The first snow of winter occurred a week before Christmas. Hagrid and Filch left the kitchen every morning with thermoses full of coffee. They were off to shovel the pathways outside the castle so students could travel to and from their classes. Snow drifted into the courtyard, untouched except by the stray cat that sometimes roamed the halls.

And, there she was again – the silver tabby that usually lurked outside the Headmaster’s office. She darted away from him when he tried to chase her.

Minho had always loved cats. He and Minseok had found an orange tabby with a missing eye on their way to school one morning. They ended up skipping school that day in their effort to coax it out of the alley. It had been Minho who touched the cat first, and he held her gently while Minseok petted her head.

“What should we do with her?”

“Keep her?”

Minseok scoffed and sighed heavily when Minho looked up at him, tears burning the rims of his eyes. “Fine. We’ll have to show her to Mom first, though.”

Mango was her name – it was their father’s idea. She was a happy addition to their family for three years, up until Dad got the call that they were moving to England. Sooyoung’s mother offered to take Mango, and they gave her to the other Chois a month before they were set to move to Manchester.

He missed having a pet. Sure, he had Geum-nun, but he rarely saw her between classes. It didn’t help that he never received any mail. Besides, having an owl was not the same as having a cat.

Sighing, Minho stepped up on his tiptoes to peek around the banister for a glimpse of the silver tabby. He spotted her, sitting with her back to the courtyard. Her tail twitched back and forth as she watched the snow fall. Minho grinned as he clambered over the railing and into the courtyard, his feet crunching on the snow as he crept up behind the cat.

Her ears twitched back at the slight noise, her tail freezing mid-swing. Minho stilled, waiting for her tail to swish again. When it did, he started forward again, only to have her bound away from him to return to the castle. He scurried after her, slipping a little on the stone floor as he turned the corner, and slid directly into the Headmaster herself.

Minho picked himself up off the floor and bowed as his face flushing scarlet.

“No running in the halls, Mr. Choi.”

“Yes, Headmaster.”

She sniffed, and her voice softened ever so slightly. “Be sure to clean the snow off your shoes. You wouldn’t want to track snow inside.” Minho nodded, keeping his eyes down as McGonagall walked away.

“What took you so long?” Kibum asked in a rasped whisper as Minho slid into his seat beside him. Professor Binns droned on – either he hadn’t noticed Minho slipping into his class ten minutes late or he just didn’t care. Being a ghost would do that to a person.

“Uh,” Minho hummed in thought as he flipped through his textbook to find the page Kibum was on. He sniffed and rubbed the tip of his still cold-numbed nose. “Nothing important.”

There was a hint of a smile in Kibum’s voice when he tapped the paragraph Binns was currently discussing. “We’re here.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Kibum brushed a stray feather off the table as the owls flew out of the Great Hall and returned to the owlery. The red ribbon tickled the underside of his chin as he hugged the large package from Grandma. Inside was her response to whether he could stay at Hogwarts for Christmas or not. Minho still had yet to hear from his parents at all this year, and he didn’t want to leave his friend alone for the holidays.

But...maybe today was the day Minho finally got something. Doubtful, but maybe.

The excited din of the Great Hall buzzed in his ears – everyone was probably talking about going home for the holiday. Kibum tapped the side of the package as he stared above the Gryffindor table to the window behind one of the huge Christmas trees.

It was snowing again. The flakes were thicker than they had been the past couple of days. Hopefully, the weather wouldn’t stop the others from traveling home.

Minho’s head bobbed into Kibum’s line of sight as he walked past the Gryffindor table. He blinked and sat up, scooting over a little for Minho to slide in beside him. Minho crossed his arms on the table and rested his head on them with a quiet huff, and Kibum turned to him, his eyebrow raising in question. Did you get any mail? Minho simply shook his head.

He patted Minho’s shoulder as he sat up and untied the red ribbon that held his package together. He passed it to Minho, who began wrapping and unwrapping it around his finger, and opened the box.

Inside, there were several presents wrapped in a light blue, dancing snowmen paper, the biggest being the two squishy rolls tucked against the side. Sweaters, more than likely. Grandma had gotten back into knitting this summer after quitting because of her arthritis. Kibum poked one and smiled at the way the wrapping paper crinkled.

Grandma’s letter was right on top of the presents and the still-warm brown bags of treats. He pushed it aside to dig through the sweet-smelling packages – pulling out two crisp pumpkin pasties, one for Minho and the other for himself – before he opened the letter.

My darling Kibum~

Of course you can stay at Hogwarts with your friend for Christmas. It would be sad to leave him all alone at school. I only wish that the both of you could come here for Christmas, but I know that the rules will never allow for that.

“What’d she say?” Minho asked as he unraveled the ribbon from his finger.

“Yes. But shh,” Kibum added when Minho sat up excitedly. “I’m still reading.”

Some of the gifts in there are for Minho, since I doubt his parents will be sending him anything. I’ll miss you this year, but I’m very proud of you for deciding to stay behind with your friend.

Tell Minho “Merry Christmas” from me.

