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

chapter thirty six

             She remembers her first transition well.

Winnie had nearly wept the whole time, when her lips weren't locked open in a permanent scream, nails digging into the unforgiving concrete floor below her. It had felt worse than anything she has ever felt, which says a lot considering she had been nearly torn apart by a frenzy blood lust monster.

She had slept all day afterwards, until her bones no longer ached when she moved, until her wounds were almost invisible against her skin. Until relief washed over like a cool blanket, knowing she didn't have to worry no longer.

At least not until the next moon.

Winnie slept nearly all day now, her body aching and exhaustion eating away at her bones as they prepared for her transformation. She already felt the growing effects as she awoke that evening, exactly an hour before the sun would set and the moon would rise.

She sat now, frog socks on her feet and her body collided with thousands of blankets. That was another thing she hated, how quick her temperature would drop beyond reason as the moon grew closer. A cup of tea was sitting in her hands, warmth radiating from the glass and into the palms of her hands and fingers. The copper liquid was nearly empty, leaving a bitter twinge in her mouth.

"It shouldn't be hard tonight, it gets easier," Remus spoke softly from her, the air around them quiet in order to maintain the headaches they both sported. She gripped her mug tighter, bringing it up to her lips as hummed slightly. Winnie doubted that it would get better, but she didn't have the heart to tell him differently.

"Is Sirius going to be there this time?" She questions, looking over at Remus as he takes his small dose of Wolfsbane. She nearly cringes as his lips twist downwards, eyebrows creased and nose wrinkled.

"Yes, he insisted on not being left out, thinking he grows lonely," the male tried to joke, but came out as nothing but a hum to her ears. Remus had told her that Sirius would often join him during full moons, the same way they would do as kids. In order to make sure he wouldn't be alone, Winnie's eyebrows pitch down across her forehead now at the thought.

She would be alone when school came back, and that left nothing but a dull ache of anger in her chest.

'You won't be alone. I'll be there.'

She wraps her fingers tighter around the mug, lips pressing into a line as her eyes stare hard down on the liquid. Wishing to get everything over with, she swings the mug up, chugging back the taste of the bitter liquid. She flinches only slightly, the rest being covered by the cool whip of anger that burns inside of her. She knows it isn't right to be jealous, tomorrow she will be glad that he has someone there with him, but now she just feels that thick burst of jealousy poison her veins.

If Remus senses it, he doesn't say anything, which makes her think that he does and knows better. For she simply lays the mug down rather harshly on the table, swinging out of the room and towards the stairs that led her down into her doom.

The two men follow after her, her body covered in thin white fabrics, fabrics that would soon vanish away into tiny shreds. When she enters the basement, the damp smell of mildew cages her, swirling around her nose as she steps further inside it. The colder temperatures eat away at her skin, causing goosebumps to shiver across her body. Her hand tightens on the brass doorknob for a moment, glancing at the metal chains that rest against the stone walls, the carved scratches left around it.

This makes her feel like a monster, and it only creates a deeper venom in her chest.

She feels a hand pressing into her shoulder, the smell of Firewhiskey and Peppermint stirs her further, making her drop the hold on her doorknob. Winnie bites down on her cheek as she walks closer to her side, where the chains rest against the floor and more claw marks dot against the ground. She had been vicious last month, though she called it being terrified.