Yo! I actually finished this yesterday, but I didn't have the time to post it. But hey, it's only been a couple of days, so lucky you!
A couple of people have said the previous chapter was short. ...Guys, even discounting the giant AN, that was the longest chapter by a few hundred words. So far at least. Anyway, thank you for the kind words and concern, except for one person. I actually had an entire rant typed out for them, then decided that there was no point and I had better things to do, like watch Wrestle Kingdom. Totally worth it.
To the rest of you who expressed concern, migraines are a very normal thing for me. I've been getting them since I was six, and the older I get, the more frequent and painful they become. And I guess I've had so many painkillers throughout my life, that I've sort of built up a tolerance to them or something, because they almost never work anymore. Most nothing else works either. Sometimes I get lucky though, like today, and the meds do work, but that isn't all too often. The migraines are something I ended up inheriting, so there really isn't much that can be done. I've had to learn to live with them. ...Well, exist with them, really. Anyway! Thank you to all readers so far!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...
Days, weeks, and months went by. The relationship between Marvolo and Violet seemed to have mended itself. And even though they didn't speak much in person, instead keeping to their soulmate marks, they continued to learn more about one another.
Violet learned more about Marvolo's Dark Lord side, learned more about what he had done during that time, learned more about the part he supposedly played in her parents' deaths and her near death. It was strange, and honestly kind of disturbing, but Violet didn't really know what to think.
It wasn't that she thought everyone was lying or anything like that. It was just that...well, people liked to exaggerate, and all the people who were telling her about Marvolo, were clearly people who didn't seem to like him very much. In fact, they all clearly enjoying telling her about all the 'terrible, horrible, evil' things he had done. No one who liked Marvolo told her anything. Marvolo didn't say anything himself either. And while Violet knew he would answer her questions if she asked him herself, she wasn't sure she was ready to do that just yet.
She didn't tell anyone who her soulmate really was. She wasn't ready to do that yet either. But she spotted Hermione often reacting to what surely must have been soulmarks of her own, always seeming confused, amused, exasperated, or a strange mixture of them all. Who could her soulmate possibly be to keep getting these kinds of reactions?
Violet didn't ask her about it. Yes they were good friends, but it wasn't any of her business. Plus, even though she definitely had seen the green eyed girl communicating with her own soulmate more than once (the two did share a dorm, after all), Hermione hadn't ever asked her about it either.
Soulmates were a private thing, despite how fairly common they were. A person didn't have to reveal anything about their soulmate until they wanted to, really, and if someone continued to question them after an initial inquiry, then they obviously had no tact. Actually, when a person continuously questioned or harassed someone else about soulmates, it was generally assumed that they didn't have one of their own, and of course, most didn't want to reveal that.
Violet and Marvolo continued communicating with one another rather casually, but she did end up on the end of a reprimand every now and again, usually when she didn't eat properly after a bad night, or performed poorly in class for reasons that were one hundred percent her fault, or when she did something a bit too reckless.
But Violet found that she kind of...liked when Marvolo scolded her for those things. Because it showed her that he cared. That wasn't something she was used to. Adults didn't normally care. The Dursleys didn't, that was for sure. They didn't scold her either. They would yell at her, hit her, force her to do more chores than usual, withhold food from her, and lock her up in a cupboard, not always in that specific order though.
So it was nice that Marvolo cared. It really was. Maybe...maybe one day she was going to be able to tell him about the Dursleys. But she couldn't now. Not yet. She did trust him, of course, but what if he decided he didn't want to have anything to do with her when she told him? What if he ended up agreeing with the Dursleys? What if he started hating her?
She couldn't bring herself to tell him now. But-but maybe one day she could. Maybe one day she would...
Marvolo learned more about Violet as well, certainly more than she was able to learn about him. He learned some good things, like her magic was stronger than he had initially thought, but was too untamed, too wild for her to have good control over it. But that stronger magic helped her learn powerful spells far quicker than her classmates-particularly spells he taught the Defence classes.
She was an intelligent girl as well, though for some reason, appeared to be...almost purposely not trying, which was very confusing. She was loyal to her friends, and far too curious, but she was also very kind and considerate towards others, so long as they didn't do anything to upset her or hurt her.
But there were other things he learned too. Things that weren't quite as good. Things that were, frankly, alarming in comparison.
Violet was a very reckless girl. She had no apparent concern or fear of danger, and watching her during Quidditch matches was an absolute nightmare, in Marvolo's opinion. All those stunts, all those attacks, nearly choking on the Snitch-she was only a first year!
Marvolo learned more than just that though. He learned that Violet didn't like to be touched. She would cringe whenever someone did touch her, even if they simply tapped her shoulder. And whenever someone came up behind her and touched her, she would literally jump away from them. If she saw someone approaching her while making obvious gestures for a touch of some sort, she would carefully shy away from it, clearly trying to make sure what she was doing wasn't obvious.
From Marvolo's observations, the only person who did manage to get away with touching Violet in any way, was the Granger girl. Violet didn't seem to mind her touch at all.
At first, he had thought it was because Granger was a girl. That Violet only had a problem with males touching her, be they boys or men, because not even Weasley could touch her without her flinching. But then he noticed that Violet didn't like other girls or women touching her either. Not the other girls in her dorm, not the girls on her Quidditch team, not McGonagall or Sprout, or Hooch. It was only Granger, and no one else, whose touch didn't affect Violet. And that was not something that was normal.
