He had the act and even pose of reading the paper down to a pat, along with quite a few other activities without actually doing anything of the sort. He'd not heard of the battle, so far removed, it could have easily come and gone and he would never have known that anything was wrong.
Known that his cousin was dying.
In England.
Because of his "comrades".
The grip on the paper tightened slightly and when he heard the steps of his wife he shook it, making sure to put on a blank face until the words were out of her mouth. Paper pulled down he met her gaze and looked at her straight. "Ver- you know you can't apparate..." he said quietly, but there was little argument to his voice. At this point- to find an excuse to return back to see Cass, if for one last time...