He sat for a while, seething, until regret started to trickle through the mess of anger and disappointment. He wasn't used to so many feelings. Damn you Kazim, he thought, bitterly, but as always the bastard made no reply. It was difficult to stop thinking of him as a separate entity, when of course he wasn't.
Finally he heaved himself up and followed Pansy, hoping to catch her before she stormed out. He had put so much work into this... if he left it at that, it could take months to rebuild it all. "Dear one, forgive me," he said softly from the door. "I am... not myself." He might as well tell her the truth, he thought, or some of it, if it endeared her to him, anyway. "I told you I had bad news from home. The truth is, my sister... was killed. An accident," he added quickly, not wanting to have to make up a story about murder - the Aurors were already sniffing around too much. "But I should not have let my grief compound my disappointment at your leaving. And I am," he added, reaching for her hand. "Disappointed."