"Hey, Anthony, what are you thinking about?" Terry asked the blond Ravenclaw.

"Nothing" the sixth-year replied. It was nearing Christmas, and the smell of war lingered in the air.

"Huh, the great Anthony Goldstein thinking about nothing, how did you become a Ravenclaw then?" Terry tried to lighten up the dark atmosphere of the silent common-room.

"Shut up, Terry" Michael finally spoke.

The three of them were sitting in the empty common-room, it was very early in the morning, but they were awake for hours, with nothing to do but sitting in silence.

"Err, guys?" truth to be told, Terry had no idea what he was going to say, but the silence was killing him.

He got no respond.

After long minutes came a soft voice from Terry's right.

"Do you think they will come to Hogwarts?" Anthony asked as Michael lowered his head.

Terry didn't have the answer to that. Will they? Is Hogwarts in danger of an attack by Death Eaters? The mere thought of it made him shudder.

Terry looked at Anthony; he was staring at the ceiling, eyes shining.

Michael was staring at Anthony, too, his eyes shone brightly, too, and suddenly, Terry started to panic.

Will he lose his friends to the war? He never dared to think about something like that, but the war was there, so close…

He looked back at the blond; Anthony's eyes began to water.

"Anthony…" his voice was a whisper, almost as soft as Anthony's own voice, almost.

Anthony lowered his head and buried his face in his hands.

Michael came across the sat beside Anthony, embracing Anthony's lithe form; Terry thought he never saw such a beautiful sight.

Terry moved closer to the other boys, his mouth tightly shut.

"Don't worry, Anthony" Michael spoke, and Terry realized that Michael has a nice voice, a comforting tone, he was sure he used it for a reason, "Nothing's going to happen, we're gonna win this war before they would even get near".

It was a lie, they all knew it, but that's the only way they had to comfort themselves, to comfort each other.

Terry put a hand on Anthony's shoulder as the boy sniffed, and suddenly hugged them both, locking them in a tight embrace, clinging to them.

His voice was croaked, his throat was aching, but he spoke anyway, "Promise me" he paused, breathing heavily, "P-promise me you'll try to keep us together"

Just to try, Terry would never ask them to do the impossible. His hold loosens.

"You-you are the best friends I ever had" he continued, letting go of them completely, as Michael did, "The time I spent with you was the best in my life, and no matter what, I'll never forget it".

Michael and Anthony were both looking directly at him, listening carefully to every word; Terry felt he was being stupid.

In a minute, Anthony's face was buried in Terry's laps, he was sobbing, and Michael tried to sooth his back.

"Anthony" he started to panic again, "I-I'm sorry, please don't cry, I didn't meant to upset you, I-"

"No" Anthony said, "Not your fault" he lifted his head and hugged terry, burring his face in the crook of Terry's neck, Michael just kept rubbing his back with one hand, while the other found her way to Terry's dark locks.

They stayed like that until the rest of the house woke up, and went up to their dorm.

----------

Eventually, Death Eaters did come to Hogwarts, with the help of a student.

Eventually, Death Eaters killed the Headmaster, with the help of a professor.

The death was announced while they all were in the Great Hall.

Anthony started to pray, Michael's head sunk so low his bangs were touching the empty dining table, Kevin chewed his lips and Terry kept still, staring at professor McGonagall in disbelief, but why? They all knew that already, this was just an official announce, so why was he so surprised? Why was he like that?

Will they, Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot come back to Hogwarts? Will they even see each other again?

Terry knew that their lie came to an end, now he needs to create another one.

Fin