Chapter Text
Wednesday, September 1st, 1982
“Are you sure this is the right place, mom?” Jonathan said wearily.
They had been walking back and forth for nearly fifteen minutes, searching for Platform 9 ¾. Will would be convinced that someone had pulled an elaborate prank on him, convincing him and his family that he, Will Byers, was special enough to be a wizard. A real wizard, with magic and all.
Although Will secretly thought that calling himself a mage would be cooler, he had been politely told that mages were a somewhat outdated term for a wizard who was good at crafting spells.
Despite everything, he and his family had been shown. A tall stern looking lady in strange clothes and a pointy hat showing up at their doorstep with a letter, her pulling out a wand and doing magic tricks, and so, so much more. Will still felt like the past two weeks had been a weird dream. An incredible one, but a weird one nonetheless. It did explain so many things in Will’s life though. Maybe him being a freak wasn’t related to what Troy and James thought they were.
Certain things he did like waking up in the middle of the night thirsty and ready to go get up to fill up his empty cup on his bed stand, only to realize that it was nearly full, although Will swore up and down it was empty beforehand. Him making toys fly toward him as a kid, as if he was summoning them towards him. And the most embarrassing one of them all, him randomly losing all of his clothes except for his underwear on an especially hot summer day. (Luckily Jonathan was the only person that witnessed that, he would never live it down if any of his old classmates did)
“Yes Jonathan, look it says right there! King’s Cross, Platform 9 ¾!” Joyce pointed her thin index finger at the letter instructing them on where to go.
“Well, it’s clearly not there!” Jonathan pointed at Platform 9. His hair was frazzled, well, his hair was almost always frazzled, but more than usual.
Will’s eyes followed Jonathan’s hand. Jonathan was right, there was nothing there. Will was ready to give up and ask his mom if they could just go home at this point, but that was until Will noticed an owl was sitting in a cage, abandoned. It was a white-faced owl, with brown feathers littered with small patches of black throughout.
Without his brother or his mom noticing, too wrapped up in trying to figure out where to go, Will slowly walked towards the owl. Why was it sitting there all alone? The owl noticed him walking towards it, its amber eyes glaring at him. But before he could get within two meters of the owl, the cage that the owl sat in was swiftly picked up by a boy his age.
The dark-skinned boy looked to be in a hurry; he had short black hair with a neat hairline and was wearing strange clothes. Long black robes. He also had a pointy hat in his other hand, clutching it tightly and almost crushing it between his fingers. A lady that looked to be his mother stormed up to him, seemingly angry about something, and snatched the hat from him, the boy protesting.
The mother was also wearing strange clothes, Will noted. Long black robes accented with a beautiful burgundy. They were definitely magic.
“Lucas, I told you to put on the hat!” She scolded him. “And be more responsible with your owl, I knew we should’ve gotten you a toad instead, much easier to take care of.”
“But mom, I told you that these hats are totally uncool! The other kids would make fun of me for wearing that thing.” Surprisingly, the boy, presumably named Lucas, had an American accent, a stark difference from his mother, who donned a British accent.
His mom shook her head in disapproval and started leading him towards Platform 9; they were out of hearing range for Will now, but he could see that she was definitely giving her son an earful.
Curious, Will continued watching them. The two stopped between Platform 9 and 10; the father of Lucas and what Will assumed to be his little sister were waiting there. The boy bickered with his sister for a bit before they all exchanged hugs; the boy getting a pat on his back from his father and his mother kissing him on his forehead. Lucas then put his caged owl on top of his cart and lined himself up between Platforms 9 and 10.
All of the sudden, Lucas ran at the wall. Will was about to yell, concerned that Lucas was about to seriously hurt himself, but then the shock of watching him disappear between Platform 9 and 10 made any sound rising up in Will’s throat die.
“Will? Are you okay?” Jonathan grabbed his shoulder, turning him away from what Will now thought– no, knew to be Platform 9 ¾. “Mom thinks we should walk around the station again just to make sure before–”
“I found it,” Will spoke up, cutting his brother off.
