Ernie groaned inwardly, immediately regretting his words. "Hazel, that's not-I mean-I don't-you weren't-" he stopped, letting out a sigh. "You weren't included in that. I just meant...Merlin I don't know what I meant. I just feel like my entire world has been falling apart all year, and there's nothing I can do to make it any better. And to me it's so infuriating, because I feel really strongly about what's right and what's wrong, but standing up for it's so bloody hard..."
Ernie sighed, bringing his hands up to rub at his eyes which were feeling hot and prickling, but he was not going to cry of all things. He just didn't feel particularly brave at the moment. In fact, he felt considerably more broken than brave. He knew that he'd need to get over that, to move past this in order to keep fighting the good fight, but right at that moment, he just felt lost. And in more pain than he wanted to admit.
"I don't want you to go. I want you to stay with me. That's about all I want at the moment." He didn't have the energy to be anything but honest and frank with her.