A/N: I understand the title is a bit of the nose but there is more to it than meets the eye... after all, we need to start diving into the second half of this story... especially since it's now 150K words long! I never could have predicted that when I started writing this fic but here we are...! I guess I need to aim at least for 200K now, right?

"One week until the coronation," Charlie commented.

Bill looked up from his breakfast. "Stop counting down! It's not like I'll forget."

"Has Ron made up his mind yet if he wants to come back home with us?" Harry asked Ginny quietly.

Ginny turned to look at him. "In his heart, yes." She grinned, glancing at her brother as he was in the middle of a heated discussion with Hermione. Their family had quickly realised their fights were amicable and left them to it. "I think he's just worried about what Bill may expect."

"He won't know unless he asks," Harry said with a shrug.

Ginny looked as an owl landed in front of her. She wasn't sure who was writing her—this wasn't one of the Ignotian owls. She plucked the letter off the owl's leg and it quickly took off.

She folded it open.

Dear Ginny,

Or must I say Queen Ginny? I can't believe you're alive! Let alone a Queen? We must meet soon! I have so much to tell you. I'm staying at this lovely mansion currently just a bit off the old King's Road, first left after the well! I can't wait to see you.

Your old friend,
Lady Luna

Ginny jumped off her chair, causing everyone to look up at her.

"Luna wrote to me!" she said excitedly. "I can't believe she is alive!"

Bill nodded. "She's been doing all right but she has had it tough too. Bellatrix has driven her father to insanity after she killed his wife." He shook his head sadly.

"Oh," Ginny said, glancing at the letter again. "That explains why she is no longer at her parents' place."

Bill frowned, thinking for a moment. "She was there the last time I heard, but a lot could have changed in the meantime."

She turned to Harry. "Do you fancy a little trip today?" she asked excitedly.

"I must meet the person whose name you stole," Harry said.

"Do take some guards," Bill warned her.

She faced her brother again. "I don't think Luna is going to stab me."

"She won't, but people on the road might." Bill's gaze fell on Harry. "I am sure you have some type of rules about protection when going outside, in foreign land."

"This isn't foreign land!" Ginny argued.

"No, but it is," Harry said. His brow furrowed. "If you count as a guard, I think we should be fine with another three?"

"Alright," she agreed, though she didn't deem it necessary. "Let me see who is free to come with us. And I'll owl Luna to let her know we're coming."

Ginny's excitement was tangible as they turned onto the road to the mansion. Harry smiled to himself.

"So this is the famed Lady Luna then?" Seamus asked. "For real this time?"

"Yes," Ginny said. "I honestly didn't think I'd ever see her again."

"There it is," Harry said as he spotted a stately building.

They rode closer silently, taking in the white mansion.

Ginny hopped off her horse first. "You stay right here," she told Red.

Harry came to stand beside her, leaving Lightning next to Red. His horse likely wouldn't move far away from her.

"You can wait here," Ginny told the guards.

Harry followed Ginny to the door. It seemed to swing open on its own accord.

"Luna?" Ginny let out as they stepped in. Her hand rested casually on the hilt of her sword.

"Gin…?" Harry started as an uneasy feeling crept over him.

She must have felt it too because she took a step back. Then the door behind them slammed shut, revealing the man behind it.

"Where is Luna?" Ginny demanded.

The tall man smiled, he had long blonde hair and cold, grey eyes. He held a dagger adorned with a snake head at the ready. He smiled wryly. "She's not here," he spoke hoarsely.

Harry froze. He felt the hairs on his neck raise as he sensed people behind him coming in. As one, Harry and Ginny both pulled their swords.

"Lucius," a woman behind them whispered. "What are you waiting for?"

Lucius's nostrils flared. "Get them."

Both of them turned. Ginny took on the men behind them. Harry was anxious to find out how many were behind him. Harry faced Lucius—the only man standing between them and the way out.

Someone pounded on the door from the outside. It seemed the guards were trying to get in, but even their voices barely carried through the thick wood—getting to them would prove a challenge.

Harry could feel Ginny back up against him and he turned around to help. Fifteen men were ahead of them, ready to fight. They were in close quarters and it was a significant disadvantage. They looked at each other for a split second; that was enough to agree that fighting was their only option.

Harry lunged forward, swiping his sword viciously as Ginny did the same. His heart was thundering but he could not let himself worry, or even think, about not making their way out of there. They did manage to get the men to back up into the large sitting room. The room looked dusty as if it had been sitting vacant for some time before this. Nothing about this was right but he could not figure out yet what had happened, and how Luna was involved.

