Yo! Someone said a soulmate should have the right to know that their mate is a self-harmer. I don't think ANYONE has a RIGHT to know something like that. Would it be better if they did? In most cases, of course. But not everyone understands self-harm. It confuses some, concerns some, disgusts some. Some see self-harm as an illness. Others see self-harmers as nothing more than attention seekers. Some are aware that it's an addiction. Others believe self-harmers should just kill themselves if they do something like this. And self-harm isn't just cutting. People will scratch themselves, burn themselves, pinch themselves-there are countless ways for a person to hurt themselves. Maybe their soulmate finding out will be a good thing. Maybe their soulmate will understand and help them. But what if their soulmate is one of those people who finds self-harm as a disgusting method of attention seeking? What if they're one of those people who egg self-harmers on to hurt themselves more, just for their own amusement? What if they're one of those people who will encourage their mate to kill themselves? This isn't a black and white topic-the entire idea behind self-harm is shrouded in grey. Sometimes someone finding out will be great. Other times, not so much.
This IS a soulmate AU, yes, but you shouldn't take that to mean that that's always a good thing. In the case of the characters I'm writing about, it definitely IS good. But there are literally billions of people on the planet, and it'll surprise you to know just how many of them are bad, even if they don't initially appear to be. Some people are going to have soulmates who are terrible people. That might be in obvious ways, like them being serial killers or rapists or abusers, or in more subtle ways like them being racist or sexist, for example.
While none of the characters in this fic self-harm, including it in the rules would leave me knowing that it's there and that people will know, and while it is, in some ways, illogical, I prefer keeping it the way it is, with soulmates unable to know unless they see or hear about it themselves, or until their self-harming mate is ready to tell them and ask for help. And I AM sorry if you disagree with me, but this is just my personal and up until now, private view on such a...well, debatable topic. If you do happen to disagree, please keep it to yourself and don't try to start a debate or argument with me. Self-harm is something I don't really like talking about for many personal reasons, and I'd really rather not have to bring it up again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...
Violet was extremely happy when September first finally came around. Ever since the new booklist had arrived a couple of weeks ago, the Dursleys had been threatening that they weren't going to allow her to go back to Hogwarts. She knew it was because the list had been delivered by an owl. That had made them absolutely furious, and the punishment she'd received afterwards had been...well, not good. She was still smarting a little from it, even now.
But it was fine, because now she could go back to Hogwarts and didn't have to see any of the Dursleys until July, which was a long ways off. Yeah, it was fine. Really, it was.
Standing on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Violet peered around for someone familiar to her. Unable to see anyone, she had only just decided to get on the train and look there, when she heard someone call her name, and turned around to find an entire gaggle of redheads coming up behind her.
"Violet!"
She blinked in surprise, not having expected to see so many people. "R-Ron? Uh, hi, er...is this your family?" The only other ones here she knew were the twins, Fred and George, and their older brother Percy.
Clearly not all too concerned, Ron merely waved a hand in disinterest. "What? Yeah, that's my mum, and dad, and that's my little sister Ginny-she's starting at Hogwarts this year."
"O-oh, er-"
"Violet! Oh, it's so nice to finally meet you, dear!"
Before the girl knew what was happening, she was swept up into a bone breaking hug by Ron's mum, and released a sharp gasp of pain at the twinge that went through her not entirely healed ribs.
"Jeez, mum, can you squeeze her any harder?" voiced Fred, no doubt noticing her discomfort.
"Yeah, I think you're suffocating the poor girl," George added, clearly having caught the flash of pain in her eyes.
"O-oh, oh forgive me, Violet." Mrs Weasley released her to introduce herself properly instead, quickly followed by her husband.
And that was that. The warning whistle went off, and the children all hurried off to board the train, at which point the group split up. Percy headed off to the Prefects' compartment, the twins went to find Lee, and Ginny mumbled something about going to sit with someone named Luna. Left alone, Violet and Ron made their way down the corridor, and quickly came across Hermione, who was seated in a compartment on her own, where they then joined her.
The three friends chatted and caught up, talking about how their summer break had gone, though in this aspect, Violet did more listening than speaking. Nothing all too...interesting had happened over the holidays for her, nothing worth bringing up, at least. And she didn't really want to think about what had happened.
Hours later, the train came to a stop, and one horseless carriage ride later, Violet was finally back at Hogwarts. Ginny was Sorted into Gryffindor, her friend Luna into Ravenclaw (which had Hermione releasing a sharp gasp of surprise for some reason), and the Welcoming Feast was uneventful, and after that, Violet and her friends made their way all the way up to Gryffindor Tower, and she was asleep mere minutes later.
It was good to be home...
The first week of classes passed uneventfully, without anything particularly interesting happening. They took a lot of notes, and began to learn about newer things, but beyond that, there wasn't much happening. In fact, it wasn't until Friday, about a week later, that something of note happened.
It was evening, nearly curfew, and Violet was hurrying to Gryffindor Tower. She, Ron, and Hermione had been at the library all evening, before Ron had gone down to the Great Hall for dinner. Hermione had left to join him a half hour later, having finished all her homework, and Violet, wanting to finish her Potions essay, had told her she'd meet them in the common room later, because she wasn't feeling hungry.
But Violet, so caught up in her work, had lost track of time, only becoming aware of it when Madam Pince had called out that she was closing the library for the night, and wanted everyone out. Not wanting to get caught in the halls after curfew without her Invisibility Cloak*, she was all but running to get back to the Tower in time.
And it was here, as she turned a corner, that something strange happened. There was a voice. A low, eerie voice that sounded faintly in the corridor.
"Come...come to me... Let me rip...you... Let me...tear you... Let me...kill...you..."
Caught off guard, Violet froze mid-step, listening hard, but now she couldn't hear anything. Blinking in confusion, she looked around, but she didn't see anyone around her-even the portrait people appeared to be asleep.
Well, that was weird. Shrugging it off as her own imagination (she was pretty tired), Violet continued hurrying down the corridor, and after calling out the password, rushed into Gryffindor's common room, finding Hermione chastising Ron for not starting his homework yet.
When Ron sent her a pleading look, she completely forgot about the strange voice as she approached him to help him instead.
Violet didn't know yet, but she was going to regret it. She was going to regret not thinking harder about the voice she had heard. She was going to regret not questioning the voice. She was going to regret not telling anyone about the voice.
*I completely forgot about the Invisibility Cloak, and never mentioned it in first year. I'm keeping with canon that Dumbledore sent it to her anonymously for Christmas. Although, I suppose since the whole PS thing didn't happen, she wouldn't know it was Dumbledore, since she couldn't have asked him. Unless he just told her himself. I don't know. Point is, she has the Cloak. Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!