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.

"I, uh, I don't think it's a good idea," I mumbled.

"Why?" Lily lost the smile. "It's just breakfast."

Merlin, I was a twat. I really was. What was I playing at? I mean, here Lily was, absolutely captivating with those wide, brown eyes that made me believe in kindness and everything good in the world, and that vibrant, blinding red hair that was just as intense as the soul that lived inside of her, but I could never seem to say it to her. 

"I'm sorry," I whispered, for more things than she can possibly imagine.

Lily dragged in a harsh breath through her nostrils. "Don't be," she said in leveled tone. "I understand, actually."

I looked down when the glint in her eyes turned to hurt instead of wonder.

"It's my fault, really," she continued. "I was confused—"

"You're confused? Merlin, Lily, I'm beyond that," I said desperately, willing some courage to glance up again. "There's so much I'm always trying to say, but when I get a chance, it never seems right."

"None of this is right, is it?" she murmured back, taking a step closer toward me. "It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did."

My breath caught in my throat when she took a few more steps toward me and now I could smell the strawberry scent of her shampoo and count the freckles across her cheeks. 

She was right—it wasn't supposed to happen, whatever it was. Perhaps that is why I could not seem to sit still, why I was too troubled to think in class or find sleep when night came. I was frustrated not just because of the tension between Nia and Lily, but because I felt guilty. I felt guilty every time Lily popped in my head and everything seemed to turn upside and shake me up; because every time I thought of her smile, my heart would flutter, but my stomach would ache when I then thought of Al and how he'd react if he knew I had a fascination with his sister's lips. Not just that, I thought of what James would do if he knew I often lingered in a lonely corridor with Lily before urging her to go into her lesson. Then, I thought of the murderous glint Louis Weasley would sport if he realized my eyes often drifted over to Lily (his favorite cousin) throughout the day. After that, I thought of how Freddie would retaliate if he knew I skipped out on pranking sessions to join Lily in the library to talk rather than study. Worst of all, I thought of what would happen if Nia knew I had these thoughts about Lily.

"I'm going mad," Lily said, pulling me from the verge of my breakdown. "I don't know what else to do about how I feel for you, Liam."

I winced at the tears that filled her gaze now. "I'm sorry," I said again, not sure what I was apologizing for this time around. "Please don't cry, Lily."

I had put a hand on her shoulder and she reached for it, dipping her fingers beneath my palm. She squeezed once, those brown eyes of hers locked on mine before she closed the small distance between us. Her lips fell upon mine and I felt the ground rattle where we stood. 

As our mouths moved together, the conflict that lived in all of this felt like it could melt away and disappear forever.

"The vulgarity!" shouted the Fat Lady in sheer outrage.

Part of me thought, yeah, I'm okay with this mess.

X

The sky was that sort of blue—that color children drew rivers with on brand new parchment—
 and the clouds were puffy and big, like cotton or the fluffy tails of bunnies children chased after over hills. In the corner was the sun, neon and waving rays of heat at the people below. It was the perfect day to be for two kids to make an empty garden their kingdom.

'Stop there, Snatcher!' With a twig that had been snapped off one of the shorter trees, a little blonde girl pointed her impromptu wand at the little brown-haired boy in front of her. 'You're surrounded by Aurors! Give yourself up—there is nowhere to go!"

With his hands up and a sack filled with pebbles they found near the man-made pond of his family home at his feet, young Liam lifted his chin in defiance. 'These galleons are mine, Auror Harper! Now step away before I end you!'

'Those galleons are the property of Gringotts!' Nia rose her wand higher, taking a threatening step forward. 'Now give them over and prepare to face Azkaban!'

Liam widened his brown eyes as he glanced at the shed at the far end of his garden that was their own prison. 'Listen,' he began with a pleading tone, 'I can share this money with you, Auror. You can buy your own Quidditch team. How does that sound?'

'Can't face the kiss can you, thief?' Nia smirked. 'Yes, that's what awaits you in Azkaban. You knew the rules—three strikes and it's lights out for you.'

Liam kicked the sack of pebbles with his right foot. 'Take it all, then! Just please don't make me face the stinky, dead prisoner breath of a Dementor.'

'I'll make a deal with you, Snatcher,' said Nia, lowering her wand a fraction away from Liam's face. 'I will let you go under one condition.'

'Anything, Auror Harper! I just have to get out of her before the guards of Gringotts release their dragon on me!'

A wicked smile stretched on Nia's face. 'A kiss,' she said loudly, 'that's what I want. You kiss me and I will let you leave.'

