"What are you doing out here, Harry?"

He would have recognised that voice anywhere and in any situation. On the other hand, that very voice had been at his side for the last seven years, in good times and bad, until now.

He took a few more seconds to reflect before answering. His eyes were wandering boldly in the starry sky, taking in the sense of bewilderment and majesty that came with it. The unknown and the stars were admiring the small humanity from their eternity.

"I'm just... How should I put it?" he wondered, smiling thoughtfully and trying to rearrange his own thoughts. "Well, I'm appreciating that it's finally over. At least the worst part of it."

The wind howled again, a sign that a moment of mutual silence had once more set in between them.

"Are you okay?" she simply asked with gentleness in her voice, devoid of any pretension, malice or arrogance.

He almost burst out laughing. He could not get over the fact that it was an open book for her, a book that had already been read and enjoyed many times. But perhaps that was why she was his best friend; although her actions might have been contradictory at times, they had never been carried by even the faintest trace of malice.

"I will be," he replied, smiling again even though his back was still to her. "How can you feel a feeling of completeness and incompleteness at the same time? It's contradictory," he asked and then answered to himself. "Oh well, not that there has been much coherency in my life."

"We'll find out one step at a time, together."

Harry finally turned slowly and met Hermione's tired, worried eyes.

But those were also the eyes that had spoken that sentence, strong and sure, like an indestructible support to which he could lean.

When had he deserved such a gift in his life?

"Thank you for always knowing how to say the right thing," he managed to smile warmly at her, momentarily abandoning his state of inner reflection to relieve the girl who had come to his aid.

But she was, as always, one step ahead of him. She warmly returned his smile and reassured him, almost reading what was going through his mind. "I'll leave you to your thoughts. But don't stay out all night. If you do, I'll find out, you know."

Harry laughed heartily at that sentence. The first real laughter from the depths of his soul in a long, long time.

"I'm sure about that, but how could you not notice? With this wind I'd stamp for pneumonia if I spent the night here..." he smiled playfully. "Don't worry, I'll catch up with you before you know it."

Hermione giggled slightly, covering her mouth with her hand. "So... Good night, Harry. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow. Good night, Hermione."

After a last, mutual glance, the girl turned and walked slowly towards the castle, passing through the trees of the Forbidden Forest and soon being enveloped in darkness, which made her figure disappear.

Harry could once again take in the loneliness of that place, the darkness surrounding it almost seemed to have a life of its own.

But that darkness that enveloped him highlighted the stars in the sky, making them shine and revealing those that were hiding, shy.

The stars were jealous, and wanted all the light for themselves. But Harry didn't mind letting them have the light, as he could enjoy such a spectacular view, which made him feel a little smaller and less the centre of attention.

Tom Riddle had been defeated, by his own hand. He had succeeded in fulfilling the prophecy.

But his hopes of anonymity would soon fade: he would now go from being "The Boy Who Lived" to "The Boy Who Killed".

And what, other than his everlasting and unrelenting fame, which the people of the Wizarding World did not understand to be unwanted, could have freed him more than not knowing what he should do with his life from now on?

It almost seemed like a joke, but now that he was finally free, he realised that up to that moment he had had one goal and one goal only. He had had people to guide him, sometimes even against his will, but for better or for worse he had always had a road, however bumpy, to follow. Now the road had suddenly stopped, ready to be paved in any direction, and that was a great thing for Harry's future.

But he had soon realised that many things had been taught to prepare him for the moment of the final battle, a lot, but not how to build his way up if, by chance, he won.

He cast one last glance at the brightest star of the night, Sirius, which seemed brighter than usual at this moment.

Perhaps his godfather was happy for him and was smiling, wherever he was. Perhaps, in the end, it would not be so difficult to build a new road for him, if it was dotted with the people he loved.

With that last thought in mind, Harry turned, ready to move on to his new life, free, he hoped, from mortal danger, at least for a while.

