutting it all off, leaving the ends at her chin, but had decided against it, knowing that Gemma would: A) kill her, or B) Disguise a hair growth potion in some sort of cold bread roll (since Aidy could tell Potions apart from the steam that wafted from them) that would cause her to turn into a very tan yeti (or a very pale Sasquatch) until someone doused her in Nair and hot wax so that she could be human again. Neither option looked appealing.
"You've said that." Draco said with amusement. "But Mars doesn't correspond with your star sign anyway, so why are you worried?"
"Star sign?" Aidy asked with a hint of laughter to her tone. "I wasn't aware you had Divination."
"I am. Mum wanted me in it; she's into that sort of thing. You know that."
"You're such a mummy's boy." she replied, teeth sparkling in the starlight. Draco looked at her intensely, and her eyebrow shot up when she noticed. "What?"
"You're a bit hard to read, you know." The statement hung in the air for a moment.
"Most people would disagree."
"Yeah, well, most people don't usually try to disagree with me."
"And most people aren't egotistical prats." Aidy said back, voice lacking malice and gaining humour with each word. "But the world has it's exceptions. I, for one, will not hesitate to disagree with you. And you, for example, are an egotistical prat. Most of the time." she added hastily. He smiled wryly.
"I can be a bit of a pig sometimes, can't I?" Her eyebrow rose. "Or at least three fourths of the time?" Aidy pulled the tip of his nose up with her index finger, grinning slyly.
"Oink Oink." he batted her hands away as they both laughed together. "If it makes any difference, you would make a much cuter pig than a ferret."
"I thought we agreed to never discuss that again." He said hotly, although he was hiding amusement.
"I never agreed to anything." Adriana replied, sitting up so she could take her authoritative, Ministry stance, before relaxing. "I thought you were rather endearing, actually; it would have made a great circus act. Draco Malfoy: the Amazing Bouncing Ferret!" she chuckled heartily, but Malfoy didn't seemed overly amused. Once her laughter had died away, his voice lowered slightly.
"Maybe I should make you promise never to speak about it again." He said with a smirk. Aidy knew that particular smirk.
"Nope, I am not making an Unbreakable Vow with you." She replied, moving her hands behind her back and sitting on them.
"I never said that." Draco replied. Aidy smirked and shifted her weight so that her legs were situated in a bridge position over his.
"It was implied." She said.
"Mmm." He moved Aidy again so that she was sitting upright next to him with his arm around her. She cuddled into his side without complaint. "The Second Task is coming up."
"Mhm" she replied. "And I would love to be able to watch it without you making out with me halfway through Diggory's turn like at the First Task."
"Oh, it calmed you down a bit and you know it."
"No, it really didn't." She replied.
"You did enjoy it, though." he replied confidently.
"Quite the opposite, actually." She replied with a small grin. He put his hand against his heart woundedly.
"Angel, that hit me right here."
"Too bad the phrase 'sticks and stones, can break my bones, but words will never hurt me' doesn't apply to the wizarding world. And kissing doesn't calm people down." Her face looked almost impish. "Now, breaking the bones in your right hand, now that was somewhat calming."
"Yeah, I don't think I ever got a proper apology for that." he replied smoothly, but gave her a wounded look and leaned forward. Adriana rolled her eyes, but leaned in to kiss him anyway. She inhaled, and was grateful that he smelled the same as the first time she had kissed him; bubblegum toothpaste and black shoe polish. And she still smelled the same way to him; cinnamon, a combined smell of a thousand different potions ingredients, and the tiniest hint of a ripe strawberry. Their lips parted with a small smile hinting on each pair.
"I forgave you anyway, but thanks for that."
"Well, you had to take what you could get." she replied.
They sat together in silence again, Aidy leaning against his shoulder. Draco felt his eyes flutter closed. It had been a long, long day, full of harassing Potter, Weasley, and Granger, getting shouted at by Adriana for said harassment, throwing off the 'rumours' that he and Aidy were together (and the tabloids were finally easing off of the two, so he didn't have much more to worry about), and their consistently improving dancing.
