#AkaiaOwl

[akaiaowl]

A Turn of Phrase - Dramione

“A book deal? I thought the Malfoy inheritance guaranteed you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life.”

“Do you write for money Granger?”

She snorted at the ridiculous thought. “Of course not!”

“Why do you assume I do?” he asked.

A story about how Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy turned the page after the war and found each other in the process.

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/JulySeptemberMFFest/works/26067508

Written for the MF Fest - Dramione coworkers challenge. Prompt: Authors.

[akaiaowl-tales]

RiM (Reality in Motion) UPDATE!

GUESS WHO PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER AND FINISHED A NEW CHAPTER?

(rethorical question, of course, like the ones Max loves to make)

Expect a post in a few hours, dear readers. 💙

[dramioneasks]

HP Fests: Mad Frankenstein Fest 2020

July - September 2020:

All Mixed Up by Pargcool - G, one-shot - You’ve got to be kidding me. Hermione froze, her eyes fixed on the back of the man wiping down the bar counter. Lydia—according to her name tag—didn’t seem to notice her sudden lack of attention and continued her introductory spiel. The words faded into the background, Hermione’s gaze narrowing on the back of the bartender’s head. She’d only seen that bright platinum hair once before, but surely it was just a coincidence. What the hell would Draco Malfoy be doing in a random muggle bar?

Architectural Symmetry by MissELY, Wolfqng - T, one-shot - Draco Malfoy hadn't planned on setting foot in Malfoy Manor ever again. Maybe to set it on fire. So when he and his curse-breaking partner, Hermione Granger, were assigned to go there he dashed off a response to their supervisor "Under no circumstances will we take this bloody assignment, are you out of your mind? -DLM" Hermione, however, had other ideas

Breaking the wall by DaniiiAnn, VGinny - T, one-shot - The prompt was Healers or Co-workers at St Mungo's. It's seven years since the war, Draco is a speciality Healer and Hermione is his Solicitor. His experimental healing has put his career and the hospital in trouble. Would Hermione be able to help the former enemy get out of trouble?

Chrysopoeia by hiyas, monsterleadmehome - T, one-shot - Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy both have their personal reasons for studying Alchemy, but when they decide to work together to develop a new Panacea, they discover more than they bargained for.

Cuando Pienso en Ti by LilithShade, TakingFlight48 - E, one-shot - Giving back to the magical community with her flourishing Philanthropic organization, Rennervate, would have been much simpler if Draco Malfoy would just leave Hermione Granger alone. It's time Draco learned that the Rumba was a dance for two, because although each encounter increased the heated passion between the two of them, Hermione will walk away if he cannot change his playboy ways.

Feint of Heart by Aneiria, hiyas - E, 3 Chapters - ‘Want to make this interesting, Granger?’ Draco said. His voice was low and dangerous and sent a delightful shiver down Hermione’s spine. She forced herself to focus on his words, not how he was saying them. ‘What do you mean?’ Hermione asked warily, not dropping her wand. ‘Winner gets a favour granted by the loser.’ Hermione scoffed. ‘I’m not giving you carte blanche like that, Malfoy.’ Draco watched her with his trademark cunning behind his silver eyes. ‘Alright then. How about a kiss?’

Mandatory Electives by DracosQuill, PhoenixDragon111 (Phoenix_Dragon) - M, one-shot - Hermione and Draco are tasked with revamping Hogwarts’ Mandatory Elective curriculum. What will happen when they come together?

The Melody of Touch by magical_traveler - E, one-shot - One of Hermione Granger’s favorite things about playing in an orchestra was when the orchestra began to warm up on stage. Tonight, however, was a different story. The London Philharmonic and guest pianist, Draco Malfoy, were performing together in concert. The program was beautiful but Hermione halted at the fact she would have to sit on a stage and perform music with him. They would be making something together. But all she could think about was the way his fingers caressed the piano keys, and the fact her body knew what it felt like to be touched by those same fingers.

Nontrivial Pursuits by senlinyu, sleeplessai - M, one-shot - Draco had a plan: reach the end of his probation, get promoted, and finally ask Granger out. Unfortunately, as his supervisor in the Ministry Archive, Granger seemed to be resistant to all Draco’s ideas on principle. The last thing he expected her to go along with was a trivia strip competition, and yet, somehow, here they were. “Do you have to?” Granger’s voice was sharp and jumped slightly at the last syllable. Draco glanced up and found that she was staring at him, the hollows of her cheeks a faint pink. He unfastened the cuff on his left sleeve without looking down and watched the pink transform into a stunning shade of red as he folded the fabric up to his elbow. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and bit down on it visibly. “Have to what?” he said with a lazy grin. She made an incomprehensible noise somewhere in the base of her throat and looked away. “You’ll be losing your shirt soon enough anyway, I don’t know why you need to bother rolling up your sleeves.”

A Promise To Please by hslades, mia_moriarty - E, one-shot - Hermione Granger was great at most things, as such it didn't come as a surprise she was a great Quidditch Commentator. However, after her All-Star Seeker boyfriend, Draco Malfoy gets gravely injured in front of her eyes, she struggles to stay professional and keep their secret. Can Hermione keep her cool while trying to give Draco the healing touch he requires to overcome a grave injury? “You were wicked, love. I’d almost get injured again just so I could justify you retaking the reigns.” “Don’t!” She playfully slapped his chest, “Joke!”*slap* “About!” *slap* “Getting!”*slap* “Injured!”

Rebirth by elithien, senlinyu - M, one-shot - Granger will do almost anything to survive the curse slowly killing her, even if it means reawakening magic that has been dormant for a thousand years. Draco will do whatever it takes to save her “Draco...” she says again, fingertips fondly brushing across his cheekbone. He opens his eyes and finds her staring at him. “Before I do this, I want you to know—“ His heart lurches. “Don’t,” he says before she can say another word. “Don’t say it.” He catches her wrist and pulls her hand away from his face, careful not to smudge any of the words scripted across her skin. “I don’t want you to tell me.”

Roots & Recesses by ExpositorRevan (Naydras), simplifiedemotions - T, one-shot - “Her nephew working with the Mudblood to decommission her wand. Bellatrix must be rolling in her grave.”

Second Chances by PixieKisses - E, 2 Chapters - After years of working closely with Hermione Granger, Draco meets two children who end up changing his whole life.

Small Mercies by JessiRomantic, Kkpwnall - E, one-shot - Draco Malfoy had been working with Hermione Granger in the small bakery that occupied the ruins of the boathouse for eight years. For the last year, they have grown closer. But the 10th year anniversary of the battle racks up the tension to a new high.

A Turn of Phrase by AkaiaOwl, MissyJAnne85 - M, 4 Chapters - “A book deal? I thought the Malfoy inheritance guaranteed you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life.” “Do you write for money Granger?” She snorted at the ridiculous thought. “Of course not!” “Why do you assume I do?” he asked. A story about how Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy turned the page after the war and found each other in the process. Written for the MF Fest - Dramione coworkers challenge. Prompt: Authors.

Tylwyth Teg - Fairies on a Welsh Mountain by Ernestin3, FedonCiadale - G, one-shot -  Draco Malfoy, on probation in the department for the surveillance of magical creatures, is ordered by his boss, Luna Lovegood to collect tears from the elusive Welsh fairies for a much needed potion. Of all people, it is Hermione Granger, the witch from the Department of Law who is to come along. Will Draco finally be able to curb his tongue and tell her all the compliments that are in his head?

