Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

Flight of the Fat Lady

"Everything you've ever wanted, it's in my hands. You could have it if you just agreed to join me…"

"I will never join you," Ella hissed effectively ending her dream.

Ella was beginning to form a new sleeping pattern that she preferred to her old one. Each night after her bought of nightmares, she'd creep down to the Common Room then transform into a fox in order to relax a bit before the day started again. Something about the animal form calmed her down and made her thoughts rest easily. She found one night that in her fox form, she didn't dream quite like her human form. She was sure that she could, yet she hadn't.

There had been no more meetings with Sirius since the original encounter, but Ella knew it'd be fine. She couldn't risk Sirius knowing that she wasn't just a fox. He was intelligent enough to guess that she was an Animagus after a couple of minutes with her. Ella didn't want to confirm his thoughts about that, or worse accidentally alert him to who she was.

After another night of resting as an Animagus, Ella crawled into bed as a human only to "wake up" a few minutes later with Katie. Sometimes, Ella considered going to Dumbledore to tell him about the things she saw, but everything was a complete jumble normally and no matter how much it made Ella feel panicky, she couldn't pinpoint why.

Katie was awake a lot sooner than normal, but Ella didn't mind that. The girls made their way to the slowly filling Great Hall for some breakfast. Angelina and Alicia were there already and seemed rather giggly that morning. Ella and Katie shot each other a look of confusion before sitting down across from them.

"Good morning," Katie said curiously and the other two seemed to gain a bit of composure before they broke out in giggles once more.

Ella sighed, "All right, what has you two so worked up this morning?"

Angelina choked out, "Well, we had been sitting down here for a while working on some homework and waiting for everyone else to show up when we began watching the other students. They got us thinking about, well, there are other boys in this school. Not just who we hang out with."

Frowning Katie asked, "If you're looking at other boys than George, does that mean you no longer like him?"

"No, nothing like that. We're just looking at them; some of them are rather handsome. We're not dating anyway so I can at least look at the other boys," Angelina blushed.

Alicia continued, "It's true, I've heard other girls doing it all the time. Like some Ravenclaws a few days ago were blushing furiously after discussing that they liked Lee's dreadlocks and humor. I think it's a natural thing for girls to just watch some of the gorgeous guys of this school."

"Well, in that case, I think he's pretty cute. We're speaking in looks only of course, I'd never date a prat like that," Katie said motioning towards McLaggen who had just joined the Gryffindor table.

"I can see that he's handsome, his personality just ruins it though," Alicia stated looking him over indiscreetly. Ella had never really noticed before that McLaggen could be considered dashing in the looks category. She'd seen him as an annoying git, and then a secret friend. It'd never occurred to her that he actually looked good too. Ella could see Katie's attraction, but he was a bit too muscular for her, and after knowing his personality –well, Ella had to admit, she'd never see him as anything more than a friend and even that was a stretch.

Angelina grinned, "I know I'm not supposed to even remotely like Slytherins but…he's cute." The girls followed her gaze to a boy who was sitting among the green and silver classmates. He had a deep cocoa skin and eyes, which Ella admitted were very handsome. Why hadn't she noticed these people before? Ella could feel eyes burning on her. She looked between all of her girl-friends, and they looked at her expectantly.

"What?"

Katie giggled, "Who do you think is handsome? –Other than Fred that is." Ella's cheeks burned at the mention of Fred and Ella's thoughts about him being attractive. She scanned the tables looking about the room for someone attractive. She didn't see Fred and George had entered the room.

"Him! He's very handsome," Ella said pointing to a boy at the Hufflepuff table. The girls all turned around and began giggling. Fred's gaze followed the girls' after hearing Ella's statement. His ears burned red and he scoffed thinking that the boy wasn't that good looking.

"Oooh, you're right. He's got a strong build, but he looks like a peaceful observer. He's in our year; we've had a class or two with him. He's not a man of many words," Angelia giggled once more. The other girls joined in until a throat was loudly cleared.

