Yo! Something else I need to clarify-although this is something already touched on in chapter 1 and chapter 14, so I'm sorry about the giant AN. No one but soulmates can write/draw on their skin. Rather, if anyone other than a soulmate does it, nothing appears on the other mate's skin. I have some reasons for that.

Abuse/assault is one reason. Do you know how many people are beaten every day? Whether it's by family, strangers, bullies, it happens all too often. Tattoos are another reason. It wouldn't exactly be fair for someone who hates tattoos to be stuck with one just because their soulmate decided to get one. That would also mean any marked Death Eater with a soulmate...well, said soulmate would also be marked, even if they weren't Dark, or if they hated Voldemort. I mean, with the Ministry being full of idiots, they'd probably arrest and sentence a five year old who was only marked because their much older soulmate was, even if this five year old hadn't ever even heard of Voldemort or Death Eaters.

Now, logically, that should mean injuries/tattoos caused/done by the person's own hand would appear on their soulmate, right? Nope. Those don't count either. The tattoo thing for the same reasons-it would be seriously unfair. I would have allowed injuries, like, accidental bumps and scraps and things, but including injuries caused by one's own hand, would also mean having to include self-harm. Are you aware of how many self-harmers there are out in the world? Most would never, ever want anyone to find out what they do, let alone their own soulmate. It's just...it's just too much. So only writing/drawing that isn't causing physical harm to oneself, done by one's own hand, will appear on their soulmate's skin.

Maybe that creates some problems or plotholes, but honestly, I don't really care. This is all you need to know. Feel free to ask questions if you need more clarification or something, but don't expect me to change the 'rules' of how this works.

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

Violet really wasn't enjoying her summer break. It was, admittedly, better than most years, but still...well, wasn't exactly the best. She still had a million chores, for one, and there were still punishments too, generally only if she didn't finish those chores. That was how she spent most of her days, and at night, once Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were asleep and Dudley clearly occupied, she quietly and cautiously did her homework using a flashlight so she wouldn't get caught.

It was hardly the best way for her to be learning, but really, what other choice did she have? She had to make sure this work was done before she went back, and this was the only way she could think of to ensure that.

Without Hedwig around, and having warned her friends not to try to send her mail, the only person Violet heard from was Hermione, and that was only once, when her Muggleborn friend called while pretending to be from the library, upset over an overdue book. Aunt Petunia had been quite pleased by the trouble Violet had found herself in, minor though it was, and had given her niece the phone before simply leaving the room. All that had done was give Violet and Hermione a proper chance to talk, though it hadn't been for long.

Other than that, Violet occasionally heard from Marvolo, though she was getting the feeling he was very busy. His messages just seemed...strange to her. She wasn't sure why she felt that, or what was making them seem like that, but they just were...

Violet's twelfth birthday did not start off well. It wasn't because the Dursleys completely ignored it-that was something they did every single year. Well, she supposed that wasn't quite true. They weren't completely ignoring it. They did acknowledge it, and she knew that because they saddled her with even more chores than usual! She was going to be at this all damn day!

So she worked, ignoring her aunt's watchful glare and her idiotic cousin's constant teasing. If she could just make it through the day without any sort of punishment, that would be enough of a birthday present on its own, and she would be satisfied. But that also meant she had to finish all the chores, which meant she couldn't allow herself to be distracted.

And she did manage to finish them, much to her own surprise. It had seemed like an impossible task, but really, none of the chores were anything Violet hadn't done before, or wasn't already used to. None of them had been hard to complete-just time consuming.

But her day didn't end there.

The moment she'd retreated back into the house after finishing the last of her chores, Uncle Vernon returned home, seeming very excited. Some important people were going to be coming over for dinner that very same night, and he wanted every single thing to go smoothly, because he might end up making a very big deal, or something like that.

Aunt Petunia had been pleased at first, and then scandalized to learn there wasn't time to cook a proper meal. So she shoved some money into her niece's hand and with some very explicit instructions, sent her out to the grocery store.

