Disclaimer: JKR is the rightful owner of all HP stuff. If I was I would be rich and trust me Im not!



Note to you: Please Im begging you *gets on knee* review for me!! Im nothing without reviews. Ok anyway without any further delay, here comes chapter 3. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Chapter 3 Within the Forest





Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance. -William Wirt





The chilled morning air whistled it's way inside the castle and like a frigid rush of morning breath Krista began to stir. She didn't mind rising early, most of the time she was used to it, but today was even more exciting because they would begin classes. A thump sounded from across the room as Lavender Brown rolled off the side of her bed. Krista sat up and laughed. She stretched her arms and legs and gathered her things for the shower. It was nice to feel the warm water run down her back as she thought of her dream last night. A smile spread across her face knowing that her dream had been of Ron. It would be difficult to look him straight in the face today without turning red. Krista turned off the shower and continued to get ready. She buttoned up her robe and then looked around for her brush. She wanted to look extra nice today, but her hair was always so difficult. Tugging and pulling her way through, she managed to pull it back into a semi-decent looking ponytail. She added a bit of makeup to her face and then grabbed her bag from the floor. She decided it would be better to wait for Hermione in the common room then get caught in the madness of eight seventeen year old girls getting ready.

Krista entered the common room and took a seat next to the fireplace. It crackled and snapped cheerfully as many students began piling out of the dormitories. It could be quite awhile before Hermione down Krista thought, so she pulled a book from her bag and began reading.

" Hey Krista" she knew that voice, and sure enough when she turned around Ron was standing behind her.

" Hi, Ron," she flashed a big goofy grin and placed her book back into her bag, " did you sleep well last night?"

" Well it was alright, Im still tired, Dean and I stayed up late talking about.stuff.and we played a few games of wizards chess" he yawned and scratched his head.

" Did you at least dream well?" there was an awkward silence and his face had turned red. He kicked the ground and tried to explain some sort of answer but Hermione had appeared from the dormitory looking upset.

" Where's Harry" she looked around again, pushing Ron aside who was playing with the trim of his robe.

" Huh?" he looked at her in confusion.

" H..aaaa.rrrr..yyy" she sarcastically drew out his name, which made Krista snicker, " have you seen him yet?"

" Yea he's coming " Ron answered, still fiddling around with his robe.

Krista's stomach rumbled as they waited for Harry to join them. Hermione checked her watch every few seconds and rolled her eyes each time he had not arrived. There was a loud thump from the dormitory stairs and when Krista looked over to see who it was, a scraggly haired boy emerged still half asleep. It was Harry, dragging his feet along the ground, yawning uncontrollably. Hermione grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the portrait. Ron looked over to Krista and they laughed. It seemed as though it would be a long walk down to the great hall.

Breakfast was quick that morning, basically because class schedules were to be handed out. Krista felt nervous as she looked down at her own schedule. She had taken classes over the summer, but she was sure they would be different then the classes she would be taking now. She looked over at the others waiting to hear there response to the classes they were just assigned.

" Oh no," Ron slapped his face hard and through himself onto the table," double potions first." he kept his face flat against the table and continued to complain.

" What's so terrible about potions?" Krista asked, wondering what could be so terrible about one class.

" Its not the class it's.Professor Snape." Neville looked down at his plate and pushed a few eggs with his fork. Hermione leaned over to Krista and whispered into her ear.

" Snape hates Neville.well actually he hates everyone in Gryffindor, but especially Neville. " She pulled back and continued looking at her schedule.

'Great that's all I need to start my day off, one over bearing teacher that hates my house'.Krista folded her schedule and placed it into her bag.



The halls were covered with kids making their way to classes, as Krista and the others made there way to the potions classroom. The pictures on the walls smiled at them and they all waved back with cheery enthusiasm. Krista looked around and felt her heart sing, everything was so perfect. Krista looked down the hall and noticed that some how she had fallen behind the others and ran down the hall knocking over some first years. When she caught up to them they had already reached Snape's classroom and were debating on whom should enter first.

" No way, Harry.you go first he hates me more" Ron was poking at Harry's shoulder pushing him back towards the door.

" What about Hermione? He never really hated her too much. " Harry looked over to Hermione who was sticking her tongue out at him.

