Chapter 13

Harry woke up in the Forbidden Forest, with Neville, Luna, Hermione, and Ginny hovering over him. He didn't know how he got there, but had a vague recollection of him running out of Hagrid's hut before the men could stop him. They must have stopped chasing after him when they saw Neville and the others.

Sirius Black! He'd come face to face with the man who was responsible, if not directly but certainly indirectly, for the death of his parents. He didn't believe the story for one second that Sirius was innocent. Harry scrambled to his feet.

"I just saw Sirius Black," he said, "Professor Moody must have brought him." The group around him looked at him like he'd had a blow to the head.

"I'm not daft, you know," he said irritably.

"No one thinks that, Harry," Ginny said. "It's just that…" her voice trailed off. She heard a noise and everyone turned around. Professor Moody and Hagrid were standing on the edge of the forest.

"What are you doing in the Forbidden Forest?" Hagrid asked. "It's dangerous here. Better get back to the castle before someone gets hurt."

"We're not going anywhere," Neville said courageously.

"Harry," Professor Moody said, stepping away from Hagrid, "we need to talk."

"I thought we had. You just tell me why you brought Sirius Black here."

"We didn't mean to frighten or harm you. Sirius wanted to tell you his side of the story and I thought you'd be willing to listen, but I see you have some trust issues."

"Trust issues?! You've got to be kidding me. Tell me why I'm supposed to trust anyone, especially you and most especially Sirius Black. All I know is what I know. An evil dark lord killed my parents because Sirius Black betrayed them; then I was given to relatives who hated me and made every day of my life a living hell, and now I'm supposed to trust you and your lot because you know what's best for me? Excuse me, but you don't know a bloody thing about me. I have been totally abandoned, and why? Was this supposed to make me a better person?

"Look, all I wanted to do was find some stuff out about my parents and my legacy. Excuse me if I don't feel grateful for all your help up to this point in my life."

"What we did," Moody began, "was only to protect you. We thought that sending you to live with your muggle relatives would keep you safe from Voldemort and the death eaters. We knew he and his followers would try to kill you. Voldemort wants you dead."

"Whose idea was that?" he asked.

Moody looked around. "Well, when we heard about your parents' death, Hagrid went to your house and saw what had happened, that you were still alive after all that."

"So Hagrid told everyone I was alive?"

"Yes, and Sirius."

"How'd you know that it was Voldemort who killed my parents? What if it was someone else to killed them and made it look like it was Voldemort? Maybe they tried to make it look like he tried to kill me. What if it was my own godfather, Sirius Black and maybe he had a little help from Hagrid?"

"No!" Sirius protested vehemently. "I swear to you, Harry. I would never do such a thing." Sirius took a step toward him, but Moody held him back.

Hagrid hung his head and began weeping. "I'd never…"

"Harry, that's ridiculous. The Dark Mark was over your house, you had a lightning bolt cut over your eye. Voldemort had disappeared. No one in the wizarding world would have ever tried to promulgate a hoax like that" Moody was started to get angry. "You have no idea what the Dark Lord is capable of. It was Lord Voldemort! Who on God's green earth would do such a thing?"

Harry shrugged calmly. "I don't know. Seems to me you all wanted a war, and I was just a means to an end."

"That's crazy. Look, I can prove all of this," Moody said. "Listen to me!" The professor grabbed Harry's arm, but he shook it off.

He started to turn away, but Ginny touched his arm. "I think you should listen to him. We'll be here with you," she said. Neville, Luna and Hermione nodded.

Harry crossed his arms across his chest. He didn't believe that Voldemort wanted him dead. For some reason, and he didn't know exactly why, he thought that, but he honestly believed that Lord Voldemort wanted him to join him and together they would rule the wizarding world. He wasn't one hundred percent sure this was a true picture, but, this was the feeling he had since he first remembered his thoughts. The voice had always told him that other people were out to get him; it had been strong, but the other feeling; the softer, kinder thoughts seemed to be leading him in a different direction

He tried to remember the softer voice, when had it begun. When he was much younger, he sometimes heard soothing words and lullabies when he was feeling especially bad, but he always believed he was the one making them up so his life wouldn't be totally hopeless. The other voice had been with him from the beginning, but not as strong. It had gotten stronger since the first day Ginny spoke to him.

"All right," Harry said. "But answer me this basic question first, please. If it was Voldemort who killed my parents with the killing curse, why didn't it kill me?"

"That's a reasonable question, Harry," Moody said. He cleared his throat. "We, that us, some of us believe that your mother used a very ancient spell that protected you. She gave up her life to save you. It was your mother's love, Harry."

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his head behind his scar. The pain was excruciating. He held his head with both hands and fell to the ground. "No, no, no," he said. Ginny and Neville ran to him and knelt down to help him. Ginny placed her hands on either side of his head and stroked him gently and soothingly.

"You're all right, Harry. It's going to be all right," she said. She kissed his scar, which calmed him down immediately. "Be strong," she cooed.

The struggle was internal; no one else saw the two hands reaching for him, pulling him in opposite directions. One hand was cold and dry, like a snake's skin and the other one warm. The voices spoke to him, each one coaxing him. One voice was more familiar, but it told him not to believe anyone; they wanted him dead because they knew that he was powerful and would fulfill the prophecy of a dark lord emerging and ruling with Voldemort. It promised immortality. The other voice, growing stronger, told him to let go; it promised him the truth.

The softer, warmer voice was repeating the words Ginny was speaking to him; 'be strong, it's going to be all right', 'come back to me, Harry', 'I love you.'

Harry didn't know what to do. He wanted to listen to both voices. He wanted the power, but he also wanted the love and protection. "Who is right?" he asked out loud. At that moment the hands released him and he opened his eyes. Ginny was still hold on. He touched her face and smiled. She is my only reality. Only Ginny can show me the right way to go.