“What?”
“I found Platform 9 ¾.”
Jonathan shook his head in confusion as if shaking his head would make him process Will’s words faster. He waved Joyce over and asked Will to repeat himself.
“I watched a boy run into the wall between Platform 9 and 10 and he went right through,” Will explained, pointing at where he saw Lucas disappear. “He had an owl and a hat and everything, I’m sure he’s a– um wizard like me.”
Joyce raised a questioning eyebrow before questioning him.
“Are you sure that’s what you saw? Because I’m not about to let my boy run into a brick wall and potentially injure himself.” She said softly, but sternly.
His mom had always been protective of Will, almost annoyingly, but she had a good reason to. Bad things always happened to him.
Will nodded eagerly, “Look, his family is still there, we can ask them!” He pointed at them; they were still standing next to Platform 9, looking ready to leave.
His brother and his mother looked at each other with an unsure expression before agreeing to go ask the family that Will had pointed out. The Byers walked up to the family, hesitantly, catching their attention.
“Excuse me, sorry to bother you guys but my son said that he saw–” Joyce looked back at Will, her eyebrows furrowed and her voice lowering. “He saw your son run into the wall between Platforms 9 and 10? He thinks that’s where Platform 9 ¾ is.”
The mom and dad turned to look at each other before bursting out laughing. For a split second, Will thought he messed up, embarrassment and shame, paralyzing him.
“No– yes of course!” The woman laughed, “Platform 9 ¾ is right here, between nine and ten.” She pointed to the signs hanging off each side of the structure. “They really should give more information to muggle-born families, I can’t imagine how confusing and disorienting this must be for you a lot.”
“Yes, it would save a lot of trouble. I’ve been running around like a headless chicken trying to find it!” Joyce laughed nervously, agreeing with what she said.
“So is this the wizard of your family?” The man next to the woman asked, gesturing to Will. The man had an American accent, contrasting his wife, confirming Will’s suspicions about the boy and his (presumed) little sister being half-British. He also had a funny mustache.
“Yes, yeah he is.” Jonathan nodded, patting Will on the back.
Will then slowly tuned out the adults talking to look at the little girl that was standing next to Lucas’ parents. She had been giving him a weird look ever since he and his family walked up to them and it was starting to make him nervous. When she noticed him staring back, she slowly raised an eyebrow, as if asking why he was staring at her when she had been doing it this entire time. He raised an eyebrow back in retaliation.
He listened to the conversation again.
“--Yes so if your son just runs at the wall right here, he’ll be just fine, I promise.” Lucas’ dad insisted.
“Okay, okay,” Joyce sounded out of breath as if finally processing everything they'd undergone within the past two weeks.
She had been nervously wringing her hands over each other the entire time they'd been at this station, anxious about Will leaving and stressed out by how little information they were given about where to be.
“Well it was nice meeting you Ms Byers, but we’ve really got to get going.” Lucas’ mom nodded at her, politely, taking her daughter by the hand.
They exchanged pleasantries, and while Will was watching the other family leave, he was suddenly pulled into a tight hug by his mother. The warm embrace startled him. He got hugged by his mom a lot, but this one felt different, almost sad.
“Four.” Joyce’s voice was shaky, “four months without my baby.”
She buried her face in Will’s hair; he could tell she was tearing up.
“Mom…” Will said embarrassed, but also a bit sorrowful. Four months. Alone. At a school full of strangers.
She hesitantly pulled him out of the hug, kissing his forehead. His mom then grabbed his shoulders and looked at him directly in his eyes.
“You promise to write as soon as you can, you hear me, young man?” Joyce said in a fake serious tone.
“Yes, I promise, mom.” Will nodded, smiling.
Even when things felt serious or difficult, she always had a way of lightening things up, trying to make Will smile.
