Harry Styles Do Be A Potter

Chapter 33: Music For a Shrieking Shack

While Liam was keeping the wolf busy, everyone else searched the different rooms of the house.

Harry pouted, "you know, out of all the people in the band, you two are probably my least favorite." he said earnestly.

Zayn, annoyed, continued to shuffle through the upstairs of the house, looking for the enchanted keyboard "ok, bud." he muttered, not even looking up.

"That's kind of rude, Harry." Ni tried to say in a nicer tone.

Harry shrugged, "it was just a thought." he picked up some galleons at the edge of a desk and nodded very pleased with himself before shoving them in his pocket, "I made a ranking you know?"

Neither Ni nor Zayn said anything. Harry took this as a sign to continue.

"It goes: Liam, Louis, Niall-Hermione, then Zayn." He tsked disappointedly. "Dead last Zayn."

Zayn felt the urge to tell Harry everything in that moment–everything about his parents and how they were brothers. He wondered how he'd react, especially after saying all this.

"That's nice Harry," Ni said, continuing back into the hallway, "I just don't think that's a constructive team building strategy. Also it's Ni now, remember?"

"That's not true. I saw this video on tiktok where people gave their icks about each other. I feel like I should do that soon–the way some of you've been acting is getting on my nerves."

Zayn gave Ni a pained smile.

"It's like some of you guys just think you're better than everyone else???? Like what's more important to you? The band that we as a team, a posse, a herd, a family have poured our blood, sweat, tears, and pee into, or your massive overbearing egos? I'm sick of it–sick!"

Ni stifled a giggle, reaching for the handle to the next room but suddenly she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her and saw a hole in the floor, about three square feet around where she could see all the way down to the living room where the wolf was leaping around grumpily searching for its prey.

"Ni, oh my god," Zayn said breathlessly, easing his grip on her. "You need to be more careful."

Ni turned red at how close their faces were. She'd never noticed how long his eyelashes were, how his brow crinkled in concern. She felt her heart pound in her ears and could only mutter a series of ums or uhs in response.

Harry broke the silence, flinging up his hands. "See! This is what I'm saying!!! It's like everyone's forgot I exist. If I had fallen down that hole you two wouldn't even bat an eye, wouldn't try and help, wouldn't even notice. And then at my funeral you'd see my cold dead body covered in blood and bruises, and shed a tear, wishing you'd helped poor Harry Styles just a poor boy who loved to sing." He was mostly talking to himself at this point as Ni and Zayn had already made their way around the hole to the bedroom.

Harry stared down at the hole, pondering whether he should fling himself into its depths to make them pay.

In the room there was shattered glass everywhere from the window which appeared to have been jumped through by a boy around the same size, shape, and lisp as Liam Paynebottom himself.

Harry, who had a new understanding of empathy for others, even felt a twinge of joy for the poor boy. He's made it out alive! Huzzah!

Ni reached out to run her hand along the jagged edge of glass. "Hey!" Zayn said gently, "what did I say about being careful," he grabbed her hand and folded his fingers around hers with a shy smile.

Harry frowned, maybe there was something more going on with the two of them than he'd thought. Zayn seemed to realize what Harry was thinking with a panic.