Re: Dinner preparations and repairs: Al & Severus
"It's not actually necessary to grow your own peas," Snape informed Al repressively. "Even Muggle grocers here in the North usually stock dried marrowfats. And it's not just a 'mixture', it's an aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate." And you must be really intensely rattled to make a mistake that elementary, Snape thought, struggling to keep the sudden burst of concern off his face.
He stepped up behind Al, and reached out. His hand paused in midair, held in place by two realisations. One was the belated memory of how startling Al sometimes found casual touch. The second was the epiphany that he - once every bit as standoffish as Al, if for different reasons - now actively, instinctively reached to touch Al, as a way to offer comfort.