“Remember to write to me too, bud.” Jonathan knocked his fist into Will’s shoulder, smiling at him. “We’re gonna want to hear all about this magical castle you’re going to live in okay?”
Will nodded again, reassuring his family that he would write to them as soon as possible. Jonathan and Will shared a hug and before he knew it, he was running into Platform 9 ¾.
Will stared out of the window of his empty cabin, gloomily, watching the swarm of kids walk around with their suitcases and pets. Saying hello to old friends and making new ones.
When he had come out on the other side he had quickly stepped onto the train, beelining towards the first empty cabin he could find. The smell and the noise of the platform were overwhelming for him, added to by the confusion of magic that he wasn’t used to yet. It was disorienting.
He felt his stomach grumble; they had been in a hurry this morning and were unable to eat breakfast, but luckily his mom had packed lunch for him the day before. Pulling out the homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that were in a small lunchbox, Will began to slowly chew on his food.
He should be more excited than this. He had been initially, the letter and then the Hogwarts teacher showing up to introduce them to magic and the explanation for all of his weirdness . It was all so thrilling, but right now, all Will could feel was a small sense of dread deep in his stomach. He was going to be gone for four, four months, which was the longest he had ever been away from his family. The longest was when he was ten before Joyce had decided to move away to England for a better and higher-paying job and for a ‘fresh start’ (as his mom described it). His dad had him and his brother for the weekend, but Jonathan couldn't make it because he was on a school trip to Michigan and it was the worst weekend of Will’s life. He came back home with bruises.
And even though this was a chance for Will to start new, again, he didn’t feel as enthusiastic as he did the first time he switched schools.
Will could remember the excitement he felt when he entered his new school, hopeful and wide-eyed. But then quickly, over the next few weeks, after the novelty of being the new transfer student wore off, and once people realized he wasn’t from LA or New York and that he was just some nerd, he quickly faded into the background, becoming pretty much invisible. It was better than Hawkins, yes, at least he didn’t actively get bullied by people every day, but it was still a letdown.
He wasn’t sure he could muster up the courage to be hopeful again.
A quiet knock echoed throughout the cabin. The first one was barely there, as if the person behind the door wasn’t sure whether or not to knock; Will almost missed it over the sound of his chewing. The next three were much more pronounced and confident.
“...Yes?” Will said, putting his lunch away.
The door slid open slowly to reveal a tall, pale boy. He had fluffy black hair crowning his head and small patches of freckles laying across his face; he had regular clothes on, a blue sweater fitted with dark jeans. The boy’s dark eyes locked onto Will, wide and unsure.
“Do you...” The boy stumbled over his words, saying them all too fast. “Do you want to be my friend?”
What?
Will sat there, stunned, processing his words. Is this even real? Can classmates start pulling pranks on you before school even starts?
“Um, I’m sorry I’ll just…” The boy got ready to close the door. His face flushed red with embarrassment.
“No! No, I’d like to be your friend.” Will almost shouted, he felt stupid for saying nothing and gawking at the other boy like that.
The boy then looked elated, like a heavy weight had been lifted off of him. He smiled at him. It was a nice smile. Will doesn’t think anyone other than his mom and his brother has ever looked at him like that. Happy to be in his presence, to be his friend. The freckled boy quickly closed the door behind him and sat in front of him.
“...What’s your name?” Will asked his new friend.
He wasn’t sure how to feel; he was happy, yes, but it wasn’t every day somebody randomly asks to be Will’s friend. What about Will made him even want to be his friend? As far as Will knows, he's just some scrawny plain kid with an ugly bowl cut. A haircut he’s been getting for as long as he remembers, his mother not wanting to waste their limited money on a hairdresser when she could just do it at home.
“Oh– It’s Mike.” The boy answered, his eyes flickering all over the place, as if he was unsure of where to look. “Mike Wheeler.”
A beat passed.
“What about you?” Mike asked, his eyes finally resting on Will’s.
Will felt a bit shy under the dark-haired boy’s gaze; he looked down at his hands, wanting to distract himself from the intense look Mike gave him.
