It's a Big Hole in the Ground

Chapter Summary: Letting Luna drive might not have been the best idea any of them had. Seattle sure has changed.

Luna grinned brightly out the windshield and then turned to gaze at her husband. Harrymine was sleeping soundly in the co-pilot's chair. She loved watching him sleep so peacefully. But, they had things to be doing today.

"Harrymine," she said in a low voice as she undid her seatbelt. "It's time to wake up, Harrymine."

He stirred a little and threw an arm over his eyes to block out the sun. "I'm sleeping, Lunalove. Lemme sleep."

Luna let out a musical giggled and poked his side. "No. There are creatures to find and I can't imagine how you can be comfortable sleeping in that chair. Silly man."

Harry batted her hand away and then turned his head and opened one bright green eye. "What time is it?" He asked blearily and sat up. He blinked out the front windshield and frowned. "Where are we?"

Luna grinned at him. "The Grand Canyon," she said in an excited tone. "It's a natural wonder and it's full of loquentes asinos. They might have a clue about the Crumple Horned Snorkack."

Harry shrugged and nodded. "Okay, Lunalove…but you're explaining to the others how we went nearly 1400 miles off course."

Luna rolled her eyes. "We didn't go off course, Harrymine. We're looking for the Crumple Horned Snorkack."

Harry only nodded again. "Okay," he undid his own seatbelt, stood up, leaned over to kiss her and then headed for the back. "Give me twenty minutes to shower and then I'll start breakfast."

Luna watched him for a moment then scrambled out of her seat and raced after him. "Wait!" She called. "We should share. Need to conserve water and all that."

Harry laughed and beckoned her towards their room. "Come on then," he said and took her hand. "I'm all about saving the planet."

Luna laughed hysterically. "You just want to see me naked," she accused him with a pant. "That's okay though. You should want to see me naked. I like to see you naked."

Harry chuckled and pulled her into the bathroom attached to their bedroom. "Lunalove…shut up," and then he laid his lips over hers.

HP/LL SH/JW FC/DM

"Did you spell them to sleep?" Harry asked her an hour and a half later and set a plate of hot pancakes on the table in front of her.

Luna grinned at him mischievously and attacked the pancakes before shaking her head. "I didn't," she told him happily after she'd swallowed.

Harry sent her a level look and then nodded. "I see," he said and turned back to the small stove. "Those Clefairies are a menace sometimes," he commented.

Luna's answering giggle was muffled by another mouthful of pancake and Harry grinned down at the stove. He loved making Luna laugh. It always made him feel as though there was nothing so bad in the world that they couldn't make it. That laugh lightened his heart and made the dark days of his past go that much farther into the haziness that memories were supposed to occupy.

"Morning," Flynn said through a jaw-cracking yawn as he stumbled from the bedroom that he and Draco had claimed as their own. "What time is it?"

Luna giggled again and blinked at him. "Does it matter, FlynnCarson?" She asked him seriously.

Flynn shrugged and rubbed at his eyes. "Probably not," he conceded. "What's for breakfast?"

Luna merely grinned at him again. "Food, silly," she rolled her eyes and stuffed another huge bite of syrupy pancakes into her mouth.

Flynn nodded and took the plate Harry offered him before sitting down beside Luna. "What's the plan?" He asked as he buttered the pancakes.

"Plan for what?" John mumbled as he slid into a seat across from Flynn and Luna. He too rubbed at his eyes and yawned. "I feel like I've slept for a week."

Luna giggled and Flynn nodded. "Me too," Flynn observed and then stared suspiciously at Luna. "Did you…?" He couldn't finish the question.

Luna shook her head and gulped down some juice. "It wasn't me," she claimed once her mouth was clear again. She turned to regard Harry. "Pudding!" She demanded.

Harry only sighed and pulled open the refrigerator. He pulled out butterscotch pudding and tossed it to her. "The others up yet?" He asked Flynn and John.

They both shook their heads and then applied themselves to their breakfasts with determination. The only sound for long moments was the popping of bacon on the stove and the clack of silverware on dishes.

"Would someone like to explain why and when Seattle became a giant hole in the ground?" Sherlock's querulous voice boomed from his and John's room.

Draco's head peeped around the door to his and Flynn's room and he grinned at the group gathered at the table. "We let Luna drive," he called to the dark haired man. "Shoulda known better."

Everyone could hear Sherlock's heavy sigh and then he walked out of the room and took a seat next to John. "Point taken," he said with a scowl at Luna.

HP/LL SH/JW DM/FC

"So what are we doing?" Draco asked and crept back a few steps from the edge of the huge hole in the ground. Why had he even followed the others over here? He liked to go sight-seeing as much as the next wizard but not in the dirt. And there was nothing out here except trees and dirt and wild animals and dirt and bugs and dirt. And a great big hole in the ground. He didn't like heights unless he was on his broom. He could control his broom.

"Looking for the Crumple Horned Snorkack," three voices answered him immediately and in unison. The blasé tones were identical.

