𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒, james potter

01. fadel's back

IT IS ONLY when he gets onto the train that he begins hearing the whispers.

There are two Ravenclaws, one girl and one boy, huddled into a compartment with the door open. He can hear them but can't exactly understand what they're saying. Just as he is about to ask what they are talking about, a shoulder lands heavily on his shoulder.

"James," a voice calls enthusiastically.

James turns and finds his three best friends behind him.

"Let's go find an empty compartment, yeah?" the boy with long dark hair suggests.

James nods and his friends lead him into a compartment on the furthest side of the train. A sudden wave of nostalgia hits James out of nowhere, forcefully making its way into the pit of his stomach. It feels surreal to be here right now. Surreal to be sitting here in this train for what will be the last time it heads to Hogwarts. The thought weighs him down and persists in staying intact on his mind.

The four friends sit down in the small compartment, and a moment of silence passes between them. A moment in which each of them realizes just how important this memory will one day be. Their friendship began on this very train seven years ago. Their friendship which has turned into a brotherhood. An everlasting bond so sacred it would take lifetimes to break.

A chatter begins steadily among the four students for a while before James has to report for his Head Boy duties. They reminisce the memories they have shared and the memories they will continue to share for years and years after graduation.

"Hey, have you guys heard that Fadel is back?" Sirius blurts out mid-conversation as if the thought just popped up in his mind out of nowhere.

The world pauses. And then it begins again.

The words reach his ears before he has time to process them. He whips his head so quickly toward his friend that his vision blurs for a couple of seconds. His breathing grows heavy as his heart beats erratically.

"What?" James breathes in confusion and shock and frustration, although it is so quiet no one hears him and he wonders if the words really even left his lips.

"Nesrin's back?" Remus inquires, a slight frown on his face.

Sirius nods. "Yeah, that shithead's sister."

"Idris?" Peter asks curiously.

"Fucking ass. I hate that bloke. All he does is cheat and play tricks on and off the field."

"His sister seems nice, though?" Peter says in a questioning tone.

Sirius shakes his head. "They're twins. They grew up in the same pureblood house with the same death eater parents. I doubt it."

"Don't be so quick to judge, Padfoot," Remus tells him with a pointed stare as his gaze turns back to the book in his hands, his interest lost in the conversation.

Sirius just huffs and crosses his arms, mumbling under his breath about how much he hates Idris Fadel. "What do you think, Prongs?" he suddenly asks.

"What?" If James is being honest, he hadn't heard a thing that was said among his friends. His thoughts are preoccupied with a tall brunette with the most beautiful eyes he has ever seen.

"What do think about Fadel's sister?"

James swallows. What does he think of her? He doesn't know anymore. The girl who dropped his heart as if it were nothing. The girl who stomped on it until it was merely the broken pieces of a meaningless love. She tore him apart and left him as if he was never something to stay for.