Yo! Sorry about the wait. Most of you know about the shit that's been going on with my eyes, and I know I said somewhere else I'd be updating things a bit a handful of weeks ago, but I've spent most of the past month sick with who knows what, so yeah. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

Violet sank into bed, exhausted. The Dursleys hadn't wasted any time before putting her to work again this summer, and it was really very annoying. She sighed heavily, sprawling out as much as she could on the small bed. At least it wasn't the cupboard. It was late, and while she was tired, she found that she wasn't actually sleepy.

What could she do to make herself sleepy? As she thought, Violet absently began examining her hands, which were a bit dry and cracked from all the work she'd been doing earlier. "Huh...?" As Violet stared, words began appearing on her forearm.

'I am outside. Are you able to sneak out? I cannot go inside.'

For a long moment, all Violet could do was gape at the letters on her skin. ...Wait, he was outside? Violet didn't see anything when she peered out of the window, but she couldn't really doubt that he was actually there somewhere. No one other than Marvolo could have written this anyway.

Violet took the Invisibility Cloak she had hidden under the loose floorboard under her bed and threw it over her before quietly leaving her room and making her way downstairs. The Dursleys were still awake, all of them gathered around the TV. From where they were sitting, they wouldn't notice the front door open, but she definitely had to make sure she didn't make a sound as she moved around. She'd been sent to her room for the night, and she knew she'd end up in trouble if she got caught out of the room, forget about out of the house.

As quietly as she could, Violet opened the door, finding herself glad for the first time that Aunt Petunia insisted on oiling all the hinges regularly. Stepping outside, Violet shut the door as quietly as she had opened it, and then looked around. It was dark outside, even with the dim light coming from the streetlamps, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but she spotted a shadow just a moment later. It was standing under the tree in the yard of the empty house next door.

Violet made her way over, and removed her cloak once she made it to the tree. "Y-you're actually here," she said, still having a hard time believing Marvolo was standing right here in front of her. It was weird seeing him outside of the school-less because he was her soulmate, and more because he was a teacher. Seeing teachers outside of school was always kind of weird. And seeing as he'd been in a coma the last time she'd seen him, maybe she was incredibly relieved too. She still kind of wanted to hug him though. "A-are...you alright now?" she asked instead, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"I am," said Marvolo calmly. He smiled slightly. "You really needn't worry, Violet."

She shrugged a little awkwardly. It didn't matter what he said, she was probably always going to worry. Why wouldn't she? Then, remembering why they were even out here right now, she pulled the locket out from under her shirt. "This...this is your locket, right? It's the one you had on-the one Dumbledore wanted to destroy because he thought it was bad."

"Yes," said Marvolo, visibly relaxing at the sight of the locket. "That is mine." Not that there was any doubt, considering she had taken it off of him in the first place.

"Here-" Carefully, Violet pulled it over her head and held it out. "I'm sorry for taking it."

Shaking his head, the man accepted it and put it on, tucking it under the collar of his shirt. "I...I'm glad that you did. It would have been stolen and possibly destroyed if you hadn't, and as I said, it is very important to me."

Violet hesitated, shifting her weight from one foot to another. "Why... Why would the Headmaster want to destroy your locket? And why does he think it's so bad?" But as soon as she asked, Violet got the feeling she shouldn't have. Marvolo had a strange look on his face. She couldn't really tell what it was for sure, but it sort of made her feel like she'd just asked something really important, but much earlier than she probably should have.

"I..." Marvolo didn't seem to know what so say, something that was very unlike him. Finally though, he sighed softly. "I'm sorry, but that is something I cannot get into right now. This is neither the time nor the place."

Violet figured that was his way of saying she was too young to understand the actual answer right now. It was a little annoying, but she supposed it made sense. She sometimes forgot because of how kindly he treated her, but Marvolo was the Dark Lord. That meant he probably had a lot of, well, dark and dangerous artifacts and stuff. Maybe this locket was something like that. It hadn't felt that way to her-really, it had felt like she had just been carrying a piece of Marvolo with her, which had been a little strange at first, but had quickly become oddly comforting to her.

"It is late," said Marvolo abruptly, drawing the girl out of her thoughts. "You need to sleep." He reached out to her, hesitated, and then just sort of patted her head. "Good night, Violet."

Violet grinned, kind of amused by the awkward gesture. "Good night!" Aware Marvolo was watching her, she pulled her Invisibility Cloak back on and quietly sneaked back into the house and up to her room. Fortunately, the Dursleys hadn't noticed she'd been missing for the last few minutes.

And that's it for now. Short chapter, I know. Meh. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!