Pain sliced through Ron Weasley's brain. Pain like he'd never felt in his life. Pain he only imagined could come from a Cruciatus Curse.
He shut his eyes tight and gripped the edge of the table in front of him. His fingers clamped down on the surface so hard he expected thick wood to shatter.
Go away. Please go away.
The pain worsened. Blades of fire and ice drilled deep into his brain. He gasped. Any moment he expected his head to rip in half. In a way, he hoped for that. Anything to end this unbearable pain.
Somehow he opened his eyes. He saw Hermione sitting across from him. She didn't even look concerned. How could she sit there so calmly when he was in agony?
"Hermione," he begged in a strained voice. "Please. Do something."
Hermione sighed and folded her arms. "Oh honestly, Ron. Quit being so dramatic."
"Hermione. The pain . . . can't . . . take it."
She huffed. "Ron, please. You're just have what Muggles refer to as a brain freeze."
Fear coursed through his veins. A brain freeze? His brain would actually turn into ice? How could Muggles do something like that?
"Stop it. Please, stop it."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's nothing serious. Give it another minute and it will pass."
He pressed his hand just over his right eye. How could something like this simply pass? Nothing this painful just . . . simply . . . passed.
The pain evaporated. Ron blinked, sitting back in his chair. He took slow calming breaths, looking around the Muggle ice cream parlor his fiancé had taken him to.
"I don't understand." He stared at Hermione. "How . . . what was that all about?"
She fixed him with a stern look. "You drank your milk shake too fast. According to some studies, if a person eats or drinks ice cream or shakes quickly, the cold sensation is picked up by the trigeminal nerve, which is the largest cranial nerve and communicates information between the brain and different areas of the head, including the teeth and the palate. As a result, the nerve will increase blood flow to the brain in an effort to keep it warm. But what happens is it dilates the blood vessels in the head, which alters the flow of blood, thus resulting in a temporary, but excruciating, headache."
Ron gaped at her. "All that from just drinking a milkshake?"
"Yes . . . when you drink it quickly. So just take your time finishing it. We're not in a race here, Ronald."
"Course. You're right."
They went back to drinking their milkshakes, chocolate for Ron, strawberry for Hermione.
He slowly sipped his shake, letting out a moan of delight. Why hadn't wizards thought of this? Turning ice cream into something you could drink.
He took another pull on his straw.
So smooth. So frothy.
He took a longer pull.
So chocolatey.
Another long pull.
Another.
This was so . . .
Another blade of pain stabbed Ron's brain. He pulled away from his milkshake, grimacing, a hand pressed over his right eye.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Ronald. I can't take you anywhere!"
THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The information on brain freeze comes from an article on Live Science dot com.