As they each fought against opponents in the large room, the two of them were starting to move apart. Harry didn't like it one bit. He knew if they got split up, that would likely be the end of it. He glanced back at her, she yelped as someone pulled on a strand of her hair. Without a second thought, she swiped through it with her dagger, freeing herself once again.

The men were closing in on both of them. Three men dove forward to him in an attempt to tackle him to the floor. Harry instinctively stepped closer to Ginny, desperate to reach her. Ginny's sword clattered to the ground and she gripped her dagger tighter. She looked at him and the fear was evident in her eyes. There was no way out.

It was all he could do, he reached out to her in a last desperate attempt to save her somehow and she reached for him, her dagger out to protect them.

The moment their hands touched, a warm flood ran through him in an instant. From where they touched, an explosion erupted and sent a shock wave through the room, sending everyone but them backwards. Their sleeves tore from the force, yet they remained standing. The couch closest to them toppled over and any loose item was launched across the room.

Harry looked in shock around the room and at their hands. The mark that had appeared on his forearm caused him to pause. It was Ginny who made him move.

"Let's get out of here," she said, taking up her sword quickly.

"What just happened?" Harry asked looking back from the mark to the room.

Ginny tugged on his hand and he followed. "I don't bloody know!" she said. "But we have to leave…"

They ran through the hallway, stepped over Lucius and made it to the door. With some difficulty, they managed to open the door and stepped out.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Seamus said as they walked outside.

Ginny looked around. "Where is Justin?"

"He went to get help," Ernest said. "We knew we needed more men to get inside and we didn't know—"

"There were sixteen people inside…" Harry spoke.

Ginny walked to the door and closed it again, barring it as best as she could. At least it would slow them down a little. "It was an ambush, how could I have been so stupid!"

"Gin," Harry said, his expression soft. "They really would have known about Luna. And if that is in fact Lord Lucius…" He swallowed as he looked towards the door.

"We should head back before they find us here," Ernest said.

Ginny nodded. "Justin and the rest can round them up when they return."

She met eyes with Harry. There was a lot to be said. She still wasn't quite sure what exactly had transpired in there but she was eager to get back to the castle. They all mounted their horses again and took off at a gallop.

When they made it to the old King's Road, they encountered Justin, followed by Fred, George and Charlie and about 10 guards. It would be enough to take on the group. Ginny quickly explained the situation. She was about to turn around with them when Charlie stopped her.

"They were clearly after you, you have to go back. Both of you. And I am not sure what the explosion was that you speak of, but something is up. We can handle this." His eyes bore into hers.

She sighed. "Fine. Be careful."

"Go."

Bill stood waiting for them anxiously when they arrived. They quickly got off their horses and Bill guided them inside, where the rest of her brothers stood waiting anxiously.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Bill—" she started.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yes. We were ambushed." She shook her head.

Harry stepped closer to her.

"Lord Lucius was there and I assume his wife and another fifteen men… We didn't take the guards inside. We only escaped because when we touched, an explosion happened," Harry said.

Only now she finally looked properly at the green mark on her forearm. It ran like freckles across her forearm in the shape of a hand—Harry's hand—in the exact hue of Harry's eyes, setting themselves apart from the other freckles on her arm. Harry had a matching one in the warm brown of her eyes. He lifted his arm too and held it next to hers.

Everyone looked at it in silence.

Percy spoke first. "Correct me if I am wrong, but those are soulmate marks… Aren't they?"

Ginny's eyes flew up to meet Harry's. Several of her brothers shared a look. She knew, she had heard the stories and imagined what a soulmate mark would look like but she had never considered having one herself. Until a few months ago, her having a soulmate would have been unfathomable. Now she had much less trouble believing it was real.

"The mark is from the moment you first touched when you were in love," Hermione said, stepping forward to look at it.

Ginny frowned, trying to recall when that would have been. They didn't touch much at the start. Her eyes widened. "My birthday, when the assassin nicked your arm," she said. "That must have been the first time I touched you."

She moved, remembering how she had wrapped her fingers around his arm just below his elbow to examine the wound and how his hand had wrapped around her forearm in turn. That imprint was now left.

Their hands turned together, sliding over the skin.

"Wait!" Hermione shrieked.

Their arms slotted together, their fingers fitting perfectly on the soulmate mark. The same warm feeling overcame her as it had done with the explosion. Hermione leapt forward. Then the world went dark.

Harry woke up tucked against Ginny. She seemed to have woken up at the same time. He sat up, keeping her close. He looked around the bright space.

