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

chapter fifty

    

Winnie Buldstrode thought about seeing Theo Nott again almost every waking moment she had over the last few days of Yule break.

He built a home in her thoughts only to hide the ones she feared chasing or facing. Winnie had barely slept alone since the night she saw Greyback again, it should be known that she had tried, but the darkness that encased her room had only brought her fear instead of comfort. When Winnie did sleep, she was in the company of Harry, who had decided to stay with his godfather for the rest of the break. There were no words ushered between the two, only speechless promises of staying forever, but even as she lay knowing that nobody could harm her, her brain twinkled to the brunet male that was so far away.

She knew no longer thought of the harm that has come to him, instead, she only thought of hugging him again. To hold him in her arms and pretend, that even for a moment, the world was kinder and quieter than it has been.

Winnie imagined their eyes locking, and a smile floating across his features, a dimple popping out that she adored seeing. His curls brushed against his forehead and the smell of cinnamon engulfed her as she holds her to him. There would be a glimmer of silence in the world, where all the hurt and the anger latched onto them, would fade away. Winnie is tired of fighting, and tired of pretending for once in her life that she isn't in love with someone who she could never have.

So while her fears grew and chilled the very being of her bones, she hung on to the simple fact that seeing Theo Nott would cure everything in her.

Instead, he walked past her.

Winnie had found him on the train, her school robes already on her frame, hair braided against her back as her loafers clicked against the floor of the train. She had left Harry behind with his friends, with promises that she'll see him at the Great Hall, and even though she didn't tell him where she was going, Harry knew all the same.

Theo was sitting in a train compartment, she had planned to walk to Hogwarts together, maybe even take the carriage ride together as they spoke in whispered tones. Winnie's heart filled with warmth, seeing his tussled curls and lanky frame dressed in his Slytherin robes. Cordelia sat next to him, short red hair wrapped into a tiny bun, her own robes on her with smudged sneakers that Winnie had no doubt Cordelia's parents would've grimaced at if they were still around.

Winnie's lips pulled into a smile at the sight of them, her two favourite people sitting together until her eyes flickered to the person Theo was speaking to. The female faltered, face falling and shattering as her blood ran cold.

Draco Malfoy sat leaning on his elbows, whispering words she couldn't understand from the shock penetrating her body. Silver hair fell against the pale of his skin as he sat too close to Theo to be normal, her hazel eyes fell back onto the boy she had come to love, watching the twisted frown that laced his stony features. Her eyebrows pinched together against her forehead, as she quickly fell back, disappearing against the brown, fizzy material of the train walls. She stared out the window, watching as trees whizz past them, Hogwarts quickly coming upon them for the rest of the semester.

Theo Nott and Draco Malfoy speaking in the same compartment seemed more surprising than anything she ever thought when she saw Theo again. She hadn't seen them together since they were kids, first year maybe before Draco grew separate from the kids he grew up with.

The door slid open beside her, causing her head to snap to the side, hazel eyes catching onto the silver, molten eyes of Draco Malfoy. The coldness that radiated from him, hit her square in the chest as the boy narrowed his eyes at her, but unfortunately for them. Winnie hadn't forgotten about their last encounter, the overwhelming feeling of death that had eclipsed her heart still trickled through her veins as she pushed her lips into a line.