Ernie had not spent his holidays doing revision. Instead he had locked himself in his room where he managed to sleep away nearly the whole of the holidays, much to his mother’s concern. He'd come out for the necessities, of course, for meals and what not, and both his mother and father had asked what was going on at Hogwarts. What were they doing to him at school that was causing him to act so unlike himself.
And the answer was always the same. That they were doing nothing.
To him.
Ernie had managed to stay completely out of the way of the Carrows, really. No detentions, no real consequences. But he had witnessed too many horrors for that to be any comfort. In fact, it was the opposite. And his time at home had been incredibly valuable in terms of gaining his resolve back. It was time for him to do something. Rather than sit back and try to pick up the pieces before they shattered beyond recognition.
None of this, however, was the sort of thing he'd dare tell Hazel, so instead, when she asked about his holiday, he smiled widely at her, gesturing for her to sit down. He was actually really quite happy to see her. Things always seemed so much better when she was around.
"Hullo, Hazel. My holiday was nice enough. It was just nice to get away for a bit. Spend some time with my family. What about you?"