Ashley was very thankful for the telepathic connection she had with the other Marauders. If it weren’t for that, she could have botched her ruse since her story wouldn’t have matched Cedric’s. The elder Hufflepuff had told the staff that while on his Prefect patrolling, he’d seen a hooded figure carrying Ashley into the forest. He had attempted to follow them but the stranger, probably sensing him, started running. Cedric lost sight of them after that. None of that was true but the important thing was that Dumbledore believed it.