Aidy's breathing deepened, and Draco realised that she had fallen asleep before him. She moved (once again; she just couldn't get comfortable today, could she?) so that her head rested on the space between his chest and his arm, and he gave her a small smile. He leaned back and fell asleep too, confident that they were both safe and happy in each other's comapny.
Aidy, meanwhile, was already trapped in another nightmare. She felt like she was gagged, and she knew she couldn't be seen. The conversation was always the same; there was always the same huge, mottled green snake, the rickety old man who always died in the end. And the voice. There was always that high, cold, pure evil voice that sent shivers down her spine and ice splintering into her veins.
Tonight, there was something different.
Instead of the man telling Voldemort that he would not fail, he showed Voldemort his left arm.
"Good! Good! The time is close now!" The Dark Mark burned dark into the younger man's skin, and Aidy skittered back five or six steps, yelping in fear as the tattoo wriggled a bit, as if in anticipation. All three men looked up.
"Ah, Aidy. Don't be rude, come in..." The Dark Lord hissed gently. She knew that this wasn't right; Voldemort doesn't just invite you in for tea and biscuits with a side of treacle tart for dessert. Aidy was frozen in fear, petrified, just as Wormtail turned the chair around...
"Avada Kedavra!"
The flash of green light was expected. Aidy had seen Professor Moody preform it in front of the class enough times where she even knew the hue. But what she didnt expect that it was coupled with a huge amount of force and a large sound, like a large bell.
As she opened her eyes again, she found that the sound was a bell tolling, and that the bell was tolling two in the morning. Draco didnt stir, only went off snoring again. Aidy was disturbed by the sudden upswing in the violence of her dreams, but she knew that it wasnt an option to not sleep anymore. But, as she looked at the moon, She figured that she needed to, at least, go back to Gryffindor tower. She stood up, leaving Draco on the couch, before she figured that she couldn't just leave him there. She sighed, and picked up a blanket from the floor (which hadnt been there before, mind you) and draped it over Draco. She grabbed a quill from her bag as well as a small scrap of parchment. She quickly scribbled a quick message, not quite sure that she was coherent, and signed her name at the bottom with a flourish. She slipped it into the folds of the blanket. She didnt want to leave him alone here, but she felt that she had to get back to Gryffindor tower. It was a must. She slipped on her bag and her cloak, and stole out of the room before anyone could possibly see her. She was silent as she slippd through the hallway, but that didnt stop someone behind her fom grabbing her by the hood. She very nearly screamed, but bit her tongue.
"Late night?" Snape asked in a slight sneer. Aidy rolled her eyes.
"Fell asleep upstairs, that's all."
"Really?" Severus replied with slight disbelief. "Why don't I believe you?"
"You should, it's the truth." she replied, walking swiftly ahead. He kept up with her, one stride of his matching two of hers.
"Were you with Malfoy?"
"Yes, I was." she replied shortly, keeping her eye line straight as an arrow.
"Dont get testy with me, young lady." he scolded quietly. "Allow me to walk you back to your common room."
"There's not much of a point to it, we're nearly there."
"Dark forces are at work right now, Adriana. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you have not noticed. Do you really think that I am about to allow you to run off into a dark castle on a night such as this? All of the shadows around here have secrets to tell. Who knows? They might even be talking about you."
"Don't try to frighten me, Severus." Aidy said, wavering slightly.
"I'm not. I am being truthful."
"What you are being is over protective."
"Don't I have the right?" he asked scathingly. "With all of the trouble you get into? No thanks to Malfoy and Potter, especially the Potter boy-"
"Leave Draco and Harry out of this. This is between you and me."
"It is very much about them. Wherever they go, trouble follows."
"Trouble usually finds me, too. Do not blame anyone else for my troubles." She replied with a hard edge to her stare.
"If you would just stop trying to get into sticky situations-"
"Don't tell me what to avoid." Aidy snapped, tired and annoyed. "You're not my father, you know." Snape's lip curled.
"I may not be your father, but I am your teacher and your elder." He said with some venom. "And I deserve respect." Aidy was rather surprised; Snape was never truly venomous towards her. He sounded venomous, but that was, in truth, just his personality and who he was. He was grumpy, greasy, and infamously bitter, but he loved her. She knew that. Everyone knew that.
