The next day, at the train station, Sirius shows up to see Harry and Bloom off.
He shows up as a dog, but they make their way to an abandoned coat room with no windows and he changes back to his human self.
He says life always involves a little risk, when Bloom looks like she's about one second away from shouting at him for taking such a huge risk by coming.
Harry clamps a hand over her mouth, and she slowly lets out a breath.
Harry says "This is her way of saying she cares: yelling at you when you put yourself in danger. It means she's grown attached to you."
Sirius grins, as Harry slides his hand off Bloom's mouth.
Bloom says "Neither of us want to see you landed back in Azkaban, Sirius."
She still looks tired, but she doesn't dare risk sleeping on the train and possibly knock the whole train off the tracks.
When they get on the train, they see Molly and Arthur walking back with a large black dog trailing them - Sirius, it's not known to most anybody that he's an Animagus.
On the train ride to the school, Harry convinces Bloom to close her eyes for a few minutes - promising to wake her as soon as it starts seeming like she's trapped in a nightmare.
It doesn't take long, Harry shakes her awake after maybe thirty minutes when the cart starts getting warmer.
"Hm? We there yet?" She's looking groggy, but not terrified like usual.
Harry shakes his head and says "Cabin was starting to warm up, so I woke you early."
Bloom sighs, and stares out the window for the rest of the trip - completely silent, no matter what any of them say or do.
It's more than a little worrying, Bloom's not the type to be quiet.
She doesn't even eat anything when the trolley comes around, making them all the more nervous.
As they walk by the platform, they see Draco eying Bloom strangely.
He looks like he wants to tease her, but he also looks more than a little scared to do so - Harry bets he got a few warnings from his father over the summer to stay as far away from her as possible, and the first trial last year with the dragons had him on the ground in a dead faint when Bloom scared hers off.
When the carriages roll up, Bloom stares at the space where a horse would be on a regular carriage - the others don't see anything as usual.
Bloom quietly asks "Harry, do you see a skeleton-like horse pulling the carriage?"
Harry shakes his head and says "Bloom, I think you need a decent night's sleep tonight."
Bloom nods her head, and a girl they don't recognize says "You're not going mad. I can see them to."
The girl's a blonde, and she's holding a book and wearing an interesting necklace Bloom can feel some magic coming off of.
As they climb into the carriage, she adds "Your as sane as I am."
Neville is riding with them, and introduces the new girl as Luna Lovegood.
Hermione tries to make polite conversation, and says "What an interesting necklace."
"It's a charm, actually. It keeps the Nargles away."
She looks at everyone, and asks "Hungry? I hope they have pudding."
Bloom doesn't say a word, nearly falling asleep on Harry's shoulder.
I think I'll do a sleep spell on myself tonight, Harry. It'll keep me from dreaming.
Neville asks "Bloom, you alright?"
She blinks and sits up straight, saying "Yeah, just kind of tired. Couldn't sleep on the train."
It's true, she didn't dare sleep for long - and she's more than kind of tired - Ron, Harry, and Hermione can tell she's practically falling asleep.
None of them know what a Nargle is, and nobody really wants to ask either.
That night, Professor Dumbledore tells them there's been a change of staffing: Hagrid's taking a temporary leave, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Dolores Umbridge.
Hermione whispers "She's the Undersecretary of the Ministry! You know what this means?"
Bloom nods, and says "The Ministry's interfering with Hogwarts."
Umbridge gives a speech about how the old traditions should be preserved, and how newer practices should be pruned - progress for progress's sake should be curbed.
Bloom scoffs quietly, and says "And I bet we know exactly where that'll start."
They all nod: in the DADA classroom.
After dinner, Harry sees Bloom pick up a copy of the Daily Prophet and scoff in disgust before throwing it in the fire.
Everyone is staring at Bloom, and he goes over to Dean and Seamus.
"Dean, Seamus, have a good summer?"
Dean answers "Better than Seamus's, anyway."
Seamus says "Me mum didn't want me coming back this year."
"Why not?"
"Let's see, because of your stupid girlfriend! The Daily Prophet's been saying a lot of things about you all and Dumbledore, the Diggorys to."
Bloom rolls her eyes, and says "Well, maybe the Daily Prophet is wrong. They were spitting out praises for Cedric last year, and for the three years before that it was all about Harry. Maybe someone has something they want to hide, Seamus."
Ron enters the room, and asks "What's going on?"
Seamus says 'They're mad, that's what!"
Ron rushes over to Harry, partly to defend him and partly to keep him from decking Seamus.
Bloom says "Look at me Seamus. You've known me for over four years. Have you ever thought I'm crazy? Or a liar, for that matter?"
He stares directly at her, and then looks away and shakes his head.
"Then why would I start being so now? Unless, of course, something incredibly traumatic happened to me and I couldn't process it. Something like, say, nearly dying at the hand of someone."
He gulps and starts shaking.
"And you know I can duel with anyone in this school, so it couldn't have been Cedric. Viktor and Fleur were found unconscious, I was told, so who does that leave?"
Seamus is pasty white, and shaking now. "I-I don't know what to believe. I don't want to believe he's back, I really don't. But…"
Ron says "We know, nobody wants to believe it. Nobody but that evil wizard's followers. But Seamus, he nearly killed the two of them! Look at Bloom! Does she look like she came out entirely alright?"
Seamus looks at Bloom again, noticing how pale she is and the dark circles under her eyes. "No…"
Bloom says "Look, how about we just switch to a different topic for tonight? We can argue all tomorrow after classes, I'm going to bed."
She leaves with that, and Seamus says "She's not the same as year four. Last year, she was stressed out from the Tournament at first, being put in, but, now…"
Harry says "She nearly died, Seamus. How would you be?"
Seamus says "Dead. I'm not like you two."
Ron and Harry look around, and nobody meets their eyes.
Harry asks "Anybody else got a problem with Bloom?"
Again, nobody answers.
When Harry goes to bed, he suddenly feels a kind of weight tempting him to sleep - it has to be Bloom's spell.
AN: Dang, you all really like this story! It's getting a lot more views a lot faster than my other story, 'Bloom in Asgard' - and over twice as many reviews in less than a month. If anybody's interested, feel free to read and review that one as well - Bloom's still as kick-ass in that one as this one, and she's every bit as sarcastic and fiery as well. It's growing every bit as fast as this story, with no chance of me abandoning it - promise, Unbreakable Vow, if you want. Also, totally willing to do a sequel to this story, if anyone wants. Please review, maybe read and review my other story, and enjoy!