Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

Harry shuffled into the kitchen the next morning, yawning. He'd been more tired than he'd thought. He paused at seeing his mum pouring herself a cup of coffee. She looked exhausted and he wondered if it was his fault. She was probably up all night thinking about me hunting for Horcruxes, he thought guiltily. He'd been rude last night as well. "Mum?"

Lily looked up and immediately stood and crossed the room to hug him. "Harry," She murmured.

"Mum? Are you okay? Are you," Harry hesitated. "still mad at me?"

"No, little one. I'm not mad at you," Lily said soothingly. She pulled back and sighed. "I was just scared. I love you more than anything, you know that right?"

"I know," Harry nodded.

"And I will do whatever it takes to make sure you stay safe," Lily said seriously. She and Severus had decided they weren't going to tell him about his scar being a Horcrux until they knew how to fix it. He had too much on his shoulders as it was. "Which means no more trips with the Headmaster."

"But if I can help -"

"You can help by obeying me in this," Lily interrupted. "You are not to go anywhere without my permission, or Severus's. Promise me."

Harry sighed. "I promise."

"Thank you. Do you want to eat in the Great Hall or here?"

Before Harry could answer, a letter came flying out of the floo and into Lily's hands. With a curious expression she opened it and as she read it and frowned.

"What is it?"

"It's from Remus," Lily said quietly.

"Oh," Harry fidgeted. "Um, what does he say?"

"He's asking for permission to talk to you," Lily answered. "There's an accompanying note from the mind healer he has been seeing, saying he thinks it would be good for Remus to start making amends to you."

Harry didn't say anything, remembering all the times Remus had blamed him for Sirius's death. Did this mean Remus didn't blame anymore?

"Harry? I don't care if it would be good for Remus, what do you want to do? If you don't want to see him, or aren't ready to yet then that is completely fine," Lily said.

"I," Harry cleared his throat. "I think I would like to see him."

"I won't allow you alone with him," Lily cautioned.

"That's fine," Harry said.

Lily studied his face for a moment and then nodded. "Okay. I'll arrange a time for him to visit."

They decided to go to the Great Hall for breakfast and after Lily walked Harry to his table, where he was greeted happily by his friends she continued on her way to the head table. She sat next to Severus, whose eyes looked as tired as hers. They had been up most of the night researching together.

"How are you? How is Harry?" Severus asked, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before pouring her a cup of coffee, then refilling his own cup.

"He's fine," Lily said. "Obviously I didn't tell him anything yet, about...you know."

Severus nodded his understanding.

"I received a letter from Remus, he wants to see Harry," Lily told him.

Severus put down his cup of coffee. "He does, does he?" He asked coolly.

"His mind healer wrote as well, said he has been making progress," Lily sighed. "Harry agreed. But I want us near. I'm not trusting Remus to be alone with him. Not yet, anyway."

"I completely agree," Severus said. "If that wolf says anything to hurt him..." He said darkly.

"His tongue will find a new home in a potion's jar," Lily said seriously.

Severus gave a low, appreciative chuckle. "I love it when we are in sync."

/

A couple of days later, Harry absently played with Luna's hair as he waited for his friends to finish eating lunch. It was a Saturday and he would be seeing Remus later. To say he was nervous was an understatement. He was also hopeful. He wanted the old Remus back.

"Harry?" Luna asked softly. "Aren't you going to eat more? You've hardly touched anything." She and Harry usually traded off eating at each other table's, the houses not seeming to mind or even notice anymore.

"Hmm? Oh," Harry looked down at his almost full plate. "Guess I'm not very hungry."

"You're nervous," Luna said. "You shouldn't be. I believe Remus really cares for you, he just let his own grief and guilt overwhelm him."

"Why would he feel guilt?"

"Why would you?" Luna countered.

Harry sighed and pulled her closer. "I don't know. I just want him to be the Remus I remember."

"I'm sure he will be, Harry," Hermione spoke up. "The mind healer wouldn't think he was ready to see you otherwise."

"Besides, your mum and Snape will hex him if he acts like he did before," Ron said as he shoveled food into his mouth.

Hermione watched him in disgust. "Can you at least chew, please?"

Ron rolled his eyes.

/

Harry was making his way to his mum's quarters, where he would be seeing Remus when Draco, Crabbe and Goyle suddenly stepped out in front of him. Malfoy had been looking at him with hatred even more than usual since it became to clear to everyone that Severus did not hate Harry anymore. He had been able to drop his act now that he wasn't spying anymore, although a lot of the students were confused to the change. He had also been seen holding his mum's hand so rumors were running around about them being a couple. Harry just smiled when someone asked his about it. It was none of their business, in his mind. Apparently the Slytherin students were really confused and the children of death eaters didn't know what to do.

