Callidus wasn't entirely sure of what he was expecting when he arrived at Malfoy manor. He knew that today was Harry's birthday, and at some point, Draco had mentioned throwing some sort of party in one of their letters through owl post, but unfortunately, Draco's letter had been scant in details. Well, scant in details concerning the party. Draco always had plenty to say about himself.

Callidus stumbled out of the fireplace into one of the Malfoy's lavish drawing rooms. His head was still spinning from the discomfort of floo travel, but he managed to only stumble a bit, rather than windmilling and falling flat on his face.

"Cal!" Harry greeted cheerfully. "You're finally here!"

"Callidus." Draco nodded his head, in what could only be described as a pompous manner.

"Happy birthday Harry," Callidus said, grinning widely at his friend and blood-brother. Harry beamed in reply. A familiar house-elf, Dobby, popped in front of him to take Callidus's trunk.

"Thank you Dobby." If Callidus had known what the effects of his words would be, he might have chosen to be more curt.

Dobby's already enormous eyes widened further. "Master Callidus remembers Dobby's name! Master Callidus is too good! Too kind! Just like Master Harry! Oh, Dobby is so happy! So honoured to have such good and great masters!"

"Ah - well - yes. You're - welcome?"

"You don't have to - ugh! Just dismiss him next time!" Draco was looking at Dobby with embarrassment, his voice sounding pained. "Dobby, go!" With that, the house-elf vanished with yet another pop, taking Callidus's trunk with him.

"He's not that bad," Harry defended. "I think Dobby is kind of - erm - cute?"

Draco gave Harry an incredulous look. "Harry. Baby crups and kneazles are cute. Puffskeins are cute. Even Hagrid's dragon Norberta is kind of cute. Have you ever taken a close look at a house elf? They're grey and knobby and spindly. They look like emaciated gargoyles!"

"Okay, maybe not cute. But - well - likeable. Kind of."

Callidus snorted and shook his head. He might not have seen his friends for a month, and yet it felt like he had never been away. He decided to cut in before Draco and Harry started squabbling. "What do you have planned for your birthday, Harry?"

"Oh! Well, I didn't really think about making any plans. I thought the three of us would just -" Harry shrugged, "- find something fun to do around the manor. Fly around for a bit, or something. But then Draco thought we should celebrate, so he invited a few people. They should be arriving soon so we're waiting here to greet them."

"Oh? Who's coming?"

Harry hummed, shuffling his feet self-consciously. "Well, Pansy, and Blaise. And Hermione. And Tracey, and Millie and Daphne. And Theo too. And Crabbe and Goyle? Erm - and a bunch of other people I don't know. It's supposed to be a casual get together."

"It is casual!" Draco insisted. "We didn't even send out proper invites." Draco looked very put out by this fact. "The whole thing is a mess. People might be arriving at all hours of the day. I told them to come by at noon, but who knows if they've listened. This is why proper invitations should be sent out before any sort of fete."

Harry huffed. "I didn't ask for this. I've never even had a birthday party before!"

"Yes, and you're unlikely to have any sort of proper party until next year, when we can actually properly organize it. What kind of theme do you suppose you'd like?"

"What? Are we talking about for today or for next year?"

"Wait - how many people are coming?" Callidus questioned. The idea of suddenly seeing everyone at once struck him as being rather overwhelming.

"I -" Draco scrunched up his face as he mentally tried to count. "I don't remember. I invited the Slytherins, and Harry wanted Hermione to come. And then my mother thought that Crabbe and Goyle should come since we used to play together when we younger. And my father thought that it would be a good chance for Harry to cultivate more connections with other - uh - young-ish people."

"So -" Callidus knit his brows together. "We might literally be stuck in this drawing room, greeting people all day?"

Draco frowned. "No - yes - maybe?"

"Can't a house-elf do that?" Callidus questioned.

"It's appalling manners for a host to not personally greet their guests!" Draco exclaimed, aghast at the idea.

Callidus's eyes slid over to Harry, who was already fidgeting restlessly. "Harry, shall we go explore the manor? I know there's a secret room in the library, but I imagine there are many other secrets that we might find."

Draco gasped. "You know about the private library?"

Callidus ignored Draco and raised his eyebrow at Harry expectantly. Harry gave Draco a mischievous look before shrugging and grinning. "Sure. Let's get out of here."

"You are Not abandoning me alone to greet the guests!" Draco exclaimed, sounding almost shrill.

"You could - I dunno - come with us?" Harry suggested with amusement.

Draco huffed. "Fine! Gilly!" A house-elf popped into place, wearing an expression that was both eager and sweet.

"How can Gilly serve Master Draco?"

"Gilly, stay here and greet the guests as they arrive. Direct them to the pavilion in the west garden. There's tables and refreshments set up out there."

