Saturday mornings were always time for Quidditch practice for the Gryffindor team. Katie Bell had taken over the Captaincy from Oliver Wood, although it would be only for a year as she was now a seventh year and would be leaving Hogwarts at the end of the summer term. Ron had made the team as Keeper and was looking forward to playing for the team. The whole team was thankful for Katie's more relaxed attitude to practicing rather than the obsessional Wood.

Hermione had turned out to watch and had brought Storm with her. The rith didn't seem to watch the players at all, but rather seemed to stare through them, lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes were bloodshot and darkly rimmed - she hadn't slept again. Even though all the books said that a rith was no different on a full moon Storm always felt her blood stir with its passion and felt the need to hunt under its cold light. She had also been far too busy worrying about when her Master came to collect her to have found rest. She feared his punishment for running away, but more than that she feared being alone again.

But soon the mesmerizing effect of the players whizzing around on their brooms, scarlet against azure blue, cleared all her thoughts of anxiety and she lost herself in dreams of flying over the mountains and away from all her troubles to where the wild wolves ran.

Hermione was reading a rather dog-eared manual on rith-keeping and care. She kept looking rather suspiciously at the placid creature asleep at her feet, its back leg occasionally twitching in dreams. She almost dropped the book when she saw how much Thor's riths generally sold for - it was extortionate. Then again they were one of the rarest creatures on the planet, so perhaps it wasn't surprising that even the poorest Thor could easily fetch four thousand Galleons.

'Come on, 'Mione, practice is over!' Ron shouted at her.

Hermione nudged Storm with her foot and the rith stirred unhappily, she hadn't slept so peacefully for over thirteen years, but followed all the same.

The three friends were talking happily when Storm suddenly stiffened. Her nose was quivering and her whole body was trembling with excitement. With a delighted yelp the rith took off after a dusty grey tabby that screeched in fear. She almost took out all three as she charged past them, tail high and all four paws pounding against the floor, bounding happily.

Harry was the first to realise what had happened, 'Storm, come back you idiot! That's Mrs Norris! Oh my god, Filch is going to kill us if she gets his cat!'

Ron, Hermione and Harry ran after the delighted wolf, following the path of destruction and dazed students that Storm left in her wake. They rounded the corner to see Mrs Norris leap over a windowsill, leaving Storm looking disappointed as she got up on her hind legs to see where the cat had gone.

In the chase she had almost knocked over a man who had been walking along the corridor. A man with long fair hair and a noble bearing. Storm turned to grin at him apologetically, but when she looked at his face her eyes widened and a look of pure terror crossed her furry features. Left with little recourse, Storm followed Mrs Norris straight out of the window.

'Zafyre!'

The three stared in shock as Lucius Malfoy watched Storm's progress across the castle grounds with a look of absolute fury on his aristocratic face. Harry noticed a thick brass and leather collar in his hand. With hardly a look at them, Lucius strode off in the direction of Dumbledore's office.

'What do you reckon he's here for?'

'Wake up, Ron! It's pretty obvious, isn't it? He's Storm's master.'

'No wonder she was scared. I'll bet it was him that did all those horrible things to her.'

'We've got to go to Dumbledore, he can't have her back.'

They set off with purpose towards Dumbledore's chambers, but Malfoy senior was already there and coming out with the Headmaster, 'Yes, of course, Lucius.

'Ah,' Dumbledore said, spotting them, 'just who I wanted to see. You've spent a lot of time with the rith. I was wondering if you knew where she might have gone. It appears that she took fright when she spotted her master.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, none of them wanting to betray the wolf, but not wanting to lie to Dumbledore either.

Finally it was Hermione who answered, 'She was heading towards the Forest. Perhaps you'd best see Hagrid.'

'Then that's where we'll go. Thank you very much.'

Dumbledore and Malfoy walked off in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.

'He's not going to give her back, surely?'

'I don't think he's got a choice.'

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It wasn't until later that the trio went down to see the gamekeeper. He waved when he saw them, 'Come on in, I jus' put the kettle on!'

When walking into the cluttered hut there was one thing that stood out starkly - a pretty braided leather collar in the same shape as when it was around its past wearers neck. That and the silence.

'She's gone.'

'Why?'

'Apparently she belonged to that scum, Malfoy, has done for years. He thought she'd been stolen. Couldn't believe it when I told him about her being washed up on the lakeshore.'

'So what happened, Hagrid?'

