*I Don't Own Harry Potter*

Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

Summer was trudging on in an unfortunate cycle of nightmares and horrible encounters. At more than one moment, Ella considered running away, but with Fred and George in Egypt there wasn't much of a place to go. Katie, Angelina, and Alicia were all out of the country at some Quidditch match their parents were taking them to. The girls all stated they'd bring stuff back for Ella, but they only had so many tickets. Ella was fine with that, though. She understood. Even Lee was out of the country, but he assured her he wouldn't be having much fun either. According to her dreadlocked friend, his summer was to be spent taking care of all his grandmother's cats in Ireland. Ella remained at her house and tried to be a good little witch. Though, her attempts at being a family lessened dramatically after a less than kind outburst from her parents.

It was a few days before Ella believed Sirius would arrive on her street. She had no way of being certain, she just knew it could be any day now. Her parents were coming home for a few hours before they'd go back to work to conduct some research that night. Ella wasn't informed that they were on their way home. Her homework was littered across their dining room table and she was focused on an especially pressing report about the difference between Animagi and Metamorphmagi. She was nearly positive she'd receive full marks on this. Not only was she an Animagus, last year she succeeded in becoming a fox, but she also had known a Metamorphmagus for a brief time her first year.

"What is all of this?" Her father's disgusted voice rang out in the room. Ella jolted as though she had received an electric shock.

"It-It's my homework from school," Ella stammered. She could stand up to Allison, bullies at school, and even a teacher or two, but when it came to her parents she still had problems with standing up for herself. Even her largest burst of courage wasn't enough when they swooped down on her all at once.

Her mother took over, "That much is obvious. What I want to know is why that filth is on our table? We've made it clear that we don't approve of any sort of activity pertaining to that school in our house. How many times have we told you that we're being gracious even letting you live here?"

"But if I don't do it here than I'll fail the assignments," Ella argued against their logic-only rules.

With a glare her father retorted, "And we are supposed to care about that? You're going to that school because we cannot stop you. Those people would come to our house and make a scene. We can't have them stirring up rumors about this family. You've already brought enough problems for a lifetime on us."

Ella looked in disbelief at the two, "Why can't you accept who I am and what I can do? Most parents are thrilled to know they have children who can do magic. Why can't you be like them? This is absolutely ludicrous!"

"Magic isn't logical. We've spent a large portion of our lives studying against the existence of magic. You may think we're being unfair, but you were unexpected as is. It seems highly unfair to us that something we hadn't even planned on should undo everything we spent our lives building," Mr. Worthington quipped.

Mrs. Worthington further explained, "We are people of science and you are a child made of nonsense. We never had room for such things; we even tried to turn you away from them. It would seem that our attempts to make a daughter we could be proud of failed. In our minds, it's perfectly noticeable that you were never our daughter. There must have been a mistake as we told you before. It must not even make sense in your world. How could two perfectly normal people make a daughter like you? None of it lines up."

"So that's it then? I'm not your daughter because I'm different from you. Because I add a new element into your boring lives, you're going to hate me?"

"Our lives are perfect the way they are. They were even more perfect before you but accidents happen. You're lucky that everyone knows we have a daughter or else we'd never even keep you," her mother snarled.

"You're the ones who had me! I never asked for any of this. Do you think I want to be stuck in a world where my own parents don't accept me?" Ella shouted with tears pricking her eyes.

Her father kept eye contact with her, "Do you think we want a daughter who's abnormal? We never asked for this either."

"I'm your daughter!" Ella yelled at them.

Their eyes flashed at her. Mrs. Worthington shouted back, "You are no daughter of ours –that has been made quite clear by all the circumstances!"

Ella slammed her books closed and retreated to her room. She remained locked in there until the chug of an engine alerted her to her parents' departure. After they had gone, Ella decided to go outside to get some air. The tears had dried from her face by now so she wouldn't alert any prying neighbors about her less than perfect circumstances. She was barely out the door when she noticed a large black dog padding down the street.

She dashed to the front of the alley way where she had seen their meeting and stood in anticipation. The dog seemed to consider turning around for a moment then slowly came closer to her. The sky around them was ablaze with the setting sun and Ella smiled slightly to the dog. He didn't know it yet, but she already knew who and what he was.

"Hullo there," she whispered gently. The dog stopped and looked at her in bewilderment. "I saw you coming from down the street, it looks like you've been travelling for quite a while –you're skin and bones. If you wait here I'll bring you a treat." Sirius wagged his tail at her as though he were an ordinary dog. She worried for but a second that he was –but she could positively feel that this dog was Sirius Black. Ella rushed in her house and grabbed a bunch of different foods. She threw some sandwiches together, a slice of left over pizza, and anything else she could grab quickly into a small bag.

