A few minutes later, Theodore left the room as well, and was going to head back to the common room, but decided against it, since Daphne was very likely waiting for him there to continue their argument. Instead, Theodore headed the opposite way, away from the dungeons, and up to the Entrance Hall, which was nearly swimming with students, all of whom didn't recognize him at all. Theodore heard a crash of thunder, and suddenly there was an increase in students wishing to run right into Theodore, or stop in front of him to stare at the ceiling while he tried his hardest to push his way to the front doors and leave the castle and the crowd completely. Finally, Theodore made it to the front door and without so much as a glance behind him; he slipped out them and into the fury of the rainstorm waiting outside.
The rain quickly soaked through Theodore's clothing, to his bare skin, which sprouted goose bumps immediately. He shivered, and considered going back inside, but the thought of battling his way through that crowd, and possibly running into Daphne was not inviting; so Theodore walked carefully down the stone steps in front of the school, his hair soaked to his forehead, and so wet that it's shade of black was almost darker than usual. He kept his head down, so the raindrops wouldn't strike his face as frequently, and he kept his eyes on the ground so he could see where he was going.
He made his way across the saturated grass of the Hogwart's grounds, towards the lake, where he found himself sitting under a certain willow tree in any kind of whether, rain or shine. It didn't occur to him that it was a foolish idea to sit under a rather tall tree in the middle of a thunderstorm, but Theodore had other things on his mind that had nothing to do with his own safety. He sat down, and the grass squished under him, but it's not like he could get any wetter than he already was. The tree above him gave him some cover from the rain, but not much, since the tree's branches and leaves were dripping upon him almost as much as the droplets from the sky.
Theodore's gaze was directed to the lake, which was being torpedoed by thousands of tiny raindrops. The surface of the lake, which was usually black and glassy, was currently disturbed with ripples that were overlapping and dispersing at incredibly speeds. There was a gust of wind that blew the branches from the willow he was sitting under into a fury of water and leaves, trashing overhead.
Flashes of lightening were striking the Forbidden Forest, illuminating the dark sky so suddenly, then leaving the retinas burnt and repeating the flash like a broken projector. Each flash was followed by a crack of thunder which shook the very roots of the tree he was leaning on. It was definitely the very center of the storm that he had stumbled into and Theodore felt as though he had entered nature's war zone.
It almost felt like a horror movie, a dark and stormy night, although it was barely morning yet. Theodore was so intrigued, it took him a while to notice that his hands and face were freezing and his robes were so wet, they were weighing down his shoulders like they were made of lead. Without a second thought, Theodore grabbed onto a low hanging tree branch and pulled himself up and that's when he saw a greater disturbance in the surface of the lake.
Off the shore, closer to the forest than the Theodore, there was a bobbing red head thrashing around in the waves. Theodore couldn't hear any cries for help, but he accounted that for the wind and the rain tearing through the atmosphere. Theodore didn't stop to think for even a moment. He threw off his cloak, with some difficulty and dived in. The water was freezing, and sent an initial shock through his body when he entered it. His breathe caught in his throat for a moment, and Theodore felt like he was going to drown as well, then he started to swim wildly towards the drowning victim, hoping their head wouldn't sink below the surface of the water. Theodore doubted if he had ever swum that fast in his entire life. He didn't have a thought in his head as he approached the red head, but as he got close, the body went limp and began to sink.
Theodore panicked and swam even faster, hoping he could grab her before she was too far down. In another flash of lightening, he could just barely see the crimson hair beneath the surface. Theodore took a deep breathe that contained more water than intended and dove down, he was nearly blind, but his grabbed desperately at the water beneath him until his fingers grasped something solid. It was an arm. Running out of oxygen, Theodore pulled the strangers arm upwards, without looking, or thinking. There was another flash of lightening that made Theodore's stomach clasp together in fear. He thought he would never break the surface of the water, with the dead weight in his arm, but he did.
Once again, without looking, he balanced the unconscious victim in one arm and paddled with the other towards the closest shore, which seemed increasingly far away. He prayed that the red head was still breathing, but he couldn't feel any movement under his forearm. Theodore's head kept bobbing under the surface, and every time it did, he got a mouthful of lake water, which wasn't pleasant. Finally, Theodore's feet, which were kicking furiously, hit solid ground, and he wasted no time dragging the unconscious body across the soaked grass and onto land.