"What are you four talking about?" Fred asked rather loudly.

They looked at each other before Katie stated, "Nothing."

Fred didn't seem too happy as he sat down and began eating breakfast. George glanced towards his twin and decided it'd be better to let him simmer down. Fred, on the other hand, was glaring into his food as if he was willing it to set fire. He knew the boy, a complete heartthrob throughout his grade –Cedric Diggory.

George informed their friends, "Lee's feeling under the weather and is staying in the hospital wing for the day. That means you'll be on your own for this evening, Ella." She sighed remembering that they were having a Quidditch meeting after their classes.

"I'll be alright, don't worry about me," Ella told her friends after receiving many sympathetic glances. She figured that it'd be a perfect opportunity for her to meet Sirius once more. Maybe she'd even bring him some food.

The classes went by agonizingly slow that day. Ella found her mind wandering out of the window more often than focusing on the lessons themselves. She wished she would've had Defense Against the Dark Arts that day instead of History of Magic because the latter of the two was hard enough to focus on when she didn't have plans for that night. Finally, all the Quidditch players told Ella goodbye and left to go discuss tactics with their captain.

As soon as they were gone, Ella went up to her dorm to transform. As soon as she was a fox, she quickly skirted the Common Room until she had reached the secret passageway that led to the grounds. A small knapsack was sitting in the vicinity of the passage that Ella had placed there earlier that day in order to not be caught by anyone. She dragged the food bag with her teeth all the way until she reached the forest. Part of her mind wondered what it would look like if someone saw a fox dragging a heavy bag around the grounds, but then decided that it'd be far from the truth and shouldn't be worried.

"Sirius! Sirius Black!" Ella sang out into the forest. It only came out as barks, but Ella knew he could understand it.

It took at least twenty minutes but he finally appeared out of the forest, "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm looking for you, I thought that was fairly obvious from the yelling," Ella told him. Sirius regarded her carefully.

"Where's the cat?" He questioned her.

"I don't think he's interested in joining you for help yet. I can't interfere at all, or I'd offer my own services. But, I'm also against the idea of murder so it really wouldn't do any good to have me with you," Ella informed him sheepishly.

Sirius looked her over, "You know, he's been coming out here nearly every night to find out my intent. It's been difficult to get through to him, but I'm slowly communicating what I want to do and why. He mentioned you once, funny enough."

"He did?" Ella tried speaking with a light tone, but found herself unconsciously backing away from him.

"Told me about your wish to have us work together and how you were friends with his owner back at the school. So I'd already figured you were an Animagus, but then he mentioned that his owner called you Ella. Strange to think I know a very bright witch by the name of Ella who goes to Hogwarts," Sirius stated with a stern look in her direction.

Ella pawed at the ground, "So much for hoping you wouldn't notice it was me."

He gave her a slightly disapproving look, "I know I'm not really one to talk since I'm an illegal Animagus myself, but this is an extremely dangerous transformation to make. How long have you been able to transform?"

"I did my first transformation at the end of last year. I would've told you I could do this, but it is illegal after all and I don't want to get in trouble if people were to find out," Ella frowned at the idea of getting thrown in jail. What would Mrs. Weasley think of her?

"And who am I going to tell if I'm on the run?" Sirius barked at her.

She shifted a bit, "I don't know, but that's the thing. I don't want to risk something if I don't know it. Most people know about my dreams, but you're the only person who knows I'm an Animagus. What if you were forced to drink a truth serum and the Ministry found out that I was an Animagus?"

Sirius countered, "If that were to happen, they'd probably realize I was innocent and that you were helping me for good reason. You'd get registered and there'd be no lasting harm."

"That's what you think. I can't let the Ministry know what I am. I don't know why, but I do know they can't even have an inkling about it," Ella tried to convince him, but the skeptical look he gave her made it seem like the idea hadn't sunk in yet.

"I won't tell the Ministry on you, I don't plan on being caught in the slightest anyway. I'll keep your secret safe in return for keeping mine, Ella," said Sirius in a gentler tone.

