Who We Were Born To Be (Niam) [ON HOLD]

Chapter 7: Arguments

Chapter 7

Harry's point of view

Harry looked at his watch as yet another round of arguments began. They've been arguing for at least an hour solid now. The room was extremely divided on the issue of what to do about the people with powers who were being captured or killed worldwide. People's tempers were beginning to flare.

“This is all a bit hypothetical though, isn't it?” an elderly man named Kirwan put in, scratching his head. Harry remembered Kirwan with distaste from the time the old man had spent 'training' Harry and Liam in using their powers. If you can even call it 'training', Harry thought with a scowl. “I mean, we've got no real proof these people even exist,” Kirwan continued. “It's all just numbers and what-ifs. We could be arguing over nothing.” Harry heard James snort and turned to see his friend shaking his head while rolling his eyes. James seems certain about this. Harry trusted James one hundred percent. Plus, we know what was happening at Guantanamo. It's totally possible that the same thing might be happening somewhere else. And if the numbers say it is, then it is. Besides Kirwan is a total idiot. The fact that Kirwan held an opinion was just about enough in its own right to make Harry believe that the exact opposite was true. Kirwan would probably refuse to agree that the sky was blue. Although I think his power was weather right? So maybe it's not safe to argue with him over whether the sky is blue. It seemed that most people at the table shared Harry's opinion of Kirwan and they were also shaking their heads and hiding smiles.

Harry had been following the discussion as carefully as possibly, trying to understand the issues at stake. Liam's been trying to claim lately that I'm the most responsible one in the band these days... maybe he's right. Harry had used his power to summon a pen and a piece of paper over from a desk in the corner, and had been jotting down the various views to try and keep track of them. As the discussions continued, Harry had added sub-categories as he'd realised that some of the views had more than one version, or had unanswered questions associated with them.

After hearing the arguments it was very clear to Harry that no one option would be agreed upon by everyone at the meeting. No wonder James likes to just decide things himself and do them. Getting this lot to agree on anything is basically impossible. Harry also saw why James had asked the boys to keep their mouths and minds shut about everything he was doing in Africa. There are a lot of people here who would be very upset if they found out about that. Harry and the other One Direction boys were totally supportive of James' work in Africa. We've seen for ourselves just how many people he's able to help there. Yet a lot of these people would have a heart attack at the very thought of interfering in politics as much as James is doing in Africa. Harry looked up to see James looking straight at him and grinning. Sometimes it seems like he can read my mind.

“All right people,” Alistair said. “Let's take a half-hour break. Get something to eat and drink, and just clear our minds a bit.”

There was a general sigh of relief and most people headed for the dining area. Harry grinned as he saw Niall actually running in the direction of the toilets. Harry put down his pen and looked over the notes he'd made on the various views:

1. Ask the politicians to deal with it. When? (a) ASAP / now. (b) After we go public about the existence of powers.

2. Fix it ourselves. We've got no military forces. (Africa / USA / Australia lending troops) How do we locate all the prisons / killers? Will powers be any use in rescuing prisoners? Is there any way of countering the power-blocking devices? How will this affect public perceptions of us?

3. Do nothing. Public commitment to pacifism. No involvement in politics. Maybe there is actually no one being imprisoned/killed? The public will decide to respect our rights of their own accord.