He needed a moment to escape and so Hermione allowed her foot to catch on the entryway step. Her palms smacked against the ground beneath an ornate hall table, the bottom edges scalloped just above the ground. Theo slipped out and crawled under the table, nothing more than a trick of the eyes, another shadow where only shadows lay. The manor was not its usual bright self. No lanterns shined golden light down upon them, all the curtains in the high windows above were covered over in black drapes, casting the room in darkness. Even the air was suffocating, a strange scent hung in the dust motes, one Hermione recognised from the night in the clearing. 