Outside the window, Nature raged. The wind was bending the trees so far down as if it wanted to snap the thick trunks in two, seeking retribution for sins unknown. The leaves were left to the wind’s mercy, torn asunder and scattered every which way. The rain was falling down in big drops with a speed rivalling bullets, hitting the large puddles of water with a loud, spearing sound. There was no sound of humans, birds, rats or other living beings other than the sound of the weather, if you could call weather a ‘living being’. Certainly, such matter would normally be considered silly; as much as humans like to anthropomorphize, as much as animals may not be humans but are for sure living beings, there is nothing living, nothing humaine in weather.

And yet, the calamity outside seemed to be furiously dealing vengeance on the world at large for a reason no one knows. Or maybe everyone knows. Everyone knows their own personal shortcomings against Nature, and maybe it’s time to contemplate ways to placate It, ways to compensate It for all the thoughtless lifestyles. Or maybe it’s too late, and it’s time of reckoning. 

It was midday, but the grey clouds swarming the sky covered everything in a dark shade, giving the impression of a late evening. Many have decided to turn on the artificial lighting even at this early hour, marvelling to other family members at the fancy of Nature, at how unforgiving it is, how inconsiderate to them. Why, they had plans to visit the zoo with the younguns, you see, and now it was no use and they had to stay home and take care of those pesky kids so they didn’t hurt themselves or, Merlin forbid, destroy one of the old, useless, ugly, dangerous heirlooms.

In those frighteningly difficult conditions, a lone owl travelled the skies towards her destination. Her life was important, yes, but so was the letter she carried. Her pride did not allow her for too big a delay, so she did not choose the easier route, no. But she was a wise owl, and used her common sense, dodging the biggest gusts of the wind behind those trees that have not succumbed yet, and dried her feathers under the eaves of the houses, sometimes sharing space with other birds, sometimes scaring them away. 

She was close now, she could feel it in her magic. Deciding to not delay the delivery even further, she gathered the last spurt of her wings’ strength and flew towards the not so far away house that was getting bigger and bigger and bigger…

There! Behind all the other big mansions with big gardens and big decorations, a house not unlike the others, but special in that it housed the recipient of the letter. Finally, she could rest, and maybe she will get some treats, and could dry her wings, and…

And deeply lost in her hopeful musings, the wise owl forgot about the window pane and hit smack dab in the middle of the glass, right in front of a surprised wizard teen who was reading on a bench by the window.

“Holy !” shouted the wizard, throwing his book to the side and scrambling quickly to open the window and let the poor animal in before she got swept away by the harsh wind. “Why would they send you in this cursed weather? You poor thing,” cooed the teen, gently picking the owl up, bringing her inside and shutting the window.

The owl shuddered slightly, feeling the warmth from the fireplace wash over her soaked feathers and reaching her core. She felt gentle fingers combing delicately through her feathers, then putting her down on a table.

“Wait here and get warm, I will bring you water and something to eat,” the same husky voice from before soothed her headache and anxiety from the difficult journey. Looks like her hope was not in vain - the recipient was even more mindful of her needs than she could have imagined! She waited impatiently for her refreshments, feeling warmer with every second. Soon, the wizard returned with a teacup saucer and… were those mice inside the bowl? At a wizard house? For her ? Sure enough, the saucer and bowl of mice were deposited right in front of her. Hesitant and still doubtful of her great fortune, the owl looked up at the wizard. Unfortunately, it seemed he mistook her look for one of reproach, for upon noticing he started rambling.

“Apologies, my dear, but I was not expecting… you see, no one in their right mind would send mail in this weather and I… Well, I am sorry if the mice are not to your liking, but I am afraid, that is to say, my cats… well… these were the only things left from their morning hunt, all the insects have been…” There, he stopped with a weird expression on his face that the owl did not understand but which resembled slightly the face her owner made when putting her hand on the railing full of owl poop in the owlery.

“...eaten. I guess. Maybe. I hope they were eaten, and not hidden in my underwear drawer again. But last time it was my fault, you see they did it only ‘cause I was late with their promised treats so I guess I deserved it but…” 

The wizard continued rambling but the owl was not interested anymore. As soon as she realized that yes, those delicious, almost freshly dead mice were for her, she dug in with fervor, only slightly spraying the table cloth with the blood and entrails. Just slightly, really. It was too delicious to stop for manners. 

