She's shit at reading Snape, but she can see him clamming up. Too soft, then? She must have seemed condescending. The old mental muscles start working again-- caring for another person, and how best to do it. Obviously, she should be less obvious.

It doesn't occur to her how fucking futile and useless this endeavor is. What's the point of her if she doesn't try?

"Yeah, gotcha." She crosses her legs, taking a more casual position than before. The guile returns to her face in an expression still kind, but hopefully less like a Precious Moments Doll. "You wouldn't wanna show up at my place, anyway. Five kids is kind of messy." She assumes he's like her, desiring a change of subject when weakness is shown. That's one of the best ways to be kind, in her opinion; don't put a magnifying glass up to it, if the other person didn't ask for advice.

What was that thing Frank said, once... tea and sympathy? She wonders what that's from. Maybe it's an English thing; it'd explain a lot.