"Bella!" Nick screamed.
He saw her fall into the icy abyss. By the time he reached the lake, however, she was already gone.
He stood at the edge of the lake. A crack had opened up on its surface. His friend was no where to be seen.
"Incendio!"
The second the top of the ice had melted under his incantation, he dropped his wand to the snow, along with his new sweater made by Mrs. Weasley.
Without a second thought, he dove head first into the water. His entire body felt still at that moment. His heart beat was quickening, but then slowed. His simple movements took more work than normal to execute. Still, however, he willed his beautiful blue eyes open, searching for his friend.
He saw her then. He body was slowly descending to the bottom of the lake. Her eyes were closed. Her body didn't move. He swam down as fast possible and grabbed his friend's waist. He held her motionless body against his as tight as possible. He was becoming tired and couldn't hold his breath much longer.
But he refused to let Bella Molly Weasley die.
He swam as hard as he could to the surface. With a hard struggle, he pulled both of their bodies up onto the solid ice.
"Bella!" Nick was shaking her body, trying to rouse her awake. "BELLA!" He searched for a pulse but couldn't find one.
His entire body shook, but still he took all of his energy left and performed CPR on her, a skill he was thankfully taught at Hogwarts after it was needed to be used on a student. Madame Pomfrey then convinced Headmistress McGonogall to make it mandatory.
He said the steps in his head as he did so. Two breaths, thirty compressions. Two breaths, thirty compressions. The feel of her icy lips against his own was unnerving. Was she even alive? The longer he tried to resuscitate her, the more lifeless she felt.
After going through what seemed like hours of CPR, his friend showed life. The blonde girl coughed, sputtering up water and body shaking. "Bella?" he asked, his own body shaking. The energy he used to resuscitate her warmed him up a bit, but he was still shivering.
She didn't respond. He removed her sweater, which was soaked and had icicles forming on the fringes. Pulled his new black sweater over her head, in an attempt to prevent frost bite from plaguing her. He threw her frosty sweater around his shoulders and his wand in his pocket, then picked his love up, her cold, shivering body pressed against his bare chest.
"Don't die on me, Bella. Please, don't leave me," he mumbled to her, running as fast as his body willed him. The lake wasn't close to the house; a large hill separated them.
He began to scream for help as he approached the house. Upon seeing him, frazzled and carrying Bella, they assumed the worst. The door was open for him by the time he reached the house.
"Carry her up the bathroom, Nick," Mrs. Weasley told him, before calling for her daughter to gather some things from the kitchen. "Sarah, dear, go get her a change of clothes. Is Audrey still here? Oh, dear, there you are. Go grab some blankets and warm them up. Emily! Grab some towels please!"
Nick brought her in the bathroom, were he was instructed to lay her in the bathtub. "What happened?" Sarah, Bella's mom, asked him. She was just as stunning as her daughter.
Nick was still shaking. As cold as he was, he wasn't prepared to leave Bella's side. "I didn't really see it. I was going out there to see how she was, and right before I got there she fell in the lake. So I dove in after her." Nick dropped her soaking wet sweater that was around his shoulders to the floor.
"How'd she get yours?"
"Before I dove in, I took it off. After I got out I took hers off and put mine on her to try and warm her up," his cheeks blushed a little. He just told Bella's mother that he'd seen her without a shirt on. Although he's seen her in just a bra many times, admitting it to her mum was just strange.
"Go to the other bathroom and shower. Warm up and come back down here," Sarah told him quietly.
"No I won't leave-"
"Go, we need to get her out of wet clothes anyways," Sarah cuts him off.
Nick sighs, defeated. Hurriedly, he headed up another floor to take a shower.
"Is she okay?"
Right before he got into the room, he heard the familiar, deep voice. He knew it could be only one person.
"James," he sighed. He turned around. "She's breathing now. But she's... Well, freezing. They're trying to prevent frost bite down there."
James Sirius Potter. Bella's number one protector. He'd do anything for her. It was something he had in common with Nick.
"And you?"
"I'll survive."
"Thank you," James says quietly. He put his hand on Nick's shoulder.
"I would never willingly let her go," Nick simply answers.
"Take this. It'll warm you up," James says, giving Nick a flask. Without another word, he walks away.
Without even questioning it, Nick drinks it. It's Firewhiskey. It burns his throat and heats up his stomach. But hell, does it warm him up.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Bella's mother and grandmother have gotten her out of wet clothes and into warm ones. Molly is performing a spell to help warm her up. Ginny is putting a steamed towel on her head. The color is returning to Bella's body.
Within minutes of coming to, Bella is up and running. Laying down with people catering to her makes her feel weak. She, instead, insists on just going to her room to sleep.
She, still stiff from her little adventure, can only slowly walk upstairs. Right when she walks by the bathroom, the door opens, steam pouring out of it, and Nick emerges, only in a towel.
"You're... Okay!" Nick exclaims loudly, hugging her tightly.
"Nick... Towel... Hold it," Bella says with a smile.
"Oh, right," his face reddens. "One sec.."
He runs into his room, and in under a minute he's out, in just a pair of sweatpants, holding a long sleeved tshirt. They walk into Bella's room and then he throws on his shirt.
"What happened, love?"
"I stepped too close to the ice, and it cracked under me," she answers, shivering at just the thought. "What happened after that?"
"I saw you fall in, and dove in after you."
"I'm still wearing your sweater. I insisted on wearing it."
This brought a smile to Nick's face. She insisted on it? She wanted to wear his things. She wanted people to know she was his, right?
"Do you still have your necklace?"
She reached down her shirt to pull out the white gold chain with the heart shaped ruby gem on it. The white gold heart with Nick carved in it was also on the chain. Another smile found its way on his face. "I'm happy it didn't fall off."
"Me too."
"I'd be diving in the lake tonight trying to find it," Bella jokes, tucking it back under the black sweater with an N stitched into it.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. It's my fault."
Bella looked at Nick sadly. But on the inside, she was smiling. He's so weak. He's so submissive. But he's powerful. I have to exploit that.
"It's not your fault. I asked you to leave," Bella sighs. "Besides, I lived, didn't I? Lets just be happy that I didn't die."
"But you had no pulse. You needed CPR. And you could have died of hypothermia or have gotten frost bite. The fact that I left you alone against my better judgement and you got hurt is killing me." Nick felt like breaking down. The girl he loved had gone through a lot today.
"I'm fine, Nicky. Thank you." Her lips found his cheek. "You saved my life in the end. I couldn't thank you more."
"I love you, Bella." The words left his lips before he could stop them.
"I love you too, Nicky." Her internal smile was growing wider than ever. She had him.
"Not the way I love you."
"Oh, Nick," Bella spoke softly.
"You don't get it, do you?" His voice was just as soft. "I'm in love with you Bella. I always have been."
"I know." On the outside, she was emotionless. On the inside, she was laughing. This weak, spineless, rat. Her twisted laugh rang through her ears.
"And you...?"
"I almost just died, Nick. I can't think right now."
"Oh."
Neither one of them spoke. They didn't even show emotion, for that matter. It was just quiet. Nick placed a small kiss on her cheek.
"I'm glad you're okay."
And with that, Nick walked out of her room, giving her the time to think that she wanted.