Nagini.

Lucius's lips pressed together as she uncoiled from a rotting table, slithering to meet him. Lucius began walking forward, Nagini hissing at his feet. Draco and Hermione followed.

Her eyes rose above Lucius's head, skimming the ceiling. The books in her mind that were filled with the happy memories of four colorful banners pulled forward on their shelves, and the echoes of laughter swelled in her ears—

The stark torches flickered on the wall, and the laughter distorted into a high cackle, garbling into her own agonized scream as Voldemort slashed through her memories.

Squeezing her eyelids shut, she reached out in her mind and used what was left of her energy to close the books that had fallen open, sliding them back on their shelves.

They halted in front of a massive serpentine skeleton, sprawling from wall to wall. Voldemort stood at the far window, looking out over the Black Lake and running his fingers over the Elder Wand. Lucius approached the throne of bones and waited. Nagini coiled around it, her muscles contracting and expanding as she reared her head.

"Goyle," Voldemort said softly. "What have you found?"

"More than I can explain, my Lord." Lucius clasped his hands behind his back and tucked his chin. "I... think it best that you visit him."

Voldemort turned from the window sharply. Hermione shifted her clammy grip on Draco's hand.

"And why can't he grace us with his presence here, at my castle?"

"He indicated it wasn't safe."

Voldemort's lip curled, and he moved towards them. The drag of his cloak against the stones sent goose pimples across her skin.

He stopped at the head of his throne, looking at Nagini almost affectionately before his scarlet eyes flashed to Lucius.

"I am not an errand boy, Lucius."

"Forgive me, my Lord. But there is something else."

The slits of Voldemort's nostrils flared. "Go on."

"He — was not himself." A delicate pause. "He said he had something that you need, and that he'd been 'soul searching.'"

Voldemort went very still. His gaze drifted to a spot over her shoulder, passing through her, and her shelves shivered, but held firm.

"What else?"

"He is waiting for you," said Lucius, his throat clicking around the consonants. "In a run-down shack on the outskirts of Little Hangleton."

Voldemort's eyes jerked to Lucius. "What did you say?"

"I believe the property used to belong to a family called the Gaunts—"

With a snarl and a vicious twist, Voldemort Apparated away. Hermione sucked in a breath, feeling her legs sway beneath her.

The Gaunts. The word rattled around her head, but slipped through her fingertips.

Lucius remained motionless, still facing the empty throne, as if waiting for further instructions. His fingers twitched by his side. Only the flickering sound of Nagini's tongue broke the silence.

After a full minute, he turned to walk out. He was as pale as a sheet.

As he left the Great Hall, the room shivered and morphed. When the world stopped spinning, Hermione was surprised to find herself in the Manor's entry hall. Draco's fingers tightened before they ripped away from hers.