"Sorry if I said anything to offend you, Severus." She said in a much more quiet, distant voice. The pair started down the hallway again, vaugly discussing a potion that would cause kids in detention to do endless backflips for an hour.
But neither knew that the next day was when trouble began once again.
~*~*~
"What do you mean, you haven't figured out the egg yet?" Aidy shrieked at Harry, hitting him with her heavy potions book in between words.
"Ouch, calm down! Oi! I dunno. It just always seemed far enough away-"
"Now, you've got exactly a week before you have another chance to be bloody torn apart by something in the Black Lake. I'm just swimming in calmness." She said sardonically, before taking a swig of pumpkin juice. "You're rather lucky that you're still alive. I mean, what else is out there to kill you?"
"A lot of things, apparently." He said, as she walking him out of the castle and onto the covered bridge.
"Please tell me youve at least tried to figure out the egg."
"Of course I've tried. but every time, it's that same, awful shrieking sound." Aidy sighed in frustration.
"I've never heard anything like it. It's in another language, that I'm sure of."
"It seems to just be shrieking." Harry replied. Aidy whacked him in the shoulder with her book again, anger returning full swing (She would later blame this irrationality on her monthly cycle, which wasn't entirely it).
"You told me you had it figure out weeks ago! We only have seven days, Harry! Seven!"
"Really?" he replied somewhat sarcasically. "I had not idea. I suppose Krum and Fleur have figured it out."
"I would say so. Hermione wouldnt talk when I asked her. But apparently they didnt talk much at all." Harry glanced at Aidy, and they both chuckled.
"Same with you and Malfoy?"
"No, Draco's more loquacious than Krum. Draco and I were too busy arguing most of the time, anyway. That's kind of what we do. We fight, and then we make up, and then fight again. Our friendship is very black and white." She lied too easily to Harry, which made her somewhat uncomfortable. "You are tying to figure this egg out, arent you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked defensivley. Aidy leaned out of the window, looking at the canyon below.
"I mean that these tasks are designed to test you, in the most brutal way... They're almost cruel. And, um..." She looked back up at him. "I'm scared for you. You got away from the dragons mostly on nerve. I'm not sure that that'll be enough this time." Harry opened his mouth to speak to her again, but was called back by a voice saying:
"Hey! Potter!"
"I'm going to check in on Hagrid. Grab me if you need me." Aidy said with a small smile, ushering Harry off towards Diggory (who had spoken) "See you in the library later?" He nodded, and she set off for Hagrid's hut. After a lengthy walk, she found herself in front of the little house, and Fang the Boarhound was yapping at the door. She knocked with some force.
Ever since Skeeter's scathing article, Hagrid had locked himself in his hut. Adriana never let a day go by where she didnt bring him something sweet from the kitchens, just to say that she was looking out for him. Every day, the basket of sweets was gone.
"Hagrid! Please, let me in. Its been two weeks since we last had a cuppa! Can't we at least have-" The door opened. "Well, that's a first." She said, before realizing that it wasnt Hagrid that opened the door. It was Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore." Aidy greeted with a bit of shock.
"Ah, Adriana. You may be exactly what I need." He said, a twinkle in his eye. "Come in, come in." Aidy stepped up onto the floor (the front step was much higher than normal) and into the room. Fang was on her in a heartbeat, lapping at her ears and wagging his tail hard enough to wind her when he smacked her in the abdomen.
"Oof! Hi, Hagrid. Have you been getting my baskets?" She asked cheerfully, trying not to notice how truly awful Hagrid looked. The bags under his eyes were the size of teacups, his hair was ragged and greasy, and his eyes were as red as the cold-day blush in Adriana's cheeks. "You look terrible." She said bluntly. "That means the baskets weren't good enough. I knew I should have sent away for Fortescues-" Hagrid let out a loud sob, effectively cutting off her statement.
"Adriana, I don't know if this is the right time to be talking about Florean Fortescue's Famous Ice Cream." Albus said plainly.
"It is always a good time to talk about ice cream." Aidy replied, before sitting down next to Hagrid. She placed her small hand on one of his fingers, which were about the girth of a child's baseball bat.
