IWSC:

School and Theme: Ilvermorny, Eighth Year Trope

Main Prompt: [Character] Tracy Davis

Additional Prompts: [Object] Tie

Year: 7th year

QLFC:

Team: Pride of Portree

Position: Chaser 3

Main prompt: Optimism and pessimism

Other prompts: [Song] The Climb - Miley Cyrus, [Dialogue] "Yeah, well, I want a million Galleons and a pet dragon. We can't all get what we want." and [Quote] "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore."- William Faulkner

POKEMON MASTER:

Starter: Bulbasaur

Catching: Roselia

Prompt: Write about someone or something that has a calming effect

BOOK CLUB:

Book: Caraval

Prompt: [Quote] 'A serpent in a top hat and tails was still a serpent.'

Story Title/Link: Soulmates and Friends

Wordcount: 2279

A/N: This is a Soulmate!AU, where whatever a person writes on their skin will show up on their soulmates, and they can feel strong emotions from each other. Inspiration for this story came from the stories 'I hope our story has a happier ending' by 'everydaynerd' on fanfiction (writing appears on both soulmates' bodies), and 'No Conditions, No Reservations' by 'sofreakinmanyfandoms' on quotev (emotional connection between soulmates).

Trigger Warnings: Hermione and Ron bashing, hinted McGonagall bashing

11:15 am, September 1st, 1999

Hogwarts Express

Harry walked down the train, looking for Ron and Hermione. They had only boarded a few minutes before Harry, so they couldn't have gone far. Finding an empty compartment at the end of the train, Harry decided to just rest for the rest of the journey; if Ron and Hermione wanted to sit with him, they would have to find him. He closed the curtain, covering the window in the door, so that people couldn't see him and interrogate him.

Sitting in his train compartment, the windows open and petting Hedwig absentmindedly, Harry sat reading a book on the unusual uses of simple charms in everyday life. The last eight years of his life had not been pretty, what with facing Voldemort almost every year. Finally, the darkest wizard of the century was gone, and he was free to live his life. Free. It was a word he often didn't associate with himself or his life, and yet he now was. Working on Grimmauld Place, cleaning it up a bit to make it livable, was hard, and yet progress was being made with the state of the building.

A knock on the door of the compartment jolted Harry out of his musings, and he called out; "Come on in!"

The door opened and a girl wearing a white shirt made of what looked like silk and a pleated blue skirt stopped in the doorway. Her dark hair had been pulled up in a ponytail, and her dark skin stood out from her outfit.

"Hello, I'm sorry for interrupting. I was looking for an empty compartment, but couldn't find any…" The girl trailed off, obviously unsure how to continue her line of thought.

"It's okay, you can sit in here. My friends are in another compartment, and I'd enjoy the company."

Hesitating for only a moment, she stepped inside and sat down opposite Harry, closing the door as she did so. After a brief moment of silence, the girl opened her mouth.

"My name is Tracey. Tracey Davis. Nice to meet you."

She acted as if she didn't know who he was, though he was sure everyone at Hogwarts - not to mention the rest of the Wizarding World - knew who he was. It felt refreshing; not having to pretend to be a leader or hero, like he had been. He could just be himself.

"I'm Harry. It's nice to meet you too, Tracey."

3:30 pm, September 1st, 1999

Hogwarts Express

Glancing down at the writing on his wrist, Harry wondered yet again who his soulmate was. He had taken to calling her Juliet when they decided to remain anonymous for the time being. She must have lived through so much, and yet he never felt any ill-will from her. The random bursts of sadness and anger he had felt were never directed at him, yet he still felt annoyed that he couldn't do anything to help her other than talk with her through the writing on his arm.

Hey, are you okay, Romeo? - J

Loosening his tie absentmindedly, he wrote back.

I'm fine, just hoping this year will be more peaceful than all the others. At least I'm graduating at the end of the year. - R

There's a voice inside your head saying that you'll never get a peaceful year, isn't there? - J

How do you know me so well? - R

And she did. Juliet - whoever she was - knew more about Harry than anyone else, and that included Hermione and Ron. It was somewhat disappointing that his friends never picked up on the things that aggravated him, never knew how to calm him down, when his soulmate - someone he had never even met - knew.

