Theo winced because 'unfortunate' meant that someone was angry and about to take it out on him. He braced himself once again for brutality that never came, this more than anything causing confusion in his mind.
He stayed in his tight curl, his arms trembling where he'd locked them around his knees, but Snape's offer to leave and the honesty he spoke to him with had Theo further confused.
"Wh-" Why are you asking me? he wanted to say. "Is-" Is this a trick? What he actually found himself saying was, "Whatever pleases you Sir" only it came out in Latin.