Kindred Spirits: A Dan and Phil Hogwarts AU {COMPLETE}

Crushes and Kisses

In what felt like only days, it was the morning before Halloween: quidditch tryouts. At breakfast, Lia plopped down next to Phil at the Hufflepuff table, crumpet in hand.
"You're supposed to be-" Phil began,
and Lia interrupted him unapologetically.
"I'll move if they tell me to, but so far nobody's yelling at me."
Phil shrugged, seeming satisfied with that answer. They sat facing the center aisle, talking to Dan, Will, and Freddie about quidditch. The upcoming tryouts seemed to be the only thing on the school's mind.
"I think you'll do great, Lia," Will encouraged brightly. "I've seen you play, and I would be honored to be your opponent."
Lia smiled stiffly at that, but still seemed nervous, and soon zipped off to get in a few more minutes of practice before classes started.
Phil's gaze followed her until she was all the way out the door.
Will snorted, "Dude! Get a grip! Ask her out or something!"
Phil's ears turned a bright red.
"No-! I don't think- I'm not-"
Will chortled warmly. "Chill out. You don't have to do anything... but I think we can all see your goo-goo eyes."
Freddie was transfixed by the back of Will's head. She seemed to be soaking in every word he said as if it were poetry. She suddenly piped up,
"Hey, Will?"
The blonde boy looked over to her, his constant smile brighter than ever.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Nothing, just wondering if you could pass the butter."
The breakfast continued, mostly in silence, until classes finally began.

Maybe it was that Halloween was so soon, or maybe the professors could sense that students were becoming less motivated to come to class, but Dan and Phil seemed to be able to get away with a lot more than normal that day. It began in Charms, where the two sat in their usual seats in the back corner. They had just learned a charm to temporarily lengthen hair, and were having a bit too much fun making their hair grow to their shoulders. When that got boring, they grew eyelashes and eyebrows, before trying it on unsuspecting people in the classroom. By the end of charms, the whole class was teary- eyed with laughter as their hair slowly recessed back to normal lengths.
It was a similar story in Potions, where they soon discovered that by adding a few lacewing flies, the healing potion they were making became a pungent stink bomb. Despite the few minutes of havoc, the smell was cleared by a flick of the professors wand, and only ten points were taken from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

As the mischievous pair sat at dinner, Dan couldn't help but feel content with how the day had gone. It felt like old times, just the two of them against the world. Not a word was spoken of Lia or Will, and Dan liked it that way. He could almost imagine it was still the carefree third year.

"How do you think Lia is doing?" Phil wondered aloud, bursting Dan's imaginative bubble. His stomach twisted as he felt the knot return, as if the twisting discomfort that resided in his abdomen had never left.
"She must be so nervous, do you think she's tried out yet?" The nervous Hufflepuff babbled, glancing at the doors as if she could walk in at any second.
Dan shrugged nonchalantly. "She's probably gone already. I'd say they are about to post the results."
He glanced at a clock.
"Yeah, around seven o'clock."
Phil bounded up suddenly.
"I should go, in case she doesn't make it. She'll want someone there."
Without another word, he zipped off, out of the Great Hall. Dan sighed, deciding he should probably just go to bed, before his previously perfect day got any worse.

He lumbered through the lonely hallway, focusing in on tiny details, to avoid thinking about his life as a whole. He ran his fingers over the brittle paint that was chipping off the walls, taking careful notice of the way the candlelights would flicker as he passed. An unwelcome sound creeped into his perception and instinctively, he stopped. It was a voice, one he knew. Lia.
"I'm just so relieved. It's been so long since I've played on a team and-" she paused, and for a moment, Dan wondered if she saw him. The pause seemed to be in excitement, however, as she continued with a sigh.
"I'm just really excited."
"I'm so excited for you!"
The voice that responded caught Dan off guard. He had to stop himself from physically gasping as Phil's excited voice reverberated throughout the hallway. Immediately, thoughts were flooding Dan's mind. How long had they been here? And why such a remote hallway? Were they just trying to get away from me?
He crept closer to the sound, careful not to turn the corner. The voices had become more hushed, not like they were moving farther, but more breathy, as if they were whispering. Dan could only picked up a couple of words.
"mind?"
"No... my friend"
"Good."
Before he even glanced around the corner he knew: they were kissing. Seeing it only confirmed what he knew, and immediately, he was running for his dorm.
Dan felt stupid. He really thought that he could win Phil back, make this their year, not a year of relationship drama and awkward tension. The part of his stomach that held his emotion was begging for a break, and it even spread so that his head began to throb. The one person who he had gotten close to, the one person he was considering confiding in, was kissing some girl he met two months ago. Dan knew what this meant. Next thing he knew, Phil would be getting closer and closer to Lia, and farther and farther from him.

It didn't feel fair. With all of his efforts, Dan was only able to make one best friend in his life- and now Phil was going to be best friend- boyfriend, even- with someone else.
Dan laid in his bed, not even trying to sleep, just thinking about how to change things, back to how they were. As ideas raced around his mind, he saw one constant: Lia. She was the one who ruined everything. Not only had she taken his best friend right in front of him, she had taken everything Dan wanted. Her house, her style, her confidence. Just thinking about her put the sour taste of envy in his mouth. He didn't know what, how, or when, but something had to be done about Ophelia.
-=+=-
A/N: Dun Dun Dun Dunnnnnn (cue the obligatory Josh Dun jokes). THE PLOT THICKENS! I promise Dan isn't going to murder Lia, but oh boy get ready for the drama. Hope you are digging this, let me know if you are or aren't, I love criticism and suggestions. Reading your comments makes me so happy, and I LOVE responding! (If I don't respond, I don't hate you! I just don't want to spoil my plans, and I usually won't respond to 2 very similar comments). :)