Unforeseen by ectoheart, riane_b13 - M, 2 Chapters - Hermione Granger was going to fail something for the first time in her life. Hermione Granger was going to fail something for the first time in her life and it was next to Draco Malfoy of all people. When she decided she wanted to become an Unspeakable she thought that it would take a lot of studying and hard work. She didn't think it would take a drawer full of leather, or a six-inch stiletto. Of course, Draco would be perfect at everything. Of course, everyone would love him. Of course, he would look positively sinful in everything he wore. It should be illegal for a man to look that good at seven in the morning. She needed a cup of coffee, she needed a stiff drink, she needed to get laid and she needed to pass these exams. Hermione Granger did not fail.

Ungentlemanly Behavior by MissELY, morticiahavisham - E, one-shot - After a tipsy hook up, Draco Malfoy has an apology to make. Hermione Granger would prefer not to hear it. But when they're forced to work together on a tricky translation, she's finds she can't avoid it.

Unyielding by Ernestin3, HeyJude19 - T, one-shot - Do you yield? She hated uttering that phrase whenever she bested Draco, but it was the standard protocol for ending a duel wherein both participants remained conscious. Hermione could count the instances on one hand in the four years they’d been partners that one of them had been Stunned. Do you yield? It clawed at her. It ate at her to demand this of another person when her own wand carried with it such a conceptually contrary and dubious description. Unyielding. No, not her own wand, she thought bitterly. The wand of Bellatrix Lestrange.

Your Latest Competition by ahoidraco, theheavycrown - T, one-shot - Hermione ventures into new professional waters after a career start at the Ministry, opening a shop in Wizarding London. Her café is well-received until it quickly becomes the target of Draco Malfoy's personal vendetta. If only Hermione knew why. Written for the July-September Mad Frankenstein Fest 2020.

[ao3feed-dramione]

Postwar Pairings

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/32Z7aga

by Bowtruckled

"The Goblet of Unity? Seriously?" Ginny's voice dripped with sarcasm. "What a joke," she downed her drink in her annoyance. The newly enacted Marriage Law had them standing in the middle of the crowded gala; The Joining Ceremony was about to begin. "It was Kingsley's idea," Hermione sighed, trying to hide her fear. "This is a going to be a nightmare..."

Postwar Dramione Marriage Law fic that's about to get interesting...

Amazing Beta-reader credit goes to: AkaiaOwl. Thanks for helping make this fic MAKE SENSE :)

Words: 3215, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Daphne Greengrass, Cormac McLaggen, Minerva McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Ernie Macmillan, Padma Patil

Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley

Additional Tags: Forced Marriage, Post-War, Voldemort (Harry Potter) Dies

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/32Z7aga

[ao3feed-everlark]

by AkaiaOwl

Modern-day AU. Faced with a potentially awkward reunion with Gale, her neighbor and former friend with benefits, Katniss makes a last-minute choice that’ll forever change everything.

Words: 3250, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: The Hunger Games (Movies), Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, The Hunger Games (Movies) RPF

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Madge Undersee, Finnick Odair, Annie Cresta, Cinna (Hunger Games), Effie Trinket, Haymitch Abernathy, Johanna Mason, Rue (Hunger Games), Primrose Everdeen

Relationships: Katniss Everdeen & Gale Hawthorne & Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen/Gale Hawthorne/Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne/Madge Undersee, Annie Cresta/Finnick Odair, Katniss Everdeen/Gale Hawthorne

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, POV Katniss Everdeen, Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark Smut, Minor Katniss Everdeen/Gale Hawthorne, Friends With Benefits, Awkwardness, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Sexual Situations, Aged-Up Character(s), Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Weddings, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Implied Annie Cresta/Finnick Odair, Unrequited Love, Love at First Sight

[fyeah-everlark]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: The Hunger Games (Movies), Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, The Hunger Games (Movies) RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Katniss Everdeen & Gale Hawthorne & Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen/Gale Hawthorne/Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne/Madge Undersee, Annie Cresta/Finnick Odair, Katniss Everdeen/Gale Hawthorne Characters: Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Madge Undersee, Finnick Odair, Annie Cresta, Cinna (Hunger Games), Effie Trinket, Haymitch Abernathy, Johanna Mason, Rue (Hunger Games), Primrose Everdeen Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, POV Katniss Everdeen, Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark Smut, Minor Katniss Everdeen/Gale Hawthorne, Friends With Benefits, Awkwardness, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Sexual Situations, Aged-Up Character(s), Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Weddings, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Implied Annie Cresta/Finnick Odair, Unrequited Love, Love at First Sight Summary:

Modern-day AU. Faced with a potentially awkward reunion with Gale, her neighbor and former friend with benefits, Katniss makes a last-minute choice that’ll forever change everything.

[kyloren]

Mileven post-S2 fanfiction recommendation list: PART VI

To compensate for the long wait, part VI is extra long. For past rec lists please see instalments I, II, III, IV, and V. If your fanfic isn’t featured, apologies. Message me and we’ll amend that grievance in the next rec list instalment. 

* marks the ongoing stories. 

canon: 

chain reaction* by FourthHorse: “Old ghosts come back knocking, and growing up was never meant to be easy.” 

what makes you different by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): ““I wish you could see yourself like I see you,” he breathed out almost subconsciously. “Because then… you’d know.””

+ its sequel: we are not alone by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): “And just like that, the library at Hawkins High had become a war room, a strategy session where all the members of the party devised a plan to protect one of their own. Because that’s what friends do.” 

i wanna dance with somebody by @eleventhemage​ (richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “Eleven is popular. And mike feels insecure about it (she gonna chose being popular over him) but she chooses him.” 

a year in the life by @jeeno2: “Four times Mike and Eleven don’t kiss and one time they do.” 

eleven things* by Socalledfriend: “Eleven returns, but things don’t just go back to the way they were. It’s not clear how she managed to get home, and meanwhile Will’s sickness is only getting worse. Some things never change though, and while she’s back, Mike manages to teach her at least eleven things about the outside world.” 

the rules by Strange_Archivist: “Hopper lays down the rules for Mike.” 

what’s in a name? by @isaksredscarf (wordsarelifealways): “It’s been about a fortnight, and El wants to share her real name with Mike.” 

day 21 by kittenCorrosion: “It’s not the first day, day one, but it’s the first day she hears him. The first day she realises how much he misses her. The first day she remembers just how much she needs him.”

return to me* by AdelaideElaine: “Eleven reappears as suddenly as she left, and although she wants to stay with Joyce Byers, it’s decided that it would be best for all involved if she lives at the Wheeler house. Karen tries to teach her to cook, Mike tries to teach her to dance, and Nancy is charged with the task of trying to teach her how to be a Normal Girl — even if having Jonathan Byers back in her life means that she has less understanding of what that means than ever.” 

are you gonna be my girl by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): ““So,” he whispered in her ear, dropping a kiss on her cheek that she leaned into, “what do you say? Do you want to be my girlfriend?”” 

jane, pt. 1 by EvieSmallwood: “El tells Mike her real name.”

jane, pt. 2 by EvieSmallwood: “Love is a funny old thing.” 

time together by JoMo3: “Mike and Eleven have a sleepover.” 

