Make Me.

Book 3 - Chapter 17

A/N

Hello everyone!

I'm just popping in to say Hi! and thanks for almost 7k reads. That's absolutely wild! Also, Make Me. has officially hit over 300,000 words. Who let me write that much? Who's reading that much?

Anyways, thx for the love. Here's chapter 17. Enjoy!

~ Erin ;)

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"Get."

Smack.

"Your feet."

Ron smacked the bottom of Ellie's shoes with his book again.

"Off the table!"

One last smack and the bottom of Ellie's sneakers clacked against the stone floor of the Hogwarts library. Harry, Hermione, and Neville were un-phased by the exchange surrounding them.

"How many times do we have to tell you!" Ron yelled across the table.

"How many times do you have to tell me?" Ellie hissed back, "I'm not a dog, Ronald."

"Then why do you act like one?" Ron shouted.

"Will you two quit?" Hermione asked curtly, head bent over her History of Magic assignment. The late November evening sunshine was just beginning to leave the library windows and Ellie was awake for the night, exhausted. Besides Friday, Thursday was Ellie's second toughest day of the week to be alive.

"I'll quit when she apologizes for what she did to Scabbers!" Ron spat. He had been picking fights with Ellie every day for the last month.

"Ronald, how many times do I have to tell you - he was with me all night and all morning. He was quivering at the bottom of my bed. I remember it very clearly!"

"Then why did I find him squeaking to get into the portrait hole after the Quidditch match? Can you tell me that, huh?!"

"Ronald, it wasn't my fault your scabby rat ran away," said Ellie bluntly.

Ron looked like he was holding himself back from reaching across the table. His face was getting redder by the second. If it were anyone else besides Ellie facing down with him, he would've lunged already.

"Apologize to him!" Ron shouted.

"I have nothing to apologize for."

"Look! Look what you've done! You're almost as bad as Hermione's cat!"

Ron dove a hand into his robe pocket and extracted Scabbers, holding him up over the table for everyone to see. He looked the same as he did last time Ellie saw him: dull and patchy. His beady black eyes gave her the same uneasy feeling that they did during Snape's lesson the night Ron asked her to watch him.

"God, put him away. He makes me uncomfortable. He's so -" Ellie's face contorted, repulsed. "Ughh," she said with the shake of her head at the rat.

"It's your fault he looks like this! He was getting better before you left him to die in the corridors!"

"I should've let him die then," said Ellie, face straight.

Ron pushed his seat back and stood up from the table, smoke practically pouring out of his ears.

"She doesn't mean it, you know that Ron," cooed Hermione, still looking down at her parchment. "You know how she gets as the week goes on."

"How I get?" Ellie scoffed. "At least I have an excuse. What's yours, Ronald?"