Snow had fallen just before the end of term. Draco did not seem happy about the prospect of a snowball fight however much Krista pestered him. She spent the entire potions lesson on the day it snowed pretending to be a parrot.
"Will you come out in the snow with me?"
No reply, Draco had given up answering "No." after about the third time.
"Will you come out in the snow with me?"
"Look, will you stop that?" he finally cracked.
"Not until you say yes. Hey, would you two like to come?" she asked Harry and Ron.
Draco looked at them with hatred clear on his face. "Be nice." Krista chastised him. "Would you?"
"OK." They agreed.
"As soon as we get out of lessons." She promised.
"You get your uniforms wet." Hermione sitting to them commented.
"And I'll dry them. There is an upside to four years in solitude, you get a lot of time to read." She smiled. "Please Draco."
"No."
"Pretty please."
"No."
"Crucio." Draco yelled as Krista kept her wand pointed at him. "Please." She stopped.
"OK, Ok. I'll go out. What the hell was that?"
"Cruciatius curse. It's one of the, what was it? Invincible? Invisible? Oh yeah, unforgivable. One of the unforgivable curses." She smiled sweetly "Don't worry. It's not like they can put me in prison or anything." The Slytherins laughed. "What? It's not like you're allowed to put people under seventeen in prison."
"Still sore about that?" Pansy asked.
"Yeah, still sore. Still can't believe they put a six year old in prison. Come on Draco, you need to add the wolfsbane now." Krista finished the conversation.
The snowball fight was fun. Krista had apparently never played in snow, as she put it "I was always busy. Amazing how many things adults can find for you to do when they put their minds to it." When they went inside she had an evil grin on her face, Draco had apparently not noticed as he seemed surprised when the back of his neck was suddenly wet.
"Come here you!" he yelled at the running girl.
"You'll have to catch me first." Krista smiled at him before turning and fleeing up the staircase. Draco ran after her while Harry and Ron went to get dinner.
"Apparently torture works to get him to do something." Ron commented as Draco walked up to the teachers' table to ask Professor Snape something.
"Why do you say that?"
"Look at Krista." He sniggered. She was pointing her wand at Draco lazily and when he turned round to show Snape she waved.
"Come on Draco!" she shouted across the Hall "Hurry up!"
Draco scowled at her then carried on talking to Snape. When he'd finished he started walking back to the Slytherin table. Krista smiled and dropped her wand.
"So you staying for the Christmas holiday?" she asked him.
"Yes." He glared at her.
"You like me really."
"Really?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, or I wouldn't bother you so much."
On Christmas morning Krista came down to breakfast examining the back of a book. When she finished she put it down and hugged Draco.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Draco looked as if he was running out of oxygen.
"Krista!" Pansy reprimanded her.
"What?" the girl looked at her, releasing Draco.
"You were strangling him!"
"Was I?" she looked back at Draco.
He shrugged "I'm fine now. But please don't do that again."
"You're learning manners!" Krista smiled delightedly. "And thank you for the book."
"I knew you wanted the next one. And thank you for the hoodie." He tugged at the green hoodie he was wearing. Krista was similarly garbed in a bright red hoodie.
"Oh, you're welcome. Happy Christmas." Krista smiled.
"Happy Christmas." Draco smiled back, he wasn't used to being nice but Krista was almost infectious. You just wanted to be nice to her. He couldn't imagine why she had been put in prison, or how bad it had to have been for her to be put in at such a young age. He had written to his father about it and Lucius had told him that she was a murderer and they couldn't trust her in an orphanage.
"Hey, I got permission to go the church in Hogsmade, you want to come?" Krista asked him.
"Didn't realise you were religious." he commented.
"I'm not. I fail to see how a kind God could allow what happened to my family to happen. But I like to go to church at Christmas, I like the hymns."
"How did you get permission?"
"Christmas present from the Ministry. I've been asking for this for the last few Christmas' so this year they finally let me. So you want to come?"
"OK." Draco agreed. He knew that not going would result in Krista pestering him for the rest of the morning until she left and him feeling guilty, an emotion he hadn't felt before he met Krista.
"Thank you." Krista attempted to strangle him again.
"Get off." He squirmed out from her arms "And didn't I say I don't want you to do that?"
"Oh, sorry."
"I don't mind, I would just like it if I wasn't strangled every time you hug me."
"OK. This better?" she hugged him again.
"Much, I'm not running out of oxygen."
Krista laughed and got on with her breakfast.
Draco had to admit, the service was fun. His family wasn't particularly Christian so he had never really been to church. He knew the rules though; stay quiet during the service and go along with it. The service was slightly aimed at children and was fun. The vicar asked the children what they had got and let the older children light the Advent candles, Krista volunteered for that part and she got to light one of them. The talking he did was interesting and did not necessarily relate to God until the end.
On the walk back to the castle Krista kept humming and singing snatches of the carols. "See him lying on a bed of straw…" was her favourite. She was dancing along the path to the tune.
"Your friend enjoy the service?" the only other person on the path asked Draco.
He looked at the woman slightly apprehensively "Yes, she doesn't get let out much so this was a treat for her."
"Where do you live?"
Draco knew that Muggles couldn't see Hogwarts so he said "In the grounds of the abandoned castle."
"There." The woman nodded "I live about halfway before that. If you don't mind my asking what's your name? Mine's Amelia."
"Draco. My friend's Krista."
"Nice name, both of you. She's quite lively isn't she?" Amelia nodded at Krista.
"Oh yes." Draco remembered when Krista had hugged him "Very lively."
"Draco!" Krista bounced back to them "What do you think'll be for lunch?"
"I don't know." he smiled at her ridiculous enthusiasm.
"Hello," she greeted Amelia.
"Hello dear. Draco's just been talking to me. You live in the abandoned castle?"
"No, near it though. I wander round it sometimes. It's very big, I get lost easily." Krista admitted.
"Well this is where I turn off. Nice talking to you." The woman left the path.
"Goodbye." Krista smiled.
"Goodbye." Draco murmured.
"You're getting nicer." The younger girl smiled at him.
"If you say so."
"Yes, the castle's not too far away, want to race?"
"Not too far away?" Draco exclaimed, looking at the distant school.
"Come on." Krista grabbed his arm and dragged him forward. After almost falling over his feet, Draco decided it was easier to run.