'Well, first thing I know is that Storm comes runnin' down here like she's got a dragon on her tail. She was scared witless so I tried to calm her down a bit. Even Fang was being a gentleman to her and you know how much they hate each other. She must've heard them comin' afore I did, she tried to hide anywhere she could find, but settled on my pan cupboard.' They looked over and saw the various saucepans and frying pans scattered over the floor where Storm had tried to make space for herself, to no avail. 'I didn' understand why she was doin' it until Dumbledore and Malfoy knocked on my door. That was when she tried to force herself inside, but you could see her tail sticking out like a flag.

'So Dumbledore explained that Storm belonged to Malfoy and we had to give her back. It took a while to get her out of that cupboard, I can tell you. She didn' wanna go, I could see that. I even offered to buy her. He jus' sneered at me that way he does an' said she was worth more that all I owned. Pah! That's all things are worth to Malfoy - money.

'She wouldn' let Malfoy near her so I had to put Malfoy's collar on her. It hurt me to do it, it felt like I was betraying her. There were tears in her eyes and she seemed to be sayin' "I don' like this, but I'll let you do it because I trust you." I gave her one last pat before I handed her over, tol' her how brave she was, but that wasn't it. Malfoy ordered me to put a muzzle on her. I said she don' need one, she's the friendliest creature I'd ever known but he said he'd been bitten once too often. There was nothin' I could do, though I'm sure he was the evil bastard who gave her all those scars.' This was the first time they'd ever heard Hagrid swear, but they all felt the same way.

Harry decided to take his mind off it and ask him a question that had been nagging him, 'Hagrid, what do you know about a girl called Enyana Barrett?'

'Enyana? Oh, she's not one you'd forget in a hurry. Beautiful girl, as lovely inside as out. She was a good friend to your mum 'n' dad too, Harry. She was at their weddin'. That's when Sirius Black proposed to her.'

'Sirius?'

'Aye, madly in love those two were, though I'll never know what she saw in him. There were plenty of others after her a lot better'n him. Sirius arranged it all with Lily an' James. A guidance spell was put on Lily's bouquet to make sure that Enyana caught it. Sirius had hidden the engagement ring in it, you see.'

'How romantic!'

'It were that. The wedding never came to be. It was terrible.'

'What was?'

'One night there was a meeting at her family's house. Her family was big in the league against You-Know-Who, one of the oldest pure-blooded families too, so that was one in the eye for their "only pure-bloods should learn magic" policy if all the Barretts were against them. They were all wiped out. Looked like all of the others got zapped straight off, but all they found of Enyana was a pile of ashes, a silver necklace and a shattered wand. Black was one of the first on the scene.'

'Poor Sirius.'

'Poor Sirius? Poor Enyana more like. She never deserved that end. Still, why are we talkin' about all this. What do you want to know about Enyana for?'

'I've just heard her name mentioned recently, and I think Storm once belonged to her.'

'You're jokin'! So that's Elhaz?'

'Elhaz?'

'Enyana always used to talk to me about her. Her rith, Elhaz, she was so proud of her. I never knew she was a Thor. That poor creature, goin' from that good household to the Malfoys.'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They left Hagrid's later and Harry immediately took out his photograph album. He flicked through the pages until he found the photo he had been looking for. It was one of his mum and dad on their wedding day. His dad was back to back with Sirius and each had their arms around a girl - his father with his mum and Sirius with Enyana. Where as his mother had her hands firmly upon his father's, Enyana's had strayed behind Sirius back and it was clear from the way he occasionally jumped that she was pinching his arse. She was shorter than Sirius, but what she lacked in height she made up for by far in looks. Harry could see why Hagrid said so many had been chasing her. Sirius couldn't have looked happier, despite the constant pinching.

'That must be terrible, finding your fiancée is nothing but a pile of ashes.' Hermione said pityingly, 'I wonder if Sirius still thinks about her?'

Harry turned over a few pages and found a picture of the Marauders at Hogwarts, along with some others. The photo showed his dad, Sirius, Remus and Peter all down by the lake with his mum, Enyana and a few others. Sirius and Remus had Enyana by her wrists and ankles, obviously threatening to throw her in the lake while his mum and dad sat together laughing and a couple of others tried to stop them. He could almost hear the shrieks of laughter coming from it.

In the background was a very familiar, although younger, face staring at the antics down by the water with a look of utmost jealousy on his pale face. It was Severus Snape.