A cacophony of fluttering wings drew the attention of nearly every student in the Great Hall, Kibum included. He slid forward in anticipation, watching the mass of owls as they flew into the room in search of their young owners. He spotted Nutmeg as soon as the small, tawny owl appeared in the window – his grandmother’s bright red ribbon binding the package instantly recognizable in the light of the morning sun.

Finally.

It had been about a week since his last care package from his grandmother and, because of that, he and Minho had been out of studying snacks for three days.

Nutmeg released the package before he landed on the table, pecking lightly at Kibum’s hand. “Hey, Meg,” he said, patting his owl’s soft head fondly. “Good job.” Nutmeg flew off then, back to the owlery with the others.

“Woah! What are those?” Callum asked, leaning across the table to inspect the Muggle treats Analecia Torr pulled out of her package from her mum. She peeled back the packaging one of the Aero Bars and broke it into pieces, offering it to the other first years closest to her.

“Thanks,” Kibum said and stuffed the segment into his mouth as he unwrapped his care package. He sputtered in surprise, almost spitting the Muggle treat out across the table when the chocolate started fizzing against his tongue. Swallowing with what he hoped was a subtle grimace, he looked over to see Analecia watching Kibum and his fellow Slytherins. Kibum coughed. “It was…interesting.”

She giggled and took a bite of the Double Decker candy bar. “Why else do you think I shared?”

Kibum snorted and resumed unwrapping his own care package.

My darling Kibum~ the letter began. Kibum flushed a bright pink, taking the parchment out of the package and holding it in his lap beneath the table so he could read it with a little bit of privacy. I’m glad you’re enjoying your classes. Nothing is more exciting than your first year at Hogwarts. I hope you’re taking time outside of your studies to make all sorts of new friends.

Kibum glanced up from the letter and at his dorm and classmates sitting around him. They were nice and he was enjoying getting to know them, but he wasn’t sure if he considered them friends yet. Growing up, it had been hard for him to keep friends, what with how frequently he moved around the world. From Korea, to Canada, to America, and now England…it had been rough. Jonghyun was his first real friend in England, but then even he moved away.

He sat up a little straighter, looking over the other Slytherins and the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws to find Minho at the Hufflepuff table. Minho sat a little off from the group, still interacting with his fellow Hufflepuffs by laughing as one of them told a story. Kibum smiled, his gaze growing distant until he blinked and brought himself back to the present.

Minho was the closet friend he’d ever had, even though they’d known each other for barely a month.

I baked some extra butterbeer cookies to share with your friends, but you can keep the pumpkin pasties all to yourself. I know they’re your favorite. Kibum his lips and pulled open the package the peek inside.

There were two little brown bags, one fuller than the other, and a small tin dosirak. He tapped the lid with the tip of his finger, smiling. Still warm. Grandma always enchanted the dosirak to stay hot until he was ready to eat it. He wanted to open it up and look inside, but he was worried that it might break the spell. Only one spoon though, as usual. He and Minho would just have to share again.

In addition to the homemade food, there was also a couple of chocolate frogs and a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. He’d have to make Minho try those again – Kibum secretly hoped that he’d get another earwax one just so he could see Minho’s disgusted expression again. He chuckled to himself as he pulled out the jelly beans, his hand freezing in mid-air when he noticed a camera lens staring back at him.

Also, his grandmother said as he returned to the letter, looking for an explanation. I found this while I was rummaging through the attic for things to give to the church. It’s the first camera I got your mother, and she used it to document her time at Hogwarts. I thought you might enjoy doing the same. She signed the letter as she always did, With all my love…

Kibum folded the letter tightly and slipped it between the brown bags before he grabbed the camera out of the box and pulled the package to his chest as he excused himself from the Slytherin table. As calmly as he could, so as not to jostle his new treats, he made his way past the other house tables to Hufflepuff’s.

