The adults are socializing together, as the children start coming into the ballroom for the dancing party - Sirius is basically getting swamped with questions of where he found Bloom, how is he planning on raising the Girl-Who-Lived, etc. Sirius dodges all of them with the ease and grace of one who was born into this lifestyle and raised to maneuver it since he could walk.

Draco's glancing around at the guests, hoping to pick out a head of red hair that could be mistaken for a Weasley if it was coupled with freckles that are conspicuously missing. Ron sees him first, then rolls his eyes and walks over, saying "Relax, Draco. Bloom loaned Hermione some earrings for the ball. Last I heard, they were helping each other get ready."

Draco sighs in relief, then Ron grins and asks "So, how's it been coming?"

Draco pretends he doesn't know what Ron's talking about, asking "With?"

"With Bloom." Draco's short answer of 'Very good.' gives Ron all the answers he needs.

When Draco suddenly freezes in his tracks, his eyes going twice as wide as usual, Ron turns around and sees Bloom standing there in a sparkling dress a few shades brighter than Gryffindor red with ivory trim, her hair done up in an intricate braided updo held in place by several diamond and sapphire pins and a matching headpiece. She's got a pair of decorative silver-looking armlets that wind around her lower arms, starting at about her elbow and ending in the middle of her palm. It takes Ron elbowing him in the side a bit rougher than casually to bring Draco out of his shock, and the Ginger-haired boy says "Keep staring like that, and I'm sure something will happen."

Of course, then he sees Hermione in a fuchsia and cream dress and promptly loses all function in his brain. Then its Draco's turn to elbow Ron in the side.

Daphne Greengrass walks over to Hermione and Bloom, and says "You two look good. You've got two admirers blatantly staring, you know?"

Bloom rolls her eyes, and says "Boys."

Hermione chuckles, and says "I bet we can guess who."

Bloom shrugs, then says "We'll dance with them at some point during the night."

Daphne switches topics, asking "How'd you do your makeup quite like that, Bloom? I can never manage the jewel tone quite right."

Bloom shrugs, and says "Magic. I just imagine what I want, then it happens. Before you say anything, that's literally all I have to do for it. A child's approach to using their magic, I suppose."

Daphne raises an eyebrow, then asks "Your that good? How?"

"Practice. I've been using magic since I was six."

Before anyone can react, the announcement to start the dancing party is made.

Ron and Hermione pair up at once, but Neville beats Draco to Bloom - and before that happened, Pansy practically snatched at his arm to get him to dance with her. He eyes the dancing pair as his body goes through the motions with Pansy, but from what he can lip-read Neville's just talking with her.

About three more dances, and he finally gets the partner he wanted - Bloom's smirk, mixed with a bit of relief, says she's feeling the same and can tell as much. Of course, once they start moving, Draco's mind stops supplying words for his mouth to spit out. The most he can get out is an inelegant "Uh…"

Bloom chuckles, then asks "Do you go to these often? First one for me, if you don't count the Yule Ball."

Draco nods, and says "Yeah. Every year. Since I was…five or so. Good for making connections and such, along with the party my parents usually throw for my birthday every year."

Bloom winces, then asks "I didn't miss it, did I? Or make it so it didn't happen?"

Draco shakes his head, saying "They had other things to worry about this year. Avoiding someone, for instance. And any potential connections to him." Bloom winces again, so Draco changes the subject at once. "So," he teases with a grin, "you said you had a surprise for me…"

Bloom gets a smirk on her face, and says "No spoilers, Draco. You know that."

Draco rolls his eyes, spins Bloom around, then says "I was actually wondering if it was finished yet."

Bloom grins at him, then says "Something like that."

Draco groans, then says "Your impossible to get a secret out of, you know that?"

Bloom gives him a full smile, and says "I do. I practiced."

Draco groans again, and mutters "So hot when you go all Slytherin…" He spins Bloom around, then says "Most of the Slytherins in our year are going to back off. The fact that you disappeared and were resourceful enough to stay hidden as long as you did seems to have impressed them."

Bloom shrugs, then says "They don't start anything, I won't end anything."

"Noted."

Bloom switches topics suddenly, saying "I was reading about Phoenixes in the Potter library…interesting stuff."

Draco raises an eyebrow, then asks "You want a Phoenix? Don't you think Hedwig might get jealous?"

Bloom chuckles, then says "Since Phoenixes are basically immortal, being reborn time and again on their Burning days, there's another way for one to appear - a witch's or wizard's bird familiar, which apparently Hedwig is for me and having Ron take care of her over the summer for me was this big act of trust…anyway, off topic. A bird familiar tries to channel a massive amount of magic from their witch or wizard, and then…gets a Burning Day spontaneously."

Draco nearly trips, what does she mean she didn't know Hedwig was her Familiar?! At his dumbfounded look, she asks "Something wrong?"

"You didn't know… I thought… How…"

He stops sputtering before anyone notices, even as Bloom looks away and quietly says "Sirius clued me in. He said that if I'd shared my magic with Hedwig, it would form a bond between us. Well, half of what I did all summer between years one and two was try to give her some of my magic to keep her alive, since the Dursleys wouldn't let me let her out of her cage. So…already formed, and there's nothing anyone can do about it I guess."

Draco nods, and says "There's specific rules and laws about Familiars - the one thing that's still sacred in the Wizarding World, something not even the current Ministry would dare change. There'd be far too much backlash and public outcry for even the stupidest of people to try and change anything."