Gilly smiled cheerfully. "Yes, Master Draco."

With only the slightest look of guilt, Draco joined Callidus and Harry as the boys quickly left the drawing room, eager to catch up on what had happened in the past month.

By the time the trio made it down to Harry's 'birthday party,' it was over an hour later. Draco had insisted that Callidus 'do something' with his hair, and with a heavy sigh, Callidus submitted to using a fresh dose of Grease-B-Gone potion in his shoulder-length locks.

"I'm not expecting that you'll ever look as good as me," Draco was prattling snobbily. "But Merlin! You can't go out in front of our guests looking like that, Callidus! It would reflect badly on us."

"Yes, sister dear," Callidus deadpanned. "Merlin knows I'll never catch a proper husband looking the way I do, unlike you, the belle of the ball."

Draco scowled, while Harry chuckled and threw his head back on the sofa where he was sprawled out. "I've missed this."

"What. Us devolving into a state where we're reduced to puerile bickering?" Callidus asked.

Harry smiled happily. "Yes. Feels like -" He stared up at the ceiling as he searched for the right word. "Home."

When the trio arrived at the west garden, with Callidus and even Harry looking considerable more polished, most of the guests had arrived. For a supposedly casual party, in which invites were not even formally issued, the west garden looked lavishly decorated. There were several tables containing numerous delectable looking finger foods. The nearby trees were adorned with flittering and glowing fairies. Round tables, with matched chairs were evenly scattered throughout one section the garden, and a short distance away, a few people were playing magical lawn games.

A shriek pierced the air, and a blur of dark brown hair and pale limbs came flying towards the trio. "Harrryyy! Drakkyyyy! Caaal!" Pansy Parkinson leapt at them, somehow throwing her arms around the three of them at once. "I can't believe you weren't there when we flooed in!" She was followed closely by Blaise Zabini who sauntered up to them, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Merlin, Pansy!" Draco exclaimed, trying to push her off. "How do you manage to become more unsophisticated every time we meet?"

"You're one to talk!" Parkinson retorted. "I'm not the one who left a house-elf to greet personal guests."

"That - I - that wasn't my fault, you cow!" Draco sputtered.

Harry grinned. "You're just mad that she called you Draky. Hullo Pansy. I've missed you too." He winced, but smiled with affection and resignation as Pansy squeezed him in a tight hug.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," Zabini said smoothly. "Hello Draco. Lovely party you have here. How has your summer been?"

"Listen, I hardly had time to plan this party," Draco continued to rant. "Do you realize how many weeks in advance are needed to coordinate an adequate get-together? There's the food, the invites, the decor, the music, the -"

Zabini raised up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean to throw your delicate sensibilities into a fit of hysterics. I was being perfectly sincere. It is a nice party."

Callidus smirked. "Only you could say that with a straight face, Zabini. I'm pretty sure I just saw you eyeing the generic decorations with disdain."

"Me? As if I would ever be so crass as to look down on someone for their very generic choice of decor," Zabini intoned though Callidus caught the glint of amusement in his eyes.

As Harry and Draco chatted with the Slytherins, Callidus caught sight of Hermione. The muggleborn was looking decidedly lost and uncomfortable amidst the crowd of mostly purebloods. Excusing himself, Callidus strode over to Hermione. When she spotted him, she gave him a relieved smile, glad to see a friendly face.

"Hermione," he welcomed. "Are you enjoying watching the indigenous purebloods socializing in the wild?"

"Hello Callidus. Everyone's behaviour is quite interesting," Hermione replied in such a way that Callidus wasn't sure if she was playing along, or actually being serious. "I can't help but think that their life's purpose is to one-up whomever they are speaking with."

"That's because I'm pretty sure their life's purpose actually is to one-up whomever they are speaking with," he answered wryly. "That or to bow down and ingratiate themselves like suckling bottom feeders, hungry for the meanest of scraps."

Hermione scrunched her nose. "How can you stand this sort of thing? It's all so - pretentious."

Callidus gave his friend a look of concern. "Have the people here been making you feel unwelcome?" As the only muggleborn, Hermione's presence was an oddity. There were many pureblood who would have easily treated her with open derision.

"No, it's been all right," she replied, though her tone sounded uncertain.

Callidus shrugged. "The people here are no better than you. I think much of the pompousness has to do with how much gold they have in their vaults as it has to do with blood status."

Hermione gave him a bemused look. "It doesn't bother you?"

Callidus shrugged, but some silent voice in his head was sure that once he made his way in the world, people would be looking up to him and admiring him. He was ambitious, and he was a Slytherin after all.

"I should say Happy Birthday to Harry, shouldn't I," Hermione mused.

