Lunch time comes around for Changkyun, and he regretfully finds himself at the library instead of the Great Hall. He had been looking forward to seeing his friends before the latter half of the day, but all his professors had given him a list of books he should read in order to catch up to the other kids in his year on things they deemed to be common-knowledge. He didn’t mind, and was in fact grateful for the extra recommendations, he just hoped his new group wouldn’t take offense to him not showing up during lunch. He wanders through the shelves, pulling books from the shelves as he goes.

His arms now aching from all the books, he looks around the library for a secluded place to start reading. There’s tables scattered about, but there were people everywhere. He walks around for a bit, and is about to surrender to the thought of sitting down at a noisy table, but then his eyes halt on the perfect spot. It’s in the back corner of the library, very close to a line of iron gates with the words ‘Restricted Section’ scrawled above them in metal. The corner has a window and a couch, and there’s no one around. Changkyun grins happily, and moves to make himself at home there. He checks his watch, noting he only had an hour before having to head off to Herbology. Ignoring his grumbling stomach, he then dives into the books, wanting to get through as many as possible before his next class.

Before he knows it, it’s time for him to leave. It’s a bit later than he had planned to leave, he realizes as he’s checking out, but he still has the normal fifteen minutes to sprint to the classroom. He makes it to his next class on time, and is rewarded with only more reading material. Glancing over at the books he already has with him, Changkyun decides to hold off on another visit to the library until he can drop these off at his dorm first.

By the time dinner finally arrives, Changkyun very much regrets having skipped lunch. He sits down in the Great Hall at the of six, having sprinted from his dorm to get there on time. He had gone to the library after his last class, his two-and-a-half hour break giving him enough time to get to the library, get the rest of the books he needed, drop them off at the dorm, and then get to dinner on time. He would have waited, but the library closed fifteen minutes after the end of dinner, and he knew that wasn’t enough time to get everything he needed.

“Changkyunnie!” Minhyuk’s exuberant voice calls from across the Hall, shaking Changkyun out of his thoughts. He turns to find the whole group, including the Ravenclaw duo, walking towards him. He smiles and stands, nodding to them. Minhyuk hugs the first year tightly immediately upon reaching him, and takes a seat next to him. “We didn’t see you at lunch, we were worried you were off lost in the dungeons or something.”

“Sorry,” Changkyun guiltily apologizes, “I was given a lot of reading assignments today, and spent all of lunch in the library. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“That’s fine,” Kihyun says, giving him a comforting smile, “I figured that was probably the case, but Minhyuk wouldn’t listen to me as always,” he adds with a pointed glare at the third year. “He asked every ghost he could find if there was a lost first year somewhere wandering the halls. Of course, it being the first day there were a lot of first years lost in the halls, so asking around didn’t really do much good.”

“You shouldn’t skip meals like that,” Hyunwoo tells Changkyun softly as he sits across from him, next to Kihyun. Kihyun nods quickly, humming his agreement with the oldest.

“I get wanting to catch up on what you’ve missed growing up in the muggle world,” Kihyun continues as he begins to fix Hyunwoo a plate automatically, inadvertently ignoring Hyunwoo’s blushing at the action, “but you shouldn’t let that get in the way of your own well-being. Your health is most important. You should always choose to take care of yourself before letting other things get in the way.”

“Okay Mom, Dad,” Hyungwon says, leaning forward to get a better view of the pair around Hoseok, “I think Changkyun-ah gets the idea. No need to keep nagging him.” Jooheon and Minhyuk nod, their mouths too full of pizza to agree verbally. Changkyun smiles at Hyunwoo and Kihyun, silently thanking them for their concern. Kihyun sets Hyunwoo’s plate down in front of him, giving Changkyun a small nod in return.

The group spends the entire assigned time for dinner at the Slytherin table, joking around and talking with each other about their days. Changkyun listens most of the time, the worry that he may say something wrong keeping him from speaking out. He, instead, files everything away the upperclassmen are describing, thinking it might come in handy once he’s in their years. Just as they all stand to leave, Hyunwoo pulls Changkyun aside.

“Jooheon keeps talking about your raps,” he says in a low voice, so low Changkyun has to strain his ears to hear. “He says that you’re really good, and honestly I don’t know that much about rapping so I’m more than comfortable taking his word for it. Did you ever think of going professional?”