We're soulmates, I just know. - J

Thank you - for everything. - R

There's no need to thank me. Just hold your head high, it's all I can ask of you. - J

Realising that he had been standing in the bathroom for far too long, Harry quickly tightened his tie, and left the room. As he made his way back to the compartment he had claimed for the journey, the writing on his arm hidden by the sleeve of his cloak, he made sure his tie was straight. Being the 'Boy-Who-Lived', he had become a role model for the younger students, and so he had to stick to certain rules - the uniform being one of them.

Entering the compartment, Harry cast a glance over to where Tracey was sitting. She still hadn't changed into her robes, but by her mannerisms and the way she acted, he assumed she was a Slytherin.

"You should probably change into your robes soon," he said once he noticed her casual clothes. When Harry saw Tracey glance at him, he continued. "Really, Tracey, I honestly don't care what house you're in. You could be a Slytherin and I wouldn't mind. You've acted much more mature about being around me, and I really appreciate that. I feel like you wanted to spend time with me, Harry, not who the Boy-Who-Lived."

By the way Tracey relaxed of her own accord, her expression turning slightly annoyed, she had obviously caught the hidden meaning, and so had Harry - no one else had ever done that before.

Suddenly, Harry felt a burst of annoyance, and immediately knew it wasn't directed at himself.

His secret meetings with Tracey in the Room of Requirement always managed to calm him down, and let him unwind from being the 'Saviour of the Wizarding World' and the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. Why couldn't the rest of the Wizarding World see him for who he really was? He supposed he should be used to it by now, after all, they had always placed blame on him, and leant on him for help - their belief in him depended on what he did. The bitter thoughts invaded his mind whenever he was left alone for more than a few seconds, and he couldn't control them.

What would the Wizarding World do when he was gone? They'd probably find another scapegoat, just like they would continue doing for eternity if no one stopped them. Would they threaten him with his soulmate? He didn't know her, and yet she was the only thing that kept him going some days. The pressure just got to him, and there was nothing he could do to keep the darkness out.

You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. - J

Who said that? - R

William Faulkner. - J

Juliet often threw random quotes at him, and it always lifted his spirits to know that she was ready to comfort him in any way she could.

12:00 pm, January 31st, 2000

Great Hall

Sitting at the Gryffindor table across from Ron and Hermione, Harry glanced down at his wrist and started smiling. Scrawled on his wrist was one of Juliet's favourite quotes: A serpent in a top hat and tails was still a serpent. It never seemed to get old, though. Ron and Hermione had their own favourite quotes, and he knew them, but they never bothered to ask what his was; never bothered to truly get to know him. He was expected to not do well in anything except Defense, so he didn't do well. He was expected to go to his friends for help, even when he knew he could do something on his own, so he did.

Ron and Hermione had had no problems with giving their names to their soulmates, and never once doubted their decisions. Apparently, Hermione had had an idea of who her soulmate was before they revealed it to each other, but she wasn't telling anybody else who it was. Harry still had no idea who his soulmate was, but knew she was a witch, as the muggle world didn't have soulmates; he just didn't think he was ready to know who she truly was, or for her to know who he was.

"Hey, mate, what are you grinning at?"

Looking up, Harry saw that both Ron and Hermione had their eyes fixed on him.

"Nothing, Ron. Don't worry about it."

The two glanced at each other, communicating in the way they knew infuriated Harry.

"Harry, is it your soulmate marking? Who's your soulmate? Are you okay? Are they okay?" Hermione questioned him extremely quickly, not giving him a chance to answer. Did Harry ever get to keep things to himself?

"'Mione, I said not to worry about it, because I don't want to talk about it. Why should I tell you who my soulmate is if you don't tell me who yours is? And we're both fine, thank you very much," Harry snapped, tired of the other two's tendency to pry into his personal business.

"But, but... Harry, we're friends!"

