Draco eyes Bloom across the Hall - its been about a month since Hedwig's transformation, and now…something's wrong. Very wrong. The other Gryffindors seem to know that as well, and maybe more of what it is exactly that's going on, because half of them are outright staring at her and the other half are whispering to each other.

Ron and Hermione share a look, then Ron asks "Bloom, you alright? You look bloody well exhausted."

Bloom nods, covering a yawn with her hand, and says "Rough night last night, Ron. Ask Hermione…" She starts eating, even as she yawns once more.

Hermione says "Yeah, you were talking in your sleep a lot last night. What was it about?"

Bloom grimaces, then says "Being a Seer really sucks sometimes, 'Mione. I was an uninvited and unknwn guest to a Death Eater Meeting last night."

Hermione sucks in a breath through her teeth, and asks "Shouldn't we tell someone, then?" "Who? Dumbledore? He didn't do anything when I got unwillingly entered into the Tournament last year, he won't do anything when Sturgis Podmore goes insane because he was Imperioused into trying to take the Prophecy they're so jealously guarding. And he won't do anything when Tommy-boy gets even more desperate when that fails."

The area directly around Bloom goes silent as a grave at that, up until "Detention, Miss Potter. For spreading more vile lies!"

Bloom turns around to see Umbridge standing there - still looking a bit unsteady, even after a month of recovery from the consequences of setting Bloom off so incredibly - then turns back around with the response of "Yeah, great, see you at five."

Umbridge's expression upon getting a response like that to her dreaded detentions is priceless, but she gets a sickly-sweet smile as she says "Not with me, young lady. With Filch."

The entire hall goes quiet as the grave now, but Bloom just says "See him at seven, then. 'Mione, what's the strongest caffeinated drink you can think of? Because I don't dare risk Potions I didn't make."

Umbridge is still gaping at Bloom's lack of…well, anything in response to getting detention with Filch after Bloom's third goblet of straight black coffee. There's a reason Filch was banned from giving detentions, and its because he's as much of a sadist as Umbridge herself is - however, with her Educational Decree giving Umbridge the authority to decide someone's punishment, she's got full reign to give someone a detention with Filch.

The entire Hall breaks out in whispers as Umbridge walks back to the Professors' table with a particularly pleased expression on her face.

That night, Draco and Pansy are doing their rounds when they 'accidentally' stumble into Hermione and Ron - due to the truce, they're getting along decently. Keeping things civil, no insults or Hexing. Once the initial distrust the other Slytherins had was gone, they're actually getting along rather well, all things considered.

Then, Ron and Hermione share that Bloom never returned to the Common Room after leaving for her detention with Filch. Draco goes as pale as his hair at the news, only for all four of them to stumble when there's something very much like an explosion that rocks the building.

Halfway there, they run into a stumbling Bloom - literally run into her, as they've long since learned which way Filch's office is and the explosion came from that direction.

Draco grabs Bloom by the elbows, as she's gripping her head in her hands and stumbling along, and says "Bloom, look at me. What happened?"

When she opens her eyes, squeezing them shut again after a moment, she groans "What happened? Last I remember…Filch was…" She flinches violently when Hermione puts a hand on her shoulder, giving everyone a few ideas of what he was doing - and none of them particularly good.

Even in the quick few moments her eyes were open, Draco could see them rapidly turning back to blue - either she unleashed her magic, or…it unleashed itself. Thinking back to that night in the forest, where Firenze had her unleash a torrent of fire so she didn't lose control and maybe destroy the school, it isn't that hard for Draco to imagine she blacked out and her magic was set loose on the cranky old caretaker.

Given the detail that Bloom's gone lukewarm as opposed to her usual campfire-like temperature, its looking increasingly likely that that's exactly what happened.

Draco quietly asks "Bloom, what's the last thing you remember?"

