"Oh, Ernie," Hazel sighed, almost involuntarily, tone sympathetic. What she did then was thoughtless, her response to any friend who was in distress, to her brothers, even once when Madam Pomfrey was particularly kind to her. She realized she was hugging Ernie only after the hand he still held dangled between them, her free arm looping around his shoulder and her hair no doubt brushing against his cheek.