"Thank you, now I need to get back up to the school before someone notices I'm gone. Keep trying to talk the cat around. He'll be more likely to help than me. I don't interfere with the future, I'm not able to," Ella quickly explained. "Oh and this bag is for you. It's filled with food so you don't starve to death." Ella told him good night then rushed back to the Gryffindor Common Room through the secret hatchway.

As the weeks moved one, Fred lightened up about overhearing Ella thought another guy was cute. He couldn't stay mad forever, especially since she didn't realize he had even heard her say it. Not to mention, he was positive that he looked better in any case. Plus, he had brains on his side, which that dimwit couldn't have, right? Fred wanted to believe that just so he could get the little green monster out of his stomach.

Ella found herself too busy to worry about Sirius for the time being. She was working on her own mound of homework combined with learning bits of her friends' since they had Quidditch practice three times a week and would need help. It gave Ella a lot of time to think and study while they were gone. Then when they returned she could fully enjoy spending time with all of them without an essay due date looming over her head. Ella just loved studying the world around her. Something about doing magic homework in a magic school made things so much better and easier.

"Hogsmeade date just got posted. It's on Halloween again, only no missing class this year because it falls on a Sunday," Lee told her sitting down. It was just the two of them during Quidditch practices. They didn't care though. It gave them time to talk without interruption. It was hard for anyone to have a full conversation with Fred and George in the room.

"Well, I'm glad. I could use some sweets from Honeydukes and a butterbeer if it's cold enough," Ella stated pleasantly.

Lee grinned, "Believe me; it'll definitely be cold enough for it. If this weather we've been having is an indication. I suspect a butterbeer will be perfect after a stroll through the town." The two relaxed for a bit and worked on their homework while making small talk. Every so often, their gaze would drift out the darkening window wondering just how well their friends' practice was going.

A low buzz was growing throughout the room as more people saw the notice about the Hogsmeade visit. By the time Harry and the twins arrived in the room spattered with mud, the entire Common Room was filled with happy students discussing what they'd do for the day.

"What's happened?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione who were sitting only a table away.

Ron pointed to the old bulletin board, "First Hogsmeade weekend. End of October. Halloween."

Fred grinned, "Excellent! I need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets." He and George had made their way to where Ella and Lee were sitting by now.

"And what do you need so many Stink Pellets for?" Ella asked tauntingly.

"You know, the usual," Fred responded vaguely.

George finished, "Ruckus causing, Filch finagling, and our twin trickster ways of life."

Ella shook her head in fond exasperation, "You two are absolutely unbelievable."

"Thanks!" They said with a proud smile.

Lee glanced around the room, "Where are the girls? No one's hurt are they?" Ella looked around and also noticed that Katie, Angelina, and Alicia were all missing.

"No, they're like any other girl. They prefer to get cleaned up before coming to the Common Room. They don't want everyone to see them covered in mud," George explained.

"But we're not like that, we love the manly smell of mud," Fred joked pretending to waft the manly smell towards Ella and Lee.

"Well, keep that manly smell away from me," Ella told him plugging her nose. "I'm a girl like Angelina and Alicia –I don't really mind mud, but the smell of you two is another story."

Fred was about to reply when and outburst from Ron stopped him dead, "OY! GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!" The entire Common Room went silent at the sight of Hermione's cat sinking its claws into Ron's bag. Crookshanks slashed and spit at the bag tearing it to shreds.

Hermione looked horrified, "Ron, don't hurt him!" Ron spun the bag in a circle with dislodged the rat from what was left of the bag. Scabbers sprinted off as Crookshanks attempted to quickly free himself from the bag.

"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron bellowed and George lunged towards it. He missed by a fraction of an inch and Ella watched Crookshanks chase Pettigrew with bated breath. Part of her wished the cat would catch him, but she still had mixed feelings about the rat being eaten since she knew it was actually a person.

