“Are you sure?” 

“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 

“I know, but...” Minho sighed, then fell silent when Madam Pomfrey arrived before them with a tiny pair of scissors. 

“Oh, don’t mind me,” she said, motioning for Kibum to sit forward on the hospital bed. “Merlin knows no one ever does.” 

“Aw, come on,” Kibum said, scoffing. Pomfrey cracked the tiniest of smiles as she tipped Kibum’s head up with an extended finger beneath his chin. “If I could have, I would have asked Professor O’Neely to stick me in detention with you.” Minho grinned when Pomfrey rolled her eyes in amusement. “But unfortunately, I’m stuck cleaning up the mess left in Potions yesterday.” 

Kibum’s lazy smile turned into a bit of a grimace when Pomfrey started to snip off his stitches. “I don’t think it’ll be too bad.” 

“First of, this stings a little -- ow -- and secondly, I’m stuck cleaning it with Damien.” 

Minho frowned, then looked up at Madam Pomfrey. “Is he healing okay?” 

“Mr. Brent?” He nodded and Kibum smacked his thigh. “Hold still, Mr. Kim.”

“Yes, ma’am. Why the do you care about him?” Kibum asked, quickly switching to Korean.

“I don’t. I’m...just curious.” 

"Don't be. He'll be just fine." After Pomfrey snipped the last of the stitches, Kibum snorted. "I swear, you're too nice for your own good sometimes." 

“Would you rather I not be?” 

Kibum’s uninjured eyebrow arched, but before he could say anything, Madam Pomfrey lowered her hand. “All done.” 

"Thanks!" he said, hopping off the bed and starting for the door. Minho followed him out of the infirmary. He shoved his hands in his pockets and huffed a sigh then glanced up when he gelt Kibum's gaze on him. "There's no need to feel guilty. If you want to go to Hogsmeade, just go."

"But we always go together…"

Kibum stopped in the doorway that led downstairs. "Believe it or not, I'm aware of that fact." Minho chuckled quietly. "Aren't Gil and the others planning on going?"

Minho scuffed his toe on the ground. "They're gonna try to hop the fence so they can explore the Shrieking Shack."

"It's a good thing I'm not a Prefect anymore, huh?"

Laughing, Minho said, "Well, Marvin is going to so you can take it up with him." 

"Maybe I will." 

Minho looked up at him, scanning the lingering yellowed bruises marring Kibum's complexion and the slice through his eyebrow that was almost certainly going to leave a lasting scar. Just the sight of it speared a pang through his heart. It didn't make him ugly -- in Minho's unbiased opinion, there was nothing on the planet that could achieve that -- but… It was just there, a constant reminder taunting him. 

He reached out to adjust Kibum's fringe, arranging his hair so it didn't hang in his eyes anymore. "Are you sure you won't be mad at me if I go?" 

"I'm sure." 

"I'm sorry you'll be stuck with Damien for the afternoon." 

Kibum smirked. "Oh, I'm not stuck with him. He'll be stuck with me." Minho smiled and Kibum winked so quickly Minho almost missed it. "Have fun, Min!"

"Will do!" Minho watched him until he disappeared behind the bend in the staircase, then he ran off in search of his roommates.