"The boy is a born leader." Artemis said. "That was a mature decision, to spare Pettigrew's life."

"I know." Mina said, smiling. Harry and Black were talking enthusiastically. Black apparently qualified as a legal guardian of Harry's

"Your decision to show such restraint is equally admirable. Very few people could stand sitting on the sidelines if they had your power."

"Thanks."

"Amazing that everything is going to work out when it could have gone so wrong so many times. Imagine if tonight was the full moon!"

Mina stopped. "Oh God."

"What?"

"Tonight…tonight…I think tonight is the full moon."

"But Lupin hasn't transformed at all!"

Mina looked up. "There are barely any stars. It's pretty cloudy…but one bad break in the clouds…"

"And we've got a monster loose."

"We've got to stay close, be ready for anything."

"Agreed, Mina."

They made to hurry and catch up with the others, but Lupin suddenly started convulsing. Mina looked up again. There was a patch of clouds that was less thick than most of the others, moonlight shining weakly through it.

"We're too late."

Lupin continued to scream as if in agony. His features began to bend in odd ways. The cloud cover broke completely and he threw back his head and howled.

"Come back!" Harry screamed. Pettigrew had taken the opportunity to transform and escape.

"Artemis, I'll trade you the rat for the werewolf."

"Deal." Artemis jumped off of Mina's shoulder and raced after Pettigrew. Mina turned her attention back to Lupin, who had gone completely furry.

Black transformed into the dog and leapt at Lupin, hitting him hard with his paw. Now with the werewolf's attention he ran off in the direction of the lake. The werewolf followed him.

"Sirius!" Harry ran after his godfather, Hermione on his heels, leaving Ron with his broken leg and the unconscious Snape behind.

Mina also followed, and even though she was under the invisibility cloak she was still fast enough to overtake Harry and Hermione. She passed them and was the first to reach the battle between the dog and the werewolf at the lake.

Black was losing. He had avoided being bitten, but concern for hurting his friend held him back and he had been slashed by the werewolf's claws numerous times.

Mina went to within five meters of them and let out her best imitation of a loud wolf howl. The combatants stopped and looked in her direction. Unable to see anything, the werewolf sniffed the air. Mina backed away and to the left, in the direction of the forbidden forest, and let out another howl. Whether curious or having smelled human flesh on her which werewolves prefer to dog meat, it began to lumber towards her.

Seeing that her ruse was working Mina began to run towards the forbidden forest. The werewolf bounded after the sound of her footsteps, leaving behind its other would be victims./

Sirius was in terrible condition when Harry reached him. He had been weak from twelve years pf prison and malnutrition and was on the verge of fainting from the injuries he sustained fighting Lupin.

He was looking past Harry out over the lake. "No…no."

Harry turned and the sight made his heart fall. A swarm of dementors, at least as big as the one that had ruined the Quidditch match between Gryffindor, was bearing down on them.

"Expecto patronum!" Harry yelled as Hermione arrived, using his great glowing cloud as a shield. One dementor came close and was forced away, though the patronus shrunk and grew dimmer at its touch. Each dementor that tried and failed to pass the patronus weakened it until the sixth dementor destroyed the patronus completely. The dementors began circling them, and Harry felt the incredible cold of their presence, his mother's voice beginning to reverberate in his head.

"Hermione, help me!" He cast another patronus, weaker then the first, which withstood four dementors before collapsing.

"Expec-expec-expecto patronum!" Hermione produced a small wisp of silver smoke from her wand. It was completely useless.

A dementor flew over where Sirius lay, it's head above his. Harry pointed his wand straight at it.

"Expecto patromun!" The patronus forced the dementor off of Sirius, fading from existence as it did so. Harry collapsed to his knees, feeling as if he had no strength left for another patronus. The cries of "Not Harry!" began to take over.

Sirius rolled over to face him. His eyes were glazed over and he was barely conscious, but he was smiling.

"You're…always there…to bail me out…James."

Harry shook his head violently, regaining his composure. He saw Hermione, already collapsed, to his left.

