"You don't really expect this to work, do you?" Hermione's sharp tone was bordering on disgust.
"Oh, cripes, here we go again," Ron muttered an aside to Harry. She'd been arguing with them non-stop since she'd followed them out of the castle and into the Forbidden Forest. "This is why we didn't tell her what we were planning."
"Well?" Hermione demanded imperiously.
Ron looked pointedly at the enchanted shovels, rhythmically digging a large hole in the ground, and then at Hermione. "It looks like it is working to me," he answered.
"Not the shovels," she said, her hands planted on her hips. "This entire plan of yours. I can't believe you're going to try to trap it. And just what are you doing to do with it if you do manage to catch it?"
Ron shrugged. "Charlie's visiting Mum and Dad. I've sent him an owl and he's agreed to come and get it."
Hermione huffed out a breath. "Even if you manage to lure it here, you're just going to hurt it."
"No, we're not," Harry answered firmly. "The pit won't be that deep. Just enough that it can't immediately get out, then a binding spell to hold it so that it doesn't fly away."
"You're going to get into trouble," Hermione warned. "You know the Forbidden Forest is off limits. There's only three more days until you leave school altogether. If Mr. Filch, or worse, if Professor Snape catches you, you'll be expelled."
"Us, Hermione. Catches us. You're out here, too, now," Ron pointed out. "And we'll just have to make sure they don't catch us, won't we? So try not to talk so loud."
Hermione folded her arms over her chest and glared at them. "Then what is your master plan? Is it supposed to just conveniently wander by and then oblige you by dropping into the pit?"
Ron scratched his nose. "Well, that's going to be the difficult part," he acknowledged. "We're going to have to lure it here and then let it chase us."
Hermione gaped for a moment. "Chase you? Are you insane?" she hissed. "You could be killed. You've survived Death Eaters and He-Who... Um, Voldemort and now you're going to end up being killed in the Forbidden Forest three days before the end of school."
"Oh, you worry too much." Ron made a minute gesture with his wand and the shovels began digging faster.
"And you don't worry enough," she snapped. "Just how do you propose to "lure it here"?" Her foot was tapping now.
Ron grinned. He dug around in a pack slung over his back and pulled out a metal horn with a large rubber bulb on the end. "I borrowed this from Dad. Harry and I think it will work."
"A bicycle horn." Hermione snorted softly. "Let me get this straight... You're going to honk that thing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, attracting the attention of every single creature here - some of whom are quite dangerous, I might add - all in hopes of luring a Ford Anglia into a pit?"
"Well, uh, yeah." Ron nodded.
Harry echoed his agreement.
There was a long silence in which Hermione stood there, exasperated and shaking her head in counterpoint to the tapping of her foot. "Why?" she finally demanded.
The boys looked at her blankly for a moment.
"What do you mean why?" Ron frowned.
"Why are you trying to catch it? It's been roaming around here for five years. It's almost a legend. Why are you so determined to catch it now?"
Ron shrugged and started to answer, but stopped when Harry began to laugh softly.
"What are you laughing at?" Ron and Hermione said simultaneously. They shot each other an annoyed look and then turned back to Harry.
Harry shrugged slightly and then gestured around. "It seems like old times, doesn't it? Us out here trying to get away with something and Hermione following us, fussing about the rules and bossing us about."
Hermione's eyes narrowed, but Harry and Ron smiled at her fondly.
"And it's like you said," Harry continued, "in three days, we all leave Hogwarts. Ron and I are going to the Auror's Academy, and you're going to work for the Department of Magical Catastrophes. This is like... Well, it's like a last hurrah, you know?"
Ron nodded, suddenly solemn. "Yeah, one last adventure for them to remember us by."
Hermione blinked away sudden sting of tears and then chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "It's too narrow," she said abruptly.
"Huh?" Ron frowned.
"The pit," Hermione answered, pointing. "It needs to be wider." She pulled out her wand and with a quick swish, she repositioned the shovels. "Do you really expect an entire automobile to fall into that narrow little pit? Honestly, I don't know how you two ever get anything done without me."
Ron rolled his eyes, but he laughed. Harry grinned and then his smile faded, his head tilted as he regarded the pit for a long moment.
"You know," Harry said slowly, "she's right about it being a legend. I've heard the younger kids talking about it."
Ron nodded. "So?"
"So... Maybe we should leave it. Your dad doesn't expect to get it back and it's not hurting anybody."
"Sooner or later it will stop on its own," Hermione added. "I know it's enchanted, but mechanical parts eventually wear out."
Ron looked stricken at that. "Maybe it already has," he breathed. "When was the last time anybody saw it?"
Harry thought for a moment. "A couple of years, I think."
Ron's expression became alarmed.
"It's possible that it's found some way to... replenish itself," Hermione added quickly. "This forest is full of magic, after all."
Ron nodded slowly and watched the shovels for a moment, gnawing on his thumbnail. "And if we don't try to catch it, then nobody will know for certain, will they?"
"No," Hermione answered gently. "They won't know for certain."
Harry's eyes took on a mischievous glint and he suddenly gave Hermione a gentle but firm shove. Caught unaware, she toppled over into the soft dirt mounded by the shovels.
"What are you doing?" she cried. She sat up, glaring at Harry and trying to brush the dirt off her robes.
"If we're going to turn up in the Common Room and regale everyone with our story of being chased through the Forbidden Forest by a flying automobile, we have to look the part, don't we?" Harry answered as he picked up a handful of soil and smeared it across his robes.
Ron caught on and grinned. He began to rub dirt into his own clothing. His smile turned rueful as he looked at Harry. "Not much of a last hurrah, though."
Harry glanced into the deep woods surrounding them and considered all the years of students who would be warned about a Ford Anglia running wild in the Forbidden Forest, and about their excited questions of how it came to be there.
He smiled. "Oh, I don't know. I think it's perfect."
Author's Notes: This was a result of a challenge issued on LiveJournal's 30minutefics community which had the following directions: "...your entire tale must take place within the boundaries of the Forbidden Forest. You can use any character or characters, any activities, any reason for being there, and whether they can leave or notis up to you."