𝖂innie Bulstrode has a fine line of what she believes should be followed. She believes in simple morals. She will never surrender and spit venom at a person for their blood, for who they choose to love and who they choose to be. She will never turn up her nose when seeing clothes with patches sewn over holes; while her parents would like to believe she would do such things, she could never give herself away in such a way.

     It would be like tearing a part of her soul apart and letting her words slowly poison the swell of her pumping heart, but even she cannot overlook the act of cheating. To cheat on another is a lack of total respect. It is the act of ruining one's trust and throwing every word, every shared moment back in their face as if it was simply a joke all along.

    While it may have never happened to her, she takes the wound Cordelia Flint now has to bare personally. While Winnie may not trust easily or love as hard as her heart would like, she loves Cordelia fiercely and selflessly in a way siblings would protect each other.

      Winnie protects her own.

       She had spent most of the night beyond the curtains of her bed, and her legs crossed as she dived deep into her charm books. Winnie has thankfully saved a drop of a potion she had snuck from the Weasley twins last year after overhearing whispers of their newest prank. She had been reading a novel, curled up in the corner chair while they whispered secrets to each other.

      That's the thing about falling away, being so quiet that you appear harmless, invisible to the rest of the world. You grow to know more things. You took overheard conversation and tucked the secrets away in her mind for future use. So when they weren't paying attention, lost in the thrill of pranking their best friend Lee Jordan, Winnie swiped a single vial of clear liquid.

     She had felt a sense of victory at accomplishing such a thing for a while; as quiet and wallflower she may appear, she has the heart of a lion raised by snakes. Winnie knows how to use her fangs to sink deep enough to leave a scar, and while she may sit idle and let events unfold, she plans to feel victorious at the end of breakfast that morning.

     Even though she had slept perhaps three hours, Winnie Buldstrode was practically skipping down the Great Hall. She grinned wickedly as she pushed herself into the Hufflepuff table, back leaning against the hard wood of the breakfast table. "Hello Zach, how are you this morning?" Winnie spoke, her voice masking to one clear control, false kindness wrapped in ice. A voice she had seen her mother use so many times when talking to a specific target. She may never do anything to please her mother, but she sure as Merlin could use her mother's tactics.

    "Uhm, hello?" The blond questioned, his eyes flickering to his friends that flanked him. Winnie pushed herself further between Zach and a female she didn't recognize.

     "Oh, you don't want him, sweetie. He's a cheater," she grinned, tapping the girl's shoulder as she giggled. She was watching as the redheaded girl's eyes widened before she narrowed her eyes at Zacharias. Oh, this was just perfect. Winnie turned her attention back to Zacharias, who was still staring at her, his untouched coffee and cereal in front of him. "Now, you didn't answer my question," the girl frowned, tilting her head.

      "I'm sorry?" The boy questioned as Winnie pouted, sighing dramatically as she tsked.

       "Oh dear, you're pretending to be clueless. That's cute," Winnie smiled, her lips tilting but not touching her eyes like they usually would. "I said, how was your morning, Zacharias?" The girl questioned again, batting her eyes, her elbow leaning further on the table, slyly towards his coffee.

     "Er, fine. Why are you here, Bulstrode?" Zacharias questioned as Winnie smiled, tilting her head again. She watched as the male's eyes narrowed in confusion at her, his blond hair swiping across his face, his nose jutting out further from his face as his lips pressed into a fine line. Winnie inwardly held in a grimace. She couldn't tell if he just looked like a gremlin or if she just saw a cheater on his face.

     "Oh, we're back to last names? I thought we were closer than that, you know, you dated my cousin," the girl grinned, narrowing her eyes only slightly before she fake gasped, pressing her hand to his arm and squeezing. "Oh wait, until you cheated on her, right? How's Greengrass?" The girl seethed before her hand flicked, and she accidentally knocked over his coffee, spilled across the table and rolled over into his lap. The boy yelped, his eyes shouting a glare at her as she giggled, shaking her head. "Oh my bad, so clumsy," she grinned, taking out her wand to mumble a drying spell on his pants. "Let me pour you a new one," she sighed, smiling as he continued to stare glares at her. His friends watched her closely as she slipped her wand back into her robes, carefully lowering the small potion vial into her palm and keeping it covered.

     "It's fine, I got—" Zacharias growled, clearly annoyed with the girl as she slapped his hand away from his mug with her free hand.

      "It wasn't a request, darling," she scolded, winking, letting her lips pull into a slight sneer before she picked up the coffee and poured the deep brown liquid into his mug. "Two sugars, correct? Cordelia used to tell me all about you. She quite loved you, you know." The female frowned, jutting out her lip as she cast a look at the blond. Watching him sheepishly look away, his face reddening. "Pity, you'll never find someone as good as her. I can't say I feel bad either; she's better than us. She deserves someone that isn't a coward like you—"

       "I'm not a—" she glared at him as she plopped two sugar cubes into the mug. His friends had started to move away from the two, growing uncomfortable sitting so closely but sitting close enough so they could hear.

