Royalty [A One Direction AU]

{6} Bullies and Backstories

For the past month, the only thing people have been talking about is the King's heir. Zayn never told anyone that I was a boy, which was surprising until I realized that he wanted to figure out who I was on his own. Everyone in my Spellcaster class is wary of everyone else, because we're the top Caster class so chances are the heir, as everyone has taken to calling me, is in our room, which is true. Everyone has realized that the person has to be a Spellcaster, so all of us, especially Cher, Luke, Matt, and I, are getting a lot of attention. Even the teachers are talking about the heir, other than Paul. He's adopted a policy where no one can talk about the heir in his room, which I'm thankful for. It's the only place in the school where people aren't constantly hounding me trying to get me to say who the heir is. Some people have the crazy idea that our entire class knows who the heir is, so they're asking everyone, and our roommates. Even with my dad's words, a few people are resorting to bullying to figure out who the heir is. I've only been punched about three times, because a good gust of magic wind can usually knock someone off of me without hurting them.

I open the front doors of the school and start to walk around the side, a path I've taken multiple times. But this time, right before the back of the school comes into view I hear a high-pitched scream that is very familiar. I bolt around the side of the building to see Cher lying on the ground, squirming and screaming while a group of Weres stand around her and laugh.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" I yell, running toward the group. The leader turns and I stop in my tracks, immediately recognizing Nick, the strongest Were in our school. He's a huge Werewolf, and no one messes with him if they want to survive.

"Well come save your lass, Wizard! Nick teases, and I run toward him again.

"Niall!" Cher shouts in warning, but it's too late. As soon as I get close to Nick a Caster steps out from behind him, his red eyes directed at me. Instantly unbearable pain fills my body and I collapse, just like Cher.

"So which one of you is the heir?" Nick asks, looking at Cher and I. We both shake our heads as best as we can, and the pain gets worse. "Nonsense. You two are the only Wizards on campus, the heir has to be one of you." Nick insists.

"Why?" I ask, squeezing my eyes shut as the pain increases.

"Because I want to know." Nick says simply, looking at the Caster. "Let's go, we can try again another time." The Caster turns and follows Nick, leaving Cher and I on the ground, still in intense pain since he never stopped the spell. I start to get dizzy, and the world spins a bit. I hear someone yelling my name, but before they can reach me I black out.

~•~•~•~•~

I open my eyes to see that I'm in the Infirmary, lying in a bed next to Cher with Louis and my dad sitting against the wall opposite me.

"If we tell them some will stop hurting him, but some will hurt him more." Louis says softly, looking away from my dad and meeting my eyes. "Niall!" He exclaims, drawing my dad's attention to me.

"What happened to you two? Louis here found you both unconscious behind the school." My dad says, frowning. I search my memory and shrug.

"Last thing I can remember is hearing Cher scream." I say, confused. Cher groans, turning her head to look at me.

"Memory wipes. Whoever hurt us wiped our memory. All I can remember is going for a short walk, then waking up here." She says. I look from Cher to my dad, then back again. Cher notices this and laughs. "Niall, I know who you are. Louis and King Bobby explained everything. I'm not sure what happened, but I do know that you saved me at some point, so thanks for that." She explains.

"Oh..." I say quietly, and Cher shakes her head.

"If you think I'll treat you any differently, then you're wrong. If no one else knows, I'll have to act like you're normal, anyways, so why bother? To me, you're just slightly more powerful than I thought, with a different last name. Until everyone knows, there's no point treating you like a prince." She says, and I smile gratefully.