On-going voting for Harry's partner:

Queen Luna: 14

Nebula: 5

Aurora: 5

Sibylla: 3

Daphne: 5

Chapter 12 - Day of the Rose

The following day found the redhead sleeping later than usual, and as she slept, a voice called to her in the darkness.

"Bloom, Bloom..." the voice called.

She whipped around, trying to locate the source of the voice, only to see darkness around her.

"Who is there?" Bloom shouted out. "Who are you?"

"It's me, Bloom. Do you remember me?" the voice answered. "Do you know my voice?"

"It's you," she answered. "The one that directed me to the books on Domino."

"Yes, Bloom," the voice said, sounding happier than before. "Come to me."

"But I can't see you," Bloom said as she moved in the direction of the voice, feeling blindly around as she stumbled in the darkness."

"Come Bloom!"

Getting frustrated, Bloom shouted, "Where are you!?"

Then something brushed against her hand, saying, "I'm here, Bloom."

Bloom turned around to see a large golden figure before her. She had two pigtails that reached her shoulders, curling at the ends, whilst the rest of her hair fell to her shoulder blades. The being wore a form-fitting, flowing golden yellow dress with a plunging neckline. Around the waist was a thin pale yellow ribbon. She wore an orange mask with a golden yellow crown that had a red jewel in the centre and a pale yellow headpiece resembling angel wings.

"I'm waiting for you." the glowing being said. "Come to me and remember."

"Remember! What must I remember?"

Then suddenly, Bloom's eyes snapped open, revealing the light of the sun and the girl lying in her bed.

"What do I have to remember?" Bloom muttered, clutching her chest.

"For one thing, it's our day off," Flora said as she packed her bag.

"Where are you going?" Bloom asked her roommate.

"Home, silly," Flora said. "I'm going for the day of the rose."

"Day of the Rose," Bloom tilted her head. "What's that?"

"It's a special day where everyone celebrates their own mother," Tecna answered from the doorway.

"Oh, like Mother's day on Earth," Bloom said, hopping out of bed. "Are you going home to Tecna?"

"Yes, what about you, Bloom?"

"I won't," Bloom shook her head. "I do not have a Mother, Teddy will be at school, and dad is busy arranging or the school trip. I think there are only a few weeks left, so he's dotting the 'i's' and crossing the 't's'."

"Well then, you will keep us company," Stella said, butting in.

"Bloom said her goodbyes to Flora and Tecna and then got dressed for breakfast with the others. Walking towards the great hall made Bloom realise how important everyone took Mother's day; even the teachers had left to spend the day with their Mothers/ children.

When they entered the hall with the long benches and hanging pink chandeliers, the group of three sat down. They were the only ones in the hall, and with everyone gone, the breakfast spread was limited to Tea, Coffee, juice, toast and fruit. It reminded Bloom of home, nevertheless.

Once they had eaten, the trio sat at the table sipping their drinks. Then, Musa and Bloom noticed Stella staring sadly into her cup. The blonde seemed to have something weighing on her mind, something that caused her heart to ache and her eyes to burn.

"What is wrong, Stells?" Musa asked.

"What me?" Stella said. "It's nothing."

"Come on, Stells," Bloom coaxed. "Please tell us; we want to help."

Stella sighed and finally looked towards her friends, "the truth is I stayed today because I don't want to go home. Everyone thinks that because I am a Princess, everything is perfect, but it isn't!"

"Don't be too harsh on yourself, Stella," Bloom said, holding the blonde's hand in hers. "There is no such thing as perfection."

"You don't get it," Stella moaned. "My life is falling apart because... because my mum and dad are getting divorced."

"Oh, Stella," Musa muttered in sympathy. "That has nothing to do with you."

"But that means we will no longer be together like we used to be," the blonde said tearfully.

"How do you know that's not a good thing," Bloom asked, only to receive a shocked look from her friends. "Here me out! Surely a divorce means something isn't working. So if they stayed together, everyone would be sad. You should be proud that despite being a King and Queen, they are parting ways to find happiness elsewhere."

"I guess so. So what is your excuse, Musa!" Stella said, turning to her friend.

"I haven't celebrated this day in a long time," Musa said hesitatingly. "Because I haven't got anyone to celebrate since I lost my mother when I was very young."