It was only when she felt full, warm and content, relaxing on the comfortable lap of the wizard in front of the fireplace that the owl remembered her delivery. She squeaked in surprise, calming down quickly to cover her disgrace and harshly nipped the thumb caressing her wing. After all, it was the wizard’s fault for distracting her from her task so completely.

“Ow!” the wizard sent her a hurt look. “What was that for?”

The owl just looked at him crossly and shoved her leg at him. There’s your letter, take it off , thought the owl to herself. 

“Alright, alright, there’s no need to be that prickly about a measly letter,” nagged the teen while unravelling the scroll, eyes scanning quickly through the contents. “I can make a fair guess at what it is, they send it every bloody year, could save whole forests on these-” He paused suddenly, making a weird choking sound as his eyes widened in surprise. 

For a moment, he stopped breathing. The owl looked at him in grudging worry. (He did, after all, treat her nicely.) After a while, he whispered, horrified.

“Oh, hell no .”

“Not again!” screamed Heechul, throwing his hands up in the air.

“What’s wrong?” asked Yesung from his position on the bed, not even looking up from his book. After all, occasional screams from Heechul were to be expected; it was the absence of them that should instill fear in people.

“It’s gone, again!” Heechul sat on the clothes-strewn floor right where he was standing, in the middle of their dorm. 

“What is?” continued Yesung patiently.

“My pants!!!” Heechul threw himself on the floor dramatically. Only, he forgot he was sitting on the floor and not the bed, and regretted having done so immediately. “OW!!! Now my back hurts!”

“Stop pouting. How do you get anything done, honestly.” Yesung rolled his eyes and put his book on the bedside table with a longing look towards it. He wouldn’t be able to get any reading done with Heechul in a full-on tantrum mode anyway, it was better to assist his friend and prevent further mess. “What pants, exactly? When did you wear them last?”

“Well…” Heechul started hesitantly.

“Don’t tell me you mean your semi-transparent pants, of which you have several identical pairs ,” Yesung closed his eyes. He didn’t need to be Shindong to be able to foresee the incoming headache.

“Maybe?” Heechul smiled sheepishly, scratching at his currently silver hair.. “In my defense, this is not the first time something of mine went missing, so I’m definitely not overreacting!”

“I know it’s not the first time, that’s the only reason I’m taking you seriously. But is it really such a big deal? You have many more pants just like that. Just buy another pair and you literally won’t see the difference.”

“I know… but I feel uneasy. I can’t be misplacing so many things! It’s impossible! I didn’t have such problems last year, except pens. But everyone loses pens so I don’t care. But this…” Heechul huffed, genuinely frustrated. He moved to sit down next to Yesung, wondering if he should just share his honest thoughts. He didn’t want to be called paranoid.

“You think someone is stealing your things, don’t you?” the black-haired boy deduced before Heechul said anything. “I think so, too. But we have no proof, and no motive. Sorry, but I can’t think of a reason someone would want your stinky clothes.”

“Hey! They are used, not stinky!” Heechul laughed.

Yesung was glad to see him out of his bad mood, not in the least because it meant that he could soon continue reading about the romantic shenanigans of Lady Lorreth and her many suitors. 

“Well, maybe make a list of things that went missing, and when,” he suggested. “Then go bother Leeteuk or Geng about it, not me. Please. ”

“Fine, fine. I will let you go back to your lovely Miss Leslie,” Heechul cackled, going out of the room.

“Her name is Lady Lorreth! And clean your mess before you leave!!! ” Yesung shouted after Heechul, but it was no use - the door had already closed behind his mischievous friend, leaving all the clothes as they were - all over the floor.

Heechul was in high spirits having relieved his bad humor on Yesung, and strolled along the school corridors in search of something to entertain himself with. He had few options, given that it was nearing curfew and most everyone had already left to their common rooms or dorms to rest, or were camping out in the library. Heechul was not a fan of studying, although let it be known that he was not afraid of the library, and especially not the librarian, oh no. He just… didn’t like the silence (lies) or the smell of books (excuses). 

