Word Count: 1,064

Letter: X

Character: Xenophilius Lovegood

Summary: A young Xeno finds out about the Deathly Hallows for the first time, after receiving his trademark necklace that helps other seekers recognize him.

A/N: First off, please note that the story of the Deathly Hallows was taken directly out of my copy of The Tales of Beetle the Bard by JK Rowling. Secondly, please don't forget to visit my profile and vote in the pole!

"I brought you something, Xeno."

My grandfather handed me a small black box. I opened it to find a necklace. The chain was made of old, softened black leather and the charm was rusty silver. I picked it up in my fingers, letting my thumb trace over the triangle with its intricate carvings, moving it on to the circle that just grazed each side of the triangle surrounding it, and finally running it up and down the straight line that was enclosed by the circle.

"Wow. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Xeno."

"What does it mean?"

"This charm here?"

"Yes."

"It stands for the three Deathly Hallows."

"What are they?"

My grandfather removed his glasses and placed them on the stone table in front of the overstuffed couch on which we were sitting.

"That, my dear boy, involves a story. A story so familiar to me that I could recite it if I was in a coma."

I smiled at him, letting the corners of my mouth and the sparkle of curiosity in my eyes gesture at him to continue.

"There were once three brothers who were traveling a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

"And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been cleaver enough to evade him.

"So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful that any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.

"Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

"And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from place to place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.

"Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts.

"In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination.

"The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the wand he had snatched from Death himself, and how it made him invincible.

"That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat.

"And so Death took the first brother for his own.

"Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.

"Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her.

"And so Death took the second brother for his own.

"But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life."

I considered all of this for a moment, taking it in.

"What do you think?"

"Do all of these, these hallows," I started, trying out the word, "exist?"

"Ah, son, that's a personal belief. I think so," he paused, and looked at my grandmother, "but Grandma does not."

"I…I think I do."

"I thought you would, Xeno, and that's why I brought you the necklace."

That snapped me back to my previous question. "What does the charm mean?"

"The triangle? It stands for the Cloak of Invisibility. And the circle stands for the stone that can revive the dead. The line, it stands for-"

"The Elder Wand," I finished.

"Yes, the Elder Wand. And those of us who wear these, for all to see," he paused and fidgeted with his own charm, a smaller, golden version, that he wore in plain sight on his charm bracelet with a picture of me, a picture of Grandma, and a figurine of his frog, "believe."

"Believe that they exist?"

"Yes, and we also believe that he who combines all three of these magical objects will have defeated Death himself."

"Oh."

"Do you believe?"

"I believe," I said, and I meant it.

He fastened the necklace around my neck. I felt the cold charm rest against my skin, and I brought my hand up to touch it, repeating my words. "I believe."