'– THEN MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND ANYMORE!'

'HARRY NO –'

'FINE!'

Remus sighed and sighed, glancing at the door through which a very upset red head stomped down the stairs and out of the front door, the noise no longer waking up the painted hag.

'Harry why are you pushing us all away?'

'LEAVE ME ALONE! STAY OUT OF IT! GO AWAY!'

'FINE . THAT'S IT, IVE HAD IT WITH YOU. IF THIS IS THE WAY YOU WANT IT, THIS IS THE WAY YOU WILL GET IT!'

The older man almost wept as the loyal to a fault bookworm followed the rd head. He picked up the bottle of Fire whiskey and went upstairs to find the cause of the final split of the Golden Trio.

The boy who lived was hunched over in the only chair by the fire, the only source of heat in the otherwise freezing study. Papers were strewn everywhere – maps, newspaper clippings, numbers of the dead and injured, drawings, plans. Plans for a war.

Remus sat on the floor and put the bottle by the boy's feet.

'Why do you keep doing this Harry?'

His best friends hadn't been the first to leave, nor would they be the last, though Remus refused to be pushed away or manipulated into believing it was best for him. He knew better than that, he had seen the first war.

He waited patiently as Harry played with a heart locket. It had been his mothers, as a wedding gift. The silver pendant flickered in the firelight. The emerald gems now as faded as his own eyes.

'I have to keep them safe Moony.'

'You cant keep everyone safe Harry. Let them make up their own minds. The decided to stay with you until the end and they knew the risks, it hasn't changed, they only want to help you. You wont be able to keep them safe forever, especially if they're not near you.'

'You cant either.'

Remus winced as those words. Too many Order members had been killed in their homes. Their children murdered in Hogsmead, rapped in alleyways.

'I have seen peace, I have seen pain

Resting on the shoulders of your name.

Do you see the truth behind all our lies?

Do you see the world through troubled eyes?'

Harry looked up startled to see his father's only surviving friend singing to him. Remus held his gaze.

'And if you want to talk about it anymore

Lie on the floor and cry on my shoulder

I'm a friend.'

Harry was confused. He had never been allowed to cry because that received more punishment. But now he was being told to cry, if he needed, Remus wouldn't mind id he did. But he didn't.

'I have seen birth, I have seen death,

Lived to see a lover's final breath.

Do you see my guilt? Should I feel fright?

Is the fire of hesitation burning bright?'

Remus turned to the fire, tears in his eyes. No one knew, except Sirius but he was dead now.

'And if you ant to talk about it once again

On you I depend. Ill cry on your shoulder

You're a friend.'

Harry finished. Smiling slightly his father/mentor/friend carried on.

'You and I have been through many things

Ill hold onto your heart

I wouldn't cry for anything but you

But don't go tearing your life apart.'

Remus reached forward to grasp the locket which until recently had been Hermione's. He glared at Harry gesturing to the locket.

'I have seen fear. I have seen faith.

Seen the look of anger on your face

And if you want to talk about what will be

Come and sit with me and cry on my shoulder

Im a friend

And if you want to talk about it anymore

Lie here on the floor and cry on my shoulder

I'm a friend.'

So he did.