Purest Love [Harry Potter Fanfic AU]

Ch. 5 The Tale of Three Brothers

It has been a year and three months since Tulip and Harry Potter was born to James and Lily Potter. It is Saturday, October 31, 1981. Twenty-one-year-old James Potter is sitting on the couch in the living room with one-year-olds Tulip and Harry on his lap at Potter's Cottage in Godric's Hallow. Twenty-one-year-old Lily Potter is in the kitchen, taking a sip of Green tea and looking out the window with a concerned gaze.

' It's been a week since James, and I last saw Peter when we told him he would be the Secret Keeper. I hope he's okay. I know what he is like under pressure.' Lily internally speaks.

Lily glanced at all the howlers on the counter that Peter would send to them. She softly smiled, remembering that the howlers wouldn't shout but instead whisper to Tulip and Harry, telling them how much he missed them and that he loved them with all his heart.

Lily frowned since she noticed that the Howlers had stopped coming to Potter Cottage, making her and James worry. They would do anything to leave their hiding place to search for Peter, but they couldn't risk leaving their children defenseless.

" This story is called The Tale of The Three Brothers." James looks down at Tulip and Harry, causing Lily to turn and leave the kitchen to listen.

Tulip lifts her head to stare at James while Harry plays with a stuffed Stag that Remus gifted him on his 1st birthday.

" Three brothers traveled along a lonely, winding road at twilight. They reached a deep treacherous river where anyone who attempted to swim would drown." James reads, causing Tulip to look away and stare at the moving pictures in the children's book.

Harry hugged his stuffed Stag while looking at the children's book curiously.

" These brothers were not mere Muggles. They were Wizards, taught magic at such a young age. They conjured a bridge with their wands and proceeded to cross." James turned a page, causing Tulip and Harry to stay quiet since they were intrigued.

" Halfway through the bridge, a hooded figure stood before the brothers. The figure turned out to be the enraged spirit of Death." James points to a moving image of Death, causing Tulip to look at it with a worried gaze, getting scared, while Harry stares at it with mild interest.

" Death cunningly pretended to congratulate the brothers and rewarded them with gifts of their choosing." James shows Tulip and Harry a moving image of Death revealing three gifts to the brothers.

" The eldest brother, Antioch Peverell, an aggressive man, asked Death for a wand more powerful than any in existence. Thus Death created and gifted him the Elder Wand from a branch of a nearby elder tree standing on the banks of the river." Tulip curiously watched the moving image of Death gifting Antioch the Elder Wand.

" The second brother, Cadmus Peverell, an arrogant man, asked Death to grant him the power to recall the deceased from the grave. Annoyed, Death obliged and gave Cadmus the Resurrection Stone from a stone picked from the riverbank." Harry adorably tilted his head when he saw the moving image of Death gifting Cadmus the Resurrection Stone.

" Lastly, the youngest brother, Ignotus Peverell-" James stared at the name with mixed emotions, recalling reading that name on his Family Tree when he was younger.

' To this day, it still amazes me that I am related to one of the creators of the mythical Deathly Hollows.' James internally speaks.

"-The most humble and wise did not trust Death and asked him to enable him to go forth without Death being able to follow. Reluctantly Death, most unwillingly, handed Ignotus an invisibility cloak." James reads and hums.

James begins to recall when his father, Charlus Potter, gifted him a family heirloom on his eleventh birthday. He softly smiled, remembering holding a cloak and looking displeased. However, when he wore it, James was shocked that his whole body had disappeared. Since then, James had been using the invisibility cloak for mischievous deeds.

' And when Tulip turns eleven, I can give her the family heirloom. While I can give Harry the Marauders' Map so that someday he and his future Marauders can rule the school.' James internally speaks.

" The Three Brothers took their gifts and went their separate ways. However, stuff began to happen to Antioch and Cadmus." James continued, causing Tulip to stare at the book anxiously.

" Antioch fought several Wizards with the Elder Wand. Addicted to power, he became boastful, causing an enemy to come where he rested and killed him. Thus, Death took Antioch's soul and made it his." James amusingly chuckled when he saw Tulip looking shocked.

Harry closes his emerald-green eyes and begins to fall asleep, getting tired.

" Cadmus returned home where he lives alone. Turning the stone thrice in his hand, a figure of a Witch he had once hoped to marry before she died appeared at once before him, much to his delight. However, the Witch was sad and cold, separated from Cadmus by a veil.

Though the Witch had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Because of that, Cadmus, driven mad with hopeless longing, commits suicide by hanging from his balcony to join her. That was when Death took Cadmus' soul as his." James stopped when he saw Tulip begin to cry.

" Aww! Was Cadmus' death heartbreaking?" James asked.

Lily approached James and took Harry from her husband's grasp. She securely holds her son and rocks him to sleep when she sees him wake up briefly.

Tulip turns to James and hugs him, causing him to comfort her.

" There. There. Death must have had Cadmus live a good life with his loved one in the afterlife." James reassured.

" Do you want to know something?" James whispered, causing Tulip to lift her head and stare at him with watery bright green eyes.

" Death searched for Ignotus for so many years but never found him. When Ignotus reached old age, he decided to take off the Cloak of Invisibility and give it to his son. Accepting Death like an old friend, they departed as one." James finished reading the story.

Tulip brightly smiled, feeling happy that Ignotus died peacefully and Death accepted him like an old friend. She was going to tug on James' shirt to read her another story when an alarming sound grabbed her and everyone's attention.