Wolves Without Teeth ── theodore nott ¹ ( UNDER EDITING )

chapter twenty five

               Every year, without fail, she would sit at her chosen spot in the Great Hall, eating porridge with her regular dash of sugar, cream and blueberries, a goblet full of either some tea or hot cocoa. Every year without a single change, she would complete that task during her birthday no matter what. Her birthday was a day Winnie Bulstrode often picked to ignore, not many people knew the date of her birthday, only those who paid attention to her during the mornings of the fourteenth of February. ( due to the very fact that her birthday also fell on the holiday of love, not many people paid attention. ) But to those few who did pay attention to her, you would catch her minding her own very sweet business when the Bulstrode family owl swooped down in front of her.

A white box, wrapped with green emerald ribbon to form a delicate bow on the top, would be tied to his leg. You would see her sigh, perhaps even roll her hazel eyes if she was in a particular mood, but she would scratch the owl on the top of his head all the same, would take the box and lay gently in front of her. Before she would pull a small, heart shaped pink cookie with tiny daisies decorated on to it with white icing. You would catch her lip twist into the slightest sliver of a smile before she offered the rest of the cookies to those around her. Which was usually taken by Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Dean Thomas and then one saved for Cordelia Flint.

It was a part of her morning routine that she never faltered from, always composed and done with a measure of practice of normality over the years that she didn't even think second of it when the box arrived. Despite the fact she knew it was from her parents, who spent every other day of the year hating her very being, the day she was born was a sign of truce, no matter how small or cliche the cookies may be, it was taken with kindness all the same.

Until the day of her sixteenth birthday.

A bowl of porridge with blueberries, a dash of sugar and cream still sat in front of her. With her half dranken goblet of hot cocoa, she sat right in between Hermione and Ginny Weasley. When the owls swooped into the Great Hall, she had instantly moved her bowl away from her, acting second nature and preparing herself for a box of cookies she didn't even truly enjoy. They were always too dry and the icing was always far too bitter, but she accepted them with a hidden swell of comfort in her heart every year without fail.

But nothing came for her that year, instead, the Bulstrode family owl flew over to the Slytherin table. Landing a small white box, wrapped in shiny, emerald ribbon right in front of Millie Bulstrode. Winnie watched, feeling her heart twist and shatter like a million shards of glass as Millie pulled a heart shaped cookie, her lips twisting into a wide smile, eyes turning to look at her sister as she took a bite out of the cookie just for pure spite. If it wasn't for the two tables separating them, Winnie would have reached over and throttled her sister until she choked on the cookie, but atlas, Winnie simply grinded her teeth in her mouth and tore her eyes away.

She truly wasn't expecting anything from her parents, she figured burning her name off the tapestry was a sure sign that gifts were out for now on. And yet, her fingers tapped emptily on the void of space in front of her, itching and scratching in denial. She was suspecting this, so really there was no reason for her heart to feel as if it was being torn apart by giants in her chest right now. Her tongue floated across the surface of her bottom teeth, breathing in heavily through her nose she chanced a glance at the Slytherin table once more. Millie was now sharing the cookies among the table, and just as Winnie looked, she saw her sister hold the box towards Theo, who halted his hand halfway after Cordelia whispered in his ear.

Watching the interaction, Winnies eyebrows furrowed down on her forehead. She watched as her cousin threw Millie a dark look, her nose in the air and blue eyes narrowed into heated slits. It didn't take much for Winnie to know that Cordelia realized her parents had sent Millie her birthday cookies purely out of spite. Millie, however, didn't seem to be paying any attention to Cordelia, instead her eyes were glued to Theo like a hawk. Watching as he placed his hand back down beside him on the table, his head shaking before his eyes lifted up from his plate of food. From where he sat, he was facing Winnie, who was still watching the interaction like a deer caught in headlights. And then, his eyes caught onto her own, the brunette jumped, startled to see the wisk of dull green, his lips pulled into a frown just as she snapped her attention away.