Yellow

Yellow

Susan lay there. Unconscious. At the brink. The line between life and death.

Ernie was inconsolable. Susan could not go. She couldn't, wouldn't - mustn't leave him. She lay there, his beautiful Hufflepuff angel. What had they done to her? Madame Pomfrey couldn't say. Hermione Granger was in the same state. It was all this business with Potter, this bloody DA. Why did they get involved?

Ernie knew why. Because of Susan, because she wanted to take action and help. She couldn't allow her family to have died in vain. She was a beautiful, compassionate, intelligent girl. Now, she was so much thinner than she used to be. Her skin had turned an odd shade that was almost yellow. He had heard Ron Weasley say, with a sense of immense pain and horror in his voice, that they looked as though their lives were being drained away.

Members of the DA had come and gone. They looked upon Susan and Hermione with terror in their eyes. Hannah and Justin had waited with Ernie for a long while. They encouraged him to take a break, have something to eat and then come back. They said they'd wait with her. He tried, but he couldn't leave. They had left hours ago, and now the skies in the window behind Susan's bed were growing ever darker. The stars were coming out, shining over her like a candlelit vigil.

He sat down on the chair next to her bed and attempted to drown out the sounds of Ron's sobbing a few beds along the ward. He picked up Susan's ever colder hand and stroked her cheek lovingly. She was so beautiful, and amazing. Her life couldn't be cut short - the world could be hers.

Look at the stars,

Look how they shine for you,

And everything you do,

Yeah, they were all yellow.

Thoughts with tunes and rhymes passed through his mind. Normally he would write them down, but instead he let them run through his head making his pain grow more inside his chest. He squeezed her hand, but she did not wake up. He hummed, along to himself, tears streaming down his face, barely noticing the world through his sadness.

I came along,

I wrote a song for you,

And everything you do,

And it was called 'Yellow'.

His beautiful yellow princess, she couldn't die. But what if she did? She couldn't. She was still beautiful, even like this. Ernie could tell that, behind those closed lids, she was fighting. She never stopped fighting. He would stay by her side until she won.

So then I took my turn,
Oh what a thing to have done,
And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin
Oh yeah, your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
You know, you know I love you so,
You know I love you so.

He loved her. He loved her. He loved her and he held her hand to his face and kissed it as he cried. He loved her and he sobbed. The humming turned into murmurs of a distant song now. She was miraculous. He held her beautiful hand and prayed to the stars that she would not leave him.

Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
And you know for you,
I'd bleed myself dry for you,
I'd bleed myself dry.

He wanted her back. She deserved the stars and the sun and the moon and Ernie wanted to give them to her. He looked at her beautiful face and found in it a flicker of hope. There was something stirring behind her eyes. Could the stars have saved her?

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.

He waited with baited breath, and her eyes slowly opened. She saw him, sitting there and managed to muster a weak smile.

'What are you thinking about?'

'You,' said Ernie, amazed that she was actually speaking to him once more. 'I'm thinking about how you're so wonderful the stars come out just to watch over you.'

'Do they?'

'Yes,' he paused. 'I love you.'

'I love you too.'

She was weak, and her eyes closed again. She was gone. He had better inform Madam Pomfrey. Susan would be back any minute. He knew the stars would not fail her.