Luck, however, was completely unaware of the existence of Harry Potter. And that his lack of it was making his life a living hell.

A shadow, as fast as the blink of an eye, pushed him hard, sending him flying against the trunk of a nearby oak tree, which broke with a thunderous noise.

If he could have, Harry was sure he would have screamed, but the pain was such that it had cut off his breath. He was sure he had broken several ribs and vertebrae. One rib must have punctured his lung, because he could barely breathe, and when he did, he was overcome by excruciating pain, almost at the level of a Cruciatus.

With great effort he tried to pull himself up, but failed miserably. Although the blow had not paralysed him, getting up was completely out of the question.

He then merely moved his head and raised his eyes to look at his attacker.

An extremely charming-looking woman was staring at him, albeit with a totally indifferent air, as if she had not just tried to kill him. Her scarlet eyes shone in the darkness, making them impossible to avoid. Her ash blonde hair was pulled back into a bun and she had a stiff, regal bearing. Her face was sharp and sensual and Harry noticed that she was as pale as a sheet. There was no way to ignore the gaudy ring she wore on the middle finger of her right hand, set with a ruby, second in brilliance only to her eyes.

"Who... No..." Harry had to interrupt himself because of the pain. He began to cough convulsively, until he was spitting blood. When he managed to stop, he returned his gaze to the woman in front of him. "What the hell are you?" asked Harry in a weak voice.

"It doesn't matter," she replied without moving a muscle, continuing to stare at him, undeterred. "Although, I expected something better, from the wizard who defeated the Dark Lord," he added, but still with total apathy in both voice and bearing.

"Well, sorry you have inhuman speed and strength, you bitch," he grunted with the ferocity of a cornered prey being attacked by the predator. He was incredulous to be in such a situation after all he had survived.

"You should be thanking me," she said with a slight mocking grin, the first real sign of the slightest emotion her face showed. "If I had wanted to kill you, your head would have already rolled on the green grass, staining it with your blood."

"Oh my, thank..."

Harry didn't have time to finish his mock thanks when she appeared a few inches from him with an inhuman sprint, in a split second, making the boy's breath catch.

"I'm going to ask you again... What are you?" he said trying to keep calm, again managing to find the courage to ask that question.

"I will tell you again: you are extremely stupid," she replied dryly, without adding anything else.

Harry meanwhile had tried to reach his wand, but unfortunately, he didn't even have time to squeeze it between his fingers when the woman had pounced on him with an animalistic cry, breaking his dominant arm and driving her sharp canines right into his jugular, beginning to drink his blood.

Harry was seized with absolute fear, an icy shiver running down his spine, making him tremble from the tips of his hair to the tips of his toes.

A vampire. That's what kind of dark creature this woman was. He had survived Voldemort and was about to die from a vampire. But for what bloody reason?

Harry was incapable of reacting in any way. It was as if his life energy was slowly draining away, and if he had been at the end of his rope before because of the wounds that had been inflicted on him, there was nothing he could do now, except perhaps speak.

When it seemed to him that his soul was about to leave his body, the woman broke away with ferocity, and with her vampire speed struck him with a fist, fracturing half his face, completely exposing one eye socket.

"You were tasty, wizard. The higher the magical potential of your species, the better your blood," she said with a grin that showed her sharp canines dripping with blood. She licked her lips with relish and looked at Harry dying on the ground with satisfaction, as if she was proud of her work. "I'm glad you were my last meal," she added finally, mysteriously.

"Last...?" Harry whispered with all the voice he had left. All of his senses were dulled and he felt distinctly close to death, he could barely keep his eyes open and the pain was such that he was almost unable to distinguish it anymore.

"Yes, wizard, last," she repeated annoyed, as if it had been an obvious thing to say.

