Harry sighed as he watched the trees blowing in the wind. It was the Christmas Holidays and he was one of the only 4 students staying at Hogwarts this year. Hermione and Ron were spending time with their families and couldn’t stay with him this year. He didn’t really know the other kids except for their name, they were each in a different house and he didn’t really speak to them. It also sucked because this would be the year where Snape was the teacher who stayed behind to watch them. He was currently sitting outside because he had no desire to get a detention during his break, and he wouldn’t put it past Snape to give him one. The lake looked lovely and Harry had always wanted to go ice skating, but he never could the Durselys wouldn’t allow it. Rubbing his arms to ward off the chill he could feel coming through his thin clothes, he had an idea. Perhaps I could go ice skating here, he thought. But then he remembered that you were never supposed to go skating on a frozen lake by yourself because anything could happened. He sighed again, now what was he supposed to do? He was startled out of his musings when Hannah the only Huffelpuff staying sat down next to him.

“Hey Hannah, what are you doing out here?”

“Hi Harry, I wanted to see what you were up too. The lake looks pretty when it’s frozen huh?”

“Yea it does, I wish I could skate on it though, I always wanted to try it.”

“Well why don’t you, I don’t think they have a rule against it.”

“I have nobody to skate with, knowing my luck I’ll fall in and drown.”

“No you won’t, and you could skate with me or Josh, or Theo.”

“Right, maybe you or Josh , but I wouldn’t put it past Nott to hex me and make me drown.”

“I don’t think he would, he’s not like Draco.”

 “Whatever I guess,” he said.“

I’m gonna go ask them, I’ll be back ok?”

“Alright, see you in a little bit.”           

Harry watched her walk off and the minute she was out of sight he allowed a small smile to grace his face, he was actually feeling happy for once. He covered his mouth as a chuckle escaped him, he would finally get to skate and he couldn’t wait. Taking his wand out of his pocket he transfigured his shoes to iceskates, and smiled when he ended up with a pair of hockey ones. By the time she came back he was ready to get on the ice, he looked at her to see she had brought both students. He didn’t know what to say, they had never really talked to one another so he planned on staying quiet. He rubbed his arms again, wishing he had put on another sweater from Mrs. Weaseley, he was getting cold.

“Harry they agreed, they don’t mind skating with us.”

“Yea, I’ve gone loads of times and it’s actually pretty fun. Although if you’re a beginner trust me when I say you will fall down again and again,” Theo replied.

“Well I guess I’m gonna fall again and again,” Josh replied laughing.           

 Harry smiled he agreed with Josh 100%, he waited as they transfigured their shoes and then they all headed down to the lake. Harry watched Theo and Hannah as they checked to make sure the lake was pretty frozen and they deemed it ok. They slowly got on the ice with Harry and Josh following them at the pace of a snail. He stared in wonder as they skated gracefully together, looking as if they had been doing it their whole lives. He turned back around and looked at Josh who had tried to glide and ended up falling, Harry reached a hand to help him up and end up falling in return. He laughed as they both struggled to get back on their feet. The ice was freezing and he could feel it seeping through his clothes, but he ignored the chill for now.

“Harry, take my hand and come skate with me. You too Josh, I’ll help you both.”

“Maybe one at a time Hannah, I have a feeling their both going to need your full attention if you don’t want to fall either,” Theo replied.

“Hey, we’re not that bad we’re learning,” Josh replied.

“Oh yea, sorry about that guys,” he answered.

Harry reached for Hannah’s hand and he was surprised to see Theo grab his shoulder and steady him. They started off slow and Harry smile grew bigger and bigger as they went faster, he compared this to flying and he loved it. The cold was nipping at his face but he didn’t care, he was having a blast.  As they were turning around he heard a sharp crack near them stifle the air, and everyone on the ice froze and looked at them in horror. They waited but nothing happened and they didn’t hear anything else. They quickly moved away from that spot anyways, better to be safe then sorry right? She returned Harry where she found him and grabbed Josh’s hand and away they went, wanting to try it out for himself he slowly started skating. He was doing well, until he lost his balance and fell down on his bum hard. Grimacing at the pain, he tried to stand up when he heard the ice cracking underneath him like before only this time, it didn’t stop. He stood up quickly in an effort so he could move away when he felt the ground underneath him fall through; he was going through the ice. He scream was so full of fear and he could see his classmates faces as they looked at him in horror before he went under. When he hit the water, it was so cold that it knocked the air out of him and he felt himself chocking on the water. He surfaced and was able to get a small breath only to go back under again. He could hear Hannah screaming for him, and the roaring sound of the water in his ears. He was struggling to stay afloat, but the water was so cold and he could feel his arms and legs numbing. He was so scared, but he managed to come up one more time before the water took him down again. He fought for the surface but the water pulled him away from the opening he made in the ice. He fought against fatigue, and the cold but he could see himself drifting further away from the hole. He closed his eyes and unable to hold his breath any longer he took a breath of water. The water going down his throat was chocking him, making his insides feel like they were freezing. He could see his vision getting black spots around the corner of his eyes, and his last thought was how ironic it was that Voldermort couldn’t kill him but water could, then he passed out.

