Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the series.

The Knight Bus

Harry appeared on the street shortly after Ella took refuge behind the curtain in her room. He looked extremely flustered and upset as he rested against the wall panting. Ella watched the boy who was a year younger than her as his emotions shifted from anger to fear. He looked utterly lost among the rows of empty houses. Ella stepped away from the window for a moment as his eyes drifted over the street –seeing who was up and about. Ella couldn't give away where she lived now of all times. She yearned to show Harry Potter that he wasn't completely alone in his part of the Muggle world, but Ella was too worried about the future to allow herself the comfort of a nearby friend.

His eyes fell to his wand which was still clutched tightly in his hand. Harry seemed to be weighing his options, and Ella wished she could read minds instead of see the future. His features were drawn in an accepting sadness. He looked like he had made his mind up, but wasn't sure he liked its outcome. Ella couldn't imagine what he was contemplating, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to. She watched him slowly ease off the wall and rummage through his trunk for something. Ella would place money of his Invisibility Cloak, but she couldn't see what good it would do for him to have that on an already empty street.

All of the sudden, Harry jerked upwards. Ella watched him carefully wondering what could've spooked him, until she saw it for herself. Sirius was beginning to creep out of the shadows towards Harry. Ella had to lean away from the window once again to avoid being seen by the boy who was looking around for something or someone that may be watching him. He bent over his trunk once more only to bolt upright with a threatening stance. His wand was held in a defensive position in front of him as though he was preparing for an attack.

Ella blinked the light out of her eyes after Harry unexpectedly lit his wand. He glanced around the house near the alley looking for the cause of his distress –though Ella knew he wouldn't find it in the house since its occupants spent their summer months in Majorca. Ella bit her bottom lip in anxiety as Harry peered into the area she knew Sirius was. Ella physically gasped and threw her curtains back to get a better look as Harry tumbled backwards into a gutter. She practically hung herself out of her window to try and get a closer look of if he was alright.

BANG!

A blinding light nearly made Ella fall out of the window as a giant bus burst into view. Harry rolled out of the street just in time to avoid being crushed by the tires and disappeared from Ella's view. Ella gaped at the triple-decker, violently purple bus that now sat on her street. She'd never seen anything like it, but she assumed the bus wasn't seen by many people. No one even stirred in the houses and she knew for a fact that her next door neighbors were extremely light sleepers.

A professional voice rang up to her window from the street, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve –"

Though she couldn't see his face or tell his age, she was happy that Stan Shunpike had appeared on her street. Ella figured it may come in handy one day to know there was an emergency witch and wizard bus to transport people places. She enjoyed the new knowledge about her world, but was curious as to why Stan stopped. Not being able to see behind the bus was a real pain.

"What were you doin' down there?" Stan's voice rang out once again, but it didn't have its previous professional demeanor. Ella slid out of her window and onto the rooftop ledge. It was a flat piece of shingles and wood that jutted out of the house a few feet right under her window sill. She'd only done this twice before when she was about six. The first time she'd fallen and somehow landed lightly on the ground. The second was her attempting to recreate that moment then breaking her arm when she fell heavily into a bush. Ella's only hope was to hear things better from the perch, not to get herself killed.

"Fell over," Harry stated annoyed. Ella tried not to laugh. She could hear the two of them perfectly from her spot, but was still unable to see them. He fingers gripped the edge of the roof tightly as she sat on the front of her house.

"'Choo fall over for?" Stan sniggered, leading Ella to believe he wasn't very old. She couldn't imagine a grown man laughing at that.

Harry's indignant voice rose, "I didn't do it on purpose!" There was a pause.

"'Choo lookin' at?"

"There was a big black thing…like a dog…but massive…" Harry tried explaining and Ella's eyes widened. He had seen Sirius in the alley, and Sirius had certainly seen him. Ella desperately wanted to speak to Sirius, but she refrained from running to the alley in an attempt to remain unnoticed for the time being. Plus, she'd need to be careful getting off the roof.

"Woss that on your 'ead?" Stan stated abruptly.

Harry's reply was instant, "Nothing."

Stan Shunpike pried further, "Woss your name?"

"Neville Longbottom," Harry blurted. Ella was surprised that of all names he could use for an alias, Neville's was the one he used. Harry asked, "So –so this bus…did you say it goes anywhere?"

The conductor left his questioning be and proudly proclaimed, "Yep anywhere you'd like, long's it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater. 'Ere, you did flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand 'and, dincha?" Ella took note of the useful information she was being handed once more. Stick out your wand hand and an emergency bus comes to get you –perfect.

Harry, though Ella knew it was a lie, assured, "Yes. –Listen, how much would it be to get to London?"

The other quickly informed, "Eleven sickles, but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice." There were sounds of the two boarding the bus with Harry's things and Ella scrambled back into her house. She rushed through the rooms and stood on the doorstep just as another BANG echoed through the deserted streets. The bus had vanished.

