A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Word Count: 1178

Warning: Mentions abuse (mental, physical, psychological), gaslighting, murder, eludes to rape,

What happens when soulmates go wrong?

When there's something there but it's evil and twisted?

When the marks match, but the hearts do not?

Severus knew what happened when soulmates went wrong.

Obsession, stalking, lying, anything to convince the wrong person

you belonged together because of a mark on your arm.

Soulmarks were nothing more than devil prints to him,

a one way ticket to misery. She'd not shared his mark,

sharing one with James instead.

How he treated her, how he treated everyone,

acting as if they should worship the ground

he walked upon.

Severus had never fallen for that,

begging Lily to see the real James,

not the the Prince Charming she thought

bore her mark.

He remembered the tears, the pain,

her crying to him,

her face buried on his shoulder.

He knew what happened when soulmates went wrong.
Lily didn't see it that way,

they were made for each other,

meant to be, no matter the price, no matter what.

Until death did they part, she agreed,

smiling at the crowd who had gathered

with nothing more than well wishes for

the happy couple.

Severus could see the lines on her face,

the faked smile as she laughed,

thanked everyone for coming.

He could see the smirk on James' face,

he'd won.

Severus hoped things would change,

they were bonded now, maybe that would

be enough?

Maybe James would finally start treating Lily

the way she should be treated.

Severus doubted it, people don't change,

it doesn't matter how many pairs of

rose tinted glasses you wear to hide

the warning signs,

to hide the red flags.

Dead, Lily and James dead,

their son shuffled off somewhere safe.

They all said it was him, the Dark Lord,

but Severus sees the bruises on her face,

sees the broken furniture,

the way her fingernails have dirt beneath them.

The Dark Lord is gone for now,
but he's not the one who killed the Potters,

James did that himself.

Severus mourns her, mourns the loss

of something, of someone, so beautiful.

It's not until years upon years later

that he sees it again.

The light when she smiles,

the way she laughs,

looking over her shoulder.

He sees Lily again, but she's not Lily,

she could never be Lily.

There are similarities, and those,

those are what he focus on for a moment.

She's young now, naive, and

for now too innocent for this world,

for his world.

She's marked, as they all are,

a matching mark to the youngest

male in the Weasley line,

but Severus sees something else in his eyes.

He sees the way he watches her,

the way he frowns as she talks to others,

the way he knows the words to control her.

He's seen it before, so many years ago,

James and Lily.

They are James and Lily,

but not.

He watches her grow, waiting,

hoping he won't have to watch the same

scene play out again.

He's too close to them,

he knows he needs to create an air of distance,

a wall, something to keep him from

acting, from rushing to save her,

the way he tried,

the way he couldn't

save Lily.

She's an adult now,

little girl all grown up,

blossomed into something more.

Severus watches him getting closer and closer.

Soon they'll marry.

He's sure of that,

they match,

isn't there all there is?

Matching marks means happily ever after,

and yet,

no one talks about what happens behind

closed doors.

No one talks about soulmates gone wrong.

No one talks about when there isn't love,

but something else, something sinister lurking in

one's heart.

He will not fail this time!

He makes himself that promise again and again.

He's managed to corner her, trying to tell her

the truth about the man she's to marry.

She doesn't believe him,

he's convinced her otherwise,

nothing could ever go wrong.

Their marks match!

There's more to love, to live than some

magical mark, it doesn't always mean what you think!

He finally shouts, scaring her, chasing her away.

He watches her flee, wondering if he's missed his

one and only chance to save her.

The next night passes and the next,

until he's standing outside the church.

He wasn't invited, why would he be?

But he's there anyway, waiting for the chance to

object, to save her, but he never does,

instead he watches her marry him,

her smile lighting up the room.

He can see the darkness in the groom's eyes,

the slight bit of concealing bruise paste on the

bride's eye.

They stand in front of family and friends,

bonding themselves together

until death do they part.

Severus wonders, how long,

how long until

she does something he thinks is wrong?

How long until he does something that can't

be hidden, concealed,

how long until she finally wakes up?

He knows she won't.

She believes in True Love!

She believes in the marks,

as she's been taught,

as he's taught her.

He waits, knowing it's only matter of time,

they never change,

he knows this.

He watches from a distance.

They walk shopping near his shop.

He can hear them yelling,

words flying,
insults from his mouth,

tearful apologies from hers.

He steps back inside.

He loves her, he's certain of it now.

He wants to save her, to protect her,

would she believe him now?

He hears the door of his shop fly open,

the tiny golden bell chiming.

"Bruise paste," is all she says.

He gets it, looking at her,

his eyes meeting hers.

"You can leave him.

The marks, they don't mean

anything," he whispers, ringing up her purchase.

There's a spark in her eyes,

a tiny flame of maybe belief.

It's something, at least,

a hope, a possibility.

He slipped her his card, telling her to come to him

if and when she needed anything.

Three years,

that's how long he watches,

that's how long it takes

before he finally breaks her.

She's kneeling in the street outside his shop.

She hadn't made it all the way there before

collapsing in anguish, in pain,

tears smearing the make up he

wants her to wear.

Her clothes are ripped,

her hands bloody.

Three years after promising

until death,

three years for death to finally

free her,

as Severus takes her,

washing the blood from her hands,

promising her it will be alright.

He arranges for the body to be

removed, for someone else to be

framed, it's easy enough.

When you're like he was,

there's no shortage of enemies,

just a shadow of a doubt is enough

to keep her name untarnished.

"You were right," were the only words she

said that night as he held her,

as he did everything in his power

to show her that she was finally safe.

Severus knew it would take time,

that eventually she could fall in love with him,

he'd waited this long, he could wait longer,

all that mattered was she was finally

free,

that she was finally safe.