Liam rose a brow. 'I don't really think that's believable, Nia—'

'Oi,' Nia hissed at him, frowning, 'don't break character!'

He rolled his eyes, but he still said, 'Fine. One kiss.' He took a step closer to her, but then added, 'And I get to keep my galleons?' 

When she nodded, Liam took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he began to lean in. Once their lips met in a peck, Nia opened her eyes and shoved him back with more might her short, thin body should have. 

'Guards! Guards!'

Liam groaned at the hit his back took before trying to fight Nia off. 'You lied!'

'Silence, Snatcher! It's Azkaban for you now!'

As the make-believed wand poked Liam over his stomach, two men walked out from the backdoor of the Greengrass home with a stack of business archives in each hand. They smiled at their respective children.

'Be nice to him, Nia,' called Mr. Harper, 'he might not marry you if you bruise him up.'

Mr. Greengrass laughed. 'Come off it, Kellan. My Liam is already devoted to your little girl.'

Laughter filled the garden when Liam managed to break free and chased Nia over a hill....

"Oi," appearing on the open seat beside me on the most secluded table in the library, the girl with the same glittering blue eyes from my memory put her hand on my shoulder, "I know that face. What the hell are you thinking so hard about? I doubt it's Herbology."

I blinked down at the closed Herbology textbook in front of me before looking back up at Nia. "Nothing really," I said with a faint smile, "just the game of Auror and Snatcher we used to play."

Nia laughed, her entire face lighting up in a way that could bewitch anyone. She was beautiful, of course, extraordinarily so, but often it made people overlook what she really was about. 

"Which time were you thinking of?" she asked. "The time we used your dad's real jewelry  and then lost it, or when we had your dog Ringo play the Dementor?" 

I appreciated her dulcet smile for a few more seconds before answering. Like I said, most people overlook what was on the inside for what she portrayed outside. Yes, she was domineering, intimidating, loud, and hidden behind walls of steel, but she was my best friend since we were four. I knew her inside out. Now, caught between fifteen and sixteen, I still knew all her best attributes, all those glorious things she tried to hide from prying eyes. She was one of the best people in my life. If not the best. 

Looking at her through the eyes of a teenage boy and not as a child who did not know the difference between a girlfriend and a girl-friend, I wondered if she and I had the capacity to be so much more. 

"Liam?" Nia called, her hand on my shoulder squeezing lightly to reel me back in. "You okay?"

I did not blink away from her enthralling sapphire-blue eyes. I never could when they glittered with affection and love. It made me afraid to think if that would go away if she knew I kissed Lily Potter. What if I told her that I might actually really like Lily and broke her heart? What if that broke mine? What if she refused to speak to me ever again and I lost myself when I eventually realized it was her—my best friend—I was actually in love with? 

After all, don't all love stories begin with two best friends?

Nia moved her hand from my shoulder to the side of my face. Her thumb traced a gentle line along my jaw. I noticed how much closer she was to me now; I could smell the mint of her breath and the ever-constant scent of spring flowers of her blonde hair. 

"Liam," she whispered my name in a way that sparked a thousand more memories of our lives together. I felt my heart settle at the sound of it. She was familiar warmth, comfort and love, home and sanctuary.

I don't know what my plan of action was, but I had moved my own hand to her cheek. I looked at her mouth, pink, plump, and glossy, and I wondered what it would be like to really kiss her. Would I feel something? Would I feel like I could fly like how I did with Lily?

Smack.

Startled out of the trance I was caught in, Al jumped up from behind us, smacking me hard on the back of the head.

"What the hell is wrong with you, mate?" he said with a smirk. "I could hear Nia worry about you from three aisle down."

I cleared my throat, pushing my back against my chair to add distance between my best friend and me. "Yeah, sorry, Nia. I'm okay. Just sleepy."

She frowned at me. I knew she did not buy that.

Before she could question me, however, Al wedged a chair between Nia and me. "You free?" he asked her with a charming smile. "I need help with Potions again. I'm absolutely rubbish at it."

Nia smirked as was to be expected, but that glimmer in her eyes I thought was reserved only for me was still flashing when she looked at Al. "Say the magic words, Potter. You know better than that."

"Please, my beautiful Gryffindor," Al took one of her hands, kissing the knuckles, "will you help this hopeless boy with your knowledge on Polyjuice Potion?"

Nia laughed, turning her undivided attention at him.

And now I wonder: what was that?