AN: Awww. Our poor Lola has no idea what's coming for her. And don't worry folks, Lola and Ginny are about to get back on track, just a little bit longer now. Thank you as always, and please let me know what you think!


"Mum! Mum! You gotta come see this!"

Molly watched as her daughters steadily avoided eye contact with her. She felt bad, really she did. But she was not going to subject her daughters to any more nightmare-inducing sights. Merlin knows they had enough of those already.

"You girls stay here. I'll be back in just a minute. Don't move a muscle- oh! I mean-"

Lola couldn't help but roll her eyes as her mother tripped over her words. She was tired of her family treating her like she was made of glass. It had been like this all summer, any mention of the word 'freeze' or 'stop' would have her family falling over themselves as if she was going to have a breakdown. Newsflash, she wasn't going to. She was made of tougher stuff than that. She found it mildly insulting that her family thought that any mention of her petrification would send her spiraling.

"It's a bit stupid, isn't it?"

Ginny didn't respond. Lola could see the muscle in her jaw working as she clenched her teeth and stared off into the desert.

"Fine," Lola said, "don't talk to me."

The sand slipped under her feet as she stomped away from the side of the pyramid.

"Lola! Where are you going?" Ginny called after her.

"To get water!" Lola shouted back waving a hand in the direction of the water tent.

"But Mum said to stay here!"

"Well, Mum's not here to stop me!" Lola shot back over her shoulder.

If Ginny replied it was lost in the sound of the hot wind that blew around them. The wind did nothing to improve Lola's attitude. She was hot, sticky, and absolutely tired of being treated like a baby.

The sun blazed high in the sky as Lola made her way towards the curse breakers water tent. Lola stopped to catch her breath and squinted at the tent. It was seemingly further away from her then she thought it was when she stormed off. A quick glance back showed her that the pyramid had grown significantly smaller in the distance. She could barely see Ginny leaning up against the side. She wasn't going back though, she couldn't stand the silence.

The wind seemed to be picking up around her. Sand blew across the path and the sky above her darkened. She took another glance back at the pyramid and caught sight of some camels running away from the tomb.

"Strange," Lola said to herself.

She set off again towards the tent in the distance. The sand slipped under her feet as she trudged through it. Lifting a hand to her forehead she blocked the light and judged the distance to the water tent. She was still good ways away from it. In fact, it felt like she hadn't even made any progress even though she had been walking for at least five minutes. The view around her had become tinged with orange and the blowing sand began obstructing her view.

The hair on the back of Lola's neck stood up. Something wasn't right. The air seemed to become weighted around her and Lola struggled to take a breath in.

A sand storm! Lola's mind shouted at her, Turn back now!

Lola lifted a foot to turn around and found that she couldn't see anything. The hot sand swarmed around her cutting into her face and rubbing her skin raw.

"Ginny!" Lola called waving a hand in the air, "Can you hear me!"

But all Lola heard was the whistling sand around her.

So this is how I die. Lola thought to herself. Suffocation by sand.

Lola hunkered down and tried to remember the instructions Bill had given them, should they ever be caught in a storm. Get on the ground. Cover your face. Don't breathe in the sand. The air around her felt so heavy it was a wonder she hadn't already passed out.

"Somebody, please!" She called out as sand flooded her mouth.

Lola covered her head and tried to keep breathing. Tears leaked down her face.