Victims Of Circumstance (One Direction AU)

Niall (Bones)

"He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him [were] dark waters [and] thick clouds of the skies." - Psalms 18:11

Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England (July 2014)

Joshua Hildner

[Mr. Hildner, the music teacher at the Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, has an idyllic home. Filled to the brim with instruments and books, the ageing man is obviously a scholar of sorts, and loves what he does. Mr. Hildner sits in a large armchair by the fireplace as I sit across from him, pulling out my notes and asking my first question: Media coverage and actions aside, how did you know Niall Horan?]

It would be a lie for me to ever say that Niall was "normal". It was incredibly obvious that he was the exact opposite actually, and not in musical ability alone. No, while he was such a gifted guitarist in my class, he was also... well, he was obviously not entirely alright, if you know what I mean.

In what way?

I suppose in the fact that he... well, he never spoke much. It was kind of ironic considering he moved from Ireland with his family the previous year. He was introverted to an extreme level while also having an extreme anger pent up inside of him. I'd like to be able to say that I attempted talking to him about it, but I never could. I could tell he admired me and I admired him for staying strong through everything in his life.

To be honest, the only time he really seemed okay was in my class, no bragging intended. But whenever I would see him in the hall he kept his head down and sometimes dared to shoot glares at people that pushed him when their backs were turned. For all his anger, he stayed away from confrontation, and in my class, he could almost be called normal. He was a good student and a good boy, I can tell you that. He didn't deserve what happened to him.

Even though he chose to do what he did?

Yes, I think even despite that.

Fair enough. So besides those looks you describe in the hallways, how else did Niall interact with other students? How did they interact with him?

I would think that it would be obvious that they cared very little for him. I've never been one to venture out of my classroom that often unless it was for a meeting, but I noticed the way they whispered and gossiped.

I mean, kids will be kids. They bully, they glare, they mock. It's the circle of teenage life to be honest; I've been teaching sixth form long enough to know.

Anyway, here's a great example of how they treated him: When Niall was seventeen, I convinced him to play in our winter showcase coming up. It's something we do annually, mostly for the parents but occasionally for the other students to see what we do as well - music really isn't all that popular at our school.

It took a hell of a lot of convincing - that kid is really stubborn - but I eventually got him to audition - out of courtesy - and play.

On the night of the event, everything was going really well. Most of the people that had auditioned had got in and were doing really well. Not too many notes out of tune or accidental slips. The audience was encouraging, families were there... then Niall came on.

Did he do alright?

If you mean in terms of his playing, he was spectacular. In the top five performances, if you ask me. Yet the entire time I noticed that neither of his parents were there, in fact, the only time I saw them was during our parent-teacher conferences that we hold mandatorily once a year.