Make Me.

Book 3 - Chapter 3

Ellie was only an hour into a much needed nap after the day previous when Fred and George seized her by the ankles and dragged her out of bed, literally. Crookshanks streamed into the air with a hiss and landed on her chest, his wide paws pressing into Ellie's collarbones with pinpoint precision. He must've been sleeping with her. 

"Oi! Hermione," Ellie yelped, "get your tiger!" Ellie pushed the cat off her chest and Crookshanks gave her a lazy look before jumping back up on Hermione's bed. 

"Good morning. C'mon, Get up," George said with a grunt, dragging Ellie to her feet. Her Hair was sticking out in every direction, the white pieces that framed her face were stuck to her forehead, and the circles under her eyes were particularly noticeable. "Freddie and I are your personal escorts to King's Cross today -" 

" - so don't make us late," said Fred, turning Ellie and pushing her towards her trunk. 

Hermione was trying to get Crookshanks back into his basket as Ellie got dressed. Somehow, she had convinced Ellie to get into her school uniform, minus the robes over top which were shoved into her schoolbag. Hermione said it was 'so that we won't have to change on the train.' Ellie was pulling one of her father's sweaters over her head, the collar of her shirt poking out the top with her striped green tie, the bottom of the sweater practically grazing the bottom of her skirt, as Ron and Harry burst into the room. 

"Thanks for the privacy," she muttered under her breath.

"The sooner we get on the train, the better," said Ron, looking irritable. "At least I can get away from Percy at Hogwarts. Now he's accusing me of dripping tea on his photo of Penelope Clearwater. You know," Ron grimaced, "his girlfriend. She's hidden her face under the frame because her nose has gone all blotchy. . ." 

Harry strode over to Ellie's bed where she was now shoving sneakers onto her feet, socks poking out the top over her stockings. 

"We've got something to tell you," Harry began, looking down at Ellie then back up to Ron and Hermione.

"We do?" Ellie questioned. Harry gave her a annoyed look before he opened his mouth again, but as soon as he did, Fred and George had re-entered the room, looking to congratulate Ron for infuriating Percy. 

They headed down to breakfast, where Mr. Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow and Mrs. Weasley was telling Ginny about a love potion she'd made as a young girl. At once, Hermione joined the conversation, and all three of them were rather giggly. 

"What were you saying?" Ron asked Harry, as the rest of the group sat down. 

"Later," Harry muttered as Percy stormed in. 

Leaving the Leaky Cauldron that morning was complete chaos. Ellie stood with the twins at the top of the stairs, watching everyone else drag and heave their trunks down the narrow staircase, the twins shouting 'encouraging sentiments' as people struggled past them. When it was finally time for Ellie's trunk to go down, Fred and George insisted on carrying it, making that the only one they lifted all morning, and Ellie was sat atop it as they went down the stairs. Eventually the trunks piled up at the bottom of the the staircase, with Hedwig, Harry's owl, and Hermes, Percy's screech owl, perched on top in their cages. A small wickerwork basket stood beside the heap of trunks, spitting loudly. 

"It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed through the wickerwork. "I'll let you out on the train." 

"You won't," snapped Ron. "What about poor Scabbers, eh?" He pointed at his chest, where a large lump indicated that Scabbers was curled up in his pocket. 

Mr. Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the Ministry, stuck his head inside. 

"They're here," he said. "Harry, come one. Fred and George -" He motioned to the twins and then pointed at Ellie, seriousness written on his face.