Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition - Round THREE

9. (word) indisputable

11. (word) springtime

Team: Montrose Magpies

Beater 1: a natural disaster, (eg. the 1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami)

Natural disaster: European Heatwave of 2003 that killed approx 35,000 people, 2,000 in the UK

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any canon characters, plot line or dialogue; only characters, dialogue and plot lines that I myself make up

The Heat Wave

It was the hottest August I had ever encountered; and it nearly killed me. Just the week before, I was helping Mrs. Weasley prepare dinner. Bill, Fleur, and Victoire were coming over and she needed some extra hands. Ron and Harry were tidying up the place, and clearing out the junk that had piled up in Percy's room since he had moved out. I had gotten accustomed to staying at the Burrow every summer, as that was when Ron visited. All three of us had flats of our own in magical London; and Ron and I lived together in ours. The Burrow had maintained its cool, comfortable temperature as always; even in the late July heat. The sturdy windows and structure of the building allowed this; though it was always hotter upstairs. Given the circumstances, it was quite a surprise when the heat wave came in just 7 days later.

On August 5th, the indisputable heat rolled in, and trampled us like a million men on horseback.

"Why does it have to be so hot?" Ginny moaned rhetorically as she lay sprawled on the floor of the Weasley's drawing room in a tank top and shorts. I was dressed similarly, and Ron decided to go shirtless. No one answered Ginny as we all continued halfheartedly fanning ourselves. At that point, we were all wishing for the cool breeze of springtime. I was going mad. I hated being locked in like a caged animal and not being able to do anything. I had to move, do something. "Guys, let's get out of here." I stated. "And go where?" Ginny asked incredulously. "London, a shopping center, an airport, our flats, anywhere with muggle air conditioning!" I yelled, exasperated. "Sounds good to me." Ron said as he got up and through on a tank. "We should just have everyone go with us. We can't possibly achieve anything in this heat, and none of us have work until Tuesday, so we ought to get cool." I said seriously. "Ok, let's get moving then." Harry piped up. We rounded up Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and apparated with a pop.

Once in downtown London, we witnessed masses people struggling with the heat as well. Many were chugging bottles of water as they shuffled down the crowded streets hauling their loads. We even witnessed a small child passed out in her mother's arms, being carried into the nearest building. We were trying to quickly make our way to Ron and I's flat. It was nearly 10 blocks to go and far too crowded to apparate again. We had walked for over 45 minutes in the blistering heat. I was panting and heaving by the time we got to our home. I stumbled over the threshold, Ron attempting to steady me. I collapsed on the cool white leather couch while Ron turned up the AC and got me a glass of water. For some reason the heat had seemed to affect me the most. I felt lethargic for the better half of the next hour though the cool air streaming into the room seemed to perk me up some.

I had the worst knocking head-ache, and my body hurt all over. I felt as if I'd been hit by a Mac truck. It's not like I wasn't athletic, I walked those same 10 blocks every day to work at the ministry and back. I had no clue what was wrong with me; perhaps it was just the 100 degree weather; the hottest I had ever seen since I'd lived in London. Thirty minutes after our arrival at my flat, The Weasley's and Harry had all gotten comfortable and were watching a muggle movie, "Gone With the Wind". I excused myself to the ladies room as I was feeling quite nauseous. I vomited out everything I had eaten that day and most likely some part of my gut. When Ron heard all the retching, he walked in and held my hair. After a quick internet search, it seemed that all of my symptoms matched that of heat stroke, which can be quite fatal. Molly cast a cooling spell on my body after taking my temperature which was 101.2. We all then went to the local muggle hospital because the article said to get to the hospital if heat stroke was suspected. Ron was alarmed by all of the beeping and lights that were hooked up to me as standard procedure. He tried to play it off as just being worried, but in reality, he was fascinated.

The nurse came in and asked all of the basic questions, and how I was feeling. She said that my symptoms definitely matched those of heat stroke and that it was good I was taken in. "Are you or is there any chance that you could be pregnant?" She asked with a neutral face. With Ron's parents in the room, it was an embarrassing question. Ron and I hadn't exactly remained abstinent. We of course had exercised caution and used protection, but I really should have answered that there was a chance. Instead, I said a confident, "No." and looked down. Ron suddenly became very interested in his feet. Realizing their cue to leave, Molly, Arthur, Ginny, and Harry left to sit in the waiting room. "Why'd you say that 'Mione? What if, god forbid, you were? They're supposed to know that you're uh... active. It affects what treatments they give." He said, concerned. "Ron, don't treat me like I don't know why they ask things!" I lashed out. 'That was odd,' I thought. I usually didn't get too upset at things... 'Oh god! What if I am pregnant!? I'm not ready to be a mother, and if so, I almost just lost the baby and... and... oh please no...' I thought. I began to have a panic attack. My breathing got really shallow, and before I knew it, I was blacked out.

When I woke up, all I remember seeing was the bright light of the hospital room, and then Ron's red hair above me. As the image focused, I saw his lips moving, and then fully woke up to realize he was saying, "Feel better now? Whatever those muggle blokes did, I'm grateful for it. Oh, and don't worry 'Mione, I had them check, and there's no little Won-won in there." He said with a smile. I smiled sheepishly back. Once the doctors decided I was well enough to go home several hours later, we all decided it'd be best to simply apparate to our flat from the hospital. We went into an empty hospital room, and left. What I day I had had! Well, that was my amazing experience with the great heatwave of '03. 'Looks like I have to stay in more' I thought, 'Just me, my books, and Ron.' What a great summer I had ahead of me.

I hope that you all liked that! It might not be my best piece of writing, but the deadline for this one was really killing me. I had SUCH AN AMAZING time competing in the Quidditch Fanfiction Competition, and Emma (aka APhoenixRising) has been the BEST captain ever... I am dropping out of the comp now as I will be away for much of the summer. I wish the best of luck to my Montrose Magpies teammates!

~Hermione