Bloom gets a gleam in her eye he's come to recognize, the same kind she had when she came out of McGonagall's office with the promise about learning something more back in year one, then asks "Want to take a break from dancing?"

Thankfully, the song ends right then - he barely has time to nod before Bloom's subtly dragging him through the crowd of people, leading him along by his upper arm without obviously dragging him by it.

When they sit down at an out-of-the-way table, Draco asks "How'd you get onto the topics of Phoenixes anyway?"

"I was actually trying to figure out what I might turn into. Phoenixes caught my eye. Then three hours. What about these Familiar Laws?"

"This is seriously the first time your hearing about them?"

Bloom shrugs and holds a hand out before rocking it back and forth, saying "Siri told me a bit about them a week ago, then decided to check if Hedwig isn't mine. She is, though the bond was…incomplete. Mainly because I didn't recognize it as such, and that was because I had no bloody idea about it."

Draco nods, and says "Familiars can help channel a person's magic, which you said you know about. They can also communicate with their bonded witch or wizard if its strong enough."

Bloom chuckles derisively, then says "Hedwig's the first friend I ever had. And the first birthday present I ever got, you remember my reaction. If it isn't strong enough, there's something blocking it."

Draco nods, smiling a bit at the memory - it was the first and second time he'd ever seen her smile, first when she was using her magic on the plant and second when she saw Hedwig. He remembers her pulling the cage door open at once, and Hedwig hopped up onto her shoulder at once and nipped at her ear before settling down happily.

"Speaking of Hedwig herself…Sirius said that my entrusting her care to Ron for the summer was…"

"Saying you trust him with your life. Him and the rest of his family. Familiars aren't usually separated from their Bonded unless by their own doing. And it only ever happens to keep the Familiar safe."

Bloom nods, then says "I nearly asked him to in years one and two. Afterwards…I just couldn't put her through another summer. Had Sirius been allowed to take custody of me, it would've been different and I'd have kept her with me. As it is, I love her far too much to willingly put her through…all of it."

Draco nods, then says "Ron said she was miserable when separated from you. Both times. She wouldn't leave when Dumbledore thought of sending you a letter, though - according to Sirius, he checked both the letter and Hedwig herself and found a Tracking Charm on each."

Bloom nods, and says "Smartest bird I know. She likely knew I didn't want to be found. Not by Dumbledore, anyway."

Draco nods, then says "I can only imagine why." He starts thinking up books on Familiars and protective spells for them - maybe a Christmas gift or two.

To keep Bloom from catching on, he nods at her armlet and asks "Where'd you get that?"

Bloom grins, and says "I bounced that idea I had a while ago off Sirius, and he loved it. You remember, right? The bracelet made of a bunch of metal?"

"Ah, yes, how could I forget? You tried to show me how to throw knives after that. He chose…silver?"

Bloom shakes her head, then says "Steel, actually. Much tougher than silver, I can just transfigure it to look decorative. And making protective spells - those are taking a bit, I'm looking up the old ones."

Draco nods, and says "Those were lost…well, before the war with Grindelwald. Incredibly hard to do. I don't doubt either the Black or the Potter Library has references and such, though."

Bloom shrugs, then gets something much like a feral grin the goblins usually get when she says "Well, one thing I know is that, if anyone attacks Hedwig, there's absolutely nothing that will save them from me. Assuming they survive the spell, Familiar Law says I've got every right to attack them. Too bad the spell itself is going to take a while just to find - I only found one obscure reference, and then, it was only the name and Sirius told me what he knew of it."

Draco shudders at once, he can only try to imagine the explosion that would happen if someone dared to touch even a single feather on Hedwig's body. Hogwarts itself would probably be blown apart.

Bloom eventually calls for Silsy for something, but then gets a look of utter amazement on her face at the House Elf's appearance.

"Mistress was wanting something?"

"Not important right now, Silsy. Quick question, are House Elves allowed at Hogwarts?"

Draco shakes his head, saying "Not since Dippet's time. Students aren't allowed a Personal Elf, he felt it would give some an unfair advantage."

"Well, Dobby's there. This is brilliant!"

Draco raises an eyebrow, asking "Found something?"

"Thought of something. Ravenclaw's Diadem is somewhere in Hogwarts, somewhere full of junk. If Dobby can just find it…bloody hell, why didn't I think of that before?"


AN: Hey, everyone! I'm back for another chapter! School is almost here, I swear. A few more chapters - because I have to write in Bloom's birthday party, as if Sirius wouldn't throw her a massive one. Give me a few chapters for it, though, gotta get this dancing party finished first. If anybody's wondering about all the references to incidents like 'Ravenclaws trying to sneak her a Love Potion' its pretty simple. Half the school has been trying to get her since they started cluing in to the detail that she's strong, hot, and available. None have actually succeeded.

As to how Bloom didn't know Hedwig is her Familiar...I see it as something that just happened and she didn't know about it or enough to ask about it. Blame Dumbledore's manipulations, making her grow up in the Muggle World. Everybody just thought either Hedwig was a regular pet or she'd been made Bloom's familiar. Before anyone asks, yes, Umbridge is going to attack Hedwig and Bloom's going to go off. Unfortunately, I need her alive to completely and utterly destroy her, so she'll just get a lot of burns, a big concussion, and a real good scare right then. I swear, though, the revenge will come and it will be vicious. and very public.

Anyway, enjoy! More chapters are coming soon! Please review, they make my day!