𝕯ays seemed to zoom by for Winnie Bulstrode, with her nose either stuck in a book or her wrist searing in pain from writing essays and studying whenever she could. Fifth-year students who cared had been nose-deep in their studies for the first weeks of school. Winnie, wanting to be ahead of the game, already made a studying schedule for all her classes. Which left her most evenings passed out with books thrown across her bed or ink marks covering her fingertips.

     Friday afternoon at the end of October found Winnie Bulstrode walking briskly down the halls of Hogwarts. She had spent the better part of her day fighting procrastination. She had tried to study in the common room. Which failed remarkably as the Weasley Twins approached her with candy, and yes, she was dumb enough to take one. She ended up in the hospital wing for the evening, trying to find a way to turn the colour of her skin back to pale rather than blue.

       That will be the first and only time she will accept candy from the lean, redhead twins.

        All Winnie Bulstrode truly wanted to crawl away and never be seen again — and yes, she is dead serious about this. This whole school year has been a constant pain in the arse, and Winnie is quite sick of it! Winnie has a list of exactly why she wishes to disappear — hello, she has a list for everything!

        One. ) Umbitch has been nothing but an entire asswipe these entire few weeks. They have done nothing but read or write essays, which, usually, Winnie wouldn't complain about any of that, except for their D.A.D.A teacher was the worst person alive. ( okay, not the worse. She is very much aware that You-Know-Who is happening again, so she isn't the worse. ) Every day, Winnie enters the Defence classroom, hoping and praying to see anything but a splash of bright bubblegum pink clothing, and every single day, she is disappointed. Merlin's Beard, how much can one really like pink! It's ghastly. It doesn't help the fact that Umbridge — Umbitch — is anything but a kind person unless, of course, you're a bloody Slytherin. The woman gives a new person detention every class. Winnie swore she once saw the bloody witch provide second-year girl detention for tripping in the hall. Tripping! The bloody nerve.

        Two.) Winnie's parents seem to be up her arse more than ever this year. She was surprised to see her parents; Tawny Owl dropped a thick letter in front of her toast one day. She blinked at the parchment and then asked Dean if she saw things. She was, in fact, not seeing things. Regardless, she was displeased with the contents of the letter. Her family wished for her to see reason, threatening to take away the privileges of using the House Elves when she arrived home. Winnie outright laughed at that, as if she couldn't just make her food. She wasn't a stuck-up prissy! As much as she laughed and rolled her brown eyes, a tiny part of her still sunk with despair. Her parents wanted something, her to do better, and better was all she ever tried to do by them.

        Winnie was content with disappearing at her little table for hours as she studied. Instead, she stumbled as she stopped herself from running into a bushy-haired female. The girl's hand came out and held herself on the shelves as Hermione Granger gasped slightly. The two girls steady themselves, Hermione with an arm full of books and Winnie with her hand tightening around her bag.

        "Oh! Winifred, I didn't mean to startle you," Hermione apologized as she smiled briskly, her tanned cheeks crinkling as her lips pulled upwards. Winnie felt the need to growl at the girl for using her god-awful birth name, but she simply frowned, considering Winnie didn't mind Hermione's presence.

         "Oh, for the love of Merlin, I've told you to call me Winnie for years now," the girl sighed, rolling her eyes before moving to step side the curly-haired girl. "Would you like to study together? We haven't spoken since last year, and I'm assuming that's why you're here."

       "Oh, yes, sure," Hermione smiled slightly as she nodded, following Winnie to the girls' corner of the library. "There's something I want to talk to you about," the girl added after the two sat down. Winnie paused, pulling books out of her bag as she raised an eyebrow.

       "Oh? And what's that?" Winnie asked slowly as she laid her books on the table before her. Organizing them in which class she needed to revise more, as Hermione did the same across from her.

       "Well, it's a little bit of a secret, so don't tell anyone unless you can trust them," Hermione chewed on her bottom lip as her brown eyes flickered around them. "We're holding a meeting at HogsHead next Saturday, Harry, Ron and I. Just a few people, it's about," Winnie's eyebrows drawled into a line as she stared at the Gryffindor female. Her heart is hammering in her chest. If there was one thing Winnie knew about Hermione and her friends, trouble always seemed to follow them. There was only a short list of things that could require such secrecy, let alone meeting in Hogshead.

          "Is this about," Winnie paused as she looked around before lowering her voice? "You-Know-Who?" Winnie was not a daft person, maybe a bit irrational when angry, but she knew better than to ignore the obvious. You-Know-Who coming back was obvious; she didn't know Harry Potter well by any means, but she wasn't stupid enough to believe he would make up such lies about the person who killed his parents.