+ its sequel: more than like by JoMo3: “Mike and El have the “l word” talk.” 

understand by DBSean: “Mike Wheeler and Chief Hopper have a long-overdue discussion about their favourite person.” 

christmas with the wheelers by luxuriousvoyage11: “On the first week in December, nerdy stuttering Mike Wheeler had done his routine visit and bashfully invited El and her adoptive father over for Christmas dinner.” 

contact by sporadicallyceaseless: “Before, El didn’t know any good people, or things she liked, or touches that didn’t hurt. Things are much different now. Much better.” 

safe by DBSean: ““El?” Mike asked, now fully awake, his concern and confusion quickly overriding any remnants of sleep or exhaustion he may have been experiencing. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Eleven nodded, and Mike saw for the first time that there were tears in her eyes. “Not safe.”” 

11 months by @eddiesghost (thewolfmoon): “Eleven’s gone for 353 days. Mike struggles through each and every one of them.” 

like a distant star by someone.else.before: “Now that Mike knows El is alive, he’s not going to let even the scariest police chief in the world get in the way of seeing her again.”  

first christmas by Browneyesparker: “Mike and El celebrate Christmas together.” 

crying in the rain by DreamersMyth27: ““I miss moments like this more than anything,” Mike sighed. El looked at him curiously and tilted her head to the side slightly.” 

the first summer* by Kiddo7: “It’s the gang’s first summer all together, and Mike can’t wait to show El all that it has to offer.” 

sugar cookies & snow days by Browneyesparker: “Mike and El have a snow day, and bake some sugar cookies together.” 

the first outing by pathvain_aelien: “Eleven goes bowling.” 

+ actually pathvain_aelien has a lot of interesting stories that you should check out. 

perfect summer day by AR357: “It was a sunny summer day in 1984. Mike had been looking forward to this day for a while. With each breath of crisp summer air, he felt more and more invigorated. With each hill he crested, he felt his heart thumping away. But then again, maybe he was just thinking about what the day’s events would hold.”

things you said* by Brown Eyes Parker: “a collection of one-shots revolving around Mike & Eleven and things they say to each other.” 

things you said, alternate stories* by Brown Eyes Parker: “Original and alternate or continuations of stories in my “things you said” series.” 

cold, helpless, fragile as glass when i shatter, i will find you* by janeelevenives83: “Mike and El Wheeler had never expected their life to be normal. One little stick at 4am on the bathroom floor changes that. But when old ‘friends’ come back to play, they leave with not only their ultimate goal, but a piece of Eleven that leaves a gnawing hole in her. And Mike won’t stand for it…” 

raspberry breeze by urdearestmom: “Sometimes she stays up with him, and she calls him ridiculous. How don't you fall over when you get up in the morning? She asks. Pfft, I don’t need sleep! Who do you think I am? He says, but then he smiles and her heart melts, she’s never been able to be angry at this boy for more than a few minutes.” 

alternative universe: 

lost in translation* by cosmilk: “For a whole year, the Wheelers are going to live with a foreign exchange student. Little does Mike know he’s going to get pretty attached to this girl.” foreign-exchange-student!El AU. 

(all i wanna be is) somebody to you* by sinclairsmax: “Elle Hopper never thought that she’d win American Idol. Then again, she also never thought Mike Wheeler would fall in love with her. Behind the cameras, everything is turned upside down.” YouTubers AU. [I AM FREAKING OUT. I AM FREAKING OUT.] 

inked mesmerisms* by apathetical: “Twelve year old Mike Wheeler isn’t sure what to make of things when the numbers ‘011’ suddenly appear upon his wrist one day.” Soulmate AU. 

infinite, undying* by @eleventhemage richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “When Hawkins Lab and Department of Energy officially decided to merge, it was discovered both factions had been experimenting on children in order to create super spies. 011, a tekekinetic, was from the Hawkins Lab side. “Mike,” a fire manipulator, was from the DoE side.” Mike is also an experiment AU. 

mixtape* by @elevenseggoobsession (frankiethebard): “Mike & Jane hook up at a party, then discover their parents are engaged to be married. Can they put their attraction aside, or will it be too strong to ignore?” High School AU. 

greyscale by @trash-the-tozier​ (littleboxesofstars): “Soulmates are what make the world vibrant, colors getting brighter and brighter the closer a pair of souls get to one another. In usual cases, the world starts off black and white and changes as a person travels, but for Mike, colors have always been there. Faint, but there, and that doesn’t change until the night his friend Will goes missing.” Soulmate AU. 

you ain’t nobody until you got somebody* by lovelysarcastic: “What if soulmates aren’t good for us? What if that so-called soulmate, the one that supposedly is so good for you, instead of loving you right, destroys you?” Soulmate AU. 

no remedy for memory by runawayrunt: “At 23, Mike Wheeler is going for broke. Having quit college on his sophomore year, he traded the diploma for the dream. At 18, Jane “Eleven” Hopper is ready to leave her entire life behind. She took a bus ride from Sacramento to Los Angeles on a hot day. The chorus of the cicadas sounded off like a farewell hymn.” 

all sorts of far away* by BinarySunrise: “Eleanor Hopper is a quiet, pretty cheerleader with more than a few mysteries in her past. Mike is a nerd with a secret crush on her. She has more walls in place than the popular crowd cares to tear down, and he’s more than a little paranoid about reaching out to girls like her, but fate still finds its ways of pushing them together.”

reality in motion* by AkaiaOwl: “It hurt her to listen to the ruthless voice in her head, but, as much as she hated to admit it, El knew it was probably right. It had happened countless times before. Well, actually two. Two times in which El found herself feeling funny and giddy and hopeful about someone, only to be disappointed. It always ended that way. She was destined to be alone and it was probably for the best.” College AU. 

things change* by untiltheyfindtheperfectgirl: “Two years have passed since Eleven went missing. A distraught Mike has pulled away from the party and made friends with his middle school bullies. What happens when one day in sophomore year a mysterious character from his past resurfaces?” 

karma by reddieforlove: “Mike didn’t fully understand the meaning of instant karma until a small hand came out of nowhere and whacked him in the face with enough force to blind him for several moments.” College AU. 

all for one* by PaladinofFarore: “1985 was going to be a wild school year.” Time Travel AU. 

blind date by reddieforlove: “Mike is a waiter. Eleven is on a terrible date.” 

crossover: 

a happy thought by midas_touch_of_angst: “The Party tries to summon their Patronuses. El seems to be having the hardest time.” Hogwarts AU. 

+ bonus: wherein The Party is featured prominently once again: 

a different kind of monster by @bananannabeth: “Billy Hargrove seems to have a habit of getting Karen to answer the door in nothing but a robe. Unfortunately for him, she’s noticed that he also seems to have a habit of beating his step-sister.” 

love (and other weird things) by cali-chan (girls_are_weird): “The Wheelers travel to New York to spend Thanksgiving 1987 with Nancy, and Mike is having trouble going two days without speaking to his girlfriend.” 

a gift for mike by PureShores: “Lucas, Dustin and Will come up with the perfect Christmas gift idea for Mike. But giving it to him might be a little more complicated.”

raising peter rabbit by @paradiamond: “After the Gate closes, Jim and El kick off their better start.” 

the wild youth (reckless) by dumbledore_93: ““He looks really bad,” Dustin croaks. “There’s a lot of blood.” Mike steps over cautiously. There is a lot of blood.”

kids these days by apollos: “Between fighting monsters and catching her little brother doing that with his girlfriend, Nancy would rather have the monsters.” 

and then there was one by @timetravl (dustingspace): “In which Dustin is the last remaining party member to believe in Santa Claus; and the rest of the party has to debate over whether or not to tell him the truth.”

