Yo. Since a number of you seem to have forgotten who Hermione will be paired with, I thought I would remind you. HermionexLuna. The only other pairing I have decided on besides that and MarvoloxViolet, would be LuciusxSeverusxNarcissa. Please remember that. Other pairings are still up in the air.

Another thing is that a few of you are calling Marvolo's behaviour 'parental'. I can see why you would say that, considering the age difference, but one thing that always bothers me is that it's somehow as if couples shouldn't get...upset with one another if the other does something dangerous. If one does/or is doing something somehow bad, the other should step up and let them know that that isn't okay. But I don't really see that in fanfiction (the stuff I read at least), unless it's a one way scolding that doesn't really lead to anything. Since Marvolo and Violet have yet to tell one another that they know the truth, this was the best way I could do that. And frankly, I don't really give a shit if you don't agree. I think it might be a cultural difference though.

And someone, or perhaps more than one person mentioned Marvolo had no authority to assign Violet detention, and that McGonagall should be upset with that. But you know what? The people who should have had that authority did absolutely nothing about it. I followed canon in that Violet ended up with a spot on the Quidditch team. I deviated from canon by having someone assign her detention. And you don't have to have your Head of House assign you detention, or else all those detentions Snape assigned Harry in canon would be pointless. Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed canon Harry didn't get detention for the flying lesson incident-Malfoy too, for that matter. And okay, sure Marvolo could have given Violet detention and sent her off to McGonagall, right? But what would McGonagall do for that detention? Wouldn't she just argue against it or something? I mean, she did approve of Harry/Violet ending up on the Quidditch team with no punishment whatsoever. That's a gripe I have with McG anyway-punishing and not punishing at the wrong times. So why didn't Marvolo have Violet do her detention with him only? Do you seriously see him doing that after what he knows? Why do you think he's even in the potions classroom with Snape?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...

Malfoy was the first to notice Violet, and as predicted, he just glared at her. Snape noticed her next, and Marvolo did so too just a second later.

"Severus," he said calmly, "now that they are both here, I believe you should assign them their detentions."

Snape inclined his head, but didn't argue for obvious reasons. "You will both be cleaning cauldrons," he told them.

Malfoy's head snapped up, expression one of incredulity. It appeared as if he hadn't expected to actually be punished. Violet found that to be kind of amusing, but she didn't say anything and just got to work. She didn't really care about cleaning cauldrons. Cleaning in general wasn't something that bothered her. In fact, it was kind of...peaceful-familiar. And it helped her forget Marvolo was in the room too. That, she didn't want to think about right now.

So, just as in her last detention, Violet ignored those in the room and simply began to clean. She heard Malfoy come up near her, cleaning his own share, though he muttered petulantly under his breath the entire time. It was obvious to her that cleaning wasn't something he was used to, but that didn't really surprise her. He sounded more concerned over the state of his nails than he did the cauldrons.

Of course, that just made Violet wonder what kind of life she would have had if her parents hadn't died. Would she have grown up the same way Malfoy and Dudley did? Or maybe like Hermione? Or would her parents have had more kids so she ended up with siblings like Ron? Or would her life have somehow been worse than it was with the Dursleys? Was that even possible?

It was hard to say, and she honestly wasn't really even sure why she was bothering to think about it. Thinking wasn't going to change anything, but even then... It just made her wonder why some people had things so-so easy. What kind of struggles did Draco Malfoy have? Dudley didn't have any struggles, after all. Well, unless one counted being unable to fit into clothes or run out of energy after ten seconds as struggles, not that Dudders seemed to mind that, so long as he got to watch the telly whenever he wanted, and eat as many sweets as he could.

It was just kind of strange that Malfoy was so upset by the simple task of cleaning cauldrons of all things. He was having a hard time with it too, she noted when she glanced at him quickly. He couldn't scrub hard enough to get the grime off, and there was water everywhere, including his shirt. ...He was going to have to get out of that before he caught a cold. The water wasn't exactly warm. The dungeons weren't either, for that matter. ...Had Malfoy ever even washed a cup before?