         "You believe Harry?" Hermione questioned as her eyebrows furrowed. Winnie's face screwed up as she huffed. She fell back in her chair and let her head fall back as she stared at the ceiling before looking back at Hermione.

        "I'm not bloody stupid. I reckon you have to be mad in the head to make up such a thing," Winnie scowled as she crossed her arms on the table, lending her chest against the ridge of the table as Hermione grinned slightly.

       "Well, that's good. Most people are blaming Harry and Dumbledore," Hermione sighed as Winnie snorted slightly, already knowing all about the Daily Prophet's joy in making Harry and Dumbledore look like attention-seeking fools. Lying about You-Know-Who returning was all controlled by fear, and fear would be the thing to kill them all. "Please come. We're trying to do a good thing here, and we can't do it without people's help, and I just. I want to defend myself if anything happens. Shouldn't everyone else?"

         Defend me in case anything happens. Defend. Winnie frowned as her eyes fell downwards to her Defence book laid in front of her. Brown eyes were swirling as she stared at the brown cover. Winnie never imagined having to learn how to defend herself. She was still a child, after all. A child who was supposed to spend years fussing over boys or girls — though she never rushed over anyone, to be fair — was supposed to live her childhood in any happy way she could. Then again, her childhood was never truly happy. It was always full of expectations that she never met, never thrived on meeting them. Being a child and learning to defend herself suddenly didn't seem so far off.

         "Hermione, I'll be there," the girl spoke sharply as she looked up at her, her mouth into a small smile as she watched Hermione smile, the corner of her eyes crinkling as she nodded. "Can I ask my cousin to come?" Winnie asked as she watched the girl open her bottle of ink, the movement stalling as Hermione's eyes flashed.

        "The Slytherin?" The girl asked slowly as Winnie's lips tilted downwards. She knew all too well about the rivalry between her house and her cousins. She suspected it was half why her parents disliked her so much now ( that and they were bloody nutters ). She hated the rivalry with everything in her. Though she wasn't blind to Hermione's worries, she couldn't fault the girl for it either. Her own family believed in blood supremacy. Her own family had uttered the word Mudblood more than once.

         "Cordelia isn't like Hermione. She doesn't care about blood and such," Winnie admitted, waving her hand but not missing the disbelief that shone across the girl's face. "I mean it, she's well, you know what my family are like," the girl spoke more sternly, pausing to watch the bushy-haired girl nod. Because she did know that Winnie had told her about her family in their third year. After finding Hermione crying about Ron and Harry, the two girls sat and talked for hours about their ridiculous lives. "Cordelia isn't like them. She's a Slytherin, but that doesn't mean she's evil Hermione. It's just a house. It's her choices that matter."

        Hermione's eyes stared hard and cold at her, Winnie returning the look as the two gazed at each other. Hermione watched Winnie's face for a flicker of dishonesty about her words while Winnie silently dared the girl to offend her cousin. Finally, Hermione sighed, clicking her tongue at the roof of her mouth as she raised one eyebrow, "is she going to make the right choices?" Hermione questioned slowly as Winnie's lips pulled into a line.

       Winnie Buldstrode liked to say that she would. The two should have talked about their beliefs. But Winnie sure as hell didn't make it a secret that she didn't agree with any of the rubbish supremacy rules. Cordelia never did look at her any differently for it. Her cousin was the only one who understood, who still spoke to her as if she didn't disappoint her parents. "Yes, she will." Winnie hoped deep down she was correct by saying so.

༺♥༻

                 𝖂innie was anything but pleased when Hermione stopped her before they left their dormitory that morning. Hermione gifted her with the task of telling anyone she trusted to come. She trusted nobody, precisely why she wouldn't stop pestering her cousin until she agreed to attend.

                "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you have better things to do." Winnie argued as she spoke sternly, ignoring the eye roll Cordelia gave her in reply.

               "I have homework!" Cordelia spoke matter-of-factly. Winnie watched with narrowed eyes as her cousin leaned back in her seat. Homework her arse!

             "I don't want to go by myself! It's one Saturday out of the rest of your life, Cordelia," Winnie snorted, siping her hot cocoa. The wind swirled around them, bitter cold to her cheeks as the weather slowly trickled from autumn into winter.

            "Then don't go if you don't feel comfortable," retorted Cordelia, setting her glass down on the table as Winnie huffed loudly, rolling her eyes. As if her cousin had a choice, "I'm not going."

            "You are. I'm going to make you." Winnie smirked as her fingers wrapped tightly around the blue mug that held her hot cocoa. The girl took a small sip. She was licking her lips and letting the sweet liquid twinkle down her throat.

