Make Me.

Book 2 - Chapter 16

Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers as large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. But, with no Hagrid visible from the castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his heels, the scene felt off. Inside the castle, things were even worse; everything was horribly wrong.

Ellie had tried visiting Hermione in the Hospital wing again, but visitors were now barred.

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told her severely through a crack in the infirmary door. "No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people off. . ."

With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread like never before. It was almost as the sun beaming down on the outside castle walls stopped at the mullioned windows and refused to shine inside. There was hardly a face that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled.

Ellie, like last year, had reached the end of the year feeling terribly. She woke up and fell asleep everyday, stomach swirling with guilt, anxiety, rage, confusion, and every emotion in between. All she wanted to do was nap the days away until it was time for her to go home.

Dumbledore's words kept replaying in her mind, as if the more she thought about them, the more they would mean, which simply wasn't true. Hagrid's hint about the spiders was far easier to understand - the trouble was, there didn't seem to be a single spider left in the castle to follow.

Ellie had practically thrown away, 'stay out of it,' as soon as Hermione had landed in the hospital wing, and she was pretty sure her father knew it, as she had stopped responding to his owls, at least in her normal detailed manner.

"I heard about Hermione, are you okay, darling? You can come home if you need to. No one would blame you. I'll pick you up, just say the word. Stay safe, be careful.

I love you, Ellie - Dad"

"I'm okay. I'll be safe. I love you.

Ellie"

"Are you sure, darling? I know the end of last year was hard for you, it's okay to not be okay. Hermione is one of your best friends, she wouldn't blame you for being safe and taking care of yourself.

I love you, more than anything - Dad"

"Really, everything is fine here. I'll see you after exams. I love you, dad.

Ellie"

After that note, Ellie had stopped replying. Through she still was reading her father's notes as the owl's delivered them, and she suspected her father had begun, probably unwillingly, owling Snape to check up on her, because the letters she received weren't nearly as frantic as they should have been considering the circumstances and her father's overprotective nature.

Ellie, Harry, and Ron used every free moment they had to check every nook and cranny of the castle for any remaining spiders, though Ron wasn't much help. However, their search was hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren't allowed to wander around the castle alone, and had to be accompanied by a large group or a Professor. Most students seemed glad that they were being shepherded from class to class by teachers, but Ellie and Harry alike found it very irksome.

One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. Malfoy was strutting around the school as though he had just been appointed Head Boy. Ellie thought he was just being his usual, insensitive self, who enjoyed other people's sufferings. And, it wasn't until about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid left, that she realized why he was actually so pleased.