For one brief moment, Tiberius thought he'd assumed incorrectly — but then where would she have gone? Out the front door and into the countryside at night? That seemed rather unlikely. There was a floo in the downstairs parlor, but if she was really trying to make some grand escape, her Unbreakable Vow would keep her from getting very far. Besides, what on earth could have triggered her to flee now? They'd already settled the question of the twins, more or less, and had a plan in place for the acquisition of an heir. He'd promised, on several occasions, not to kill her. There was no earthly reason for her to up and fly the coop at such an inauspicious moment.

He heard her begin to move, though, and was relieved to find she was still here — either because it saved him the embarrassment of talking to an empty room, or because it meant she hadn't left him, he wasn't sure. He really didn't want her to die, which was, of course, the likeliest scenario should she attempt to run away. She crawled out from under his desk (what had she been doing down there?) and Tiberius couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"But you were," he said dryly, waiting for some sort of explanation as to why she was here.