Suddenly she changed her mood, smiled creepily and put her hands to her cheeks. "I'm going to give myself a wonderful gift tonight... You see, Voldemort killed my entire family because we refused to meddle in the affairs of you wizards," she explained, speaking with unusual joy in her voice compared to the subject she was talking about. "He burned us like we were worthless rubbish!" she growled suddenly enraged. "And you... You dirty wizard, you stole my revenge. The only way I had left to avenge my family," she explained, backing away as if she was frightened of Harry, who could do nothing more than listen at times to a few words he could understand.

Then she stopped, almost reassured by something she understood. "But I suddendly had this brilliant idea: why not let you feel the pain of living and seeing all the people you love die in front of you? All those dirty humans you love so much, who will have an infinitesimal amount of life compared to your infinite suffering!" she laughed hysterically, proud of her plan. "I have no more reason to live, you are the last reason I have left. Then I will let the sun do its duty."

She looked at his wrist with great interest, and then with her canines she bit down hard on it, causing large amounts of blood to gush out. She walked over to Harry and forcefully put her wrist in his mouth, causing him to drink her blood.

Though overcome with pain, with the last bit of lucidity he had, Harry, who had realized that drinking the blood of a mad, pissed-off narcissistic vampire was not a great idea, tried to back away slowly, using whatever strength he had left, squinting in exhaustion.

But his attempt was futile to say the least, in fact it clearly annoyed the vampire, who ungently stuck his fingers in his mouth and dislocated his jaw, forcing his mouth open.

Harry could do nothing but moan in pain, he didn't even have the strength to scream anymore.

After the vampire had made him drink an amount of blood that she deemed to be enough, she knelt down and helped him sit up so that they could be on the same level and look into each other's eyes. She stared at him with a light, reassuring smile.

"Bye-bye, Harry Potter. Have fun."

She gently placed both hands on what was left of the boy's cheeks, almost as if to caress him.

Then she snapped his neck with a sharp movement, and Harry's body fell lifelessly to one side.

"HOLY SHIT!" Harry jolted awake jumping to his feet whipping out his wand, letting out a startled scream and continuing to curse as he looked around compulsively for anything similar to an enemy.

His eyes filled with agitation wandered frantically for a few more seconds, not observing anything accurately, but only with the extreme need to have an idea of where he was.

When he realized that he was in the same spot in the Forest as the night before, and that there was no one around him, he relaxed conspicuously, letting his arms and head drop, tired. "Oh fuck, what a dream," he cursed in a whisper.

He slipped his wand into his pocket, and looked up at the sky, which let out rays of sunlight through the foliage rising above him.

Hermione was going to break him down into many, small, pieces.

He chuckled slightly and rubbed his hair with one hand. Then he tried to adjust his glasses.

"Where are my glasses?" he wondered questioningly when he nearly fingered himself in the eye.

But the surprise wasn't so much that he'd lost his glasses as it was that, Harry soon realized, he could see perfectly well without them.

"Strange..." he said to himself.

But for the moment he let this strangeness go and summoned his glasses, which promptly came from a blind spot to his left.

Right where a tree stood, whose trunk had been broken by something.

Harry opened his eyes wide in disbelief. "Okay, this is fucking weird."

But he had to think again when, putting on his glasses, his vision definitely worsened.

"Okay, this joke isn't funny at all," he said decisively putting his glasses in his pocket and starting to walk towards the castle, looking for an explanation.

The main entrance was strewn with all sorts of rubble. Some columns were still intact, while others, such as those of the courtyard corridor, had been destroyed, causing the archway they supported to collapse.

Looking sadly at the apocalyptic panorama that flowed before his eyes, he continued, intending to cross the main entrance and head towards the Great Hall.

As soon as he passed the great doorway, a mass of soft ringlets swept over him, and he could make out a distinct hint of chamomile coming from them.

"Merlin, Harry! I didn't sleep a wink thinking something might have happened to you!" exclaimed Hermione, holding him so tightly she could have knocked the breath out of him.

"Well, what can I say, if every time I screw up, I can get a hug, I guess I'll do it more often," the boy smiled wickedly. "You would have found me exactly where you saw me."