With all my love…

Kibum folded up the letter and tucked it between the probable sweaters. “She says ‘Merry Christmas’.”

Minho reached into the box and frowned when Kibum smacked his hand away from the pumpkin pasties bag. “I just wanted a butterbeer cookie. Hey,” his voice trailed off when Kibum closed the box with a grin.

“Later.” He sniffed his disdain and Kibum snorted, amused. “So, now that I’m staying, what do we want to do?”

Riiiing!

Oh, right. There was still one more day of classes before Christmas break.

The Great Hall bustled to life, the students grabbing their bags and books and shoving the last of their breakfasts into their mouths as they hurried to their first class. Kibum clapped Minho on the shoulder, hefting himself off the bench. “See you in history.”

Minho slipped out of his grasp, shouting "Okay!" over his shoulder as he darted back to the Hufflepuff table for his backpack. He beat Kibum to the door, and he hurried down the hall to Herbology, waving goodbye to Kibum before he turned the corner.

The contents of Grandma’s package shuffled around as Kibum ran to his house. There were, like, four minutes until he had to get to Charms. On the second floor. From the basement. Kibum huffed a sigh, the edge of the package digging into his ribs with every step. He skidded to a stop before the blank brick wall and dug into his robe pocket for his wand.

“Mistletoe,” Kibum said, tapping the tiny coiled snake three times. He rolled his eyes as the bricks shuffled to reveal the common room. Charlie had been feeling particularly festive before he left to go home to Ireland for the holiday. Kibum stepped inside to set his package down on the plush velvet armchair and turned back around to find the entrance falling back into place. “Really?”

Three minutes left.

Kibum sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for the last brick to settle into its original position. He cracked his knuckles before he knocked the pattern – three taps, a pause, and two more taps – to open the wall again. He started running as soon as the wall opened up enough for him to fit through. The clattering of the bricks echoed in the hall as he ran.

He made it to Charms out of breath and with seconds to spare. He stumbled inside and sat at the nearest desk and tried to mask his labored breathing behind his hand. Luckily, Prof. Flitwick was distracted by one of the Ravenclaws and did not notice that Kibum was late.

Kibum elbowed Callum’s ribs. “He hasn’t started yet, right?”

“Hey.” He rubbed his side, his brow furrowing. “No, Matty had a question about yesterday’s lesson.” Kibum nodded and opened his textbook to where they had left off yesterday in the light spells and charms. “Did you hear back from your grandma?”

“Oh, yeah…She said yes.”

“Sweet! That means it’s me and Aaron and you staying behind. We were thinking – “

Kibum’s mind wandered to Minho as Callum prattled on. He would be all alone in his dorm room for the holiday since his roommates were going home to their families. Minho hadn’t even bothered to write his parents and ask them if he was going to be able to come home for Christmas. He looked so close to tears when Grandma sent the letter explaining what he would have to do when he arrived at King’s Cross by himself. Kibum couldn't bear to see Minho this sad, so he offered to stay behind with him.

He had refused at first, saying that family should be together for Christmas. Eventually – thankfully – Minho accepted Kibum’s offer to spend Christmas with him. Kibum wrote and sent the letter to Grandma that night.

Since he was staying here for Minho, it would make sense if they spent as much time together as possible, right? So, maybe he could spend the night in the Slytherin dorm once or twice – or maybe the whole time – so he wouldn’t feel so alone.

“Hey, do you think it would be all right if – “ he started to say just as Callum was saying “ – but, there’s nothing that we could drape around it to make it invisible, so…”

“What?” Kibum blinked and looked up at a confused Callum. “Sorry. You go.”

“Uh…Aaron and I are planning on sneaking in a Christmas tree for our room. Would you want to help?”

“Could Minho help too?”

Callum’s eyes brightened. “Sure, we can use all the help we can get.” He turned around, tapping on the desk behind him to get Aaron’s attention. “Hey, Operation Deck the Halls is a go.”

Kibum snorted. “Operation Deck the Halls?” Minho would love that they thought of a code name. “What do you want us to do?”

“We’ve already got a tree picked out. What we need are some decorations.”

“We’re on it,” Kibum said, grinning.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Duck,” Minho whispered, wincing at the thump that was Kibum probably falling to the ground. The spruce branches rustled against his leg and he stepped back until Kibum patted his leg. “Are you okay?”

Kibum let out a weak “Yeah.”

It was Christmas Eve, and lunch had just ended. It was time for Operation Deck the Halls – Minho smiled now just thinking about the name. Callum and Aaron had left before dessert was served, which left Minho and Kibum to gather as many ornaments as they could from the Christmas trees in the Great Hall.

Minho was supposed to be the lookout while Kibum picked which ornaments to take. Until now, no one noticed what they were doing, but…

The ornaments clinked together in Minho’s backpack when he squared his shoulders as Filch approached, grumbling some low greeting that Minho did not understand. He didn’t want to be impolite, so he bowed and said “Hello” with a small smile. Minho stepped back again when Filch glowered in his direction, freezing when Kibum pinched his calf.

“Ow…” he said once Filch had moved on.

“Sorry.”