you’re not alone* by Playfulelectrode: “This is right after El closes the Gate. We start with Mike, and what it’s like while he waits for Hopper to come back with El. There will be an exploration into the world as El tries to not only figure out where she belongs, but also who she is.” 

after the gate closed* by insomniacwriter17: “Jonathan doesn’t know how to deal with all the people staying in his house after the events of the night. Luckily, he’s not the only one.”

finally (i don’t care about tradition) @eleventhemage richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “I don’t care about tradition, you try and get me to kiss you under the mistletoe and I will punch you.” 

you are in love* by @upsidedownpromises (rainingcatsandkisses): “Little moments that make Eleven realise that she’s in love.” 

sometimes a family is* by merrymegtargaryen: “Just some domestic fluff with only the vaguest inclination of a plot.” 

someone to turn to by Val-Creative: “El finds meaning in her new identity and home and a relatively peaceful existence. When things don’t go the way they should, she’s grateful for Mike sticking with her. Max attempts to befriend her one last time, for the sake of their friends and themselves.”

a girl is the strongest thing you can be by @timetravl (dustingspace): “She thinks about the Demogorgon and the MindFlayer and part of her wonders if she’s the same girl now that she was when she defeated them. People don’t treat her like she is.”

the importance of thinking happy thoughts by selkieskin: “Eleven didn’t want to be angry any more. So when she was alone in the cabin during the day and she tried to use her powers using an emotion other than anger, she just kept on thinking of how much attention Mike was paying to Will, not her, and anger kept welling up anyway.” 

i’m gross? by untiltheyfindtheperfectgirl: “An unexpectedly eventful snow day...”

so i could kill them for you by valancysnaith: “Max deserves so much better. The party is there for her.” [this one is…odd, to say the least.] 

time’s just holding me down (i’ll tear up this town) by jormaperalta: “The Snow Ball is this weekend, and the Demogorgon is back. Thankfully, so is Eleven.” 

an even stranger connection by untiltheyfindtheperfectgirl: “Mike looked down at Eleven, his eyes wide. Was he really hearing Eleven in his head?” 

.

.

P.S. I’m trying out a thing where I tag the author’s tumblrs if I find them. With that in mind, if anyone knows the authors I featured in previous instalments, would you please tag them. Thanks. 🌸 

[ao3feed-mileven]

Reality in Motion

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2zr6jTU

by AkaiaOwl

College AU. Present.

It hurt her to listen to the ruthless voice in her head, but, as much as she hated to admit it, El knew it was probably right. It had happened countless times before. Well, actually two. Two times in which El found herself feeling funny and giddy and hopeful about someone, only to be disappointed. It always ended that way. She was destined to be alone and it was probably for the best.

AKA: Socially awkward Jane Ives' first semester in college. (I'm not that good at sumarizing, but please give it a shot!)

Words: 3546, Chapters: 1/7, Language: English

Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Eleven (Stranger Things), Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Michael Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield

Relationships: Eleven/Mike Wheeler, Eleven & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Eleven & Dustin Henderson & Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Eleven/Dustin Henderson/Lucas Sinclair/Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Lucas Sinclair

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Slow Romance, Original Character(s), Aged-Up Character(s), Awkward Conversations, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Crush, Awkward First Times, Social Anxiety, Eleven/Mike Wheeler-centric, Mike Wheeler Being an Idiot, Eleven and Mike Wheeler are Cute, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, My First AO3 Post

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2zr6jTU

[ao3feed-strangerthings]

Reality in Motion

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2zr6jTU

by AkaiaOwl

College AU. Present.

It hurt her to listen to the ruthless voice in her head, but, as much as she hated to admit it, El knew it was probably right. It had happened countless times before. Well, actually two. Two times in which El found herself feeling funny and giddy and hopeful about someone, only to be disappointed. It always ended that way. She was destined to be alone and it was probably for the best.

AKA: Socially awkward Jane Ives' first semester in college. (I'm not that good at sumarizing, but please give it a shot!)

Words: 3546, Chapters: 1/7, Language: English

Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Eleven (Stranger Things), Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Michael Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield

Relationships: Eleven/Mike Wheeler, Eleven & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Eleven & Dustin Henderson & Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Eleven/Dustin Henderson/Lucas Sinclair/Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Lucas Sinclair

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Slow Romance, Original Character(s), Aged-Up Character(s), Awkward Conversations, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Crush, Awkward First Times, Social Anxiety, Eleven/Mike Wheeler-centric, Mike Wheeler Being an Idiot, Eleven and Mike Wheeler are Cute, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, My First AO3 Post

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2zr6jTU

[akaiaowl-tales]

Reality in Motion Ch3 (Mileven - Modern College AU)

Chapter 3: Something just like this

Monday 4th, December 2017

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The pencil was repeatedly hitting the table. It was rather annoying.

“Could you stop that?” a girl asked dryly.

Trying to focus on the book she was currently reading, El was completely oblivious to the girl’s question and continued tapping the pencil on the wooden library table. She’d already reread that paragraph several times, and yet she couldn’t seem to come up with a coherent sentence to summarize it.

It was very difficult to concentrate on books and notes when her thoughts kept stubbornly wandering off from academics and reminding her of something she still was too embarrassed to allow herself to think about. She felt her cheeks starting to warm and, for what felt like the thousandth time that day, chastised herself for her own stupidity. She needed to stop thinking about Mike Wheeler.

“Ohmygod, are you freaking deaf?” the girl tapped her shoulder.

Startled by the sudden touch that wrenched her away from her restless mind, El almost jumped off from her chair and barely managed to stifle a shriek. El looked at the annoyed redhead girl with huge, clueless brown eyes.

The girl’s angry face fell, probably feeling guilty because of her aggressiveness.

“Just stop the noise, ok? The table is not a drum set,” the girl said with an almost guilty tone of voice, looking away quickly.

--….--…--…---

El had finally finished the chapter summary notes. Feeling quite accomplished and hungry after spending most of her afternoon studying, she stretched her cramped limbs and gathered her stuff.

The girl who had startled her was still there, sitting next to her and frowning, nose-deep in a bulky book. El wondered whether she should apologize or something. Truth was, most of the times, she felt completely clueless about how to act in certain social situations and this was no exception.

Just as she stood up to leave, the girl looked up at her.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about how rude I was earlier, but you and your drumming skills were annoying the heck outta me and I’m having trouble as it is with the stupid reading material”, she said, speaking really quickly.

“Anyway, I would hate to finish my first semester here making an enemy,” she continued, grimacing wryly at that.

“I get it. I also have trouble concentrating,” El answered cautiously, feeling very nervous. She tried to avoid looking at the girl’s piercing blue eyes.

“So, are you leaving already? To have dinner?” she asked, while saving her books in her maroon backpack.

Just when El opened her mouth to reply, the girl stood up too.

“Mind if I tag along,” somehow she managed to avoid phrasing it as a question.

This is going to be so awkward.

Having no other option after that, Eleven nodded and followed the feisty girl down the silent hall.

They both got out from the library together and walked towards the cafeteria. The girl – who introduced herself as Max Mayfield – immediately started complaining about her Government and Politics class (“I hate watching the news! I get bored listening to candidate speeches! WHY did I even chose this class to waste my extra credits in? ... I guess it’ll remain one of life’s biggest mysteries”).

Apparently, the redhead girl was kinesthetically intelligent – which explained her mechanical engineering major –, and that made the whole situation a lot more unexplainable and bizarre. Max was obviously one of those very fun, active, and talkative persons. It didn’t cease to amuse her how the redhead could quickly jump from one topic of conversation to another tirelessly. Much to her surprise, El found herself laughing along with her witty remarks and actually finding her really likable.