"Git!" she slapped him on the back, continuing to hug him. "I didn't mean to bother you," she said more softly, "I was on the fence... Did you want to be alone, or did something happen to you?" she wondered, giving him one last squeeze before pulling away to look into his eyes.

"Harry, how cold was it outside? You're pale," she asked him, with a worried frown that had replaced his relieved expression.

When she took his hands, she suddenly broke away and gasped in shock.

"Harry, you're frozen! I told you you'd catch a cold!" she scolded him. She took his hands back and fought the revulsion the cold made her feel to try to warm him up.

He gave her hands a gentle squeeze to reassure her. "Hermione, really, I'm fine. You'll see it'll just be because of the wind that was there, don't worry," he smiled at her, trying to infect her and make her smile in turn.

Hermione gave him the satisfaction of succeeding, she returned his smile sweetly, but soon lowered her eyes and assumed a sad look.

Harry didn't think about it for a second, he knew exactly what thoughts were swirling around in the girl's mind. The sooner it was discussed, the better.

"What is the news about the wounded?" he asked her simply, without giving any particular intonation to his voice.

The girl's hazel eyes returned to rest on him with a slight air of surprise. The fire that was usually there had slumbered, and emitted less heat than usual.

"Fred and Remus are miraculously alive," she said quickly, almost making her words unintelligible. "But while Remus's wounds, thanks to his werewolf skills, have managed to heal... Fred's are in bad shape, one of his arms will have to be amputated. The leg, we don't know yet."

"Who died?" asked Harry in a huff.

Hermione took a deep breath, as if preparing to announce the date of a patient's death. "Colin and Lavender didn't make it. And...so did Tonks."

Harry felt his ears ring at that name. Lupin had been through a lot, and that was... He didn't deserve that.

Harry quickly looked behind Hermione.

The Great Hall had now become a giant nursery. Bodies were sprawled out on tables, some lifeless, some in pain and begging to be killed, and some simply asleep with their faces relaxed because of the end of the war.

He saw the Weasley family gathered around Fred, wrapped in bandages and clearly in a state of confusion.

"Where's Remus?" Harry simply asked, returning to rest his eyes in those of his best friend.

"He went to help Professor McGonagall, they should be in Dumbledore's office. Or what's left of it," she paused briefly, pondering her next words. "He knows about Tonks, but in my opinion... He hasn't figured it out yet. He's in shock," Hermione explained.

"I have to go to him Hermione, I'm sorry. Tell the Weasleys as well. I'll be right back," he said decisively, without any hesitation about what to do.

Hermione went back to hugging him lightly. "I understand, Harry. You don't have to worry," she whispered to him gently and understandingly. Then, she broke away from the embrace, and nodded to him. "Go now."

With a final nod of mutual understanding, Harry began to make his way to the office that had belonged to Dumbledore.

When he was in front of the Gargoyle statue, no password was necessary. The statue, which had remained intact as if by a miracle from the devastation of the castle, simply stepped aside.

Harry began to climb the steps of the spiral staircase. He tried to understand if there was anyone inside the office and if they were talking.

But soon, to his amazement, he was able to hear the voices speaking perfectly.

"...I assure you that you will have all my support and help, Minerva. Do you think you'll be able to reopen school for next year?"

"I'm glad, Remus, but I think you have other priorities right now," Professor McGonagall's voice said. "I'm telling you this as a friend, not as a teacher or headmistress. I thank you for your support, but please, take your time."

She settled back in her chair. "To answer your question, there will probably still be work during the next year, but Hogwarts will be there. For the teachers and especially for the students," she concluded, with conviction in her voice.

"I hope what you say can come true, Minerva," Lupin replied, willfully ignoring the advice he had been offered.

Harry was about to knock on the office door when the conversation between Remus and Minerva stopped abruptly, and he clearly sensed his old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor stiffening for some strange reason.

