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

chapter fifty five

    Winnie sees herself drowning, drowning away to nothing as days blur.

A sickening feeling of betrayal follows her footsteps and builds a home in her chest. She can not help but feel blind to everything, to every twitch Cordelia made with her arm, to every disappearance she had performed out of the blue.

Blind, blind, blind.

No, not blind. Robbed. Winnie was robbed of her mind, a mind that isn't even fully hers anymore, a mind so important and fragile to her that was robbed away like nothing, and Cordelia knew.

She knew and said nothing, let her exist in a world where she imagined Cordelia was always on her side. Winnie supposes that the worse part of it wasn't the fact that Cordelia took the mark, ( even though that tore a piece of her that she didn't even realize could be burned anymore ) it was the very fact that Cordelia Flint didn't tell her. Even when she begged for her to be honest, when Winnie revealed the most sacred part of her that was now a monster.

Cordelia did not tell her the truth, instead she let her mind be erased without her knowing and let her exist in a day dream that was short lived. Winnie finds herself sitting in place constantly these days, reliving past events that could've opened the seal for her cousin to tell her the truth.

Was it her? Was she too judgmental? Was she too harsh?

March rolled in with a blur, it was hard to pinpoint the exact time in place that Winnie seemed to let her life be taken over by her time in the loo with Draco. Her entire mind these days had been distracted by his words, she had even found herself staring across the Great Hall at him. She doubted he even realized how drastic an effect  his confession would have on her, and yet, maybe he did.

On the first day of March, Winnie sat flicking her spoon around her bowl of porridge. She chew a blueberry silently as she stared at the mushy beige food, completely unaware of everything until the very moment Harry Potter plopped down next to her, shoulders brushing as the blonde glanced up at him. As of late Harry spent more and more time with Hermione and Ron, their heads bent together as they whispered words she was not privy to understanding or knowing.

His distance from her didn't bother her, not truly. For he always found a way to show he was there. Squeezing her hand as they walked along the halls, kissing her forehead goodnight when they go bed in separate rooms, or ( her favourite ), he always had a hot chocolate poured for her if he was at breakfast first. All of this only made her stomach twist painfully with the knowledge that she was hiding things from him, though she supposed he was as well.

Maybe it's better if they don't know everything about each other.

"Ready?" Harry questioned, stealing a blueberry from her bowl as she slapped his hand away, wrinkling her nose while she pushed the contents of her breakfast away from her.

"Ready for what?" She questioned idly, picking up her hot chocolate, the smooth chocolate liquid dripping down her throat as Harry blinked at her. Green eyes glancing around them before he leaned in closer, their foreheads brushing as she narrowed her eyebrows.

"Remember? March the first...erm...  the letter," Harry whispered quietly, leaning back with a frown as Winnie raised an eyebrow. Her mind racing with a clouded haze, before the very memory of her mothers letter appeared in her mind. Eyes widening as an 'o' shaped swirled around her lips. "There she is! She now remembers the most exciting thing we're doing today." Winnie scowled as Harry's grin licked his face, bumping her shoulder against his before she swung her leg over the bench.