Re: Al, Severus, Lily / Jamie
Severus had worried that inside Al's mind he'd find Al as withdrawn and walled-off as he was physically. But even as he reached for Al mentally, he witnessed Al responding, on his own, to the fear. Taking the emotion - which had once so bewildered him - and dealing with it, replacing triggering images of that disastrous dinner with happier memories.
Pride swelled in him, at how very far Al had come, at Al's growing ability to cope.
When Al whispered the news aloud - it was as the images had led him to suspect, since the tension of that first dinner had been due to Ginny's reactions, rather than Harry's - Severus nodded sombrely, and with a final steady squeeze of his hands he eased out of the embrace. "You'll be fine," he assured Al quietly.