Thunder and lightning. It was just their luck.

Ron moaned tossing on the bunk under Harry, slamming a pillow over his head.

Harry twitched, tugging on the locket around his neck. It was cold, they were hungry and a miserable hopelessness had begun to sink into their bones. Maybe it was pointless, Harry mused, and maybe they should just go back to the Burrow. Eat some real food, see new faces. And Ginny.

He wanted desperately to pull out the Marauders Map and find her dot in the Gryffindor Common Room. He wanted to find peeves, Mrs. Norris, Neville. He wanted to be with them, the locket settled heavily on his breast bone a cool reminder of the duty he had. It was his duty, not Ron's, not Hermione's and they were doing this because of him. He was a rubbish friend.

A flash lit the tent up, for a moment Harry could convince himself it was the morning of the Quidditch World Cup. Then the thunder.

"That's it," Ron grumbled as he pushed himself from the bunk. He kept the blankets tied around his neck firmly. "I know you're awake Harry," He tugged on Harry's arm.

Harry partly wanted to pretend to sleep, but it was too late when Ron lit his wand and hovered it over his face. "C'mon mate, we have some of that bark tea left," He said, resignation coating his tone.

Harry slipped from his bunk, Mrs. Weasley's last Christmas sweater she had made him dangling from his thinning frame.

Hermione sat on her bunk, blinking at them. She was clad only in her thin jimjams, wand at her side. "I thought I was the only one who couldn't sleep," Her hair proved testament that she had been rolling around for a while.

She put some slippers on and cast a charm on the three of them that left them comfortably warm.

"Blimey Hermione why didn't you do that before?" Ron said tossing his blankets onto the sofa.

"It takes energy, and we don't have much as it is," She said slumping onto the closest chair.

Harry scuttled to the make-do kitchen setting a small fire underneath their kettle and pulling three cups from a cupboard. Ron had tried to make them more personal using some ink to draw on them, a book and flower for Hermione, chess pieces wrapped around his, and a dragon on Harry's.

The bark tea tasted as vile as it had that afternoon. Ron made a face at Harry when Hermione wasn't looking. None of them said anything about it though, tea was tea.

"I don't know if I want to be an auror anymore," Ron said suddenly.

"What?" Hermione set down her tea.

As a rule none of them had talked about their futures, there were too many what-ifs, too many threats. Too many futures where they all felt like Harry just wouldn't be there.

"I was thinking, maybe I'll work with Fred and George, you know? Make some people happy,"

"If saving peoples lives isn't enough happiness for you," Harry said.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Its just so serious mate, we've been saving peoples lives for years. I could use a break,"

"You're right Ron," Hermione pacified.

Harry just fingered the locket out of his sweater and into his hand, rolling it around. The detailed snake, the emerald colouring and silver detail forced the three to admire it as it caught the light, before they felt the ever-present creeping sensation of evil that I carried.

Lighting lit up their waxy faces before another crack rang through the forest.

"Mum always told me to stay away from a forest during a storm," Ron said.

Harry frowned at his tea. Did Ron always have to brag about his family? Was he doing it just to bother Harry?

A wistful smile settled on Ron's face, his tea tipping forwards dangerously. "Percy-," He stopped.

Hermione smiled at him. "No, that's good, let's tell stories," the thunder crackled in agreement.

"Harry can go first," Ron said, still looking a little putout by the mention of his wayward brother.

What could he say? All of his best stories had them in it, and there was nothing about his life with the Dursley's he wanted to share. He supposed there was one story, of hundreds of letters inked in emerald and a gamekeeper on a crumbling rock in the middle of the sea.

"I suppose," He hesitated. "There was this snake-"

Hermione pushed her cup to her chest and leaned back; Ron closed his eyes and discretely slid his tea as far away from him as he could on the table. Harry ran his hands along Slytherin's locket and told them about the vanishing glass. He wished he could make his problems vanish just as quickly.

The thunder sounded like it was laughing at his thoughts.