"Don't apologise, mother, please." He dragged in a shaky breath and then said quietly: "I know you tried to dissuade the Dark Lo– I mean, you-know-who. You told me last time I was here what you tried to..." He blanched and Hermione felt a tremor run through him as he trailed off, staring down at his maimed arm wordlessly for a moment. "I know you did what you could, at the time," he allowed at last, and shrugged minutely. "And it doesn't help, anyway. Apologies don't..."