Something in the antechamber of his brain clicked. A hidden sixth sense, he didn't quite know where, was sending him a thousand warning signals. And Harry, who had often trusted his instincts, trusted them once again.

He was barely able to avoid the thunderous explosion that hit the door, shattering it and making the side walls creak dangerously.

"Remus! What's going on? What did you see?" shouted McGonagall, who stood up abruptly and dropped her chair backwards.

"COME OUT!" ranted Lupin with all the air in his lungs, completely ignoring the questions the headmistress had just asked him to try to understand the situation.

Harry, while extremely stunned by the situation he found himself in, wasn't scared at all, almost as if all that was normal. He didn't feel his heart beating in his throat, as if his body was telling him that this was not a dangerous situation.

"I SAID, COME OUT!" yelled Lupin again, who cast another spell that created a discrete crater in the wall jamb.

And Harry at that point, despite his body showing no sign of fear, thought better of stopping the great misunderstanding that had been created. "Remus, stop. It's me, Harry," the boy said aloud, stepping slowly out of the wall he was hiding behind and showing himself to both of them.

In the center of the room, behind her now desk, McGonagall was standing with a frown and questioning eyebrow asking for explanations, but in the meantime she was holding her wand firmly between her fingers, ready to intervene in case of trouble.

Closer to the front door, on the other side of the desk, was Lupin.

He looked like he had aged ten years, his face showed a weariness and sadness that could only be attributed to an endless war and a long list of loved ones lost, one after another.

He was as stiff as the trunk of a tree, every single muscle in his body was tense and ready to go at any moment. For a second, Harry thought he was going to hit him with a spell even if he did show up.

Also, Harry didn't know why, but Lupin had an extremely angry expression on his face, the shadow of the werewolf that lived in him could be read in his eyes.

When he saw who was hiding behind the door, it was as if he had lost all the years of life he had left in one fell swoop. "H-Harry?" he huffed in bewilderment, disbelief.

But Lupin continued to keep his wand pointed at Harry, leaving nothing to chance. "What...animal was present in my office when we first met?"

"Remus, why..." stalled Harry, confused. But seeing his former professor change his demeanor and become more threatening, almost as if he was about to utter the next spell, Harry promptly replied. "A Grindylow," he said simply, remembering well the particular beast that had immediately intrigued him. "Now will you tell me why you thought I was an imposter?"

And as logical as it might have been, Harry's exact answer seemed to weigh on Lupin more than the eventual need to confront a possible impostor. He dropped wearily into a chair, running his hands over his face, suddenly terrified.

"It's not possible... You too..." whispered Lupin between his fingers, rubbing his face hard, as if trying to recover from a bad dream.

"Remus, can you tell me what you're talking about and why you just removed what little privacy this office had?" asked McGonagall, shooting a dirty look at the paintings around and returning to rest her eyes on Lupin, staring at him, puzzled.

Lupin took a few more moments where he remained in complete silence. Then, he took a very deep breath and stood up, huffing audibly and heading hurriedly towards Harry. "Minerva, I apologize, but I need to talk to Harry. Alone," he said, shooting the boy a dirty look.

Lupin, under McGonagall's astonished and dumbfounded eyes, extremely hastily grabbed Harry by the arm, dragging him out of the office.

"Remus, what-"

"Shut up," Lupin said dryly, nipping whatever Harry was about to say in the bud.

As soon as they were a few hallways away, Lupin opened the first room he could find and shoved Harry inside, then closed it behind him and sealed it with magic.

"Do you happen to have something you need to tell me, Harry?" asked Lupin with mock curiosity, grumpily approaching the boy and stopping a few inches from him, staring straight into his eyes.

Harry, could totally understand Lupin's emotional state. But he also understood that if he didn't react decisively, he wouldn't be able to understand what had disturbed him so much.

"Now you're going to tell me what the fuck you're talking about," Harry spoke, short, pithy and raw. "I want you to speak plainly, because I have no idea what the hell has gotten into you," he added, not increasing the distance between them by an inch.

