Heechul Kim sat nervously outside of the courtroom, waiting while his fate was argued by two lawyers in front of a judge. Well, more the fate of the small boy Heechul held in his arms.

Heechul was trying to have Jonghyun taken out of the home he shared with his Uncle Kyuhyun, and Kyuhyun's boyfriend Kangin. All three of them lived a few houses down from Heechul, who would watch Jonghyun from time to time. Jonghyun was small, seven, and incredibly fragile. He was an orphan- his parents had been killed in a car crash when he was only a year old. Kyuhyun was the younger brother of Jonghyun's mother, Victoria. Heechul had seen a photo of her once: she was a fragile, small, but beautiful young woman, and Jonghyun was her clone.

Kyuhyun didn't seem to miss his sister, nor did he really seem to care about his nephew. He often whined about being left with the care of a child without any financial assistance, even though Heechul knew they weren't exactly struggling. Their house was fairly large and they drove flashy cars. Heechul once asked about Victoria and her husband, Jinki. Victoria was a homemaker and Jinki was a “hopeless layabout” and a “shiftless dreamer”. Heechul wasn't quite sure what that meant, and Kyuhyun never elaborated.

Heechul began watching Jonghyun when the boy was four. He wrote for the local paper's Arts and Entertainment section and worked from home. Sometimes the local coffee shop if he got cabin fever. He was a little surprised one morning when Kangin knocked on his door, asking him to watch Jonghyun.

“Come on, it's not like you do anything all day,” Kangin said.

Heechul's eyes narrowed. “I'm a journalist. I write articles on a deadline-”

“Yeah, yeah, it means you're home all day,” Kangin interrupted. “Can you take the kid or not?”

Heechul was about to issue a blistering retort when he spotted a pair of soft brown eyes peeking up at him from behind Kangin's legs. His heart melted. “Sure, I can watch him.”

Kangin grabbed the small boy and pulled him forward, ing him at Heechul. He then left without so much as a thank you.

Heechul scowled after him before turning his attention to his new change. Jonghyun had bowl-cut brown hair and was scuffling his feet. Heechul knelt in front of him. “Hi little guy. I'm Heechul.”

“I'm Jonghyun,” came the soft reply.

“Well, Jonghyun. Would you like to come in and spend some time with me?”

Jonghyun nodded shyly, taking Heechul's hand and allowing himself to be led inside.

“Have you had breakfast?” Heechul asked, settling Jonghyun at the kitchen table.

Jonghyun shook his head.

“Would you like some bacon and eggs?”

Jonghyun nodded enthusiastically and Heechul smiled.

When breakfast was served, Heechul sat at his laptop across from Jonghyun. “I just have to finish this article, okay?”

Jonghyun just nodded again.

Heechul worked quickly, and was finished in an hour. After submitting his article to his editor, Heechul closed his laptop and discovered that Jonghyun had finished his breakfast and was sitting still. “Jonghyun? Are you okay?”

Jonghyun nodded. “I was trying to be quiet so you could work.”

“You did an excellent job,” Heechul smiled. He stretched his muscles before getting up and clearing the table. “What should we do now?”

Jonghyun shrugged.

“Hmm,” Heechul tapped his lip, his eye catching a bookcase in the living room. “Wanna read?”

“I don't know how,” Jonghyun blushed.

“I can teach you.”

That made Jonghyun perk up a little.

Heechul took Jonghyun's tiny hand and led him into the living room. He selected a Dr. Seuss from the bookcase and settled Jonghyun next to him. “Now, if you need anything at all, let me know. Okay?”

Jonghyun nodded solemnly.

Heechul smiled, and began to read.

They read for several hours- Dr. Seuss; The Bearenstein Bears; Amelia Bedelia. Jonghyun was enthralled. He loved each story better than the last. They stopped for lunch, then read for the rest of the afternoon, until Kyuhyun picked Jonghyun up.

“I hope he didn't give you any trouble,” Kyuhyun stated, sending a sharp look towards Jonghyun.

“He was a perfect angel,” Heechul replied, sending a wink Jonghyun's way.

Jonghyun blushed and waved.

Heechul began watching Jonghyun more frequently. Soon it was almost daily- morning to evening. He knew Kyuhyun and Kangin were taking advantage of him, but Heechul just couldn't bring himself to care. He adored Jonghyun and loved spending time with him. They read through all of the books leftover from Heechul's childhood, and then they moved to the library. The librarian was a strange, soft-spoken blonde name Luna who led them to some fantastic and magical stories. When she gave Jonghyun his very first library card, he looked as if Christmas had come early, and promised solemnly to take very good care of his card and his books. It was an unspoken agreement that the books would remain in Heechul's home.

They very quickly settled into a routine. Jonghyun would be dropped off in the mornings. They would have breakfast together, and then Jonghyun would practice his reading while Heechul worked. They baked cookies and cakes; crafted treasures out of newspapers and popsicle sticks; explored the backyard and the park. When it was too cold or rainy, they stayed indoors, sipping cocoa and tea and reading their favorite books.

It was when Jonghyun turned seven that things began to change. He had been going to school for a while (he started late) and Heechul would pick him up and watch him until Kyuhyun or Kangin picked got him in the evenings. Jonghyun was quiet and shy and had a hard time making friends. Small things happened at first- a mug would shatter, or a book would fall from the bookcase. Heechul would shrug or blame a large truck passing by. But then more obvious things began to happen- a mug disappearing from the dishwasher and reappearing in the bathroom; Heechul waking up to different colored sheets. One afternoon, Heechul found an apple floating in midair in front of the refrigerator.