Callidus glanced over to where Harry and Draco were situated. The two of them were now swarmed by the other guests - many of them admirers of either Harry or the Malfoys. Callidus could already imagine how uncomfortable Harry probably was, being fawned over by people he barely knew. A scowl crossed his face, as Callidus's protective feelings towards his friend and brother arose. Why wasn't Draco keeping the sycophants away from Harry? Wasn't that one of Draco's jobs as a so-called 'spokesperson' for the trio?

Callidus stalked over to Harry and Draco, trailed by Hermione. He pushed passed the crowd, and just as he thought, Harry was looking overwhelmed, while Draco was happily soaking up the attention.

"Draco," Callidus drawled to his other blood-brother. "You can take care of all this, can't you?" He gestured to the crowd, but Draco's expression was perplexed. It wasn't until Callidus place a hand on Harry's shoulder that Draco understood. Draco opened his mouth to protest, not wanting to be abandoned by Harry (even if Draco adored getting fawned over), but when Draco saw the strained expression on Harry's face, he relented with a huff.

"Fine," Draco hissed so that only Callidus could hear. "But you owe me." Callidus rolled his eyes. How did it make sense for him to owe Draco, when he was just letting Draco do something he already enjoyed?

Callidus excused himself from the crowd, pulling Harry along with him. They made their way towards the relative privacy of the Malfoy's hedge maze. As they strolled through the winding pathway, Callidus listened as Harry and Hermione caught up, and eventually, they were joined by a rather irate-looking Draco.

"How could you just leave me back there!" Draco exclaimed. "Do you know how much work it is to handle all those people and their unceasing questions?" His tone of voice changed as he mimicked the crowd. "'Where's Harry Potter?' 'What's the guest of honour doing?' 'Where's the great Boy-Who-Lived?' 'Such a lovely party you have here, but why didn't you issue written invites?'"

Callidus snorted. "And yet, you handle the masses so well, Draco. Besides, most of them were probably all too happy to slather you with a heavy layer of flattery. You live for that kind of thing. You don't need to me to say that invites or not, they're probably besides themselves with ecstatic glee to be here at this little Malfoy revel."

"Naturally they should be honoured. But that doesn't mean I wanted to be left to the slavering wolves."

"Aw," Harry cut in, his green eyes bright with amusement. "Are you sad that we left you by yourself?"

Draco pouted and crossed his arms. "No."

Callidus snorted again.

Draco threw his hands up in exasperation. "Fine then, yes! Are you satisfied? Just forget about it. Harry, don't you want to open your presents? What's the point of inviting so many people if you don't even go out and claim your spoils?"

Harry huffed. "I didn't choose to invite all these people. And I don't care that much about presents."

Callidus cursed under his breath. "I forgot your present in my trunk. I'll give it to you tonight, after everyone's gone."

"Just wait until you see what I got you," Draco preemptively bragged. "You won't be able to guess what it is. I doubt anyone else got you anything like it. It's so great, I almost wish I had one just like it."

"Erm - thanks?" Harry responded.

"It's going to make everyone else's present look so bad," Draco continued eagerly. "I can't wait to see your face when you get it. It's one-of-a-kind. It's not the biggest or flashiest item, but it's probably the rarest and most expensive. Everyone's going to be so envious."

While Draco prattled, Hermione shyly smiled and said: "I hope you'll enjoy my present, Harry."

Harry smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure I will."

Draco managed to drag the group of them out of the hedge maze towards the large table where Harry's gifts were piled up. When Harry saw the mound, his eyes bulged and his mouth fell open.

"These are all for me?"

Draco examined the mound with a critical expression. "Not bad, but you can probably do better next year. Especially if we plan a proper party."

Most of the guests had noticed Harry's reemergence, and they formed a circle around him, watching with interest as Harry made his way towards the presents. Even the elder Malfoys were there, wearing expensive looking robes, and playing the gracious hosts (since Draco wasn't doing a sufficient job.)

Aware of the growing crowd, Harry flushed and hesitated, acting embarrassed and almost guilty as though he were some unwelcome vagrant, caught with his hands reaching for expensive family heirlooms. For a moment, Harry felt as though he did not belong in a place like this. But Draco, who looked ready to rip open the presents himself, was already handing Harry one of the gifts, eyeing it with anticipation.

"Open it!" Draco exclaimed, all but bouncing up and down with excitement. Amused by his friend and blood-brother's antics, Harry felt himself relaxing the slightest bit. If this party was all for him, he might as well enjoy it. His green eyes now alight with curiosity, he ripped open the wrapping paper, eager to see what manner of knickknacks he might be receiving.

Callidus watched as Harry made his way through the mountain of presents, awkwardly thanking people he barely knew, or in some cases, had never even met. Draco was still handing Harry presents, watching the proceedings with a mix of interest, and growing smugness. Callidus had the impression that Draco was saving his present for last, like some sort of dramatic grand finale.

