“I patently was not.” The way she says it is-- unfair, really, because it's still not chastened, it's not even defensive. It's reasonable. She's standing in front of him now, of course she wasn't dead; isn't that a mad thing to say? Of course she doesn't hold it against him, and he's very kind to help her now, but she wasn't dead. Don't be silly, Lucius-- but it doesn't go that far, either, it's not patronizing.

It takes a long, long time to get that good, and if he'd seen just a little less, it isn't hard to see how easy it could've been for someone else to accept her version of events.

“I'm going to-- I have some of those potions, from Monsieur Snape, for my shoulder and my back. I'm going to take a shower and clean up. I wonder if I could prevail on you, for your wards-- I have seen other places not fare so well as mine has so far.”

A tilt of her head. “But if you would rather go--”