Draco wrote his parents, asking them if it was alright for him to stay at school over Christmas break this year, so he could go to the Yule Ball. His parents responded, letting him know that it was alright because the ball was a once in a lifetime opportunity. This made him think of the only other time that he had not come home for Christmas.

During Draco's second year, he had been nervous about going home for Christmas because there had been so much interesting stuff happening at Hogwarts. When he mentioned this to his parents, in a letter, they wrote back telling him to just stay at Hogwarts over Christmas break because Astra had a contagious illness and he was better off not being exposed to it. It had not been a fun Christmas for him, but he doubted it was any better for his family.

Months later, when he finally did come home, his father had picked him up at the train station and then warned him that they had been lying over Christmas. Really, Astra had been physically and very mentally injured, and they did not want Draco to see her like that. He then warned him that she was still mentally injured, but not as much.

On the day the train left, Draco had insisted on walking Astra to the train and giving her a hug goodbye. He was glad he had done it, and Astra looked like she was too.

Once the train left, Draco reached into his pocket, pulled out his Potter Stinks badge, and put it back on. He had taken it off, for this occasion, because he knew that Astra hated it.

Her first night home, Astra found herself sitting on her bed. She looked at the rug on the floor and remember when Dobby used to sleep there.

Several weeks after the attack, Astra's father had declared that she should not be sleeping in her parents bed with them anymore. Her parents then gave her this new bedroom, and ordered Dobby to stand guard over Astra and Starbeam all night. That had gone pretty well for several days, but then Astra noticed Dobby getting tired, so she gave him permission to sleep.

Astra had been happy for Dobby, when he had gotten freed, but she had also missed him a lot. She had been so happy to be able to spend time with him at Hogwarts, but now she was missing him again and she had only been home for less then a day.

There had been a time when Astra had not seen Dobby as a person, and when she had been really stuck up and entitled. Astra had not gotten over the werewolf attack, didn't think she ever would, and she deeply hated the fact that that had happened to her. She used to also hate the person she became after the attack, but now she hated the person she had been before the attack even more.

After Christmas, Astra boarded the train with Starbeam and an unnamed Puffskein. She walked down the ail and looked through the windows of the compartments, until she saw Heather. Heather was in a compartment by herself, her head was down, and she looked sad.

Astra picked the Puffskein off of her shoulder, and put him in her pocket. "Now stay there, and be quiet," she ordered.

Astra opened the door.

Heather glanced up, slightly. She looked so broken.

Astra walked in, closed the door, and sat down across from Heather. "Hi Heather," she greeted.

"Hi," Heather said, sadly.

"How was your Christmas break?" Astra asked.

"It was alright, until yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" Astra asked, although she suspected she already knew.

"My father told me some upsetting things. The first was that Rainbow is an imaginary friend and always was, and that he never told me before because he thought I would have realized that by now. It was hard to imagine at first, but then I realized that it makes sense. It's nice to know that I actually have magic now, but now Rainbows gone and I feel so stupid."

Astra presumed Rainbow must be Heather's invisible unicorn, although she did not recall her actually mentioning his name. "I'm so sorry, Heather. Would a real magical pet make you feel any better?"

"Um… maybe, but I don't have a real magical pet."

Astra pulled the Puffskein out of her pocket. "Happy Christmas!"

Heather looked in awe. She stood up, reached out, gently took the Puffskein, and sat back down. "I love her, or him. What's her name?"

"He's a boy, and he doesn't have a name. You get to name him, and he's not the only friend you have now."

"Thanks, Astra! What kind of creature is this?"

"A Puffskein."

"Cute."

"So, um… what other upsetting things did you dad tell you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He also told me that my mother isn't really my mother, and that I exist because he cheated on her with a beautiful alluring woman who died in childbirth. At least I know why my mother never loved me, like she did my siblings, and often seemed to hate me. I wish I had known that a long time ago, though."

"I'm sorry. I wish there was something to say to make you feel better. At least you don't have to deal with your crappy step-mother and crappy father for most of the year."

"My father's not that bad." She paused. "I really don't want to be the daughter of a beautiful alluring woman who my daddy cheated on his wife with." She was in tears now.

Astra picked up Starbeam, sat up, and went and sat beside Heather. Astra wrapped her arms around Heather, as Starbeam crawled into Heather's lap.

By the time the train reached Hogwarts, Heather knew all about Astra having been attacked by a werewolf, and her not being a pure-blood anymore, and her father's attitude toward her.

Astra and Heather were both upset, but they also felt as though there must be something there that wasn't there before. There was a stronger bound between the two of them.

Harry sat at the table, beside Ron and across from Hermione. It was dinner time, and the Hogwarts express had apparently just arrived.

Heather showed up, and sat down beside Hermione.

"Where's Astra?" Ron asked.

"She went to greet Draco," Heather explained.

Harry noticed something on Heather's shoulder. He pointed to it. "What's that?" he asked.

"This is my new friend, Samuel. He's a puffskein. Astra gave him to me on the train, as a Christmas gift."

"So, how was your Christmas break?" Hermione asked, nervously. They had all read the letter from Heather's father.

"Most of it was alright."

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"I found out I'm an idiot," Heather said. She then went on to explain about Rainbow, and her mother.

"Sweetie, that doesn't make you an idiot," Hermione said. "It just makes you an innocent child."

"If it helps, you have real friends now," Harry said.

"Thanks," Heather said.

There was a moment of silence, as Astra and Starbeam showed up. Astra pulled out her magic fold up bowl, and her wand, got under the table, prepared a bowl of water, and that sat down. "Um… how was Christmas at Hogwarts.

"It was pretty good," Harry said. "I had to go with to the ball with Parvati, but it was still kind of fun, and I still got to dance with Cho once.

"Late into the ball someone else asked Hermione to dance, and then Ron asked Parvati to dance, so I asked Cho to dance and she said yes. Get this, the other boy Hermione danced with was Viktor Krum." He did not mention the fact that Ron had not liked Hermione dancing with Krum.

"Wow," Astra said, although she didn't seem too surprised.