Finally, it was the last present of the pile. The gift was elegantly wrapped, and the wrapping paper glinted gold with snitches, bludgers and for some reason quaffles, whizzing around (even if quaffles did not fly). Harry admired the beautiful wrapping paper, wondering if the fluttering snitches were real gold (they were.)

"This is yours?" Harry asked.

Draco smirked. "Of course."

Though Harry was growing exhausted from opening so many gifts, he perked up with interest. Even Callidus, who had no desire to feed Draco's ego, found himself edging forwards, curious to see what the other boy had gifted to Harry. Unlike the other gifts, Harry was a bit more careful about opening this one, as though he did not want to tear the paper. Beneath the wrapping paper was an ornate miniature chest. Harry lifted the lid of the chest, and pulled out a pendant, which glowed in a greenish light, before fading. Harry held the pendant in front of him, admiring the item which dangled from a black-ish red cord.

"It's a dragon tooth," Draco informed him. "I had my father have one of his acquaintances enchant it. It has a few magical properties, but the main one is that it can protect you from danger. It has some shield-like abilities, among other things."

Callidus's eyes widened. Draco wasn't jesting when he said the gift was one-of-a-kind. Enchanting was a highly advanced and difficult form of magic that wasn't even taught at Hogwarts. It was an ability that few could master, and involved intricate spell-work to weave permanent and powerful magic into objects. Almost all magical artifacts - the rare and expensive ones at least - were created through enchantments. Most witches and wizards never bothered to learn enchanting and were satisfied to simply stick to charming objects, which, while effective, was also temporary.

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed. "Thanks, Draco! It's awesome!"

"The cord is made from woven dragon heartstrings," Draco added smugly, as Harry pulled the necklace over his head. As the pendant fell to a rest against the center of Harry's chest, Harry suddenly froze. His pupils constricted to pin-pricks, making his eyes look eerily green. The colour seemed to leach from his face. Harry swayed in place.

"Harry?" Callidus dashed over to his friend, concerned, and gripping his shoulders. Something told him to make use of his magical sensitivity, and with push of concentration, he focused on his friend. He nearly leapt away from the ominous feeling that roiled under his skin, surrounding Harry. It seemed to wave and crest, feeling oddly cold, and incredibly hostile. Was it the pendent?

Callidus reached for the dragon tooth, but before he could touch it, a feeling of intense revulsion swept through him and he recoiled, unable to bring himself to touch the necklace. Even now, the idea of being near it filled him with a strange sense of inexplicable horror.

"What is this?" Callidus hissed. "Draco, what did you do?"

Draco, Hermione and many of the other Slytherins watched the scene with confusion and concern. The guests had no idea what was going on. All Harry was really doing was standing there, and it seemed like Callidus was the only one who was aware of how wrong everything felt.

"Why can't I touch the pendant?" Callidus demanded, keeping his voice low, but his eyes hard.

Draco was taken aback by the intense look on Callidus's face. "I - it's enchanted so that only Harry can touch or remove it. What's the point of a protective artifact if just anyone can snatch it?"

Callidus turned back to Harry. "Harry? Harry! Take off the pendant."

"Hey! Why should he have to take off the pendant?" Draco demanded, but Callidus ignored him.

Harry blinked, and his pupils soon returned to their normal size. The roiling, wavy feeling beneath Callidus's skin lessened, but still remained.

"Huh? Why are you -" Harry looked at Callidus in confusion, wondering why the other boy's hands were on his shoulders. "Did something happen?"

"Harry," Callidus repeated. "Can you take the pendant off?"

Harry's hand reached up to wrap around the dragon tooth. Part of its enchantments meant that the blade-like edge of the tooth couldn't penetrate Harry's skin, so the the item did him no harm. But instead of pulling the necklace off, Harry simply held it against his chest.

"Why?" Harry wondered, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

"Just - please," Callidus pleaded. "I have a weird feeling about it."

"I - erm - maybe later, yeah?" Harry looked at the crowd of familiar and unfamiliar faces. "Not here when we're surrounded by all these people."

Callidus frowned, but he had no inclination to make a scene. "Fine."

"What's going on?" Draco asked, grey eyes flashing with annoyance. "Why are you being so weird, Callidus? What's your problem? Jealous that my gift is so much better than yours?"

Callidus wanted to throw his hands up, or roll his eyes, or huff dramatically, but knowing that there were so many pairs of eyes on him, he maintained his stoic demeanour. "We'll discuss this later."

A/N: I love writing Draco, spoiled brat extraordinaire

I feel like Cal has grown a little more confident and open this year. It makes me happy for him :)