She was quite entertained by Max’s sarcastic humor and loud personality. Also, the redhead seemed unfazed by Eleven’s shyness and overall quietness, which was unexpected and really nice.

Listening to someone else’s problems helped her take her mind off what had happened that weekend and stopped her from paying attention to the cruel voice of her insecurities. As opposed to what she had been first expecting, El found the whole situation made her feel rather perky and comfortable.

“By the way, I’ve seen you before?” Max asked.

“I don’t thi-”

She interrupted her midsentence, and it suddenly dawned on El that Max was a big fan of rhetoric questions.

“Of course! You were that girl at Steve’s party!”

“That girl?” El asked, unsure about whether she should be offended or not.

“Yeah, the one with the rad dance moves.”

She blushed and couldn’t help smiling at that, remembering her sore feet and legs the morning after the party. Tentatively, she finally allowed herself to think about what she had been avoiding for almost three days now.

It really was an awesome night…

“Do you know Lucas Sinclair?” Max suddenly asked. “Wait. Why are you blushing? Do you like Lucas?”

El snapped back to reality.

“Wh-What? Will’s friend Lucas? Lucas the tall, serious guy?”

Max only stared at her with her mouth slightly agape.

“I don’t like him, I barely know him!” El answered a bit too fast, it really was the most stupid question in the world.

Max, however, still sported a suspicious expression.

If she only knew.

“Why? Do you like him, Max?”

Now it was Max’s turn to blush.

“Oh, shut up,” she said looking away, “I haven’t finally made a friend I actually find interesting so that we sit here gossiping about boys like it’s fucking high school”.

El couldn’t agree more.

--….--…--…---

Thursday 7th, December 2017

*3 missed calls from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

9:03 am WHY DON’T U PICK UP THE PHONE??????????????

*1 missed call from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

11:47 am U WORRY ME

*2 missed calls from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

She knew she couldn’t avoid him anymore.

Even though she had been successful until then – having Max as a friend had come in quite handy –, Will and her had class together on Thursday afternoons. History 102 was the class Will took as an elective just to be with her. The only way to avoid her best friend was skipping class. And El Ives never cut class. It had been hard enough getting into college with a scholarship to feel careless enough to do something like that.

Worst thing was, she wasn’t even sure why she felt so mortified about the possibility of Will saying or asking something about the party. It wasn’t like she was hiding something. Nothing major had really happened. Had it?

An innocent kiss goodbye on the cheek means nothing.

But there was nothing innocent about the weird way she felt when she remembered the feel of his big, warm palm steadying her. The cute way his dark wavy hair fell on his face, almost covering his eyes. The funny tilt of his head when he was listening to something that interested him.

Cut it out El. You’re making this a much bigger deal than it is like you always do. Heck! THERE IS NOT EVEN A “DEAL” TO TALK ABOUT.

It hurt her to listen to the ruthless voice in her head, but, as much as she hated to admit it, El knew it was probably right.

It had happened countless times before. Well, actually two. Two times in which El found herself feeling funny and giddy and hopeful about someone, only to be disappointed. It always ended that way. She was destined to be alone and it was probably for the best.

It’s probably because of all that rom-com trash you watch all the time.

She felt so guilty. Guilty about her stupid feelings, about her stupid thoughts, about her stupid hope, about her stupid attitude, about her stupid irrational fear for something that wasn’t even happening.

Worst of all, she knew her internal crisis was really no reason to be such a shitty friend to Will. He was the one who had always, always been there for her and now she was hiding things from him?

She was such a mess.

“Ellie? You ok?” Max asked with concern, looking at her expectantly.

This was the first time she ever called her ‘Ellie’.

Max had been so relieved to find a girl she actually found likable – most of the students in her classes were boys and she had gotten tired of only having male friends – and El was just as happy to have someone as nice, understanding, and extroverted as Max being her friend – also, apparently, she’d needed Max in her life to “coach her on stupid girly things that are totally dumbass but, sadly, necessary to survive in this society”.

Noticing Max’s concern, El was successfully distracted away from her restless thoughts and looked up from her phone to face her new friend’s scrutinizing gaze. She was all too aware of the guilt written all over her face.

“Yeah, it’s just Will”, she replied to Max’s question (for once without being interrupted!), biting her lip.

Max looked thoughtful. Despite their short friendship, the girls spent most of their free time together and knew a lot about each other so far. Max had even introduced Eleven to some of her closest friends. Of course, later, when El had mentioned her high school best friend and his friends, Max was very excited to meet them too (Eleven suspected it had something to do with her friend’s vehemently denied fondness of Lucas Sinclair). Therefore, El had to confess to Max that she was actively avoiding Will.

“Alright”, she said crossing her arms, “I think it’s finally time for you to spill the beans about why you are avoiding him.”

El looked away, trying to focus on anything other than Max’s stern face. She knew her friend only intended for the best, but she was way too embarrassed to tell her about her childish crush on Mike Wheeler.

“I think it’s not healthy, El”, Max continued, “The poor guy is probably worried sick”.

“I know! Ok?! This whole situation is affecting me so much too”, El finally confessed, letting all of her anxiety pour into her words.

Her hand trembling as she adjusted her shoulder-length wavy hair behind her ear.

“I’m so freaking worried I’ll lose my best friend over a stupid crush of all things. And everything, because I cannot stop thinking about what will happen the next time Will asks me to hang out with them”, El finally gushed out, completely unable to stop herself from revealing the reason behind her distress.

“WHOAH”, Max’s shocked blue eyes were wide as saucers, “HOLD. THE HELL. ON.”

El tried to mentally prepare herself for the upcoming inevitable onslaught of questions.

“So you do like Lucas?”

W H A T.

El let out a giggle and then started full on laughing unstoppably at her friend’s confused expression. She couldn’t breathe.

What the hell?

Her stomach was contracting painfully at her effort to stop laughing.

“No”, she finally admitted after her laugh subsided enough for her to talk.

“I have a crush on Mike Wheeler”.

--….--…--…---

“Hey! What’s going on with you?” asked Will, plopping down on the chair beside her, “I almost thought you were dead”.

Too nervous to stay still, she’d come super early to the History class she had with Will.

She had spent almost all lunch time telling Max about what happened at the party. However, contrary to what Eleven had expected, Max had insisted that it seemed obvious to her that Mike Wheeler was as interested as El was.

She also stressed that she thought El’s crush on him was not stupid. Nonetheless, El could not help feeling scared of the gush of hope she felt at her friend’s encouraging words. Hope was never good.

Plus, the possibility of something actually happening made everything a little bit harder. It made El’s mind wander off into cheesy fantasies she never had allowed herself to have before. It made the fluttering in her stomach a whole lot worse. It made her feel nervous and jittery and girly. And it scared her because it was new.

It made Eleven feel a lot unlike her usually phlegmatic self.

She turned to look at her best friend and couldn’t help the guilty blush from spreading on her cheeks.

“I made a friend – well actually she made me her friend…” said El, smiling at the memory of her new lively friend, “and, well, I’ve been spending a lot of time with her”.                                                

Will seemed shocked at that and then smiled.

“I’m happy for you, El, but why were you ignoring my texts and calls for days?” he asked, looking hurt.

He knew she would never, ever, replace him.

“El, you can tell me anything at all, you know that”, he said, “did anything at all happen at that party? Are you mad at me for dragging you there and then leaving you all alone? I’m so sorry!” he babbled, looking almost on the verge of tears.

