As Harry, Hermione, and Luna approached, Ignis raised her head in greeting. "Hello, Harry. You have brought companions."

Harry smiled. "Yes, this is one of my oldest friends, Hermione." He gestured at the curly-haired witch, "And a newer friend, Luna." He nodded to the blonde. "Hermione, Luna, this is Ignis."

Hermione's eyes were wide. "It's nice to meet you, er, formally." Harry translated for the witch, trying not to laugh. She didn't look afraid, per se, but she was definitely a bit wary of Ignis. Luna, on the other hand, didn't say anything, instead choosing to just smile gently.

Ignis looked at Luna curiously and sniffed a few times. "I know her scent. Vaguely."

Harry's brows shot up. "She also comes from an old wizarding family—could you have known one of her ancestors, too?"

"It is possible, but that is not what I meant. There is something about her that smells… Other."

"Other?"

"Yes. Ask your Luna what she knows of the fae."

He turned to Luna, thoroughly confused. "Hey, erm, Ignis wants to know if you know anything about the fae."

She hummed gently, thinking. "More than most, less than some."

(A/N: For the rest of the conversation, assume that Harry is translating. I don't want to write everything twice, and trust me, you don't want to read it twice.)

Ignis laughed. "A response worthy of your progenitors! I know better than to ask a straight answer of you, but I'll try anyway. Do you see what is unseen?"

"Some see it, some don't. I see what I am allowed to, no more and no less." Luna said firmly.

Ignis nodded. "A common curse. Your concentration is admirable, then. I have rarely met one so grounded."

Harry turned to Hermione in question, but she appeared just as lost as he did. "I hate to interrupt, but… what?"

"It is not my story to tell, but you have made good a choice in companionship. In both of them." She nodded at Hermione, who was surprised at the approval. She had barely spoken thus far.

Harry smiled. "I know."

Luna also smiled and she turned to Harry and Hermione, becoming uncharacteristically serious for a moment. "I'll tell both of you when I can. It's quite finicky, though, so I don't know when. It's also not nearly so exciting as it sounds."

Hermione's eyes widened in realization, and Harry resisted the urge to sigh. Of course everyone else knew what was going on. But really, what was he expecting? Whatever. He trusted Luna, and whatever it was she needed to tell could wait. Everyone had secrets. "Okay, I'm glad you're all getting along, but that's not exactly the reason we came. Ignis, would you mind telling us a bit more about being a Dragon Friend? And what it means?"

Ignis rolled her eyes, which Harry hadn't known was anatomically possible for a dragon. "Now you continue life as you have been living it… with a few small changes."

"Such as?"

"You already have experienced some physical changes, but with time there will be more. Our blood has fused, so you will likely become completely fire resistant if you haven't already. All dragons shall recognize your bonded status, and none other than oathbreakers shall attempt to harm you. Your skin will harden against attacks, you will have far superior endurance compared to what you had before, and other than that, I myself am not sure. There may be some other effects, or there may not be. I do not know how your individual magic and bond will interact with this specific egg."

"And speaking of the egg, when should I expect it to hatch?"

"When the weather grows warm again. I warn you, though, to be careful. Unnecessary stresses may cause it to hatch early, which can be dangerous for the hatchling."

Harry nodded. "Keep it safe, got it."

Hermione tilted her head. "I know what counts as stressors in a human pregnancy, but what would they be for an egg?"

"Well, don't walk around shaking it." Ignis said drily. "Our eggs are fairly tough, but that doesn't mean they need to be manhandled. Keep the egg warm, in or around a fire is best when you can, but otherwise magic will do. And too much strain on Harry will have an adverse effect."

"Really? That's fascinating!" Hermione looked like she was in heaven. "So their magic is well and truly linked then?"

"Yes, and the link will grow stronger with time. It is one which will only be broken by death." Harry's eyes widened. "You will inevitably pass before the hatchling, and it will be hard, but it will not harm them beyond removing the bond. While you both live, however, it is a symbiotic relationship. When one of you thrives, the other thrives. When one is harmed, the other is harmed. You have entered a lifelong union."

"Like a marriage bond." Luna said thoughtfully.

Harry did a double-take. "Excuse me? I didn't accidentally marry a dragon, did I?"

"Oh no, it's just very similar to some of the more traditional marriage bonds." Luna explained. "It's very difficult to get married by accident." She paused. "Although, there was a rather curious case in the 1500s involving the Malfoy heir and his house elf, but that's entirely different. Especially since some people speculate that it wasn't an accident. I myself attempted to investigate, but Father thinks I went too far and now Mr. Malfoy won't make eye contact with me."

Harry's brain imploded for a moment. He didn't even want to know. "I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that."

"Me too." Hermione was an interesting shade of green.

"Are you all alright?" Oh, right. Ignis hadn't gotten any of that.

"Yeah, we're fine. We just ended up on a… disturbing tangent for a moment." Harry explained.

Then Hermione remembered a rather large issue. "Say, Ignis, what exactly does a baby dragon eat?"

"We eat meat, and some plants. Berries are particularly good to help young hatchlings digest, and so is goat flesh."

The three humans peppered Ignis with questions for nearly two more hours before they were satisfied. After they bid her goodbye, the trio went walked back to the castle and went to their favorite corner of the library. They only had an hour remaining until curfew, but Hermione wanted to look into the laws about bonds and Harry still hadn't found a good reference on magical decoding and/or translation.

The library was louder than usual, however. There was a significant amount of giggling and shushing coming from the shelves, and it was easy to discern why. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, have they got nothing better to do?"

"What are they doing?" Harry asked.

