Forsaking Fate

The Truth of Humanity

Chapter 15

Harry smiled as he flew over the Quidditch stands listening to the cheering of the crowds. Clutching the snitch in his hand, he laughed at the expressions on the Slytherins' faces as Dumbledore awarded Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup. Feeling something grab his shoulder, he attempted to twist away. Looking over at his arm he saw nothing but still something clutched at him. Being shaken harder, Harry felt himself slip off his broom and began to fall through the sky.

With a jerk, Harry woke up in the hospital wing in time to catch himself as he toppled out of his chair.

"Honey," Lily whispered, crouching down beside him. "Why are you still here?"

"What time is it?" Harry mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"It's past midnight. Go to bed."

Nodding, Harry rose tiredly to his feet. Giving Destiny's hand one last squeeze, he left the room. When he reached his room, he flopped down on his bed and fell fast asleep.

Three hours later, Harry was startled into wakefulness. Glancing around to see what had awoken him, he saw nothing. Lying back, he found himself unable to sleep. Sighing, he climbed to his feet and grabbed his invisibility cloak before heading out the door. Wandering down the halls, Harry eventually found himself standing before the hospital wing doors. Entering, Harry went to Destiny's room and paused at her door. Hearing someone speaking in the room, he hesitated before raising his hand to knock. Moving out of the way so as not to be bumped into when the door opened, he waited. When the door opened and Remus stuck his head out, Harry sighed with relief and revealed himself.

Surprised, Remus said, "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Couldn't sleep. Is she doing any better?"

Hesitating, he was interrupted before he could speak.

"I'm doing much better, Harry, thanks for coming to visit at such a crazy hour to make sure."

Shoving past Remus, Harry grinned brightly. "You're awake!"

Sitting up against a mound of pillows, she appeared to be barely able to keep her eyes open. Surrounding her bed were the other four people who had been at the Order meeting. All were watching him carefully but Harry didn't care.

"How are you? Are you feeling alright?"

Nodding slowly, she asked, "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to check on you; make sure you were okay."

"Right," Malfoy scoffed, "Like you weren't trying to make sure she didn't escape during the night."

Glaring at him, Harry was opening his mouth to respond when Destiny calmly reached out and laid a hand on the vampires arm.

"Calm yourself." Returning her attention to him, she stared at him as if she were seeing into his innermost heart. "You truly cared whether I lived or died. I do believe that besides my father, you are the only one who really cared. My mother visited once. Just once. How sad is that?"

"She was injured. She spent a lot of time in bed healing."

"My father could barely stand yet he came to rescue me. She has no excuse."

The silence that followed was oppressive and Harry began to wish that he had stayed in his warm bed. Digging through his brain for some type of conversation, he came up empty.

"We were discussing our new role in the war," Constance put in helpfully. "I suppose that an outsider's point of view would be helpful."

"Alright," Harry nodded, grabbing the chair that was transfigured for him. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing at the moment, Potter," Malfoy snapped.

Agreeing, they resumed their conversation as if he had ceased to exist.

"We will of course find a way to keep you out of Azkaban," Dakota stated. "There's no way that they will send you there after the help that you will be offering to the Light. I mean, they would be a bunch of hypocrites if they sent you there but didn't send Snape. After all, Snape has done just as much evil as you."

"Also, how would they justify sending you there but not the rest of us?"

"That's what I'm worried about." Rubbing his chin, Stanton continued. "How do we know that they won't betray us as soon as they win? I mean, they've done such things in the past."

"They won't betray us. They know that would just begin another war that they would have no hope of winning. After all," Destiny smiled grimly, "You can't hope to win against an enemy that has nothing to lose and we truly do have nothing to lose."

"We have our young," Dakota replied.

"Yes," she said sadly, "But if it came to it, we would sacrifice them for the future; anything to keep existing. My greater worry is that we will not be able to keep me out of Azkaban."

"You'll be safe," Draco growled.

"Once again, I don't understand how they can get away with persecuting you without doing the same with Snape," Dakota said.

"Snape was only responsible for his own crimes," Constance replied sadly. "Destiny is responsible for everything that every dark creature has done. Every murder is on her head; it's her fault."

"That's not fair though!" Harry exclaimed.

"Poor little boy," Stanton mocked, "He still thinks that the world is fair. Well guess what? Life is not fair. Your people make sure of that. If you want the truth, look at your humanity. They are the real monsters. They kill and destroy their own people. Look at the Death Eaters: they are human and they kill other humans. Dark Creature--"

"Magical Beings," Dakota interjected.

