"I'm still trying to focus on 'bat,'" he murmured, inadvertently letting it slip. "Spider was an option, but I've no desire to get stepped on. And flying... I think flying'd be nice." He watched Remus sit, closing the book he was skimming to put in a pile of 'useless but interesting' reads.

They were quiet for a long time, though Severus's eyes flickered upwards on a regular basis.

Finally, wetting his lips, Severus sat back and addressed Remus rather formally. "Don't be sorry." He'd spent half an hour on this in his head while they worked together. "It wasn't your fault." Intense black eyes focused on him for a long, long time before dropping again. "Here, what about this passage? Breathing exercises. Do they work?"