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

chapter twenty seven

He would marry, but it would not be to her.

So he returned to Hogwarts, feeling nothing but a dull ringing in his ears with every intent to tell her about it, even if she would find it strange that he would even tell her. He swore to himself that no matter what he would tell, but then she hugged him that first day on the train, terrified and weeping with so much pouring from her he found himself speechless again.

He may not have held her ability to soak up the emotions from others like Winnie did, but the sadness that seeped from her was so brutal and real, he could do nothing but try to fix it. Theo told himself he would fix it and then tell her, so he did fix it. Made his stubborn best friend and even more stubborn of a girl to fight it out beneath the walls of a locked classroom with the help of a lightning scar faced male that would surely make him knee deep in disappointment if his father ever found out.

Winnie and Cordelia had made up, and it was like watching a sunrise wash over the brunette's face. For the guilt that was terrorizing her hazel gaze was vanished, and even Theo Nott understood anything that day, it was that Winnie Bulstrode loved Cordelia Flint more than anything, perhaps even more than living itself.

The days turned into weeks after that, and he had tried to tell her a thousand times after that, but the happiness that lasted in her gaze turned brutal, terrorizing with an uncontrollably wave of agony. Winnie may not tell him everything, but he was better at reading her emotions than perhaps most were, and suddenly all he could do was watch and fear for the worse as her lift scrambled downwards, his hand reaching out to help her stay afloat as she burned.

And then she kissed him, and suddenly the idea of her not caring whether or not he marries another made less sense than Draco Malfoy ever admitting he has a problem. For he opened himself up to her, and her gaze had burned such severe holes into him that his heart had broken open. He remembered the softness of her gaze for days after that, everytime he blinked he saw her with him, her own eyes revealing her own emotions before she could even understand them himself.

Telling the truth became harder as the days wore on, and suddenly guilt was eating away at him so severely that he could no longer sleep throughout the night. Thoughts betraying him at every chance they got, he was running an exhausted hand through his hair even now as he walked down the halls of Hogwarts. Completely content on returning to his common room and hiding away with self pity when he entered a scene that left all thoughts disappearing into thin air.

Theo's Nott's eyes had done a run over two times of the situation, Millicent Bulstrode sprawled out on the ground, with smoke filtering from her chest, a chest that moved up and down slowly, she was hurt, but alive. Her sister kneeling next to her, body slightly rocking as if she was trying to comfort herself but failing terribly with tears coating her cheeks. It was the blood smeared on her face and hands that made his heart stop beating for a moment, his feet frozen and eyes staring paraylyzed.

It wasn't until the distant sounds of Draco Malfpy and Marcus Flint reached his ears that he swore, moving quickly as he scooped up Winnie's wand, tucking it in his pocket before kneeling down in front of Winnie. Her hazel eyes staring at her sister with an unseeing gaze, he spoke her name softly, but he knew it went unknown to the girl for she continued looking right through him, as if he wasn't there at all.

"Shite," he muttered, hearing his housemates approach them quickly, the brunet male ran a hand down his face, wondering how he even got involved in this. ( He knew perfectly well how, just never had the balls to admit so. ) His arms moved, swiping the girl up in his arms, silently grateful that she didn't snap out of whatever shock she was in, her head onl;y lodging against his chest as he tucked his arm in under the crook of her knees. Eyes flickered hurriedly around the smaller corridor, floating lamp lights glistening over the scene like halos as he spotted a small, wooden door near the corner.