          "No, you're not--" Cordelia's words were quickly cut off with a flick of Winnie's hand, silencing her momentarily as she grinned.

           "Yes, I am!" Winnie said, giggling a little, before flicking her hand again and taking off the silencing spell from her cousin. "Please, Hermione wants me to spread the message to as many people as possible. And I know a lot of people."

          "Wow, brag about your popularity, will you?" Winnie smirked at her words, winning as she turned her gaze to a passing group of third-year students who held bags of candy from HoneyDukes in their hands. "I'm not going to spend my Saturday in a room full of Gryffindors."

           "That's my house you're talking about, cousin, be careful. We aren't that bad," acknowledged Winnie, brushing her hair behind her ears. She crossed her legs under the table, grunting in pain when she accidentally hit her knee on the table. "Ouch!"

              "That's what you get for making me go along with you!" Cordelia snickered, sticking her tongue out at her cousin in a mocking manner. Winnie narrowed her eyes as she rubbed her knee with her spare hand that wasn't holding her mug. "I'm not going, end of the story."

             "You are. I don't care if I have to force you." Winnie argued matter-of-factly, lifting her hand from her knee as she sighed, leaning back in her chair.

              "Why do you care so much if I go or not! It's not that big of a deal--" Winnie narrowed her eyes at her cousin, listening to her speak before she jutted out her lip and cut her off.

             "Because I have to bring someone," said Winnie, keeping her frown on her lips as she stared down at the brown liquid in her mug. "Besides, you're the only person I can tolerate for more than thirty minutes at a time," she grinned, glancing over at her cousin as her hands wrapped warmly around her mug.

             "Is that supposed to be a compliment? Because if so, you suck at giving compliments," Cordelia questioned slowly, the Gryffindor looking up to see her cousin raising an eyebrow. Winnie snorted, taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

           "I do not! You just don't appreciate them," Winnie argued teasingly, shaking her head fervently. The blonde shifted in her seat, the cold air hitting her cheeks, making her wish they sat inside instead of out. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Cordelia waving at someone, causing her to follow her cousins' eyesight only to find Theodore Nott to be the person of interest.

            The female's lips twisted into a scowl, eyes flickering over him as he stood with his Slytherin scarf tied around his neck. The boy's feet crunched loudly against the gravel as he neared their little table. Winnie stiffened, glaring down at the mug with tiny daggers shooting out of her eyes.

           "Theo! I thought you weren't coming here today?" Cordelia questioned, an easiness slipping into her voice that made Winnie believe her cousin was smiling. Looking up through her eyelashes, she saw that she was correct. Cordelia sat with her chin in her hand, smiling warmly at the brunette male.

         "I wasn't, but then I was craving some of those sour keys from Honeydukes, and here I am," he grinned, hands in the air before falling limply to his side. Winnie felt a tiny piece of her heart twist at the idea of them sharing a liking for the same candy. Her bag sat tucked in the pocket of her jacket. "Winifred, is there something wrong with your hot cocoa? You look like it poisoned you." The blonde female sighed, turning her glare upwards at Theo as she placed a false smile across her cheeks.

            His hair tousled slightly in the wind, a strand curling around his forehead in a way she had never seen before. The slight imperfection of his appearance didn't last long enough for her to feel pride, for his hand swiped up against his forehead, and he fixed the fallen strands once again. Predictable, as always.

            "Always so lovely to see you. It reminds me just how perfect my day was before you entered it," she grinned, scrunching her nose before her smile faded, and she sat back in her seat. Covering her lips and chin with her mug as she narrowed her eyes over the prim of her cup.

            "Always so negative, must be exhausting for you," Theo commented absently before glancing back at Cordelia, who was eyeing them with a raised eyebrow. She watched as the two shared a silent glance, Theo's eyes dancing a brighter colour for a second before fading to the dull evergreen. Cordelia's lips pulled into a frown as Winnie raised an eyebrow.

          "What just happened there? Do you both have freaky mind-reading best friend rings or something?" Winnie questioned, narrowing her eyes at both of them as she looked between them. Cordelia glanced over at her, rolling her eyes before pointedly ignoring Winnie.

           "Well, this was nice," Theo spoke, voice thin in a way that vibrated the notion that this was anything but pleasant. "I'll see you later, Cor, Winifred," he paused, nodding at her with a distasteful frown. Her lips twisted into a thin line, fingers wrapped tightly around her mug as Theo turned and walked away.

           "Why do you hate him so much?" Cordelia questioned just as Winnie leaned back in her chair. The blonde glanced over at her cousin, eyebrow raised as Cordelia frowned. "Nevermind, I know why. But can't you at least be civil when he's around?"

