Leave Out All The Rest

A Conflicted Gryffindor

Chapter Fifteen: A Conflicted Gryffindor

POV:  Liam

I was pacing back and forth on the same narrow corridor, I was sure I left my footprints on the marble. It started yesterday, really, the pacing. It was the side-effect of a ball of nerves that did not seem to dissolve. I don't know how or when the thing started growing, but all I know is that the creators of it were Nia Harper and Lily Potter.

One of the only truths I've ever been sure about myself is this: I don't do well with animosity. Not directed at me or anyone else. And, Merlin, did Nia and Lily absolutely hate each other. Somehow, I was caught in the middle.

 It made me restless (hence the pacing) being this frustrated and confused. I hardly slept, just walked in circles around my four-poster. I had not been tuned in with my muttering, but apparently it was rather loud and it forced my dorm-mates to kick me out until I had sorted out whatever had me unsteady.        

Easy for them to say, isn't it? They aren't caught in the hurricane that is Nia or the wildfire that is Lily.

So here I am; seven in the morning, stress weighing me down as I paced back and forth in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. She had been singing for most of the time I was out here since she insisted I hear the new song she composed. She claimed it was the finest tune my generation would ever hear, but, obviously, she thought highly of herself. I had drown out her screeching ages ago.

"Well, what do you think, child?" asked the Fat Lady, her painted, dark eyes gleaming with self-satisfaction. 

I stopped before I could turn on my heels back to the end of the corridor. "Erm," I knitted my brows, hoping the portrait hole would swing open and she was smashed against the marble wall while I made a run for it. Still, my father had not raised me to be a bad mannered person, so I pulled on a strained smile and said, "well...yeah...brilliant." 

The Fat Lady's face lit up. "Oh, of course it is brilliant! I have been around for generations—not many, mind you, do not allow the hairdo to fool you—but I have been told I get better with time. They say I sound like the angels, actually."

I would say mandrakes sounded better than her, but that would be rude.

"I try to enrich your dull lives with rich and cultured music—real music, not like those banshees the children your age hear," she continued. "Oh, times have changed, my dear. When I was alive talent like mine was fiercely appreciated. Now look at would the world has—" the Fat Lady was silenced when (thank Merlin) the portrait hole actually did swing open.

It was in that moment that one of the girls plaguing my thoughts appeared before me.

"Lily," I breathed, heartbeat kicking up a notch.

She looked up at me from the red and gold tie she was fixing around the collar of her white button-up, those sparkling, warm brown eyes lighting up the open space between us like the morning sun. Her lips were pulled to a smile as she said, "Why are you up so early?"

I opened my mouth but no words seemed to come out.

Lily laughed at the face I must have made. "Well, what do you say about joining me for breakfast? We can finally snag the good spot on the table since all of Gryffindor is still asleep."

I instantly took a step back when sharp, enchanting blue eyes flashed in my mine. Those eyes could be so lovely, but hell hath no fury like a pissed off Nia. I cannot imagine her to be all smiles when she waltzed into the Great Hall and saw me sat next to Lily Potter.