Scabbers slid under an old chest of drawers just out of reach from the bandy-legged cat. Crookshanks swiped under the chest furiously until Hermione heaved him away. Ron pulled Scabbers out by the tail and showed him to Hermione who still held the wiggling cat.

"Look at him! He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!" Ron snapped furiously. Ella personally hoped that Crookshanks would keep close to the rat; at the very least he could scare the nasty little Animagus.

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong! All cats chase rats, Ron!" Hermione argued with a shaking voice. Ella seriously doubted that Crookshanks was one to chase ordinary rats with such persistence, but far be it from her to bring that up.

Ron glared at Crookshanks, "There's something funny about that animal! It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!" He was trying to shove the struggling creature back into his pocket. Ella remembered a time when she thought nothing of the rat in Ron's pocket. She missed those times.

"Oh, what rubbish," Hermione said impatiently. "Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else d'you think –"

"That cat's got it in for Scabbers! And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill," Ron stated indignantly ignoring the giggles breaking out in the Common Room. He then retreated to his dormitory for the night. As soon as Ron had gone, Hermione let Crookshanks fall to the ground once more. The ginger cat's eyes travelled up towards the door in something that was the cat equivalent of a glare, but he decided that Scabbers was officially out of reach.

The animal made its way over to where Ella was currently sitting and hopped onto her lap. She glanced down at the cat and scratched behind one of his ears. She figured the message was quite clear. Crookshanks finally wanted to accept the offer to help Sirius take Pettigrew down.

"I think Ron's right, that cat seems to particularly have it in for Scabbers," George said dusting off his already dirty self.

Ella rolled her eyes, "You sound like Ron, it's only a cat. The thing doesn't know the difference between a common rat and a house pet. Do you, Crookshanks?" She pet Crookshanks and he began to purr deeply. "Wait for me tonight. Around one in the morning, I'll come downstairs when the've all gone to bed. Then we'll go see him." The purring increased and Ella wondered if the cat really could understand her, or if that was the kneazle side of him.

Either way, Ella found herself standing in front of him several hours later as a fox. The two silently made their way to the grounds and Ella called once more for Sirius to come find them. Crookshanks stood silently, his yellow eyes scanned through the Forbidden Forest warily, but the cat remained mute.

"You called, Ella?" Sirius asked her as he appeared out of the forest's darkness.

"On my behalf, she called you," Crookshanks replied. "I've agreed to help you on your quest to rid the world of that cursed rat. Ella is right; we'll need each other's help to get him."

"Is that so?" asked Sirius seriously.

The cat gave a curt nod, "I was after him to protect my owner from him. I could sense the dishonesty in it from the moment I smelled him in the pet shop. You have a more worthy cause for disposing of him. I'd be honored to help you." Crookshanks bowed deeply and Sirius looked slightly uncomfortable at the action.

Sirius relaxed, "We'll have to plan something in order to take down Pettigrew, but we can discuss the finer details later. Ella," he addressed the fox with drooping eyes.

"What?" She mumbled once more becoming alert.

He smiled gently, "Shouldn't you be going to bed? It's late and you've got school in the morning. You shouldn't be out this late."

Ella pouted slightly, "I'm not always out this late, and I'm here for a good reason at least. I've finished all my homework too."

Sirius scoffed, "I don't care about homework. I just think that someone your age needs to be asleep at this time of night."

"Fine, but you can't stop me from ever coming out. You're not my father or anything of the sort," Ella sniffed, but she had to admit she felt tired. Ella slowly made her way back to the dormitory to sleep. Her dreams had finally died down enough that she was able to sleep without fear of nightmares.

Over the next week or two, Ella noticed that Crookshanks was rarely in Gryffindor Tower. She didn't try sneaking back outside for the time being. There was work to be done in her human life and Hogsmeade was on its way. Halloween had arrived before most people could believe it. The time moved slowly then the event was there all at once.

