This is a work of fiction, the scene is mine but the stuff you recognize ain't so no suing please.

If you read it, review it! Thanks folks.

Nightsky

Harry sat on the edge of the stone wall, face upturned to the dark sky when Lupin Found him. The werewolf was on duty tonight, relieving Moody from the somewhat dreary job. The old Auror didn't like the night shift anymore, getting too old for it, he's complain to all who'd listen. Lupin, on the other hand, had always been a bit of a night-owl, even before the bite.

Tonight he tucked the Invisibility Cloak out of sight. He wanted the chance to talk with Harry, to see for himself how Harry was doing. The letters that he had been sending were filled with information, yet they told you absolutely nothing about the person. Small talk, as it were.

The youth glanced at him once when he sat down a little ways down the wall. The pair sat in silence for a time, each watching the night sky reveal itself. They had been quite so long that it was a slight shock when Harry spoke with an attempted normal voice.

"It's my fault he's gone, isn't it?"

Distantly, Lupin noticed that Harry wouldn't say 'died'. It was too closing, too final. "Harry," he began softly.

"It's my fault," Harry overrode, voice flat. "If I had trusted Dumbledore more, I would have followed Snape's instructions. If I'd worked harder at Occlumency, I wouldn't have had the vision, I wouldn't have acted with my saving people thing. I wouldn't have been at the Ministry and he wouldn't have—wouldn't be gone."

Not once had Harry turned to look at Remus, or mention his godfather's name.

"Harry," Lupin said slowly, gathering his thoughts. "The 'if' game is very cruel and unforgiving, and mostly unnecessary. It never ends, either. If I hadn't been bitten, my friends would have no reason to become Animagus. Peter wouldn't have gotten away that night and Sirius would have been a free man these last years. He wouldn't have been hiding in London. You see? 'If' is too big a thing to think about. You'll go mad if you try."

Lupin reached across the space between them to rest his hand on Harry's shoulder. "All that you can do is to decide what to do with the time that is given to you. I, for one, don't want to see you fall prey to the 'if'. That is what gets you hurt when it is time to act. There will be plenty of time to think everything every way possible when Voldemort falls."

"Even if it's in the grave," Harry said softly, still not looking at his former teacher.

"Uninterrupted, I would think."

The stars continued to reveal themselves in the nightsky.

AN: This was little contest to write a 500 word or less scene.

Thanks to MasterYoda, whose devotion to keeping Lupin alive through all the books scares me. The quote is paraphrased from LOTR:TFOTR, and used only for entainment, so please NO SUE ME!