"You wouldn't happen to have a Delighting Draft, would you?" Dumbledore asked. Aidy shook her head.
"Sorry, I don't." Dumbledore Humphed and turned back to Hagrid. "As you have no doubt heard what Ms. Campbell, Granger, and Misters Potter and Weasley have been saying for the last several weeks. Ms. Campbell has even left you a dozen or so sweet baskets. I daresay that she still intends to know you."
"Of course I want to know you, hagrid!" Aidy said so warmly that Hagrid almost burst into tears. "Do you really think I care what that Skeeter bitch-" She blushed, "Sorry, Albus."
"I've gone temporarily deaf in this ear. Speak a little louder next time." He replied, pointing to the ear closest to her.
"D'you really think that I give a damn about what that woman says?" Aidy asked. "If there is anyone on earth who knows what that woman is capable of, it's me. Remember? She was calling me a Power-Hungry Little minx when I was eleven. I dont even read the tabloids anymore. Half of the mail I get is from nutters telling me to drown myself in the Black Lake, or worse." She said.
"Living proof of what I have been telling you, Hagrid." Dumbledore said. "I have shown you countless letters from parents who remember you in in their old school days, telling me that if I sacked you that they would come and cut off my beard. You can imagine the horrors of that." He smiled.
"Not all of them." Hagrid croaked. "Not all of them want me ter stay..."
"Hagrid, universal popularity isn't anything good or feasable. I am reasonably well liked by the other teachers, but Alastor and Binns really couldn't be bothered with the likes of me on a good day." Aidy said primly. "And please trust me on this, I gave that nitwit pureblooded blonde a good tongue lashing once the article came out. Draco just wants to get your goat, so he gave her an interveiw and turned you into something you're not."
"I do not think that I could have worded it any better myself." Dumbledore said.
"Neither of yer are 'alf giants!"
"Hagrid, look at what I've got for relatives." Aidy laughed. "My uncle is in Azkaban. My parents were probably death eaters that escaped trial. My brother is in detention right now for hexing a muggle born's nose off. Look at what Harry's got for relatives! Look at the Dursleys!"
"An excellent point." The Headmaster said. "My own brother, Aberforth, was convicted of pracicing innapropriate charms on a goat when were were in our thirties. It was all over the papers, but did he hide? No! Did I curl up in my room because I was ashamed of him? No! Aberforth kept his head high, and carried on with his life. Although, I'm not fully sure he can read, so it may not have been bravery." Aidy chuckled.
"Come back, Hagrid. The four of us (Me, Hermione, Harry, and Ron, of course) All miss you terribly. And its been such a long time since you and I had a cuppa." Dumbledore stood.
"I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid." Dumbledore said. "And I expect you back to work on Monday, eight am sharp."
"Yessir." Hagrid replied gruffly, seeming to brighten somewhat. Dumbledore left rather quickly after that, only pausing to scratch behind Fang's ears. The boarhound immediatly jumped up on Aidy's lap, stretching out a good foot in a half off of each side.
"Fang, you are not a lap dog." Aidy chuckled. Hagrids low laughter rattled the glass of the cabin, and he took the steaming teapot off of a fire.
"Tea?"
"Please." She replied. Hagrid handed her a cup, and she sipped. His eyes were still puffy, but a little less so.
"I don' think I ever showed you a picture of my dad. Wan' ter see?" He asked, and she nodded. He held out a small photograph of a wispy looking wizard, sitting on top of a man's shoulder. But she quickly realized that the man in the photo was no more than a boy; it was Hagrid, clean-shaven and not at all hairy, standing eight feet tall at eleven years old. "Tha' was taken right after I got accepted in ter Hogwarts. My dad was well chuffed, didn't know that I would be a wizard, yeh know, cause of me mam... I was no two shakes at magic, either... But a' least he didnt have to live to see me expelled. Died, he did, in my secon' year." he said. "Dumbledore saved me, yeh know... Great man, Dumbledore. He'll accept anyone in ter Howarts, s'long as they got the talent... He knows tha' people can turn out all righ' even if te families werent the most, yeh know, respectable... He pitied me, I think. Trained me up as Gamekeeper at thirteen... Great man, Dumbledore." Aidy smiled.