Draco rolled his eyes, sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He really should have known that was coming. He knew not to ask that question. "I meant…well, where are we going to search?" He figured he already knew the answer and that he wasn't going to like it.

Luna grinned at him and he backed away again. He really wasn't going to like this plan, he just knew it. "At the bottom," she told him simply.

Flynn swallowed, a shudder making its way through his system. Luna's grin spoke of bad things. Very bad things. "Tell me we're walking," he nearly begged already knowing it was a futile effort.

Harry grinned at him, shook his head and waved a hand. A mound of what looked like cables and straps appeared. "Maybe on the way back up," he allowed.

Sherlock suddenly grinned beside John and nearly skipped to the equipment. "Rappelling. Intriguing."

Draco whimpered a little at Sherlock's comment. "We could fly," he suggested in a quaking voice. "We brought brooms." He waved towards the RV.

Harry shook his head. He felt a little sorry for Draco but considering how much Draco had been complaining it was only a very little. "Muggles," he said simply.

John shrugged at Flynn and Draco and strode forward. He didn't have a problem with rappelling to the bottom. Wouldn't be the most ridiculous thing he'd ever done. He knelt by the pile at Sherlock's side and slowly started helping to unravel the gear. "Good gear, Harry. Quality stuff."

"We could apparate. Line of sight," Draco tried desperately.

"National park," Luna waved his suggestion away. "It's illegal."

"I think rappelling down the side of the Grand Canyon is illegal too," Flynn pointed out. He did not like rappelling. He wasn't all that fond of heights either and Draco looked like he was going to pass out.

"Really?" Luna asked with a hint of surprise. "Suppose we'll have to go invisible then," she shrugged.

"We could apparate invisibly!" Draco's voice was becoming tinged with hysteria. "I am not jumping down there. It's…it's…thousands of meters! Do we even have that much rope?"

Harry looked up at him from where he knelt next to John. "It's magic rope," he explained with extreme patience. "We have as much as is needed."

Flynn buried his face in his hands. "Why do we have to do it this way?" He nearly whined.

"Because it'll be fun, silly," Luna giggled.

"Right. Fun," Draco pouted. "We're going to die. I hate you both."

Luna grinned brightly and started strapping herself into the harness that Sherlock handed to her. "You don't."

Draco glared at her crossing his arms over his chest. "I do and I'm staying up here. You can't make me jump."

Luna shrugged. "I'll let you keep thinking that," she said in a nonchalant tone. "But I always win."

"Why do you even try?" Sherlock asked as he buckled a strap across his chest. "She does always win."

Draco scowled and stomped back into the RV. He was not going to jump over that cliff. Not for anything. And they couldn't make him.

HP/LL SH/JW DM/FC

Draco struggled for all he was worth against Harry and John's hold on him. "No," he shouted. "I won't."

Harry frowned and checked Draco's tether one last time. "Stop being a baby, Malfoy," he said in a hard tone. "It's perfectly safe."

Draco shot him a glare. "Easy for you to say, Potty!" He gave one more heave in an effort to break free. "I…hate you!"

Harry snickered. "You almost said you were going to tell Uncle Luc, didn't you?"

Draco sighed. "Dammit!"

"Silencing and disillusionment spells, Harrymine," Luna instructed and skipped over to kiss her husband's cheek. "I don't want to be arrested today," she tipped her head to the side. "Maybe tomorrow though."

Harry waved his hand again and all sounds died away.

Luna grinned and kissed his cheek again, or she hoped it was his cheek. Then she turned, took three running steps and leapt into the air. "Wheeeee!" She screamed soundlessly.

He knew it was a little sneaky and would probably make everyone mad at him but Flynn stood still after the spells washed over him and then tried to take a step back and wait for the others in the RV. A hard hand shoved him and he stumbled over the edge of the cliff. "Ahhhh!" He screamed in terror.

Sherlock dusted his hands off with a malicious grin. Carson thought he was so clever. Checking his buckles by feel one last time he pulled in a deep breath and jumped. He laughed in delight as the wind rushed past him.

Draco knew what they were going to do. He also knew that he wasn't going to get out of this. The knowledge didn't stop him from trying though. He kicked and bit and heaved and still John and Harry's implacable grips drew him forward. Suddenly the grips disappeared and he felt a brief moment of relief before overwhelming terror set in. He screamed as he plunged down.

John grinned at the empty space beside him where he remembered Harry standing and then sidestepped off the cliff. The air rustled as he fell and he couldn't stop the laugh ripping from his mouth. God, this was fun.

Harry shook his head at his friends' reactions. He could see all of them and even hear them, if only faintly. It was his spell. He carefully checked all of the spells he'd laid before even waking the others up this morning. The overpowered cushioning charm on the bottom of the canyon and the Arresto Momentum all the way down. Both were holding well. The monitor spells on the harnesses let him know that all of his friends were fine though Draco and Flynn's heartrates were a bit fast. With nothing left to check he dove over the side headfirst. "Yes!" He shouted as he fell.