     "I'm speaking," she snapped, shutting the male up quickly before she let her all-too-sweet smile move over her face again. "I'm sure Daphne is a very nice girl. I grew up with her, you know, well before my family decided I was such a wreck. But she isn't Cordelia. It would be best if you didn't do that, Smith. Quite disappointed in you." She tsked, shaking a finger in his face before picking up a spoon to stir his coffee. At the same time, she clicked open the stopper to the vial, letting two drops of the clear liquid drop in the mug, covered by the sleeve of her robe so nobody saw. Sighing, she shoved the cup towards him before she stood, slipping the vial back into her pocket before placing a hand on his left shoulder. Her nails dug in slightly to the skin on his shoulder as she leaned down, "I may be Gryffindor Smith, but Snakes raised me, stay away from Cordelia, or believe me, you'll regret it." Her sweetness vanished as cold, bitter words replaced her tone, she felt him tense under her touch, and she smiled. Patting his shoulder, she stood up straight again, "Relax, wouldn't want to get wrinkles now, would we?" She grinned before walking back over to her table.

       Winnie took a seat next to Parvati, who was staring at her in a mixture of confusion, and an eyebrow as she watched Winnie, who poured herself a cup of hot chocolate.

       "What did you do?" Lavender questioned as she stared at her, blue eyes darting between her and the blond she had just left. Winnie sipped slowly from her mug.

         "Just had a friendly chat with Zacharias, that's all, " Winnie replied matter-of-factly as she smiled, her fingers curling around the white mug. "And I thought he could use a makeover," she added as she saw Zacharias drink from the cup of coffee she had poured up for him. Git. Before the girls could question what she meant, there was a scream from the Hufflepuff table. Silencing the chatter in the Great Hall, all eyes turned to the standing Hufflepuff boy staring fumes at Winnie. His hair was now a brilliant bright pink, sparking at the ends, as the words 'CHEATER' ran across his face in bright red ink. The blonde grinned, lifting her hand to give the boy a wave before her eyes turned to where she knew Cordelia sat. She could see the female from behind her as she twisted around in her seat. Her cousin's mouth opened in shock before her eyes met Winnie's, the Bulstrode cousin grinned wickedly, winking before she stood.

     "What a great way to start classes, don't you think?" Winnie questioned as she asked the girls around her, who all stared at her, their eyes going between Zacharias, who had run out of the Great Hall and Winnie, who appeared to be a child on Christmas morning.

༺♥༻

               𝖂innie had successfully earned two detention for her little stunt during breakfast. McGonagall had called her to her office and ranted about the importance of not changing other classmates' hair colour. Winnie had bit back the words of thinking Zacharias had looked much better after she finished with him, but when she saw him in Transfiguration, she was all so disappointed to find he looked all plain once more. However, she did grin at the fact that he was making a point not to look at her in any manner.

         Winnie Bulstrode was walking into the Great Hall, her hands hurting from polishing so many trophies over the mast hour, a pitiful way to spend her first evening of classes, but still, she didn't mind it. To see Zacharias' sour face made it all worth it, even more so as she noticed he had avoided her cousin all day. Still, the female trudged her aching hands on her side as she walked through the doors, spotting her cousin waiting for her as usual. Once Cordelia spotted her cousin, the two quickly descended towards the Hogwarts library, where they would begin their regular studying hours together like every year.

         "Let me tell you, polishing trophies is an absolute pain in the arse," Winnie grumbled as her robes bellowed behind her. Her hair had fallen with more strands around her face after all day, most of it still staying tied back in a bun on her head.

         "Just be glad you didn't have Snape or Salazar, Umbridge. I heard she's brutal," Cordelia said as Winnie grimaced slightly. She had detention three times before with Snape, and each time Winnie found herself wondering what the hell made the man such a miserable arse all the time. However, she would still take that over, being stuck with the ugly toad that was Umbridge. Bloody insane! She was the reason Winnie was carrying quite the ugly size of a book in her bag as if she would learn to defend herself through reading!

        "True, I think I would just surrender myself to the Whomping Willow," the girl joked, snorting at the image of the angry tree she had once thrown stones at to see if it was known to attack. It was known to attack. The female had screamed, running away in a hurry as one of its branches reached out to smash down upon her.

