He feels no shade of compunction about speaking with Ilde; Penelope is a being of magic, like they are, and thus it is their business what happens to her in this context - and even more so Severus' business in particular, being a wizard with her a witch. Ilde isn't human, it isn't quite the same, and thus deferred appropriately.

And on the heels of that cruel thought, Severus takes a turn in the opposite direction-

"You aren't wrong," he says, and if he's capable of gentleness (he isn't, not quite, but almost) he's as close as can be. "I have spent much of my life fighting in similar circumstances. I've seen what happens when people who aren't meant to take lives end up killing. I don't think that you need to."

It sounds awkward because it's true. And he's not terribly good at expressing true things.