"He's only pretending, you know," Draco said almost conversationally.

Harry blinked. "Am I supposed to know what you are talking about?"

"Severus. He's been a family friend for years. He's only pretending to like your mum, to not support the dark lord." Draco smirked. "You want to know the truth? He can't stand your Mudblood mother."

Harry's temper flared and it took all in his occluding skills to resist grabbing his wand. Not allowed to hex him, not allowed to hex him...

"Nothing to say, Potty?" Draco sneered.

"I have better things to do then listen to your pathetic lies," Harry said in a bored voice in a near perfect imitation of Snape.

Draco's face darkened. "You going to see your wolf, Potter?" At the surprised look on Harry's face, Draco gave him a smug smile. "Yeah, I hear things. Doesn't he despise you now?"

Harry gave a shrug. "Not more than I despise you, I'm sure." He smiled brightly before stepping around and continuing on his way. Not giving Malfoy the reaction he wanted was actually quite satisfying. Maybe not as satisfying as turning him into a slug would be but still, it felt pretty good.

/

"You walked here by yourself?" Severus asked in exasperation when Harry entered his mum's quarters.

"Uh, yeah," Harry said, suddenly remembering he wasn't supposed to. Which he thought was kind of ridiculous. He wasn't a little kid. "I'm sixteen, I can take care of myself."

"Yes, but you know we don't want you walking the castle alone." Lily frowned. "Especially after the attack in Hogsmeade."

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "Nothing happened, well except for Malfoy trying to get me to lose my temper."

Severus hesitated. "Did you?"

"I turned him into a slug. He's still in the corridor."

"What?" Both Lily and Severus shouted.

Harry began laughing. "Kidding! I didn't react in anger, which seemed to tick him off."

"Oh," Lily said in relief. "Good. You did good."

Severus ran a hand over his face. "I should turn you into a slug for that, brat."

Harry snickered, which faded when there was a knock on the door. He bit his lip and shuffled his feet. "Should I, um, get it? It's probably Remus so -"

"I'll get it," Lily said, heading to the door and opening it. "Hello Remus."

"Lily," Remus stepped inside. "It's so good to see you." He hesitated and then gave her a hug.

"I'm glad to you see , Remus," Lily said with a soft smile. As long as you don't hurt my boy again, she added silently.

Remus cleared his throat. "Hello, Severus."

"Lupin." Severus said curtly, his eyes hard as he stared at the man.

Remus sighed and then looked at Harry, a smile spreading across his face. "Harry, it's so good to see you."

"Hey, Remus," Harry said, stepping forward to give him a hug.

"You two can talk here," Lily said. "We'll be in the kitchen." She tugged on Severus's arm.

Severus scowled. "We will?"

"Yes," Lily insisted, pulling him with her. They would be close enough to hear and make sure Remus didn't say anything he shouldn't.

"So strange to see that," Remus chuckled as he and Harry sat on the sofa. "I used to see them talking and studying together when we were in school. Well, until fifth year anyway."

"Yeah, they've gotten past all that," Harry said. "I'm happy they are together."

"You mean as friends?" Remus asked.

"No, they're dating," Harry said.

Remus blinked. "Oh."

"Is that weird for you?" Harry asked. His dad had been one of Remus's best friend's after all and even though Remus had never seemed to share the same hostility towards Snape as Sirius had...

"I – no, it's not," Remus said after a moment. "They deserve happiness and as long as you're good with it," He gave a chuckle. "If Sirius were here, he would be going ballistic right now."

Harry lowered his eyes. "Yeah, he would."

"Harry," Remus said softly. "I'm so sorry for how I have been treating you the past few months. So incredibly sorry."

Harry stared at his hands. "I'm sorry too. For Sirius, I shouldn't have -"

"No, Harry," Remus interrupted. "You have nothing to be sorry for, you were trying to save your godfather. You were immensely brave at the ministry, fighting the death eaters."

"If I hadn't gone, if I hadn't fallen for Voldemort's deception..."

"He would have found a way to get you there. He would have found a way to lure Sirius out of hiding just to use him against you." Remus said. "And Sirius, there was no way he was going to sit back if there was even an inkling of you being in trouble. He loved you."

"I loved him too," Harry whispered, tears filling his eyes.

"I know. So did I," Remus said. He took a deep breath. "Harry, the reason I treated you so badly was because I was angry."

