A/N: I don't own anything you recognize.
This is for the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum
Are you crazy enough to do it Challenge
720. (random prompt) I can't be who you want me to be
If you Dare Challenge
720. Ghostly Figure
Harry blinked his eyes open. A bright light was filling the darkness of his room. In the center stood a ghostly figure of a woman. She wore a white robe and had red hair framing her face like a halo.
"Who are you?"
"You already know, Harry."
"Mum? But why."
"Because, you're losing your will to fight, Harry. You need to be strong."
"I can't be who they want me to be, I'm not a some savior! I'm barely a functional wizard. I can't do anything amazing, mum." The figure nodded slowly smiling.
"You don't need to be Harry. All you need is to be brave, my son, can you be brave?"
"I'm scared," Harry admitted.
"Being brave isn't about not be afraid, Harry. It's using that fear and overcoming it. Acting anyway. Do you know what you need to do, Harry?"
"Yes, I need to destroy the rest of the horcruxes and defeat him, once and for all." She smiled wider.
"That was the mission given to you by Dumbledore, wasn't it. That's only part of it, Harry. You need to stop trying to go it alone, I know Ron and Hermione are helping you. I know you think you have to do it alone. There's only despair that way, reach out to someone Harry. There's got to be someone you can trust, an adult who can help you through this fight." Harry paused blinking. He mentally ran through all the members of the order. Moody was dead, he wouldn't dare ask the Weasleys to risk their lives for him like this, Remus? Maybe? He watched as the figure studied him, waiting for him to figure out the solution. A name rose to the back of his mind, like bile in his throat. A man he didn't like, hated really, but a man who Dumbledore had trusted...a man who had turned to the darkness, or had he?
"Ask your question, Harry."
"Do you know everything? Being...dead, do you know everything?" he asked. She frowned but nodded her head.
"We see everything that happens here, if we're paying attention at least." Harry took a deep breath.
"Is Snape on our side?" He let the words hang in the air, watching the expression on the spirit's face. Her green eyes looked at him sadly knowing the answer was the one he really didn't want.
"Yes. Severus has always been on our side, he could help you so much on this quest, if only both of you could put your feelings aside. I wish I had forgiven him all those years ago, but some times, it's too late. He will help you Harry. Ending this war will benefit him too."
"How can I contact him without anyone finding out?" She smiled, Harry was at least willing to consider.
"Phineas Black. He has a portrait at Grimmauld place and the headmaster's office." She glanced around the room.
"Good bye Harry, be strong my little lion," she whispered disappearing in a flash of blinding light. Harry blinked his eyes wondering if it had all been a dream, he decided he would at least see if such a portrait even existed in the morning.