Word Count: 363


Only when the Room of Requirement is silent and everyone has gone to bed does Ernie pull out the newspaper. It's stolen from Seamus' last daring venture into the castle, a few days old but so heartbreaking.

It isn't what the newspaper says; it's what it doesn't. Ernie knows how to read between the lines. The world is falling apart out there.

"You look like you need a hug."

The voice makes him jump. He turns, relaxing when he sees Susan standing there, tugging at her auburn hair. She smiles at him like she hadn't just scared the hell out of him.

"I'm not sure a hug will fix anything," he says with a heavy sigh, budging over and folding the newspaper up. He sets it aside. "What's it all for?"

He hasn't dared to voice his doubts. No one here wants to hear them. They're here because they still have hope, because they're still so sure that Harry Potter has some great miracle up his sleeve.

"I just don't know that I keep doing this." Ernie closes his eyes and breathes in. When he opens his eyes again, he's trembling. "It's hard."

Susan climbs into bed with him. She rested a hand on his, smiling. This war has changed everyone, but he thinks Susan has been changed for the better. The timid girl he has known for years is gone, replaced by an extraordinary woman who is brave and kind and good. "I'll help you," she says. "We stick together. That's what we've always done. That's what we'll do now."

Ernie chuckles. "Stay alive," he muses. "That's the plan, huh?"

Susan grins. "Can you think of a better one?"

He considers for a moment before shrugging. "I suppose not."

Susan leans over, blowing out the candle and plunging them into darkness. "Come on," she says. "Bedtime."

"You know you have your own bed, right?" Still, he lies back.

It's easy to feel calm with Susan beside him. Maybe he doesn't believe that they have a chance. But with Susan at his side, curled close, a calm, sturdy presence in his life, he thinks that maybe he can hold on a little longer.