The few students in the class were starting to stare at them.

She sort of panicked. Why was she such a terrible friend? Will had been worried about her, probably thinking the worst and here she was, avoiding him for such a stupid reason. She hated herself.

“Will no, I’m NOT mad at you… everything at the party was great”, El said truthfully and Will seemed confused.

“It was the best night of my life, I will forever remember it as my ultimate college experience, I am forever indebted to you for it”, she continued, trying to make her best friend laugh at her weak-ass attempt at replicating Max’s sarcastic humor.

Will’s smile was more of a grimace.

“Are you sure about that?”

“You know I would tell you if something was wrong”, El said, “Friends don’t lie”.

Everything seemed back to normal after that. They caught up with everything that had been going on those last few days. Will told El about his terrible hangover after the party and how “stupid Mike got us derailed for some reason and we finally got to the dorm at, like, 6 am” (El discreetly blushed at that, trying to hide a smile). El told Will about meeting Max and how, interestingly enough, she seemed to know Lucas (though she skipped the part in which she suspected about Max’s secret crush).

“Oh, so SHE was the cute redhead he was talking to all night?” Will said, realization dawning in on him, “I remember her! Her name seemed so familiar… BECAUSE SHE’S IN OUR APPLIED PHYSICS CLASS!”

Will looked as happy as the day Joyce got him all the vintage X-Men figurines for his birthday.

This was such big gossip material.

“I can’t believe it! And now you’re her friend!? We gotta get those two together! We gotta hang out sometime, we have to-”

El was giggling at Will’s enthusiasm, but they had to cut their conversation short because the professor arrived at that very moment.

At the second hour of the class, El was suddenly distracted by her phone vibrating in her bag. She carefully took it out and saw a text from Will.

5:14 pm Still not off the hook! u owe me an explanation about why u were acting so weird.

El sighed, she had been hoping that Will would forget about that tiny detail. She typed a short answer, wondering what in the world she would tell her best friend.

5:14 pm OK.

5:15 pm After class

--….--…--…---

The class ended faster than El expected. She actually found the topic they were currently going over quite interesting, which pushed all other thoughts away from her mind. Including thoughts about how to evade Will’s questions.

I’ll just go for the truth… if he asks, sure it’s embarrassing but I cannot lie to my best friend.

The thing that worried her the most though was Will’s reaction to the news. Would he play matchmaker (like he was currently planning to do with Max and Lucas)? Would he tell her something she would not want to hear (like maybe that she was getting her hopes up for nothing)? Would he be mad and hurt because she had kept it all from him? Would he be weirded out?

Will and El were among the last students to leave the class.

“So… What’s up? Please don’t tell me that I did something while I was drunk and embarrassed you or something”, Will said, looking horrified at the prospect.

Eleven had never seen Will drunk. At high school they had been the quiet losers that never went to parties, but she knew he had gone to a few ragers at college with his new friends. She wondered what kind of drunk her nice, quiet best friend was.

“No, I uh… actually don’t remember seeing you after you left me dancing”, she said.

“You’re too much of a pro to keep up with”, he joked.

“Hey! Max and I bonded over my amazing dance moves!”

He laughed at that.

“I like her already”, Will added.

El knew she had to say something, tell her best friend everything.

She didn’t know where to start.                              

“I was just worried about what you would think about me aft-”, she began apologetically before Will interrupted her.

“El, I would never judge you for being a drunk dancer, you know that”, he said sympathetically, completely missing the point.

“Plus, I’ve done things way more embarrassing than dancing”, he continued.

Will went ahead and told her about something that happened at the party.

“…and the last thing I remember is being found by Mike and then dragging myself into the car”, he told her, “and you were asleep on the copilot’s seat”.

El tried not to look too guilty.

“Yeah, I guess I was pretty tired after dancing my feet off”, she said.

“Who knew you secretly take cardio dancing lessons”, Will chuckled.

She punched his arm softly.

“So, how did you finally get to the car?” Will wondered.              

“Well, I found Mike outside while trying to get some air and we just talked a bit”, she said, hesitating to expand on her answer.

Will’s curiosity, however, seemed placated without her having to elaborate on the great time she had.

El couldn’t hide her relief at getting off the hook so easily.

It wasn’t like she had actively lied to Will, or hid anything from him. She’d just gone along with the conversation… which happened to skip through the very embarrassing topic she wasn’t yet willing to discuss with her best friend.

“Yeah, he said the same”.

El was dying to ask if Mike had said something else about it, or about her.

They walked around campus in silence for a while. Both deep in thought.

“Is it OK if all of us hang on Saturday?” Will asked, taking out his phone.

“Uh… I guess, I know Max is free and we were going to hang out together anyway”.

El was secretly hoping to see Mike again.

Which was childish and stupid. But, hey, Max had said her crush was okay and her opinion counted. Didn’t it? She was supposed to know much more about life and guys and relationships than she did.

“Cool, tell her we’re having lunch together”

--….--…--…---

Saturday 9th, December 2017

Lucas’ facial expression was priceless.

Will, Mike and Dustin shared a knowing look when they saw El and Max coming out of their dorm building. The four guys were sitting on a bench not too far from it.

Ever since Will had told them about their Saturday plans, they’d tried for about two days to stop themselves from bullying Lucas too much about his evident and quite cute crush on Max. However, they all knew this outing was mostly for his benefit (and because Will wanted to prove his matchmaking skills) and their resolve finally broke that morning, resulting in at least two hours of merciless teasing.

Which had resulted in reducing the usually grounded and confident Lucas into a blabbering, nervous mess.

He must really like her, Mike thought with a smile.

“Just try not to make your ‘Lucas aka Chocolate Daddy’ impression until, at least, the fifth date and you’ll probably do fine”, Mike teased loudly, trying to emulate his friend’s ridiculous voice (and failing miserably).

Dustin broke out in a laughing fit and Will smiled widely at the comment. Truth was, Mike had been feeling nervous himself about going out with the two girls and had tried to hide his anxiousness by being especially annoying to Lucas.

The girls finally reached them. They all greeted each other a little awkwardly and tried discussing what to get for lunch. Mike, however, was otherwise preoccupied (definitely not watching a certain brunette girl) and couldn’t help noticing that El blushed whenever their eyes met. It was cute.

His reaction to her was probably the same one, he realized bashfully.

From his conversations with Will so far, he had gathered that, like himself, she had also dodged Will’s questions and had not been completely honest about what happened last Saturday. He wondered why the both of them were so reluctant to admit to their friends what had happened the night of the party. It wasn’t as if something huge or terribly life changing had happened. Right?

He needed to talk to her about it, but was worried about making everything an even bigger deal. When it wasn’t. It clearly wasn’t.

After a while, everyone finally agreed to go to Taco Bell.

“Mike, didn’t you offer to drive?” Dustin asked innocently.

He hadn’t offered, but knew this was probably planned. This, especially considering that the only ones in their group with a car of their own were Lucas and himself. And there was no way in hell the guys were letting Lucas drive when they could force him to interact with his crush instead. Right in front of their prying eyes.

“I did, didn’t I?” Mike answered thoughtfully, “and we all know how serious I am about keeping my promises.”

Lucas threw a murderous look in his direction, knowing all too well what his friends were up to. Mike pretended not to notice.