" How about I go first he doesn't even know me yet. " Krista stepped in front of Ron and placed her hand on the doorknob. She turned it slowly, afraid of what she might see on the other side. When the door opened she walked in and looked to the front of the room. Snape was not there yet but unfortunately Malfoy was.

" Ahhh Mudblood, I see your still hanging around with Potter... he must be for something, " he laughed and looked over to Harry who had followed Krista in, " has he asked you to polish his Firebolt yet...be careful we all know what he really means." The Slytherins broke out into a tremendous fit of laughter and Harry's face turned red with anger. Hermione grabbed his arm and calmed him down advising him that it wasn't worth the trouble. Pansy Parkinson snorted loudly at this and when Hermione shot her a nasty look she pretended to die. Krista looked over to Malfoy, who was still chuckling, and turned away in disgust. Her mother had told her once that hate was a strong word, when it came to Malfoy it wasn't strong enough.

The classroom door swung open with a loud bang, and Professor Snape made his way to the front of the room. His face was stern and dark as he looked around the room at each of the students. He saw Neville in the back and gave a groan of disapproval. He stopped quickly to look at Harry, and Harry continued to stare right back. Snape moved his sight over to some other kids and then brought his attention to Krista. He looked at her for a moment and didn't say anything. His face was flat with emotion, and his hair hung around it with a greasy texture.

" I see that those who think they are special, stick together." His eyes moved between Krista and Harry, " You understand that not all things come so easy." Krista squirmed in her seat and looked nervously over to Hermione, " I wouldn't expect to exceed in anything, now that you've made friends with Potter here, " he gave Harry an angry glance and then turned around.

There were eyes glaring at Krista in every direction, and a few of the Slytherin girls had covered their mouths to muffle the sound. Krista felt her blood begin to boil as her temper rose to the brim of her head.

" On the contrary, " she was standing from her seat now, all eyes were wide with shock, " I plan not only to exceed but I plan to step on the face of any Slytherin who gets in my way." She looked directly at Malfoy, " and as for Harry, aren't you forgetting that he's the boy who lived. Surely you must know that. " She placed her hand against her face in a sarcastic manner. Snape's nostrils flared and his face twisted into a mass of anger.

" 50 points from Gryffindor" Malfoy laughed at this which pissed me off even more, You can thank Kaelin over here for that. " The class groaned and pounded fists on the table.

'Wonderful job Krista'...she thought. Hermione smiled at her and assured her that the same thing happened to Harry his first year. That made Krista feel a bit better but it was obvious that potions was not going to be her favorite class.



******



Krista sat down at the Gryffindor table and looked over her transfiguration homework. It was hard to concentrate because all she could do was think back to her classes that day. She had done well.even better than she had expected. In fact she successfully transfigured a shoe into a cat, and in Herbology she was the only one to avoid the teeth of the Rose Dragon. Professor Sprout was very excited and awarded Krista 50 points. This made up for the 50 she lost from Snape. Krista looked across the table to Lavander who was comparing Divination charts with Parvati. She chuckled, thinking of the stories Ron and Harry had told her about those two. A wad of parchment flew across the table and smacked Krista right in the face. She looked towards the direction it had come and Pansy was sitting there smug. She waved wit a very devilish grin and laughed with Goyle who was next to her.

'Childish', she thought. Heavy footsteps ran up behind her and she turned to see Harry racing to the table. He jumped into the empty spot next to Krista and laughed loudly.

" Ha, Better luck next time Ron. " Harry panted.

" Better luck with what?" she asked raising her eyebrows in a questionable manner.

" NOTHING..." Ron shouted quickly before sitting down across from us. This caused Harry to laugh even more as he grabbed a roll. Krista rolled her eyes and picked up an ear of corn. She had almost taken a bite of it but was interrupted by Hermione who came rushing towards the table.

" Hagrid sent me a note," she held out the note for Harry to look at, " he said its very important. " she looked over to Ron and then to Krista who wasn't really sure what was going on.

" Krista your welcome to join us if you want to. " Harry was sincere trying not to leave anyone out of anything.

" No Harry its ok, I'll stay... besides, I wouldn't have the slightest clue about anything you would be talking about."

Ron dropped his chicken and looked at her intently, " we can tell you ... everything .... then you can come and not feel stupid" he grinned an unusual grin and picked up his chicken again.