Violet hadn't bothered to complain. She headed straight to the store to purchase what her aunt had asked her to, and used a bit of the change to buy herself a single apple, just so she had something to munch on as she made her way back to the house. She was absolutely starving, and had no idea if she was going to be fed tonight or not, so this was going to have to do if she wasn't.

When she arrived back at Number Four, she found the Dursleys had used that time to dress themselves up. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were both wearing suits, and Aunt Petunia was in a hideous dress that made her look even worse than she already did.

Her aunt snatched the bags and change the moment she saw her, before retreating into the kitchen, and Violet barely had the chance to be thankful she didn't have to cook too, when her uncle called her into the other room, only to tell her to head upstairs to 'her room', where she was to remain in silence until the Masons left later on. She wasn't allowed to leave the room for anything at all, and wasn't allowed to make a single sound either. If she did, she should expect to be severely punished, she was warned.

And with that, she was sent upstairs with a slice of bread, a bit of cheese, and a glass of water. ...Wow, the Dursleys must have been really desperate to keep her compliant.

But that was fine. It wasn't like she wanted to be down there for dinner with the Masons anyway. In fact, if the Dursleys were going to be busy downstairs, she could probably use this time to finish up the last of her homework, and head to bed early for once.

So she finished eating and got to work, just needing to add a couple of paragraphs to her Transfiguration essay...

A few minutes passed, and she was waiting for her essay to dry so she could roll it up and put it away, when she caught sight of letters on her left forearm. She wasn't surprised to see Marvolo's usual neat handwriting, and smiled, glad to hear from him again so soon. He'd wished her a happy birthday that morning, and Violet hadn't thought she would get another message until tomorrow, or the day after, considering how busy he seemed to be.

'I'm surrounded by idiots.'*

Unable to stop herself, Violet giggled, wondering what was happening and who was around him to make someone like him lose his patience like this. Picking up the Muggle pen she kept nearby for this specific purpose, she wrote back.

'I know how you feel.'

'Are you surrounded by thankless idiots as well?'

Violet heard her aunt's loud, shrill, fake laugh, and giggled again. 'Yep. Three of them.'

'My condolences.'

This time, the girl was forced to cover her mouth to muffle her laughter. She didn't want to risk being heard. She wrote back once she had stopped laughing, and it was in this manner that Violet passed the time, chatting casually with Marvolo. It was rare for something like this to happen, but she certainly wasn't complaining. In fact, talking, or rather, writing to him like this made today's birthday the second best one she'd ever had, even despite the chores she'd been made to do earlier.

She and Marvolo continued chatting until Violet heard the Masons leave. She knew her aunt or uncle were going to come check on her soon, especially since she'd done as they'd asked and remained quiet, so she quickly put her school things away and settled down on the bed, pretending like she'd been reading one of the many dusty books Dudley had left in this room.

Sure enough, barely five minutes later the door opened, revealing her aunt who glared at her with narrowed eyes displaying suspicion. "What are you doing?" she questioned.

Violet blinked. "Reading, Aunt Petunia," she replied innocently. "Can I take my dishes down now?"

"...Yes, go wash them immediately. I don't want them cluttering up the sink!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Violet didn't bother mentioning that she was the one who did the dishes every day, and that a single plate and cup were hardly going to make a difference to her. Instead, she simply did as told and washed the two dishes before returning to her room, this time to actually head to bed. It was pretty late, and now that she had finished all her summer homework, she wasn't going to have to stay up incredibly late to do it in secret-thank Merlin.

The last thing she saw before she turned off the light, was another message on her arm, this one too forcing a giggle of amusement out of her.

'I'm still surrounded by idiots.'

*Marvolo writing that he's surrounded by idiots is from a comment left by Mantiz, so thank you for that! I don't know why I thought that was so funny, but I just had to include it. Next chapter is the start of second year. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!