        The two girls stayed quiet for a few more moments, the sound of their feet carrying them through the halls of Hogwarts trickling around them. Winnie's fingers tapped against the strap of her bag as she saw Neville Longbottom quickly move past them, his hands holding a strange plant she had never seen before in her life. The male avoided their gaze, hurrying past them in a rush. Winnie frowned slightly at the act. She had grown quite used to people avoiding her. Even if she was sorted in Gryffindor, people still seemed frightened of her because of her family. She made a mental note to say something nice to the male.

        "Hey, wanna talk about what happened in Defence?" Winnie spoke, breaking the silence as she glanced at her cousin, the silence becoming a little too unbearable for her as they walked.

      "I hardly know what you mean, "Cordelia spoke matter-of-factly as she glanced at Winnie, the two girls continuing their walk as they moved onto a staircase that had just finished moving as they approached.

       Winnie's eyes widened slightly as she stared at her cousin gobsmacked. She knew bloody well what she meant, their Defence class had been horrid enough until Potter decided to tell Umbridge she was a crazy bint. ( Okay, not precisely, but Winnie thought she was all the same. ) Then, out of all people, Cordelia had defended him. It wasn't a strange encounter to hear of Cordelia defending people. However, supporting a Gryffindor, and then that Gryffindor being Saint Potter, on the other hand, was very strange. "Merlin! You've never defended a Gryffindor before. Are you feeling okay?" The female jokes, reaching out to place her hand on her forehead as Cordelia smacked her hand away, rolling her eyes. "Does my cousin like Saint Potter? Are we going to have little Potter babies running around in a few years?" The girl teased, nudging her with her arm as she laughed softly.

       "Don't be foolish! Of course, I don't like Potter. I was just," Cordelia paused momentarily, scowling as Winnie noticed how her cousin's cheeks were painted red like cherries. Interesting. "I just don't think he was in the wrong, that's all!" Winnie raised an eyebrow, grinning at her cousin before she heard another voice yell out to them, Cordelia.

        "Cordelia! Wait up," Winnie looked over her shoulder, seeing Daphne Greengrass run towards them. Her Slytherin robes flowed out from beside her as Winnie stiffened slightly. She turned swiftly and crossed her arms across her chest, furrowing her eyebrows as the girl stopped before them.

     "What do you want, Greengrass?" Winnie snapped harshly, watching Daphne frown momentarily before looking at Cordelia, dismissing the glaring girl. Winnie indeed didn't have much against the Greengrass girl, nor towards her sister either. The Greengrass family wasn't as stuck up with the Dark Arts, and blood purist arses as many other families. Winnie held a grudge about the fact that this was the girl Zacharias cheated on Cordelia with.

       "Winnie, calm down," Cordelia sighed as Winnie turned to look at her, frowning before relaxing her shoulders and keeping her eyes on the two girls. Cordelia threw a sharp glare at Daphne, waiting for her to continue.

        "Can I speak to you alone? It's, uhm, about Zacharias," Daphne spoke as she chewed on the inside of her cheek, her fingers twirling together. Winnie raised an eyebrow at the girl's actions, watching as her eyes stared only at Cordelia, tilting downwards like sad puppies, almost as if pleading for the girl to talk to her.

      "You should go," Winnie finally spoke, placing her hand softly on Cordelia's shoulder and squeezing it comfortably. "Might be good to hear her side," she said, nodding towards Daphne, who momentarily looked at her in shock. Winnie smiled softly at Cordelia, watching as the female stared at her, almost as if playing a fighting battle with herself in her mind, before finally, she nodded.

       "Alright, Greengrass, let's go," the girl mumbled, smiling half-heartedly before the two girls walked away, back towards the direction the two cousins had come from. Winnie sighed, blowing air out between her lips before quickly moving toward the library again. The female smiled softly, seeing the vast, golden doors before her. Since she started school, the library has become her haven. When she wasn't in the company of her cousin, she was most likely here, hidden away in a crook as she studied or secretly read Muggle books. Reading muggle books had become a fascination for her. While she knew that most things in the novels were fiction, it was still nice to know that if her parents ever knew about her reading such books, they would practically blow up. Winnie took great pride in knowing this, making her only want to read every Muggle book.

       The female slipped in between the doors, the smell of parchment and coffee filling her nostrils almost instantly. She found herself sighing constantly. This felt like home to her. If she could ever have the promising future of being happy and wealthy that so few people seemed to have, she would be sure to fill a good size of her home with a library. Filling it with as many books as possible, she would build more space when she ran out of room. Because as much as Hogwarts felt like a safe place to her, the library was always much sweeter.

      She snaked to the back of the library, finding the standard wooden table she had seen during her first year. It was a small round table, right in between the Muggle romance books and the Herbology books. One side of the table sat against a window that peered over the Black Lake. Winnie had spent many hours just staring at the waters below. She occasionally saw a fin or a tail of Merpeople. This little nook was one of the few places Winnie Buldstrode let herself be free, let books. She had to fuel her new growing addiction after all.

