- October 27, 2005 -

Nighttime at Hogwarts was usually a peaceful experience. The creaks of the old castle were the loudest sounds followed by the occasional sparks from the torches lining the halls. Most everyone was tucked away in their common rooms, doing whatever they wanted while they waited for light’s out. It was usually Kibum’s favorite time of day -- he enjoyed the serenity and the chance to hang out with just Minho.

It was nice.

Tonight, however, there was a thunderstorm.

He had seen the storm clouds forming in the enchanted ceiling during dinner, and since then, he had been dreading the inevitable first thunderclap. It came once he and Minho were up in their study closet, rumbling around them. Kibum pulled his blanket a little tighter around him as he glanced at the walls, making sure that they weren’t about to crumble down around them.

That was one nice thing about living in the basement here at Hogwarts: when storms came, most of the time you wouldn’t even know. 

Kibum took a deep breath once the night grew quiet again and went back to looking over his notes from Transfiguration. Minho sat beside him, his feet peeking out of the bottom of their shared blanket. He turned the page of his Defense textbook and looked up when the thunder roared again.

“Woah!” His eyes were bright with excitement when he looked over at Kibum. “It’s so...hey, you okay?”

“Yeah...” The thunder died down again, and Kibum smoothed the roll of parchment on his lap. “Yeah, I’m fine...it’s just louder up here.”

“We can stop for the night, if you want.” Kibum shook his head and Minho went back to reading, glancing over at him again whenever the thunder sounded again. After the third time, Minho started packing up his stuff.

“What are you doing?”

“We don’t have any tests tomorrow, so we don’t really have to study.” 

“Yeah, but...” He gulped when the thunder clapped again and shivered when Minho took their blanket and started folding it up. “It’s really not a big deal, Min...” 

Minho passed him his stack of textbooks, sighing when he didn’t take it right away. “Come on, Bummie.” Kibum was about to protest, but then the thunder sounded again. He took them and Minho blew the candles out as soon as Kibum opened the door. 

It didn’t take them long to get to the basement, and Kibum let out a deep breath as soon as they stepped into the cool air of the basement. Minho patted his back, offering him a smile before he headed down the hall toward Hufflepuff. “Hey,” Minho stopped, looking over his shoulder at him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”