Newt Scamander and the Werewolf Pup

The Creek Bed

The Creek Bed

Tina and Newt crept along through the trees - Tina stayed close enough to him that she was pressed against his back, her free hand hooked over his shoulders, and Newt laid one hand over hers, both of them holding their wands lit, and aloft, their breaths and steps the only sounds.

The sunlight almost did not matter among the trees, it was so dark in the thick of it, and Newt kept glancing at his watch to be sure they hadn't wandered through the trees too long and the full moon had not yet risen. They had precious little time before it would.

Suddenly there was a sound in the trees. Cracking branches... and crying... and Newt stopped short and stood still, Tina's eyes widening. Her motherly instincts were on full alert for the crying was the sort of crying that sends chills down parent spines - the sort that tells you there is something Truly Wrong. And she gripped his shoulder all the tighter, nervously listening to the sound as it came closer and closer...

Then there was a second sound, further off - a second crashing through the trees, though this one was much, much heavier... and swifter... more sure on it's feet. Silent other than the crunching of bracken. Newt Scamander whispered, "Hunting," under his breath.

Tina trembled, then, "The boy?"

"Prey," whispered Newt.

Tina shook her head in disapproval, then, angered, she stepped away from Newt, cutting through the trees very suddenly, in the direction of the smaller sound, the crying sound. Newt turned quickly, appalled, "Teeny!" he hissed, and he rushed after her, ducking a tall branch and bolting through the thick foliage as quickly as possible. Tina was on a mission now, though, and she had her wand ready, the light off, her demeanor in full Former Auror Mode, ready to kick ass and take names, as she usually said to describe the Mode. Newt hustled along behind.

She broke through the trees ahead of the crying sound, finding herself on a wooded path, and waited, crouched, and suddenly a little boy with piercing blue eyes and dirty blonde hair rounded the corner in the pathway - he couldn't have been more than five years old - and he was looking behind him with thick tears falling over his face and he ran right into Tina's waiting arms. He let out a scream that echoed through the trees and Tina clapped her hand over his mouth gently. Newt ran up and grabbed onto Tina's shoulder and the boy's and attempted to apparate... but he couldn't.

"There's an anti-disapparation charm on the woods," he hissed in surprise.

Tina clutched the boy to her, even as he struggled to get away, "Shhh, shhh. We're here to help you. We're not going to hurt you, shhh," she whispered quietly, but the boy didn't believe it and he continued at scrambling to get away.

The louder crashing was getting closer and Newt grabbed Tina's elbow. "This - this way," he said, and he pulled her through the thickest part of the trees, away from the path they'd been on. He ran blindly through the trees, keeping his hand on Tina's elbow to be sure she was still there, trying to guide her so that their steps would be as quiet as possible, but the boy's thrashing made that quite a lot harder than it needed to be. He spotted a dip in the ground ahead, and a creekbed cut its way through the trees and he pulled Tina down the slope to the bed. The creek had dried up, but the dip turned 'round a corner where the land had cut more sharply for the bed and there was a place there where the bed bent around a small hill and the outcropping made a sort of wall, and it was there that he pulled Tina into a crouch.

"Silencio... Petrificus totalus," he hissed at the boy, who froze, and the cries he was making were quiet. Newt lay his finger over his mouth and Tina nodded and they stayed as silent as they possibly could be.