A/N: I Don't own the Harry Potter series!

The Servant of Lord Voldemort

Ella's heart pounded painfully in her chest. The idea that a full-grown werewolf was about to be on the grounds of Hogwarts was frightening enough without Voldemort's rising being thrown into the mix. As she crept down the passage again, Ella could hear the sounds of their slow-moving group. They were way ahead of where she was, but Ella figured that was for the best. Sirius and Crookshanks were the only two who knew she wasn't an ordinary fox. There's no telling what the others would do without knowing who she actually was.

She made it out of the passageway only to see the group close to the school and Sirius trying to push Harry and Hermione away from Lupin who had gone rigid. Ella's heart nearly stopped when she realized Ron was attached to the man currently transforming into a werewolf. Harry moved to try and help, but Sirius pushed him away once more. A snarling noise ripped itself out of Lupin's throat and into the night air. Ella whimpered slightly at the sight she started running towards. She noticed Crookshanks backing away from them and Ella's instincts screamed to follow his lead, but she needed to be up there to capture Pettigrew.

On the other hand, Lupin's head was lengthening and hair had begun to sprout all over turning him from the human being he was to the animal inside. Soon enough he was a full grown werewolf tearing himself from the bindings that held Pettigrew next to Ron and the, used to be, professor. Sirius acted quickly transforming into the giant dog and ran towards the werewolf pushing him away from the two who were bound on the ground. Ella had finally reached the outskirts of the battle and saw the dog and wolf viciously slashing at each other and snarling in their fight. She ripped her eyes away in time to see Pettigrew grab hold of Lupin's discarded wand. Hermione screamed.

A burst of light left Ron motionless on the ground and another sealed the same fate for Crookshanks. Fury bubbled in Ella as she bounded towards Pettigrew. Harry disarmed the man and yelled at him to stay put, but Ella knew he didn't need a wand to transform. There was no reason the man was going to remain there. Pettigrew transformed and began to scurry away.

Ella barked so Sirius could hear her, "I've got him!" She rushed in the direction of the rat only to catch a glimpse of Lupin running into the forest. In the back of her mind she could see the werewolf running towards Harry, Hermione, and Buckbeak. But that made no sense…the hippogriff was dead and the third years were both behind her.

That's when Ella finally understood.

Hermione was using her Time Turner. The two of them had gone back at some point of the night and saved Buckbeak, but Lupin was about to attack them. Ella followed Pettigrew a little further, but another vision was butting into her eyes. Ella wheeled away from the rat and raced towards Hagrid's hut as fast as she possibly could. She knew Lupin had a head start, but she couldn't let him get to Harry and Hermione.

The werewolf's form grew before her and Ella pushed herself even harder wondering where the energy was coming from. Soon she had raced under the wolf's paws and stumbled to be in front of the beast. It looked at her confused for a moment by the little fox that was glaring at him. His paw shot out before Ella had a second to realize what even happened.

She did a somersault in the air then fell into the grass, hard. Nothing was broken from the impact of the paw or the fall, but Ella knew she'd have bruises later. Part of her wanted to just lay in the grass in her dazed state. She could feel the dew on the grass and how familiar that was to her dream the year before. A snarl curled into the air right on cue, and Ella scrambled back into the reality of the situation. She wasn't asleep, there really was a werewolf glaring down at her.

Ella began to scurry away from Lupin suddenly as it finally dawned on her that this creature could kill her in an instant. Unfortunately, he picked up on her uneasiness and slashed out. Ella wasn't back far enough and the swipe caught her arm. She yelped in pain and fear as she fell to the ground. Ella stayed where she was with her paw throbbing and the expectation of the end running through her mind. What she heard next surprised her and would surprise her for months to come.

A whimper passed through Lupin's muzzle. Ella looked up startled at the werewolf who almost seemed like a puppy, if puppies were gigantic and deadly. Ella remembered Sirius explaining how the Animagi helped Lupin become more human and the werewolf wasn't a danger to the animals. Ella had to admit that made her feel a bit better about the cut on her arm –at least she wouldn't be dealing with any wolfish qualities after tonight.

"Can you understand me?" Ella asked hesitantly. The wolf nodded at her slowly. She swallowed some of her fear and moved to stand up. Immediately after she put weight on her paw, she collapsed with another whine of pain. "Alright, I want you to follow me, okay? You owe that much for hurting me and Sirius." Lupin nodded again with his ears flattening against the back of his skull.

Careful not to put weight on her front right paw, Ella hobbled back towards the Whomping Willow while keeping a close eye on Lupin. He was now less like a wolf than ever since there were no humans in sight. Ella hoped that the real Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Snape had left the area of the Whomping Willow so she wouldn't put them in any more danger. Something was telling Ella she was doing the right thing though. She knew it for a fact when she reached the tree and there was no one remotely close. The grounds were as empty as they've ever been.

Her eyes darted around trying to figure out how to paralyze the tree without leaving Lupin alone. The help came in the form of an unconscious, ginger lump. Ella dashed over to Crookshanks and nudged the puffy cat with her nose. Blearily, the creature came to life once more and looked at her dazed.

"You're not going to like this, but we need to get that werewolf into the Shack or else people could get hurt," Ella whispered.

Crookshanks looked at Lupin distrustfully, "Too dangerous. I refuse to go near that beast."

Ella gritted her teeth and snarled at the cat, "You can't refuse. He's not dangerous to us, unless a human were to come by. We need to get him into that house because he won't be near anyone that way. After we get him there we can leave." Crookshanks wrinkled his flatted nose, but said nothing more to Ella. He streaked past Lupin and the branches of the Whomping Willow. Soon enough the tree stopped moving.