A rumbling purr sounded a little way off, distracting Minho. Mrs. Norris, Filch’s notorious cat, was watching him and Kibum with a judging, yellow-eyed gaze. Her tail swished lazily back and forth and she crept back as Minho crouched and extended his hand to her. Her ears twitched back when he clicked his tongue and rubbed his fingers together.

“Minho, what are you doing?”

“Trying something.”

He tapped his fingers on the stone floor, Mrs. Norris’ gaze flicking down to follow the movement, but she stayed put. Minho pulled some tinsel off of the tree and dragged the silver strands across the floor. Her tail stopped twitching and Minho changed the tempo of his swishing. There was a loud snapping of fingers, and both he and Mrs. Norris turned to see Filch watching them.

She gave Minho one more look before she trotted off after her master.

Sighing, he sat back on his heels, the ornaments clinking together again. “Hey, careful. These are glass.” Minho looked back as Kibum placed another ornament into his backpack. “I think we have enough, now.”

“You think?”

Kibum laughed as he met Minho’s eyes. “How big of a tree do you think they’ll be able to get inside?” Minho shrugged and peeked around the tree to make sure that Filch wasn’t watching them. “We good?”

Slowly, Minho slipped out of his backpack and cradled it in his arms as the ornaments jingled together. He put his arms through the straps again, this time with the backpack resting against his torso as he stood. Stepping forward, he looked around the tree again. Filch and Mrs. Norris were at the head table, their backs facing the Great Hall.

“We’re clear,” Minho whispered as he started tiptoeing carefully to the door.

Kibum darted ahead and peeked up and down the hall before looking back at Minho. His eyebrows raised with a sarcastic tilt as he crossed his arms over his chest. Once Minho reached him, he sighed. “Are you sure you don’t want to walk any slower? I mean,” he looked at his watch-less wrist and Minho snorted, “I’ve got nothing else to do today, so…”

“Hey, these are glass. I was told to be careful.”

Giggling, Kibum smacked his shoulder, which caused the ornaments to clink together. They both froze, Kibum staring down at the backpack and Minho checking over his shoulder to make sure no one heard. When he was sure that no one was watching, Minho started down the hall until Kibum’s grip tightened around his shoulder.

“This way,” he said as he guided Minho over to the stairwell to the left of the Great Hall. “It’s quicker.”

Water dripped somewhere deep inside the dark corridor leading to the Slytherin house entrance. Torchlight flickered dancing shadows along the gray brick walls. The paintings moved as they walked past them, the subjects' movements jerky and unnatural in the shadows. Minho shivered and jolted to a stop when a pair of silvery ghosts glided through the wall and crossed their path. He gulped and reached for Kibum’s hand in the dark but stopped, his eyes wide, when Kibum cleared his throat.

“This is it.”

But…it was just a blank wall.

Minho squinted and scanned it for the hidden entrance as Kibum stepped forward, wielding his wand. He tapped a brick three times, said “Mistletoe,” and stepped back.

“Stop, stop…Callum, stop.” Minho glanced up as Aaron’s voice reverberated in the corridor.

“Why are you going so slow?”

“Because the tree is getting heavy? What kind of question…”

“Guys?” Kibum said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Can you hurry? I don’t want us to get in trouble.” Callum stumbled forward and out of the stairwell, pulling the tree and Aaron along with him. Kibum tapped Minho’s arm. “Let’s go.”

Minho turned around to find the wall open and waiting for them to walk through, and he blinked, surprised. When did that happen? Kibum headed inside and waved for Minho to follow him.

A fire crackled and popped in the otherwise empty common room, warming the dark stone walls with its light. Muddled shades of green light were cast across the floor and walls from the stained glass windows. The room was bright yet dark, warm yet cold, and cozy yet uninviting all at once. Slytherin’s whole aesthetic was so different from that of Hufflepuff’s, and it left Minho speechless.

“Minho.” He looked up and found Kibum waiting for him under an arched stairway. “This way.” Callum and Aaron shuffled through the doorway. As soon as they crossed the threshold, the bricks returned to their original places. “Come on.”

Minho followed Kibum as quickly as the glass ornaments would allow.

 * * * * * * * * * *

The jingling of the ornaments followed Kibum as he darted down the hallway to the first years’ dorm room. Minho laughed at something either Aaron or Callum said, and Kibum glanced over his shoulder before he opened the door to their room.

It was a little cluttered, and ordinarily, Kibum wouldn’t be concerned but this was Minho. He wasn’t a neat freak – like Kibum’s mom – but he did like to keep things tidy. Most days, before they could even start studying, Minho would pick up the closet and stack his books in order of how they would study.

Kibum suppressed the desire to run around and pick up the discarded clothes and shoes and robes. He pushed the door open for Minho to come through and held it for Aaron and Callum who were on his heels, both huffing and puffing from the carrying the tree. Minho’s eyebrows raised as he looked about the room, taking it all in. He set his backpack gently on the foot of Fredrick’s bed.

Aaron’s twinkle lights were still strung around the room from Halloween since no one felt like taking them down yet. Kibum checked out the corner where they decided last night that they would set up the tree. He kicked one of Callum’s shoes away as they set the tree down on the floor, the branches and needles crinkling.

