Ernie rolled his eyes and laughed. "Ravenclaws," he said with amused affection. Then he waggled a teasing finger at Terry. "There is more fun to be had than what you can find in a book."
His smile turned to a concerned expression when Terry bit his lip and tears appeared in his eyes. Then he remembered hearing about the deaths of Mandy Brocklehurst and Sophia Fawcett. When Terry turned back, he squeezed his hand gently in sympathy but chose not to say anything. He remembered how empty the words of condolence had felt when his parents had died. Words couldn't replace the people that had been lost.
"The girls used to think we were completely juvenile when the polishing the wand jokes came out in the common room," he said with a small smile. "It was kind of fun to watch their reactions." He snorted and rolled his eyes. "And we could always count on Zach to take things that one step too far."
"Well, I'm going to keep listening to my subconscious now," he said with a grin. "It seems to be steering me towards good things."
"I like that idea," Ernie replied with a quick heated look then he quickly slurped the rest of his tea, blushing as he realised what he'd done. "Pool it is." He disentangled their fingers with a great deal of reluctance and got to his feet, gesturing towards the door. "The pool and billiard rooms are upstairs. Shall we?"