Ginny made a reach for her dagger, only to find out it was not there. Their clothes were different too, they were wearing the night clothes they had worn when the soulmate mark had happened.

The world around them was strange. It seemed only to exist as far as they looked and disappeared the moment they looked away. It looked a bit like the hidden spot by the pond. Except there was no pond, or no birds singing. There was just soft lush grass, with here and there a tree or a bush.

"What happened?" he asked. As if he knew the answer already, he looked down at the soulmate mark. That is what had triggered this.

"Why are we here?" Ginny asked.

As soon as she asked, a scroll appeared in a spot he had definitely looked before. He could just reach it from where he sat and took it. He opened it.

Ginny shifted closer and read with him.

Soulmates are created before birth. Two souls, made at the same time, linked together. Though fate may never bring them together, when they do meet they will find their way to each other. Much happiness can be found with a soulmate, and those pursuing romantic love will have an unparalleled union. Soulmates have a chance to soulbond. To be bound together in an even more intimate way… to share love, pain and comfort. The ceremony will lead you through to the soulbond. Or you may choose to leave and spend a happy life as soulmates just as well.

Ginny looked at him in surprise. "Well… that's uh…"

Then the world turned black again. He reached out to her, but she was no longer beside him. He was alone and he could only barely hear people talking in muted voices, as if they were at the other end of a long hallway.

Ginny ran desperately, trying to find Harry—or anyone—but it was pitch black and there was nothing she could make out. It was like she was stuck in a void.

Some distance away she could hear her family arguing about what to do with them as they lay unconscious. She couldn't identify what direction their voices were coming from.

"What happened in there?" Bill demanded.

Ernest replied. "We don't know. We were locked out. They said there was an explosion but they were perfectly fine when they came out."

Ginny finally paused and stopped trying to escape. She listened.

"Soulmates can soulbond," Hermione said. "I think that's what's happening. I read about it but… to be honest I didn't put much stock in it."

"You need to move them back together." It was a soft dreamy voice that Ginny immediately recognised.

"Luna!" Ron let out.

"I received an owl from Ginny saying she got my letter, but I never sent one. I had meant to visit but I wasn't sure if it was the right time. Now I was worried something had happened," Luna said.

Ginny wanted to hug and greet her, see how she looked now.

"Something did," Ron said. "Nearly got them killed."

"If you don't put them back together, they can't soulbond, they need to be touching," Luna said again.

"And what if we don't?" Bill asked a little too harshly.

It didn't seem to faze Luna. "Then they never wake up again. Whether they want to soulbond, that's up to them."

"Let's move them to the hospital wing," Bill suggested. "We can't leave them here."

Ginny sighed. She was at the mercy of her brothers, and Bill didn't appear too happy. She assumed they were moving their bodies, because not much was said.

Luna's voice suddenly sounded very close. "Hi, Ginny."

She smiled. She wanted to talk to her old friend.

"Come on in," a Healer said. "What's going on?"

It was quiet for a moment and Ginny couldn't tell what they were doing.

"Oh my," the Healer said. "Soulbonding? I've never seen a case in my life."

It shouldn't have surprised her, it was rare, but yet it annoyed her that there wasn't anyone who knew what they were doing.

"They need to have skin touching," Luna said matter-of-factly.

"Just tuck her hand under his shirt," Ron suggested. "I am sure they won't mind. Have you seen them—"

Ginny almost yelled out to stop him, though they couldn't hear her, but Bill had the same idea and responded quickly.

"Just put their hands together, that should be sufficient," he said tiredly. "How long could this take?"

It was silent, it appeared no one had a real answer.

"They need to decide if they want to soulbond and they have been separated now… it may take a few hours. Or it may not," Hermione said. "The time greatly varies."

"This is not good" Bill sounded upset. "Is Charlie back yet?"

"No."

"Good luck, you two," Luna said.

As soon as they appeared in the clearing again, Harry turned around in search of Ginny. He let out a sigh of relief and wrapped her in his arms. She hugged him back tightly.

"I was worried they weren't going to put us back together," Ginny said.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"And my stupid brother…"

He snorted. "You have to hand it to Ron…"

She let go of him. "Please. He does not know when to shut up."

He looked at her for a long moment and she met his eyes. He held her face between his hands. "You being my soulmate explains a lot of things, but all of this is very unexpected."

"You could say that."

They sat down on the grass again. Ginny leaned against his knees. There was a silence hanging between them as they continued to hold each other's gaze.

"We should probably talk about this, about what we want," Harry suggested.

Ginny looked determined. "Do we?"

He smiled. "I am pretty sure we have to decide this together."