"Whatever. WE do not kill each other. The vampires only drink from humans, never the veela or werewolves or any other of our people. We never take the life of our own if it can be helped. You people think that we are the animals, yet we have evolved to having a near perfect utopia in our own communities. Can you say the same for yours?" Stunned, Harry didn't reply. "What, no come back?"

"Stanton, stop it," Destiny snapped.

Smirking at him, Stanton turned away.

The words of the others blurred around him, leaving him unable to do anything but think. Going over and over what he had been told, he suddenly came to when his name was called.

"Harry, it's time to go," Remus said gently.

Looking around, he realized that him and Remus were the only ones left and that Destiny was fast asleep.

"Sorry. . ." he mumbled climbing to his feet.

"Harry, don't beat yourself up over what Stanton said to you."

"But he's right though."

"Perhaps but the world is not really as bad as he made it out to be."

"Isn't it though? Are we not killing each other like animals?"

"Harry. . ." Looking at a loss for what to say, he sighed. "Stanton is very old. He has seen the worse that humanity has to offer. It's made him forget about the good things that people do; the things that make life worth living. Do you want to know a secret?"

Nodding, he whispered, "Okay."

"It's not the color of your blood that makes you a human. It's not your DNA or your abilities or anything physical."

"It's not?"

"No, it's your ability to keep seeing the good in life; the capability to keep living no matter what happens. Being able to love after suffering the worst loss; knowing that the sun will rise again no matter how dark the night is--that what makes a person human. Hope, love, perseverance, these are all qualities of being human. It's when you can no longer hope, when your soul has lost its ability to love, that's when you are no longer human. Remember that Harry, remember and never let anyone take away your humanity."

Rising to his feet, he headed for the door.

"Oh, and Harry? Love is a remarkable thing. It can fix anything."

Confused, Harry sat a few minutes longer before heading off to bed.

Sitting silently on her bed with her eyes closed, Destiny frowned. Searching through herself, she wondered if just maybe she had lost what Remus had described as her humanity. For no where in her was she able to find the kind of love that wanted no favor in return; there was truly no one in her life that she cared enough to keep alive that she would unhesitatingly lay her life down for. Had she really fallen so far?

*****

The next day Destiny gave her formal word to help the Light until the end of the war. With this agreement came the knowledge that when the time came, the Dark Creatures would fight against Voldemort. Until that time they would continue to allow the Dark Lord to believe that they had not switched sides when Destiny had escaped her grave. After all, with no Destiny there to be able to physically order them around they did not have to really listen to her as she had no way to enforce her powers.

After spending several more days recovering her strength, Destiny was finally released from the hospital wing though she was put under house arrest in a tower high enough that she would not be able to escape by climbing down.

Walking up the stairs to her room as he had done every day that week, he nodded to the Order member appointed to guard her door before knocking.

"Destiny, it's me."

Waiting several seconds, he opened the door and entered. Looking around he saw no one and continued farther into the room. Reaching the large picture window, he stopped at the site of the petite girl sitting staring out at the midday sun.

"I brought you lunch," he murmured, setting the tray beside her. Like every other day, he received no answer and turned to go.

"What happened to me?"

Stopping, Harry turned and stared. "I beg your pardon?"

Turning her face toward him, she repeated her question.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

Returning her gaze to the window, she stated, "No, I don't suppose you would."

Hesitating, not sure if he should leave or stay, he finally decided to speak. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong."

Laughing bitterly, she mumbled, "What's not wrong?" Motioning to her surroundings, she sighed. "Look at what I have been reduced to. I was once so proud. Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Seeing that he didn't understand, she smiled. "I had it all, you know. I had wonderful parents and friends, more power than I knew what to do with, and the loyalty of thousands of people. And what did I do with it all? I walked away from my family, gave up on my friends when they were being asses, abused my power and sold my people to the devil."

"This is my fault too," Harry replied.

"Yes it is. But you know what the worse thing it? All I want is to go back to when we were best friends; back to the time when all you needed was me." Seeing the hope on his face, he pushed forward. "Unfortunately I have seen too much to ever go back. All I can do now is push on and hope that in the end I won't have made my peoples- my friends' lives any more difficult than they were before I came."

Staring down at his hands, he swallowed thickly. "Maybe we can't go back but maybe we don't need to. The friendship we had once was great."

"But it's gone. It's been too long to start off where we left it."

"I know. But maybe we can begin again." Taking a deep breath, he rose to his feet and held out his hand. "Hi, my name is Harry Potter. Would you like to have lunch with me?"

Staring at him for several minutes, she finally smiled.

"I would like that."