Yo! You know what sucks? When everyone you're living with is a narcissist. And there's three of them. It's...exhausting, really. It's also kind of worrying because it's like, wait, if both of your parents and younger siblings are all narcissists, does that mean I'm one too? I hope not. That would suck. Thank you to all readers so far!

It took him a long time to realize he was awake. All of his senses had blurred together, everything too muddled to comprehend at first. He opened his eyes slowly, having to blink a fair few times before they were able to adjust to the light of the room he was in.

"Ah, finally awake? You've been sleeping for quite a while there, Tom."

Marvolo grimaced. Dumbledore was not the first thing he wanted to deal with after waking. He turned his head, only to grimace again when he actually saw Dumbledore. Ugh. He didn't bother trying to move sure it wouldn't be a good idea, and instead said, "I trust you have been looking into who dared to attack me?"

"Of course, of course." Dumbledore folded his hands behind his back, and smiled solemnly. "Unfortunately, I have yet to discover anything, and I think it might be impossible to find a satisfactory answer."

"Impossible...?" Marvolo repeated slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"You have to consider where you were at the time of the attack, Tom," said Dumbledore with a shake of his head. "There were hundreds of us in the fans due to the Quidditch match that was taking place at the time, and with everyone's attention on the two teams playing, no one saw or noticed anything strange until the spell actually hit you. And considering the amount of time that has passed since the incident, continuing to search for the attacker seems to be very...well, pointless."

Marvolo frowned. "And just how much time has passed?"

"Months have passed, Tom. Tomorrow will be the first of July. There have been no other attacks, so I doubt there is any further danger to you. Well, in any case, I'll let you rest now, my boy. Do take care. Ah, and take your time in leaving the castle. Your health is more important, after all. Though I believe Professor Binns is the only one who has remained behind."

Silent, Marvolo watched Dumbledore leave the room, and once the door had shut behind him, he allowed himself to finally attempt to sit up. It took him a few minutes. His body was heavy, and there was a dull ache deep inside him. It wasn't too painful, but it was still noticeable. Still, the pain wasn't his biggest concern right now.

His biggest concern was that just over six months had gone by since he had been attacked. Six entire months. And he had lain here unconscious this entire time? That was strange, very strange, though if it was the killing curse that he had been struck with, then perhaps it wasn't as odd as he was thinking it to be. He was immortal thanks to his horcrux, which meant not even the killing curse would end his life, but falling into what he assumed had been a coma was, naturally, the better alternative.

He reached for the locket around his neck, paused, and looked down. The locket was gone. It was gone. Why...why was it gone? His eyes scanned the room, but he couldn't see it anywhere. He couldn't feel it anywhere nearby either. Even though it only contained a small percentage of his soul, it was still strong enough that he, the owner of said soul, would have been able to feel it when it was nearby. But he couldn't. He couldn't feel anything. What had happened to it? Had Dumbledore taken it? Had he destroyed it? Was he no longer immortal?

Feeling panic rising in his throat, Marvolo threw the thin blanket back, and then paused, catching sight of his hands. They were covered in ink. Entering the nearby bathroom, he quickly stripped out of his hospital clothing and found that he he was completely covered in ink. Letters and doodles, written and done in various colours.

'Are you awake?'

'Today was really busy.'

'Defence is SO boring without you teaching it.'

'Fred accidentally hit a Bludger at Angelina today during practice, and he got punched in the face for it. George couldn't stop laughing and he fell off his broom. Both of them had bloodied noses.'

'Pontificate? Snape likes fancy words, doesn't he?'

'My Transfiguration exam was really hard.'

'Malfoy called me an idiot and then walked into a wall. It was really funny.'

'I'll come see you again tonight.'

'I found out Dumbledore likes putting lemon drops in gravy. Isn't that weird? There's no way that can taste good.'

'Summer hols are starting. I have to leave. I hope you wake up soon.'

There were so many messages like these, some cheerful, others written out of boredom, others ranting. The doodles were mostly of flowers and, for some reason, potion flasks. He caught sight of a heart here and there too, and there were a fair few M's written either in or near these. Considering Violet's age, perhaps that wasn't surprising though. It was oddly...flattering, really. Kind of awkward too.

Had she been doing this every day? His hands, his arms, his chest, his abdomen, his legs-he was just covered in these. Covered in ink that hadn't come off because they hadn't been cleaned. Some were faded, the older ones, he assumed, and he was sure there were many more that had faded off completely due to the time that had passed. But there were so many that looked fresh.

Every day Violet painted her skin-painted his skin, waiting for him to finally wake up and answer her.

Feeling strangely mournful, Marvolo showered, washing away all the ink, and then returned to his rooms, sinking down into the closest chair, debating on what to do. He had to write to Violet, of course, even if just to let her know he was now awake. She was likely very concerned, if he knew her half as well as he thought he did.

He also wanted to ask her if she knew anything about the attack. She was more observant than she made herself out to be, and though she had been busy with her Quidditch match at the time, he thought it was possible that she may have seen something.

There was also the fact that she had written that she would 'come see you again tonight'. Again. That led him to believe she had been sneaking into the hospital wing on a regular basis. She may have heard or seen something during one of these sneaky visits. Perhaps Dumbledore had lied about his investigation and Violet knew something more than the old man had told him. Or perhaps, unlikely though it was, that Violet knew what had become of his locket.

He got up again, wanting to find a pen, and hadn't even put the tip to his skin when he saw words appear, written in Violet's familiar hand.

'I made a new kind of pasta for dinner today. It was so good that none of the Dursleys even complained about it!'

There was a pause, and then more words appeared.

'I hope you'll wake up soon. I miss talking to you. Writing to you? You know what I mean.'

Marvolo couldn't help but smile slightly, and finally, for the first time in months, was able to write back. 'I am awake, Violet.'

'You're awake! That's amazing! When did you wake up!? Where are you? Are you alright?'

'Calm yourself, Violet. I am well, now. I woke just an hour or two ago, and I am currently still at Hogwarts. How are you?'

'I'm fine. Much better now that you're actually awake. You were sleeping for so long. I heard Madam Pomfrey was tell the Headmaster that she wasn't sure you were ever even going to wake up. It was kind of scary.'

She hadn't been told that, but had heard that. So she really had been sneaking around. 'Did you happen to overhear anything else? Do you know what happened?'

'I don't know much, really. I was flying too high up to have seen anything until you actually got hit. They said you were hit with the killing curse, but they didn't know who cast it. They just talked a lot about how it was weird that you didn't actually die.'

Marvolo frowned. 'Did they mention anything about a locket?'

'Kind of. The Headmaster was talking about being curious about the locket you had on, and he wanted to take it. They were saying it was bad, and had dark magic in it, and how that made it dangerous.'

So Dumbledore had taken it.

'I didn't think it was right for them to just take it away when you couldn't say anything though.'

'What did you do, Violet?'

'I took it.'

Marvolo's eyes widened. 'You took the locket I was wearing?'

'Yes. I know I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. But I didn't think it was right for them to take it and break it without you even knowing about it.'

'I'm not upset, Violet. Do you still have it?'

'I do. I've been keeping it hidden so no one's noticed it yet.'

Cunning little thing. 'Thank you for taking it, Violet. That locket is very important to me. I cannot risk it being lost or destroyed. Keep it safe for me until I have the opportunity to get it back.'

'Of course!'

'Sleep now, Violet. It is late.'

'Good night! ...I'm glad you're awake. I missed you.'

Marvolo traced over the last words with his fingertips. How was she capable of this? How was she always able to make him feel so relieved with just words on his skin? How was she always able to make him feel so normal?

How was she always able to make him feel complete?

That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!