"It'll be tight, but you need to go in there, Prof…wolf," Ella didn't know how much Lupin would remember of the night. She couldn't give herself away.

Lupin pushed himself into the passageway and Ella herded him as best she could with Crookshanks to the Shrieking Shack. It was difficult work and the walk to Hogsmeade seemed to take hours compared to its usual amount of time. Ella was glad that her wound had stopped bleeding by then and after a quick inspection, she could only see three thin lines near what would be her elbow. The cuts were deep, but Ella felt dizzy looking at them too closely. She focused on bringing Lupin to the Shack so he couldn't hurt anyone on the grounds. As they moved, Ella gingerly began putting more and more weight onto her paw. The others were starting to hurt from her uneven gait and Ella could slowly feel the other bruises make their way onto her skin. Finally they reached their destination.

"Here we are. You should stay here the rest of the night," Ella told Lupin who merely nodded. "Don't tell anyone that you were led here, got it? You ran around the grounds all night and never saw anyone or anything." Picking up on her warning, Lupin nodded once more.

The cat and fox made their way back to the grounds. By the time they made it back, Ella was absolutely exhausted and ready to keel over at the first opportunity. She couldn't allow herself that luxury just yet. She needed to get her arm treated. But how? She couldn't walk into Madam Pomfrey's at this hour and come up with a brilliant explanation. She'd probably be able to recognize they belong to a werewolf and that would raise many other questions as well. Ella hopped up the stairs suddenly realizing Crookshanks was no longer with her. He must have run off while she wasn't paying attention.

She transformed back into a human thinking it'd be easier to explain a human than to be caught as a wounded fox. Ella's sleeve was shredded and slightly damp. She refused to look any further and thought about her options. There had to be something she could do! Then Ella remembered it…the little House Elf in the kitchen who told her the Elves help people with medicine all the time. She cradled her arm close to her chest then made her way throughout the school trying to be as silent as possible.

Sneaking through the hallways should've been easy, and it would've been if it hadn't been for the Minister of Magic and Snape walking down the hallway in front of the Hospital Wing. Ella quickly hid herself in a doorway trying to blend into the shadows.

She could hear Snape and the Minister discussing Sirius Black and how he was trapped in a classroom waiting for some dementors to come and administer a kiss. Ella's heart plummeted into her stomach. He couldn't be kissed –Ella worked hard to make sure he'd remain safe and as healthy as she could manage. He couldn't just lose his soul now…he was innocent! The two disappeared from sight and Ella hugged her arm a little tighter to her body.

No matter what, she had to save Sirius from the dementor. Ella would do it with only one good arm and by god she'd succeed. With her mind made up Ella moved forward only to collide with someone else. Panic flared briefly along with the pain in her arm, but she managed to remain silent. A section of her mind screamed that Snape or the Minister had come back, or Filch had caught her while he was on his rounds.

"Fancy seeing you on a night like this, Ella." Dumbledore's voice was calm and Ella looked up at him with eyes as large as Rowena's. She opened her mouth to respond but he pressed a finger to his lips then whispered, "I think that arm needs tending to and that you're bright enough to know where to go for that. Maybe the two of us could have a word about tonight's events before the End of the Year Feast?"

"What about Sirius?" Ella hissed back. She was careful to make sure her voice wouldn't carry any farther than the two of them.

Dumbledore nodded slowly, "I'm already working on as much. Now hurry along to get your arm looked after. The Elves could probably even mend your robes. They were quite thorough back when I was your age." Ella's eyes widened and she heeded his words. She rushed herself off to the Kitchens.

"Hello Miss!" A shrill voice peeped out as the door slid open.

Ella smiled out of relief of finally being in the Kitchens. Her arm was about to be treated. "Hello, I was hoping I could have a bit of help with my arm. It's a little scraped up." In all honesty, Ella could feel that it wasn't only her arm bothering her. The whole right side of her body ached from the impact she had with the ground after Lupin hit her the first time.

"Miss has some bruises on her face too, does she want us to do what we can for that too?" The Elf trilled.

"I have what?" Ella gasped. A House Elf nearby gave her a plate to look. Sure enough, a bruise was forming on her right cheek. She winced slightly at the purpled appearance –that wouldn't be easy to explain to her friends. She sighed, "If there's anything you can do, I'd be very thankful."

The Elves nodded to her and set to work. A few of them disappeared with a crack, no doubt finding some supplies. Ella could feel her cheek throbbing now and the cuts on her arm began to sting. Despite the discomfort she already had, the House Elves were thorough in their work and made sure she felt as comfortable as possible.

"Miss!" Ella heard an Elf squeak. It was the same one from before.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I was telling, Miss, that you are ready to go. We did good, Miss. After the scrapes heal there shouldn't be noticeable scars –not at all! We couldn't do much for the bruise, Miss. It is lighter, but still there," the Elf explained twisting her ears just a bit.

Ella smiled sadly at the creature, "You did wonderfully. Thank you for everything."

"Our pleasure!" Many of the creatures interjected. Ella began to leave hoping that she could come up with a good enough excuse for the injuries she couldn't hide and the soreness she'd have. Her arm was tightly bandaged and hidden behind her newly sewn and cleaned sleeve. It was still early in the morning, but if she were caught out of bed now and early morning walk after a nightmare would suffice as an excuse. She made her way back to the Common Room hoping she wouldn't run into anyone. Fate was not on her side.

A/N: How'd that go? In World of Secrets I alluded to the scene between Ella and Lupin as a werewolf. Who do you think she ran into? Please review! :)