Ron groaned. Ginny had been chattering on and on to him for what seemed like days. She would chatter
about Quidditch, chatter about the Ministry, and chatter about Harry. She chattered about the new
security laws that were being inforced, she chattered about her new pet, the wolf, she chattered on
and on and on about EVERYTHING.

It seemed that Ron's sudden awakening seemed to have caused her a large amout of excitment, and now all
Ron wanted was some food and a nice pair of earmuffs. Just not pink ones.

"While you were out, the Wasps beat the Arrows, and it brought the score up to 7-11, favor of the
Arrows. Bagman wasn't to happy about that...HOW he ever got into the Ministry, when all he does is fool
around. Hey Ron, I'd bet you'd be good in the Ministry! Or maybe as an auror, I guess. You could do
better then Bagman with your hands tied behind your back and one leg off!"

"Did you hear about what happened to Harry the day you came here? They wouldn't let him in! They thought
he was just pretending to be Harry Potter. Honestly, some people...And all because of those new
security precations! Guess what Ron, now you have to have an ID card just to get into the Ministry
office! Not just the usual kind either, they're coded, colored, and stamped. Like we need all that..."

"Did you see the wolf when you woke up? Oh, I guess that's what scared you, huh? Don't worry, she wouldn't
hurt a fly. She's the one that found you, you know. Came running up to the door in the middle of the
night, trying to get us to follow her...Lucky we did, huh? She's such a smart thing! We named her
Callianna. Oh, don't worry, we won't keep her trapped in the house, the poor thing, but I do hope
she'll come and visit us from time to time."

"Isn't it funny that she knew to come to our house? How did she know that we lived in that particular
house, I wonder. I guess she could smell you, but you hadn't been over for a long time, could wolves
really have that good of noses? I mean, dogs have good noses, but I don't think a dog could smell a
trail two weeks old, do you? Maybe because she's a wolf, she has a better sense of smell. Yeah, that's
got to be it, I mean, how else would she know to got to that PARTICULAR..."

"Gin, do me a favor and shut up."

Thankfully, Ginny did as she was told.
~~~
Ron studied his sister's net 'pet' carefully. He was being very quiet, so as not to wake the sleeping
creature. Ginny had assured him that the wolf wouldn't hurt anyone, but nobody liked to be woken up
from a nap unwillingly.

'Looks like she's been through her share of fights,' Ron mused silently. 'I wonder if animals have to
worry about You-Know-Who? Probably not, lucky things.'

She was a strange looking wolf, unlike any Ron had ever seen before, although he hadn't seen more then
three wolves in his entire life. She was almost all black, with hints of gray here and there, peeping
out from under a thick blanket of hair. She had white 'knee-socks', but they only reached halfway up
her legs, as though she really was wearing socks. Short whiskers of a sort poked out from her muzzle,
all black except one. A white whisker.

Ginny wouldn't have any trouble identifying her 'pet' in future times.

As Ron looked up at the wolf again, he noted that her eyes her a deep, chocolate brown color.

'Like Hermione's,' he reminded himself sadly.

After pushing away his feelings of dispair, he realized once again what part of the wolf had reminded
him of Hermione. 'The eyes...' But how could he see the wolf's eyes? Unless...

He chanced a nervous glance at the wolf.

She was still sleeping soundly in the chair opposite his bed.