A/N: This didn't fit in the original story, but I had fun writing it. Many of the sentences, and of course the base story, come straight from JKR.
A madman desperate for his daughter tells a story, and on the other side of the world, she pauses. She remembers the Peverell brothers well – it was one of the few times she had revealed herself to mortals. They told the story all wrong, of course, but the important parts made it through.
As she remembers it, there were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at midnight. 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 wand 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. She was in a vindictive mood, the thrill of winning a Game strumming through her. Love had failed to convince the second brother to wed his love by the deadline and, having already taken the woman from the realm of the living, she was there to collect the man as well. She hoped to take the others as well, for she had taken a severe dislike to them over the course of the Game. But Death was cunning. She pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade her.
So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than 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 fashioned a wand from a branch of an elder tree on the banks of the river and gave it to the oldest brother. She hid a smile as she did so, as amused at the thought of a wand working for, instead of with, its master as at the idea that he had conquered her.
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. At least, that's how she always saw it. Love later said that the man lashed out in his hurt, desperate to see his almost-wife again. Regardless, 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 he had requested.
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 brother, and he did not trust Death. She was suspicious of him in turn, but less eager for his death than that of his brothers. He, at least, was worthy of some respect. So when he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death, she, most unwillingly, handed over her 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 travelled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard there with whom he had a quarrel. Love was at hand as they dueled, his face thunderous. For once, he didn't blame her when the other wizard fell; he was too busy raging against the Christian church. In the last few years, they had begun to teach that relations between two men, such as the Romans had enjoyed, were sinful. The oldest brother had recently converted to this school of thought and in doing so had broken the heart of his lover. They had argued quite violently before, but this time, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, the brother could not fail to win. Leaving his lover dead on the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself.
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 her 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 his delight, the figure of the woman he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.
Now Love chastised Death, berating her for causing the man more pain. He demanded to know why she had ever killed the girl if she planned to let her live now. Yet the woman was sad and cold, separated from her love as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not belong there and suffered. Love saw her pain and knew that Death would never fully let her go. He remembered the relentless love for her that he had filled the second brother's heart with and regretted that he had lost the Game. He went to Death and begged her to put them out of their misery, but, still angry with the brother, she refused. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join his love.
And so Death took the second brother for her own.
But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, she was never able to find him. Love, angry at her, found the man's true love and watched happily as they grew old together. Though she questioned him, he refused to tell her where they lived. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he Death as an old friend and went with her gladly, and, having proven himself a worthy opponent, departed this life.