Severus was not in the mood he didn’t want to be here, he would rather spend his holidays alone, but it was just his luck that it was his time to stay at Hogwarts with the students who couldn’t go home. Why in the bloody hell was Potter still doing her? He shook his head, as long as they stayed out of his way they could coexist. He knew from his only Slytherin staying that they were going ice skating that day, and Severus found it hard to shove the memory of him and Lily doing the same thing in their 3rd year. He was just finishing a potion when he heard someone pounding on his door to his lab. Well there went his perfect day he thought, he bottled his potion and made his way to the door. He was greeted with a red-faced Ravenclaw who had a look of terror on his face, what could be the cause of that?

“Professor you have to come, something terrible happened down at the lake,” he gasped.          

  Horror dawned on Severus as he realized that the only terrible thing he could think of happening at the lake was someone falling through, but he hoped to Merlin he was wrong.

“What do you mean something terrible happened?”

“I’ll explain on the way, Professor you’ve got to hurry.”        

    Severus quickly summoned his winter cloak and then followed the boy who was now sprinting through the corridors. He missed the days when he could run without gasping for air or worrying about the pain in his legs, but if what he thought happened, he couldn’t afford to catch his breath.

“Are you going to tell me what happened, Mr. Smith?”

“He fell through the lake sir; he screamed something awful as he went through.”     

       At that admission Severus sped up, he briefly realized that Hannah was safe but he didn’t know which boy had fallen through. Was it Potter or Nott? He shook his head, it didn’t really matter, and he was scared for both. They made it outside finally and Severus’s heart dropped all the way to his feet. He could see Miss Abbot lying down on the ice near a hole with Mr. Nott holding her feet but Potter was nowhere to be found. They quickly moved off the ice when they heard him approach, ignoring the expression on their faces for a moment. He headed out to the ice and he could see something black under the ice taking out his wand he quickly broke it and pulled the child out of the water. His face was blue and pale, and he wasn’t breathing. Knowing that a magical spell wouldn’t work for this, he was thankful that his mother insisted on him learning CPR as a child. He preformed it on the child until he felt like he himself couldn’t breathe but he would not let Lily’s child die. Finally he heard a gurgled sound and he quickly turned the boy over as he vomited the water out, he patted his back to make sure it was all out and the child took a breath. He sighed in relief as he picked the boy up, wondering why he was this light when he should’ve been heavier especially since he was wet. Carrying the boy back to the castle he immediately headed to the infirmary, he needed to warm the child up and fast. Now that he was out of danger from drowning he could develop hypothermia and die from that. He had quickly taken his temperature to find out it was 30 °C, he was way too low. Spelling off his wet clothes he immediately put on dry ones with a warming charm on them. Telling the students who were hovering near them to grab some hot water bottles that were in the cabinet by the door, and start putting them on Harry. The boy’s breathing was shallow and he knew his throat had to be hurting; he spelled a pain potion into his stomach and his breathing started to even out. He took a look at the child’s hands, they were red and frozen, and trying to prevent frostbite the boy was in for a painful few hours. He took his temperature again glad to note that it elevating and it was now 34.4.  After dismissing the other children for lunch, he almost had to resort to detentions because none of them wanted to leave. He grabbed the boy’s hand, hoping he would stay asleep and started to gently massage it. His heart went out to the child who was whimpering from the pain and trying to remove his hand from Severus’s grip.

“I know it hurts Harry, but I need to do this. It’ll be over in a little while.”

He knew the familiarity of the boy’s first name would calm him down, since it usually worked with his snakes. He took a tissue from the side dresser and wiped the tears that had fallen down the boy’s face. Not once as he worked on the child that day did he think of James Potter, all he saw was a scared and hurt little boy who needed his help.