PT. 2 of my HP x BYLER AU
The summer holidays passed by in a blur and between homework and hanging out with Will, Mike had been pretty busy.
Now, in "Platform 9 and 3/4" Mike buzzed with excitement to hug Will. Although they'd seen each other barely 48 hours ago, Mike couldn't help but feel like they'd been 48 days or years. So he moved around with his trolley until he spotted a familiar brown head sticking up in the multitude.
Mike pushed his trolley forward and grinned at Will, who still hadn't seen him as he was focused on something or someone else. That person was Max, who was babbling excitedly about all the new curses and charms Robin was going to teach her this year, while Will nodded along. Meanwhile, Will's mother fussed over how Will's hand-me-down shoes were already displaying holes and his tie was all crooked. Jonathan had his arms wrapped around Steve Harrington whose cheeks were a pretty red color.
Will turned to look at his brother, who stuck his tongue at him. Max grabbed Will's hand trying to draw his attention towards whatever it was she was saying. Will slapped her hand away playfully and she said something in mock offense.
Mrs. Byers was watching the whole interaction with an amused face. Finally, Mike reached his limit and marched over.
"Will!" Mike called "I missed you!"
"So, did I," Will laughed as Mike pulled him away from Max "but we saw each other 2 days ago! It's been weeks since I've seen Max!"
Mike frowned, they'd seen each other during the summer, without The Party? Worse of all, Will hadn't told Mike about this. It was outrageous, they'd promised to tell each other everything! This was all Max's fault.
Not only that, but the red-haired girl he got on Mike's nerves because she seemed to go wherever Will went, meaning he would no longer have Will to himself.
Once in the train, they bumped into El, Lucas and Dustin. Who invited Mike, Will and Max to sit with them. Much to Mike's dismay, Will sat next to the window and Max took the seat next to him.
So Mike sat between El and the door. El was acting weirder than she had last year, she was constantly red in the face and stuttered a lot. Mike almost thought she has a fever, but apparently that wasn't it. Anyways, seeing Max and Will share inside jokes and swap food provokes something really ugly inside of Mike, something burning and painful.
Since Mike was too focused on his own jealousy, he failed to notice Will's own frustration and longing stares while Mike seemingly "flirted" with El.
As the days passed Mike felt he and Will were growing distant from each other. Will hung out with Max and Robin more often while Mike felt like El was the only one who truly understood him.
"Mike!" cried Will, one cloudy, spring day, as he rushed into the courtyard where Mike sat "I tried out for the Quidditch team and they accepted me! I'm a Beater! Training starts tomorrow!"
Mike wanted to be happy for him, he truly did. Yet, he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to genuinely be happy for his best friend. He couldn't fathom his sweet and caring Will playing such a dangerous sport.
"Will, be honest, do you even like Quidditch?" Mike asked, with a skeptical frown.
"Y- Yeah! I do. It's a great sport and Professor Creel says I'll be a great Beater!" Will sounded defensive.
"Professor Creel? You trust him? Will, he's not to be trusted!" insisted Mike
"I'm sorry?" snapped Will "He is not to be trusted? Why? 'Cause he's a Slytherin, right?"
Mike bit his lip, he hadn't meant to say that.
"Well, guess what? I'm Slytherin too! Does that mean you can't trust me either, huh?"
It began to rain and at one point Mike didn't know if the droplet he felt against his cheeks were tears or the rain itself.
"That's not what I meant!" Mike sobbed
"You sure, Mike? Professor Creel is a magnificent teacher. Just because you're Gryffindor and don't like him doesn't mean he is bad. Not every Slytherin is bad, y'know? Although you Wheelers seem to unjustly despise all of us!"
"That's just not true!" Mike scoffed, why was Will being such an asshole about this?
"I'm leaving! I'm gonna go find Max and Robin 'cause at least they'll be happy for me" spat Will.
"Will, you can't leave!" Mike tried desperately "It's raining" but it was hopeless, Will had already left him.
For the next few weeks, things were awkward between Will and Mike, their conversations had become stilted and forced until they stopped completely. The catalyst for this was Mike hearing rumors of Will and Max dating. Rumors he thought made sense, they were always together, they held hands sometimes and they were super protective of each other. Another reason why Mike felt betrayed by Will. Will hadn't told Mike he liked Max, how were they supposed to be best friends if they kept secrets from each other!
By the last days of school, Hogwarts buzzed with excitement.
The Quidditch match finals were just around the corner. The 2 Houses competing were Hufflepuff and Slytherin, which meant the 2 Byers Brothers were up against each other.
Both were quite the players as Will was pretty bold and didn't think twice of hitting the Bludger with his bat while Jonathan did fantastic saves as a Keeper.
Begrudgingly, Max invited The Party to come see Will but by the first part of the match, El had become bored of the game and told Mike to accompany her back to the school grounds.
Mike accepted since he thought Will wouldn't even care if he wasn't there, curiously, Max shot him a furious glare when he got up to leave.
Both him and El talked for hours, walking around aimlessly. El told him that her Dad had began to date Will's mom and that Will and her are going to be together a lot this summer.
Then, when the sun was almost down, they sat in the courtyard and El grabbed the side of his face, her cheeks were a rosy color and her mouth was in a shy smile.
