Severus snorted. "Nowhere is safe. Don't delude yourself about that. The only way anyone could be safe would be to hole themselves up somewhere under the Fidelius and I doubt there's a single person who wouldn't go stark, raving mad under those circumstances."
"Don't be foolish," he snapped. "And don't make the same mistake that I did. I refused Draco for years because I believed it would place him in danger. Conveniently forgetting that he was already in danger since he was spying on his uncle and aunt. Accepting him has changed nothing except to make us both... happy."
He rose to his feet and began to pace. "You cannot stop caring. Do you honestly believe I did all that I did during the war because I didn't care?" He turned to face Harry, his expression a mix of bleak grief and guilt and frustration. "Everything I did was because I cared. I cared about Lily. I cared about the fact that my stupidity put her in danger, cost her her life. I cared enough to beg the Dark Lord to spare her life, spun out a pack of lies to make him offer her that chance. I cared enough about her to do everything I could to protect you because she loved you enough to sacrifice her life for you. I cared enough about Draco to do everything I could to protect him from his own foolishness. I care about Faustus and will do everything I can to keep him safe."
He shook his head and turned away. "Not caring is not the solution," he said quietly. "You fight harder when you care. It is those who care about nothing who die in wars because they have nothing to fight for."