Bloom's hands fall to the front of his robe, even as she says "Filch, I went into his office. For the detention Umbridge assigned me. Somehow, he chained me to the wall, some kind of spell on the school I think. Last thing I remember, he was whipping me…and then I'm stumbling down the corridor, and my head's killing me and the rest of me is aching…"

It makes all too much sense, Filch has been muttering to himself about wanting to do stuff like that to the students for as long as they've all attended, of course he'd jump at the chance to finally act on those wishes. He must've flogged her as hard as he could, and she blacked out from the pain - and then there was nothing holding her magic back after that, resulting in the explosion they all heard and felt. They've all got a distinct feeling they'll need a new Caretaker now, since the odds of anyone surviving the wrath of Bloom's magic when unleashed like this are almost zero.

A tiny moan brings Draco from his thoughts, and he looks down at the girl held protectively to him - and sees Hermione and Pansy went to investigate the explosion further while Ron's standing there with him keeping an eye out for Umbridge. As such, Draco quietly asks "What is it, Bloom? What's wrong?"

"Hurts…everything hurts…"

Ron glances over, then quietly curses and says "That bloody toad, I swear if I ever get my hands on her…"

Draco nods, then says "Were Bloom anyone else, I'd say we should get her to the Hospital Wing. As it is…that'll just draw more attention to her from Dumbledore if not Umbridge as well."

Ron nods grimly, then mutters "Anybody who wants to trade places with Bloom, I'm sure she'd jump at the chance. She's said it a dozen times each year, all the fame isn't worth even a part of it all. I'll carry her up to Gryffindor Tower. Bloom?" She slurs something about being able to walk, and Ron snorts and says "Yeah, just like you could walk after we first found Fluffy. Or after we got out of the Dark Forest in our first year. I'm not buying that for a minute."

Bloom groans softly into Draco's robe, so softly that he almost missed it, but doesn't try to prove she can make it there on her own. He buries his face in her hair, pressing his lips to her head for a moment…right up until a shaken Pansy and Hermione come running back covered in soot and Pansy holding a strange-looking whip that makes them all both uneasy and furious.

Ron frowns at them, and asks "What happened?"

Hermione is the first to speak, as Pansy's looking more shaken than the Gryffindor - though, whether that's from Hermione's Gryffindor courage or the detail that she's probably used to getting into danger by now is anyone's guess - and says "Let's just say we're going to need a new Caretaker. And a new office for that caretaker. And a new section of wall."

Pansy gets herself together, and says "We couldn't tell what was going on, there's nothing left but a large hole in the wall that spans two classrooms and a lot of soot and ash. And some charred fur, along with this whip."

Draco shrugs, than says "It was gonna happen sooner or later if Filch started working detentions. Someone else would've lost control of their magic and done the cranky old man in." That time they found Bloom flashes through Draco's head, how she truly didn't seem to be directing her magic at all, and it was just reacting to her desire to escape. Somehow, he gets the distinct feeling Bloom lost her grip on her magic once more…and these were the results.

Later that night, Draco sees words getting written into the journal Bloom made for him. 'Draco, its Hermione. We got Bloom talking before she fell asleep, and she said Umbridge gave Filch some kind of potion for her to drink. Between that and what Filch was using on her - some kind of whip, she said, that Umbridge Charmed to make her whole body experience the pain, which must be the one we found - she blacked out. I think we know exactly what happened next. She said the potion made it hard for her to think, but she felt every bit of pain. I'll ask Professors Flitwick and Snape to examine it, see what kind of spells were used on it.'

'Good idea, Hermione. How's Bloom doing now?'

'Out cold. Like she took Dreamless sleep, though all that happened was her head hit her pillow. Lavender and I looked at her back, but she doesn't have a mark on her as usual - she did keep twitching and flinching at every single touch, though. She's glowing orange, mumbling in her sleep, but no coherent words we can make out.'

'Did you find out anything about the potion?'

'No, she didn't know what it was. Just that it burned going down and it clouded up her thoughts while making her hyper-aware of her body. Ever heard of anything like that?'

'No. I'll ask Professor Snape tomorrow.'

Sure enough, first thing in the morning, Draco's down in his Godfather's office giving him the description of the effects of the Potion Bloom was forced to drink.

"Hm, I've heard of a few like it. The ingredients are all relatively easy to find. Where'd you hear about Potions like this, Draco?"