"At me, I know. I -"

"No, not at you," Remus interrupted. "At me. I knew Sirius was getting restless at Grimmauld and I knew, deep inside, that he would eventually leave and actively join the war. I should have kept a better eye on him, I should been able to stop him. But the truth is, I couldn't have. I know that now. But I blamed myself for failing him. But even more, I was angry at Sirius."

"You were?"

"He was a great wizard and a wonderful friend, but he could be impulsive and reckless." Remus gave a sad smile. "I thought, if he had been more responsible while fighting instead of taunting Bellatrix then he would still be alive. But Sirius could be a big kid at times and he treated that duel like a game. Especially when he saw that you were okay, when you were fighting beside him."

"He called me James," Harry confessed.

Remus's eyes widened. "He did?"

"I deflected a spell from Lucius and he said, 'Nice one James,'" Harry wiped his eyes. "Do you think he only saw me as my dad or something?" He asked quietly.

"No," Remus said firmly. "He may have gotten caught up in all the excitement that night and slipped by calling you James but he loved you for you. He talked about you all the time, saying how your parents would be so proud of you and how more mature you were than James was at your age." He gave a small grin. "Sirius also said how more mature you were then him as an adult."

Harry laughed.

"He saw you for you, Harry," Remus assured him. "I promise. He loved you for you. So do I," He pulled Harry into a hug and they sat for a few moments, just holding each other and remembering the person they both missed and loved.

"I'm glad we talked about this," Harry said as he pulled away and tried to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Me too," Remus said. "And I really am sorry about how I treated you. Especially when I cast that spell at you. Merlin, it kills me that I hurt you. I never meant to. I took the anger and grief I was feeling and turned it all on you. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't even realize I was. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not even close to okay. I'll regret it for the rest of my life," Remus said, pain in his eyes. "Instead of dealing with my own emotions, I focused on your training because I knew I couldn't survive losing another person I loved. When you tried to follow Sirius into the veil, I -"

"What?"

Remus and Harry looked over to see Severus and Lily, who was holding a plate of biscuits, looking at them in shock and horror.

"You tried to follow Black?" Severus asked in a deceptively calm voice.

"I didn't know," Harry said quickly. "I didn't understand that he was gone. I thought I could pull him back or something. Remus grabbed me and wouldn't let go."

"Oh, Harry," Lily breathed. She immediately went and pulled him up and into a hug.

Severus shook off the fear that Harry had once again come so close to death. "Well, we are lucky Lupin was there to stop you." He said slowly.

"I didn't know what would happen if I followed Sirius into the veil," Harry said. "I lost it when Remus said he was gone. I even tried to -"

"Tried to what?"

Harry cleared his throat. He hadn't even told his friends about this. "I went after Bellatrix. I tried to Crucio her."

Lily froze and Severus sucked in his breath sharply while Remus just looked incredibly sad.

"I couldn't do it," Harry continued, not looking at any of them. "I mean, I cast it but it didn't hurt her. She mocked me, told me I had to mean it, to want to watch her in agony. I just wanted her to pay for killing Sirius, which wasn't enough, I guess." He fiddled with the hem of his shirt before finally raising his eyes to the adults in the room.

"It's okay, Harry," Lily said softly. "Frankly, it's understandable. And I'm not the least bit surprised that you couldn't cast it right. You're too good to enjoy watching someone suffer. Even someone like Bellatrix."

"I heard about what she did in Hogsmeade," Remus said, anger flashing in his eyes. "Tonks was furious that they weren't able to catch her. Or Pettigrew."

"It was impulsive of her," Severus said. "The dark lord wouldn't have tried that unless it was better planned. He wouldn't have risked us preventing Hogsmeade trips for Harry unless he was sure he would have succeeded."

"So no more Hogsmeade trips?" Remus gave Harry a sympathetic look.

"I'm also not allowed to go anywhere by myself in the castle," Harry complained. "It's annoying."

"Forgive us for trying to keep you safe," Severus rolled his eyes.

"How long is this going to last? Until I graduate?" Harry sighed.

"If it has to," Severus responded, resulting in Harry now rolling his eyes.

"We are doing everything we can Harry," Lily said.

"Yeah, the Horcruxes," Harry murmured. "I sort of think I should still be able to help."

"I sort of think you shouldn't," Lily said easily. "Once was more than enough."

"You know about the Horcruxes?" Remus asked in surprise. "And you helped with one?"

Lily sat back as Harry told Remus about his adventure with Dumbledore, feeling a knot form in her stomach. Her son was a Horcrux and she and Severus needed to find out how to destroy it without destroying Harry. She caught Severus's eye and knew he was thinking the same thing. The sooner they could help Harry, the better. And then finally, they could destroy the monster that sought to kill her child.

TBC: Reviews are always appreciated! =)