The moment they entered the house they were welcomed by the homely smell of their grandmothers cooking.

They saw their father struggling with the fireplace, when suddenly flames erupted from it. Mr. Kim sprang up and turned to see his mother in law with her wand in her hand. 

"I thought I told you none of that business in my house!"

"Just say magic" Kibum said as he rolled his eyes. 

 

Mr. Kim hadn't even noticed the boys until now "Kibum! Jonghyun!" He pulled both of the boys into a firm hug "Kibum that hair is getting out of hand" "um Jjong's hair is also white?" "Jonghyuns hair is naturally white" and the squabbling went on.

"Now now, let's not fight. The boys just got here" said the voice of their mother as she elegantly came down the stairs. Jonghyun was the splitting image of his mother apart from the eyes, She had long white hair and feline eyes. Kibum resembled his father with dark hair and pale skin yet Kibum hadn't had black hair since he was in first year. 

 

Kibum and Jonghyun immediately clung to their mother as they were showered in kisses "my pretty sons, I've missed you so much" 

As if on cue the pattering sound of paws running down the stairs could be heard. Jonghyun's dog, Roo and Kibum's dog, Garçon. Their tails were wagging happily. 

"You're both so skinny, granny is almost done with dinner come sit down" 

 

Although the house elves at Hogwarts made exceptional food nothing could compare to their grandmothers Sunday roast. 

The evening went on like that, the twins catching up with their family and coddling their pets. 

 

It was late by the time they made it to their joint bedroom. Jonghyuns side hosted a variety of instruments while Kibum had racks of clothes that overflowed from his wardrobe. They grabbed their phones a made plans with their own friends. Jonghyun would meet his good friend Haesol who had started his second year of university. Haesol used to work part time at his favourite music store and was confused that Jonghyun would only visit in the summer, Jonghyun went on to explain to the elder that he went to a very strict private school, so they exchanged numbers and grew closer despite the . Kibum suddenly squeaked excitedly and rummaged through his racks of clothing. 

"You're going out now?" Jonghyun asked from his own bed "yea I haven't seen Soyou in forever, I'll be back before morning don't worry" and with that he climbed through the window and into the night. 

 

It was five in the morning when Kibum returned. He struggled to open the window and as Jonghyun was still awake he opened it for him and stifled a scream as Kibum tumbled into their room, onto the floor face first, after a few moment he rolled over and began to laugh. He was obviously drunk.

"Jjongie!" He sang with his arms outstretched and Jonghyun tried his best to pull his brother up but only managed to get him into sitting position. "It's a miracle he didn't fall on his way up here" Jonghyun thought. 

"Jjongie, you know who's reaaaally handsome?" Kibum slurred as he leaned into Jonghyun "shhhh bummie, you'll wake everyone up" "Minho" "what" 

"I saiiiid Minho is really handsome" this time he whispered before letting out a cackle. 

"What about Arisa?" Jonghyun asked, extremely confused; he thought Kibum hated his best friend but now he seemed to be interested in him.

"Pffft I said handsome not beautiful and get that look off your face I'm not into Choi and besides he's not interested in me either" "Kibum, what are you talkin-" "he only has eyes for you" Kibum interrupted with no resentment in his voice "but you only have eyes for Lee and Lee only has eyes for yoooouu, oh! speaking of Lee! Next time you talk to him tell him I said hi" "but what about Minho, Kibum you can't just change the subject like that" 

"I'm not the twin his heart desires" Kibum said as he sighed dramatically.

 

Jonghyun had never been more confused in his life but decided a drunk Kibum wasn't a truthful Kibum. 

"Go to bed" he said, standing up. "Can I sleep in your bed?" Kibum sounded like a child and the look on his face even more so, after a few stumbles the two were curled up in Jonghyuns bed. 

"He really does love you" 

"Are you talking about Taemin or Minho" after waiting for an answer Jonghyun turned to see Kibum was already asleep. He took out a pen and paper and decided to write to Taemin. 

"Dear Taemin....."

 

*

 

"Young master, your clothes have been prepared for this evening" 

Taemin sighed and sent the house elf away. He could already hear the musicians preparing for the guests in the ballroom.

It was always the same. Every year his parents would throw an extravagant ball to show off their wealth and he and Jinki were used as accessories, Jinki more so as he was the heir. 

He could hear guests pouring in and he knew he only had so much time before Jinki would come into his room and expect to see him dressed.

So he beat him to it and changed into his expensive black robes. 

"I see you're ready" Jinki was leaning against the door frame, dressed in robes similar to his but in dark blue.

Taemin said nothing and brushed passed Jinki. He headed towards the sound of music and strolled into the party undetected, Jinki followed close behind. 