   The blonde stood briskly, her fingers running against the hem of the books. Winnie Bulstrode was herself here. The only place she felt truly herself, smiling, breathing and not constantly burdened with the disappointments of her family.

      The female placed her bag on the empty chair beside her, pulled out the rolled parchment and ink, and laid them gingerly on the table beside her. She pushed them to one side, deciding she would start doing her potions essay as soon as she was done, seeing if there were any new Muggle books as she approached one of the ladders that allowed her to climb upwards towards the higher shelves. Winnie chewed on her bottom lip as she walked up the ladder when her eyes landed on black cursive writing. 'The Outsiders,' the female furrowed her eyebrows, gently taking the book from between the stacks. Her eyes peered at the cover, flipping both sides over before she lifted the book to her nose, smelling it softly. An act that would most certainly be weird to anyone who saw her doing it. Ever since childhood, she had the habit of smelling any new book she placed in her hands.

      "I'm not sure if I find that attractive or just weird," Theodore Nott's voice rang around her ears as Winnie let out a yelp of surprise. The book in her hand dropped to the floor as her hands went to the ladder, holding herself still so she didn't fall back. The girl's eyes turned and narrowed at the male, who stood dressed in dark grey trousers, a white dress shirt tucked into them behind a belt. His green and silver Slytherin tie hung loosely around his neck, almost as if he had tempted to take it off but stopped. His body leaned against the row of Muggle books as he smirked at her. "Smelling books, weirdly arousing."

    "You, you foul little," the girl sighed, frustrated as she walked down the ladder, grabbing her book. Her arms wrapped tightly around her chest as she held the book. Her face was flushed red in embarrassment as she stared hostilely at him.

      "Little? I promise nothing on me is little," he grinned, winking, as Winnie's mouth fell open, her eyes wide as she stared at the smirking male in front of her. She snapped her mouth close, letting her feet carry her to walk up towards him, watching as his posture instantly stiffened, and he stood up straight, looking at her with curious green eyes.

      "I find that very hard to believe. It's always the cockiest guys with the littlest," she paused, looking down slightly before back at him as she raised her eyebrow. "Well, I think you can fill in the blank," she grinned, patting him on the chest before walking away from him and back towards her little table. She laid the book down, covering it up with her bag, not in any mood to discuss how Muggle books are disgusting with the male right now. She didn't know what he thought personally, but she had seen his father enough through parties to have a suspension.

       She looked up as she felt someone sit across from her, only to find herself staring into the vibrant green eyes of Theodore Nott. The girl frowned, sighing as she pulled her parchment before her, "is there a reason why you're here?" She questioned coldly, dipping her quill into the black ink.

     "Can't a man just want to look at something beautiful?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow as he rested his chin on the palm of his right hand.

       "A man sure, a boy, no," she replied, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth as she stared at him. She long forgot her work in front of her as Theo furrowed his eyebrow, blowing out a breath of air from between his lips.

        "You know, one day you won't do that," Theo spoke matter-of-factly as he leaned back in his chair. His long legs hit hers as she scowled, tucking them further behind her chair.

      "Do what?" She questioned, furrowing her eyebrows as she watched him cross his arms across his chest, his head leaning back against the wood of his chair

       "Pretend to hate me so much, one day you'll realize I'm not as bad as you think I am," he spoke, shrugging his shoulders as he looked back up at her. His lips pulled into a frown as his eyes searched her face slightly. She sat, unmoving, as she searched his face. Surprised that there wasn't an inch of a joke across his features, she found her lips pulling into the smallest of frowns. Theo sighed again, pushing himself back up before moving into his chair. The female watched with slightly furrowed eyebrows as he turned to look at her once more, "I wanted to say that the stunt you pulled at breakfast was brilliant, by the way. It took everything in me not to punch the bloke when I saw him, but seeing him with pink hair and looking as embarrassed as he did, brilliant." He smiled softly, his eyes twinkling as he nodded toward her before walking away, whistling as he did.

          The female sat with her fingers wrapped around her quill and was dripping blotches of black ink on the parchment. Theodore Nott had never surprised her. She wasn't surprised when she saw him picking on his first years with Draco Malfoy. She wasn't surprised when she saw him stand by and say nothing, as Draco called muggle-borns Mudbloods. But this, Winnie, was surprised, and the girl didn't like it at all. Her lips pulled into a frown as she stared down at the parchment in front of her, flashes of his smile twirling around in her mind. Winnie had seen him smile numerous times before, almost all laced with a cocky laugh or sentence, but this, this was real. Deep down, Winnie felt her face grow hot, and her mind swirled with a realization.

      Winnie Buldstrode thought Theodore Nott looked his best when he was genuinely smiling.

EDITED: April 7th, 2023 / Thanks for reading :)