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

chapter thirty one

       Winnie Bulstrode thinks she understands what absolute despair feels like.

That hopeless feeling of falling under a bridge of sorrow, with your lips falling open ready to argue that everything that you're hearing simply can't be true. It's that feeling of that bitter hand of dismay that grips your shoulder and with one final tug, it throws you under.

She can hear a buzzing in her ears, the feel of Theo's hand on her wrist, but it's all wrong. It's distant as if she was a thousand oceans away from that very moment instead of standing there, next to it. She can see the bruises, and the injured, she can see the blood, she can smell the sweat as it clings off their bodies. But all she can understand is that Cordelia Flint is gone and Harry Potter is not injured.

It's that crack of sorrow that causes her to run, that causes her to break.

Eleven hours earlier.

Seeing Harry Potter scream in agony as he clenched his forehead was probably the very reason why she should have never decided to be friends with anyone. Feeling the coldness that radiated from him seep into her very own body, a tart, bitter taste twisting into her lips as panic set into her heart. There were reasons like that often meant trouble followed after, and when it comes to Harry Potter, it's a promise.

Maybe she should have minded her own business and lived her past year as every other year. But then she would be in a home with parents who hated her more than life, with her life tied away to a mass murder without a say.

So perhaps that's the reason why she's running through the halls of Hogwarts now, her heart racing and searching everywhere for her cousin.

But deep down inside, she knew she was doing this because she had grown to care for the people in her life too much. Especially for Harry, especially when he had spent the past ten minutes yelling until his voice was hoarse that Voldermort had Sirius. She had once said she would follow Harry to the end of the earth, and apparently, that day would be today.

"Cordelia!" The blonde yelled, spotting the lighter brunette standing and talking to Theo on a staircase, students filtered in and out around her. Each was excited about how exams were finally over, discussing plans for the summer holidays and how they would sleep for weeks. For Winnie, the only thought on her mind was saving the only person who offered her a home. Her cousin turned, glancing down at her with a narrowed eyes expression as Winnie ran up the stairs, her Hogwarts robe bellowing at her feet as her hair fell down around her face, the black ribbon that tied it back had fallen out during her time speeding through the halls.

"Winnie? What's the matter?" Cordelia questioned quickly, her blue eyes sparkling with concern as Winnie sucked in deep breaths. Her hands squeezed into the brunette's wrist painfully, fingers digging into her fabric as she glanced over at Theo. The boy watched them both with a narrowed expression, his eyes flashing juniper as he locked eyes with her hazel ones. For a moment, she had the nerve to reach out to him, take that familiar warmth he radiated and comfort her pounding heart.

But Sirius Black could be dying, and there wasn't any time for anything else.

"You need to come with me, now," Winnie snapped, twisting and intertwining their hands before pulling a bewildered Cordelia down the stairs. At that same moment, Harry was trying to sneak into Umbridge's office once again to call on Sirius. While both Ginny and Luna distracted any students that tried to walk down that hallway. The only problem was, everyone knew Umbridge would come and find out sooner than later, meaning so would her squad.