“It’s what I want to do with my life,” Changkyun answers, his passion for his music acting as the loosening of the lips he’s been needing all night. Hyunwoo nods thoughtfully.

“Well, you should join us next time we practice,” he tells the first year. “Just ask one of the guys, they can bring you.” Changkyun nods quickly, inwardly screaming joyously at the top of his lungs. It seems as though they’re all accepting him after all, what with their worry for where he was during lunch and their leader’s acceptance into their prospective band. Hyunwoo gives Changkyun a small smile, his eyes flitting nervously down to the floor, and he lumbers away. Kihyun loops a small arm through his, and they walk each other out of the Great Hall.

The picture seems a bit funny to Changkyun, the shortest out of the group with the oldest, quietest of them all, walking in-step with each other. A funny picture, but a nice one nonetheless. Even in the short time Changkyun had spent with everyone, he could tell their energies mixed really well, everyone balancing each other nicely. This family he’s found himself swept into is a good one, and one, he’s realizing, that he doesn’t want to lose.

Changkyun doesn’t have to wait long for his first practice with the group. Jooheon happily leads him to the practice space, an abandoned room on the seventh floor, only a week later, explaining the different role assignments. Hyunwoo was designated leader of the group, because he was the oldest and the best dancer; Wonho was their songwriter, producing alongside Hyungwon, their lyricist; Kihyun was the lead vocalist, due to his exceptional singing, and Jooheon was their rapper.

“Although,” Jooheon murmurs thoughtfully, “I suppose I’d be the lead rapper, now that we have two.”

“What about Minhyuk-hyung?” Changkyun asks curiously.

“He’s a backup vocalist,” Jooheon explains, “and a sort of defacto manager. He helps us keep to certain concepts, and censors us when our songs get a bit out of hand. Also, he keeps his ears and eyes open for chances for us to perform in front of live audiences.” The two come to a stop in the middle of the hallway, and Jooheon stares at the door with a contented grin. Changkyun glances over at him, about to ask whether or not they had gotten lost, but movement on the wall catches his eye.

He stares in awe as the wall in front of him morphs into a set of double doors, the pale stone becoming dark oak right before his eyes. He glances back over at Jooheon for an explanation, who merely smiles at him proudly.

“I found this place last year,” he tells the shocked first year. “I was wandering around, trying to find somewhere out of the way to practice, when all of a sudden this place showed itself to me. Hyungwon-hyung did some research, and apparently it’s a pretty popular place. But, no one can ever find it unless they have a real need for it. I guess my want to practice music counted as a real need, because it showed up when I needed it.” Jooheon then shrugs, and moves towards the doors. Changkyun wordlessly follows, his mind denying what he had just witnessed. He had thought he was beginning to get used to all this wizard stuff… Apparently not.

The others are already there when the youngest two arrive. They welcome Changkyun warmly, and show him around the practice space before beginning. It’s a simple setup, with a mirror taking up an entire wall so they could watch themselves practice their choreography, microphones and speakers, and benches to rest on. Before they begin, Minhyuk asks Changkyun to rap something in order to assess his ability. He does so, rapping something he’d been working on since the summer, and everyone agrees that he sounds as if he’d be able to keep up with Jooheon, therefore being just the addition they needed to the team.

They practice up until the last possible second, leaving only thirty minutes for them all to sprint to the Great Hall for a quick dinner before having to head back to their dorms.

Once back in the dorm, Changkyun sits down with some assigned reading, already wishing he could go back to practicing with his friends and did not have to read about the different ways to wave a wand they were going over in Charms.

Changkyun glances around the dorm every so often as he reads, noting Kihyun and Hoseok’s harmonized hums and Minhyuk and Jooheon’s amused giggling at whatever prank they were conspiring. A sense of belonging begins to fill his heart, as if this was where he was always supposed to be. Which he finds absolutely ridiculous, because how can you feel that way about somewhere you had only recently found out even existed? Nevertheless, he can’t deny that’s how he feels.

The first year soon turns in, much too tired to try and focus on such a dull subject, and falls asleep easily to the hums filling the room.