Make Me.

Book 1 - Chapter 17

Ellie had done plenty of things in her first few months at Hogwarts to warrant stern punishment, but she had gotten away with all the waggishness, up until now. And, she would be sure to forever remember that all the trouble was no fault of her own, rather Harry Potter was to blame, this time and every time after. 

Ellie was grumbling in her seat, sitting in Professor McGonagall's office, Harry in the seat next to her. Harry seemed to be deep in concerned thought, looking for a way to get out of this mess, she assumed. But, she was more upset that Malfoy had gotten his way, getting her and Harry into trouble, even if he took one for the team on the way there. And the worst part, Malfoy was getting reprimanded by Professor Snape; McGongall wasn't going to be as lenient with the girl as Snape would have been.   

The only saving grace in their situation was that it was Harry and Ellie sat in the seats of shame. If it was Hermione, she probably would have died from stress already, and at least Harry had no parents who were going to yell at him for his behavior. And, Remus, Ellie was sure he wouldn't care too much; she knew he was a troublemaker when he was a kid as well. The situation was more of an inconvenience for the girl than a problem.

The door to office creaked behind the pair. From the corner of her eye, Ellie saw Harry jump in his seat. She looked at him with a warning look, tipping her head, she mouthed the words:

"Stop looking so guilty."

Ellie was confident that she would be able to get out of the situation, with relatively little punishment, with some properly contrived lies as long as Harry's big fat mouth stayed shut. 

She was wrong though, all odds seemed stacked against her as Professor McGongall walked  into the office and an additional pair of footsteps followed her into the room. Before she could to turn to look and see who was joining them, the owner of the second set of footsteps identified themselves. 

"Harry! Ellie!" 

It was Neville. 

Ellie felt all hope crumple up inside of her and die. Her shoulders rounded as she sighed. Neville would not be salvaging this situation; he was definitely going to make it worse. 

"I was trying to find you guys to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag-" 

Harry spun in his seat, violently shaking his head at the boy, stopping him in his tracks. Ellie cringed at both of the boys, they were making things worse by the second. Her hands were now rubbing her forehead in disbelief and disappointment. By the time her hands left her face, Neville was standing between the pair in chairs and McGonagall was towering over the three, looking like her head was about the explode. For a moment, Ellie lightly thought of how many times her dad had sat in this seat, McGonagall with the same look on her face. However, she was brought back into reality almost immediately. 

"I would never have believed any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the Astronomy Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves." 

Nobody answered. Neville was now shaking, loosing control over his knees, and Harry was looking down at his own with shame. Ellie cautiously stood from her seat, guided Neville to take the chair, and then stood in his place, right in front of the Professor who was watching her every move, looking for an answer. Ellie swallowed.

"Ya'know. Harry - Harry and Neville. They're my friends," Ellie began to ramble, looking for an excuse. "They - They were just looking out for me. I - uh - needed some nighttime, fresh air. You know how it is." She scratched the back of her neck. "Well, you don't, but uh, the cool air refreshes my senses, if you know what I mean." Ellie was vaguely gesturing to her face. "Stretching my wings, per say." She finished talking with a cheeky, half-convincing smile.