Before anyone could say anything else, Harry looked his godfather eye to eye and said, "Sirius, I'm done with friendship. I'm cutting ties with all of my friends at this nanosecond and becoming an extreme loner. "
"Why?" asked Sirius seriously.
"I don't want to put anyone at risk because of me," answered Harry swiftly, "I'm the one these Death Eaters were after. Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Lily could have all died today because they happened to be with me when the Death Eaters knew I had come into Zonko's. I'm not letting people die because of me."
Harry looked sadly at Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Lily. A heartbreaking emptiness filled his insides.
"Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Lily, I would like to take this moment to thank you for being such wonderful friends to me. Lily, when you get back to Hogwarts, would you please thank Tracey, Daphne, and Astoria for always being decent to me? Ginny, when you get back to Hogwarts, could you please thank Fred, George, Lee, Colin, and Dennis for always treating me well?" I-
Harry now fell silent and looked intently between everybody in the room. He had to take them in one last time before exiling himself.
"Harry, what are you doing?" asked Remus.
"Taking one last look at my friends," replied Harry somberly.
"You sound sad," observed Arthur.
"I am," admitted Harry, "This isn't a decision I'm making because I want to. This is an altruistic decision."
"You really feel like this is the right decision?" asked Amelia uncertainly.
"I do," said Harry mournfully, tears now flowing down every inch of his cheeks, "This decision applies to adults as well. I'm going to find a place to hide somewhere, maybe on a deserted moor, and live out the rest of my life by myself to protect other people from being the victims of my presence."
"Harry, you can't do this," said Remus bluntly, "Learn to protect yourself as best as you can and encourage others to do the same, but you can't abandon your friends."
"Your mom and dad died to save and protect you," said Sirius sharply, "You make their sacrifice in vain if you don't live your life to the fullest. If you throw away your life because of fear, you disgrace James and Lily and what they stood for."
Harry felt a nasty jolt in the pit of his stomach at these words.
"I would never consider committing suicide!" declared Harry fiercely.
"What are you planning on doing is almost as much throwing your life away as suicide would be!" exclaimed Amelia.
"I'll make something of my life of solitude," promised Harry, "I'll be doing some reading and research and experimenting and-"
"Harry, " insisted Arthur, "You owe it to yourself and to James and Lily to live your life to the fullest."
"He's right, pup," agreed Sirius gently.
"I owe it to others not to put them in harm's way when I can prevent it and I know I can prevent it," said Harry stubbornly.
"You're not doing this Harry, " piped up Susan, "You're not leaving our group. Not now. Not ever. "
Harry's eyes now gave Susan their full attention.
"I'm with you no matter what happens," declared Susan loyally, "I'd rather die beside a friend than live a thousand years with no friends."
"Spoken like a true Hufflepuff," beamed Amelia proudly.
"Harry," Lily declared fiercely, "I'll stand by you come hell or high water to our world. I'm NOT losing one of my best friendships just for a little peace of mind."
"Did the Sorting Hat consider you for Hufflepuff?" Amelia asked Lily.
"No," said Lily honestly, "It was always between Ravenclaw and its eventual choice of Slytherin. Harry, I'm going to stand by you no matter what. Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through hell with you!"
"I don't mind the danger," said Luna dreamily, staring at the celling, "There's also a pragmatic factor in play here."
"What might that be?" asked Harry, now calming down a little.
"If Voldemort does capture you, or if he does return, If it's just you alone, you're not as much of a threat. Your plan to self-isolate is exactly what I'd want you to do if I were Lord Voldemort, " said Luna more seriously.
"When are you going to get it into your head?" asked an exasperated sounding Hermione, "We're in this together. You're my bestie, my BFF, I can't lose that. Besides, Luna is showing her Ranclawishness here. Lord Voldemort, or any dark witch or wizard, will find you much easier prey if you don't have a group of people to fight alongside you and defend you. Plus, planning and strategy become easier if you only have one opponent. "
"I won't lose you as a close friend now that I've had a taste of it," said Ginny with a tent of fire in her voice, "If we ever do need to fight, our advantage is that we have something Lord Voldemort doesn't have: Something worth fighting for: our love for and bond with each other."
Harry remained silent for a minute and a nanosecond and then asked in a businesslike voice, "You all really still want to be my friends, knowing what we now know?"
Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Lily all chroused 'YES!" at once with blazing looks in their eyes.
Harry, seeing, hearing, realizing, and feeling that they were all sincere in their loyalty, now walked up to them and took it in turns to hug Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Lily, as well as Sirius, Remus, Arthur, and Amelia, who had got the ball on rejecting this plan, not that the others would have taken no for an answer.
"Thank you, everyone, " said Harry gratefully, "Your loyalty means more than I can express."
"Now that we've sorted that out, " said Amelia, "We need to investigate these Death Eaters."
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