- January 7, 2006 -

“Guess what finally came today,” Kibum said as he took up the empty spot beside Minho at the Hufflepuff table. When Minho looked up -- his mouth full of pancakes -- Kibum shook the small box in his hand, the Boötes necklace rattling inside. 

“Is that my Christmas present?” 

Minho’s shoulders drooped when Kibum nodded, and Kibum’s smile turned to a frown. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t have one for you yet.”

“You mean you didn’t get me one during the break?” Minho hung his head, half-heartedly cutting another bite out of his pancakes. “Min, I’m kidding. You don’t have to get me something.” He slid it toward him on the table. “I just saw this while we were in Diagon Alley and I thought you’d like it.” 

Minho tore his eyes away from the box. “Can...this wait until after we go to Hogsmeade today?” 

Kibum’s eyebrows rose as he pocketed the little box. “Sure.” The door on the left side of the dais opened and shut, seemingly of its own accord, until he saw Flitwick come around to the front, a bundle of what was probably sheet music in hand. “Hey, I gotta go to practice.”

“Have fun! We’ll head down after I get out of Quidditch practice.”

“Wait, you still have to practice today?” 

“Yeah..?”

“But it’s snowing!” 

Minho snorted into his pumpkin juice and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That doesn’t mean practice gets canceled. I’ll be fine, don’t worry. The uniforms are surprisingly warm.” 

“Sure, okay.” He got up from his seat and started for the dais.

“Are we meeting at the courtyard?” Kibum gave him a thumbs-up over his shoulder without turning around. Once he rounded the corner of the Hufflepuff table, he jogged to where Flitwick and the rest of the Frog Choir were gathering. He took his music from Flitwick, glancing over the new song. 

When he looked back to where Minho was sitting, he found that he was already gone.

* * * * * * * * * *

Minho’s teeth were still chattering by the time he reached the outdoor courtyard. He huffed a laugh when Kibum glared at him. “I’m fine, Bu -- “

“You sure sound fine.” 

So maybe now wasn’t the best time that he almost slipped off of his broom during practice because of the ice coating the stick. 

“Ready?” 

Kibum turned and Minho jogged a couple of steps to catch up to him. Their boots crunched in the snow, the loudest sound in his beanie-covered ears. He blinked the snowflakes off of his eyelashes as he looked around. 

The Black Lake was mostly frozen over, snow drifting against the rocks that peeked out of the ice. Dull gray clouds covered the sky, heavy with the promise of more snow. Wispy white clouds blew past the gray one, the wind carrying them toward the castle. Minho shivered at the memory of the wind that tossed him this way and that during practice and he hovered a little closer to Kibum as they walked.

The warm torchlight from Hogsmeade dotted the horizon, illuminating the falling snow. As they drew closer, it engulfed the snow-covered village and the countryside beyond, setting it all aglow. 

Minho grabbed Kibum’s arm and dragged him inside the post office before they did anything else. He pulled his Christmas money out of his pocket, as they waited in line. It took a bit of discussion to get his ₩ 50,000 exchanged to the wizard’s currency, but they eventually walked out of there with 7 Ģ, 2 Ş, and 8 Ķ. 

He clinked his change in his hand before he shoved it into his pocket. “So, where do you want to go?”

They agreed on getting hot cocoa first. To-go, this time. The bell above the Madam Pudifoot’s door didn’t jingle as they stepped inside, and Minho stopped to look up at it. Kibum stepped up to the counter, ordering for them and Minho shook his head as he moved forward to join him there. 

Deja vu was the weirdest thing. 

He paid for their drinks, and soon they were on their way to explore the shops, their cocoa warming them up with every sip. Kibum wanted to go to Tomes and Scrolls first, and Minho kept a close eye on him, gauging his expression with everything that caught his interest. There were a couple of books he made a mental note of, but soon they moved on to the next shop. 

Nothing at Maestro’s or Dervish & Banges or Scrivenshafts seemed to excite him, even if they did have fun looking around at the shops. His expression just wasn’t lighting up like Minho wanted to see. As he followed Kibum into Gladrags Wizardwear, he hoped his panic wasn’t showing on his face. Maybe he should just slip away and get that book that caught Kibum’s eye. What was it called again? Murders and Mysteries by Magical Means? Whatever, he’d know it when he’d see it.