Ella wasted no time rushing across to the alley to find Sirius. When she reached the enclosure, she was met with a throaty growl. Ella slowed dramatically but knew what had to be done. She should've known all along that this would happen. The future has a funny way of always going as she saw it, even moments like this.

With her hands raised in surrender, Ella inched forward calmly whispering, "It's alright; I'm not going to hurt you. You need help, and I'm here to help you Padfoot. I know you're not to blame and you need to trust me like I'm trusting you right now or you'll never achieve what you're setting out to do." Sirius paused for a moment before relaxing and slowly moving towards her.

"Go back into the alley, there's enough magic already going on here that you should be able to transform without getting me in trouble," Ella urged and followed behind the dog. She watched as the creature slowly grew into the man from her vision. Sirius Black was bone-thin and his skin had a waxy pallor. He took on the appearance of a man who was once handsome, but since then had become a ghost of his former self in nearly every way. Ella stood her ground despite the gruesome looking man.

A moment of awkward silence stretched between the two before Sirius broke in, "Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Sirius Black, but it would appear you already knew that."

Ella nodded, "I'm Ella Worthington. I did know who you are, but as I said before, I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Why? I'm a convicted murderer who just escaped from Azkaban to supposedly kill Harry Potter for destroying Voldemort," Sirius was surprised to see Ella didn't flinch at the name.

She shrugged, "They say you're out to kill Harry, but you just let him escape from under your nose. That wouldn't make much sense. Besides, it's Pettigrew who killed all those people; we both know that."

Sirius gave a look of utter disbelief, "And how would you know that?"

"Because I've seen it, and I've met that cursed rat before. I can't believe no one ever noticed it. He's been living a life of ratty luxury for the past twelve years of his life as a pet. That thing knows my secret even. If he were to escape and go to his master, I'd be as good as dead," Ella spat finally voicing her disgust. She'd thought long and hard about Scabbers and Pettigrew only to come to the conclusion that he could ruin her life. She'd remembered dreaming that Dumbledore didn't believe Voldemort was as gone as everyone liked to think. After the diary incident, Ella had become weary of the dark wizard as well. She was afraid of what a man like that could do with an ability like hers.

The man cut into her musings, "So I take it you know the family that the rat is from?"

Ella sighed, "He's wormed his way into the Weasley family. Their youngest son, Ron, is Harry's age and currently the owner of the rat."

"How did you know about all this? You said you've seen it, but how can that be possible when you're this young? You would've had to been one when I was imprisoned," Sirius scoffed at her.

Her eyes flashed, "I was two. I'm a year older than Harry and I can see this sort of things even if no one else can. I've been told I have the most powerful Seer blood that most people have ever seen. I'm not supposed to tell people this, but seeing as you're on the run I figure it's safe to let you in on that secret."

"But I was convicted in the past, how would you be able to see that? Seers see the future, not the past."

"The future and past lie in one another. To truly know what the future entails, you have to look towards the past. I may be still learning, but I still know my abilities well enough," Ella told him while repeating Aiden's words. Her thoughts lingered briefly on the man who guided her during her long period of petrification.

"You said you wanted to help me…" Sirius prompted.

Ella grinned, "Well, I like to know that the good guys are winning. If you're after Pettigrew then technically speaking, you're the good guy and he's the bad guy. It was stupid to even go after him, but I can't change the past so I'll just have to help with the future."

Sirius found himself grinning at the girl. He had to admit that she had a spark in her eye that reminded him of Lily and maybe even a bit of himself. She was a determined young woman, but still a bit mischievous –Sirius guessed. If she could help at all, it wouldn't be so bad of a friendship. She seemed trustworthy enough and knew that he wasn't guilty of those crimes. There was something oddly familiar about her though, and he couldn't place it. He searched her face for a sign of recognition and found it within her deep, bright sapphire eyes.

"Did you live in another house before this one?" He asked suddenly.

Ella was taken aback, "Yes, when I was really little. My parents moved shortly after a gas pipe exploded a few streets away. They seemed to think it wasn't safe anymore. Why? How could you possibly know that?

Sirius looked at the girl in shock, "Well, I never believed I would see you again."

"Again?"

"Just before I went off to kill Peter out of anger and betrayal, I stumbled upon a young girl. You say you were two? She looked to be about two and had great big blue eyes. I tried to get her to go into her house, but she wouldn't go. I wondered why her parents weren't even watching her –"

"Well, if this is me, my parents wouldn't have cared. They still don't so it'd make sense that I were outside without any supervision," Ella told him bitterly.

Sirius frowned but continued his story, "Like I said, I told the girl to go inside; she was like a reminder of Harry to me. I kept thinking about childhood innocence, and that little girl was only bringing the fact I'd never be Harry's guardian after I killed Pettigrew, but even she couldn't deter me. Then, she said the most peculiar thing: Doggie no get rat. She repeated it so many times and she held this intensity in her eyes like she knew exactly what she was saying and what I was about to do. I see that intensity in your eyes at this very moment."

