ONE PUNCHING BAG

"Bram! Bram! I reckon you heard what happened at the Quidditch World Cup? Bloody awful, I tell you! I wish I was there, but at the same time, I don't because wow! Please tell me you know what I'm talking about!" Skyler Chen ran through the crowd of witches and wizards on platform nine and three quarters, yelling at the top of her lungs as she had her sights set on her best friend, Abraham Weatherbee who was simply trying to mind his own business. This was to be expected as this happened just about every year -- Skyler rushing to tell Bram everything about her summer and the boy waiting for her on the platform ready to hear all of it. After five years, this had become the routine, and the sixth was no exception. Skyler and Bram didn't meet on the train platform six years ago like most wizarding best friends, they had both grown up around magic -- Bram being a half-blood with two wizarding parents and Skyler being a pure-blood -- and it was often they found themselves dragged to the same social events along with their parents. No one expected them to get along as well as they did considering most pure-blood families tended to stick to their own, but when they were both sorted into Ravenclaw as first-years, that was the end of that story.

"Of course, I heard, it's all over the Prophet," Bram responded with a small chuckle as the girl enveloped him in a hug. "It's awful, trust me, you wouldn't have wanted to be there."

"We were there," two new voices acting perfectly in sync came up being Bram as they did almost every year the same way Skyler did. Turning around, he was met with the Weasley twins. They were close friends mainly just because Bram was smart enough to help them not get caught for all the stupid shit they got up to at Hogwarts. He always believed the twins were absolutely clever enough to get sorted into Ravenclaw but stupidly brave enough to get into Gryffindor.

"Bloody awful," Fred Weasley remarked. Skyler always wondered how Bram could tell them apart when they were standing right next to each other, but Bram really didn't know how to explain it. He just knew.

"Everyone was screaming," George explained further as the four of them began to step onto the Hogwarts express. The other Weasley's were close behind, the twins now being the oldest at Hogwarts following Percy Weasley's graduation the year prior. Now it was just the twins, their younger brother Ron, and the youngest of the bunch which was Ginny. As usual, Ron broke off to follow along with his two friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, whereas Ginny ran off with Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom. Bram didn't know the other Weasley's as well as the twins, but he and Ron had always gotten along without any problems.

"Dark Mark in the sky, absolute chaos," Fred continued, the two often finishing each others' sentences. Bram thought it was ridiculous -- seemed like they spoke in riddles half of the time. Still, he put up with them and they put up with him. It worked.

Skyler rolled her eyes at these comments, "Was it really that bad? It seemed kinda cool, at least, that's how the paper's made it out to be. I mean, it's not like He's actually back, it was probably just a prank from some stupid people mad at their team for losing."

George shook his head at this as they found an empty train compartment. "Ah, I wish my dear Skyler, but alas, there were Death Eaters in the flesh. We spent the night running through the woods, didn't we, Fred?"

"I thought you were Fred!" Skyler exclaimed, sounding defeated. She always tried her best, but with a 50/50 chance, she somehow ended up being wrong most of the time anyway. "I'm never gonna bloody get it."

"Ah, our own mother has her own problems, don't worry," Fred scoffed, "Bram, you knew it was me, right?"

Bram shrugged, "Duh."

"Dude!" the girl gasped, throwing her head back dramatically, "Why must you one-up me like that?"

"It's not that hard to do," the boy snickered as the girl smacked him with the book she was holding. She always pulled one book out of her trunk to read on the train, but she never ended up reading it. Usually, they just chatted until everyone napped, and then eventually someone would wake them up to get on their robes. Being so close to the end of their schooling, they had fallen into quite a routine over the years. It was nice, comfortable.

"One-up me or tell them apart?" Skyler asked with a raised eyebrow, ready to smack him again.

Raising an arm to protect against the book, he answered with a smile, "Both."

"Oi lay off of him!" Fred shouted, trying to grab the book from Skyler. He succeeding, but he had only grabbed it so he could throw it at Bram's head who ducked just in time, his mouth gaping in offense.

"You arsehole!" Bram exclaimed while the four of them laughed. The chaos would soon drain out the longer the train ride went on, but Bram appreciated the energy while he had it. It wasn't that his summer had been extremely uneventful, but he always missed his friends over the summer holidays. "Do I exist just to be a punching bag for you guys?"

"Yes," the three of them spoke at the same time. Bram scoffed and shook his head as he tossed the book back over to Skyler hesitantly. The train began to take off and Bram watched as the platform disappeared past the window of their compartment.

"Oh, don't huff, we're only joking," Fred jabbed as he moved to squeeze onto Bram's side of the compartment to wrap his arm around Bram's shoulders and give a sarcastic yet reassuring squeeze. With a laugh, Bram pushed him off to which Fred gave him an offended gasp. "Is my love not enough for you?"

"Absolutely not," Bram answered with ease, trying to hide the blush that was slowly but surely creeping up his neck at Fred's actions. "Quit being ridiculous or I'll find another train compartment."

Skyler scoffed at this as she wrapped her arms around Bram's necks and gave him a noogie, "Oh, you love us."

"You guys are just my bullies," Bram scoffed, but he didn't mean it. They all poked fun at each other, of course, but they were close as close could be. Bram probably wouldn't have survived at Hogwarts if it wasn't for the twins and Skyler. Scratch that, he definitely wouldn't have. "Sheesh, I could do better."

"No, you couldn't," George said with a scoff, "We're the peak of joy at Hogwarts, you can't go higher once you've reached the top."

"I think I'm better off taking my chances with rock bottom," the blond teased, shaking his head as he pulled out his own book and went to scrunch up in his corner of the compartment. The twins always made fun of him for being able to stay in such a position, but he couldn't help it he wasn't ghastly tall like the two of them.

The energy in the train compartment quieted as it usually did and Bram muted out most of the conversation between the twins and Skyler as he focused on his books. For just a moment, he looked up from his book and met Fred's eyes while George and Skyler were talking. Neither of them said anything, but Bram could feel Fred's eyes on him while he continued reading and he already knew he was blushing which was utterly ridiculous. Bram had an odd feeling about the year ahead. He couldn't quite pin it down, but he felt like things were about to change.

a bit of a short first chapter i know, but i really just wanted to introduce you guys to the characters and their dynamics and this chapter was so fun to write i love the twins so much and bram is such a cutie he's already one of my favorite ocs