He slid into the empty space beside Minho, who had just now noticed his presence, as he had been far too engrossed in one of his dormmate’s tales. His already big eyes widened and he hurried to swallow his mouthful of toast and eggs and gravy. “Hey,” he said, hiccupping the short greeting.

“I got more snacks,” Kibum said with a grin, sliding the package over for Minho to inspect. Also, my grandma sent me this,” he hooked his arm around Minho’s neck and pulled him closer as he held out the camera to capture the moment. Minho smiled instinctively, as did Kibum, and he pressed the tiny button at the top.

Click!

Kibum blinked away the imprint of the flash on his vision and Minho rubbed his eyes. He released Minho from his hold as the camera made a soft whirring sound, both transfixed by the sight of what looked like a piece of paper with a large black block on it spitting out the front of the camera.

“Oh, it’s a…a…” Minho’s brow furrowed, and he said polaroid in Korean. Kibum’s eyes widened in recognition, saying the word in English and Minho repeating it. Kibum nodded when he got the pronunciation right and patted his back in silent praise.

He pulled the undeveloped picture from the front of the camera, watching the black turn to a less solid gray. Minho exclaimed at the slight movement that started to appear with the color and huddled closer to Kibum as the picture came to life.

Riiiing!

Both boys jumped at the sound of the bell – they only had five minutes to get to their first class. Kibum shoved the polaroid into the box and tied it back up. “I don’t think I have enough time to head back to my dorm,” he said, chewing the inside of his cheek. Minho brought his backpack up onto the table, his textbooks clunking heavily on the tabletop. “Are you sure?”

“No. I just wanted to show you my backpack that you’ve seen a hundred times.”

Kibum punched his arm with an amused roll of his eyes and Minho grinned at him “See you after lunch!” he called over his shoulder as he darted back to the Slytherin table to collect his own textbooks.

The screech of chalk against the blackboard brought Minho, the other Hufflepuffs, and the Ravenclaws to attention. All of them looked to Professor O’Neely as he continued writing, undisturbed by the noise. Minho squinted at the cursive script on the board and pretended to scribble in his notebook along with the others as they diligently took notes.

He wasn’t sure, but he thought O’Neely was talking about gnomes. That was what the last illustration in his Defensive Magical Theory textbook was about. Gnomes were squat little creatures, their head as big as their body with warts and wire-y hair poking out in every direction. Minho’s nose wrinkle in disgust when he flipped back to the illustration.

O’Neely droned on, and Minho was sure that it was interesting, but it was hard to focus when he could only understand a word or a sentence here and there. Sighing, he flipped another couple pages back, trying to find the picture of the werewolf he had seen a couple days ago. Once he found it, the next page flipped itself over to reveal the photograph that Kibum took earlier.

Minho grabbed the picture, holding it gingerly in his palm and watching it in awe. Kibum’s arm tightened around his neck and pulled them closer together. His own smile grew in the photograph and he looked from Kibum to the camera. Then, a bright flash and Minho watched as Kibum blinked and his own smile faded ever so slightly.

The scene had reset and started again.

Minho watch it six times in full before he felt the eyes of his Ravenclaw deskmate on him. He flipped the photograph over and tucked it back into his textbook.

Defense Against the Dark Arts ended soon enough and Minho collected his things, stuffing them into his tightly-packed backpack. He froze when he saw the red ribbon holding Kibum’s care package together. Gulping, he zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, following after the Hufflepuffs on their way to Charms.

Why hadn’t his parents responded to his letters yet?

He had sent them dozens, several a week in fact. He would trek up to the owlery with Kibum when he wanted to send his grandma or mom something. Geum-nun would take the letter in her talons and fly away with Nutmeg -- but she never once came to the Great Hall. Minho’s heart sank every morning when he heard the flapping wings of the owls, and this morning was no exception.

If it were Minseok, then...no. Minho pinched his arm through his robe until he winced, driving away the thought momentarily.