Suddenly, he became aware of the echoing sound of his footsteps in the empty corridor. Surrounded by cold, dark stones with frozen-still armours and half-asleep portraits, the sound seemed to grow bigger and bigger, slower and slower until it stopped and he stood still, as if paralyzed. Maybe it was something in the silence, or maybe the supposed theft of his belongings left him more rattled than he thought, but he felt doubly aware of his surroundings. Unconsciously he changed his hair to black to better blend in with the walls. His breathing slowed down until he was sure it was almost inaudible, when…

“What are you doing?”

Heechul jumped up and screamed bloody murder as he felt someone’s hand clap him on the shoulder.

Robes swishing, he spun around to face his attacker, wand in hand and pointed right at… Leeteuk?

“Whoa! No need to go that far, I think?” Leeteuk laughed easily, putting his hands up jokingly.

Heechul released a trembling breath and hid his wand in his sleeves. “Sorry, I was just startled.”

Leeteuk looked at him carefully, taking in his paler than usual face, wide-open eyes and shaky smile.

“What happened?” he asked seriously. “And don’t say it’s nothing, you look like you encountered a wild manticore. Only less excited,” he added jokingly to put his friend more at ease. Sometimes Heechul shared his troubles readily, and sometimes it was like pulling teeth. And you never knew which one it will be until you started asking him questions.

Heechul sighed. He remembered Yesung’s advice, and although he didn’t have his list prepared yet, there was no harm in sharing with his childhood friend. Unless Leeteuk was the one stealing his things, but Heechul seriously doubted that. First and foremost, Leeteuk wouldn’t try to enter another house’s common room without an invite, and especially not a private dorm. He was well-mannered like that. All the ladies at pureblood parties, young and old, loved him for that.

Heechul came back from his musings to an amused Leeteuk, who just watched him with a small smirk.

“Welcome back, did you go far?” he teased.

Heechul snorted. “Should have just shoved me or something, why would you just wait?”

“A few minutes ago you pulled a wand on me for startling you, forgive me for not wanting to repeat the experience,” he shrugged.

“Why, you scared?” Heechul teased back.

“Hardly. Just didn’t want you to get even more spooked than you already are. Now stop stalling and spill.”

“Can we go somewhere else first?” Heechul sighed. “I’m still getting the creeps just standing here.”

“Come and go room?”

“Come and go room.”

They walked shoulder to shoulder to the seventh floor, with Leeteuk detailing how his day went and Heechul listening to his friend’s calming voice. He couldn’t lie, Leeteuk was the best person to get him to talk, and the best person to calm him down. The amount of times Heechul would have gotten in trouble if not for Leeteuk talking him out of whatever his plans were…

In no time, they arrived at the seventh floor; Heechul visibly relaxed compared to his earlier countenance. Leeteuk gestured for him to think up the room, and after walking past the wall three times, a door appeared. They entered, taking in the cozy decor. Truthfully, Leeteuk was surprised. After all, despite Heechul being the one to command the room, it looked exactly like Leeteuk’s bedroom back home. In the far left corner was his bed with multiple decorative pillows and a little nest for his dog, Shimkoong. Above the bed frame were old pictures of Leeteuk and Heechul, which the two of them have continued to put up haphazardly from their early childhood to now, and which Leeteuk never bothered to arrange in anything resembling order. He rather liked the mess of it, and thought it represented their friendship well.

Separated from the bed by a big bookcase was a comfortable sofa and an armchair, surrounding a small coffee table standing on a fluffy carpet in front of a crackling fireplace. Above it was a big picture of all their friends, taken by Shindong one Hogsmeade weekend. Behind the relaxing area was a glass door showing off the balcony and the enormous, beautiful garden under it. On the wall opposite the bed was Leeteuk’s vanity table that in all honesty stored more of Shimkoong’s toys and cosmetics than his own, and next to it was a door leading to a private bathroom and a walk-in closet. The room was done in warm, beige colors that Heechul once called boring and utterly Leeteuk-like.

And yet, to think that Heechul must find Leeteuk’s room a safe haven for himself sent a little warmth into Leeteuk’s belly.

Although the sight of the bed sent warmth into a rather different body part. Leeteuk shook off the sudden image out of his mind, now was not the time for distractions… even if the biggest distraction himself was apparently dead set on flustering Leeteuk; Heechul went straight to the bed and laid down on his stomach with a great sigh.