" I guess that could work" Krista went on, trying to imagine why Ron thought it was so important she go.

" Great its set then, we will meet you girls in the common room at midnight." Harry grabbed one more roll before pulling Ron from the table and rushing out of the great hall.



******



" Hagrid...lives down that hill...over there...just...by the edge....of the forest." Hermione spoke in broken sentences while trying to catch up with Harry who was far ahead of her. They had used Harry's invisibility cloak to get out of the school, and removed it once they where outside. It was very hard to fit four people under there without anyone seeing floating parts. Krista walked slowly with Ron, not actually exchanging conversation but more or less small phrases.

" You cold?" he asked her once

" Im fine " she would reply.

'He's cute' , Krista thought as he asked her again if she was cold. She giggled softly making sure he didn't hear her. They were close to the hut now, and Krista could see the dark shadows that loomed around the edge of the forest. The trees were tall and thick and the moon gave off no light inside. Krista looked hard into the trees and could have sworn she saw a unicorn dash off into the distance.

'If only I could go exploring in there' Krista thought, her heart pining to venture into the curious trees.

'Curiosity kills the cat her mother would say to her. Stop being so curious, nothing good will come of it.'

Her mother worried too much when she would want to go exploring. Then again her mother really never understood her. Another movement in the forest caught her attention. She looked closely, trying to see if it was the unicorn she had seen earlier.

She waited, " Krista hurry up" Ron was holding Hagrids door open. She looked one more time and when nothing moved she jogged the rest of the way to the hut and went inside.



Hagrids hut was warm and large. Krista felt very much at home when she sat down on the over sized chair that was up against the wall. At first she listened carefully at what Hagrid had to say before letting her mind wonder off.

" There has been trouble at the ministry these past few days, " Hagrid looked at Harry with concerned eyes, " they said that there is some kind of force that is causing the dementors to act up in Azkaban. They said they have never seen anything like it. There was also rumors of cleared death eaters disappearing. I'll give you one guess as to whose father disappeared right away." Hagrid looked at Harry

"Malfoy..."

"Yup... The ministry is having quite a hard time trying to figure this out, mostly because you destroyed Voldemort a year ago Harry."

Harry dropped his hands into his face and Hermione placed her hands on his shoulder. Krista looked at Ron who was shaking his head slightly and then she to placed her hands on his back. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. Krista's stomach did a quick flop and she nervously spun her head and looked out the window. Her eyes brought her to the forest again, the trees, the dark, the shadows. Yet this time it looked as though someone was standing out there. The figure was shadow like and dark, and if she didn't strain her eyes hard enough it would have blended itself into its surroundings.

'What is that?' she thought, her mind a spinning wheel of curiosity.

'Come and see...'

Krista jumped in her seat and touched her head. Some ones voice filled her mind and she knew this time it was no imagination.

'Come and see.'

Krista felt her body sway and then felt herself rise from her seat. She tried hard to sit back down but it felt like someone was controlling her mind. She heard the faint screams of Hermione when she opened the door. She was sure she heard Ron call her name as well. It didn't matter, her legs where stiff to her own demands and she continued walking.

'Come with me.'

It was at the edge of the forest, standing there...waiting for her. A dark arm rose into the air and Krista reached out to it.

'That arm.the way it looks.my dream.'

Krista shook her head and looked at the figure again. It was the same dark figure that inhabited her dream. She opened her mouth to call for help but nothing sounded.

' Please someone help me.'

'Come with me.'

Krista felt a hard blow come from behind her. She felt herself falling to the ground but realized someone had caught her. She looked up into the sweet beautiful eyes of Ron. He held her there for a moment and then turned slightly red.

" Thank you " she mumbled to him before finding her composure and standing up. Harry was now facing the figure with his wand out and ready. Hermione stood there as well watching with a look of fear. Harry's eyes were wide with shock but alsofierce with anger.

" I killed you" Harry began shaking his wand furiously at the figure, " I killed you! I won" his voice was loud and stern and Krista grasped Ron's hand.

" Potter.I want her" he pointed his hand towards Krista and she tightened her arms around Ron. He positioned himself in front of her and drew his wand as well, " her Potter.and I never lose." the figure stood there a second more and then almost as quick as it had appeared vanished into the forest.

