- January 22, 2010 -

"Alright," O'Neely said, clapping his hands together at the sound of the bell. "Stay put for a moment, please. Come in!" he added, his voice raising slightly.

Kibum's eyebrows shot up and he glanced at Minho, who met his gaze and shook his head. He looked past him, his brow furrowing when the other seventh years who hadn't passed their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.s filed into the classroom.

"Don't worry about sitting," O'Neely said, and Kibum tore his eyes away to look back at him. "We won't be long." The door closed behind one of the Gryffindors, and O'Neely sat against his desk garnering everyone's attention with his small smile. "So, I know it feels a bit early in the year, but it's time to start thinking about graduation."

The murmurs that erupted at the announcement were soon quelled by O'Neely clearing his throat. "We just need to get an idea for how many people to expect at King's Cross, Muggle or otherwise, on the sixth of June. So, what you need to do is figure out how many guests you'll be having here and get that number to me by next Friday. Sound good?”

Kibum nodded, Minho and others doing so as well. “Alright. You’re free to go. Enjoy your lunch!” he said as benches started scraping against the floor as everyone started to get up.

“Too bad we can’t just pop down to Hogsmeade to tell your mom.”

“Pop down,” Kibum said, chuckling and shaking his head.

“What?”

“You sounded so British for a second.”

“ off,” Minho said with a laugh as he switched to Korean. “It’s your fault.”

“My fault?” Minho nodded haughtily, which made Kibum roll his eyes with a smile. “We couldn’t, anyway. She’s back in Nottingham right now, since the Tournament is on a bit of a hiatus.”

“Ah.”

Kibum didn’t have to glance at Minho to know that he tensed up. Even if he didn’t know him as well as he did, he still would have understood how stressful it must be for him, despite having won the last task. There was still one more task to go -- that they knew of -- and no one knew when it was going to happen. He, Miloni, and Turner had yet to be called away for even an interview after the obstacle course.

It was only a matter of time before they were, but the not-knowing…

“Do you want to call her after lunch?”

“Sure.” He glanced up at Minho, trying to read his expression from his profile as they paused in the threshold of the Great Hall. “Will you call your parents?”

Minho sniffed a mirthless laugh. “What do you think?” For Kibum’s part, he hoped that meant no, but again, knowing Minho like he did, he couldn’t be sure.

He surveyed the Great Hall before he met Minho's gaze again. "Wanna have lunch with me?" Minho's expression brightened, and he followed him over to Slytherin's table.

They made their way upstairs as soon as they finished eating. Minho opened the study closet door for him to enter first, enclosing them in darkness until Kibum lit the first of the candles and both were shivering as they finished lighting the rest. Kibum grabbed Minho's phone while Minho situated the blankets, wrapping the biggest one around both of them as Kibum settled beside him.

His hands trembled from the cold as he dialed Mom's cell phone number. Minho's arms wrapped around him, sharing what little heat he had. Kibum relaxed in his embrace, letting his head rest on his shoulder as he held the phone closer to them. He had turned the speaker on, so the bored-sounding dial tone filled the closet. Mom picked up a few seconds after Minho started kissing along the slope of his shoulder, so it took a few seconds before her questioning Hello? registered in his mind.

He shrugged quickly, making Minho stop with a chuckle, before he said, "Hi, Mom!" Minho echoed him, and Kibum's eyes blew wide as he turned to meet Minho's smug gaze.

"Hey, you two," Mom said, sounding distracted, and Minho kissed his cheek as Kibum returned his attention to the phone. "What's this about?"

"Uh…"

"Graduation," Minho filled in when Kibum's mind blanked.

"Uh, yeah. It's June sixth, and O'Neely just wants to get a headcount to see how many visitors the school needs to expect."

"Ah, okay." Something clattered on the other end, and she muttered under her breath. "Anything else?"

Kibum shook his head. "No. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." The word came out as more of a sigh. "The Wiggentree is just overgrown now. Whatever you did, Minho, worked a little too well."

"Sorry…"

"Oh, don't worry about it, honey. It just means I have more clippings for Mrs. Prue."

Kibum looked back at Minho, the question Do you have anything else you wanna ask? hopefully in his eyes. Minho understood because he shook his head without lifting his chin off of Kibum's shoulder. "We'll let you go then, Mom. See you soon?"

"Romilda said something about another Hogwarts trip coming up, so, yes."

"Okay."

Minho leaned a little closer. "Bye, Mom!"

"Bye! Have a good rest of your day!"