Praying to whatever god there is for patience, focus and understanding, Leeteuk chose to move the armchair from in front of the fireplace closer to the bed and sit there. He received a weird glance from Heechul for not just joining him on the bed as he usually did, but did his best to ignore it. He moved around to find the most comfortable position (although his mind tried insisting that he would be most comfortable on the bed, surely), and finally looked up at his friend.

“Well, out with it. What’s bothering you?”

For all that Heechul knew the situation had been leading up to exactly this conversation, he simultaneously looked like he would rather be elsewhere, and like he couldn’t wait to get his problems off his chest. Finally, he heaved a great sigh, turned around on his side to better look at Leeteuk, and started talking.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure you might already have some idea. Remember all the times I complained about losing things this year?”

“Yeah, there were quite a lot of them, right? Strange things to lose, too. The scarf I gave you, handkerchiefs, Heebum’s clothing thingy you knitted (“It was a sweater!”, gasped Heechul in outrage), Transfiguration homework, your Elsa pillow… did I miss anything?” listed Leeteuk.

“Well, this time I ‘lost’ my see-through pants,” grumbled Heechul.

“So? Just ask Pomfrey for a potion or something. If you’re having problems remembering things, I really don’t know how I can help you,” advised Leeteuk.

“No, but see… I think that I didn’t lose those things, but rather that… someone stole them.”

“Stole them? But what would someone need this many handkerchiefs for? And all those useless-for-anybody-but-Kim-Heechul things?” Leeteuk asked surprised.

“Yesung agrees with me,” informed Heechul, as if Yesung’s agreement was law. “To be honest, the only way for someone to get the pants, Heebum’s sweater, the homework, would be to get into the dorm room,” he continued uneasily.

Leeteuk remained silent, watching Heechul more carefully.

“Which means it must be someone who could get into the Ravenclaw common room… So either some  other Claw, or someone smart enough to solve the riddles.”

“The first part helps a little, the second not at all. There is literally no way to determine which of the students could solve the entrance riddles,” Leeteuk thought out loud. “In which case, if it really is a matter of theft, we should be going with the problem to Harvey.”

“Harvey?” asked Heechul, surprised.

“Yeah, the Head Boy? I know I’m a prefect, but this is way too big.”

“Teukie…” started Heechul half-amused, half-offended. “Harvey graduated last year, remember? We have a new Head Boy now.”

“Oh, right. Well, let’s go tomorrow to find the new Head Boy and start looking for the suspects,” Leeteuk suggested.

“For ’s sake, Jungsoo!!!” Heechul exploded, now fully insulted. “How could you forget?! I’m this year’s Head Boy!!!”

Leeteuk’s face went blank. “Oh, right. It’s such a weird concept I honestly keep forgetting.”

Heechul huffed and puffed for another few moments until he calmed down again. Leeteuk just waited for him to lose his steam, then continued.

“Alright, but that gives us a few advantages, one of them being you having authority to question portraits and other self-aware non-beings without potentially alerting our thief that you’re aware of the situation and investigating it.

“Let’s just sleep on it and think more tomorrow, and maybe we can make a complete list of things that went missing, even the smallest and most obvious ones, like pens,” finished Leeteuk.

Heechul hid his face in the pillow he was laying on, breathing in the familiar, calming scent and gathering courage.

“...will you help me? With everything?” he finally asked quietly, not liking making himself vulnerable even in front of his childhood friend.

Leeteuk just looked at him warmly, wishing to be able to look into those big doe eyes and reassure the other that he will always stand by him.

“Of course. Always,” he whispered just as quietly, reaching with his hand to pet Heechul’s messy black hair and smoothing out the tangled strands with his fingers gently. For all that Heechul disliked having his hair played with normally, it was a source of comfort when he was stressed.

Finally, Heechul shook his head, dislodging Leeteuk’s hand, and got up.

“Let’s go back, it’s way too late already. And tomorrow’s Monday.”

The door closed behind them and turned into the wall again. They strolled together in the direction of the staircase intersection that lead down to the Slytherin basement, and up to the Ravenclaw tower.

“By the way, why were you in the corridors? Everyone else has gone back to the dorms,” inquired Heechul.

“I was on patrolling duty,” replied Leeteuk pleasantly.

“It was already curfew?” Heechul blinked in surprise. How long has he been wandering around? “Wait, what about your duty? We shouldn’t have talked this long.”