Another flash of lightening revealed the victim as none other than Ginny Weasley, but this fact failed to register in Theodore's mind. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and pressed his fingers against her neck, waiting for a pulse. Thank the heavens; there was a steady beat beneath his fingertips. Theodore let out a sigh of relief that resulted in a cough. Was she breathing though? Theodore quickly pushed the red hair, which was now crimson with moisture, out of the girls freckled face and lowered his head towards hers, listening, and feeling for breath. Ginny wasn't breathing at all. Panicking, Theodore considered rushing towards the hospital wing; his eyes glanced quickly towards the dark outline of the castle which towered in the distance.
Once more, lightening flickered through the sky, illuminating the now pale face of the girl in front of him. Theodore vaguely remembered how to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but it was something he wasn't likely to be able to do right, since a muggle boy had taught it to him in 3rd grade, before his father had forbidden him to converse with muggles. Still in a state of panic, Theodore did what any wizard or witch in this situation would do, he pulled out the wand that was still safe in the pocket of his pants, pointed it at the girl and said "Enervate" as loudly as he could, childishly thinking that the spell wouldn't work if the girl couldn't hear him.
To Theodore's relief, Ginny Weasley's green eyes flew open and she rolled over and threw up in a coughing fit. Theodore sat there, feeling the panic ebb away, and watching the girl for signs of further injury or unconsciousness. Eventually, Ginny turned away from her coughing spree and looked surprised to see a soaking wet Theodore sitting at her side watching. She squinted through the dark, rain strewn space between them, searching his face for any sign of recognition, but he simply assumed that she really didn't know him, which would make sense to Theodore, because he really wasn't that well known, and they had never been formally introduced. For the sake of politeness, he was going to introduce himself at that moment, but the wind was howling too loudly for her to hear him anyways.
They sat there in the rain for a bit, while the Weasley girl caught her breath and focused her eyes, he had turned away from her for the sake of decency, because even though she was modestly dressed, the soaked fabric was clinging to every curve of her body making Theodore slightly uneasy. After a few minutes the heavy rain began to let up enough that they could probably hear each other if they opted to speak.
Theodore turned away from the tree truck he had been staring at to meet the apprehensive green eyes of a severely weakened Ginny Weasley. He blinked, his mind finally beginning to work, he should probably take her to the hospital wing immediately, but something about the look in her eyes made him stay stationary.
"Who are you?" She asked, audibly, as thunder rolled across the sky in the distance. The storm was moving away. Ginny's eyes searched him for a moment, taking in his disheveled appearance, from his matted black hair to the crumpled white uniform shirt, finally resting her gaze on Theodore's eyes.
"Theodore Nott." He explained, attempting a feeble smile and extended his water wrinkled hand to her, she accepted it.
"Ginny Weasley." She replied, and then lapsed into a coughing fit, pulling her hand away to clasp it over her thin pink lips. Theodore let his hand hover over her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't pass out, but ready to catch her if she did.
"Do you want to go to the hospital wing?" Theodore asked, once she had ceased coughing.
Her eyes sprang open into wide green orbs, but then settled into a reluctantly acceptant expression as she nodded slowly, her hand holding tight to the collar of her cloak.
Theodore stood up and extending his arm to her, she grabbed it, and with some trouble helped herself up. They had only taken a few steps in the direction of the castle, when Ginny's knee's buckled and she fell again, ripping the fabric of Theodore's shirt, but he didn't pay any mind to that. The muscles in his arm tightened as he tried to hold her up and help her up at the same time.
"Are you okay?" He asked her, as she leaned against his shoulder gasping for breathe, with her eyes closed tightly against the possibility of a blackout.
It took her a moment to answer, as if the words traveled slowly through the thick, damp air between his mouth and her ears. She separated her lips to speak, but no words came out, and she simply gaped at Theodore's arm and then passed out on the drooping, water saturated grass. Theodore stood shocked for a moment, and then looked down at his own arm, where she had torn his sleeve. The dark mark that was etched into his forearm was staring back at him, clear as day. Well, not this day, Theodore thought grimly, pulling the shreds of his sleeve over the mark just in case.
He knelt down next to the body, and with more tenderness than he thought he had, he lifted the young girl up. Her wet garments made her lighter than Theodore expected, and she was much, much warmer than Theodore could have imagined. With much care, Theodore balanced the warm weight between both him arms and headed towards the school, just as the rain settled down to a dreary drizzle.