Mike felt paralyzed, he knew what was going to happen. El was going to kiss him! Yet, he didn't feel that fluttery sensation his sister told him she felt when she kissed her best friend Barb and her ex-boyfriend Steve. His hands weren't all sweaty or clammy like Lucas described he feels when his near his crush. Nor was he a rambling, stuttery mess like Dustin! What did that mean? Why wasn't he feeling the things he should?
"Do you want to do this, Mike?" whispered El, softly
"Um, uh, Ye- Yeah. I do." He can't believe it took him so much willpower to want to kiss El. No, to want to kiss a girl.
El began to kiss him and he kissed her back. Still, nothing magical happened, it was the most boring thing ever. He was just kind of there.
He heard a noise from behind him and he turned around to find Will and Max staring at them, shocked. Max balled her fists and angrily stormed away muttering curses. Will on the other hand, stood there, mouth parted, tears welling up.
Mike knew he fucked up. He'd abandoned Will's important game to kiss a girl. He shouldn't have done that, he knows that.
Will turned around and left, wiping his face with his emerald Quidditch robe.
Mike didn't run after him, Mike turned to face El. She looked slightly sad but mostly confused, she didn't understand what happened.
The last day of school, Mike went over to the Slytherin table at The Great Hall.
"Hey, Will." he began
He felt Max glare daggers at him and Robin give him the stink-eye, several other Slytherins snickered. Billy, had a sneer plastered on his annoying and punchable face.
"Hi?" answered the smaller boy with confusion l
"I wanted to apologize for our argument, ok?" Mike apologized using his softest voice
"It's ok, Mike, really" Will dismissed with a small wave.
"No, it isn't I-" Mike insisted because it wasn't ok it was wrong.
"I said drop it, Mike" the brunet snapped. He did that a lot lately and when he did, he looked eerily similar to his father. It made Mike shudder. Mike shrugged helplessly and left to meet El and Lucas.
Lucas was blushing and El frowned at whatever Lucas was saying.
"So then me and Max kissed under the bleachers, yesterday and it was awesome!" Lucas gushed
Wait, Max and Lucas? Weren't she and Will dating? But if they kissed that meant that the duo were just friends and Mike had misunderstood everything. He'd fucked up again and Will was obviously not fine. Maybe the summer and spending time with El would help.
Mike ended his second year at Hogwarts wondering where exactly he'd gone wrong.
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Some Badger lore because I've been thinking about Badger a LOT
Pre task force:
Pretty average Canadian childhood. Lower-Middle Class, an older brother.
Joined kickboxing in high school and absolutely loves it. Still does.
Joined the military to pay for her university, but life didn't end up going the way she expected.
When on the field, she was mostly close-quarters combat and infiltration. Specializing in Urban Warfare.
Absolute dogshit at sniping
Got her callsign because her work partner was called Coyote, and their absolute symbiotic teamwork on the field yet conflicting personalities led them to jokingly call her the Badger to their Coyote. An unexpected, but fantastic duo.
They slowly became friends and got their matching tattoos after a particularly difficult mission.
A few years before Badger joined the task force, they both got caught in an explosion. Her injuries led to permanent nerve damage and significant scarring along her back. Mostly causing involuntary muscle spasms (especially in her arms/hand when she holds anything for prolonged periods of time) and full-body numbness and stabbing pain. She was deemed unfit to return to active duty (due to the risk of her dropping her gun in the middle of combat) but offered a Filling Clerk/Supply Sergeant role for her keen organizational skills.
Coyote has yet to wake up from their injuries, but she visits them whenever she's on leave. Knows their nurses by name due to frequent contact.
Currently:
Is mostly fine with her role - enjoys it even - but gets a bit anxious whenever her people are out there and she can't do anything.
Occasionally feels a bit alienated from the rest due to her not being on active duty like them. Especially if everybody is gone for a while, she feels as if they'd forget about her. She'd die before telling people this.
Whenever the task force is out of base, she always tries to patch in their comms channel to her work laptop, to at least know if something happens to them.
Whenever anybody is hurt and has to stay on base, she'll try to give them space, as that is what she personally prefers. But will definitely show up with some baking a few times.
Her love language is teasing/insults and baking.
She says she hates physical touch, but only says that to keep up her non-existent image. Everybody sees through her, whether they act upon it is up to you.
Her door is almost always open, and even though she might grumble a bit at other task force members' arrivals, she honestly is thrilled every time somebody shows up.
Frequently records voice memos for Coyote, their nurses play it for them. This is the only time her door is closed.
The only time she cried in front of the task force was when telling them about Coyote for the first time. But she's thrilled whenever somebody brings them up, and will genuinely smile and give you an update on their status.
Gets frustrated whenever she drops something. If it happens in front of people she may lash out if they ask her if she's okay. Will apologize whenever she cools down.
The best way for her to cool down is by kicking shit. Whether it be a punching bag, a wall, or a rock. shit will be kicked.
But also bakes whenever she needs a breather, helps her settle down and gather up her thoughts.
She has a sourdough starter. A few times a week she'll wake up early and make a few loaves for the task force.
The more she's anxious, the sweeter the food gets and the more Canadian it gets. Whenever she whips out Pouding Chômeur or Butter tarts, she's on the cusp of a breakdown and just needs some homely comforts.
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