House: Ravenclaw

Position: HoH

Category: Drabble

Prompt: [Time (of Day)] Early morning

Word Count (excluding header): 750

Beta: Vee.

A/N: Trigger warning for murder and suicide


An old bit of Muggle folklore claimed that a green flash of light at the exact moment the sun falls beneath the horizon signifies a soul crossing back over to the land of the living. Like many Muggle folktales, there was an element of truth in the tale that had magical roots. But like many Muggle stories, they got the details wrong.

The green flash came not at sunset, but at sunrise.

This is why Cadmus Peverell sat in a graveyard in the wee hours of the morning. The fading light of the moon illuminated the headstone of his recently departed fiance, Mathilde.

He buried his own heart with her cold body only a week before. Cadmus had been planning to jump into the raging river the day after her funeral when his brothers arrived to stop him. In their attempt to demonstrate the value of life, the three brothers had inadvertently summoned Death itself.

While his brothers had selfishly demanded prizes of power and deception from Death, Cadmus had asked for a way to bring his beloved Mathilde back. With a wicked grin, Death had granted his wish and gifted him a non-descript stone with instructions to turn it thrice with only thoughts of the deceased in mind.

Cadmus spent the week preparing for Mathilde's return. He tidied the house they'd shared that he'd torn apart in despair. He proclaimed her imminent return to everyone he crossed. He even organized a wedding ceremony for the afternoon of her return.

Once everything was ready, he ventured out to the graveyard in the middle of the night. Death had not mentioned the need to perform the ceremony in the early morning, but he wanted to utilize every ounce of ancient magic to bring his lover back. His eager heart raced as the time approached.

Finally, the delicate glow of the moonlight was replaced by a sudden flash of green. In the instant that Mathilde's grave was bathed in green, Cadmus turned the stone thrice and thought only of her.

His desperate wishes and the strange magic granted by Death summoned Mathilde's soul back, and suddenly she appeared in front of him. Cadmus rushed to embrace his beloved, but his arms passed right through her body.

"What?" he exclaimed. "I do not understand. Death assured me that I'd have the power to bring you back to me. How are you here, but not?"

In a faded and empty voice, Mathilde responded, "I am not here because you made it so."

"No," Cadmus said as he shook his head rapidly. "No, you are supposed to be here with me. I brought you back. You are mine."

"I am not yours, Cadmus," the hazy specter of Mathilde said. "I am Death's. You gave me to him."

"I did not mean to," Cadmus said.

"You allowed Death to claim me when you slashed your wand across my throat."

Cadmus cried out, "I did not mean to! When I saw you with him, I lost my mind. You are meant to be with me, not with him."

"And now I cannot be with him. I cannot be with you. I belong to Death."

Mathilde's faded form turned away from Cadmus and laid down on her grave. Her eyes closed and she mirrored the exact position of her corpse mere feet below.

Cadmus cried in despair. "I didn't mean it. Oh, my beloved Mathilde. What have I done to you?"

He threw himself on the ground beside her ethereal body and pleaded for forgiveness.

She remained silent and still.

Cadmus blubbered and screamed his anger and regret into the empty, early morning air. He cursed himself for causing this. He cursed Death for separating them once more. He cursed Life. And finally, he cursed his life.


Hours later, the town thief passed through the graveyard and spotted a body lying still atop a newly dug grave. Seeing the gaping hole in the bodies' chest, the thief took his opportunity to pilfer the pockets of Cadmus Peverell. He gleefully stole the two gold rings from the breast pocket of Cadmus's coat. He emptied his trousers of a handful of Galleons. He pried a strange-looking stone from the dead man's hand.

As he turned away from the cooling corpse, Tomas Gaunt tossed the stone into the air. He'd do something with the odd little stone he lifted off his absent father's corpse.

Without another thought for the man who he'd once loved, Tomas walked off into the midmorning sun.