- April 7, 2007 -

“What do you wanna do?” 

Minho shrugged, staring upside-down at the opposite wall of Kibum’s dorm room from where he laid at the foot of his bed. They had just gotten back from the owlery -- they had made Jonghyun a howler for his birthday tomorrow -- and made it inside just before it started to rain. 

Again. 

For the fourth time this week.

Usually, Minho loved the rain, but the constant overcast sky for the past two weeks was more than enough to bring his mood down slightly. He sighed when Kibum grabbed his foot from where he sat against the headboard, shaking it.

“Come on, think of something. I’m bored,” he said, drawing out the word dramatically. Minho snorted and Kibum stopped shaking his foot and started to tickle it instead. 

“Hey!” He kicked his foot away from Kibum and laughed as he sat up enough to look at him. “Why don’t you think of something?” 

“I’m too bored!” 

Minho rolled his eyes, smiling as he laid back down. If they couldn’t go outside...”What if we explored down here?” 

“Like, Slytherin?” 

“Yeah...no, I mean no.” He gestured vaguely around the room. “Like, the entire basement. We haven’t really done that, yet.” 

“I guess that’s true.” 

Kibum slid out of his bed and walked over to where he and Minho had discarded their shoes. Minho rolled over and sat up, following him out to the common room. “Do you have your wand? Mine is in my room.” 

“, I’ll be right back.” Kibum hopped off the steps leading to the door and hurried back to the dorm rooms, leaving Minho alone. There were several other Slytherins occupying the common room, studying or reading or napping on the couch beside the fire. Minho finished ascending the stairs and walked up to the wall, yawning as it opened for him. 

Kibum rushed back into the room, his hand stuffed into the front pocket of the hoodie he borrowed from Minho. 

Once he stepped up beside him, Minho looked down the hall. “Which way?” 

Kibum glanced both ways, then pointed to the shadows of the narrow corridor that lead to the Potions classroom. He took his wand out of his pocket, whispering Lumos before the reached the doorway. The clear white light radiating from the tip of his wand cast the stones in a shimmery silver light.

Or maybe it was just the cobwebs.

Minho shivered, huddling closer to Kibum when a cool draft went straight through him. 

“Do you think there’s anything interesting down here?” he whispered, peering around at the darkness surrounding them.

“There’s bound to be. It’s Hogwarts, after all. There’s always something where you least expect it.” 

“True.” 

They walked a bit further, finding nothing except for more bends and turns in the seemingly unending hallway as well as the occasional dusty painting. Minho grabbed onto the back of Kibum’s sweatshirt and was about to suggest that they head back the way they came and try somewhere else when their footsteps turned hollow. Kibum stopped walking and swung his wand over. 

There was an opening carved in the rockface. Minho leaned in toward it, grabbing Kibum’s wand hand and guiding the light into the entrance to...wherever this lead. There was an immediate turn inside the opening, leading further in. He stepped inside, taking Kibum with him. 

“You hear that?” Kibum asked, holding up his wand to inspect the low ceiling. 

The constant dripping that echoed in the basement had only been getting louder and louder as they walked further down the hall, but now the dripping had turned to more of a trickle. Minho’s brow furrowed, turning the corner when they reached another bend. A low blue light shone at the far end of the hallway, and Kibum’s hand latched onto his arm as they slowly started for it. The light grew brighter and stronger the closer they came to the opening, until...

Minho stopped in his tracks, blinking. 

There was a pool -- how deep, Minho wasn’t sure -- the water lapping against the floor. Trails of steam or mist curled off the surface of it and reflections of rippled light danced on the low ceiling. At the far end of the room lay an opening that led outside, presumedly to the Black Lake.

“Where are we?” 

Minho shook his head, pulling Kibum along as he took a step inside the room. Instantly, on either side of him, torches burst to life, the flashes startling both of them. They huddled together in the doorway, holding each other as the torches lit up around the room. 

Then, all was still. 

Beside him, Kibum gulped. 

Minho squeezed his arm before he let go and stepped further into the room, stopping right at the waterline. He knelt beside the pool, dipping his hand in with a smile. “It’s warm!” he said, looking back at Kibum, who had yet to look away from the glittering rockface. “It’s probably meant to swim in.” 

“Can you swim?” 

Minho nodded. “Mom had us take lessons when we were younger. Can’t you?” Kibum shook his head. “I could teach you if you want.” 

A smile toyed with the corner of Kibum’s lips before he turned away, looking at the torches behind him. “We don’t even have anything to swim in.” 

“Gladrags probably has some.” Kibum glanced his way before coming over to join him at the waterline. “We can check next time we go into Hogsmeade.” 

Kibum trailed his fingers through the water, flicking the droplets off and drying his hand off on his jeans. “Okay.” 

* * * * *

“Are you excited?” Minho asked, hugging the brown paper bundle from Gladrags close to his chest.

Kibum tried to stop himself from smiling but couldn’t once he glanced over and saw Minho’s stupidly cute grin. He pursed his lips and looked away. “Yeah...a little nervous, too.” 

Minho slung his arm over Kibum’s shoulders. “It’s okay! I’ll make sure you don’t drown.”

“I really appreciate that.” 

Minho squeezed his shoulder before he let him go. He bounced on the balls of his feet before he looked back over at Kibum, his grin broadening, and started to run the rest of the way back to the castle. Kibum huffed and picked up his own pace, chasing after him. 