Violet bit back an amused smile at the thought, and continued to work. She didn't want to get yelled at or anything, and it was probably going to be kind of weird to have to explain why she was smiling in the middle of detention. Snape already clearly didn't like her, and she didn't particularly feel like making that any worse than it already was...

Unsurprisingly, Violet was the first to finish cleaning her (slightly larger) stack of cauldrons. When everything was put away and her hands washed and dried, she turned, only to blink in surprise when she realized Marvolo was watching her. Half a second later, Snape looked at her too.

At first, no one spoke, the silence in the room somewhat awkward, though Malfoy, still focused on his task, didn't notice it at all. The other three just kind of looked at one another, before Snape stood and made his way across the room to check out the state of the cauldrons the girl had cleaned. He didn't say anything though, just inclined his head, seemingly satisfied.

Eventually, it was Marvolo who broke the silence. "I'll be making use of your sitting room, Severus."

"Of course. As you will." Naturally, he wasn't going to make a fuss about it. Not when the Dark Lord was the one saying it.

"You should be dismissing Miss Potter as well. She has done as asked, has she not?"

Taking that as her cue, Violet quickly bid the professors a good night, and left the room, eager to get away and put some distance between herself and the Slytherins. She was glad things had gone well, of course, and that she hadn't been lectured, but that, admittedly, wasn't making her feel any better.

She had been able to tell, just by the expression on Marvolo's face, that he was both upset and confused, though the expressions hadn't remained there for very long. She doubted he had even meant for her to see them. She'd thought he was going to lecture her or something, but he hadn't said a word to her directly, and Violet was, admittedly, rather confused.

Ron and Hermione were waiting for her in the common room, and she told them what had happened in detention, discounting her thoughts, naturally. Ron seemed rather amused by Malfoy's struggle to clean (Violet wanted to point out Ron, who did very little cleaning himself, probably would have been just as bad), but Hermione simply cocked her head to one side and hummed in thought, the look on her face one of contemplation.

With it being rather late, they made their way up to bed just a few minutes later, and Violet grew hesitant. She always wished Marvolo a good night. But he was mad at her, wasn't he? Would her doing that make him even more upset? She didn't want that. But what if not saying anything made him mad too?

The girl went round and round in her head, thinking and considering, and before she could make up her mind, she caught a glimpse of green out of the corner of her eye, and looked down at her left arm.

'Good night, Violet. Pleasant dreams.'

A breath of relief left her, and she gently, and rather cautiously ran her fingers over the message, flooded with relief...

Marvolo, seated in Severus' sitting room, sighed deeply. He had been rash in what he had said to Violet. Rash in his reprimand. He hadn't been able to help it. When he had found out what had taken place during Gryffindor and Slytherin's flying lessons, he had practically panicked. Learning what Violet had done, hearing the danger she had put herself in, it had terrified him.

But he had been unable to approach her directly, not without telling her he was aware of the truth, though he was aware she already knew. So he had settled with using their connection, and had written to her instead. He had meant to inquire on whether or not she was alright, whether she had been injured or not. But he had ended up reprimanding her instead.

And he was aware his words had bothered her. It was obvious in the way her responses had had a greater pause between them than usual. The way they had been shorter than usual too. But he had remained firm. He had to. He wasn't upset that he had given Violet detention-someone had to. Regardless of who they were, and regardless of what their connection was, he was still a professor at Hogwarts, and she was still his student. And if none of her other professors were going to do anything, then the task fell upon him.

But there still had been guilt there. So even though her detention had been with Severus, Marvolo had made sure to be there too. Not just so his friend didn't say anything, or to ensure Draco didn't do anything, but so he could simply see his young soulmate and make sure she truly was unharmed.

She hadn't appeared to be upset when she had entered the dungeon classroom. Surprised, certainly, but not upset. She had washed her share of the dirty cauldrons without complaint, though he had caught her glancing at Draco every now and again, appearing amused. He was sure he knew why. It hadn't bothered him. He was hardly going to be jealous of an eleven year old boy, after all.

He had been pleased, however, to see that Violet had been perfectly alright. There had been no signs of any injuries, and her mood had appeared decent as well. Though he had noticed that she had avoided his gaze the entire time she had been in detention. He supposed he couldn't blame her for that.

