[AN] This is totally against the rules. I had planned to do this all along, since these stories seldom use a point of view other than Harry's, and I think exploring some of the other characters might give the universe some awesome depth. I will do it until they complain, then I will stop. Also, I forgot to upload this last month. Sorry.[/AN]

Chapter 2.5

"I still don't see why you have to tell the boy everything!" Molly Weasley complained, thumping her pewter cup on the table for emphasis. "Hasn't he been through enough?"

"I don't tell him everything," Remus replied, wearily. Molly was a powerful witch, a dedicated mother, and a loyal friend, but sometimes she was also a tremendous pain. "I'm simply keeping him involved."

"Involved in what? Order matters? The affairs of grown-ups? Things over which he has no control?"

"Involved in life, Molly! If we don't keep him occupied and force him to interact with the world, he may very likely withdraw completely. You can't blame him; his life this far has been less than pleasant. The more chances you give him to mull over the reality of his situation, the more likely he is to grow despondent, and I for one couldn't really blame him."

"Then by all means use him to clean, and lay down your wards, and do busy work! There's no need to involve him in the matters of us adults! Let the boy have a childhood!"

"He's already been forced to grow up, Molly; we expect him to act like one, we may as well treat him as if he was."

"If you ask me," a flat and toneless voice drawled from the doorway, "the boy has never acted 'grown up'."

"I don't recall asking you, Severus." Remus replied without looking at the owner of that voice. Severus Snape was another person Remus could do without for twenty-eight and a half days out of any given month.

"Funny," said the Hogwarts Potions Master acerbically. "How selective you Gryffindors seem to be when it comes to the opinions of others! Why, it was only the last full moon that you valued my opinion tremendously."

"Knock it off, Severus," Molly scolded sharply. Most people would have been treated to some sort of sarcastic remark from Snape, but most people weren't Molly Weasley. Snape slunk from the room, and she turned back to Remus. "It isn't if he can actually make decisions, is it? Let the boy have a childhood, and let us worry about the adult matters! You're only laying the worry upon his shoulders…can't you see that?"

"Molly, Harry has told me more than once that he feels as if he's not really in control of his life, and he's felt that way even before the ordeal at the ministry-and after-which only made things worse. You know as well as I do that he's probably not going to make any real decisions for us, so why not let him at least feel as if he has some say in the matter? Besides, he needs to start thinking critically. Voldemort won't rest, Molly."

"I know, I know." She frowned, and Remus noticed a few new lines in her already weathered face. "Can't he be Harry for just a bit longer? Does he have to start now?" The look on her face and the tone of her voice reminded Remus of why he put up with discussions like this. It was true that Molly Weasley could be bossy. She was also stubborn, opinionated, and not afraid to discus those opinions aggressively. The very bottom line, however, was that Molly Weasley loved Harry potter very much; as much as Remus, as much as Dumbledore, perhaps as much as his own parents had, and what Remus was asking her to do was just as difficult on her as if he'd been asking it of one of her own children. Remus took her hands in his and leaned over the table.

"I don't like this any more than you do, Molly," Remus agreed sullenly. "From now on, we have to consider Harry perpetually at risk, either from Voldemort and his followers, or from himself. The boy is strong; so strong, but pushed to the very edge. We've got to keep him moving forward and keep his morale high enough to allow him to prepare for what he must do, whatever that is."

"I know, Remus. I know."

"If that means telling him more than we'd perhaps like, or allowing him some danger in the name of letting him do things on his own, then we must get used to it."

"I know. I'll never have to like it!"

"I don't expect you to. When I think of our days in Hogwarts…why, short of being torn limb from limb by a werewolf, the worst thing we had to worry about was whether we'd get caught gallivanting around after curfew…" Remus sat back and sighed, looking from Molly to the swirling patterns in his tea.

"What do you see?" she asked, switching the topic. He squinted.

"I see a great big eye looking back at me…now what's that represent? I forget." He paused, looking closer. "It just blinked at me! Bloody hell! That must be a…a portent, or something. And look, every time I squint, it squints back! I'll have to research this right away."

Molly Weasley chuckled in spite of herself. Trust Remus to be able to make light in a time composed almost entirely of shadows.