The biggest thing happened when Heechul took Jonghyun to the zoo one Saturday. They were in the reptile house, admiring a huge Burmese python. It raised its head suddenly, as if it were looking right at Jonghyun. The next thing they knew, the glass had completely disappeared and the snake began to slither past them. Heechul picked Jonghyun up and slowly backed away, his heart pounding. They escaped the house calmly, and Heechul decided it was time for home.

When they arrived back at Heechul's, he settled Jonghyun into his favorite chair, then sat next to him on the floor. Heechul's hands were shaking, and he took deep breaths to calm himself.

“I'm sorry,” Jonghyun said softly.

Heechul looked up, startled. “What on earth for?”

“It's my fault.”

Heechul shook his head. “Of course it's not,” he said. “The glass was unstable-”

“It's my fault,” Jonghyun insisted. “I can make things happen. When I'm sad or scared.” His eyes filled with tears. “But I don't mean to!”

“Of course not,” Heechul repeated slowly. His thoughts were whirling, trying to remember Jonghyun's

moods whenever something out of the ordinary happened.

“Everyone hates me,” Jonghyun said softly. “They think I'm bad.”

Heechul sat up on his knees, and tilted Jonghyun's head up so they were eye to eye. “I don't hate you. And I certainly don't think you're bad. I think you are a very special boy. Different, yes. But different is good, right?”

Jonghyun blushed and nodded. “Like Rogue from X-Men.”

“Exactly.” Heechul smiled. “You're my Jongie. I love you.”

“I love you too, Heenim.”

Heechul's smile widened, and he pulled Jonghyun into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Neither noticed the tabby cat watching from the outside windowsill.

Kyuhyun and Kangin's treatment of Jonghyun only got worse from that point. Frequently they could be heard yelling at Jonghyun in the backyard, and they sometimes sent Jonghyun to school without breakfast or lunch. This only made the strange things occur more often, which in turn made Kyuhyun and Kangin's treatment even worse. Heechul broke down and confided to a fellow journalist after one of their weekly staff meetings. Ginny Potter was a mother herself and listened with an unhappy look on her face.

“I just don't know what to do,” Heechul said, wiping his eyes. “I need to get Jonghyun out of there, I just don't know how.”

“Let me introduce you to Kingsley Shacklebolt,” Ginny said, writing something down. “He's an attorney and child advocate and he'll be willing to help. Tell him you know me.”

So Heechul called Mr. Shacklebolt, and they met at a cafe.

“It will be a tough fight,” Kingsley explained.”You're a young, single man looking to adopt a young boy. They're going to make you jump through a bunch of hoops.”

“That's fine,” Heechul answered firmly. “All I want is to help Jonghyun.”

The lawyer fold his hands on his notes and studied Heechul.”And what about these strange things happening around Jonghyun?”

“What about them?”

“What are you going to do about them?”

“Find out what they are first.”

“Any ideas?”

Heechul sighed. “Poltergeist maybe? Although he is a bit young for the symptoms to manifest. Once I can nail it down then I can figure out a way to stop it.”

“What if you can't stop it?”

Heechul looked Kinglsey in the eye. “Then I'll find a way to manage it.”

“What if it's something you can't control? Like magic?”

“Mr. Shacklebolt, I honestly don't care. Poltergeist, magic, whatever. As long as Jonghyun is safe and happy, I'll take anything else as it comes. But he is not safe or happy now, and we need to change that.”

The two men stared at each other. Finally Kinglsey Shacklebolt smiled warmly.

“I'll take your case, Mr. Kim.”

Heechul sneaked a look at his watch. 3:30 pm. Kinglsey had been arguing their case for three hours. Suddenly, the doors flew open and Kyuhyun stalked out, followed by Kangin.

“Good riddance you little brat,” Kyuhyun hissed. Kangin said nothing. He didn't even look their way.

Heechul perked up, and looked at Kinglsey Shacklebolt who was smiling at them.

“Success!” Kinglsey exclaimed.

Heechul and Jonghyun cheered, and Heechul spun Jonghyun around.

“Do I have to call you Dad now?” Jonghyun asked.

“Only if you want to,” Heechul answered, setting Jonghyun down. “You can still call me Chulie or Heenim if you prefer.”

Jonghyun beamed.

“We should celebrate!” Heechul said. “What should we have?”

“Grilled cheese and cookies!”

Heechul smiled, then turned to Kinglsey. “Would you like to join us?”

Kingsley smiled back. “I'd love to.”

When they arrived home, Heechul noticed a snowy barn owl perched on the roof.

“Huh. I've never seen one of those before,” Heechul commented.

“It's pretty,” Jonghyun said.

“It sure is.”

Heechul settled Kingsley at the kitchen table while he began prepping lunch. Jonghyun was chattering about his favorite book and bouncing around the kitchen.

“Someone's excited,” Kinglsey grinned at Heechul.

Heechul smiled fondly at his new son. “Yeah. Pretty great huh?”

Suddenly, Jonghyun interrupted. “Heenim, the Professor's back!” he shouted excitedly, looking out of the window.

Heechul set his spatula down and opened the back door. Sure enough, a small tabby sat on their back porch.

“You're right!” Heechul replied. “Do you remember how to feed her?”

Jonghyun nodded solemnly.

“Okay. You feed the Professor while I work on feeding us.”

Jonghyun ran to the pantry while Heechul returned to the stove.

“The Professor?” Kinglsey asked.

Heechul nodded. “It's a stray cat that comes around every few months or so. We started calling it the Professor because the markings around its eyes look like glasses.”

Jonghyun carried two small bowls to the back door, pushing the screen door open slowly with his back. He set the bowls down and moved back inside, content to just watch the cat eat.

“What do you feed it?”

“Tuna and milk.”

Kinglsey gave Heechul a look, and Heechul laughed.

“We tried feeding it just cat food, but it looked so offended! It's kind of a food snob.”

Kinglsey just chuckled.