"Those are Krum's fangirls, the same ones I mentioned a few times before the First Task. He's sitting over there." She gestured to the quidditch star, who was seated at the fourth table away from them, which was not quite in the solitude of the Muggle Studies section, but still a fairly secluded spot. "The poor boy is always in here trying to study, and they won't give him, or anyone else who's trying to get an education for that matter, a moment of peace!" She ranted.

"Gee, Herms, tell us how you really feel."

"Hardee har har, Harry, very funny. And don't call me Herms."

"I quite like it. It makes you sound like a Heat Exchange Re-circulating Mash System. A HERMS." Luna added.

Hermione paused. "Isn't that used for beer?" She asked.

"Yes, most of the time. I will admit, I don't know any other reason one might use a Heat Exchange Re-circulating Mash System."

"Thanks Luna."

"No problem, Harry."

After half an hour of listening to giggling and shushing and giggling and shushing repeatedly, Hermione decided she had had enough. Madame Pince wasn't in this section, and if no one else was going to say something, then she would. "I'll be right back." She said to Luna, as Harry was off searching for books on languages.

She approached the group of girls. There were seven of them, and she was disappointed to see that they were from all four houses. Honestly, Romilda was a Gryffindor, had she no shame? "Excuse me." She interrupted.

The ringleader, a 6th year from Hufflepuff whom Hermione wasn't familiar with, looked down her nose at Hermione. "Yes?"

"Could you perhaps quiet down a bit? This is a library, and there are a lot of people trying to get their work done."

The Hufflepuff raised her brows at the younger girl in astonishment. "Do you not see who that is?" She pointed at Krum very obviously, and also rather rudely in Hermione's opinion.

"Do you not see that he is trying to study? And so are the rest of us for that matter?" The girls' expressions didn't change and Hermione could tell that she wasn't getting through to them. "Listen, I don't want this to be an issue, but I will go and get Madame Pince if I must."

"Are you threatening us?" Romilda Vane piped in incredulously.

"Only a little bit."

Several of the girls huffed, but apparently the threat of Madame Pince's wrath was enough that they didn't argue it further. The groupies made their way out of the library, and Hermione made her way back to her table. While she was walking, she glanced over at Krum, who happened to also be looking at her. She flushed as she realized he had likely seen the whole altercation, but when they made eye contact, he gave her a small smile and a nod. She smiled back, realizing that that was his way of saying thank you. That was the extent of their interaction, but Hermione was okay with that.

She sat down with Luna, and Harry rejoined them after a moment, carrying a small stack of books. "It got a lot quieter all of a sudden. Did Krum leave?" He asked.

"No, Hermione just chased out a bunch of upper years."

"I did not chase them out! I just reminded them that this is a library."

"Ah, so you threatened them." Harry nodded.

"I- well, just a little!"

It wasn't long after Hermione terrorized the quidditch groupies that the trio themselves were forced to leave the library in order to make curfew. Harry made his way up to Gryffindor tower, only to find Hedwig waiting for him at the window with a letter. "Hey girl," He greeted, then paused. This was strange—Hedwig almost always delivered post during breakfast, the standard time. The fact that she was at his dorm this late meant that it must be urgent. He untied the letter from her leg, and cursed immediately upon recognizing the handwriting. He had forgotten about Sirius!

Harry,

I'm sure you've been busy since the First Task—congratulations by the way! Knew you'd shock everyone's panties off, just didn't think it would be with your cunning linguism.

Harry snorted at that horrifically painful play on words.

But anyway, I wanted to remind you to keep your guard up; someone entered you in this tournament for a reason, and there's still two more tasks to go before you're safe.

Also, remember to write your favorite godfather every once in a while. I'd rather not get my updates on your life from stolen copies of The Daily Prophet. Although, if the article about creating your own Hogwarts harem has any truth to it, I understand why you've been too busy to write.

If you have another Hogsmeade weekend before the break, send me the date. And tell Hermione and Ron I say hi.

Love,

Sirius.

Harry rolled his eyes at the remarks on his love life, but all traces of amusement left when he saw that Sirius wanted to meet up. Did the man not remember what happened the last time he was anywhere near Hogwarts?

Harry sighed and penned a quick reply to his wayward dogfather asking him to be careful. He also included the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend, knowing that it would be futile to try and convince the man not to come.

He attached the letter to Hedwig's leg. "This one isn't urgent, okay girl? If you're tired you don't have to-" But Hedwig interrupted him with a hoot and a peck to the arm. "Okay, sorry! I didn't mean to imply that you would get tired easily, I just don't want you to get worn out for no reason!" She hooted again and took off out the window.

"Christ mate," Seamus said from his bed, and Harry realized he and Dean had seen the whole thing. "You're whipped. By an owl."

A/N: I realized when I was looking over the original that I completely forgot about Sirius, which is amazing because he is one of my favorite characters of all time. In other news, I finally finished my final final (try saying that five times fast), so hopefully I'll be able to get ahead on this again. This is the last chapter I had prewritten before the end-of-semester rush, but I started on Chapter 8 last night, and I wrote a scene that... well, let's just say I'm very very excited to see your reactions to it. I don't know if it'll fit in Chapter 8 or I'll be forced to stick it in Chapter 9, but either way I'm hyped. As always, please let me know what you think in a review or PM, and I'll see you next time! -PW

P.S. Thanks to Sean Malloy-1 for the suggestion to rename Chapter 6 to "And Now for Something Completely Different" after the Monty Python skit. The name was too long for FFN, so I had to remove the "And," but it's still definitely a way better title than "Time for the Full Monty."