Oh, Remus. You have captured him so well here: his loneliness and his restraint bleed from the page, it's heartbreaking. He heard himself say that, and it sounded very reasonable. That was a skill he had — to sound calm when he wasn't. Indeed!
I love how enamoured he is with Minerva, how beautiful and seductive she appears. The whole love triangle scenario adds another layer to his complex relationship with Snape; it's no wonder they keep antagonising each other and that Remus finds something perversely admirable in the fact that Severus is terrified of him.