“Don’t worry about it, I will just write that I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.” 

“I don’t know…” Heechul squirmed.

“Why? Are you gonna report me, Mister Head Boy?” smirked Leeteuk.

Heechul huffed. “Obviously not, but I don’t like that you will be lying for me.”

“It’s not that big a deal if you don’t make it into a big deal, nobody ever checks the reports,” said Leeteuk exasperated. “Let’s just go back to the dorms, and tomorrow we will talk about your stealing issue more. If we don’t know who it is, then we don’t know why they are doing it. What if it escalates?”

“To what, stealing my underwear?” deadpanned Heechul.

Leeteuk shot him a frustrated look. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, but don’t make light of the situation. That you were spooked so much earlier, and that you actually talked to me about it means you are scared. I don’t like it when you’re scared.”

Heechul kept silent, not knowing how to answer. 

Hesitatingly, Leeteuk added, “Perhaps you should let Geng walk you to your classes and the common room.”

“Why?” asked Heechul incredulously. “I have more classes with you than Geng. Shouldn’t you walk me to classes, then? Or Yesung?”

“Well… Yesung is a good choice, he’s good at DADA. But I thought Geng would prefer to have you in his sight, considering you might be in danger… And you would feel safer and more comfortable with him,” Leeteuk replied defensively, avoiding Heechul’s eyes.

“Jungsoo. Listen. How many times do I have to say, Geng and I are only friends?” explained Heechul, frustrated and done with the subject before it even hardly began.

“Best friends,” Leeteuk corrected.

“Best friends, but friends ” Heechul insisted. “Why are you so bothered about Geng? And why are you always competing with him about cooking or potions?”

“We have similar interests but different methods, it’s just friendly rivalry in cooking,” Leeteuk replied firmly, completely avoiding the first question and furiously hoping Heechul didn’t notice. He didn’t know the answer to that himself yet, only a slight niggling thought that he kept pushing to the back of his head.

Suddenly, they heard a voice call out behind them.

“What are you doing out of bed after curfew?” It was Pippa Macmillan, the Transfiguration professor. Quite a nice, fairly young lady (only in her forties!), but similar to the previous professor in that she took no bull.

“Sorry Professor… I was on patrol duty today,” explained Leeteuk with an easy smile, crinkling his eyes.

The Professor only raised her eyebrow. “I believe the patrols finished over an hour ago, Mister Park. You have no business being out of bed at this hour.”

“That was my fault, Professor,” interjected Heechul smoothly. “I overheard some third years talking about a duel in the empty classroom on the seventh floor, and asked Leeteuk to help me investigate. But there are many abandoned rooms on this floor, so it took some time.”

“And the third years? Where are they?” asked Macmillan sceptically.

“We sent them to bed already,” lied Leeteuk. “It was their first offence so we just took some points off.”

“I’m not sure I believe you, but since it’s rather late I won’t keep you any longer. Remember, just because you’re a prefect and Head Boy does not mean the curfew does not apply to you as well,” lectured Macmillan, watching them carefully. She suddenly sighed, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Mr. Kim, you’re a very good student, but I honestly don’t know what the Headmistress was thinking when she appointed you Head Boy…”

“Neither do I,” muttered Heechul under his breath.

“Well, go back straight to bed, you two,” ordered Macmillan and watched them go on their way.

“I like her but she’s so scary,” whispered Leeteuk.

“She’s only scary to you because she’s the only woman that does not fall for your eye smile.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Soon after they arrived at the staircase intersection that has been their unofficial meeting and parting point. They bid each other goodnight and continued to their respective dorms.

In bed, Leeteuk continued to worry about just how dangerous a situation Heechul found himself in this time, and wished he could have gathered him in his arms and consoled him on the bed in that room that resembled his bedroom so much. Meanwhile, Heechul was trying to calm his nerves and trick himself into believing he was not scared by recalling the soothing feeling of Leeteuk’s fingers in his hair, and the reassuring gentleness of his voice.

Needless to say, neither got much sleep that night.

~~~~~~~~~~

So, that's it for now. Hopefully I won't take too long with the next chapter, but considering I wrote half of this at work...
If I am getting lazy, you can holler at me over on Twitter (@Sienne_K)