𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 [𝐣.𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫]

8: 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔰

Her heart could only take so many blows before it broke.

********

Lily sat silently on her, biting the inside of her cheek. She hardly felt the pain as she gnawed determinedly, guilt threatening to swallow her whole. It had just occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, she'd become the judgemental antagonist she tried to force upon Brigitte.

In another story, Lily would've been exactly that. But the author, writing their lives into existence wanted to write another tale. A tale of a girl, who's sister participated in the arduous, spiteful task of writing a cruel letter every once in a while.

A tale of a girl who'd lost her best friend seemingly overnight, who watched her roommate become some version of the Tuney she hated. A roommate who seemed to scowl, just like her, a roommate who reminded her of all the ways she was imperfect, all the ways she was freakish and out-of-place, how much better the world would be without her.

Maybe, in a different narrative, Lily Evans's character would be surrounded with unpleasant words. It is so easy to antagonize someone who is simply lost, edge a lost soul toward a dangerously veered path when you could've handed them a map.

In literature, many terms are used to separate characters. Some well-loved, some despised, some relatable, albeit with questionable motives. We live in a world of antiheroes, sympathetic villains, antivillains, and so many other classifications.

But most importantly, we are human.

We take the cards we are dealt with, however impossible it may seem, and we play the game best we can. The world will keep turning, regardless of your battered physique, will keep moving at a breakneck pace as you suffer, for with every loss you are struck with, someone has won.

That, my lovelies, is the game we call life.

It's hard, not being the main character. Your bad days are remembered, good days forgettable in the flurry of normality. The portrait will always depend on the brush, whether painted with sharp, aggressive strokes or soft, melodious ones.

Nobody deserves for their stories to end up in the millions that never get told. No one deserves to struggle, to cry and break and hurt and laugh through it all, to live and have their story silenced by others who led objectively brighter lives.

Life isn't a competition, to see who can outshine the others, who had the opportunities for brilliance, who had luck and fate smiling down their shoulder. In another world, Regulus Black would just be the boy, too cowardly to side with his brother.

Sirius, as he passed through the curtain that stole the life from his body, could only think about how sorry he was, for not doing more.

Regulus never got the chance to tell him about the betrayal, never received the prideful look on Sirius's face, the one he'd craved all his life. But the thing about Untold Stories is that they

Regulus died, knowing his brother would be proud.

Sirius died, wondering how he let his brother run astray, into darkness, into the hands of death.

Originally, this chapter was only meant to be a showdown featuring Lily and Brigitte in the bathroom (where all showdowns happen), but then my depressed, overthinking mind came up with this.

The backstory for how Veela were created is based on the story of Medusa. She was assaulted by Poseidon, and Athena BLESSED her with the gift of turning men to stone.

One thing that always irks me is girls being antagonized simply for being pretty/girls being pitted against each other over a man. Trust me, they're not worth it. Also, DON'T PICK AND CHOOSE WHERE YOU THINK FEMINISM APPLIES!!!

ALL women deserve respect. Period.

If you are a man who didn't get offended about a Lil' Y chromosome slander, you've got the girls, gays, and theys on your side.

ALSO, please do not attack Lily. There is a saying that how you react the first time isn't your fault, but how you react the second time is. Lily doesn't know any better. Was what she said wrong? Yes. Is she going to learn from it? Yes.

Let her recognize her mistakes and learn from them!

THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN EXCUSE ALL YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS WHO REPEATEDLY DID CRAPPY THINGS. MAYBE YOU LIKE THEM, BUT YOU CANNOT SOLELY CLAIM THAT THEY WERE MISUNDERSTOOD!!

One tiny redemption (regret is not a redemption arc) doesn't undo all the harm they caused.

Also, to all the people that feel like their story has been forgotten, I am always willing to listen! You are beautiful, divine, exquisite, extraordinary, and all the synonyms Thesaurus can supply me with!

I have always felt like the side character, hence why I'm writing a Wattpad fanfic at catastrophic hours of the day/night. It also probably explains my daydreaming problem.

We side characters shall rise again!

Love you all!