Severus's eyes flick to him. "Because," his tone says as has been heavily implied where he doesn't, "she hates her current situation, viewing it as a punishment and a humiliating demotion, although she's alone in this opinion. I wasn't going to ask her what she thought about a possible alternative before being certain that she was really going to have the choice. Retracting a cause of hope for change would have been extraordinarily cruel." This time his emphasis is on the adjective, implying even for me.