Clothes, blankets, and textbooks lay strewn across the third year Hufflepuff dorm room. Minho sat in the middle of the chaotic mess, dumping out the contents of his backpack onto the floor and digging through the pockets. “Where…are you?” Minho sang under his breath. “Where…the …did you go?”

Nope, it wasn’t in there either.

Huffing, Minho got up and went back to his dresser drawer to continue his seemingly fruitless search for his permission slip to go to Hogsmeade. He couldn’t leave Hogwarts without it, and he didn’t want to make Kibum have to wait for him. Again. Squinting, he looked up at the ceiling as he fished through his robe’s pockets. He had it, he knew he did. Dad and Mom signed it almost as soon as he got home from school last year.

“Why…can’t I…find you?” The door creaked open and Minho turned as Gilbert stepped into the room. “I’ll clean this up, I swear.”

Gil’s eyes widened as he took in the mess. “Not right now, though. It’s almost time to go.”

“I know, I know.”

“Still can’t find it?” Instead of answering, Minho opened his other drawer and felt his the pockets of his pants. “Kibum does know he can come inside, right?”

“Uh,” he glanced back to where Gilbert was, finding him sitting on Minho’s bed and looking through his nightstand. “Yeah, he does, he just…doesn’t want to right now.”

“Why not?” Gilbert asked as he peeked behind Minho’s bed.

Minho blinked. That was quite the loaded question, not that Gilbert realized it, of course. He didn’t want to get into it, as it wasn’t his question to answer, but he wasn’t even sure how to respond. As he was trying to conjure up a reason why Kibum didn’t want to be inside Hufflepuff that didn’t go into his supposed mis-Sorting into Slytherin and the fact that he felt guilty hiding it all from Grandma, Gilbert reached behind Minho’s bed and pulled out a crumpled parchment.

He flattened it in his lap as he inspected it closely. “Found it!” Minho bounded over the mess he made and took the paper from Gilbert, breathing a sigh of relief as he looked it over. “Ready?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He folded the parchment and stuck it in his jeans pocket as he scanned the floor for his favorite hoodie. “Did Kibum have a jacket?”

“Uh, I didn’t notice.”

“Probably not.” Minho hummed, finding his red sweatshirt and slipping it on before he grabbed his black Manchester hoodie for Kibum. “I’m ready now.”

He checked his pocket for his permission slip three times as they walked from their dorm room to the tunnel leading to the outside hallway. It was still there, of course, he was just paranoid about losing now. Minho crawled through the tunnel after Gil, and he spotted Kibum’s shoes pacing back and forth in front of the opening before Gilbert stepped outside.

As he expected, Kibum just had some band T-shirt on and no jacket or sweater. Minho passed him the hoodie as soon as he was standing up, taking the polaroid from Kibum so he could slip into the sweatshirt. “Did you find it?” Minho nodded as Kibum shrugged into Minho’s hoodie. “Good.” They glanced down the hall, finding that Gilbert was nearly to the stairwell. “We’re supposed to meet in the clocktower courtyard.”

“So, Zonko’s,” Kibum said once they started climbing the stairs and Minho nodded. “And Honeydukes?”

“We can start there, but I don’t know any more of the shops’ names.”

“Well, the only other one I can remember is Madam Puttifoot’s, so…”

Once they reached the main floor. they started running down the hallway to catch up to the other students. They were both panting by the time they reached the courtyard, and Minho leaned against Kibum as he reached down the rub his ankle. There had been a slight twinge of pain when he was running, but he wasn’t too concerned about it.

“Are you okay?” Minho glanced over at Kibum. Concern etched itself in Kibum’s brow as he looked up from Minho’s hand on his ankle to meet his eyes. “Are you sure? It’s probably a long walk to the village…”

“I’ll be okay, Bummie.” Kibum’s mouth flattened to a thin line, and Minho chuckled. “We can walk really slow if you want.”