           "Hello? Did you not just see that I was perfectly nice and civil. I have no idea what you're talking about," she mumbled, hearing Cordelia stifle a sigh from across the table. Winnie glanced over at her, feeling her stomach drop with lead as she frowned. "I'm sorry. I'll be nice, at least when you're both around," Winnie grinned, trying half-heartedly to ease her cousin's disdain from across the table. The door to the Three Broomsticks opened with the ding of a bell, and three people exited the pub — she heard the familiar voice of Hermione Granger scolding the two boys with her, who were both looking very, very annoyed. Winnie perked up, smiling as she swallowed the rest of the chocolate before speaking. "Hermione!"

         "Hi, Winnie!" Hermione turned, her scowl disappearing into a smile as Winnie stood to embrace the bookworm. Winnie hugged her softly for a moment before letting go and sending a small smile to the raven-haired boy and the redhead behind Hermione."Hi, Cordelia! Did Winnie talk to you about coming to the meeting next Saturday? Just down the road at the Hog's Head."

           Winnie couldn't help but smile at the girl's words, glad that Hermione had taken what she said the day before into account about her cousin. Though she didn't miss the look Ronald Weasley shot Hermione at her words, Winnie glared at the redhead, who paid her no attention. Instead, the boy tore his eyes away as the shorter girl sent him a pointed look. Winnie had to hold back a laugh at that. Ronald Weasley was so scared of Hermione for someone much shorter than himself. It was almost sweet. Winnie's eyes trailed to Harry Potter, who looked dramatically into the distance. The girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she looked at Cordelia, who sat rigid in her seat, flicking her eyes to Harry every few moments. The girl's eyes moved back to Harry, watching as he met her eyes for a moment, flicking to Cordelia for a second before he shot his head away as if she burned him just by him glancing at her.

             Gryffindor's lips pulled into a frown slightly, shifting in her seat as she adjusted her grip on her mug. Harry's eyes drifted towards Cordelia again, and that was what she needed for her mind to start swirling. Saint Potter seemed to have something for Cordelia, and whatever that something was, Winnie decided then and there that it would be her job to find out.

            "Yeah, uh, I--" Winnie returned to the conversation as she heard her cousin speak. She quickly laid her mug down, knowing what her cousin was about to say.

            "She'll be there!" Winnie interrupted, winking at her cousin, who shot her a glare. The girl simply smiled innocently, ignoring her cousin's glare. "Eleven, right?" after all, she did say she would make her go.

         "Yes!" Hermione was beaming brightly. Winnie smiled, tempting to kick her cousin under the table to smile as she was doing anything but that. Instead, the girl waved goodbye to her friend and the two other Gryffindors as Hermione turned to leave. "See you guys. Have a good afternoon!" She sped off in the castle's direction, followed closely by her friends shadowing her like lost puppies.

         "Why would you tell them I'm going? Now I have to be there." Cordelia snapped angrily, nostrils flaring as Winnie smirked, picking up the rest of her chocolate frog as she shrugged innocently. The girl giggled slightly before she took another bite of her chocolate frog.

        "That's the whole point!" She gave her a toothy grin as she checked her watch, and her brown eyes went wide in alarm. Merlin's Beard, Lavender is going to kill her! Though Winnie is still fairly pied off at her ( she had tried to curl her hair in her sleep ), forcing Cordelia to attend next Saturday fixed some of her poor moods. "Merlin! I've got to go. I told Lavender I would meet her in the library to help with her Charms homework. The poor girl's useless at it."

         "Winnie," Cordelia warned as Winnie shoved the rest of the chocolate frog in her mouth, her cheeks puffing out slightly as she drank the rest of her hot cocoa. Who was chewing rather quickly and taking big swallows of mixed chocolate down her throat? If anyone didn't know she was raised by a pure-blood family who practiced manners and rights, they surely wouldn't know it now by looking at Winnie Buldstrode.

           "What?" She questioned finally after everything was gone out of her mouth, eyes wide as she gripped the table, reading to sprout out of it at any moment like a leaf.

          "You owe me," Cordelia spoke matter-of-factly as Winnie rolled her eyes but grinned.

          "I know. Bye!" She quickly got to her feet and sped off in the same direction the trio had just left, her hair falling behind her as she almost tripped several times up the hill. Leaving a very pissed-off Cordelia Flint behind, all the while, Winnie Buldstrode suddenly remembered the way a certain raven-haired boy flushed crimson-like cherries as he avoided her cousin's gaze.

             Did Harry Potter have a crush? And if so, how dangerous would it be for Cordelia if it escalated?

EDITED: APRIL 7TH, 2023 / Winnie is such my happy little baby here. Also my writing style has changed so drastically since I published this in 2020. It's a little unsettling.