DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to own the characters within this fic, with the exception of possible original characters created by myself. The world in which this takes place, Harry Potter, does not belong to me and all rights to this world go to J.K. Rowling. It is possible that should I choose to continue this in the future, there may be more mature themes so please keep that in mind when reading this. Thank you, and please take the time to review. All comments are greatly appreciated. Though let me say from the get-go, that I know the soulmate concept is overdone and perhaps cliche, however I have never written it myself and so I wanted to venture down that road even if just a little. Happy reading!
Bright blue eyes were glued on the clock on the opposite side of the room. The hands were moving much too slowly for Rose's liking and the incessant ticking would soon be the death of her, she was sure of it. Still, despite it being late in the evening, she couldn't help but watch it. The trouble with watching time tick by was that it actually seemed to get slower, as if that were even possible. It probably wasn't, unless you took into account the idea of magic that was basically the whole principle of her schooling; then maybe it was possible. If so, it wasn't something she had learned yet, or even read about in the copious amount of school textbooks she'd read in her spare time.
Why was her gaze so fixated on the clock? It was her birthday tomorrow, and it had been sixteen years since Rose was born at 12:07 on March 20th, 2006. The time was important and she'd heard about the times each of the girls in her dormitory had stayed up waited until exactly that time to watch as the name of their soul mate appeared on their wrists, as if their soul mate had written it themselves. She'd felt sorry for Angelina Thomas when she revealed the name that had been slowly scrawled onto her wrist. They didn't even have to quiz her, she'd just burst into the room, falling on her bed with a sigh before half-shouting. "John Phillips! Do you know how many of them there are in the world?" Rose felt herself hoping for a more recognisable name. It was wrong, she knew, but it was helpful even if her mother insisted that she shouldn't push to find her soulmate and it shouldn't matter. She was one to talk, her parents were each other's soul mates.
Usually, Rose was the one telling her friends that it was silly to be waiting up for things like this, for boys and such. Yet here she was, eyes on the clock. It was gone midnight now. All of the girls in her dorm were sleeping now, which she was glad about because no doubt she'd get a good earful about how she was hypocritical. She'd have an argument of course; she had Hogwarts: A History open in front of her, and a pen clicking away in her right hand. It sure looked like she was doing work, but they would know better.
A sigh passed through her lips and she threw the pen down onto the book, ocean blue orbs travelling up to the clock once again. She liked the addition of the muggle clock to their room. It wasn't her choice specifically, but as much as she enjoyed the wizarding world, she held an admiration for her mother's world prior to Hogwarts, too.
The hand went again and it was now 12:07. Frantic eyes found her wrist. It was still bare. "Maybe it takes a minute." She mumbled to herself. Hearing a grunt from beside her, blue eyes widened and watched closely. She definitely did not want anyone waking up now. There was a lesson early morning, nine o'clock to be precise and for someone who was getting top marks in class she certainly was not acting intelligent at that moment.
Another sigh left her lips and she shut the book on her bed, not even bothering to remove the pen. With one swift movement the book was on her nightstand and the lumos charm was no more. There was still no name on her wrist and Rose was without a doubt furious. She'd just wasted a good hour of sleep to try and find out which name would appear on her wrist. It wasn't as if she wouldn't know in the morning anyway. She just wanted to watch as it slowly found its way onto her wrist. Maybe that was why it wasn't coming. Or maybe her dad hadn't actually remembered the time and had instead just taken a guess, which evidently had turned out to be the wrong one. Figures.
Deciding that it was stupid waiting and she was being ridiculous, she lay down in the bed, head on the pillow and closed her eyes. The redhead hadn't realised just how tired she had been until her head was cushioned and she could shut her eyes. Drifting off into a well-needed sleep meant that she didn't even notice the slight stinging feeling in her wrist.
Considering the fact she'd stayed up so late just to get a glimpse of the name that would make its grand entrance to her wrist, Rose didn't seem overly concerned about it when morning came. Sunlight had streamed through the windows, and when paired with the voices of her roommates there was really no use in trying to stay asleep. She yawned, clearly demonstrating the lack of sleep she'd had, not that any of the girls would know. Sitting up in bed, her blue orbs found the faces of the girls; to her surprise they were almost ready. She was usually the one up and dressed before them.
Quickly she rose from her bed and made every effort to get ready for the day ahead. It wasn't long until breakfast and soon after that they would be having a class with the Slytherins, charms to be exact. Rose quite liked charms, though it was one of the few classes where she actually wasn't a complete natural nor was she top of the class. A feeling she disliked, honestly.
The redhead was dressed now, her hands coming up to tie her hair up in a bun. It wasn't a new style, though the reaction she got from the girls was certainly new. Angelina was the first to gasp, and not surprisingly move towards her, her gaze narrowing as if she were trying to read something. Then when a sound left her lips, Rose realised that was exactly what she was trying to do. It was then that Rose remembered. Her wrist. She hadn't even looked yet, she hadn't even remembered – she was too preoccupied by the rush of getting ready to truly register that there was a new, bold and black mark on her wrist.