"Musa," Stella gasped, her voice full of sympathy. "I'm so sorry; I shouldn't have asked."

That seemed to make the blue-haired girl smile at her friend. Stella was not always the most empathetic, but she still cared in her own way. "You don't have to apologise. You couldn't have known. For me, this day is just a little sadder than others." There was a pause of awkward silence, "But hey, life goes on. There's not much more I can do about it except live with the memories I have."

Stella and Bloom moved to hug their friend, comforting her the best they could. It made her think of how young her dad was when he lost his parents. He was when he lost his parents. He was only a baby, not even two years old; this meant he had no memories of Lily and James Potter. Did this make it better or worse?

"I guess so," Stella murmured and finished off her coffee. "Anyway, we have a day off. Why waste it being sad," she said in a faux excited voice.

"I heard there is a party in town. We could dress beautifully and go dancing!" As the blonde continued to speak with clearly fake enthusiasm slowly became real, and Bloom was surprised to see a real-life version of the saying 'fake it until you make it.

Suddenly, the sun and moon fairy's phone beeped, and she pulled it out, reading the message displayed. "Perfect," she exclaimed, "it's a message from Sky. He and his friends will be in the city, and he's inviting us to the Big Rose Ball this evening!"

The two other girls could practically see the cogs in Stella's mind turning, probably fantasising about dancing the night away with her Prince like Cinderella. Bloom then turned to Musa, asking if she wanted to go, but the Music fairy rejected the invitation politely. She felt that she would be betraying her mother's memory if she celebrated this day any other way than by not remembering her.

Stella and Bloom left to get ready and leave for the day. Meanwhile, Musa sadly made her way to the tallest tower in school and walked onto the balcony. In the distance, you could see a vast area of forest and greenery. To the south, the city of Magix could be seen towering above everything, glowing and humming with life.

Silently she took out a large pink water lily from the bag she had taken with her, placing it on the thick balcony wall. Then, slowly, she sent magic into the flower and made it bloom. Her mother used to love watching them bloom and spread their petals to absorb the sun from her bedroom window.

"Happy day of the Rose, Mum," Musa muttered to the clear blue sky.

Musa then pulled out a golden compact-like object and flipped it open, revealing a holographic image of her mother. Her name was Matlin. She had Musa's fair sky and shoulder-length blackish-blue hair. In this image, she was wearing a red and pink cheongsam with her hair tied up in buns.

"You know these parties are all the same anyway, and I see my friends every day," Musa said, trying to convince herself with her mother smiling at her knowingly. "Of course, I would have seen Riven again. He's a boy I met. He's strange. He acts tough, he's very stubborn Nd has no filter from his brain to his mouth, but I would like to get to know him more... Who knows. Maybe another day, perhaps."


At the same time, in the City of Magix, three Red Fountain boys could be seen walking through the Square. One blonde, one brunette and one with magnolia-coloured hair. There were a dozen small spaceships overhead that were shaped like Stellate flower petals. If you looked up, you would see a small part of the ship open as they drop thousands of Roses onto the crowd below.

Quickly, Sky caught one in his hand and walked to the area where he spotted his blonde Princess, "A rose for you, madam," he said, bowing his head as he presented Stella with the vibrant red rose.

"Thank you," Stella blushed, staring deeply into Sky's chocolate brown eyes.

Bloom and Brandon watched this scene from a distance and laughed awkwardly at the romantic atmosphere. This was quickly disturbed when Riven cleared his throat loudly, saying, "Can we go now?"Then paused before remembering. "Please."

The boys were at the festival to compete in the race that was done on hoverbikes. Riven was adamant that he was going to win. To Bloom, it looked dangerous, but when it came to this kind of race, she supposed there were always elements of risk and measures were taken to protect the crowd and participants - much like the measures taken for a quidditch match.

"We have a dance to attend tonight, so drive carefully," Stella said to Sky.

Sky smiled at his girlfriend and said, "Well, I'll try. The thing is, if I want to teach this guy a lesson," he indicated towards Riven, "I have to put the pedal to the metal."

"Haha!" Riven laughed. "Keep dreaming."

Bloom looked towards the blonde boy and grinned, "Good luck; I'll be cheering for you."