" I don't understand" Krista began before falling to the ground in tears, " what could.I don't know.oh God." her sentence had made no sense and she knew that, but she didn't care, she was shaking violently with fear, wondering how she could have been so stupid. Her mother was right curiosity does kill the cat, and it almost killed her too. Ron kept his arm around her and they began to walk back towards the school. Harry walked hard across the grounds, his face was stern and his stature tense.

' How is this possible...' his head was throbbing but he stopped and faced the others, " We do not breathe a word of this to anyone... If it was Vold...," Harry closed his eyes and shook his head, " we will deal with it together, on our own." The three of them nodded in silent unison and continued towards the school.





Deep within the forest, among the shadowy trees, a figure watched the four students enter the school. And deep within the forest, the figure plotted and waited for the perfect moment to attack. It had waited all these years for this, wondering just when the time would come. It would posses the power the muggle girl his so well. All it needed was a little bit of patience and a little bit of time. Within in the shadowed forest it waited.



*****

Hermione took Harry's hand and rubbed it gently. His face was contorted into such a sea of emotions that Hermione herself had to choke back her own tears.

' Why does this always happen to him' she thought keeping in step with the others, ' We were there we saw Harry defeat him, this isnt possible.'

" It is possible Hermione..." Hermione shot a panicked look towards Harry who had somehow read her mind.

" How?...Harry?...could you always?..." her heart beat fast, ' if he could read my mind now...Oh God...some of the things I have thought about!'

" No Hermione, I could tell what you were thinking. Your thoughts are clearly readable from your facial expressions."

" Of course, I never believed" she looked over to him and he was laughing.

" Hermione..."

" Yes Harry?"

" Watch her tonight...if something happens," his face turned away from hers and he pulled back his hand, " he should be dead..." he broke away from the group and fled.

" Ron, " Hermione turned around to face Ron. His arm was around Krista whom was obviously very upset at the current display of events, " Ron, go after him...don't let him do anything stupid. " Her eyes were full of concern and her face full of worry.

" But...I....," he looked down at Krista and then flashed Hermione a look of death. " Krista needs help. "

" Go find Harry, Ron...he needs you" Krista moved away from him and then over to Hermione, " Hermione and I are perfectly capable of getting back to the dormitory. " She flicked her hands in the direction Harry fled, " Go on, we will see you tomorrow morning" and with that Hermione and Krista started down the hall.

Ron stood there all alone watching the two girls turn the corner at the end of the hall.

" Bloody hell Hermione, you owe me one " he muttered to himself. He spun around in the direction that Harry went and ran after him.



Harry sat in the corner of the empty Charms classroom. He knew that no one would look for him in there, even Ron. He wasn't in the mood for company much anyway.

' I killed you...I won' the phrase played over and over in his mind. But he had killed him. It wasn't as if he had imagined it. He wasn't the only one to witness it either. Hermione had been there, Sirus and Ron and even Dumbledore. It just didn't make any sense, and what would he want with Krista. What could she possibly serve to him?

The room was dark and quiet and Harry rose from the floor. He knew Ron was probably out looking for him, and although he loved his best friend, he didn't want the sympathy. He made his way to the window that overlooked the grounds. From a distance the forest was almost serene looking, but Harry knew he was out there among the trees and shadows. He knew that he was waiting, and this time Harry would be ready.







YEAH CHAPTER 3!!!

Sneak Peak of Chapter 4 :

His hands were soft and he smelled wonderful. She closed her eyes and inhaled the essence that was lingering from his body. He smelled like wildflowers in a meadow....

'Wait wildflowers? What boy smells like wildflowers.'

She leaned in a bit closer to smell him again.... The scent was terribly familiar. She looked at his face again which was now turning a distinct shade of red. By now his face was barely an inch away from hers and he had a dumb smirk glued to his face.

' My God he thinks Im going to kiss him!'

And then she realized why they scent had been so familiar...he smelled like Hermione....



Also in Chapter 4: Flying lessons, a cat fight , some research, Dean Thomas, some nasty rumors and the TRUTH !!! HOORAY FOR CHAPTER 4....

I should be posting chapter 4 soon...give me some time...my job is making me work hardcore for the next 2 days but I will be back!! *smiles uncontrollably*