Will and Dustin made sure that Lucas sat right next to Max in the back seat of the car, sandwiched between them and their giddy glances. Since there was almost no room, Max was almost sitting on Lucas’ lap, which made the whole situation even more awkward and all the more entertaining for Will and Dustin.

By that moment, Lucas was a permanent stuttering wreck and Max’s cheeks had gradually blushed to the point her face was now almost the same shade of red her hair was.

Needless to say, the guys’ antics were pretty evident by then.

“Next time we all go out, I’m driving too,” Lucas said grumpily.

El nervously got into the front seat, trying not to think about just how different this situation was from the one last week. She sat and looked at Mike, who was starting the car. She smiled as an unruly strand of wavy black hair fell onto his face, and suddenly found herself avoiding the sudden impulse to bush it away from his eyes.

Since they were effectively cut out from whatever was happening at the back seat, Mike and El began a casual chat, telling each other about their classes and majors. It turned out that El was a psychology major and Mike a physics major, which probably should mean their interests were very different. However, on that short ride they found out they had quite a few common interests besides their weird love for breakfast – like their preference for indie music, the fact that both of them were night owls, their mutual fondness for film-watching, and an (unhealthy) obsession with all things Harry Potter related.

It was no surprise to either of them to realize that they liked each other’s company the more time they spent together.

--….--…--…---

Lunch had been memorable.

The guys finally got to meet boisterous Max and immediately liked her loud personality and sarcastic humor. The atmosphere had relaxed a lot by that point and even quiet El felt comfortable enough to actively intervene in the conversation – which was currently focusing on a passionate discussion about whether the Harry Potter movies were good enough and lived up to the books.

“Of course the movies can’t even be compared to the books but they are still good!” Will exclaimed in frustration.

“I mean, as much as I love Emma Watson, I will never get over the frustration of the ‘HARRY DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE’ scene,” Dustin interjected stubbornly.

“THANK YOU FOR THAT, THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY,” El said loudly, suppressing the impulse to hug the stocky guy.

“That was SO out of character,” Lucas agreed.

“Oh, just shut up about this already. Everyone knows the problem with Harry Potter was totally the cast”, Max chimed in, “I never read the books, but it was obvious that those actors were getting too old for their roles anyway.”

The guys and El all turned to her with matching outraged expressions.

“I swear I didn’t know about this side of her when I befriended her,” Eleven said.

“What? It’s only the truth,” Max said shrugging.

“I need to forget you just said that”, Lucas said horrified, looking at Max as if she had just grown another head.

“Guys, what about going to the movies?” asked Will, desperately trying to salvage the situation.

They agreed and ended up getting tickets for an afternoon show.

Halfway through the comedy movie they had ended up watching, Mike (who had totally NOT been watching El from the corner of his eye) saw Eleven get up from her seat and leave. His heart almost jumped from his chest. This was it. The opportunity he had been looking for all afternoon.

“I’m gonna get more popcorn,” Mike said distractedly to Dustin, who was sitting next to him, as he got up.

His friend only managed a dismissive movement with his hand before exploding with laughter over something that had happened on the screen.

Mike almost tripped in his eagerness to get out of the place. He stood at the door of the room, waiting for El. He hoped he didn’t come off as a stalker.

Finally, she appeared at the end of the hall, just getting out of the bathroom. Almost as if she could sense his gaze, she lifted her head. She seemed surprised to see him.

“Mike? What are you doing here?”

READ MORE AT: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12840366/chapters/29318523

[akaiaowl]

Not Fond of Asking by AkaiaOwl

The five times Draco and Hermione cared about each other without owning up to it and what happened when they finally did. Words: 12k. Rating: M. Status: Completed. Written for the Sounds Like Dramione competition.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25595959/chapters/62122630

Fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13697319/1/Not-Fond-of-Asking (posting in progress)

[dramioneasks]

Postwar Pairings - Bowtruckled - E, abandoned - "The Goblet of Unity? Seriously?" Ginny's voice dripped with sarcasm. "What a joke," she downed her drink in her annoyance. The newly enacted Marriage Law had them standing in the middle of the crowded gala; The Joining Ceremony was about to begin. "It was Kingsley's idea," Hermione sighed, trying to hide her fear. "This is a going to be a nightmare..." Postwar Dramione Marriage Law fic that's about to get interesting... Amazing Beta-reader credit goes to: AkaiaOwl. Thanks for helping make this fic MAKE SENSE :)

[dramioneasks]

Guys pls check out AkaiaOwl's works. A Turn of Phrase and Not fond of asking It's really great writing and great characterization. If you enjoy Hermione's POV and redeemed Draco, they will be your favorite. Also, don't forget to throw kudos and comments

Thanks for the recs!

A Turn of Phrase by AkaiaOwl, MissyJAnne85 - M, 4 Chapters -  “A book deal? I thought the Malfoy inheritance guaranteed you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life.” “Do you write for money Granger?” She snorted at the ridiculous thought. “Of course not!” “Why do you assume I do?” he asked. A story about how Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy turned the page after the war and found each other in the process.Written for the MF Fest - Dramione coworkers challenge. Prompt: Authors.

Not fond of asking by AkaiaOwl - M, 4 Chapters - The five times Draco and Hermione cared about each other without owning up to it and what happened when they finally did.

[ao3feed-dramione]

A Turn of Phrase

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31oFxvR

by AkaiaOwl

“A book deal? I thought the Malfoy inheritance guaranteed you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life.” “Do you write for money Granger?” She snorted at the ridiculous thought. “Of course not!” “Why do you assume I do?” he asked.

A story about how Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy turned the page after the war and found each other in the process. Written for the MF Fest - Dramione coworkers challenge. Prompt: Authors.

Words: 8147, Chapters: 4/4, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy

Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy

Additional Tags: Co-workers, Post-War, Post-Hogwarts, Library Sex, Light Angst, Slow Romance, Writers

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31oFxvR

[akaiaowl]

<<EXCERPT>>

Wednesday 29th, November 2017

If there was something El Ives put her mind to, she was sure to accomplish it. Always.

Well, most of the times.

As a matter of fact, today was one of the few rare exceptions to that rule. This, since Will Byers, El’s best friend, had managed to convince the otherwise socially awkward El to finally come with him that weekend to some party at a friend’s house.

They were both currently seating on the beige colored carpet of her dorm room, supposedly trying to be productive by getting their History 102 assignment done before the due date.

“Pleeease El! I’m about to beg you, it’s almost Christmas break and, for once, I’d like for you to come meet my friends and not stay locked up here again like a loser”, Will had been pouting at his friend for over two hours.

“Hey, I happen to like being a loser”, said El feigning indignation and scowling at her skinny best friend.

Will managed to hold back his smile at his oldest friend’s antics and maintained a serious expression for the sake of getting his point across. They’d been friends since the age of twelve and both knew just how determined the other could be. Holding each other’s stares defiantly in a silent challenge, neither of them wanted to give in.

As she stubbornly stared into Will’s lively brown eyes, El suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. She had been having a few of those for a while now, especially whenever she thought back on their high school days on Hawkins High School. Actually, the biggest irony was thinking about how much she had looked forward to graduating and moving as far away as humanly possible from that hell hole she called hometown. Whereas, now, she couldn’t help feeling strangely homesick. As a matter of fact, lately, El was often ambushed by random flashbacks from her teenage years and usually found herself wishing she could somehow go back and do it all better.

She regretted everything, actually, except for her friendship with Will.

