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Everyone in Godric's Holler knew not to go walking down Phoenix Path after nightfall, no matter how capable you thought you were or how fast you thought you could run. It was dark, it was lonesome, and growing up in the small town taught you all the stories you needed to know about what might happen to you if you played fast and loose with your own safety. It was a shortcut, sure, but walking through the pitch-black woods could get you into more trouble than a shortcut was worth.
Xenophilius Lovegood had a healthy sort of respect for those sorts of things, always had and always would. "D'y'all really reckon this here's a good idea?" he asked Barty and Evan quietly as they stepped through the trees. They had a flashlight, fresh batteries, and everything, but Xeno didn't trust it against the looming darkness. What if they dropped it? What if it attracted more attention than it was worth?
Barty laughed, loud and all too brave. No one could hear them out there, but that was sort of the problem, wasn't it? "We'll be alright, darlin'. It ain't like nothin' is gonna come and eat us out here. You know them's just the stories."
Evan hummed his agreement, though he sounded a bit less sure. "Them's just the yarn your mamaw and mine like to spin to scare the kiddos," he echoed, but Xeno did not miss how his voice was much quieter and less confident than their boyfriend's. Even his steps were more cautious, like he was trying to hide from listening ears. Xeno thought grimly that it would be no use if something decided to go after them. The flashlight was damning enough, and it wasn't like they could do without it. Phoenix Path was as dark as anything at night, like putting a blindfold on in a cave. There was no use in it.
"I still reckon it would've done us safer to take the main path," he insisted, even though it was far too late. He didn't want to play it confident, like maybe staying humble might appease whatever lived in the trees. "I've read an awful lot about this here path and most of it ain't been purdy. You know what they say about that Pi–"
Evan took in a sharp breath. "You ain't supposed to say the name."
It was an old superstition, not talking about the things in the woods. It should've come as easy as breathing, just like Xeno knew not to whistle in the woods or go on cursing someone behind their back. It brought bad things, and he wasn't about to go around asking for it. Evan was right.
Barty, ever the contrarian, seemed ready enough to cause them a scare. "Nah, that Pitty Pat ain't nothin' to be scared of, you know they's just sayin' that to–"
That was when they heard it, coming up from behind them like the sound of footsteps. One second it was silent, perhaps too silent for the woods, and then there was the sound.
Pitty pat. Pitty pat. Just like their mamaws had always warned.
His head told him to run, but every bone in Xeno's body stayed rooted to the forest floor. He breathed in slowly, praying to God (if he'd listen) that the sound would go away. He took in a shaky breath. "Y'all, we best start runnin' now." That was always what they did in the stories, the ones where folks got away safely, but Xeno couldn't listen to his own advice. He turned around to where they'd heard the telltale sound of steps, and there wasn't anything there.
"I reckon we stand our ground," Barty said, though even he sounded nervous. "I mean– maybe it's just one of them opossums sneakin' up on us. Them's not so bad."
"I'm plenty scared of them too," Evan said through gritted teeth. "We really oughta run, Xeno's right."
Xeno saw it then, out of the corner of his eye, and he knew he wasn't going anywhere. A silvery apparition, making its way towards them. Its movements were slow, and the sound it made didn't line up with its steps as the stories had always suggested. It was leisurely but intentional as it made its way toward the trio. It didn't seem all that menacing to Xeno then, more… a kindred spirit, he supposed. It wasn't exactly humanoid, just in a whispery way. It wasn't exactly shaped like them, nor pretending to be something it wasn't. It struck him as a companion more than a predator. What had those stories been on about?
As it approached them, Xeno heard fumbling next to him and saw the flashlight being waved around. Barty had taken it from Evan, and raised it, about to throw it at the apparition they were being faced with. Almost instinctually more than consciously, Xeno grabbed his forearm and took the flashlight away.
"Darlin', trust me, why don't ya?" Barty said, voice shaking. He made a move to grab the flashlight again, but Xeno held it away from him. His gaze was still fixed on the Pitty Pat. "Xeno!"
"Xeno, what're you doin'?" Evan asked, more curious than affronted by the strange behavior.
"I– I don't think it's tryin' to hurt us," he breathed out. The Pitty Pat stopped only a few feet away from them. "Look at it. Don't it look like it's a friendly sort of fella? I don't reckon it wants to do much more than walk with us."
Evan audibly gulped. "It looks like a ghost, is what it looks like. I don't know, Xeno."
"Well– Well, I do. Just trust me." He reached out for the Pitty Pat, to take its silvery hand into his. Almost as if by gravitational pull, the hand met his and he was overcome by a warm sense of safety. The woods around him didn't feel so daunting – not threatening anymore, simply present and living in just the same way he was. He let out a sigh of relief. "I reckon there are scarier things in these here woods than the Pitty Pat. Maybe it's just tryin' to do good by us and protect us."
The Pitty Pat didn’t acknowledge his words, but Xeno could just feel that he was right. He could feel the approval and appreciation thrumming through him.
"What about all them stories?" Barty asked. His voice was small and quieter than before, more ready to believe the yarns that had been spun now that the Pitty Pat was right in front of them. "They always heard that noise goin' pitty pat before them folks disappeared."
"Maybe it was tryin' to help them folks out, but they didn't do what they were meant to and that's why they got taken away." Xeno tilted his head, and gently let go of the creature's hand. "Lead the way?"