hot chocolate | d.m.

05. soup for the sick

December 5th

As normal, the alarm clock does not wake Winnie's sleeping form. It does wake her redheaded best friend, the smart girl who was for once without her glasses, and the boy laying flush against her in place of her teddy bear.

  Winnie was a wreck after coming back from studying with Draco. She knew he told her to not speak of it, but she spilled to her three best friends almost immediately. She cried most of the day, she was blaming herself and just piling more things on herself to make it worse. She only ate some steamed vegetables out of what Clara and Johnathan had snuck back from dinner. When things got to Winnie, they hit hard.

Poppy stood up from her bed, Clara rolling over and patting around for her glasses as well. Johnathan looked down at his best friend curled into his chest. He pushed hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her eyes were still puffy and reddened and her nose was rubbed raw. It made Johnathan's heart hurt to see one of his best friends like that. And it made him want to beat the living shit out of Draco Malfoy even more.

  Poppy walked over and sat on the edge of Winnie's bed and brushed through her hair with her fingers. She and Johnathan made eye contact as Clara came to sit next to Poppy towards Winnie's legs.

"Do we wake her?" Poppy asks softly, knowing that all Winnie probably wanted to do was sleep today. Missing one day wouldn't hurt, plus who knew if Winnie would be able to control herself when she saw him. Most people would say she was overreacting, but she'd always been sensitive.

"Yeah, just see if she's feeling it today." Clara said, looking at Winnie with remorse. She just wanted to hug her, she had many times yesterday of course but still. Johnathan nodded and then began to lightly shake Winnie. Her eyes peeled open, not as red as they were yesterday.

"Good morning beautiful girl," Johnathan whispered and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

"How are you feeling?" Clara asks, her hand grabbing Winnie's knee. Winnie looked around at all of them and sniffed, her nose completely full. Her head was pounding and her throat was sore. She felt like shit. Poppy looked at her softly and rubbed her shoulder.

"No class today?" Poppy asked quietly, already knowing the answer. Winnie nodded slightly with pursed lips.

"No class today. I think I made myself sick." Winnie says, her voice coming out hoarsely. Clara winces at the sound.

"Do you want someone to stay here with you?" Johnathan asks, stroking her hair down. He was fully willing to lay around with her all day, she shouldn't have to be alone today. Also, missing a day of classes would be better than listening to all of the dumb professors drone on about nothing he found important.

Winnie shook her head, looking between her three best friends. "No, don't be silly. I want to just be alone for now and maybe go get a headache potion from Pomfrey later," She said and pushed Johnathan's arms away from her, knowing how long it took him to get ready. The three friends shared a look, uncertain at first, but decided that she wasn't going to let them stay anyways. The three got ready to head to breakfast and each gave Winnie a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

Once the door had closed, Winnie turned back to her side and snuggled into her blankets. She was feeling much better emotionally today, but her head hurt pretty badly. Before making the trip to Pomfrey, she decided to just try and sleep it off.

Draco sat in the dining hall with Blaise on one side and Pansy on the other. Draco was zoning out of the conversation, really only eating his eggs and focusing on the entrance. He wanted to see Winnie. He wanted to see her smiling with her friends as if yesterday never happened. Guilt took over Draco all of yesterday and was still taking a toll on him. He was conflicted. Part of him wished he would've kissed her, part wished he would've just focused on studying, and another part wished he would've avoided her from the beginning.

  Draco didn't even take notice to Pansy gripping his left arm and trying to speak with him while leaving occasional kisses on his neck. Theodore found it absolutely hilarious that Draco paid no mind to the girl practically groping him.