“Same place?” Aaron asked, nodding to the corner that Kibum was stepping out of.

“Yeah.”

Callum threw his head back and sighed before he bent to pick up the trunk. “Shi – crap,” he glanced in Minho’s direction and cleared his throat. “Sorry. This is really heavy.” He took a few steps before he came to a sudden stop. Aaron grumbled when the tip of the tree dug into his ribs. “Wait, we don’t have a stand for it.”

“Oh.”

Kibum frowned, sighing. He hummed in question when Minho tapped his shoulder. “Where do you keep your Herbology textbook?” He gestured beneath his bed and Minho knelt to sift through his books.

“Is there a spell that would work?” he asked as he sat cross-legged beside Minho.

“Maybe.”

There were a couple quiet minutes of page turning. Callum and Aaron set down the tree while they waited. Minho stopped on a page, his finger tracing a line of text. Kibum leaned in as he flipped the page again, and flipped it back. He tapped a spell, “This one might work.”

“Did you bring your wand?”

His mouth opened and snapped closed as he glanced over Kibum at the other two boys. He lowered his voice and switched to speaking Korean. “Could you do it?”

Kibum took the book from Minho’s lap and read over the spell. “My wand is in the nightstand drawer.” Minho leaned over and grabbed it, passing it to him as Kibum stood. “Okay, I think we’re ready.” The other two lifted the tree and moved it to where Kibum pointed to with his wand. “Just hold it steady. Minho, bring the book over here again.”

He glanced over the spell again and practiced the wand movements a couple times. Then, he straightened his shoulders and said, “Arbor insideo!”

Root-like tendrils grew from the base of the tree, twisting and spreading and digging into the spaces between the tiles. One of the tiles cracked – Minho jumped at the sound – and the roots thickened as they plunged deeper into the ground. The branches shook slightly as the spell took effect and stilled once the roots stopped growing.

“Is it done?” Kibum asked Minho, who nodded. “Okay, let go?” Callum and Aaron took a tentative step back, Aaron letting go of the tree before Callum.

It stood by itself.

Kibum grinned and looked over at Minho, whose eyes were shining as he stared in awe at the tree. He wrapped him in a tight hug and leaned his head on his shoulder as Minho patted his back.

“Way to go, Minho!” Callum said, holding his hand up for a high-five.

“Yeah! Thanks!” Aaron said, smiling at him. “I would have never thought of that.”

Minho’s face was a bright pink and he sighed as Kibum stopped hugging him. Slight dimples appeared as his smile grew. “I…I just really like Herbology.”

Kibum wanted to hug him again, but he refrained when he glanced over at Callum and Aaron. They weren’t paying attention to them now – instead, they were poking and prodding at the tree – but…still. He shoved his hands into his pockets and bumped Minho’s shoulder with his own. “Good job.”

His face turned a deeper shade of pink. “Thanks.”

“Should we decorate now?” Kibum asked, raising his voice to include the others.

They voiced their agreement, and Kibum directed for Minho and Aaron to unstring the twinkle lights from around the room. Kibum and Callum sorted through the decorations that Kibum picked out. They spent most of their time untangling the tinsel.

Once the ornaments were organized by color and the lights were strung around the tree, they started arranging them on the branches. Aaron accidentally shook a clear orb with ice painted on the top and bottom of the sphere, and a scene sprang to life inside. Snow started falling and ice skaters started swirling on the frozen lake inside the ornament. When it faded, Aaron shook it again. They watched the scene replay several times before Callum placed the ornament in the center of the tree. Minho gently shook a couple of the ornaments to see if any of them had scenes in them, but he gave up after a couple of tries.

When Kibum placed the last bit of tinsel on the tree, they all sat back to admire their handiwork.

The lights gleamed off the ornaments, twinkling on and off every second or so. Around the Great Hall, there had been four trees – one in every corner of the room – and they had been decorated in the colors of each house. Kibum took sparingly from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw trees, focusing more on the Slytherin and Hufflepuff ones instead. He thought it looked rather pretty covered in green, gold, and silver with touches of red and blue. Callum had wrapped the base of the tree in one of his plaid scarves as a makeshift tree skirt. It tied the whole look together nicely, Kibum thought.

When he glanced over at the other three, he grinned. They were all staring at the tree, the twinkle lights bright in their smiling eyes. He cleared his throat and Aaron looked over Callum and Minho at him. “What time is it?”

He leaned back to check the time on the alarm clock on his nightstand. “4:37″

Dinner was at five. “What if,” Minho and the other two looked over at him, “we put our presents under the tree and then head over to the Great Hall?” Minho stayed put while Kibum and the others went to their bunks to grab the gifts their families sent them. Kibum cradled all his and Minho’s gifts from Grandma in his arms and carefully walked back to sit beside him again. “Take yours.”

Minho’s eyes lit up. “Mine?”

Kibum’s brow furrowed. Had he forgotten to tell him? Oops. “Yeah, look.” He turned toward Minho a little more as he picked out the presents that Grandma labeled for him. She sent him three things, the sweater and two other smaller gifts. Minho gulped as he looked down at them and followed Kibum’s lead when he placed his gifts under the tree.