Lupin was evidently taken aback by this reaction from the boy. He had suddenly taken two steps back and assumed a dumbfounded expression, as if he realized he had mistaken Harry for someone else.

But perhaps it was because of this bewilderment that he recovered from his trance of rage, and realized that Harry really was oblivious.

"Harry... How..." he ran a hand wearily over his face, incredulous and outclassed by everything that had happened to him in such a short time.

He took a deep breath and then turned back to the boy. Harry stood motionless, in front of him, waiting for an explanation.

Lupin decided to end the mind games.

"You're a vampire, Harry."

And suddenly, the whole world fell on Harry's shoulders. Everything fit together perfectly, and he realized that it had been neither a dream nor a bad joke, but the hard, raw reality once again.

"NO!" ranted Harry, causing his vocal cords to tremble dangerously, intimating that they would tear at any moment. He was just beginning to realize the excruciating reality.

He began to look around frantically, panicked, as if searching for a solution nearby. As if that had been a problem so easily solved.

As his eyes wandered in anger, he saw a stone desk nearby and at the height of his anger he kicked it with all his might.

It shattered, breaking into several pieces, and some of the larger pieces hit the wall at the other end of the room, making a thunderous noise.

Harry's eyes widened in disbelief, he didn't know if it was because he had reduced an ancient stone desk that must have weighed five hundred kilos to that condition, or because his leg had not been reduced to a pulp by the power of that kick.

But, as if he had suddenly awakened from a long sleep, he also began to focus on the other senses he possessed.

"Holy shit, I could count how many lashes you had in your right eye, for Merlin's sake!" Harry exclaimed, running his hands through his hair frantically. He started pacing back and forth, gripped by anxiety.

In all of this, Lupin could do nothing but watch, unable to do anything, also a victim of the harsh and raw reality.

Harry suddendly froze and began sniffing the air around him. He stared at Lupin.

"Fuck... I smell... Of dog... Of wolf. Fuck, I could tell you're a werewolf just from your smell!" he said dumbfounded, with such ease that he looked like he had just sniffed a tart fresh out of the oven.

"That's why I freaked out earlier," Lupin said, suddenly speaking again.

"What?" Harry asked confused, not understanding.

"You can smell me. And I can smell you. The smell of a vampire," Lupin simply explained.

"Damn it, I... I thought it was a damn dream, or a bad joke... How could I think it was real?" Harry went back to running his hands through his hair in disbelief.

"Who did this?" Lupin asked.

"Never mind... She's already dead," Harry replied, nipping whatever ideas Lupin had in the bud. "She did it for revenge... Revenge! Can you believe it?" he said, incredulous. "Voldemort killed her whole family and she decided to turn me and make me live in this hell just because she couldn't kill him herself!"

"Absurd..." Lupin couldn't help but look at him with a mortified and shocked air.

After a few moments of complete silence, Lupin expressed a doubt that had been lingering in his mind for some time.

"How are you doing it?" asked to Harry.

"Hmm? What? What did I do now?" asked Harry, arching an eyebrow and laying eyes on him.

Lupin gave a slight snort. "It's broad daylight, we've passed the sun several times. Why aren't you burning?" he finally asked, explaining what he meant by that question. "From how engrossed I was in the situation, I completely forgot about it..."

"Are you telling me I should have burned like a fucking bonfire when I was in the sunlight?" asked Harry, blurting out.

"Precisely," Lupin replied dryly, standing still and staring at Harry, waiting for an explanation. Evidently, despite everything the boy had told him, he still had many doubts about the matter.

"No need to look at me like that," clarified Harry, muttering. "I haven't the faintest idea," then said, sincerely, trying to make Lupin understand with all his might that he had been oblivious to everything until just now.

He began rummaging through his pockets almost as a joke, wanting to look for some kind of motive that might explain what was going on.

