Heartbeat ~ Scorbus fanfic

The Three Brothers

Lily closed her book, annoyed, and glanced at her brother. "Must you go storming about the dormitory? Some of us are trying to read."

"Albus stole my cloak and the Marauder's map again, I'm sure of it!" James huffed.

"Actually," Albus walked into the Common Room.
"I didn't steal your cloak, I borrowed it. As for the map, I borrowed that too, although Filch almost caught me."

Nyx and Scorpius followed Albus into the room, and sat down on the open chairs.

"What do you need Al?" Lily asked, setting her book aside. She was one of the few people whom could get away with calling Albus 'Al'.

"Well," Nyx cut in, "We needed to tell you something, but we need to be alone for this."

James rolled his eyes. "What could be so important that you couldn't tell us in the Common Room? It's not like our live's depend on it."

-

James was in disbelief. They couldn't possibly think that this silly plan could work! Could it work? It was just crazy enough that it might, besides, they were wizards and witches after all, what could go wrong that they wouldn't be able to fix?

"Alright, I'm in." James decidedly said. "But I don't like the idea of my claiming the Elder Wand, that thing is deadly."

Nyx looked pointedly at Albus, who glared right back at her.
"Oh no, I don't want it either."

"Well someone needs to take it." Scorpius said, "This plan won't work without it, and I'm certain Lily would rather have the cloak."

"He's right about that." Lily replied.

Albus sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I'll go find the Elder Wand, but it won't work for me."

"That's okay, we only need the wand to summon Death." Nyx piped up.

-

Albus had gone alone to the headmaster's office, knowing that the Elder Wand was hidden in the tomb of his namesake, Albus Dumbledore, Albus looked for a key in one of the locked desk drawers. Professor McGonagall had a transfiguration class this hour, and the headmaster's office was one of the easier rooms to get into. Albus had the advantage of almost always figuring out the password, partly due to his many trips to the room.

"Animagus," Albus whispered, and the stone passage door slid open.

Albus crept up the winding stairway, until he reached the top. He quickly ran to the desk and scuffled around through a few drawers, before finding the only locked drawer.

'A simple cast of Alohomora ought to do the trick.'

The drawer sprang open, nearly knocking Albus right in the eye. "I really did not expect that to work." He whispered to himself.

Albus grabbed the metallic object, and he quickly transfigured a pen into a replica of the key.

He sped back down the stairs and ran down the corridors to get back to his friends and siblings.

-

"How did you manage to find that?" Nyx asked.

Albus shrugged, "I've heard stories, and I know that my dad left it in Dumbledore's tomb purposely."

James began walking away from the others, and into the middle of a clearing.

"Alright, now are we going to summon Death or what?"
-

James apparated with Albus and Lily on both sides of him. When they arrived, Albus looked ready to hurl, and Lily was paler than usual.

"You guys okay?"

"Warn us before you go apparating to some random river, would you?" Albus snapped, brushing the dirt off of his pants.

Lily leaned against her oldest sibling for support. "I'm just a little light headed." She mumbled.

Albus looked around, he vaguely recognized the place. "Are we at the river from The Tale of the Three Brothers?"

James nodded, his face slightly pale.
"W-we need to summon Death."

Albus gripped the Elder Wand tightly, searching for the bridge from the story.

"Albus, James, look over there." Lily called, pointing to an arced wooden structure.

Albus walked over to the bridge with his siblings, and he handed James the wand. James walked over the bridge with the Elder Wand, Albus following with the remains of the Resurrection Stone, and Lily behind him with the Invisibility Cloak.

Just as they had thought, Death was waiting on the other side.

"What do you need? I've dealt with the Peverells before, and I'd rather not be bothered by the likes of them again." Death hissed.

'Death looks like a Dementor that had a baby with Umbridge, and wrapped it in a swirling black cloak.' Albus thought shivering at the terrifying embodiment in front of him.

James nervously twirled the murderous wand in his hand.
"Death, er sir, we need you to fix the Resurrection Stone. Without it, we can't defend the Wizarding World, due to Voldemort joining forces with Grindelwald, and they plan to take over the entire world, not just the Wizarding World."

Death shrugged. "That has nothing to do with me."

"But it does," Albus said, thinking quickly about Greek Mythology and how Thanatos had been chained by Sisyphus outwitting him.

"You're the embodiment of death, meaning you're death in all forms, which includes mythology and ceasing to exist in general. Voldemort has sought to become immortal, and if he figures out how to chain you up like Sisyphus did, or if he figures out how to kill you, no one would be able to die, and Voldemort would reign the world much like an immortal god."

Death contemplated this for a moment, and nodded.
"Alright, I'll help you. Just don't bother me again descendants of the Peverell family."

Albus handed the stone over to Death, and within seconds the rock had reformed. Death handed the stone back to Albus.

"Now, could you please leave me alone, I have some reaping to get back to."
And with that, Death was gone.