The other two heaped their presents around the tree trunk, and Minho and Kibum followed them out the door and into the common room. They all ran to the door, Minho and Kibum sliding to a stop by their shoes. The wall opened when Aaron knocked the password, and they all traipsed up the stairs to the Great Hall. Minho broke off from the group at the door, trudging over to the sparsely-seated Hufflepuff table and sitting by himself.

Kibum watched him sadly until Callum said his name. “Sorry, what?”

“You said he was alone, right? There’s no one in his dorm right now?” Kibum nodded and Callum glanced over at Aaron and he took a bite of mashed potatoes. “Do you think he’d want to spend the night with us?”

“Probably. Would you guys mind?”

“Not at all,” Aaron said around his mouthful of whipped cream and pumpkin pie. “He’s a nice guy and he helped us out.”

Callum poured more gravy over his plate. “Besides, he’s your best friend, right?” Kibum nodded, dragging the brussel sprout on his fork through the gravy and cranberry sauce. “Yeah, he can hang out with us for the rest of the holiday.”

“Okay.” Kibum smiled, glancing between them at Minho across the Hall. “I’ll tell him.” He finished his food as quickly as possible, his fork clattering on his plate when Minho stood to leave. Once he reached the doorway, he called out to Minho, who stopped mid-step down the hall. He jogged back to meet Kibum as he walked toward him. “You wanna spend the night with us? In our room?”

Minho’s eyes brightened before his brow furrowed. “Is that allowed?”

“Probably not, but…” Kibum leaned in, whispering with a small smile. “Neither is having a Christmas tree, I don’t think.”

“True…okay. I’ll come.”

“Great! So – “

“Actually,” Minho rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve got to stop by my room first. Meet you there?” He glanced over Kibum when some of the other students started to file out of the Great Hall.

“I’ll just come with you.”

“Oh.” He hummed and looked down the hall toward Hufflepuff house. “Okay.”

Kibum followed Minho as he started walking, their shoes squeaking on the stone floor. “So, do I get to see inside Hufflepuff, or..?” Minho’s eyes widened and he shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket, and Kibum’s heart sank. “I don’t have to, I guess.”

“No, no.” Minho pursed his lips. “Rhys is probably reading for the night.”

“And?”

“And that means he’s sitting by the fire with his current book and a cup of tea to make sure we all get in for the night.” Minho stopped in front of a cluster of barrels and pulled his wand out of his hoodie pocket and twirled it around. “One time, he threatened to tell Prof. Sprout about one of the fifth years trying to sneak in her boyfriend.” Kibum snorted and Minho offered him a small smile. “Sorry. I’ll be a few minutes.”

“Okay.”

Minho tapped on the front-most barrel and it popped open. He waved at Kibum before he ducked inside. Kibum tried to peer inside, but he only caught a glimpse of a warm, amber-colored tunnel before the barrel closed up behind Minho.

He tapped his thumb on his thigh as he backed away from the barrels. This could have been his house…What would have been different had he been sorted into Hufflepuff? Kibum leaned against the wall opposite the barrels, lowering his gaze when a couple of Hufflepuffs walked past.

Sighing, Kibum leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. It wasn’t good to think about what could have been. Slytherin wasn’t…that bad, it just hadn’t been what he had been expecting. Also, with the stigma surrounding Slytherin, no one really wanted to be sorted there, right?

Laughter and raised voices echoed down the hall, and Kibum opened his eyes. A large group of Hufflepuffs approached, and two of the boys broke free of the group to race to the barrels. The first one there tapped the password with a triumphant laugh. A couple of the girls waved at Kibum as they all ducked inside the opening. Not even a minute passed before the side of the barrel opened again to reveal a grinning Minho.

He put his fingers to his lips and Kibum nodded, waiting until the barrel clicked shut to start walking. “Well, that worked out,” Minho said once he caught up to him.

“Did he catch you?”

“Nope!” Kibum smiled and Minho shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket, which made a weird sort of clicking sound. He was about to ask about it until Minho said, “We talked about Herbology until that big group came through.”

“Ah.” They both stopped at the Great Hall, peeking inside. Filch and Mrs. Norris were the only ones inside, and their backs were turned. They raced across and slid to a stop at the doorway to the staircase.

Minho stayed pressed to his side as they went to the basement, darkness enveloping them except for the light from the occasional torch. He bumped into Kibum when he stopped in front of the entrance and muttered “Sorry.” He seemed nervous, for some reason. Kibum looked over at him and smiled. Hopefully, he would relax once they got inside.

Green light streamed through the openings in the wall once Kibum said the password, and Minho sighed as he followed Kibum inside. They both toed off their shoes as the wall closed up behind them. Whatever was in Minho’s pocket clanked together as they ran to the dorm room.

“Kibum, Minho!” Callum said, holding up one of his half-opened presents. “Settle this for us.”

“What?” Kibum asked as he pointed to Fredrick’s empty bed to the left of his own. Minho nodded and quickly slipped under the covers as Kibum turned back around. “What is it?”