They were both breathless by the time they reached the castle, but still, they hurried downstairs, ducking into the hallway leading to the kitchen. Minho tore open the bundle, passing Kibum his red and white striped swimming trunks and their matching tank. He balled up the brown paper once he pulled out his blue and white striped ensemble. “I kinda wish they had newer stuff,” he said, looking over the suit in his hand. 

“Come on, did you really expect them to have non-vintage suits?” Minho shrugged and nodded, conceding. “So, what now?” 

“Go change into it and I’ll meet you in the hallway.” 

Kibum took a step away before he looked back, frowning. “Are you sure I don’t have to wear my underwear?” 

Minho snorted as he passed him. “Trust me. You’ll regret it if you do.” Kibum watched him hurry back to Hufflepuff before he turned and made his way down the hall and then turned the corner for Slytherin. Thankfully, his room was empty, and he changed into his new swimming clothes quickly. He pulled his jeans and t-shirt on over them before he grabbed his wand and started for the common room. 

To his surprise, Minho was standing frozen outside Slytherin as Kibum opened up the door. He relaxed when he saw that it was only Kibum passed him one of the two towels from the bathroom that he was carrying. Kibum lit the tip of his wand before they stepped up and into the corridor. 

Kibum pulled off his t-shirt and jeans as the torches lit themselves around the room, tentatively following Minho, who had ditched his towel as soon as he stepped inside. He ran toward the water and jumped, folding in on himself before he hit the water with a huge splash. Kibum stopped walking toward the pool as the waves crashed over the side and drenched the rocks. 

Minho resurfaced, finding Kibum with a grin as he wiped his face off with his hands. “It’s, like, really warm!” he said as he swam back to the edge of the pool. He crossed his arms, smiling up at Kibum. "Are you still nervous?”

“Yeah, a bit.” 

“That’s okay. You don’t have to swim today if you don’t want to.” He turned as Kibum sat beside him at the edge of the pool, sticking his legs in. It really was warm. Huh. “We can do whatever you’re comfortable with.” 

He didn’t swim that day. 

He didn’t even go further into the water than that. Once Minho was tired, he pulled himself up beside him, grabbing one of the towels to dry himself off. Then, he showed Kibum how to do that would propel him through the water, once they got to that step. Kibum followed his lead. By the next day, Kibum felt a bit more ready to join Minho in the water. 

It took weeks before Kibum could actually swim on his own with confidence. Minho had been extremely patient with him, always ready to hold his hand or support him if he felt like he was about to sink. But now, Minho was swimming away and deeper into the pool, grinning back at him as he followed him. 

He pushed his hair back, the wet strands sticking up every which way. “You’re doing great,” he said once Kibum reached the opposite end of the pool.

“Yeah, well,” I had a great teacher, he almost said. Instead, he cleared his throat. “Thanks.” He pushed away from the pool wall, swimming across to the other side of the room. 

Minho, of course, followed him.

He pulled himself out and dried his hands off before he reached for his polaroid, holding it away from himself as he slipped back into the pool, being careful not to splash too much. Minho stopped beside him as he held it out, wiping the water out of his eyes before he slung his arm around Kibum and rested his chin on his shoulder. 

“Are you ready?” 

Minho sat up and Kibum clicked the picture, catching it before it fell into the puddle of water. “Hey,” he shoved Minho away with his shoulder as he started to cackle. “Smile normally! I don’t want to waste film...”

He kept looking over at Minho to make sure he wasn’t smiling like a deranged clown this time. “Just take the ing picture, Bummie.” Kibum huffed, and Minho huddled closer to him. Kibum took two pictures in quick succession and pulled himself out of the pool to put them and the camera with his clothes. “Are you done for the day?” 

“I don’t know, I was thinking we could work on the essay for Transfiguration now.” Minho threw his head back, groaning. “Come on, buddy, it’s not that bad.” 

Minho continued to whine until Kibum walked up to him, offering his hand to help him out of the pool. Mischief flickered in his eyes, and that was Kibum’s only warning before Minho pulled him back into the water. Sputtering, Kibum shoved Minho away with a laugh. 

It was another hour before they dried themselves off and left their secret pool to actually work on homework. Kibum’s limbs were aching by the time he slipped into bed that night -- that was the longest they had spent in the pool yet -- and he reached into his drawer to look at the pictures he had taken earlier. 

The first one, he shuddered the chuckled at Minho’s crazy smile before he slipped it back into the drawer of his nightstand. He then flipped between the other two. In the first, there was a fondness in his eyes as he glared at Minho while waiting for him to get into a nice pose for the picture. In the second...Kibum dropped the first picture on his chest and glanced at his roommates to make sure they couldn’t see it. 

There was nothing wrong with it, it was just...

In the picture, his attention turned to Minho, his smile transforming from a nice one to...well, something much softer. Was that how he looked at Minho all the time? No wonder Jonghyun guessed his feelings so easily. 

He couldn’t take his eyes off of them, his gaze darting between the way Minho’s expression brightened as his grin turned adorably cheesy, and his own appreciation of...Wait...His eyes widened as he took in the picture. 

Something he already knew, given how often Mom and Grandma brought it up, was how much he looked like his dad. When he especially missed him, Kibum would look through Mom’s photobooks of them and their life together. The pictures started at Hogwarts, when they were friends, then moved on to their wedding, then their life in Korea with Kibum before Dad got diagnosed with leukemia -- he always stopped there. 

He knew each picture by heart -- every glance, every expression...every moment was dedicated to memory. Which is why he knew that he looked at Minho the exact same way that Dad looked at Mom.

Kibum gulped, pressing the polaroid over his heart. 

He really had it bad, didn’t he...