Author's Note: OMG. THIS PLACE IS CHAOS. It was amazing how FAST my story got pushed back… hmph. If I wasn't so inspired I'd abandon the fic…

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. I think everyone knows that.

Credits: jewlzbird, for beta-ing. lol

How could you take his life away?

(What made you think you had the right?)
How could you be so full of hate?

(To take away somebody's life)
And when I heard you let him die
And made the world all wonder why
I sat at home and on my own I cried alone
I scratched your name
On the side of a bullet

Side of a Bullet by Nickelback

&&&

Cadmus Peverell laughed at the brunet who stumbled over a rock and nearly lost his footing. Embarrassed, Rian got back on his feet, grinning awkwardly.

The second of the Peverell brothers sat atop a tree stump, looking down on what he called his 'Crew'. The young Muggles of the village were more than eager to be allowed to hang out with the handsome wizard. Among them was Rian, the teenage son of a shopkeeper who would often let them sneak into the shop and nick stuff. The Crew members numbered about a dozen or so, with Cadmus always walking ahead of them.

The respect he got was far better than his older brother's. Why intimidate when you could impress? Cadmus wasn't gifted with the same physical strength as his brother. He was, however, a bit taller. His dark hair was longer and arranged neatly. His eyes were also brighter, making him more pleasant to be around. And of course, that accorded him a certain advantage when it came to charming the young ladies in the village.

But Cadmus wasn't disloyal. There was a certain individual he had given his heart to long ago, and he happily ignored all other flirtatious advances. Rhea. His forehead creased in worry as she once again came to mind. She had been terribly sick lately… Cadmus knew his mother was fond of the girl, and was working on getting her better. His mother was a formidable witch, and could cure pretty-much any non-magical disease. This wasn't the first time anyone caught a fever, but Cadmus couldn't help but worry. The last time he had been to see her, she was so pale and talked as if she couldn't hope to survive…

The Peverell shook his head.

"Are you okay?" Darrell was looking at him apprehensively, as was the rest of the Crew, Cadmus noticed.

The dark haired man shrugged. He couldn't look weak, not with the Crew. "Yeah, fine. Just a bit bored. There's nothing to do around here."

There were mutters among the Crew.

"You want to go to the shop?" Rian asked hopefully.

Cadmus shook his head. "You go ahead… I've got some business to attend to."

He got up and trudged to the part of the village where most of the Muggles lived, right next to the market. He stopped in front of one of them and tapped lightly on the door, as he had already done so many times before, but under more cheerful circumstances.

The door swung open. As Cadmus had expected, his mother was there. She was a beautiful woman, and most of the men in the village couldn't believe how dangerously close she was to her fiftieth birthday. Until they found out she was a witch, that is.

"Cadmus," she said, embracing her second son.

The young man's heart wasn't in the hug. Even as he closed his arms around his mother, he asked in a shaky voice, "Rhea?"

"She'll be fine, don't worry about it. I'll leave you two alone," his mother replied, slipping past him and out the door.

Cadmus swallowed hard. Then he wandered into the house.

"Cadmus? Is that you?"

The Peverell's eyes widened. Relieved as he was that Rhea now had the energy to greet him, the lack of emotion in her voice troubled him. Creaking open the door to her room, he found her in bed, looking physically cured. But the dull look in her eyes sent a pang of sadness trough the young man's heart.

"Rhea?" He hurried to her side. "What's wrong?"

Her sad eyes bore into his. "I don't know. I just feel as if my time left is... well, limited."

Cadmus froze. "No… don't say that, you'll be fine." His hands closed around hers.

She smiled grimly. "Aren't you the one who told me death was part of the natural order of things?"

"But… I said that to console you about the death of a pet. I-you..."

"How is this any different?"

Cadmus bit his lip to keep from crying. "It just is!" he exclaimed angrily. "You've got your entire life in front of you, please…"

"No." The certainty with which she said this chilled the Peverell's soul. "Cadmus… I see him in my dreams."

"Who?" he whispered back.

"The hooded figure. I didn't know who he was at first, but as he spoke I understood. It was Death, and he wanted me. And I… I felt ready to join him."

Cadmus clutched her hand harder. "No, you can't really believe that," he pleaded angrily, "They're just fever-induced dreams. They're not real, Rhea!"

Instead of getting angry in turn, she just shook her head again. "Cadmus… I'm not asking you to believe me. Just to understand… You're the one who has a life ahead of you. Please, don't waste it mourning me."

&&&

"Cadmus?"

The enraged wizard glanced over his shoulder to see Rian climbing up the hill, stumbling ever so often and out-of-breath. He didn't have magic to help him up the amazingly steep hill. But when he did finally drop to the wizard's feet, panting, he quickly realized Cadmus wasn't in the best of moods.

"What do you want?" Cadmus asked, not bothering to conceal his displeasure with his company.

"Oh. Um, nothing much. I can come back at a better time…" he trailed off.

Cadmus was capable of loving, as was the case with Rhea, but he wasn't the most empathic of men and failed to understand Rian's forlorn, dejected expression.

"Yeah. I want to be alone, Rian."

The shorter man nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay then," he said flatly. Then he turned around and stumbled back down the hill.

If Cadmus wasn't torn up inside about Rhea, he might have noticed something about the way Rian trudged down the hill, looking for all in the world like a solitary, rejected figure. He was probably feeling that way too.

