Christmastime, for all everyone around him seemed to celebrate it, was always dreary for Ernie. His brother always refused to come home, meaning Ernie was dragged from his comfortable-enough London home to the piece-of-shit shack that his brother had lived in simply because his parents wished to spend the day with him. It didn't help that Robert all but ignored his existence, which usually pissed Ernie off to the point where he just left the house.

It didn't help that Christmastime in his fifth year meant his OWLs were nearing, which in turn meant that the chance that his parents wouldn't allow him to return to school was nearing. Ugh, he just did not want to deal with that.

Rather than walk down High Street like a Normal Human Being, Ernie snaked his way through the back alleys as to avoid the shopping crowds. As he neared one of the direct entrances to High Street, the bustling crowd in sight, he swung around the corner and — bam!

"Ugh, why are you even doing here?" he groaned, rubbing his head where it had connected with something — a wall, a human, maybe even a pole. With a glance up, he recognized the face: Tristain Michaud, former Gryffindor chaser.