The Lair of the SlowFox

Chapter Thirty-Three: Fight and Flight (contd.)

"I don't understand," worried Harry, as he looked wildly about the Forbidden Forest. "Jo said that she'd write in some Thestrals to get us to the Ministry so that we can rescue Sirius..."

"Well where are they, then?" asked Ron, looking nervously around, not happy at the imposed requirement of trying to spot invisible objects in a dark forest.

"I can't see any, either," offered Neville, apologetically.

Luna, on the other hand, had her arms wrapped around a nearby tree as she observed, in a dream-like voice: "This place is absolutely crawling with plotbunnies..."

"With what?" asked Harry, irritated at the diversion.

"Oh no!" gasped Hermione, wringing her hands nervously. "No, no, no, no, no..."

Alarmed, Ginny asked, "What is it?"

Hermione looked at the party with eyes full of grave concern: "We're in.... we're in fanfic," she wailed in a voice full of distress.

Oddly enough, this seemed to settle Ron's nerves remarkably. "Excellent! Well," he offered hopefully, casting an appraising eye over his female companions (and possibly the male ones too), "let's just agree that what happens in the fic stays in the fic, right?" He started to loosen his robes.

"Ron!" admonished Hermione, crossly. "Not all fanfic is about... about... about 'sex'," she finished, uncomfortably.

"It isn't?" gasped Ginny, incredulously.

"What fic have you been reading?" asked Ron of Hermione, bewildered.

"We have to get to the Ministry of Magic!" Harry reminded them in tones of near frantic urgency. "They've got Sirius! We've got t..."

Neville suddenly interrupted The Boy Who Lived: "Hey! What's in this box?"

Their attention drawn, the six stalwarts of Dumebldore's Army gathered around the large crate. The words 'SLOWFOX QUALITY BALLOONS' were stencilled in large letters on the wood. Somebody had tried to cross the word 'QUALITY' out: an arrow pointed to the edit, annotated with the words 'Not Bloody Likely'.

Ginny looked at her brother slightly guiltily: "Isn't that your handwriting?" she asked.

Ron was considering the crate, brow creased deep in thought, and looking very much like he thought he knew what this all meant, but couldn't quite place the memory.

"So we're going to take a hot-air balloon to the Ministry of Magic," announced Luna, happily, as they spread the crate's contents about the clearing. "Daddy says they're perfectly safe, as long as the Damphysimbians holding you up are happy," she added, unperturbed.