He looked like he was about to respond, but O’Neely came to collect their permission slips, and they both watched him as he walked away. “All right, are we ready to go?” Before anyone could even answer, some of the older students started walking out of the courtyard, presumably on their way to Hogsmeade. O’Neely shook his head, smiling when everyone looked back at him, and gestured for everyone to follow the seventh years down the path.

* * * * * * * * * *

It wasn’t a long walk to Hogsmeade, which that Kibum was extremely grateful for, given the fact that Minho was still limping from his Quidditch injury. Granted, it was only slightly, but he still was. He shoved his hands in the pocket of the hoodie Minho let him borrow and let the polaroid swing back and forth across his chest with every step.

There was a nip in the air that usually accompanied snow, biting at his nose and cheeks and the tips of his ears. The sky was gray and dismal, and Kibum actually found himself wishing for some snow, as it would brighten the day a little bit. Mom said that Hogsmeade was really pretty in the snow. Whenever it did snow, she and Dad would go to Madam Puddifoot’s to warm up with tea or cocoa or coffee.

He spared a glance at Minho when his teeth started to chatter. Maybe they should head there first instead of Honeydukes or Zonko’s.

Kibum dug into his pocket, fishing out the Galleons that Mom sent him a couple days ago and the Sickles and Knuts he found laying around the castle. “Hey,” he nudged Minho’s arm with his elbow. “How much money do you have?”

“Uh.” He slipped his hands into his pockets, his expression falling when he pulled out two Sickles. “Not much.”

“It’s okay! I’ll pay for our today.”

Minho gave him a sort of pained, worried look. “You really don’t have to.”

“Doesn’t matter if I have to or not, I’m gonna. Besides, I owe you!” Minho blinked twice before his brow furrowed in confusion, which made Kibum want to laugh. “You won the game, remember? I promised I’d do something for you.”

“You don’t have t– “

“You’re not my mom. You can’t tell me what I can or can’t do.”

Minho pursed his lips, attempting not to smile and failing miserably, and rolled his eyes. “Fine.” There was an amused glint in his eyes when he looked back ahead, “Oh!” He patted Kibum’s arm, pointing ahead.

They had just turned a corner on the path, and now in the distance, they could see the glow of the lanterns through the shop windows. Hogsmeade sprawled across the countryside, the main street bustling with people. Kibum squinted, watching their movements closely as they approached. It looked like some of them were setting up Christmas decorations, which seemed early, as November was only just beginning, but who was he to judge?

“Oh, hey,” he said, scooting closer to Minho when a pack of fourth years blew past them in a sudden rush to get to the village. “Are you planning on staying here for Christmas?”

Minho shrugged. “Aren’t you?”

“Well, I was, but I got the impression from Mom’s last letter that she wants me to come home this year.”

“Really?”

Kibum nodded. “I think she’s planning on being home.”

“Huh…okay, I’ll write to my parents and ask. They haven’t mentioned any trips they’re planning, so I should be good to go home.”

Kibum let out a sigh of relief and moved slightly away from Minho when their shoulders kept brushing together. “That’ll be weird, huh? Not being together for Christmas.”

“Yeah.” They both let out staggered sighs. “It’ll be nice to be with family again, though, I think.”

“Right.” Kibum shivered as the chilled wind picked up and Minho’s teeth started chattering again as they reached Hogsmeade. Minho seemed to want to follow the crowd to Honeydukes, but after a second of scanning the signs, Kibum grabbed his arm and guided him away. “Wait, where are we going?”

He pointed ahead to the shop with the bright pink door and window ts, the Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop sign swinging back and forth in the breeze.

The heat from the crackling fireplace warmed them almost instantly as they stepped inside, the tinkle of a silver bell overhead announcing their arrival. Both stood frozen in the doorway, Kibum’s hand still latched onto Kibum’s arm, as they took in the shop.

