The answer was about what Dean expected, and certainly not what he'd hoped. Check his range of motion. right now his range of motion included lifting his arm and, if he tried extremely hard, bending at the elbow. Nothing else happened when he tried, not wiggling fingers, nothing. However, his hand had twitched more than once of its own accord, something the healers considered possibly promising.
Dean didn't see it that way. If he couldn't so much as move his fingers, he didn't see how he'd hold a quill or paintbrush. This was where patience came in. Dean was more patient than your average Gryffindor; hell, he could even be said to have as much patience as a Hufflepuff usually did. But not when it came to something like this. Something like not knowing if he'd ever be able to paint again.
"Ah," he replied. "When the days start running together like that you know you need a break," he agreed. "Have you got any time off coming up? A holiday, even one you just stay in and sleep, would probably not go amiss."