Written For:
Last Ship Sailing Competition:
Round 1 - Prompts: (AU) Red String of Fate / (word) direction / (word) postpone
Soulmate!AU Category Competition:
Prompt: Red String of Fate
The Friends Competition: TOW The Ride Along
Prompt: Write about a prophecy.
Betaed by Em
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Run From Her
Harry stared at the red string that was tied so innocuously around his pinky. Most people dreamed of the day they would meet the person that was attached to the other end of that string. That person was their soulmate, their other half. The missing piece that would make them feel complete once it was found.
Harry never wanted to meet his soulmate, though. He feared the day that he might meet the person unlucky enough to belong with him. He wanted to postpone that fateful meeting for as long as humanly possible.
Harry thoughts went back to the reason why he never wanted to meet his soulmate. They never strayed far from that direction, but he got at least a little reprieve every now and then.
When he was young, a prophecy was foretold. Normally, his parents didn't put too much stock in divination. They both thought it was an inexact branch of magic and not to be trusted, but the prophecy came from the mouth of a true seer, and Harry knew there was no escaping it.
And it said that Harry's soulmate, the one that was attached to him by the fateful red string, would experience a horrible death. It didn't say anything about how his soulmate would die, or when, but he still didn't want to meet the person that would die in such a terrible way just because she or he was unlucky enough to be his match.
A knock on his door sounded and Harry looked up away from his hand just as it opened.
"You should get to bed, Sweetie," Lily Potter said. "Tomorrow is a big day for you."
Harry forced a smile. "My first year of Hogwarts." He couldn't help the fear that ate at him at the thought. He wasn't scared about starting his magical education. He was scared that he'd meet his soulmate; after all, there were a lot of kids at the school. There was a good chance that one of them would be connected to him by the string.
"Lily smiled. "Exactly. And a growing boy needs his rest, especially before he takes his first step into manhood."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Mum, you're so corny."
"But you love it," she retorted.
Harry didn't verbalize his agreement, but they both knew he did love it. Corny was one of his mum's lovable traits, and he wouldn't have her any other way. "Good night, Mum."
"Your dad would have come in to say good night as well, but I'm afraid he has already fallen asleep, so I'll just say good night from the both of us."
Harry closed his eyes as the door shut. Even as he succumbed to his exhaustion, his sleep was far from peaceful, plagued too much with nightmares of what grisly fate awaited his soulmate.
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Harry looked around the platform. He noticed a bunch of red heads coming through the invisible barrier, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He knew they were Weasleys, but his parents had never really been friends with Arthur and Molly Weasley, so Harry had never really gotten to know any of the kids.
He lifted his hand to wave at Neville when he saw the boy and was just about to go over and say hi to his best friend when he felt a sudden tug on his hand.
A feeling of dread consumed him as he looked down at the hand that had the red string. The string was taut and his gaze followed the path it took, all the way to another hand, that was connected to a young girl with red hair, surrounded by a whole bunch of redheads.
A Weasley. And if he remembered correctly, the only Weasley daughter. "Mum, Dad," he muttered.
"Honey?" Lily asked and she followed her gaze.
James, too, looked concerned. He must have seen the way the girl kept looking at her hand, and then him. "Your soulmate," he breathed.
"This is the worst thing that could have possibly happened!" Harry gasped as pain filled him at the thought of what might happen to this innocent girl.
"Honey—" Lily tried.
"No! Don't try to sugarcoat it. All three of us knows what's going to happen to her."
When the Weasley girl started to walk over to him, Harry ran as quickly as he could onto the train, nearly forgetting his trunk in the process. He just needed to stay away from her. Maybe if they didn't have any contact, she'd be okay.
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It was easy enough to avoid his soulmate that first year. It turned out that she wasn't yet a student. She'd be coming next year.
Her brother, Ron, tried to make friends with Harry, but he stayed far away. He kept to Neville and Hermione, a Muggle-born that he became fast friends with.
It was difficult since they were Gryffindors together, but Ron eventually got it that he didn't want to be friends, even if he was destined to be in a relationship with Ron's sister.
The next year was trickier, though. Ginevra, or Ginny for short, was a first year, and she too was sorted into Gryffindor.
She did everything she could to corner him, and if it hadn't been for the Marauder's Map that Sirius had given him, she might have succeeded. Even so, he was exhausted each night from running away from her. He didn't realize she'd be so persistent.
Over the next years, they played the game of cat and mouse. No matter how much Harry yearned to get to know Ginny—the little he did know proved she was an amazing witch, and an amazing person—he stayed firm that he wouldn't talk to her. He would fight destiny. It certainly wouldn't be his fault that she died.
It all came to head in his seventh year, though.
xXx
Harry found himself facing the furious brown eyes of Ginny Weasley. "After six years, I've finally caught you!"
He cursed himself for forgetting his map. "There's nothing for us to talk about."
"We belong together!" she yelled.
He looked away from her, unable to meet her eyes that crackled with anger. "You're better off without me."
"Who are you to decide who I'm better off with or without."
Maybe he shouldn't have told her the truth, but he was so sick of constantly feeling like pray that he exploded. "You'll die!"
She blinked. "What?"
"There's a prophecy. My soulmate will die a horrible death, and I'm trying to stop that from happening, okay? So please, just leave me alone. It's for your own good."
Ginny shook her head. "Oh, Harry, you're an idiot."
He glared at her. "Excuse me?"
She took his hand. "First of all, did the prophecy say I'll die if we get together? Or did it just say I'll die? If it's the latter, staying away from me isn't going to save my life. Secondly, did it say when I'll die? Because if it didn't, I could live to be ninety years old for all you know."
"Prophecies never give all of the information," he mutinously replied.
"Exactly. I could die tomorrow, or next month, or next year, or in fifty years. There's no way of knowing. And I should be able to live my life the way I want to until I die. It's not your decision to make. It's mine. And if I want to be with you, then I'm going to be with you. And nothing, especially not some vague prophecy, is going to stop me."
"What if it is my fault that you die?" Harry questioned. It was the thing he couldn't stop thinking about. If he caused Ginny's death, he would never forgive himself.
Ginny took his hand. "Granted, we don't know much about each other, and that is very much your fault, but I can't believe you're the reason I die. In fact, I choose to believe I'll live to have grey hair with wrinkles. I choose to believe that I'll live to have children and grandchildren, and watch them grow up. And no matter when or how I die, I think I'll be happy to go because I'll know I lived my life to the fullest."
"You're optimistic." It was the only thing Harry could think to say.
"I guess I have to be in order to balance out your pessimism."
Harry chuckled. "There is a reason we're bound together."
Ginny stepped closer. She leaned towards him. He thought about trying to avoid what he knew was coming, but he didn't want to. He had spent so much time running away from her that he just wanted to accept whatever fate deigned to throw at him, throw at them.
When their lips touched, Harry never felt anything like it. His whole body tingled, and he yearned for more. When she pulled back, it felt all too soon.
"Are you done running from me?" Ginny huskily whispered.
Harry swallowed. "I was running for you."
"You were running because you were scared of losing me as much as you were scared that you'd be the cause of my death. Are you done acting like a coward? Are you ready to be the Gryffindor that you know you should be?"
Harry's answer was to lean forward and kiss her again.
He didn't know when she'd die. He didn't know what the cause would be either, but he did know he'd cherish every moment he had with her as if it was their very last moment together.
Fin
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(word count: 1,594)