But there was more than that too. Violet had all but had a panic attack when Severus had raised his voice. Marvolo had only witnessed that by chance, though he was glad he had.
It happened not long before the Easter break. Marvolo had no class to teach that afternoon, and made his way down to the Potions classroom in the dungeons, where the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were in the middle of Double Potions.
The children had been split off into pairs, Violet working with Granger, while Weasley and Longbottom worked at the table beside them, all of them separated from everyone else as they worked at the tables in the back of the room. Marvolo settled by Severus at his desk, and observed the students as he spoke to his friend casually. Things seemed to be going perfectly fine.
Unfortunately, half way through the practical lesson, things began to suddenly go wrong. Marvolo noticed the problem immediately, and was sure Severus had spotted it too, because when they reacted, it was in unison.
Weasley and Longbottom had, somehow, mistaken an extremely common potion ingredient for an extremely dangerous and volatile one, and the second it hit the potion in their cauldron, it began to sizzle loudly. By the time the men had made it across the classroom, the cauldron was shaking, smoke billowing out of it. Working together, Marvolo and Severus placed a strong and rare shield charm around the cauldron, unable to stop the reaction, but able to prevent anyone from getting harmed when the cauldron itself literally exploded, the shards and potion hitting the shield, before landing and pooling on the table and floor.
And then Severus yelled. Yelled at Weasley and Longbottom for their stupidity, and how could they possibly have mixed the two ingredients up when they had different names on the label, looked somewhat different, were on different shelves, and were placed in different storerooms!? Their mistake would have not only killed them, but Granger and Potter as well!
Deciding to mediate somewhat in a moment, Marvolo lowered the shield and vanished the mess, and it was only when he looked up that he noticed Violet. Having been working with Granger at the very next table in the back of the room, she was quite close to the...site of the incident, but while Granger looked surprised and hesitant, Violet was pale, and had pressed herself to the wall behind her. She was breathing quickly, so quickly she was gasping for breath, and as Severus continued to yell, she squeezed her eyes shut and slid down to the floor.
Alarmed, he moved towards her, and knelt down, everyone else too distracted with what else was happening to notice him and his young soulmate. "Violet?" He placed his hands on her shoulders and, as expected, she flinched at the touch, eyes flying open.
"I-"
Severus started yelling again, and Violet broke off before she could really even begin, and Marvolo wasn't quite sure how to feel at the fear he could see in her eyes. He understood what was happening, but not why, so he simply settled for trying to calm her down.
He tried to assure her that everything was alright, that she was safe, and that nothing was wrong. He tried to get her breathing to slow back down, told her to try to mimic his own inhales and exhales. He tried to do all this with his voice low and calm, and was glad that Severus had finally stopped yelling. He knew the Potions Master wasn't actually angry with the two boys-just concerned for the damage their mistake very nearly caused. Four children had just barely escaped death because of it.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Violet began to calm. Her breathing slowed, and the colour returned to her face. Marvolo stroked her hair, once, twice, and then released her, sitting back on his haunches.
"I-I'm sorry," she all but whispered, avoiding his gaze, a flush gracing her cheeks, no doubt embarrassed by her reaction, regardless of what had caused it.
"Are you well now? Do you feel you need to go to the Hospital Wing? Madam Pomfrey can give you a Calming Draught."
But the girl shook her head. "No, I'm okay. That-" her voice cracked, and she swallowed before trying again. "That-that happens sometimes."
Marvolo wanted to question that. Was about to, as well, but didn't have the chance because before he could say anything, Granger finally noticed them and called out to her friend. So he simply helped Violet back up to her feet, and retreated to Severus' desk, where he was joined by the other man just a moment later. The students had continued their work, Weasley and Longbottom having been made to restart their own potion, looking quite disheartened.
"One of the seventh years is more incompetent than I assumed," Severus spoke quietly.
Marvolo glanced at him. "Indeed?"
"Weasley was the one to fetch the ingredients for the potions, and stated that he took the weed from the same shelf the others were taking their own. The only students who are authorized to touch the weed they ended up using are the seventh years. They look similar enough that younger students may mistake them, but the seventh years should not be making that mistake. The boy is telling the truth as well."
Marvolo's red eyes travelled back to the Gryffindors in the back of the room. Severus would never have made the mistake of placing the weed in the wrong spot, and neither would Marvolo himself, as he did still occasionally brew potions for himself, if his friend was too busy to handle it. So what had this been then? An honest mistake? A seemingly harmless prank? Or a very deliberate attempt to cause harm?
Whatever the cause, the incident had nearly caused the painful deaths of not only Weasley, Longbottom, and Granger, but Violet-his Violet, as well. And adding the girl's reaction to Severus' yelling... All in all, Marvolo was not particularly pleased right now. It seemed he had much more to learn, and not just about his young soulmate.
Since canon first year was all about Voldy trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone, there wasn't much of it I could include, seeing as that would be completely unnecessary. And while I certainly do plan on covering all the school years, this one was basically just to set the groundwork on their relationship. Basically, I had no other plans for first year, and skipped through it-the next chapter will end first year. I do, however, have plans for second year, sooo... Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!