Chintzy pink bows and floral wallpaper decked the walls, along with – thankfully – unmoving paintings of couples kissing, or just, being on the verge of kissing. Frilly pink satin tablecloths covered each table with lit and flickering candles in the midst of floral centerpieces. The windows were fogged up, and dripping hearts with initial were drawn in several of the panes. At the tables sat many of the older students that everyone in the school – including Mrs. Norris, probably – knew were couples.

He should have guessed from Mom's stories that this was a romantic spot for the couples at Hogwarts.

Kibum knew his face was red…probably beyond red and into scarlet territory now. He wanted nothing more than to pull Minho back out of the shop and pretend like they had never stepped foot inside. Minho, however, seemed to have another idea.

“Do you see the size of these mugs?” he asked as he started walking to the counter. Kibum wanted to ask him if he even saw the rest of the shop, but when he glanced up at Minho and saw how red the tips of his ears were, he knew he was aware. “We’ll probably have to share one.”

Kibum looked to where Minho was pointing and his eyes widened. Holy , the mugs were about this size of his face! They were probably made to share, judging by the state of the shop. “Uh, sure,” Kibum said as he got his money out of his pocket. “Tea or cocoa?”

“Cocoa.” When Kibum stepped up to the counter, Minho gestured behind them. “I’ll go get us a seat.”

The woman behind the counter – Madam Puddifoot herself, Kibum assumed – piled whipped cream and chocolate shavings high atop their already huge mug of cocoa, and Kibum carefully made his way back to where Minho was by the fire. “Okay so,” he whispered as soon as he sat down, “I didn’t know that this was, like, a place to take girlfriends.” Minho started to snicker and Kibum held back his own laugh. “Shut up!”

“If you expect me to let you live this down…” Kibum smacked his arm and Minho leaned away from him, laughter and candlelight sparkling in his eyes.

“Mom told me about it,” Kibum said when they both stopped giggling. “Dad used to take her here.” Minho sobered even more and Kibum lowered his eyes to the tablecloth. “Which is…Merlin’s beard, this is a horrible pink.”

Minho snorted and almost spilled the cocoa as he set it back on its saucer. “It is.”

With an effort, Kibum tore his gaze away from the horror that was the lacy pink tablecloth and looked across the small table at Minho. “Oh…my god.”

“What?” Minho froze in his seat, his eyes narrowing when Kibum his polaroid. “What’s happening?”

A thick line of whipped cream was smeared across Minho’s upper lip, as well as a small dollop on the tip of his nose with a chocolate shaving sticking out the side of it. It was the cutest thing Kibum had ever seen, aside from Roo when she was learning how to roll over – and even then, it was really close.

“Just hold still,” Kibum said as he attempted to hold his camera steady as he tried not to laugh.

“Why? Why are you doing this?” Minho whined as Kibum snapped the picture.

“You’ve got…” Kibum gestured to his upper lip, and Minho wiped it away with his hoodie, his face flushing when he saw the whipped cream streaked across his arm. He got most of it off his nose, too, but not all, and Kibum reached across the table to brush it off with his thumb. “There.”

“No more?”

“You’re good,” Kibum said, watching the film develop. The picture was there, and the color was just starting to appear when Minho snatched it out of his hand. “Hey!”

“Oh my god.” Minho watched the picture for a second before he looked back at Kibum. “Why?”

“Mom said to make memories,” he said as he grabbed the picture from Minho’s hand and stuffed it in his pocket. “And pictures are the best way to do that.”

Minho rolled his eyes, hiding his smile behind the mug as he took another sip. “Whatever,” he said, taking extra care to clean his lip this time.

They were only able to drink about half of the cocoa before it became too rich for them. And, after much debate on whether they should leave the mug at the table or take it up to the counter, they stepped back into the main street, looking around at the bustling shops.

Zonko’s ended up being too crowded for either of them to enjoy themselves, so they left quickly and hurried across the street to Honeydukes, which seemed to be emptied out of students. There were only a few left, other than he and Minho, of course, leaving more than enough room for the two to browse at their leisure. Kibum kept having to physically drag him away from the freezer full of ice cream – he was starting to think Minho was doing it to annoy him specifically.