"Are we? Are we really? Or are you just so delusional that you can't see that I can do some things without either of you knowing? That I can be my own person? 'Cause, with the way you two act, I'm not sure we really are friends. You're controlling me, my life, not letting me be friends with anyone other than you two."

Hermione and Ron gasped. "Surely... surely you can't mean that, Harry? I mean, we've stuck by you through thick and thin, and yet you aren't sure we're friends?"

"Well, obviously you two are too blind to see it," Harry growled. He grabbed a cookie and pushed himself up from where he was seated. This action drew the attention of everyone in the Great Hall, and Harry unknowingly sent a burst of anger through the emotional link he shared with his soulmate. His wrist tingled, letting him know his soulmate was writing something on her arm.

Before Harry could see what Juliet had written, however, he was interrupted by a, "Harry James Potter, look at me, and explain yourself!"

He turned around and looked at Hermione, taking on a defensive position. "What, Hermione?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"What do you want me to do? Pretend to be the person I used to be? That's not happening, because that's not who I am. So what do you want?"

"I want you to look me in the eye and tell me what you want us to do. We're friends, Harry! Friends don't keep secrets from each other."

"Yeah, well, I want a million Galleons and a pet dragon," Harry snapped, despite his anger managing to sound sarcastic. "We can't all get what we want. And what about all the secrets you kept from me? Do those not count?"

Murmurs spread throughout the room; even teachers were whispering to each other about this turn of events. Harry had never had a falling out so publicly, so it came as a surprise when he just turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. As he did so, he pulled the sleeve of his robes up, revealing the skin where it became obvious his soulmate had written a message. No one could read what the message said.

3:00 pm, February 27th, 2000

Slytherin Common Room

Hey, are you okay? - J

Tracey was really concerned. Waves of anger had been rolling through the link the two shared, and hadn't stopped for a while. Come to think of it, the random bursts of anger were always when Harry got annoyed at Granger and Weasley - could there be a connection between Romeo and Harry? Maybe Harry was Romeo? It was plausible, after all, whenever she met with Harry, Romeo seemed to calm down.

Yeah, my two friends are just really annoying. - R

Two friends? That could be Granger and Weasley if Harry was really her soulmate.

Ouch, that'd be bothersome. - J

Yeah, and McGonagall didn't step in at all! - R

McGonagall? Another thing that hinted towards Harry being Romeo. She was his Head of House, wasn't she?

There's always gonna be another mountain in your way - you just need to learn how to climb them over and over again. - J

Yeah, I'm working on that. - R

Can you go to the Room of Requirement? I just want to test a theory. - J

Sure. - R

3:00 pm, February 27th, 2000

Gryffindor Common Room

Harry made to stand when he was suddenly assaulted by questions from his 'friends'.

"Guys, I'm fine. I just need to take a walk to get my mind off of things. Alone," he added, when he saw Ron move to stand.

The walk to the Room of Requirement was short, because Harry used every shortcut he knew, and when he entered he found Tracey sitting on a bean bag.

"Hey, Tracey, what are you doing here?"

"I was testing a theory."

Harry froze, and he was pretty sure he had paled as well. 'Testing a theory'? Juliet had wanted to test a theory by having him go to the Room of Requirement. Could there be a connection?

The cookies on the table looked like chocolate chip; Harry's favourite. As he sat down on a bean bag, thoughts raced through his head, all fighting for dominance. One thought, one question, stood out to him the most though.

"What theory were you testing?"

"A theory on who my soulmate is - and it worked."

"What are you talking about?"

Tracey simply rolled the sleeve of her robe up, and pulled out a quill, before starting to write on her arm. A familiar tingling sensation spread across his wrist.

Hi, Harry. - J

"No way." It was whispered so quietly Tracey almost didn't hear it. "Juliet?"

A smile broke out on Tracey's face. "Romeo."

The two collapsed into each other's arms, ecstatic that they had finally revealed who their soulmate was. No matter what came next, they knew they would always stand by each other.

You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. Maybe it was true after all.