"So, I warned you not to attack Pettigrew then? Seems you should've listened to me after all," Ella smirked at him.

"You were two years old at the time, I doubt you can even remember that!" Sirius retorted.

She shrugged, "Either way, I told you so."

"Unbelievable," Sirius muttered with a shake of his head.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. It's not every day that you find out you warned a convicted murderer, who didn't murder anyone, to not murder the people he didn't murder when you were two," Ella babbled.

He laughed for the first time in twelve years, "When you put it that way it nearly sounds sane."

"ELLA!" A bellow went out from her door step. Sirius looked at Ella who closed her eyes as a grimace sealed itself on her face.

"That would be my parents," Ella whispered to him sadly.

Sirius looked back towards where the yells were coming from, "I should probably transform then." Ella nodded.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Ella whispered to the dog before running out of the alley. Sirius edged towards the end of the area to get a closer look at watch was going on.

A man wrenched Ella into the house muttering, "What were you doing in that alley? Do you think we need the neighbors questioning what wild and immature things our daughter is doing? It's pitch dark out. Haven't you caused enough problems already?" The door was forced shut with a loud smash. Sirius whimpered slightly at the house and its inhabitants.

He had wanted to leave that night and head north towards Hogwarts, but after meeting Ella, he couldn't leave without saying goodbye to the girl. He could certainly see himself in her. She was so young and lived in an unfriendly household. That bellow reminded him of his dear mother. Sirius curled up deep in the alley to go to sleep for the night.

Ella stood in a flurry of movement, but she wasn't able to pick up on any of it. The dream was so alike to so many others, yet a glaring contrast was moving about the dream. She fought to decipher what was so different about this dream, but it wouldn't show itself. Ella walked along the lines of blurred visions and tried to ignore the swirling contents that were sure make her head spin. A figure moved through some images several feet in front of her.

Not knowing who it was, Ella raced forward. The silhouette darted in and out of the stream of images, but Ella kept up with them. She began to even gain some ground and get closer to them. She realized the shadow was a man and her heart leapt. It had to be Aiden, it was the only explanation. He'd be the one to lead her through her subconscious. The cloak that covered him head to toe flapped in his wake as he rushed away. She followed Aiden around until he jumped into a vision. Ella didn't hesitate to follow him into the frame believing that no harm could ever come from Aiden.

But it wasn't Aiden she had followed.

The man who stood before her let his hood fall from his bald head and whirled on Ella. He glared at her with red slits for eyes. Lord Voldemort was utterly snake like and appeared to be in all his glory. Ella felt petrified where she stood, and remained there as the man circled around her as though she were his prey.

"So you are the future teller?" His voice was high and cold, like the laugh she heard from Tom Riddle the year before.

"What do you care?" Ella found herself replying. She watched him in a mixture of fear, disgust, and anger.

He gave that infamous laugh, "You'd do well to behave in my presence."

"This is a dream, what do I have to fear from you in a dream?"

"Dreams only last so long before reality sets in. You can feel reality coming nearer, can't you? It's creeping up on you like a hound on a fox," he hissed in her ear.

Ella's teeth gritted, "The future hasn't arrived yet, there's still time to figure out what will happen and stop it –stop you."

"You cannot stop the future, Ella. You cannot stop time."

The sun was beating down on Ella when she woke up drenched in a fine layer of sweat. Both her parents were gone and Ella took a moment to herself to wash up and make Sirius a bag of food to take with him on his journey to Hogwarts. She wished she could sneak him on the train, but the future showed him walking there. Ella couldn't disrupt the future, but she could at least give Sirius a more bearable trip.

He was waiting for her when she reached the mouth of the alley. She offered him a small smile, but was still very shaken from her dream the night before. Having Voldemort show up in a dream and speak to her was a very bad thing. Ella tried to shove it to the back of her mind at the moment. No use dwelling on dreams when the present was in front of her.

"I've packed as many nonperishable meals as I could in here. You should be able to make your journey now," Ella told him sliding a sling over the animal's shoulders. Sirius looked at her with wide eyes. "I hope you have good luck making it and that you like the food, but you don't strike me as the picky type. Maybe when you reach Hogwarts I'll be able to talk to you." Sirius gave her a severe look. "Alright, alright, it's likely you won't get to see me again. So, good luck Padfoot. Take care."

Sirius gave her a sad look and nuzzled his head onto her shoulder in a dog-like hug. Ella wrapped her arms around him and smiled into his fur. Ella hoped that the two would meet again, but she wasn't sure that'd be possible. At the very least, he wouldn't see Ella again, just her fox form if Ella had her way. She stood on the sidewalk and watched as the dog made its way down the street until he disappeared and the Wizarding World had once again left Ella alone.

A/N: There you go! The next chapter will be up very shortly, but in the meantime, don't forget to review! It always perpetuates the publishing of the next chapter! :)