“Should we open our presents now or tomorrow morning? I think now, but Aaron – “

“Don’t put words in my mouth!”

“I wasn’t gonna!”

“Yeah, okay, but what abo – “

“Guys?” Kibum asked, his voice clipped. “Can you not? We have a guest.” They all looked back at Minho who was placing something on the bunk above his head. Once he sensed their gazes, he froze, blushing.

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…what?” Kibum repeated the question in Korean. “We always opened them in the morning.”

“My family does, too. Sorry, Callum.”

Minho pulled the covers back and he walked over to Kibum, crossing his arms. Kibum blinked as he looked down at Minho’s plaid flannel pajamas. “When did you change?” Minho pointed back at Fredrick’s bed. “Are those yours?”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry, that was stupid. I just…don’t remember you bringing any with you.”

“Oh!” Minho laughed. “I rolled them up and put them in my hood.”

“Ooooh.”

“Kibum,” Callum said, fiddling with the partially torn wrapping paper. “Can we open just one right now?”

He let out a long sigh and was about to say no until he looked over at Minho, who was watching him with wide, puppy-dog eyes. “Fine.”

Callum ripped opened the present in his hands as Aaron jumped off his bed and hurried over to the tree. He and Minho joined them by the tree, Kibum reaching for the biggest present and Minho grabbing the smallest of his. Something lime green appeared in his peripheral vision, and Kibum looked up to find Callum holding a pair of lime green and orange socks.

“Did your mum make those?”

“Yeah, for my team.”

Minho looked at Kibum, frowning. “The Irish Quidditch team.” He nodded and went back to opening his present. Kibum tore open his present and smiled at the mustard yellow sweater that unrolled across his lap. “I knew it.”

“So soft,” Minho said, feeling the sleeve between his fingers.

“You got one too, I think.”

“Really?” The wrapping paper fell away from the tin in Minho’s hands, and he glanced under the tree. Kibum scooted over to look at the note taped to the lid of the tin.

Minho,

I thought you might like some foods from home for Christmas. I hope you have a good holiday.

With love, Grandma

Kibum leaned in, smelling the tin. “Is that...barbeque?”

“Ooo, I hope so.”

“No, no! Don’t open it until you’re ready to eat it! She enchants the tins to stay warm.” Kibum sat back, rubbing his hands over the sweater as Aaron slipped on his new beanie. “Well, that was fun. Should we go to bed? Or...” All four of them stared at the tree. The lights twinkled on and off, two times before Kibum coughed. “Maybe just one more...”

Kibum grabbed the long, thin box while Minho reached for his sweater. He opened it to reveal a sort of periwinkle blue sweater. Minho held it up and turned to Kibum, smiling. He nodded and ducked his head when his face started to color, focusing on the present in his hands. It was...stationary and a self-inking quill. Awesome! Kibum wrote his name in Hangul, admiring the shimmery forest-green ink.

Paper crinkled and Kibum looked up to see Callum opening a third present. He paused when he sensed Kibum’s gaze. “What? We might as well open the rest now.”

Kibum sighed. “Yeah, I suppose.”

They did.

Aaron got presents from all his sisters and his parents, and Kibum lost track of the growing pile of handmade gifts. Callum got a seemingly never-emptying bag of candy that he shared with them. Kibum got the same dosirk as Minho, and they both got an assortment of candy from Diagon Alley. Minho was excited about the marbled chocolate frog, saying that he saw one the first time that he went to Diagon Alley.

Minho tucked himself into bed before the others, yawning as he watched the others arrange their presents on their nightstands. “How much time do we have left?” Callum asked, peering through the bunks at Aaron.

“Uh, less than a minute.”

Minho lifted his head from his pillow. “For what?”

Kibum pointed to the candles posted around the room before he jumped into bed and pulled his blankets over him. “Lights out.”

Once the lights dimmed, Kibum rested his head on his pillow and turned to the side, facing Minho. A faint green light glowed above Minho, who was staring intensely at whatever was producing the light. He drew the blankets up to his chin and took a deep breath. “You okay?” Kibum whispered in Korean.

“Yeah.” There was a long pause, which was punctuated by another deep breath. “Sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

Minho huffed a laugh. “I don’t know.” Kibum’s eyes started to droop closed – his long day was catching up to him. He yawned as Minho glanced his way. “Sleepy?” Kibum nodded. “Goodnight.”

“Night…Merry Chr…is…Min – “

His voice trailed off, and the last thing he heard was before he succumbed to sleep was Minho’s quiet “Merry Christmas, Kibum.”

 * * * * * * * * * *

It wasn’t until late in the morning – Minho assumed. It was hard to judge the time without the window beside his bed. – that he opened his eyes. He scrunched his eyes closed as soon as he opened them and rolled over onto his back. The glow-in-the-dark stars his mom sent him with came into focus as he blinked.

All the light was gone from them, but that was okay. The torches were lit again.

“Oh. You’re awake.” He started at turned his head on the pillow to face Kibum. “Good morning,” he said, smiling. Minho made a sort of grumble in response as he rubbed his hands over his face. Kibum chuckled. “Not a morning person?”