The thought of his father and his bravery was like having cold water splashed on his face. Harry knew, knew, that he could not let his father down. He could not let his father's best friend suffer the dementor's kiss.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

This time it was not a cloud that emerged that emerged from Harry's wand. It was an animal, a large, horned animal. It galloped around Harry, Hermione, and Sirius, it's silver glow more bright than any of the clouds had been, chasing the dementors, who could no longer fight a true patronus, away. They flew into the forbidden forest.

The patronus came up to Harry, who dimly recognized it as a stag, the creature Lupin had said that his father transformed into. Keeping this patronus around was costing Harry all the energy he had left. He watched the stag fade as he himself faded into unconsciousness./

Mina could not outrun a werewolf, so it was fortunate for her that the beast was cautious about what it could not see and merely kept pace with her until she reached the forest.

Once inside Mina finally threw off the invisibility cloak. The werewolf growled at her, saliva dripping from its mouth at the prospect of the meal Mina would make.

Mina was already transformed, her wand and crescent compact at the ready, but she did not want to kill or seriously injure Professor Lupin.

"Professor?"

The werewolf roared and swung a massive arm at her. She ducked under it and backed away. The creature continued to swipe at her and she continued to dodge.

Then it lunged at her, attempting to bite her neck. She leapt over it just in time and pulled herself atop a large branch.

The werewolf leapt at her, it's claws sinking into the branch. She jumped up to a higher branch. The force of her leap, combined with the weight of the werewolf, caused the first branch to break and fall to the ground along with the werewolf.

The werewolf got up and began to climb the tree with it's claws. "You just don't give up!" Mina whined.

She sung herself under the branch and let go, hurting herself at the werewolf feet first. Her kick collided with the top of the werewolf's head with a loud thud, and she she landed on one knee on the ground.

She turned to the werewolf, already knowing that it was out cold.

"Honey, what did you do in school this year? Oh, not much, Mom, just beat up a werewolf."

A light caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It had come from the lake. She looked at it with interest, but only when she began to feel the familiar chill did she realize it's source.

"Oh…no."

She couldn't see the dementors coming through the trees until they were already in the forest, seeking the nearest person after failing at the lake. Even then she could not tell how many there were.

"Crescent beam!" The energy attack tore through the nearest dementor, leaving onlya small cloud of black smoke behind. Mina continued to fire off more crescent beams, destroying a further ten dementors, but she was being overwhelmed through sheer numbers.

A scream sounded in her head, one she knew was from the evil woman, Beryl.

She opened her compact and the great light emitted from it in all directions, driving the dementors away. But it faded to nothingness in under fifteen seconds.

"No! Not now, dammit!"

But it was no use. It had been a full month since she had charged the compact under the full moon., and she had used up much of its energy during the training sessions with Artemis. Even though that night there was a full moon, the light from the moon was useless beneath the trees of the forbidden forest.

The dementors regrouped and came at her again. She put away the compact and began defending herself with her finger and her wand, variously crying out "Crescent Beam!" and "Expecto Patronum!"

The crescent beam continued to destroy the dementors one at a time and her patronus, strengthened by her transformation, was moderately effective as a shield, but neither could long protect her from the amount of dementors attacking her.

"I curse you."

Her second patronus faded after the third dementor approached it.

"You shall no naught but strife all your days. There is no peace for you."

Her fifth patronus didn't stop a single dementor.

"Your love is forever doomed to fail."

'Harry!'

"Expecto Patronum!"

A large, silver bird erupted out of her wand. It's wings trailed silver fire as it flew through the dementors, chasing them away.

'A phoenix.' Mina thought. It was appropriate for a warrior reincarnated.

Finally safe, Mina sat down on the ground when it evaporated, her legs too weak to support her anymore. Her breathing was heavy and she was absolutely exhausted.

"D'you think I can ask Artemis for a raise?" she asked the unconscious werewolf./

Since this was the action payoff of this particular story I'd like more reviews about it. Was it satisfying? If not, why? There are still many things to be resolved, just no longer with fists.