Make Me.

Book 3 - Chapter 4

Ellie was sat in a small, gloomy room - alone. There was a singular lit candle sitting on the desk across from her, sending its light bouncing off the small jars and bottles that lined the room's walls. Her body was trembling; the pent up energy inside of her was seeping into her muscles making them twitch and jerk. Overhead, Ellie could hear the footsteps of hundreds of students filing into the Great Hall for the start of term feast. 

The involuntary movements of her body stopped as soon as she heard the door behind her creak open. The door closed and a pair of footsteps moved ever closer until she was met with Professor Snape, head of Slytherin House, standing on the other side of the desk across from her, looking down his long, hooked nose, right into Ellie's soul. 

The professor had a different air to him this year that Ellie could sense as soon as he stepped into the room. In years previous, Snape held a soft spot for her, but there was nothing soft in the way he was looking at her at the moment. His eyes looked black with hatred in the dim room.

Ellie tried everything she could to avoid making eye contact with the professor, but it was a worthless effort. She could feel him digging around in her head, looking behind closed doors, poking his head though open windows, even checking under the rugs for each and every one of Ellie's most intimate secrets. There was nothing she could do to stop him, even if she wanted to, even if she tried, after the day she had, she was powerless. 

"Let me see your hand," Professor Snape said after what felt at least ten minutes of silence. 

Ellie recoiled in her seat a little, eyes narrowing, more in confusion rather than suspicion.

"What?" 

"I said, let me see your hand." Snape's voice was cold and careless. 

Ellie hesitated before standing up and shuffling forward towards the desk. She weakly held out her right arm over the desktop. The knuckles on her right fist were already starting to go purple and she had broken skin right on the top of her middle knuckle, leaving angry an red scrape of exposed flesh. Snape grabbed hold of her hand with a gentleness Ellie had not expected and began wiggling her fingers around, flexing them this way and that. His ice cold touch was, oddly, soothing the burning feeling that had engulfed her fist. 

Snape dropped Ellie's hand after deciding that she hadn't broken anything important, again letting the air go still between the two of them for an excruciating amount of time. 

"Now - do tell me why I found Mr. Malfoy limping into the castle, saying he had just been attacked by a rabid bat," Snape said curtly. 

Ellie knew there was no point in lying, not to Snape. 

"He insulted my father." Her voice was stiff. 

Snape took in a big, irritated sounding breath.

"You broke his nose." Snape crossed his arms over his chest. 

"He deserved it. He's been nothing short of awful for that last two years and apparently that hasn't changed." Ellie was speaking through gritted teeth. 

"Miss Dracula," said Snape, un-crossing his arms and leaning down against the desk, getting awfully close to Ellie's face, "do you realize - that I now, am going to have to deal with a very angry Lucius Malfoy who will surely insist you be expelled from this school?"

Ellie didn't say anything. She was hardly worried about Lucius Malfoy right now. 

"You already walk on thin ice around here. Students like you are the reason school rules exist, yet you still break them. Your very being here breaks a rule that Malfoy will no doubt use in his defense against you. People like you can't win against people like the Malfoys."