He took a deep breath as he dropped his backpack on the floor by his desk and settled into his seat next to his desk and dormmate, Finnigan Reilly. He was ripping strips out of his Standard Book of Spells and rolling them into tiny balls before flicking them off their desk into the bushy mass of the Gryffindor girl's hair before them.

Flitwick stepped up to the podium as Finnigan peeled off another strip. They were still studying the Levitation spell. Minho looked around as everyone else brought out their wands -- a first for Charms class. His hand trembled as he reached into his backpack for his cedar wand and he rolled it back and forth between his fingers.

“Win-gar-dium-le-vi-oh-sa,” he said slowly under his breath, repeating it over and over again exactly as Kibum had taught him. He could do this.

Flitwick said something -- he had a hard time understanding his higher pitched voice -- and Minho glanced around to see what the others were doing. They set their wands down on their desks and Minho copied them, folding his hands together over it.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Flitwick said and the class followed with Minho a second behind. The two Gryffindor girls ahead of him turned around and giggled, Minho shrinking a little in his seat. Flitwick nodded, smiling, and went to the end of the line of desk and passed the first student a bag. The class recited the spell again after Flitwick.

In the bag, there were individual white feathers. Once Minho got his, he twirled it against his cheek, smiling at the soft sensation. It calmed him, if only a little, and he placed it on his desk like Finnigan did.

Flitwick was back behind his podium and tapping his wand on it. “All right, do you remember the movements?” Minho picked up his wand and did a slow swish-and-flick in the air. The others did the same and Flitwick clapped happily. “Go ahead and pick up your wands, now, and try the incantation and the motion together.”

Minho gulped. He stared down at his feather, listening to Finnigan repeat the spell three times before his feather started to float. He gripped his wand tightly, did the motion, and said the spell. The feather sat completely still.

Minseok would have done this, first try.

Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes and he bit the inside of his lip. He blinked them away and tried again. And again...and again. Class ended and the other students left for lunch, leaving Minho behind to stare at his feather. His wand was in his lap, having rolled there after he dropped it, and his head was in his hands.

Was he even a wizard? Could he actually do this?

Maybe there was another eleven-year-old wizard named Choi Minho running around out there in England and Minho got his letter by mistake. Maybe Minseok was actually the wizard of the family and the letter to Minho was just addressed wrong. Maybe...maybe he should just go home and stop pretending like he belonged here.

He in a deep breath and tried to ignore the trembling in his bottom lip. “Mr. Choi?” Minho looked up at the sound of Flitwick’s voice -- he hadn’t realized that he was still in the room. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes,” he lied, sniffing as he started to pack his things.

“Are you sure? You were hitting yourself.”

Ah, that explained the slight ache at the crown of his head. “I’m okay.”

Flitwick watched him -- Minho could feel his gaze -- as he finished packing his things. Once he was almost to the door of the classroom, Flitwick cleared his throat. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Mr. Choi.” Minho nodded and left the room, passing by the Great Hall on his way to his house.

The chatter of the students inside was noisy and obnoxious, and Minho was honestly not in the mood for it. He unpacked his backpack once he was in the safety of his room, refilling it with his afternoon class books and Kibum’s package.

Kibum...

Minho turned and went over to the mirror by the door. He wiped his runny nose with the back of his hand and dried the tears he didn’t remember crying. He smacked his cheeks once, twice...he couldn’t let Kibum know that he had been crying. Kibum might think he was stupid and not want to be his friend anymore. Minho’s eyes welled at the thought, and he smacked his cheeks again, hoping to maybe scare away the unwelcome tears.

He checked his appearance three more times until he felt that he looked all right enough to be seen. Once he grabbed his backpack, he was out the door and back in the open corridor. He made his way down to the Great Hall and stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at his feet, still wary to go inside. From the sounds of it, lunch was wrapping up and they’d all be going to their next class anyway. It was only a matter of time, now, until...