"Bye!" Kibum hung up the phone, letting it drop to his lap as he looked back at Minho again. "What was that about?"

"What?"

"Mom?"

He sat up, putting some distance between them as he searched Kibum's expression. "Did it bother you?" Kibum shook his head, his cheeks flaming as Minho started to smile. "I mean...I know we just started dating so I don't want to get ahead of myself, but…" He let the word linger in the air long enough for Kibum to repeat it back to him in a question. "...But, I figure she will be...you know...someday...so we might as well get used to it, yeah?"

It was Kibum's turn to smile, which only grew as Minho's gaze turned bashful. "Yeah."

Minho's eyes met his again, bright and hopeful in the warm candlelight. And then they were kissing, though before they could really get started, Minho pulled away to catch his breath. "I should call my parents before we get too distracted."

Kibum sighed into a dramatic pout, which made Minho smile and lean in for a quick kiss. "Come on, it won't be too long. Believe me."

"I suppose…"

"I'll make it up to you?"

Kibum's pout turned into a smile so bright that his dimples must have appeared, given the way Minho's gaze darted down to his cheeks before he met his eyes again. "You'd better."

Minho shrugged the blanket off of his shoulders, letting it fall around their waists as he took his phone back from Kibum. He watched over his shoulder as he scrolled through the contacts, his eyes catching Minseok as Minho passed it select Home.

Kibum grabbed Minho's hand as they listened to the dial tone, kissing it before someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mom," Minho said, his voice sounding more exhausted than it had a few seconds ago. Kibum knew better than to pipe up and interject like Minho had. "How a -- "

"It's been so long since you've called or written, we were starting to get worried. Is everything okay?"

Kibum tightened his grip on Minho's hand, which was met with an appreciative squeeze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, final year is just a bit crazy."

"I'm sure it is," she said, and paper fluttered distantly on her end of the phone.

She started on some other topic, but Kibum wasn't paying attention to what she said. No, he stayed focused on Minho and his reactions, readying himself to snatch the phone and hang up if he needed to. All of the sudden, Minho squeezed his hand tightly again, then laced their fingers together, and Kibum blinked, tearing his gaze away to look back at the phone.

Mr. Choi's voice filled the chilly silence. "Hey, son," he said, so painfully casually that Kibum wanted to chuck the phone across the closet. "You haven't contacted us in so long!"

There's a reason for that, you ing piece of s --

"Yeah, sorry," Minho said, his voice higher pitched than he had ever heard it. "Just got caught up with school, I guess. How are you?"

Kibum his thumb back and forth against Minho's hand, listening to Mr. Choi ignore Minho's attempts to cut the conversation short. "I'm sure it can't be that important, in the long run," he said dismissively when Minho brought up the essay he needed to get started on for Defense Against the Dark Arts. That was, until the bell rang to start the next period of classes after lunch.

"Do you have to go?" Mr. Choi asked when the ringing died in the air.

"Yes," Minho lied. They didn't have another class until last period: him, Flying and Kibum, Alchemy. "It was good to talk to you again."

"You too! Don't let it get so long between calls and letters, okay?"

Minho let out a nervous chuckle. "Yes, sir." Silence settled on both ends of the line, and Minho cleared his throat to break it. "Love y -- "

"We'll talk again soon. Bye, son."

"Bye, Dad…"

Mr. Choi hung up first, and Minho immediately slumped forward, letting out a long groan. He didn't let go of Kibum's hand, and Kibum reached around awkwardly, patting Minho's back until he sat back up. "Are you okay, Min?" he asked eventually, waiting for Minho's nod before he added, "You didn't mention graduation."

Minho started to shake his head, sighed, then sat up, finally meeting Kibum's gaze. His eyes glittered with tears that he seemed determined not to cry. "I don't want them here for it. I realized that as soon as Mom answered the phone."

Kibum nodded mutely, relieved. It definitely , he couldn't deny that, and he couldn't help but wish that circumstances were different...but, in the end, he knew this was for the best.

He reached out, cupping Minho's cheek and leaning closer to him when Minho's eyes closed reflexively. His thoughts involuntarily slipped back to that night, all those months ago, when Mr. Choi had struck him. The rage boiled back up, the urge to protect, to attack roiling within until Minho's heavy sigh tickled his skin.

"I'm fine, Bum," he said, slowly opening his eyes, and the soothing, calming waves of his love for Minho washed over him as their eyes met, cooling the white-hot concealed rage.

"Are you sure?"