“No.”

“Did you know you snore?” Minho’s eyes widened as he looked over at Kibum. “I’m a light sleeper. Don’t worry,” he gestured to the bed Minho sitting on. “Fredrick snores, too, so we’re used to it.”

“Oh…sorry.”

“No, no, I thought it wa – “ Kibum cleared his throat and shook his head slightly before he held up one of the glow-in-the-dark stars. “What’s this?”

Minho blushed to the tips of his ears. “A star.”

“I can see that.”

“Um,” Minho fidgeted with the edge of the blanket. “I…well, I’m scared of the dark,” he said, his voice growing quieter with every word.

“Really?”

He nodded, sighing. “I’ve been doing okay lately but…it’s really dark down on this side of the basement.”

“That makes sense.” Kibum flipped the star over between his fingers. “What do they look like? In the dark, I mean.”

“You’ve never seen these before?” Kibum shook his head. “Come here.” Minho reached under his pillow as he scooted over, grabbing his wand. Kibum slipped into the bed beside him and looked up at the clusters of stars. “Lumos.” They both squinted at the sudden light. “Go ahead and close the curtain,” Minho said as he pulled the curtain on his side to the end of the bed. Except for the light at the end of his wand, they were shrouded in darkness.

He shivered and Kibum rubbed his arm. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I’m okay, you just have to charge them first.,” he said, waving his wand around the stars. “That should be good. Nox.”

The soft white light from the tip of his wand vanished and was replaced by the faint green light of the stars – both the ones on the ceiling and the one in Kibum’s hand. He rested his head on the pillow beside Minho’s. “It’s pretty.”

“They’re not as pretty as actual stars, but they help.”

“I like them.” Minho could barely see Kibum in the light of the artificial stars, but he was smiling. “Can I keep this one?” He asked, holding up the one in his hand.

“Sure.” Minho’s stomach growled, the sound loud in the small space, and Kibum laughed. “Go away,” he said, shoving at Kibum’s shoulder. “I need to get changed.”

He pulled the curtain closed after Kibum slipped out and felt around on the nightstand for the sweater Grandma knitted for him. A chill rushed over him as he yanked off his dad’s hoodie, but he was soon warmed by his new sweater. He grabbed his jeans off the nightstand, too, and rolled his hoodie and pajama bottoms into a bundle once he was dressed.

“That was quick,” Kibum said when he pulled the curtain back.

“I’m hungry.”

“I’m aware.”

Minho laughed, pushing Kibum as he started for the door. “Shut up!”

His stomach growled nearly all the way to the Great Hall, which delayed their journey since Kibum kept giggling. They split at the door and Minho took a seat at Hufflepuff. He watched Kibum get situated across from Callum and Aaron as he dished up his breakfast.

Wings fluttered at the windows and Minho lowered his eyes, cutting into his pancake as the owls delivered the mail. He had stopped looking for Geum-nan weeks ago.

A hush settled over the Great Hall as everyone read their letters from their families. Minho sighed and cringed when his fork scraped loudly against his plate. Looking around, he saw that no one noticed the noise, save for Kibum, who giggled again. Minho grinned at him before he went back to his breakfast.

Once Minho drank the last of his pumpkin juice, Kibum shot up from his seat and ran toward Minho, a sheet of paper rippling in his hand. He slid into the seat across from him and set the paper down. “I just finished my letter to Grandma. Wanna add anything?”

He glanced over what Kibum wrote as he chattered about how they should head up to the owlery after breakfast and send this letter. Minho saw his own name and the word happy a couple of times, but he tried not to read the letter, out of respect for Kibum’s privacy. “Do you have a pen?”

“Even better!” Kibum pulled out the self-inking quill Grandma sent gave him for Christmas and passed it to Minho.

Minho smoothed the parchment and looked at the blank spot below Kibum’s signature. “Thanks.”

Dear Grandma,

This is Minho. Thank you so much for the sweater and the candy and the dosirak. I love the color of the sweater and I plan to wear it whenever I can ^^ and I’m saving the dosirak to eat later tonight.

Thank you again~

Minho

He pushed the letter back over to Kibum. “Does this sound okay?”

Kibum scanned his note as he bit into one of the strawberries he stole off of Minho’s plate. “Yup! Are you done?” he asked as he dropped the green end of the strawberry on Minho’s mostly-clean plate. He nodded as he grabbed the last strawberry before Kibum could, smiling triumphantly around the berry as he took a bite. "We should send this then."

"Won't Nutmeg be too tired to fly all the way back?"

He finished rolling up the parchment and took the red ribbon out of his pocket to tie it off. "Nah, he's young and strong. He'll be fine. Come on!"

Snow flurried around them as the stepped up to the bridge, and Kibum caught Minho as he slipped on the thick layer of ice covering the bridge. Minho shivered as he clung to the banister. He tried his best to keep his balance for Kibum's sake, as he was holding onto Minho's arm tightly. They made slow progress across the bridge, but neither of them fell, so Minho was satisfied.