But Cadmus' thoughts were elsewhere. No matter how hard he tried to dissuade her, she remained convinced that Death wanted her. That didn't make sense. She talked about Death as if he was a person. And her despair was infective. Cadmus was undoubtedly the most charismatic and persuasive person in the entire reason and if he couldn't make her see reason, no one could. He had read somewhere that there was a potion that might help, but the ingredients looked so complicated. Cadmus was never really into potions anyway. He wasn't even a half-decent cook; not even magic could make his concoctions edible.

He shook his head in grim resolution. His dark hair fell in front of his eyes, and he didn't even bother to brush them away. He brought his legs closer to his body, and hugged himself. He wondered briefly at what the Crew would think if they say their strong leader and role-model in this state. After all, the hill, steep as it was, was still accessible to Muggles, as Rian had proven. But then he decided it didn't matter. He had always been so preoccupied with his image. But all that mattered in the world now was Rhea. What could he do for her? And as he sat there, waiting for the answer to his problem that would never come, Cadmus Peverell cried.

&&&

When he awoke, it was dark. It was sometime in the middle of the morning, probably. No one had realized he was gone yet; he'd often spend the night out with the Crew.

As he got to his feet, he immediately realized something was wrong. He wasn't sure what, but his instincts told him that something bad had happened. Something really bad. He clenched his jaw and his heart sank. Cadmus obviously wasn't in the most optimistic of moods. Sighing, and deciding that if something bad had happened he couldn't do anything about it, he turned on spot and Disapparated.

He appeared in the middle of the village in front of a startled man, who jumped back and lost his footing. Cadmus instinctively reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Thanks," grumbled the man, who sounded more annoyed than grateful.

Cadmus realized it was Rhea's uncle. "Hey, what're you doing out so late?"

"I could say the same to you, wizard."

The Peverell growled impatiently. Legilimency wasn't his strongest point, but he had learned it from his father (it was amazingly annoying to have your parents knowing everything about your life, and his father refused to teach him Occlumency) and this agitated Muggle was off-guard. Though he was hostile, the hostility wasn't directed at Cadmus.

Peering deep into the older man's anguished eyes, Cadmus learned the truth. He recoiled from Rhea's uncle, biting back a sob.

"No," he whispered, "It can't be true."

The man's eyes widened. "What? What are you talk-" He stopped. Everyone knew the second-eldest of the Peverells was a mind-reader. "Oh."

"Rhea…" Cadmus couldn't stop the tears rolling down his cheeks and angrily wiped them off with the sleeve of his shirt, hoping impossibly that the older man didn't notice him crying. "She…" Previously staring at the ground, he looked up at the man. "What happened?" he asked.

The other man averted his gaze, but his expression softened. "She was found drowned in a river at around midnight."

Cadmus was only half-listening. Regardless of how it happened, it had. His heart was in pain, yet his mind was having trouble understanding what this meant. "I…" he began, feeling tears once more cascading down his face. "Thank you," he finished flatly. He turned to Disapparate, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.

No further words were exchanged between the two, but Cadmus began crying, expressing his grief more openly. As Rhea's uncle removed his hand from the Peverell's trembling shoulders, Cadmus finally Disapparated.

&&&

His parents were home, in the living room. They both looked up at him in one synchronized motion. Cadmus didn't say anything, but slumped down on a chair and stared at a crack in the floorboards.

"Cadmus." His father's voice was authoritative, but not unkind.

Cadmus Peverell looked up into the eyes of the Legilimens. His father held his gaze for a moment, then his eyebrows arched in surprise and he frowned. The older wizard nodded his understanding.

Cadmus' head dropped into his hands, while his parents talked in soft, quiet voices. Their conversation was more muttering than anything else.

"Cadmus. Look at me."

Cadmus sighed. "Yes?"

"You have to cope with these things," his father said, "It's alright to grieve, but you have to move on. That's what Rhea wanted, wasn't it?"

The young man didn't answer.

"It's the natural state of things. Death is inevitable."

Death. The hooded man in Rhea's dreams.

"That river…" his father continued, "I've never been there, but I've heard people call it the River of Death."

Cadmus shivered.

"The waters have been moving at terrifying speeds for as long as anyone can remember. They say it's cursed and that the water itself was created by the essence of Death. I'm not sure about this, but I do know that despite magical attempts by the most potent wizards, no one has ever managed to calm the rapids. Rhea knew what she was doing when she went there. She was ready for Death."

"I know," Cadmus growled.

His father didn't answer.

"I knew… I was talking to her… I should have stopped her." He bit his fist to keep from crying.

"Don't blame yourself, Cadmus," his father said, frowning.

The young wizard looked away. "I'm going to my room."

He stopped halfway up the stairs. Death. His river. He had taken the most important thing in his life away from him. What made him (it? Cadmus wasn't sure) think he had the right to? He didn't. Rhea had her whole life in front of her. She was happy with Cadmus, and he with her. He was considering proposing… but Death wouldn't let him. Why did he hate Cadmus so?

The wizard shook his head. His father was wrong. Death wasn't necessarily inevitable. At least dying by his river wasn't. He'd find a way to stop the flowing of that accursed river.

Cadmus went to his room, but he didn't cry. Instead, he stared out the window. Mourners were often numb after the death of a loved one. But Cadmus stared not emotionlessly, but with grim determination. He had a goal now.

Author's Notes: Yeah. I don't know why I used Nickelback. It fits.. sorta. lol