When he nodded, Kibum leaned forward, guiding Minho into a simple, tender kiss. It went no further, Kibum instead hugging Minho as he tucked his face in the crook of his neck. Kibum's eyes slid closed, his breaths settling into the cadence of Minho's. He let Minho take the initiative to move away, not wanting to rush him if he needed the comfort. He didn't bother to keep track of the time -- it was unimportant.

But he did move away, and luckily, he looked more at peace than he had after his mother had picked up the call.

They really did have to work on that essay, but they also had a full week before it was due. Still, they had two more periods before their final classes for the day, so Kibum grabbed their Defense textbook and curled up next to Minho. They read through the information about werewolves, which they were reviewing before their upcoming N.E.W.T.s.

"I wish we had eaten," Minho said, swinging their joined hands between them as they took the long way downstairs.

"Me too. At least it won't be that bad in Alchemy. Will you be okay with Flying?"

"I think so. I'll just eat a bunch at dinner."

Kibum nodded and he slowed his gate as they reached the main floor. He peeked out the door and into the corridor, watching the others mill about on their way to their last class of the day. Before he let go of Minho's hand, he looked at Minho expectantly, smiling when Minho read his mind and kissed him goodbye.

"I'll see you after," Minho whispered before he kissed him again, and Kibum tried very hard not to let himself get lost in it.

"Okay," he said, sighing as Minho started down the stairs. "Don't do anything stupid during class."

"When have I eve -- "

"Minho," Kibum said flatly, which made him burst out laughing. "Bye."

"Bye…" Minho drew out the word, bringing a smile to Kibum's face as he walked away.

He tried to stay focused on the Alchemy lesson -- Slughorn was getting into the history of philosopher's stones -- but his thoughts kept wandering back to the phone call with Minho’s parents. There was a lingering sense of...well, sadness. No one from Minho’s life would be there to watch him graduate. Like, sure, Mom and probably Jonghyun would be there, and he was definitely close to them, but it wasn’t the same and Kibum knew it. If only --

Wait.

Minseok’s name in Minho’s phone flashed to the forefront of his mind. Would...would it work? He couldn’t ask Minho, because if it didn’t, he’d be devastated. No, this would have to be a secret.

When the bell rang, Kibum didn’t bother going back to his dorm room right away. Instead, he swept back upstairs, using the secret passageway and letting himself into the study closet. He grabbed Minho’s phone, opening the contacts and scrolling down until he reached Minseok’s names. After a second of hesitation, he dialed.

He picked up after two rings. “Minho?” Mr. and Mrs. Choi sounded surprised in the background.

“No, it’s Kibum.”

Minseok didn’t speak for several seconds, but when he did, Kibum’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Hey...if you’re supposed to be studying, why are you -dialing me, huh? We can talk later.”

“Wha -- “

“Bye!”

Minseok hung up before Kibum could say anything else. He blinked rapidly and settled back against the wall, frowning at Minho’s phone. That was...an interesting conversation, to say the least. Should he try to call back? Evidently, he didn’t want to talk, so maybe he should just --

The phone rang again as Kibum was starting to set it aside. Minseok again. Kibum immediately answered it. “Is Minho okay?” Minseok asked, his voice slightly hushed. He was somewhere quieter now, Kibum assumed, given that he could no longer hear his parents.

“Yeah, he is. Sorry to worry you.” Minseok let out a huff of a sigh and, from the sounds of it, sat down on his bed. “I just had a quick question to ask you, that’s all.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, graduation is coming up, and I was wondering if it’d be possible for you to come up to the castle for it. Just you.”

Kibum’s eyes darted around the room as he listened to the silence, waiting for Minseok to fill it. “Is that why he called today? To ask them?”

“Yeah. He...he couldn’t, though.”

“I see.” Minseok cleared his throat. “I can try, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to come up with a good enough excuse for them.”

“I understand. I’m not telling Minho. I want it to be a surprise if you can come.”

“Okay. I want to, don’t get me wrong…”

“No, I know.” Oh, wait… “Do you still have my mom’s number?”

“Yeah?”

“If you have any more questions or need help figuring out what to do, just ask her.”

“Sounds good.”

“Thanks, Minseok.”

There was a hint of a smile in his voice when he said, “Yeah, no problem. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Minseok hung up, and Kibum set the phone aside. Hopefully, everything would work out and Minseok would be able to come to Hogwarts. He’d really like that, given his obvious interest in their stories over the years. Kibum smiled as he got up and started heading back downstairs. As much as he hated to keep secrets from him, he could already picture Minho’s surprised expression.

And that was definitely something to look forward to.