Their friendship was yet another reason El kept thinking back in nostalgia to her high school days: even though Will and her had managed to get accepted into their dream college together and even lived in neighboring dorm buildings, she felt him more distant than ever before. Worse than that, El was painfully aware that she was the reason of the increasing (figurative) distance in their friendship and she loathed herself for it. Now, more than ever, she hated herself for her apathetic and awkward personality. Why couldn’t she be a normal eighteen year old? Why couldn’t she just stop feeling so nervous around other people? Because of this she was finally managing to drive her best friend away, her partner in crime, after being the closest of friends for over half a decade.

For most of their first semester at college she had declined Will’s enthusiastic invitations to parties and any social events, preferring to skip them in favor of spending her afternoons in the solitude of her room either reading ahead or watching some movie or TV show. It was just easier that way, it seemed. El had never really been a social butterfly and she knew how much Will loved meeting and bonding with new people. So, she just figured that she could give him some space by making herself scarce.

However (and she’d never admit it out loud), as Will started spending less and less time with her and his invitations became rare occurrences, El began feeling terribly lonely (which was weird). She usually cherished her alone time, often glad she wasn’t out there fake smiling and making small talk, getting emotionally drained after overthinking and worrying over every tiny detail of her social interactions. Nonetheless, now, it just felt like a very different kind of loneliness.

El felt lonely in a bad way, a way she hadn’t felt for quite a long time: the kind of lonely she used to feel before meeting Joyce Byers and befriending her son, Will.

Finally, after glaring at Will some more, El lowered her gaze in defeat. Mostly because she missed spending more time with him, and also because she was a bit curious about going to a college party.

“Ok. Fine, I’ll go. BUT I’ll only stay until a reasonable hour and you better not be dragging me up there so I can be your designated driver”, answered El with an annoyed huff, hurling one of her fluffy pillows on Will’s general direction and feeling quite annoyed (mostly at her pathetic, abnormal self).

Her friend easily managed to catch the pillow midair and offered El a sympathetic smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. She knew he was worried about her spending so much time by herself – the fact that she had no roommate made it easier for her to just hide away for hours on end without any excuse.

“I’m only doing this for your own good El, you know I look out for you and it’s about time you start having a normal college experience and, you know, getting to know people. After all, the semester is almost over”.

--….--…--…---

Friday 1st, December 2017

El bit her lip as she stared at her reflection on the mirror critically. Was her top too revealing? Was her midsection looking gross and bloated? Should she put any make up on? Was her hair ok? Were jeans and sneakers too casual for the party?

Man, I badly needed a School of Life 101 crash course, El thought with a groan.

It was always on times like this that El really wished she had a roommate or a best friend who could actually give advice on these kinds of things. It was also on times like these that El regretted not learning about this stuff back on high school. Finally, after examining her reflection some more, she decided to change her sneakers in favor of her black leather boots and apply some lipstick to her dry lips.

Feeling quite nervous, she turned her phone screen on and was surprised to see several messages from Will.

8:02 pm U excited yet for your first college party?

8:03 pm Totally getting drunk as skunks 2nite.

8:46 pm Waiting for the guys, we’re coming to pick u up

9:29 pm On our way, expect a call in 15

9:44 pm Almost there

9:59 pm Ok, let’s go

*3 missed calls from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

10:03 pm Pick up the phone

10:11 pm We’re waiting downstairs

10:27 pm What the hell u doing? We’ve been here for ages

El was surprised to find out how long she had taken to get ready, her nervousness was really not helping. As quickly as possible, she grabbed her tiny purse and keys and made her way out. At that very moment, her phone screen lit up and the contact name Will had programmed for himself popped up.

*incoming call from MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD*

Smiling, El answered.

“I’m sorry, I completely lost track of time, that’s all. I’m almost there”, she said breathlessly while making her way down the flight of stairs.

“No problem El, just making sure you were still up for it”, answered Will sympathetically.

“Wait. So did I actually have an option?” replied El only half joking.

She really was terribly nervous, like she always was whenever she had to face a new social situation.

Will laughed at her lame attempt at making a joke and was silent for a bit, maybe trying to empathize with his best friend’s nervousness.

El could hear Will’s friends talking loudly on the background:

“We need to hurry if we want to get wasted before the night ends, that’s kind of the point of tonight”, a loud male voice whined pathetically.

“Hey, I’m actually enjoying watching this show”, another male voice answered in fake annoyance.

“Booooooring”, someone else interjected.

“You’re too lame Wheeler”, the first voice teased.

The conversation on the background grew faint as El realized Will must have walked away from his friends to talk to her privately.

“Everything will be fine and you’ll have fun, you’ll see. If you feel uncomfortable or something you have us”, finally whispered Will before hanging up.

El had really tried to avoid meeting Will’s friends for a while now, feeling resentment and jealousy towards them because her best friend spent most of his time with them now and talked all the time about how fun and loyal they were.

It actually made sense that they spent time together since they were all taking science related careers and had most of their classes together – Will was an engineer major, like Lucas, while Dustin and Mike were physics majors.

It was silly, she knew.

Calm down El, it’s going to be ok, Will’s friends are probably as nice as him.

Finally, El got to her building’s common area. She saw four guys sprawled comfortably all over the beige couches, two of them were fighting over the remote and the other two were trying to watch whatever show was on TV.

They didn’t notice her presence until she started timidly approaching Will, who was gazing at the screen with mild interest. He was the first one of the group to notice her and his face was instantly filled with a broad smile.

“You’re finally here!” he exclaimed, startling everyone.

“Guys, this is El”, Will said loudly. Then, pointing at each of the guys next to him, he introduced them, “These are Lucas, Dustin and Mike”.

“Thanks for waiting”, El managed to smile at them without making eye contact. She hoped they didn’t notice her nervousness.

“No problem”, said the smallest one of them, Dustin, “honestly, we were all dying to finally meet you”.

“Yeah, we had a bet going on about Will’s friend being imaginary”, laughed Lucas.

Upon hearing that last comment, El snorted while trying to contain a laugh and turned to look at Will with amusement. Her friend merely shrugged.

“See how you make me look bad El?”

“Oh, it was only for the sake of making the bet more interesting”, answered El with a laugh, “it would have been no fun without the mystery, now would it?”

The guys smiled, amused, and the air significantly relaxed. She felt a tiny bit more comfortable, and the voice in her head repeating her own doubts and fears in a loop grew quiet for the first time that night.

“So, who won the bet?” asked Will, looking at his friends.

“Me”, said the tallest boy, Mike, smiling.

He was the only one who hadn’t spoken up yet, but she recognized his voice from her phone call with Will – he was the one who claimed to be enjoying the TV show while they waited for her to arrive.

Overcome by curiosity, El risked a glance up at him and was surprised to find him already looking at her, matching her interest. They made eye contact.

“So thank you for being real, I guess”, he said smiling kindly at her.

She quickly averted her gaze, not knowing what to do or how to respond, and tried to keep her upcoming blush from actually showing on her face. It wasn’t even a compliment, why was she reacting like this?

Social awkwardness truly sucked.

There was a short moment of silence, which was (thankfully) quickly broken by Lucas.

“Ok, let’s get going”, said Lucas enthusiastically as he strode to the nearest exit.

--….--…--…---

[ao3feed-mileven]

Mileven Tales

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3iwlPoo

by AkaiaOwl

A compilation of Mileven one shots. Originally requested and posted on Tumblr.

Words: 650, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Eleven | Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler

Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler

Additional Tags: Tumblr Prompt, One Shot Collection, Fluffy Ending, Short One Shot, Mileven

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3iwlPoo