Make Me.

Book 2 - Chapter 1

A small disagreement had broken out at the dinner table at Dracula Manor. These types of disagreements had been happening all summer, Remus Lupin taking one side and Ellie Dracula taking the other, and they were always arguing about the same subject. 

It did not take long after the return of his daughter from her first year at Hogwarts for Remus to be told what had happened at the end of the year that resulted in her less than cheerful return home. Ellie had assumed that during her last week, which she spent in the hospital wing, that Headmaster Dumbledore would have written to her father or told him about the events that had unfolded. Rather, her first night home was spent re-telling the story of Professor Quirrell's two-faced persona. 

Understandably so, Remus Lupin was horrified. His daughter was mere seconds from death at the hands of her parents murderer and he had no idea until a week after it had happened. It took a while for his feelings of rage, fear, and concern to settle, and his rational mind to return. But, not matter how much he tried getting over it, there was no possible way that he could live in peace knowing what could possibly be in store for his daughter in the future. 

Remus sighed. The full moon was coming up and he was not in the mood to have this conversation again. 

"All I'm saying is that you almost died, and not a single person at that school cared to tell me. Forgive me if I'm hesitant in sending you back next term."  

"I didn't die though." Ellie shoveled a scoop of summer salad into her mouth. 

"And what if something of the sort were to happen again?" Remus asked, his voice stern with frustration. "How are we to say that you'll get lucky again?"

"Dad," Ellie whined, "It's Hogwarts. Dumbledore is there. He knows everything, he wouldn't let me just die like that. He didn't." 

"Yes, that's what people say, isn't it," said Remus, discontent and sarcasm tangoing in his voice. 

"Dad." Ellie was looking at Remus with a look to say, 'come on, be for real right now.' 

Remus grumbled, dropping his fork onto his plate, and rubbed his face, smushing his eyes and running his hand through his hair before looking back at the girl. 

"I'll think about it." 

"Dad, you say that every time. It will be fine and nothing will happen. And you're not a teacher anyways, you couldn't possibly teach me everything I need to know." 

Remus was starting to get annoyed that his daughter kept dragging on the conversation, as if he hadn't been tortured by the question of if she should go back or not, every day and night since she returned home for summer holiday. He was finding it hard to bite his tongue. 

"And why do you even want to go back? You don't like Harry or Ron, and Neville and Hermione haven't written you all summer, have they?" His words came out a bit harsher sounding than he had intended them. 

Ellie's face turned to a scowl as a bit of air escaped her nose. 

"No," she huffed. "But it's not like you have any friends either, is it?" 

Remus scoffed, looking at the girl with indignation. 

~~~

A few days and a full moon had passed and the tensions in Dracula Manor had dissipated. 

Ellie was beginning to go a little crazy from being cooped up inside and having nothing to do. Despite ending her first year on a particularly sour note, two months in of summer was enough for her to begin longing to go back to Hogwarts. She missed wandering the corridors, taking library books without checking them out, looking at the paintings that covered the corridor walls, chatting with the giant squid in the Black Lake, and even doing homework and exams. At that point in the summer, she would even say she began to miss insulting Ronald at the breakfast table and Malfoy at the dinner one.