After a while, they split up, each inspecting different bins and shelves and the treats that were displayed there. Minho snapped his fingers, drawing Kibum’s attention away from the assortment of Tooth-flossing Stringmints and the Tooth-splintering Strongmints – really though, the packaging was much too similar, and at a glance, they could be mistaken for the other. Which, potentially, could be slightly catastrophic. Minho snapped his fingers again, this time letting out a hushed hey! and Kibum turned away from the mints and returned to Minho’s side.

“Is this a for real blood lollipop?”

Kibum took one of the lollipops from the stand, inspecting the wrapper. “No, it’s actually strawberry. But, I suppose it’s supposed to taste like..blood?”

“Why would anyone want that?” Kibum was about to make a joke about vampires, but Minho cut him off. “I should get one for Minseok.”

“I highly doubt he would like that.”

“Yeah, no, not at all.” Minho picked up one of the lollipops again, twirling it between his fingers. “What about Jjong?”

“If I’m getting him anything in the shop,” Kibum started to say, nodding for Minho to follow him. “It’ll be this.” He held up a box of Fudge Flies with a grin. “He ing hates fudge.”

Minho laughed out loud, the sound amplified in the small shop. He covered his mouth sheepishly and stepped closer to Kibum to avoid everyone’s curious eyes. “Why get it for him, then?”

He nodded across the shop to where the lollipops were and Minho followed his gaze. “Why get one of those for Minseok? For the reaction! It’ll be hilarious, even if I’m not there to see it, I’d for sure hear about it.” Kibum flipped over the box, his eyes widening at the price. “A whole Galleon?”

“We could get the gag gifts later.”

“True.” Kibum tossed the box back on the shelf, and Minho straightened it before he followed Kibum down the aisle. “See anything you want?”

For like, the fifth time, Minho’s gaze drifted toward the ice cream counter. Kibum was about to tell him no, for the fifth time, but then Minho’s eyebrows raised the slightest bit and his bottom lip jutted in the tiniest pout. Were his eyes even watering? Kibum clinked his coins together in his pocket as he tried to glare at him…but could he really say no to him? With that expression?

His eyes narrowed at his best friend, who was now making his chin quiver with uncried tears. It would take a force of nature to stop him from doing whatever Minho wanted at this exact moment in time.

And, even then, that might not even stop him.

“Fine.” Minho expression changed instantly from a pleading pout to a triumphant grin. “But I stand by the fact that this isn’t ice cream weather.”

“All weather is ice cream weather, Bummie!”

Kibum just rolled his eyes and Minho followed him to the counter, draping his arm over his shoulders. “What kind do you want?”

Minho leaned in, bringing Kibum closer to the glass with him. He tapped the glass over the Spiced Peaches and Cream flavor. It had big chunks of succulent looking peaches, and just the sight of it made Kibum’s mouth water. “Could we get two cones of the Peaches and Cream, please?” Kibum asked when Mr. Flume stopped behind the counter.

“Sorry, lad, we’re out of those for the day.”

“Cones?” Mr. Flume nodded and Kibum turned his head slightly toward Minho. “You okay if we share a bowl?”

“Totally against it.”

His ill-concealed smile made that hard to believe, so Kibum looked back up at Mr. Flume. “A bowl then, with two spoons.”

“All right, then. The Missus will ring you up,” he said, gesturing down the counter to where a kindly woman stood watching them, and started to scoop out the ice cream.

“How much?”

“A Galleon and two Knuts.” Kibum set the money on the counter and Minho detached himself from his side as he hurried to grab the ice cream from Mr. Flume. “Thank you, boys!”

“Thank you!” They called out almost simultaneously as they headed for the door.

* * * * * * * * * *

A blast of cold wind hit them as soon as they stepped outside Honeydukes. It was a shock to their systems, with how comfortably toasty the Flumes kept their shop. Minho shuddered as a chill crept down his spine, and he huddled a little closer to Kibum as they walked through the lane. 