The steps up to the owlery proved to be even more slippery than the bridge, so they took each step carefully and with much effort. Kibum was panting when they reached the top. "That was a lot harder than I was expecting."

"Getting down will be harder," Minho sniffed and wiped at his cold-kissed nose. He helped Kibum up onto the top step and they went inside.

Straw crunched beneath his feet as he stepped inside. Minho scrunched his nose at the stench from the months of uncleaned owl droppings. Kibum pulled him back and pointed at the mouse skeleton he had been about to step on. They both shuddered and huddled together, looking up at the cubbies that housed the owls. Countless pairs of reflective eyes watched their slow progression into the perch.

“Meg?” Kibum said, his voice quiet in the wind whipping through the open windows. He raised his voice. “Meg?”

The tawny owl flew down from his cubby on the fifth level and to Kibum’s outstretched arm. He kissed the owl’s forehead who fluttered his wings in response. Kibum produced the letter from his back pocket and held it out for Nutmeg to take. He trilled as he inspected the roll.

“Take it to Grandma, please?” Nutmeg grabbed the ribbon in his beak and spread his wings and flew out of the southern window. Kibum’s teeth chattered as he said, “Okay, let’s go.”

The lunch bell rang in the distance once the reached the bottom step of the owlery tower. Kibum groaned and Minho laughed. “Come on, it’s just a little further.” Kibum glared at Minho as he pulled him across the snow toward the bridge.

They kicked the snow off their shoes and shook the snow out of their hair as they reached the castle. Kibum grabbed Minho’s arm before he could go sit at Hufflepuff by himself and pulled him toward Slytherin. Aaron and Callum had just finished their lunch and were getting up from the table.

“Hey,” Callum said to Kibum. “We’re going back to the room for a minute. Want us to grab you anything?”

“My camera? It’s in my drawer.”

“Sure.” Callum patted the table as he backed away. “Be right back.”

“‘Kay.” Kibum took a bite of his sandwich and held his hand over his over his mouth. “You wanna go back outside after lunch?”

“Yeah! What are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know.”

Aaron returned with the polaroid when Kibum was finishing up his lunch, dropping it off and quickly returning to Callum who was waiting for him in the doorway.

The snowfall was getting heavier by the time they reached the courtyard. Minho pulled his scarf up to his chin and shoved his hands into his coat pockets. Back home, it didn’t often snow. Sometimes, when it got cold, frost would glitter in the air. Minho thought it was beautiful, but this was nice, too.

He looked up at the overcast sky and tried to blink away the snowflakes that collected on his eyelashes. There was a click off to the side, and Minho turned to find Kibum lowering his polaroid. “There...there was a cardinal.” When Minho glanced behind him to where Kibum pointed, there was nothing. It must have flown away.

“Can I see it?”

Kibum shoved the undeveloped picture into his pocket. “Let’s go down to the yard. Do you think they have sleds in the castle somewhere?”

“Maybe...do you want to go check?”

He shrugged. “Race you!” Kibum said, running down the hall to the front entrance.

Minho grinned and ran after him, almost catching up to him by the time he reached the doors. “Careful!” he yelled after him as Kibum bolted down the path to the Whomping Willow. He jogged after him and held his arms out to keep his balance until Kibum slipped, and he cried out as he fell backward into the snow. Minho’s heart pounded in his ears as he hurried to reach him.

As he drew near, Minho could hear Kibum giggling and he relaxed. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stopped at Kibum’s feet, smiling down at him as he shook his head. “Help me up.” Minho reached out his hand to grab Kibum’s, his eyes widened in surprise as he pulled him down into the snow. “That’s what you get for laughing at me.”

Minho snorted. “I wasn’t, though.”

“You were gonna.”

Kibum stuck out his tongue to catch some snow and Minho sighed heavily. He still couldn’t believe that Kibum stayed behind, just for him. He could have been at home with Grandma, eating his favorite foods and spending time with his family, but he stayed.

He wasn’t great with words, never really had been, but he wanted to thank Kibum for staying at Hogwarts for him. Would that be weird? He started to speak, hoping that the right words will find their way to the forefront of his mind, but Kibum distracted him by holding up the polaroid.

“Lean in.” Minho did, his head pressing against Kibum’s as he gave the camera a smile. “One, two -- “ Click!

Kibum sniffed as he lowered the polaroid, and grabbed the new picture from the slot. “I want hot cocoa.” Minho nodded, the snow crunching beneath his head, and Kibum sat up. “Let’s get some. Oh, thanks,” he said as Minho brushed the snow off his back. “Hey, do you want to spend the night again?”

“I don’t think I should. I don’t want to get in trouble with Rhys.”

“Okay.”

They both sighed, and Kibum grabbed Minho’s arm, pulling him up out of the snow. He took an unexpected left once they were inside the castle. “Where are we going?”

“To get your stuff out of my room before it gets too dark. Then we can get hot cocoa.” Minho stopped walking, staring wide-eyed at Kibum until he turned around. “What?”

Minho shook his head. “Nothing.” He grinned, his eyes sparkling, and Minho returned the smile.

“Let’s go!