“Min-hooo!” Kibum called out happily, linking their arms together once he reached him. Minho grinned at him before returning his attention to the ground. “Did you eat? I didn’t see you in there.”

Minho just shrugged and Kibum smacked his shoulder. “Hey!” Kibum clicked his tongue and shook his head as he grabbed Minho’s shoulder and turned him around to dig into his backpack. He rummaged in there for quite a while, long enough for Minho to try and turn around. “What are you doi -- “

“Shh.” Soon enough, Minho heard Kibum zipping up his backpack. He came around to his side again and handed him a pumpkin pastie. “You have to eat something for lunch. You won’t be able to focus in class.”

He took it and nibbled on the folded edge of the dough. “Thanks.”

Kibum smiled, nodding down the corridor, and Minho trailed after him as headed down the hall to the Transfiguration classroom. The rest of the day passed by in a blur for Minho, which was all right. He could just look at Kibum’s notes later and figure out what he missed today.

Minho wasn’t hungry at dinner either so he skipped it as well, choosing instead to stay in his room. He laid on his bed and watched the time tick, tick, tick by on the alarm clock by his bed, slowly sitting up and rubbing the top of his head once it read 7:55 pm.

He found Kibum waiting for him on the seventh floor under the unnecessarily large tapestry of trolls doing ballet. His backpack shifted against his back as he came to a stop by Kibum’s side. Kibum squinted, looking him over. Minho pursed his lips and looked away, instead watching the wooden door as it materialized in the solid stone wall. Once the lock unclicked, Kibum stepped forward and opened the door, pushing it open for Minho to enter first.

It was an old storage closet that they discovered in their first week here. They had been on the hunt after they finished classes for a place for them to study privately. It appeared to them one day when they were making fun of the tapestry -- Minho had been twirling like one of the trolls when Kibum noticed the door in the wall that had not been there before.

Since then, they met there every night at eight.

Minho crouched on the floor, unpacking his backpack and Kibum’s package, while Kibum dropped his rolls of parchment on the shelf and started lighting the candles.

“How was your day?” Kibum asked, his voice a little more subdued than normal, as he unrolled his parchment.

Minho passed him his package and nodded. “Okay. What about your’s?”

Kibum squinted again. “Great.” Minho crossed his legs and leaned back against the wall. “Which class do you want to start with?” He simply shrugged and Kibum sighed. “Let’s go with Charms.” Minho’s heart sank as he sifted through his textbooks to find his Standard Book of Spells. Kibum grabbed the dosirak out of his package and shook it vigorously before tapping it on his knee and grabbing the spoon.

“W-were you able to lift the feather?” Minho asked, his stomach growling when Kibum opened the tin.

“Yup!” He said around his first bite, passing it to Minho. “Took me a couple of tries, but yeah. You?” Minho’s chin quivered and he looked own at the dosirak in his hands, shrugging. “Oh,” Kibum said, his voice soft. He patted Minho’s shoulder and shifted until he sat next to him. “Is that what’s been bothering you all day?”

“Sorta,” Minho said, his voice coming out in a kind of blubber. He grimaced and sniffed, knocking his head back against the wall. Kibum’s hand was soon at the back of his head, rubbing the spot where he hit the wall. The silent action made Minho lose what little control he did have over his tears. “I guess...I guess I’m just a little homesick. I miss my f-family. And -- “ he tried to knock his head against the wall, but Kibum’s hand cushioned it. “I’m probably just tired.”

“Probably. But that’s okay.” Minho sniffed and looked down at the dosirak, his tears welling up again. “You can finish that if you want.”

They didn’t study much that night.

Actually, they didn’t study at all. Kibum kept asking him questions about his friends and his favorite things back home in Korea while he ate. By the time they closed the door and went their separate ways for the day, Minho’s heart felt just a little bit lighter.

The next time Kibum received a care package, there was a second dosirak and spoon inside...just for Minho.