It was barely four in the afternoon, Minho saw on the clock face above Dervish and Banges, but it was already so dark. Dinner would be a bit later today, so they still had some time to kill before heading back to the castle. They passed by The Three Broomsticks, which seemed to be packed full of people getting drinks.

“Have you ever had butterbeer?” Kibum asked as they walked passed, peering into the candlelit windows of the inn, and Minho told him that he had not. “Next time, then.” 

The shopkeeper of Tomes and Scrolls stepped outside and hung a closed sign over the doorknob in the center of the bookshop, smiling as Minho waved at her. There seemed to be a lot more to the village than the others talked about, which was mainly just Honeydukes and Zonko’s. There was a sporting goods shop and it was filled almost to the brim with broom care and repair supplies as well as wood and leather polish. Basically, anything he could possibly think of that he might need for Quidditch was in there, and more.

Kibum almost choked on his ice cream when Minho dragged him across the street to look in the windows of the shops on the other side of the street. There was a hairdressing salon, a clothing shop, an Herbology shop that Minho might have gotten too excited about, a music shop -- its windows were already shuttered so they couldn’t see inside -- and a post office at the end of the lane.

A flake of snow -- followed by another and another -- fell before Minho, and he looked up at the lanterns posted along the lane to see the few snowflakes as they fell past the warm light. 

Minho took a big bite of the ice cream, savoring the chunk of peach he got before he took another scoop and passed the bowl back to Kibum. They would have so much more to explore next time they came to Hogsmeade.

There wasn’t much else to see, now that the shops were all closing, except for maybe the Shrieking Shack, but Minho wasn’t exactly sure what that was all about. Travis said that Tanner told him it was the most haunted building in all of Britain, but apparently, there hadn’t been a sound heard from there for years. 

Still, he couldn’t help but be curious...

He glanced at the other students who were also on their way back to the castle as Kibum passed the bowl of ice cream back to Minho. As he took another bite, he shivered and hoped against hope that Kibum didn’t notice it, but judging by the smug smile on his face, he absolutely did.

“It’s really good, at least,” Minho said as he dug through the cream for another bite of peach. 

Kibum chuckled. “Yeah, the spices are a nice touch. It’s still too cold for ice cream, though.” 

“ for you that you’re so closeminded.” 

“Not closeminded,” he said, snatching the bowl out of Minho’s hands. “Just cold.” Minho glanced around, his gaze training over Kibum’s head on the silhouette of what was probably the Shrieking Shack. He was about to suggest that they go check it out when Kibum elbowed him in the side. “What the hell? Are you eating all the peach chunks?”

“...Maybe?” Kibum huffed and went back to digging around in the bowl in search of more peach. Minho tried to move one of the scoops with his spoon, but Kibum parried it with his own before it even came in contact with the ice cream. “Wanna go see the Shrieking Shack?” 

“At...night?” 

“It’s barely night.” 

“It’s also snowing." 

“True.” Minho looked away from the distant building to find Kibum staring at it. “You must be curious, though, too.” 

“That...that’s beside the point.” 

Kibum glanced behind them to the trickle of students heading back to Hogwarts before he grabbed Minho’s arm and dragged him off the path. They ran -- Kibum’s spoon clattering against the bowl of ice cream -- across the grass toward the Shrieking Shack. Soon, they reached a rickety fence, which looked easy enough to hop over but both of them balked at it. 

Kibum tugged on Minho’s arm before he released him and sat on the boulder Minho had just jumped over. After a second, Minho sat beside him, and Kibum passed back the bowl of ice cream. “Grandma said that this wasn’t here when she was in school.”

“Really?” Minho asked, but it came out garbled behind his mouthful of ice cream.

“Yeah. I don’t know when it got built, but Will -- Slytherin's Head Boy -- said it was, like, immediately haunted.” Minho hummed as he took another bite. “Maybe there was a massacre in this field during one of the wars and the building of the house disturbed the land...or something.” 

