The Crescent Moon
-Prologue-
July 1993
"Don't you think we sound a tad stereotypical? Out here, in the woods, telling scary stories?" Luke asked, prodding a stick in the crackling fire.
Embry didn't bother responding. Sure, Luke was right, it was quite corny what they were doing: camping out in the forest, holding torches under their faces, making something Alex called 's'mores'. They could have been in one of those Muggle television shows, really, the picture of American teenager-dom. And for Embry, it was perfect.
"You didn't seem to mind being stereotypical when you were stuffing your face with marshmallows earlier," Austin said, stretching his arms over his head.
Luke scowled and threw a twig at the brunet, who retaliated by throwing a crispy, burnt lump of a former marshmallow at him. A food fight of sorts soon begun, and the boys' laughter echoed across the night.
Embry sunk back onto the log, stretching his feet out in front of him. The night was still fairly warm, yet he felt oddly comforted by the fire. It seemed to drive away his troubles, to tell him everything would be alright. After all, his father had let him go on this trip on the provision that he would complete extra lessons when he returned; considering he wasn't allowed to step foot outside the house the last summer, it was a big step forward.
He started when an owl hooted from somewhere nearby, having forgotten that the creatures weren't just out during the day as he was used to.
"Do you reckon he fell into the pit or something?" Alex said, drawing Embry from his thoughts.
He looked around the makeshift campsite, noticing that the redhead was still gone. Daniel —or 'Smith', as they called him—had mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom, and with a roll of toilet paper in hand, had taken off into the nearby bushes. That was when the fire was at its full power and they still had snacks left; perhaps over half an hour or more ago. Whilst he knew a few males needed a little extra time sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder what was taking so long.
"We dug it deep enough," Austin said, his lips turning upwards in a smirk. "But nah, I think he's probably just wussed out over our ghost stories."
"Ha, wimp!" Luke rolled his eyes. Then, as though a light bulb had gone off in his head, his thin lips curled into a smile and he leant forward. "Or… or he isn't scared at all."
Alex tilted his head, and Austin muttered, "What are you on about?"
Embry sat up, ready for another one of Luke's conspiracy theories. The boy was always prattling on that the government was conducting experiments or that creatures like aliens, werewolves and vampires actually existed. Although Embry could, in fact, confirm that some of those creatures did exist, he knew Luke was far off the mark. He liked listening to his mate try to explain how the magical world worked, and how witches and wizards didn't use broomsticks because that was a myth. They were entertaining—sometimes plausible—and he was sure Embry's theory on Daniel's whereabouts would be just as interesting.
"Well, ok, you know how my story was clearly the scariest?" Luke said.
Alex snorted.
Austin picked up one of the cans of ginger beer he had brought along—his attempt at feeling grown up pretending it was actual beer—and took a large gulp. Then, holding up his finger for Luke to stop speaking, he burped out, "Yeah right."
Embry cracked a smile, but Luke continued. "You were shaking, Austin. Anyways, I think that maybe Smith's trying to outdo me. I bet his need to drop a few friends off was just some cover to start planning his own scary tale."
Luke leant back again, folding his arms across his chest and nodding, satisfied with his own explanation. Embry, Alex and Austin all looked at each other, eyebrows raised, but soon a smile crept across Austin's face.
"Yeah… yeah, you know what? Shrimpy might just have a point. Smith's probably out there planning to leap out at us or something," Austin said. Then, cupping his hands over his mouth, he turned behind him and called into the woods, "We know your plan, Smith! Nice try!"
Alex slapped his hand on his knee, laughing at Austin's antics. "Yeah, give it up, mate!"
Luke rolled his eyes, but his pale blue eyes sparkled, obviously happy that his theory had been accepted.
"Alright, alright, seriously, boys, I have an idea," Austin said. His voice lowered, even though there was no one around for miles to hear them. "We need to beat Smith to his little game; you know, give him a scare himself. I say we go out and find him before he finds us. What do you say?"
Alex and Luke nodded. "Let's do it."
Austin turned to Embry. "Well? You in?"
Embry considered it for a moment. By all means, Luke could have been right and Daniel really was out there planning to scare them and 'win' the scariest story. How he planned to do it, he wasn't sure, but there was no doubt it would probably mean something dumb like making howling noises or rustling tree leaves. It would serve Daniel right to have his childish prank foiled, to show him that they weren't idiots.
On the other hand, Austin didn't exactly have the greatest plans, either. They'd probably end up trudging through the forest all night trying to find Daniel's hiding spot, whilst in the meantime, Daniel would most likely get bored and wander back into the campsite for some food.
"Nah, I think I'll stay here for a bit. My legs are still a little sore from the trek up here," Embry finally said.
"Your loss."
Austin shrugged and started rummaging around in his backpack. Pulling out a few batteries—something Embry had not seen for years—he flipped open a small compartment on his torch and stuffed them in. Alex and Luke were already prepared with their own torches in hand. Luke was holding a camera, no doubt hoping to capture Daniel's humiliation on camera for their friends back home to see.
"Alright, wish us luck! The little sneak's going to get it for sure!" Alex said.
The small group jostled each other and jogged into the forest. Embry watched them until the darkness of the woods swallowed them up and the yellow beams of light disappeared. Turning his head to the sky, he once again settled down on the log.
Thankfully, the clouds that had covered the sky earlier that morning had now scattered, leaving Embry with a clear view of the stars. They twinkled down at him, welcoming him to marvel at their beauty. They were no match for the large, silver moon, however, which appeared to be near full.
One day, he would bring his friends from Ilvermorny out here and give them the full experience. Sure, they had gone camping together once before, but it had involved tents widened out and held up with magic and fires lit with Incendio rather than matches or rubbing sticks together. It wasn't authentic or Muggle, and although most of his group had at least a little bit of Muggle blood in them, it wouldn't hurt them to realise that magic wasn't the be all and end all.
A howl ripped through the air, causing Embry's heart to leap into in his throat. He had to take a moment to calm it, searching the forest for its source. It was only one of the boys mucking around, no doubt. It was most likely Austin, trying to scare out Daniel—it was much too deep for Daniel's voice, given he was still undergoing that change. The next thing they would do would scream or yell or roar or whatever it was they thought would help them freak each other out.
Sure enough, as soon as he turned back to the sky, a scream erupted. Placing his hands behind his head, he laid back and closed his eyes. Another scream resounded, and a small smile played on his lips. At this stage, he'd probably get about fifteen minutes to himself, and he intended to make every moment of it.
1995
"Mr Stanton? Are you ready?"
Embry blinked as an owl flew overhead, hooting as it circled the tower. The moon was bright, just like it had been on that fateful night.
Taking a deep breath, he focused on the tall woman in front of him. She was his future, they all were, and it was time he forgot the past once and for all.
A/N: This story was written for my new friend, FeralG3. Quite a bit of the storyline is from her request, and I really hope you enjoy my take on it!
This will be a multi-chapter, but I am not sure how often I will update. I will try my best to complete it. On that note, however, only some of the storyline is planned in my head, so if anyone has any requests or suggestions, please do feel free to PM me :)
Please keep in mind, too, that it is from a boy's POV, and although JK Rowling did it well, I am a girl who does struggle to get into the mind of a typical boy haha. I apologise if anything sounds offensive—I am using my brother and friends as inspiration.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Tigger Xx