"I think we know what we have to do. It's clear to me," Ginny said.

He bit his lip, his brows furrowing a little. "I know what I want. I know you like your independence and I also know you love me. I am not sure what you want, and I can't decide for you."

Ginny scooted a little closer to him and kissed him. "At least you should know I've already made my mind up."

He nodded slowly, his hand slipping down her side. "Yes, I do. Tell me."

She took a big breath and Harry knew she was about to explain fully.

"We are soulmates. It makes sense in a way. I always felt a little lost in the world," she said, looking at him. "And I know you have too. It feels right because it is right. It explains how we've been feeling so connected and comforted with each other. And the sex…"

Harry raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

"We could live a happy life as we are. We are soulmates, we are married. This could be enough."

He nodded in agreement. He wondered if they chose not to bond how they'd leave from here.

As soon as he had thought it, a stone archway appeared. It was empty and seemed to stand in the middle of the field, but Harry knew if he walked through, he would wake up.

"I can't help but think that if being soulmates is what brought me this happiness, I can't even begin to imagine how much better it would be to be soulbound." She offered a reserved smile. "Despite all of this, we have lived different lives and I still struggle sometimes to know what you are thinking or feeling."

"That's true," Harry said.

"If we can share our thoughts more easily, and tune into each other's feelings and bodies… it will be easier. We will truly understand each other."

"We would be tied together in many different ways," he thought out loud.

She nodded. "We took vows. It can only help in keeping them." Her eyes danced over his face.

"We have both led such lonely lives. We wouldn't have to feel that way again," he continued.

"Exactly." She smiled and shifted closer to him. "I am not saying we can't be happy simply as soulmates… but now that I know there is more out there for us, I want to discover it." Her eyes slipped to their soulmarks. "I am surprised about the timing of this, I have to say."

"What do you mean?" His fingers reached out and traced around the outline of her soulmark up to her elbow.

"I had time to observe you and get to know you… but that happened not that long after I took my helmet off. For the soulmark to happen, you must have already been in love with me."

He shook his head. "Is it really that fast?"

"Dear…" She raised her eyebrows.

"I did get a sense of who you were as a person before you took your helmet off. I knew you were very skilled and determined. I knew you were a little sassy. I knew you loved animals." He met her eyes and smiled fondly. "Then you took your helmet off and out comes the most breathtakingly beautiful woman."

A small smile danced around her lips as she listened.

"And then you go on and basically dare me to fire you, bold as you were." He grinned. "I didn't need much more and then you talked and talked… Every new thing I learned about you just made me like you more," he said honestly. He shrugged. "I assume us being soulmates must have aided in how quickly we fell for each other."

"It may take a while to learn how to live with the soulbond," Ginny said. "I only have a vague idea of it… this isn't exactly common."

He caressed her cheek. "I am sure we will figure it out." He pulled her close and hugged her tightly. She tucked into him. "So we are doing this… we are soulbonding."

She nodded. Then she released him and stood up, wasting no time. "Let's figure out how to start this bonding ritual." She started walking around, staying away from the archway. The world expanded around them as she walked further away.

Harry observed her for a while until she was quite a long way out. "Gin, dear," he said casually as he stood up too. "Something tells me that bonding souls doesn't involve putting as much distance between us as possible."

She chuckled and turned around to him with her hands on her hips. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Come back here."

With a soft sigh, she walked back over the soft grass. He guided her to stand in front of him. He put their arms together, the way they had done during their wedding ceremonies. Only now he made sure their hands covered the other's soulmark. Ginny followed his lead, her fingertips resting against his skin softly.

He knew immediately that was the right way, as he felt an intense feeling brewing. It swirled inside of him like a warm, pleasant flood. It seemed to originate both from within him and from Ginny's hand.

It had been windless until now, but the wind picked up. It swept around them like a whirlwind, causing Ginny's hair to dance in the wind. They kept their gaze locked on each other.

An intense feeling which he had learnt to associate with the bond, pulled them in closer and they put their free arm around each other. He leaned down to kiss her. He wasn't sure if it was the bond, or him. He simply knew that was what he had to do.

Their lips locked as the wind swept in closer. When they closed their eyes, the world around them retracted closer on itself. They were bathed in a bright light. Harry held her tighter as he felt his surroundings fall away. All he had was her, and he kept a tight hold on her.

A/N: This was another one of those chapters I was very excited about. And thank you for reading 150K words of this fic, that's not nothing!

Chapter 4 is called 'Leaving a mark', and you have probably now realised why :D Or if you did before this, I'd be very impressed.