Her friends made their way down to Hogsmeade quickly and quietly. No one felt like being too cheerful as they passed the dementors that guarded the gates. Ella shrank slightly behind her friends as the creatures glided a little closer, but soon enough they were in the warm village of Hogsmeade. Well –it would've been had the wind relaxed a bit. It whipped about stinging everyone's faces as they made their way from shop to shop.

Ella and her friends had cheeks stained with red after only an hour of shopping. Part of Ella believed she'd never truly be warm again. The other part just wanted a butterbeer and to be with her friends in this cute little town forever. Fred got his Stink Pellets and Ella got her sweets. Everyone was excited to be out of the school even if winter seemed to be breathing down their necks. Ella even caught sight of Hermione pulling Ron from place to place once. She'd be in for a lot of work once they reached Honeydukes. That store would be heaven for a boy like Ron. Ella felt bad that Harry couldn't be there, but he'd find something to occupy his time. They returned to the school in much better spirits and even the dementors seemed to keep away.

The Halloween feast was a wonderful event where the food was piled high and the entertainment was, as always, top-notch. The Gryffindor House ghost reenacted his own botched beheading and all the Hogwarts ghosts worked together to do formation gliding. Fred, George, and Ella cheered despite their stuffed stomachs feeling ready to burst. Ella felt like this Halloween would be the first in two years where there wouldn't be some large event to ruin it for the school. The year before, the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, and before that their ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell, released a troll.

As everything wrapped up, the Gryffindors headed back to their Common Room. Ella moved there slowly with her friends, none of them were ready for the night to end. They had nearly made it there when the seven friends found themselves stuck in a type of traffic jam.

"What's going on?" Lee asked trying to shove ahead. A few seventh years shot him a glare and he decided to stay put.

Others were beginning to ask Lee's question and Ella attempted to see between people's heads, "I think the Fat Lady isn't there…"

"Why wouldn't she be?" George asked.

"She's always there after feasts," Fred affirmed.

"Let me through, please," Percy stated firmly behind the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password –excuse me, I'm Head Boy –"

Fred groaned, "Like we could ever forget." But despite Fred's joking tone, the crowd fell silent around them. A concerned look was passed between Ella and the twins.

Percy's voice was suddenly sharp and rang out over the crowd, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick." A couple sixth years behind them scrambled to get the Headmaster.

Angelina tried to look over the others' heads, "What's happening? Why can't we go into the Common Room?"

"Not sure, but it has to be something serious otherwise Percy wouldn't have called for Dumbledore," Ella said trying to see the portrait as well. "What is it about Halloween that screams everything has to go wrong?"

George shrugged, "Coincidence?" The crowd squeezed together to allow Dumbledore to pass through. Shortly after Dumbledore arrived, Professor Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin scurried onto the scene. Ella still wasn't able to hear what was being said, but Peeves cackled around the staircase.

"You'll be lucky!" Peeves told the Professors up ahead. Ella strained her eyes to hear the conversation between the group of people.

Dumbledore calmly questioned, "What do you mean, Peeves?"

His voice turned from cackling to greasy in a matter of seconds, "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful. Poor thing." Ella glanced worriedly towards the twins who met her gaze with equal dread.

"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore asked quietly, Ella had to strain her ears to hear him. She got the distinct impression that the Headmaster already knew who it was.

Just then, someone shifted in front of her and Ella got her first sight of what cause all the commotion earlier. The Fat Lady's portrait was slashed horribly. There were tattered bits lying on the floor and huge gaps missing. Ella couldn't even imagine who could do that to her. No matter how annoying the portrait could be, she wouldn't think someone could attack her. The whole of the Gryffindors listened intently to hear what Peeves had to say.

Peeves spoke loud and clear in the most measured voice Ella had ever heard him use, "Oh yes, Professorhead. He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. –Nasty tempter he's got, that Sirius Black."

Ella's jaw dropped.

A/N: I've got an ultimatum for you all, if this story can get five more reviews, I will post the next chapter tonight. I don't lie when I say Chapter 9 is my favorite chapter I have written of Ella's story yet. I adore it. So please review and possibly get another chapter in a little bit! :)