Black coughed, spitting blood at Narcissa's feet, and quipped, "It's Christmas, Cissy, surely you're not cold enough to deny a man time with his family on such a day." He wiped at the blood running down his nose, trickling into his mouth, and winced. Hermione was certain from its crooked angle that his nose had been broken in not one, but two places. "Or," he added, "Am I to understand that would rather carry on in your enormous, warm home without my ghost around to haunt you? To remind you of the choices you made once upon a time."