When he was about to turn away, he glanced over at Kibum and stopped in his tracks. Kibum’s mouth was slightly agape as he took in the whole shop. Minho looked around for himself, blinking at the bright swath of colors in the fabrics from all of the clothes. He followed Kibum around for a little while, amused by his reaction to the Muggle clothes section -- which looked like it was taken straight out of the 80s...or even 70s. 

He started to peruse the store himself, scanning the racks and shelves for something that screamed: “Kibum would love this”. He stopped at a bin of socks, sifting through them. There were pairs that screamed when they needed to be cleaned, which, as funny as it was to imagine Kibum wearing them, they didn’t seem like his sort of thing. 

He dug a little further in the pile, pulling out a pack of four socks. For Every Season, they were called. Minho looked over his shoulder to see where Kibum was, snorting when he held up a hideous sweater to his chest as he inspected it in the mirror. He laughed a second later, the sound carrying through the shop. 

Minho flipped over the bundle of socks to read the label on the back. Are your feet always cold in the winter? Too hot in the summer? Look no further than For Every Season socks! These socks were knitted with magic to maintain the perfect temperature for your feet, no matter what! “Huh...” He slowly flipped through the socks in his hands, enchanted by the seasonal scenes coming to life across them. “I wonder if these actually work.” 

It would be nice if they did since Kibum’s feet were almost always cold. He would tuck the tips of his toes under Minho’s thigh when they were studying up in the closet to warm them. This might be something he would need...but also really like, because the seasonal scenes were kind of pretty. 

Would it be stupid to get him socks, though? No, he could actually use them...he just didn’t want Kibum to be disappointed with his present. 

With a heavy sigh, Minho made his way to the counter with the socks in hand. Another glance over his shoulder told him that Kibum was distracted by the shoes now. The woman behind the counter rang him up and wrapped the socks for him when he asked. He tucked the package into his coat, patting it down as he went over to where Kibum was watching shoes dance across the floor. 

“I don’t even know,” he said when Minho stepped up beside him. “Do you know what dance that is?” Minho shook his head and watched the footwork pattern for a minute before he tried to copy it. 

HIs attempt only made Kibum laugh, and he hung onto Minho’s shoulder to catch his breath once he stopped trying to dance. “Ready to head back?” 

Kibum’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you already buy my present?” Minho nodded. “When?”

“Just now.” 

Kibum reached into his pocket and pulled out the little box, handing it to him. In return, Minho grabbed the bundle beneath his coat and passed it to Kibum. He averted his eyes as Kibum tore into the paper, focusing intently on opening his box as slowly as possible.

“Oh my god, these will be perfect!” Minho’s breath caught as he looked back over at Kibum, relieved to see him grinning as he inspected each of the socks. “I could really use them.” He froze when Kibum met his eye as when went over to the bench. “Hurry! Open yours!” he said as he sat down and pulled off his boots and old socks. 

Minho popped open the lid, gasping when he saw the silver necklace with the Boötes constellation as its pendant. 

“Okay, so I already love these. My feet were so cold until, like, right now.” Minho nodded absently without looking away from the necklace. Soon, Kibum’s hands infiltrated his view, and he pulled the necklace out of the box. “Crouch down a little.” Minho did, and his lifted his chin as Kibum held the necklace around his neck and fastened the clasp. 

Minho examined the pendant a little bit longer before he tucked it inside his coat. “Thank you, Kibum,” he said softly.

“I’m just glad you like it.” He went back to the bench to put his boots back on. “Do we want to stay here or head back to the castle?”

“Castle. But let’s get another cocoa before we head back.” 

“First the socks, now this? You’ve got nothing but good ideas today!” 

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.” 

Kibum scoffed -- which made Minho laugh -- as he shoved his old and new socks into his pockets, and he followed Minho to the door. Both shivered as they stepped back outside into the cold, and they huddled as close to each other as they could while they walked back to Madam Puddifoot’s shop.

A/N: I've got four out of the seven chapters I need to write before I can post again done! Posting this today as a thank you for your patience with me ^^ I'll be back with the main story sooner rather than later, don't worry!