“...Will, my name is Will Byers.” He answered shyly.
“Nice to meet you, Will Byers.” Mike reached out his hand for a handshake and Will took it slowly. His hand was warm.
“Nice to meet you too, Mike Wheeler.” Will looked back up at Mike, shaking their hands, smiles growing on both of their faces.
When their hands separated, Will could still feel the lingering heat on his palms and fingers. They felt sort of tingly. Will wasn’t sure he had ever experienced that before; with a handshake, did Mike cast some sort of spell on him?
“So… you’re also American?” Mike asked, his eyes flickering down to Will’s lips for a split second. “I can tell, by the uh, the accent.”
Will had been too wrapped up in the fact that someone had wanted to be friends with him, Will Byers, of all people, to even realize that Mike had an American accent. That makes two other Americans, isn’t Hogwarts supposed to be British? He knew there was an American magic school, but…
“Yeah, I am,” Will replied. “I’m from Hawkins, a small town in Indiana, what about you?”
“Guess,” Mike grinned playfully, the corner of his lips quirking up into a crooked smile, making the freckles on his face stretch.
“Um… I don’t know. Give me a hint.” Will asked.
“Well, my state is near Indiana…” Mike began.
“Illinois? Ohio?” Will started to throw out guesses.
“Nope, to both of them,” Mike said smugly.
“Er… Michigan?” Will asked and Mike shook his head again, “you need to give me more hints.”
It would be near impossible for him to guess like this unless he just went through every single state near Indiana.
“The state flower is a peony,” said Mike.
“What? How do you even know that?” Will raised an eyebrow in disbelief, frowning.
“I read it in a book once.” Mike shrugged.
“Give me a proper hint.” Will sighed, pouting.
“Fine… it starts with an I.”
“Iowa?”
Mike shook his head again.
“But the only other one is Idaho and that’s on the other side of the country…” Will pondered for a second. “Unless you’re from…?”
No, no way.
Mike grinned at him.
“That’s… That’s so stupid! You could’ve just said you were from the same state as me.” Will whined, bumping his leg against Mike’s.
“Yeah, but it was funny to see you try to guess.” He bumped his leg back.
A knock interrupted their banter, making them pause.
The door slid open before either of them could say anything, and a boy with massive curly brown hair let himself into the cabin. He wasn’t wearing any robes or anything, just normal clothes like Mike and Will.
“Can my friend and I please sit with you guys? Everywhere else is occupied.” The curly-haired boy pleaded; he had a noticeable speech impediment and an American accent.
Seriously? Another American? Did the magic school in America shut down this year or something?
“Yeah! it would be great, and you guys seem to be first years like us too.” A voice from behind the boy spoke up before also stepping into the room.
To Will’s surprise, it was the same one from King’s Cross, the one with the owl.
Will looked at Mike to see if he was okay with it. Mike looked back at Will. His eyes flickered between Will to the two boys before answering for both of them.
“Yeah, we’re cool with it,” said Mike.
The two boys let out a sigh of relief; they closed the door, sliding it shut, and sat next to Will and Mike.
“So what are your names?” Mike asked.
“I’m Dustin Henderson and this is Lucas,” said Dustin, who sat on Will’s left.
“Yeah, I’m Lucas, Lucas Sinclair.” Lucas nodded, who sat opposite of Dustin.
“Neat, I’m Mike Wheeler and this is Will Byers,” Mike replied.
Will smiled at both of them nervously, still unsure of the two boys. He knew he had also just met Mike, but he had sort of felt an instant connection with the freckled boy; he had never had such an easy time talking to anyone like this before.
“So you two are also Americans?” Mike asked. “Me and Will were just talking about it.”
“Yup! I’m from Washington.” Dustin answered proudly, “born and raised!”
“I’m from North Carolina.” Lucas answered with a shrug, “what about you two?”
Mike and Will looked at each other, smiling.
“Guess.” They said at the same time.