Without even a second thought Rose's eyes shot down to her wrist, registering the name for a moment before she too gasped. She pulled the sleeves of her jumper down over the name instantly. A groan could be heard from Angelina who was now much closer. Did that mean she hadn't seen the name?
"Come on Rose! That's not fair." She whined, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave a puppy-dog look to her friend. "I told you mine." That was hardly fair, her name could have been anyone. Rose's name was certainly not just anyone. In fact, Rose couldn't think of a single other person with both his first and last name. Which only made it worse in her opinion.
"Definitely not." The boy in question was someone Rose didn't even speak to. They had a silent rivalry though, academically only and other than that neither of them would speak a single word to each other. Rose might not have even known he existed if it wasn't for the way he had been pointed out to her on the platform before her first year at Hogwarts. She might not have known just how much she wanted to take her father's wishes into consideration if she hadn't bumped into him on the train within that very same hour. He had knocked her books out of her hands and she'd almost cussed at him – the way her cousin James had taught her – but she'd refrained when he'd bent down to help pick them up. She should have left them in the cabin with Albus anyway. It was when he actually noticed her that things had gone south, he had shoved the books at her too forcefully and almost knocked her over again. Not only that but he had the audacity to tell her to watch where she was going. Even since then he hadn't spoken to her and she hadn't spoken to him, unless it was absolutely necessary. Like last year when they were potion partners for a long week.
"Well, I saw an 'S'," she exclaimed, sounding the letter out. A shocked squeak from her other dorm mate, Rhian.
"Not Stuart." She pleaded with me and I just shook my head. Stuart was her ex-boyfriend as of just a week ago and all Rhian had been able to talk about since was how she was not over him while wondering why he would break up with her. A smile burst onto her face when Rose had shook her head though. "Then who?" Great. Now they both were interrogating her. That was not what she wanted. This was precisely the reason that Rose had wanted to watch the name appear on her wrist while everyone else was asleep. She had to go back on her initial wishes.
Rose shook her head. "No. I'm not saying." She was adamant; she didn't have to tell anyone, why should she? Instead of listening to their protests again though, she made her way out of their dorm and into the common room. She felt eyes on her but she didn't care, she wasn't going to stop there either. So out of the Ravenclaw common room she dashed.
She couldn't tell them that external forces had chosen her soul mate to be Scorpius Malfoy. The platinum blond male who was undoubtedly good looking, but who had been so unwilling to speak a world to her since their first day at Hogwarts. How did that even work? She wondered as she navigated the halls, her destination was the Great Hall. She wondered if that would be a good place to go though, what with the likelihood of all her cousins being there and wanting her to reveal the name that had stayed secret until now. She could already see the shock, worry and disgust on their faces. No, this name, this mark would stay secret, regardless of whether fate had other intentions.
Then it dawned on her, as she turned the corner that perhaps he would be there too. She stopped in her tracks. Seeing him was not on her to-do list. She hadn't even come to terms with everything yet. Merlin, when was his birthday even? Did he already know? He probably did; she thought he was older than her at least. If he did though, then why hadn't he said anything? "He was probably disgusted." She mumbled aloud.
"Who was disgusted?" A dark haired male greeted her with a smile while Rose just groaned. Trust him to overhear. It could have been worse though; Scorpius could have overheard. "Happy Birthday, Rosie." He was the first one to have even said happy birthday to her, all the girls were worried about was that damn name on her wrist; it took the fun out of everything.
She smiled at her cousin though. "Thanks, Al."
"You're welcome." His brows furrowed though, despite her now cheery attitude. "You didn't answer my question." He pointed out and Rose groaned as if telling him to leave the subject alone. Then she watched as his eyes widened and understanding washed over his face. "You know now?!" He exclaimed as if it was an exciting thing. Okay, perhaps it was only her who didn't find it exciting. "You got your name."
"No, I got someone else's name." She pointed out, a slightly forced chuckle leaving her lips. "My own would be a little vain now, wouldn't it?"
He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, Rose." Rose nodded; she did know. "So, whose name did you get?" Rose stared back at him, he wasn't even trying to be subtle, apparently. Then again, subtle was certainly now his middle name. She was also surprised that Albus himself didn't know. See Albus was actually a close friend of Scorpius', though you wouldn't believe it the way that Rose would hardly ever see Scorpius when Albus was around. Surely Scorpius would have told her cousin, complained about his bad luck or something. She didn't know Scorpius that well, but he avoided her like the plague sometimes.
"You tell me." The words came out accusingly. But that's what she was doing, accusing her cousin of keeping vital information from her.
Albus only shrugged. "Why would I ask if I knew?" He didn't seem to be clued in, but he had an excellent poker face in times of need. Rose shrugged. She was about to say more when she was stopped mid-sentence, spotting the blond whose name was a recent addition to her skin.
"I've got to go." Rose told her cousin with a small smile. "See you later." And with that she turned on her heels, moving down the corridor as quick as did not look suspicious.
"What's up with her?" She heard faintly, a voice that she wasn't very familiar with but recognized instantly anyway.
"It's her birthday."