Mentor

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used in this story, all recognizable names, locations, and characters are property of the wonderful JK Rowling, who was lovely enough to bless us with the Harry Potter books to become obsessed with as I have.

Summary: Remus Lupin pays Harry a visit at Number 4 Privet Drive during the summer before TDH, after Dumbledore dies. He wants to make sure that Harry is coping. Turns out, neither of them are. Hurt/Comfort, angst, family, loss. One-Shot.

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Mentor

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Remus Lupin was lost. As soon as he heard the news that Dumbledore had died, that, in a moment of weakness, he had pleaded with Snape, and Snape had turned around and killed him... he felt lost. Like he was floating in the middle of the ocean, with nothing in sight except a vast expanse of rippling water.

The truth was, he was angry with himself. He was furious, filled with self-hatred. Because Harry had warned him. Harry had told them all that Snape wasn't who he said he was, that he was working with Draco Malfoy.

Harry had been absolutely sure that Snape was not to be trusted, and Lupin had yelled at him and told him off, telling him that he was being irrational. Saying that not trusting Snape was like not trusting Dumbledore.

And now Dumbledore was dead. Killed by Snape's hand.

And then he felt bad, because Harry had relied on Dumbledore. And because everyone in the Order were stupid and reckless, relying on anyone they could reach with their pleas, the professor had died.

Speaking of Harry... Lupin wondered if the boy was holding up any better than he was.

Lupin felt a stab of hopelessness as he thought about Harry. The boy was only sixteen years old, almost seventeen, and yet he had seen more horrors in his life than some people see in a hundred years.

When Harry was one, his parents were killed in front of him and a dark wizard tried to murder him. He was left with a scar to remind him of the event, then dumped onto the doorstep of relatives who hated him and treated him like nothing more than the gum stuck to the bottom of their proverbial shoe.

Then, at eleven, Harry had to fight off a professor and Voldemort, wrapped up into one, nearly dying in the process. Killing Professor Quirrell in the process. Eleven years old, ad he killed someone with his bare hands.

Then he was twelve, and he single-handedly fought off the memory of Voldemort and a basilisk, almost dying in the process.

At thirteen, he fought off a werewolf (something that Lupin was still incredibly ashamed of) and about a hundred dementors. All while struggling with the realization that Sirius was actually a good guy, and he actually had some family left.

When he was fourteen, he had to compete in the Triwizard Tournament against students that were older and more experienced than him. And he had to watch Cedric Diggory get killed, watch Voldemort rise from the dead. Then he fought the Dark Lord and managed to escape.

Then he was fifteen, and had to fight against the Ministry. He had watched his Godfather die, right in front of his eyes. Then he had to fight off Voldemort again.

Now, he had to worry about the entirety of the fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, work toward defeating the Dark Lord, since he was the only one who could do it. All while dealing with the death of Dumbledore, one of the only people Harry had ever trusted. His mentor, gone.

Lupin felt his heart clench whenever he thought of Harry. He knew that Harry could defeat Voldemort, but if he died...

Lupin felt like the best option in his situation would be to visit Harry, even though he wasn't supposed to be moved for another week.

So, he Apparated out of his home with Tonks with a brief word of goodbye, arriving a few streets away from Harry's house. He used the walk to clear his thoughts, help him think of what he wanted to say.

Then he was in front of Number 4 Privet Drive, knocking on the door. Harry answered, barely registering who it was. His eyes widened briefly, then he pushed past Lupin and started walking down the street away from the house.

He didn't speak until they had made it to a park a few streets down. Lupin cast a handful of protection charms around them as they sat side-by-side on the rundown swing set.

"How are you, Harry?" he muttered, looking toward the teenager.

"Alive." He replied, staring off in the distance.

"Are you holding up okay, after... what happened?" Lupin questioned.

Harry gave him a halfhearted laugh and a scoff. "What about you, Remus? You were close to Dumbledore." Lupin pretended not to hear how Harry's voice cracked when he said the professor's name.

"I'm coping. I'm no stranger to loss. Though, to be fair, neither are you." Lupin replied.

"I think that's the understatement of the year, Remus, congratulations."

"Yes, well... you've been through a lot..."

"Why are you here?" Harry suddenly asked, cutting him off.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up." Lupin replied.

"You don't have to check up on me. I'll live." Harry snapped, which was so out-of-character for the sixteen-year-old that Lupin was even more worried than he had been when he had first shown up.

"Harry..."

"I'm fine, Remus." Harry sighed heavily.

"I'm not checking up on you because I think you're incapable of handling it by yourself, Harry. I'm here because I don't want you to have to handle this by yourself. I know how you feel." When Harry didn't give him a reply, he continued. "I've lost a lot of people too. I lost my parents, then I lost all four of my best friends in one day. Your parents were killed, along with Peter Pettigrew, or so I thought, and Sirius was convicted and sent to Azkaban. Then, twelve years later, Sirius came back, and I found out he was innocent. I finally had one of my brothers back.

"And then he died two year later. He died, and I had to hold you against my chest as you screamed and cried for him. So my heart broke twice that day. Once for the loss of Sirius, once for your sake. Because you finally had at least a piece of your family back, and he was taken away after only two years. Two years in which you saw him how many times? Three? Four? It wasn't fair.

"And now I've lost Dumbledore, my mentor, the only man who was ever kind to me before I became friends with your parents. Not even my father loved me after I was bitten, and yet here was this kind old man telling me that I could go to Hogwarts even though I was a werewolf. And now he's gone.

"So I know how you feel, Harry. I may not have had quite the same relationships with all those people as you did, but I lost them all the same.

"Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that you're not alone. Not if you don't want to be. I'll leave if you want me to, but I would prefer to stay."

Lupin felt his heart break all over again when he looked down at Harry's face, at the broken, devastated look that was etched into his features.

"You can stay." Harry whispered.

So Lupin stayed, simply sitting on the swing and staring at the setting sun, allowing Harry the time he needed to process. He reached out and placed a tentative hand on Harry's shoulder (which was difficult, since swings are set so far apart), squeezing it when Harry didn't shrug it away.

They sat like that for a long time, as the sun set and the day grew colder. And then they stood and walked back to Privet Drive, and Lupin clapped Harry on the shoulder as the teenager walked into his house, telling him that he would be there, always, if he needed him. If not, he would see him in a week when they moved him to the Borrow.

And then he left, Apparating back to his house in silence, and climbing into bed next to his wife with only one thought in his mind:

Harry has lost nearly everything, everyone except his few friends and the Weasleys. And I'll be damned if he loses me as well.