"We think Umbridge used one on Bloom during her detention with Filch, Sev. Except it backfired…a lot. We're going to need a new Caretaker, to. And a new office for them."

Severus goes pale, then groans and says "She lost control in some way. Like when Hedwig was injured."

Draco nods, then says "I don't think she was even conscious for it, Godfather. We found her stumbling down a corridor and holding her head, and couldn't remember how she got there."

Snape rubs his temples with his fingers, and says "Albus, you fool…" He then looks up, and asks "What happened to her? Where is she now, Draco?"

"Gryffindor Tower, Sev. Ron and Hermione took her back there last night. We also found this whip, Hermione has it for now and is going to show it to you and Professor Flitwick later today, that Bloom said Umbridge Charmed."

Severus' eyes narrow, and he says "A whip. Filch whipped her."

Draco nods, and says "After Umbridge Charmed it, apparently. Bloom wasn't very conscious, but what she told Granger and Weasley wasn't good."

Severus groans again, already feeling a stress-induced headache coming on - and he hasn't even had breakfast yet. After a minute, he grumbles "Its far too early in the morning for this…" Privately, he has to wonder if Bloom Jessica Potter-Fyre wasn't born under a cursed star or something - its always her, almost every single incident this severe involves her in some way. Even if she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Four hours later, he and Flitwick are in an abandoned classroom with Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Susan Bones, Pansy Parkinson, and a whip that's radiating the Dark Arts. After a few diagnostic spells, Flitwick turns pale as a ghost and Snape informs the teens that the whip was Charmed to mimic the Cruciatus Curse. So, basically, every time Bloom was whipped, its like she was Crucio'd for a few seconds.

Susan quickly Transfigures a bucket from a table and promptly barfs into it, and is almost immediately followed by Pansy. The rest of the teens are almost as bad, with Hermione's brain connected directly to her mouth as she babbles to Ron about the effects of the Cruciatus and how long it was from when Bloom left for her Detention to when they found her and how she still hasn't woken up, Ron trying to calm her down, and Draco being torn by the urges to Hex Umbridge and Filch into oblivion and find Bloom to make sure she's still…well, still Bloom.

In the end, the whip gets packaged up and sent to Susan's aunt with a description of what it is and what it was used for included, and then Flitwick and Snape start planning ways to make Umbridge's time at Hogwarts even more frustrating than it already is - between Peeves pranking her every chance he gets, the other professors openly defying her in various ways by citing her 'Educational Decrees' and Bloom outright defying her at every turn, the woman's practically tearing her hair out.

Looks like its time to push her over the edge. There's little doubt the entirety of the school population will be willing - ecstatic, even - to join in.

Ron hesitantly asks "Professor Snape? Would you like to get in touch with Fred and George for ideas? They're really brilliant at this kind of stuff."

Daphne breathes a sigh of relief when she senses another surge of Bloom's magic - she's probably going to eviscerate whoever is setting off her sister's magic like this, but that can wait until she's contacted Bloom. When she travels down the link, though, she finds Bloom unconscious and her mind open enough to enter and finally speak to her. Though, as soon as Daphne solidifies the connection between them enough to finally see her baby sister after all this time, Daphne feels magic surge through Bloom's mind and take her sister's consciousness even further away.

The only reason she doesn't follow is because she recognizes a vision when she...well, feels one. It would have to be something important, not something that can wait five mintutes for Daphne to introduce herself.

AN: Hey, everyone! Yeah, I know, Umbridge is upping her tactics. I SWEAR Bloom is going to recover, though. Please don't hate me. With Bloom not just keeping her head down and staying under the radar - like Harry tried to do in canon - she's got to think of something. And we already knew she's sadistic enough for such a thing - in the book, she actually wanted to have Fred and George whipped by Filch, and an Educational Decree was in the works for letting Filch do detentions. At any rate, I'm pushing Arthur's attack back a bit - we're already right around December anyway, since the attack on Hedwig was Halloween, and that was a month ago. While Arthur's attack was near Christmas. Mostly, it was to give Daphne a chance to finally meet Bloom face to face.

Anyway, enjoy! More chapters coming soon!