But when he actually touched something in his right pocket that he hadn't expected to be there, he could have sworn his heart would stop again if he could.

Moving slowly, as if in a life-or-death condition, he pulled out the object. Complete disbelief appeared on his face as his emerald eyes took a closer look at the eccentric and peculiar ring he had seen the vampire wearing.

A light went off in his head.

Under Lupin's curious gaze, he placed the ring on the ground and stepped back. When he took the third step backwards, an immeasurable and never before experienced pain hit him. He felt as if he had been enveloped in flames, set on fire. With his new vampire speed, he retrieved the ring so fiercely that he slammed into the wall at the other side of the room, unable to restrain his abilities.

With great regret, he decided to wear the ring on his middle finger.

"Well," Harry said, wiping off his jacket and walking over to Lupin. "I guess now we know..." he concluded, squinting at the thought of the pain he had felt when he had found himself without the ring in the sunlight.

"What are you going to do?" Lupin asked without any kind of warning.

"What do you mean what am I going to do, Remus?" Harry stared at him with angry eyes, but he only did so because he had expressed a doubt that he did not want to raise in the first place. "I know full well that I could be a danger and I could kill any human with my finger," Harry said with a snort, "But I can't exile myself now, just when it's finally over and I can...Could...Enjoy life," he concluded with extreme regret in his voice.

"Harry, believe me, I understand you more than anyone," Remus said. Harry looked back at him, remembering his condition and realising it was really true. "But it's going to be a bloody life. Already my condition, which is sustainable, is hell. Yours... Being able to keep it hidden will be difficult and risky, not to mention..." he interrupted.

"What, Remus?" Harry urged him to continue.

"Not to mention the fact that you'll be watching everyone you love die."

The truth, now that it was real, hit Harry harder than ever.

"Vampires can be killed, right?"

Lupin stared at him with wide eyes. "Yes... Yes, of course they can be killed. With silver weapon, by decapitation or with a wooden stake through the heart. And of course, the sun can kill you."

"Easy peasy, then. I'll live my 'life' as best I can, and then, I'll kill myself, or have someone do it for me," Harry said with extreme seriousness in his voice.

Lupin looked at him with a look that didn't hide how upset he was about it.

"You cannot deprive me of this, Remus. Either kill me now, or keep my secret. But I can't leave them. Not after all we've been through."

Lupin glared at him. "I couldn't kill you even under Imperius, Harry. I'm extremely upset not because I think you don't deserve to live. But because I'm afraid you might hurt someone. And I know you'd never forgive yourself if you did."

Harry, despite himself, lowered his gaze. He know he was absolutely right. Lupin slowly approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"If I ever do, I will kill myself instantly."

Harry looked up and stared with extreme seriousness at Lupin, who returned his gaze, with concern.

"Don't look at me like that, Remus. Because if I don't have the courage to do it, you'll have to."

"Harry, I can't... Your father..." he tried to stall.

"My father is not here now. But I am, and I'm asking you. Promise me."

Harry's eyes leaked a strong conviction and emotion into what he was saying, the exact same one that emanated when he was still human.

Perhaps then it is not only the condition that defines us as 'human'. There are humans much worse than this.

"I promise you," said Remus, resignedly. "Now... Go to your friends, and be careful what you do."

Harry nodded, giving him a smile for the first time that day. He walked past him, ready to return to the Great Hall.

He had just put his hand on the door to open it when he suddenly stopped.

"I'm sorry about Tonks, Remus. I wish there was something I could have done."

His words seemed to echo for an infinite time in the room, creating an uncomfortable reverberation in his ears.

Lupin had not said anything yet, and Harry thought for a moment that he would not. He pushed open the door, making to leave.

"You've already done something, Harry. You gave Teddy a safe future. And I, for that, will always be grateful," Lupin said in a trembling voice. "And I'm sure Tonks would have been too."

For Harry, nothing more needed to be said or heard. He left Lupin deep in thought and headed for the Great Hall.