Minho shivered, this time not from being cold. “That’s so creepy.” He stared at the distant house, watching the boarded-up windows for any sort of movement. “Would the ghost...or ghosts...make a lot of noise?”

“Yeah. Not all the time, though. Lots of wailing and crying, I guess.” Kibum shuddered himself and shifted so he was pressed up against Minho’s side after Minho handed him back the bowl. “Did you like Hogsmeade, though?” 

“I did. It’ll be fun to go into the other shops and check them out, next time.”

“Agreed. Although, promise me right now that we won’t spend all our time at Spintwitches.” 

Minho laughed out loud. “No, I’ll leave some time for us to go back to the tea shop, don’t worry...honey,” he said honey in the most sickly-sweet voice he could manage. 

“Oh my god...” Kibum covered his eyes in embarrassment and Minho caught the bowl with another laugh. It was too dark to tell if he was blushing -- knowing Kibum, he absolutely was -- but, he was smiling big enough for his dimples to appear. His heart did this sort of flutter as he sat back, enjoying the last bite of ice cream to himself. “Why do I hang out with you again?” 

“Grandma pays me to.” 

Kibum snorted, shoving Minho away from him only for him to bump right back into his shoulder. “Oh right, of course. I remember that now.” He wiped his hands off on his pants before he slipped them into his -- well, Minho’s -- hoodie and pulled out the few pictures they took from today. 

The snow was falling a bit harder now, and it was actually starting to accumulate in patches. He could feel and see some of the flakes that caught in his eyelashes, but he blinked them away. Minho was definitely feeling the cold now, the chill biting at his fingertips and nose and ears. He set the bowl between his legs on his lap and shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket.

Beside him, Kibum sniffed, and Minho looked down to find him staring at the picture he took inside the tea shop. When he sniffed again, Minho leaned forward to check if Kibum was crying. He wasn’t. After a second of hesitation, Minho slipped his arm around Kibum’s waist, rubbing his side a little.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, glancing Minho’s way. “Sorry.” 

“What for?” Kibum just shook his head, slipping the pictures back into his pocket. He had mentioned his parents a couple times today, maybe thoughts about them were bothering him? Minho held him a little tighter, and Kibum sighed. “Missing your dad?”

“I just...I don’t know if it makes sense...but I wish, I wish I could have gotten to know him better. Just, like, being here today made me think about all the stories he had told me...” He shivered, and Minho looked up at the snow collecting on his head. He considered brushing it off for him, but then he continued. “I don’t know, I was just wondering what all he didn’t get to tell me. Not just about Hogsmeade, or Hogwarts...but, everything. I just wish -- “ His voice cracked and Minho started rubbing his side again. “I know I’m being selfish." 

“You’re not selfish to miss your dad, Bummie.” 

Kibum gulped and nodded, meeting Minho’s eye for a second. He leaned into him before he pushed himself up off the boulder. “We should probably head back, huh?”

“I guess.” Kibum held out his hand to Minho, helping him off the boulder. Minho tucked the bowl under his arm and reached up to brush the snow out of Kibum’s hair. “You should put your hood up. I don’t want you to catch a cold.” 

Kibum squeezed his hand -- a silent thanks -- and let go of his hand to put on his hood. 

It was practically night by the time they reached the path back to Hogwarts. Snow was falling heavily now, a thin layer covering the ground. Their footsteps crunched in the snow and Minho got his wand out of his pocket, whispering “Lumos.” 

A halo of clean white light shone before them, the snow glittering before it hit the ground. Beside him, Kibum linked their arms, their steps syncing as they walked along. He looked happy, his eyes bright in the wandlight as he looked up at the falling snow. "I really do love the snow.”

“But, you don’t like being cold.” 

“Yeah, but,” Kibum held his hand out to catch some flakes. “It’s pretty!”

He looked back up at Minho, dimples indenting his cheeks as he grinned. Minho’s breath caught and he looked back at the falling snow and the night beyond. “Yeah, it is.”