Make Me.

Book 4 - Chapter 6

Ellie was laying on her cot in Ginny's room, looking up at the ceiling. Ginny had un-stuck one of her posters from her wall and re-stuck it right on the ceiling over Ellie's cot, in hopes that a poster of her favorite Quidditch team would help Ellie to fall asleep at night. It was a very kind gesture, and if it were daytime that Ellie was laying there, it would've worked wonders. But now, then, at night, Ellie couldn't stand to watch the woman who was riding the broom on the ceiling in front of her zoom towards her, and then fly off with a menacing smirk, over and over and over and over. . . Ellie sighed and rolled to her side, looking at Hermione, who was fast asleep next to her on her cot on the floor. Hermione's hair looked curlier than usual and her skin was dark and shiny in the night light.

Ellie pushed her blanket down to her feet and sat up. Ginny was laid in her bed, snoring lightly. Ellie mentally cursed herself when her cot made a creaking sound as she got up to her feet and as Ginny's bedroom door squeaked open, and with every step she took down the Weasley's staircase that the wood cried out from under her feet.

Ellie froze a little when she got to the bottom of the steps and saw that Mrs. Weasley was still awake, tidying the kitchen. It had been at least an hour since she sent everyone off to bed. But, Ellie was even more surprised when it wasn't Mrs. Weasley who noticed her presence, but her father, who was sitting on the living room couch with a cup of tea.

"Are you okay, darling?" he asked through the still air. Mrs. Weasley jumped when his voice spoke.

"Yeah. . . you know. . ." Ellie mumbled. ". . . I think I'm just gunna. . ." She meandered towards the front door and slid outside.

The sky was dark and the air was cool. Ellie paused at the entrance to the house as Crookshanks bolted outside behind her, skimming past her legs and into the garden. His bottle-brush tail was held high in the air and he took off after one of the gnomes that infested the yard. They were small, muddy, potato looking things, barely ten inches high with horny little feet. Ellie saw the gnome Crookshanks was chasing dive headlong into one of the Wellington boots that lay scattered around the yard. The gnome giggled madly as Crookshanks inserted a paw into the boot, trying to reach it.

Ellie could've stood there all night watching the cat, but a pair of hands slid onto her shoulders, around her body, and clasped together over the top of her chest. A head and a warm breath greeted her ear.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," Ellie hummed, already knowing who it was, not bothering to turn her head and look. She just stood, watching Crookshanks try to fit his body into Ginny's small boot. Fred's eyes were clawing into the side of Ellie's face, very close to her skin.

Fred didn't reply anything. He just stood there, breathing calmly.

"How'd you even know I was out here?" Ellie asked with a turn of her head. Fred smiled at her.

"Hi, love."

"Hi."

"Ginny's room is right above mine and George's. Bill woke up when he heard you walking around. Told him to go back to sleep. Mum said you went outside."

"I tried to be quiet."

"The house is old," Fred said, prying his eyes off of Ellie's face and looking up to the clear sky. Ellie followed his gaze.

The dark expanse above them was dotted with hundreds of tiny white lights, some drawing together to make constellations, others sitting alone. Ellie scanned the sky, enjoying the moment. Her mouth opened freely, in the way it only could around Fred or her father.

"You didn't tell me your Mum was so mad about the joke stuff."

"It doesn't matter," Fred said simply.