Al's patronus soared like a silent stormcloud over Severus' skinnier peregrine until he beckoned the owl back onto his non-wand arm, past the wide-eyed owl observers along the walls.
He leaned forward then, speccy stare against round-eyed silver one.
"Animalocutio," Al said, repeating the shown wand movement. He then whispered something brief to the bird and lifted his arm to let the Patronus go.
The bird didn't move at first.
Al raised his eyebrow. "Well, go on," he repeated.
The owl spread out its wings just enough to stretch them, then folded them back and instead of plunging into flight, stepped up from Al's elbow onto Severus' free shoulder, eyeing the peregrine all the while.
"Hello," it said, in Al's voice, as it stretched out to groom the hair over Severus' ear.