 

Amongst the sea of politicians, bankers and tycoons alike, Taemin could see Krystal and Kai with their backs against the wall as they spoke in hushed voices. He had never seen the pair look so distressed and momentarily forgot that he was angry at them. Throughout the holiday Taemin had written multiple letters to them both but only received brief or no reply at all. 

"You didn't write back to me" his arrival made them both jump before they hung their heads low in guilt. 

"Tae, we should talk. Let's go to-" "Taemin" said a gruff voice, it was a voice Taemin knew well but didn't hear often. 

He didn't even have to turn to know his father was behind him, he placed a hand on his sons shoulder, said

"Come" and just like a dog Taemin obeyed, turned to face his father and silently follow him. 

Taemin was then grabbed again and pushed towards the current minister of magic, Han Jaejoong.

"Minister, this is my youngest. Taemin" out of habit Taemin bowed respectively. 

 

The look of surprise on the minister's  face was the normal reaction whenever Taemin was introduced to new people "oh i didn't know you had a second son, he doesn't look much like your son either" "yes well this one looks more like his mother" his father added with a slap to Taemin's back and the two joked about the feminine appearance of the youngest Lee as if he wasn't there. Krystal was suddenly at their side.

"I'm terribly sorry Mr. Lee, minister Han, but may I borrow Taemin for just a moment?" Taemin's father glared daggers at her while the minister just laughed "of course you may, I too remember being young and betrothed although I don't recall meeting a girl as lovely as you" the minister grabbed Krystals hand and kissed it. Taemin repressed a grimace, not only from the advances of a middle aged man on a teenager but also the thought of being betrothed to Krystal.

Many purebloods still matched up their children from birth and while some were lucky such as Jessica and Kris (who genuinely loved each other) others were not. Mr. Lee didn't care enough to correct the minister and excused Taemin from the conversation. 

He was whisked away from the party in no time and led into his darkly lit bedroom where Kai was already waiting. 

Krystal was the first to speak.

"You know about Jaejoong right?"

"You mean the minister?"

Krystal sighed in frustration and Kai continued for her.

"That's Jaejoong senior, we mean Jaejoong junior" 

 

It was a sudden flashback to Taemin's childhood. He remembered his nannies discussing the squib son of a politician that shared the same name. The son was completely kept out of the public eye until he ran away from his home when he was eighteen. The son was revealed to be abused, malnourished and kept from any education. It was quite the controversy at the time but the son had been missing for years and the whole incident had been swept under the rug.

 

"I know of him" 

"Well he's back" "he is?" 

Kai and Krystal looked at each other nervously and Krystal continued where the other left off. 

"He's not really back but everyone knows it's him. No one talks about it in public but our parents told us" Taemin remained silent as he now knew why he was the only one in the dark.

"He gathered up some snatchers and awhile ago they got yoochun. You know that kidnapping rich kids for ransom isn't new but they killed him" "they killed yoochun?!" "Shhhhh we're not supposed to be talking about this okay, but the Parks didn't give him what he wanted so they sent back his body and after that there were just more and more murders from all over the country. They've got merlin knows how many aurors looking for him but they can never find him. They say he's gonna start targeting the top tier families that's why a bunch of them went away, for protection but" Krystals voice started wavering "they got Kris" 

 

A light went of in Taemin's head. The purebloods leaving Hogwarts. Jessica looking as if she was mourning. The secrecy within the entire pureblood community. Everything made sense. 

"We got a letter from the Wu family telling us what happened, I've never seen Sica so distraught" Krystal broke into tears and Taemin took her into his arms for comfort. 

"Basically we don't know what's happening but it seems like Jaejoong is gathering more and more snatchers, none of the old s downstairs are talking about it because they're not the ones in danger. We can't do much but try to keep each other safe at this point" 

 

It was a lot to take in, to know his life and the life of his brother and friends were in danger. It was overwhelming for Taemin, his face was completely void of any emotion and he only nodded "thanks for telling me" 

They sat in Taemin's bedroom for the remainder of the night, not speaking, just lying on each other in their expensive robes on the floor; not caring if they wrinkled them or not. They didn't even notice the door opening to reveal a elegant, slim figure.

 

"Soojung darling, your mother is calling for you. Same for you, Jongin" said Taemin's mother as she eyed the trio with her lips pursed in disapproval. After the two bid their goodbyes his mother turned her nose up at Taemin and shut the door without saying a word. 

Taemin would've fallen asleep if not for the tapping of a beak on his window. 

It was owl and within its talons was a letter addressed to him. He was apprehensive at first but seeing Jonghyuns messy handwriting made him smile.  

 

"Dear Taemin

P.S. Kibum says hi" 

"Love, Jonghyun. love huh" The words were echoing in Taemin's head and he could only imagine the what they would sound like coming from Jonghyun himself. 

He undressed and flopped onto his bed, letter still in hand. Jaejoong erased from his mind and replaced with Jonghyun.