"Stella's cheering for me. Bloom's cheering for Brandon. Who is going to cheer for you, Riven." Sky teased his friend, going a little too far.

Riven frowned, anger making his nostrils flare, "I can have any girl I want."

"Not with a mouth like that!" Sky cheered, not noticing his teammate's rising temper.

"Oh yeah!" Riven finally snapped. "Let's make a bet then!"

"What kind of bet?" Brandon responded.

"How about if I win the race, one of your fairy friends gets to be my escort to the ball this evening," Riven stated. Bloom and Stella did not want to be part of this bet at all, but it would hurt Riven if they rejected it. After all, he was a prideful man.

"This is stupid," Brandon commented, turning away from his friend.

This only enraged and embarrassed Riven more. "Oh, is it now? Then, in this case, I'll choose Bloom."

Sighing in annoyance, Bloom thought for a second. She had always been told by her father that what people show others is not always their true selves. In this case, she felt like Riven's tough exterior was to protect his softer inside. Besides, Sky and Brandon knew Riven way better than she did. Yet they teamed together to rile him up. She was okay to take one for the team to maintain the peace.

"Okay, it is a deal," Bloom declared, and everyone stared at her in quiet shock.

"Bloom, you do not have to..." Brandon started but was cut off by the Redhead.

"I'm fine with it," Bloom shrugged. "Whilst I would have preferred Riven to ask first, you are the ones that poked at his pride. So may the best man win."

Sky and Brandon looked justly chastised, and Riven was somewhat smug as he heard Bloom defend him.

"Great," Riven said and walked off to prepare for the race.


The crowd started to gather as the race was about to start. People murmured excitedly about who they thought would win the race. Bloom even heard people making bets over the results.

"Who do you think will win?" a random woman asked Bloom.

Surprised by the sudden conversation Bloom stuttered staring at the middle aged womans silver-grey eyes. However, she soon recovered and said, "Definitely one of the Red Fountain boys."

"I think so too," the woman smiled. "They train for this kind of thing after all."

"Yeah, I bet Bloom will be cheering for Brandon," Stella joined the conversation nudging her friend in the ribs with her elbow.

"Oh, is that your boyfriend, Deary," the woman asked sweetly.

"Kind of..." Bloom muttered. "We have been on a few dates but nothing official yet."

"That is nice," the woman commented. "You two should meet my son. He is not a Red Fountain boy but he is strong, smart and has a stable job as a vehicle engineer."

Bloom was about to gently turn the older woman dow when a voice blasted across the City centre, "Ladies, gentlemen and all other creatures! Welcome to the annual race of the Rose!"

The crowd screamed and cheered so loudly all other conversation died out, and a man with spiky brown hair and red-rimmed glasses apeared above the crowd on a hoverboard. He wore a deep purple suit with a yellow-orange shirt, ensuring he would stand out even more.

"And now our courageous participants who will take part in today's events: Let us hear it for our Champions!"

The crowd roared louder than before with Bloom and Stella joining in.

All of the racers sat at the starting line, waiting for their queue. Then a large pillar began to light up, going from red to yellow and finally green.

"And their off!"

All ten racers took off like a bullet and the crowd went wild.

"What a race ladies and gentlement! Three contestants hVe taken an early lead, going neck and neck for the first quarter of the race."

It was Brandon, Sky and Riven in the lead, however someone else had pulled up just beside Sky. They nudged the Prince, clashing metal to metal causing him to wobble for a second before recovering gracefully.

"That's a cheap shot!" Stella exclaimed. "Boo!"

Sky was nudged again, this time harder, resulting in him needing to slow down and loose his lead. Now it was Brandon, Sky and the stranger. However, the stranger seemed to want to play dirty with hus next target being Riven.

Riven was not going down without a flight. He gave as much as the stranger did and in there battle for power both lost the lead resulting in Brandon getting ahead.

This was how the race ended: Brandon first, joint second to Riven and the stranger and Sky in fourth.

"What the hell was that!" Riven raged as he got off his bike and stormed over to the person that had put dents in his bike. "That was playing dirty!"

Then the stranger took off their helmet, shaking her hair free, releasing the most enticing fragrance. It was Darcy.