Blue
sixteen years old
Cedric didn't have any comprehension of how he had gotten to the shore. He had always been a terrible swimmer but something, magic or maybe simple adrenaline, had gotten him out of the water while he dragged Sofia with him. He had kicked off his shoes and torn off his robe before going after her flailing hand.
He dragged her up on the shore. The water lapped mockingly at her ankles, rocking her feet from side to side. Sofia was disturbingly still. She had been coughing, gurgling in the water but that had stopped and she had fallen limp against him a few yards away from the shore. Cedric knelt beside her and his hands hovered above her body, momentarily indecisive. He was stilled by the faint blue tinge of her lips, frozen by their stillness and lack of smile tucked into the corners.
Cedric's hands moved of their own accord, one to cover her nose and the other to awkwardly cup the lower half of her face to part those tinted lips and press his to hers without another thought. He blew air into her lungs and found nothing but resistance; it was as if there was no room for air in her body. He let her go, sitting back on his knees and running his hands through his damp hair.
Frustrated and desperate, panic and passion brought his fist down on her chest. Water trickled out of her lips but she still didn't move. Cedric found his body moving without instruction from his mind. He dragged Sofia's torso up over his knees, her head dangling down to rest against the sand. He drew back a hand and beat against her back with no reverence to her body. There was water inside of her, preventing her from breathing, preventing her from living and it had to come out at any cost.
Sofia sputtered. Her arms twitched. Her fist tightened around the fabric of Cedric's shirt, the other pressing into the sand as she coughed. Cedric rubbed his hand soothingly across her beaten back, dropping back his head in relief as half the water content of the lake seemed to exit Sofia's lungs beside him. She lay there across his legs, her breathing slowly coming back to normal. Cedric watched her back filling up with air over and over again. She started to shake, from the ordeal or from the cold of the crisp autumn air across damp skin and clothes, he couldn't be certain. He turned her around and pulled her up to hold her, but not before finding her face.
"D-don't ever d-do that to m-me again!" Cedric hadn't realized he was shivering, too. He soaked in her face, color flushing back to her cheeks but her lips still the tiniest bit blue. But they were full of life again and he could see the curl of a smile pushing through her exhaustion. He reached out an arm and summoned his dry robe to his hand, draping it across her shoulders and pressing her against his chest in a fierce hold, protecting her from everything as best he could.
A/N: I seem to have two speeds for these drabbles (and forgive me if I've pointed this out before, I don't remember) - incredibly fluffy or incredibly angsty. I saw bring on the fluff and bring on the angst - whatever my muse should give me. :) Happy Monday!
p.s. y'all absolutely made my month in June with all the views and visits to my stories. Thank you so much for giving my writing some of your time. It made me feel super awesome.