When Ella returned outside she looked around feeling her stomach plummet. Sirius was nowhere to be seen. Her grip on the bag tightened slightly as she glanced up and down the street. Ella found herself wondering if he was hiding somewhere. He couldn't have completely disappeared in the short time she was in her house. She peered around the alley corner and saw Sirius sitting there calmly.

"I thought you'd left. That wasn't very funny, but I suppose you don't care stay too still. You look like a dog with a job to do," Ella told him setting out the food. Sirius looked at the food with wide, hungry eyes. Ella smiled slightly, "Well, go on. Have some!" Sirius practically dived into the food in front of him and Ella couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.

She rested her back against the alley wall and sat across from Sirius. Ella watched Sirius with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. He was way too thin and absolutely filthy, but after a few minutes, Ella was able to get over all that. She just learned to breathe through her mouth for the time being. Wet dog had never been something Ella had been too fond of. Part of her wanted to begin talking with the dog, but she was sure that he wouldn't hear a word of it over his ravenous eating. What was she even supposed to say? Hello, I can see the future so I know you're not really a dog but a fugitive from the law. Don't worry though, I'm not going to tell anyone because I also know that you didn't really do it! –That actually wasn't so bad, but Ella still couldn't see it going over perfectly. The words from her time being Petrified raced back to her, but the sun was still dying in the clouds, it wasn't the same scene.

For a moment, Ella panicked. What if she had accidentally altered the future by making things happen sooner than they should've? Ella closed her eyes and rested her head against the rough bricks behind her. A scene was slowly playing out under her eyelids. She straightened up from her position but kept her eyes shut tightly in an attempt to make the vision more perceptible.

The vision was mute, but Ella could see from the gaping mouths that the occupants of the room were all shouting. A very large woman was growing larger by the second –she seemed to be inflating. She floated like a giant balloon, but who was she? Ella glanced at the other occupants of the room. Harry's Aunt and Uncle stood yelling and attempting to put the woman back on the ground. Ella knew they'd have no such luck, they were dealing with magic. Those Muggles wouldn't be able to do a thing to help that woman. Harry was nowhere in sight, but it didn't take a genius to guess that he was the cause of the magical mayhem.

"Who are you and why did Harry turn you into a horrid human blimp?" Ella thought looking at the woman on the ceiling. She could see a small scrawl of words outlining the woman. The script read: Harry's Aunt Marge Dursley, insulted Potter family, tormented Harry as much as other Dursleys. Ella shrugged, by the sound of it she deserved to be in her current position.

A heavy voice weighed into Ella's vision, the first sound to come out of it, "They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect)!" Ella's fists clenched in anger, how could someone say that about a boy's deceased parents? It was unfathomable.

"COME BACK IN HERE! COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!" Roared Harry's uncle. Ella jumped slightly at the sound. It was beyond anger and directed wholly towards Harry who had his belongings with him. Harry kicked open his trunk and snatched out his wand. Rage contorted his features and Ella shivered for a small moment at how much fury one young boy could possess.

"She deserved it. She deserved what she got. You keep away from me," Harry snapped at his Uncle pointing his wand towards the beefy man. His chest was heaving with anger, "I'm going –I've had enough." Harry then wheeled around and went through the door behind him leaving chaos in his wake. Ella watched with closed eyes as he walked and walked until at last he reached her street. It was dark out, the kind of nights Ella enjoyed. He caught his breath on a small wall only a short distance from where she was seeing the vision. As Ella watched the future unfold in her mind she noticed the similarities of when Harry would blow up his aunt to the present day. It was eerily similar.

So similar in fact, Ella realized with a jolt, that it'd be impossible for it to be any other day. Harry was going to be on her street at any moment and unknowingly catch a small glimpse of Sirius in this very alley. Her eyes snapped open. Sirius stared at her confused. She had no idea how long she had been lost in her own mind, but the dark shadows that the street lamps thrust across them gave her a small idea.

"Listen to me very carefully. You need to stay here in the shadows and be very quiet for the next few moments. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. I'll get more food for you, but you'll be extremely glad you listened to me," said Ella. She knew he could comprehend every word she said unlike other dogs. She knew Sirius would want to see his best friend's son. Ella had heard so many people say that Harry looked exactly like his father, but with his mother's eyes. Sirius would probably want to see him longer, but Ella didn't think he'd get more than a few moments to watch him.

Knowing deep down that Sirius would stay and hearing foot falls on the pavement from a short distance away, Ella rushed to get inside her own house. The alley was best visible through the window in her upstairs bedroom. Ella rushed up the stairs taking them two at a time and flung herself into her bedroom. She didn't know if Harry would look into any of the windows so she quickly pulled the curtains around so only a small gap would be open. She stood in a silent vigil waiting for the Boy Who Lived to descend on her street.

A/N: What did you think? Things will definitely be interesting next chapter when The Knight Bus visits Ella's street! Please review! :) Reviews make writers happy!