"Proof positive that they're not all bad," Q tells him with a grin. "I've always gotten on well with trolls," he goes on. "You might almost say I have a gift with them."
"No Severus, I won't," Q says determinedly.
"Right." He nods at the correction. "But a dragon is always a serpent. Metaphorically speaking." The flush deepens. "Yes, you know, sappy, corny, over-emotional," Q says, doing his own sidestepping. "Er, you said you'd rather I didn't. Wasn't. Whatever."
Q considers this for a moment. "I don't think a peacock would be that reliable. They don't really fly all that well. And they're hardly unobtrusive, like owls. It doesn't surprise me though," he adds. "He always stuck me as needing to be flamboyant." He looks at Severus. "So I won't get a peacock. Just a plain ordinary owl."