Pre-dinner drinks passed by uneventfully. Hermione stood, bored, as Astoria held court about her hopes and dreams for her big day. Voldemort sat passively, listening to her most of the time, sipping on something Snape had given him that smoked gently. The glow from the fire gave him some colour, but Hermione thought he looked even sallower than the last time she had seen him. His already colourless skin was etiolated and anaemic. This lifted her mood even further.