Once he found himself alone, after Violet had been dismissed, Marvolo, having retreated to Severus' sitting room (they were planning on having a drink after the students' curfew), rolled up his left sleeve to bare his forearm, and waited.

Every night, Violet wished him a goodnight before she went to sleep. Would she do the same today? Or was she too worried? Too frightened of his reaction?

He couldn't blame her. They were soulmates, yes, but she was still a child. He didn't know much about children, hadn't been a particularly normal child himself, but even he knew that children feared reprimand. His own pride didn't mean much here right now, did it?

So he was the one who took the initiative. He was the one who, for the first time, wished Violet a good night, writing the words upon his forearm. And then he waited. Did it bother him that he could hear his own heart beating in his chest? He wasn't quite sure.

'Goodnight, Marvolo. Sweet dreams.'

The next breath that left him was one of relief. Violet couldn't be too upset with him if she had replied to him. That was good.

"Your soulmate?"

If Marvolo had been anyone else, he would have started. Instead, he merely inclined his head, rolling his sleeve back down as Severus moved through the room to pour out a couple of drinks.

"Did something happen?"

"A bit of a... Well, a conflict of sorts. We've resolved the matter now, I believe," the crimson eyed man spoke calmly.

Severus nodded and passed a glass over, before settling down in the armchair across the Dark Lord. "Cissa was pestering me about your soulmate again just last weekend, actually."

"Was she indeed?" Marvolo shook his head in exasperation, then sipped his drink. "I do believed I have stated that my mate's identity is not up for discussion?"

"You have, and we are all aware of it." He smiled slightly, the curving of his lips just barely visible. "Lucius is just as bad."

"Those two. Their curiosity is as insatiable as a Gryffindor's."

"Shall I tell them you said that?"

*"If you wish to be on the receiving end of two painful curses, certainly. Of course, you know as well as I that the two of them will only punish you in a different manner entirely." Marvolo chuckled when he saw Severus flush slightly, and sipped his drink again as they fell into a companionable silence.

Would things between him and Violet change in the future, Marvolo wondered? She seemed content enough for now, but was that something that would change as she grew? He was...well, he was hardly the best person to call soulmate, and he was well aware of it. Right now, Violet was too young to really understand what having a soulmate meant. But how would she grow? How would she change?*

Perhaps she would only see him as a professor. Perhaps she would only see him as the Dark Lord. Perhaps she would become too frightened to pursue any positive relationship with him. Perhaps she would grow to resent him. There really was no way to know what could happen in the future, save for Divination, of course, though that nonsense was nothing he believed in.

...Nothing he believed in?

Marvolo's brow furrowed. Something about that didn't seem right. He didn't believe in Divination. He never had. But then... There was something there. Something in his mind that he was so close to remembering. Something that would give him the answer to the confusion he didn't understand.

"-olo? My Lord?"

The older man blinked, then cursed inwardly, whatever he had been about to remember fading back into the depths of his mind.

"Are...are you well, my Lord?"

Well, it had been quite a while since Severus had last called him that. "Yes, yes I'm well. I was simply lost in my thoughts. Think nothing of it."

"As you wish," Severus replied, bowing his head, though he didn't seem to be convinced.

Regardless, Marvolo thought, it was good that things between Violet and himself appeared to be resolved. At least for the time being. All that panic, that guilt, that fear, all of it was gone.

This wasn't like him. He was entirely aware of it. It wasn't like him to feel things like this, to act like this. And it bothered him. This change. This-this concern. But after having spent the better part of the last seven years communicating with his soulmate, he wasn't sure he wanted to lose it-lose her.

I lost a couple of paragraphs in Marvolo's pov, and couldn't get it back, and I tried to redo that bit by memory, so it isn't quite how it was supposed to be, but I couldn't remember every single sentence I had written. So I'm sorry if something seems a bit off there. The beginning AN was pretty long, so I gave you a longer chapter to counter that. Don't complain. I'm seriously not in the mood. Since this new year started, I've had a migraine every single day. Since I had one on December 31st as well, that makes nine days in a row, discounting today since it's just past midnight. If this current migraine doesn't go away soon, that'll be ten days. So either say something nice, or just don't say anything. Looking forward to reviews. Laterz.