I love reading soul-mark/soul-timer stories, but I couldn't get it out of my head how annoying they'd actually be. This one-shot is the result.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.
Hello
That word haunts me. That stupid word on my wrist. Of course, the nature of the word haunts everyone, but this word must haunt well over half of the wizarding population. You may ask why, but it should be obvious.
How would you feel if your soulmark was the most overused greeting on the planet? It could even be someone who doesn't speak English – soulmarks have the nasty tendency to translate themselves into the wearer's native language.
Few people can honestly say their soulmark is unique; most people have some variant of mine on their wrists. While some would argue that each person should have a unique greeting for everyone to try to help the congestion, it normally doesn't work out that way.
As stated before, the mark tends to translate itself. That means if you make up a word that you only use as a greeting, the soulmate magic will take that to mean "hello." There's also only so many words in the English language (or any other language, for that matter), and people can only handle so many "Tortilla"s, "Roller-coaster"s, and "My butt smells like a butt!"s.
Yes, all have been used in saying "hello" to me.
Some people, like Ron and Hermione, have obvious soulmarks. It's easy to tell who your soulmate is if you have "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one" tattooed on your skin. Hermione was quite embarrassed to find that that greeting would never be forgotten.
Very few people knowingly meet their soulmate. That's where heartbreak comes in. Because the mark forms when you are ten, and can you honestly remember the conversations you had when you were five? Because if you meet a deaf or mute person, you'd see what they are conveying to you when you meet them. Because you can't learn the translation for your soulmark in every language. Because you don't know if the person you met at the McDonald's Drive through window or the person you bumped into on the street is your soulmate. Because there are cases of people purposefully learning what another's soulmark is to convince them to date them. Some people even force others to look at their mark before speaking, just to make sure they never have to know who it is! Some people purposefully say "hello" just to never know who their soulmate is. They're scared, broken, or just aren't looking for love. I can't understand that. If over fifty percent of the world's population has the same soulmark, then what are the actual chances of you meeting your soulmate before you are fifty?
People date just to learn if they are compatible with another person. Few soulmates meet before they're adults, and those who do immediately get married. In the muggle world, it is not a requirement by law, but a requirement by social expectations. In the wizarding world, it is a requirement by law to marry your soulmate.
The only known requirement of a soulmark, besides the fact that your first words to each other are forever tattooed in your skin, is that you will meet your soulmate to hear those word(s) before your death. There are stories of soulmates meeting seconds before death. There are stories on the news of people coming back to life because they had yet to meet their soulmate.
And wizards still wonder how I survived that night?
I've given up trying to find the solution to my problem or guessing who my soulmate is. I could have met them yesterday, or I might not meet them for several more years. Even one of the girls from my old primary school could be my soulmate.
I walk towards my death, towards Voldemort. Maybe I'll die, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll come back, kicking and fighting. Maybe I'll meet my parents. I don't care anymore. I can't care anymore. I doubt Ginny is my soulmate, even if she greeted me similarly to how I greeted her. "Hello." Some claim the soulmarks as a gift from the heavens above, but I believe they are a curse to humanity. To be tempted with such a gift, only to learn that you will never truly know who they are.
Maybe, if I do come back, and I'm not her soulmate, we can stay together, until we might find our real soulmates. I can learn to love her; I already have. It wouldn't be a cursed existence, and if we happen to say "hello" to our real soulmates, maybe it won't be so bad. We wouldn't have known anyway, and better to love what you can than die in wonderment. There's no way to prove you are that person's soulmark, so it would have been guesswork anyway.
But I will go and die today. I am a horcrux. I must die so others can live. I sincerely hope Voldemort's met his soulmate, or my death will mean nothing. Then again, maybe he doesn't have one.
When I spoke with Dumbledore, I learned one thing. Even if I come back to life, I may have already met my soulmate. Death was only willing to take the horcrux, it didn't care one way or the other if I died yet. Death is unfeeling; it's Fate who controls the time of Death. Death is only the action of the movement of the soul from the body.
Of course, it's entirely possible that if I haven't met my soulmate, my decision will be for naught. Can I chance putting my heart towards my parents and all my already dead loved ones, only to be taken away? Can I chance not knowing whether or not I've met my soulmate? Can I chance taking the opportunity to live with my soulmate away from both them and myself? I just don't know. I'll have to decide, it's purposeless to stay in this in-between forever on a chance.
It took me a while, but I was able to convince Ginny I chose to come back. There's just as much of a chance of me being her soulmate as there ever was before. Even if she wasn't my soulmate, we make each other happy. We wouldn't know who her soulmate is anyway; the only way we would would be if she greeted someone different than she has her entire life.
We live happily now. We have three kids: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. All have been as cursed and as blessed as we have. We told them to enjoy the freedom of choice. Not every soulmate is happy with their other half. We can choose who we believe it should be. They are forced together by the rules of society, while we have a freedom that would be impossible to take away.
I still believe the soulmark is a curse, but now I feel it's a curse for those who know who their soulmate is.
Hermione and Ron still love each other and live happily together with their two kids, but their Hogwarts days were miserable. Forced together, they were awkwardly tiptoeing around each other. No one wants to have their soulmate hate them, and both of their fiery tempers made more than one confrontation in the common room that led to awkward apologies.
I now know why some people never let themselves learn who their soulmate is. I now understand how sometimes, soulmates are not happy with each other. The decision was forced from their hands, no deciding involved. If they could choose, as they are soulmates, they'd undoubtedly choose each other, but the lack of choice puts a strain on any relationship. Some people, convinced they belong together, forget to work their problems out. There's more than one news story of soulmates murdering each other, only to commit suicide immediately after.
No, I do not doubt that my blessings came from my ambiguous soulmark.
Sometimes, I have no doubt that soulmarks make life easier. But I believe that they take something from your life, and I can't help but wonder if the world would be happier without them. Not everyone, but more people would be free to make their own choices.
I honestly didn't expect to have made this story so dark. In fact, I originally wanted to make this story slightly humorous. Then my fingers started typing. Oh well, at least Harry gets a happy ending. Technically (besides what Harry and Ginny say when they meet, can't remember that detail), this is all cannon (just with soulmarks).
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