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

chapter forty seven

There is always a sense of comfort and bittersweet to whoever boards the Hogwarts Express to leave Hogwarts. No matter how little short of time or how many dreams circle their heads with the smiles of their loved ones back home, leaving Hogwarts is still never someone's favourite activity.

Especially for Winnie.

Over the years, the blonde has hated leaving school. She would push into herself and morph into someone she never really was with false smiles and kind words that were empty. The only real thing she looked forward to was being left alone most of the time, allowing her to read and enter a different reality much better than the one she had had for so long.

On the glimpse of Yule, Winnie Buldstrode, however, found herself quite content to leave Hogwarts, for she was returning to a home built upon hot cocoa, laughter that made your eyes water and to people who had accepted her with open arms. To people who understood her and protected her like their own.

While her heart would miss the grey walls of Hogwarts, she greeted the train with smiles and open arms. Winnie had spent most of her trip curled up in the same compartment as the Golden Trio, watching Ron and Hermione argue over silly things while Harry tried to chime in and be the peacekeeper ( which he often failed at. ). She was content; for the first time in months, her mind was calm and simply existing in peace with her friends.

At least until she got cornered in the loo.

( Really, what is it with her and the loo? )

Her hand had tightened around her wand, feeling that hard edges press her palm as she held it out towards Draco Malfoy. She was watching, bewildered, as he locked the door behind him, silver eyes paying her wand no attention as he tried to walk closer. Only for her to step forward and grip her wand tighter.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Why were you poking around in my mind?"

Their sentences are strung together like a complicated spider web, hanging over their heads as Winnie tilts her head. Still keeping her wand trained on him, she opens her mouth to speak, only for Draco to cut her off.

"At Slughorn's party, you were trying to read my mind; why?" He questioned harshly, silver eyes ablaze with frustration. Purple bags danced under them, highlighting the sunken skin of his face. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think he looked sick, as sick as she did during the full moon. Draco seemed to shake with emotion; it smacked into her brutally, making her stumble as her back hit the sink.

It all tasted wrong; it felt like her skin was on fire, burning inside her as her stomach turned. Her mouth grew bitter with salvia as she swallowed harshly. Her heart quickened, and blood pounded in her ears at a deafening pace. Draco Malfoy felt like he was dying as his emotions poured into her; she could feel every ounce of pain and anger that radiated inside him.

Suddenly, just as she was about to question why, it was all sucked back out of her. Draco straightened, eyes narrowing to a simple grey as the female blinked.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She exclaimed, feeling nothing but a reminiscence of his pain as he scowled. Her entire body buzzed, mind fuming with the impossible. Her stomach turned, and her mouth felt like cotton was seeping into the corner of it, leaving nothing but a dry surface with questions unanswered.

This was all wrong. Draco Malfoy feeling any unbearable pain felt wrong to her; ever since they were little, with barely any of their personalities, he seemed more of a thing than a person to her. He would poke fun at her mismatched teeth, trip her into the mud, and look at her with his nose high.