"He'll give anyone the chance."
~*~*~
"Sev!" Aidy yawned. "It's late. I need to go and get to bed." Aidy said four days later. It was nearing ten o'clock, and she was beyond late to see Draco. Which, she figured, was what Snape was going for. They were both yawning like it was their jobs; It was late, and both of them had changed into their nightclothes in case they fell asleep during brewing.
"You'd better be off to bed." Snape said, finally relenting on his strict refusal to let her leave. She'd been trying to get upstairs for an hour and a half. The second task was in three days. Just three, and Harry still hadnt figured out the egg. Bloody broomhead. She'd forced as much stuff into his head to help him as possible. There wasnt a spell that she didnt help him learn, nothing. She just shoved as much stuff into his head as she could. And as much as Harry appreciated it, his headaches were from it were getting worse and worse. Aidy heard a small thump down the hall, and Snape quickly ran outside to go to his office, before coming back inside and repeating his statement with a funny look on his face.
"I was actually thinking about sneaking into the library, but..." She shrugged innocently. Snape smirked in his deadpan manner. "Or you could just tell me that you don't like me and Draco together and move on to better things than keeping us from snogging the night away." The smirk fell, but Aidy's grew. She had hit the problem right on the nose, and she knew it. She raised her eyebrows. "Care to come clean, Sev?"
"I haven't the foggiest idea of what you're talking about." Snape snapped back, blowing out the light under the cauldron they were working on. "Have you been in my office?"
"No. I have my own store cupbord. I have no need to break into yours unless I'm in dire straits." Aidy replied smoothly, turning around in curiosity. "Why do you ask?"
"My office door was open, and the torches were lit." He replied. Aidy's personal room, store cupboard, and office were all attatched to the class room; it would be much easier to break into her's than Severus's office. Aidy had much less protection on hers.
They continued to clean up their mess of ingredients, and Aidy put on gloves to wipe up a spill of undiluted rose oil. Suddenly, right above them, there was a huge crash and a sudden, familiar wailing sound. The pair looked at each other, before they (in tandem) picked up their wands and hurried out of the dungeons to investigate, figuring that a student had broken into the office and was just upstairs. Aidy's midnight blue night-robes flooded out from behind her, just as Snape's black ones did. Aidy's bag tinkled as the contents clanged together. Aidy thanked god that they were crystal vials instead of glass. Glass ones would have shattered by now.
They found Filch on a staircase the floor above, holding a golden egg. Aidy knew what it was in a second; she had examined it with Harry several times. One of the Triwizard clues.
"What was that?" Snape asked with annoyance. Although, in his defense, his voice was usually laced with sarcasm or annoyance.
"Peeves, sir." Filch, who was the only one there. He looked as if he was about to win the lottery. "Peeves has been stealing!"
"Peeves?" Snape asked.
"Yes, sir, Peeves!" Filch seethed. "He threw the egg down the staircase."
"But Peeves couldn't break into my office." Snape replied softly, glancing down at Adriana with as much confusion as she was looking at him with.
"The egg was in your office?"
"Of course not, you imibecile. Adriana and I head banging and wailing-"
"Yes, Professor, that was the egg-"
"I went to my office to investigate a noise that I thought might be caused by one of my experiments-"
"-Peeves threw it, Professor-"
"And when I got to my office, the door was wide open and the torches were lit." His eyes narrowed into slits. "Adriana doesn't need to go to my office. One of the doors in the cupboard was adjar! Someone has been searching it!"
"But Peeve's couldn't-"
"I know that!" Aidy straightened her back.
"Severus seals his office with an enchantment that none but a wizard could break." She hissed.
"Filch, come help me search fo the intruder."
"Yes sir, or course sir-"
"Adriana, head to bed." Snape said heavily, not wanting to leave his star pupil alone in the castle.
"Of course, Severus, but wouldn't I be more useful he-"
"No." He said delicatly. "You need your sleep." Aidy huffed, but started up the stairs as Snape grabbed Filch by the collar.
