Who: Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott What: Thinking, contemplating, being eh about the past and the future. When: Friday night Where: Hufflepuff Common Room
For it being a Friday, Ernie was back early, having done his last patrol at lightning speed. He had spent the whole day wanting to just go back to his favorite little corner in the common room. The one spot that had always been empty in his first year and he had claimed as his own. It was truly the perfect spot, he realized as he got older. From it he could keep an eye on everyone in the room, but it was just out of the way enough for him not to be at the center of anything. Although the anniversary of the war was last week, he spent the day in the same mood. Irritated, solemn, seemingly lost and without direction. He knew he had a lot to look forward to in the fall, however he just couldn't be excited about any of it. He couldn't be excited about his birthday, either.
Nineteen, he thought to himself bitterly. Megan would never be nineteen. Lavender would never be nineteen either. He felt guilty, but he seemed to feel that way a lot lately. It really wasn't his fault, and logically, he knew that. Logically, he knew that Megan had chosen to fight knowing the possible consequences. It didn't help his mood, but somehow, he knew it.
Ernie was sat in his corner with a large book in his lap. It was charmed to look like a textbook, though it was really his chocolate frog cards. They reminded him of a simpler time, a time he wished he could just go back to. He looked over the top of the book, his eyes following the younger students around the tables and chairs as they moved about. He liked being a presence, and he liked being accessible to the other students. Last year he had been as much their lifeline as they were his. This year? He didn't know who needed who more. Once the movement in the common room stopped, his eyes lowered back to the cards in front of him. He still needed a few to finish the blasted collection. Andros the Invincible, most notably of all...