"But sir, shouldnt we find Peeves? I could finally get him expelled form the school-"
"I dont give a damn about that wretched poltergeist!" The Potions Master growled. Aidy countinued her way up the stairs, rather miffed at being left out of the search party. But, then again, with what had been transpiring in the wizarding world to date, she didnt exactly blame him. She was about a fourth of the way up the staircase when she stopped again.
Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk.
"Regular pajama party, is it?" Madeye asked, indeed dressed in his blue and white striped nightshirt. He settled at the top of the stairs, his metal foot having been the source of the clunking noise.
"Professors Campbell, Snape, and I heard noises, Professor Moody... Peeves the Poltergeist, throwing things around as usual... And Snape says someone's broken into his office-"
"Shut up!" Snape seethed.
"Someone broke into your office?"
"It isn't important."
"On the contrary, it is very important." Moody said in his usual grunting growl. "Who would want to break into your office? Why?"
"A student, I daresay, stealing ingredients." Snape drawled lazily, but she could see a vein flickering dangerously in his temple. It was an odd scene; All three professors standing on a staircase in their nightclothes, and the caretaker in a tattered night shirt and cap, holding the egg like a three year old holds a teddy bear.
"But Severus, why would they break into your office? Mine has less protection." She offered.
"That doesnt help, Adriana." Snape said flatly. "More often then not, students will break into my office, usually to steal ingredients for an illicit potion."
"And you're sure that Adriana wasn't in your office?"
"I had no reason to be." Aidy snapped in an icy tone, so like Snape's that Filch actually shivered.
"I reckon that they were after your ingredients, then, unless youre not hiding anything else in your office-"
"You've searched my office enough, dont you think?" Severus replied, the vein in his temple pulsing.
"Aurors privilege." Moody hissed. "Dumbledore told me to keep an eye on-"
"Dumbledore happens to trust me." Sev seethed. "And I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office, let alone the office of my best student-"
"'Course he trusts you, Snape." Moody laughed darkly. "He's a trusting man. But me, I belive that there are some spots that never come off, you know?" he tapped his left forearm. Severus looked ready to explode.
"I don't appreciate what you're trying to insinuate, especially in front of Adriana." Aidy gave Moody a dark look, before noticing a familiar piece of parchment. The Marauder's Map.
Harry. She thought with annoyance. Harry was somewhere on the staircase, under the invisibility cloak.
"What are you trying to protect her from, then, Severus? She's not a child-"
"Stop it, both of you." Aidy said, crossing her arms and giving everyone the glare that she had clearly gotten from Snape over the four years that they had worked together. She stepped on top of the parchment to hide it underneath her foot. "Moody, go back to bed and mind your own damned buisness. Sev, you ought to do the same. It's late, and whoever broke into your office is long gone by now. Argus..." she gave him a funny look as his cat curled around his leg. "You need sleep, and I need to help Potter with his preperations for the second task in the morning. Go." she said. Moody glared at her deeply, as did Filch, but Snape softened slightly and nodded. He went downstairs quickly, and Filch followed. Aidy stepped up the stairs, brushing past Alastor and picking up the map on the way up. She didnt feel like working with him and his dreary, "Everyone's trying to kill me!" attitude today; then again, she never did.
"Go to bed, Alastor. Harry, you too." Harry waited a beat, and removed the invisibility cloak.
"How'd you know I was here?"
"Map." she said, holding up the parchment. "And you aren't going to say anything about it, are you, Mad-Eye?"
"Meh. Couple of kids out of bed after hours. Nothing to tell about." Moody said, before giving a horrible, twisted smile. "How's the egg coming?"
"Bad." he replied honestly. "But I've got a new lead." Moody nodded grimly.
"Escort Mr. Potter back to his dormitory, please." Aidy nodded stiffly, yanking on Harry's arm.
"C'mon, Potter." She said. He trudged along beside her, a little miffed at getting caught. "Why are you down here in the first place?"
"Cedric gave me a clue. I've figured the egg out."
"Really?" she asked, now very interested.
"The black lake. There's merpeople in it."
"As well as a giant squid." Aidy said, unsurprised.
"Well... apparently they've stolen something very dear to us, and we've got to get it back." He said. "I'll tell you more when we get back." Aidy groaned a little, but then grinned.
"In that case, race you back to the common room."
"You're on."