Summary: Where there are soul marks, there are always the rarer, but dreaded, reaper marks to counter them.

Rated: T

Genre: General

Warning Tag: Major Character Death

The Mark of a Reaper

In Susan Bones earliest memories, her dwindling family talked about the soul marks and how they were always evasive to their surname. Most people didn't know that the silver tattoo had an opposite—as most things in nature do—to help keep the balance in the world. A grey colored tattoo, known as the reaper mark, could instead mar the skin instead of the one everyone expected the matchmaking seer to tattoo a child with. The unique and mysterious symbols that represented their match was always placed on the inside of their wrist on their fifth birthday.

Members of her family were never lucky in obtaining the soul mark, but they learned to make the most out of their lives regardless. It didn't stop them from learning about the mark they were burdened with, either. Whether inflicted or succumbed to it, one of the reaper mark bearers would cause their match's death in some way. Most often it was an accident, sometimes it was outright murder. They could be best friends or the worst of enemies. It didn't matter; one was always reaped in the end.

It was no secret that the Bones family were heavy targets since the uprising of Voldemort, and even during Grindelwald's reign, they were violently ripped mercilessly from this world. They were a very political-heavy family with a lot of influence and power within the various folds of the Ministry. They were the ones who strived to keep a balance within the government and maintain fairness throughout. They were so very loyal and steadfast with their jobs and the roles they entailed that laying down their lives rather than bend to the evil infiltrating the government wasn't given a second thought. They always bore the reaper mark, after all, and they were all reaped for the benefit of others in the end.

It was also the reason why they had so many children in order to keep the Bones' name alive.

Somehow, despite the misfortunes that the Bones family had faced, they were always humble and unafraid of what stood against them, which was the opposite of what most reaper marked people did. There was no surprise when the five-year-old Susan was given the grey tattoo, but there was a full-blown celebration for her cousin who received the opposite mark and thus destined to continue their surname. It was a lot for someone so young to take in knowing that the person with Susan's matching tattoo was destined to kill her, or visa versa. Though it wasn't a guarantee that they would ever meet—or even have malice toward one another—it brought little comfort to Susan.

Regardless of knowing this information, she attended Hogwarts with her head held high, was pleased with her house placement in Hufflepuff, and eager to make friends and live a relatively normal life. There were a few in the large room who behaved strangely, making it easy to pinpoint the reason behind it was due to the reaper mark on their arms. They were hunched over, pulling their sleeve over their wrists while their eyes darted around skeptically and frightfully, wondering if their match lingered nearby.

Susan wasn't going to dwell on her own mark, but she kept hers hidden behind a bracelet to not broadcast it, either. It was how she first met Hannah, after all, as she examined the bracelet fondly and asked about its origins. The two Hufflepuffs became fast friends during the Welcoming Feast despite their opposite opinions about the trivial topics of conversation. Susan found her fascinating, and they only grew closer as time went on.

It was around their third year when everything shifted for Susan. The dementors surrounding the school grounds placed her in a never-ending sense of dread and becoming fearful of the mark on her arm. She didn't want to be the cause of anyone's death, even if it was an accident. The guilt she obtained from these thoughts the creature's constant presence instilled on her stuck with her for years after.

When the pink-toad tyrant stormed the school, Susan silently wished she would be the reason Umbridge would be met with an untimely death. Joining Dumbledore's Army with Hannah was the logical thing to do, and learning the crucial spells that could later be unleashed on an innocent (or being used against her) sent her spiraling back into that fear of being responsible of possibly killing someone.

The war was soon among them, her immediate family's deaths had her push everyone away. Even her best friend Hannah. Avoiding the destiny of the reaper mark was not an option for Susan anymore no matter how much she wanted to deny it. She knew running away was the last thing she would do in trying times like this, if she was going to die protecting her friends and family, then so be it. If she was going to kill someone in order to do so, then all she could hope was that her match was an enemy.

Susan sustained fatal injuries during the first wave of war, but she didn't go down without a hard fight. Suffering from her injuries in a deserted corridor, she didn't expect to see Hannah appear in her fading line of sight, face stained with tears as she said something she couldn't hear. She revealed the grey tattoo on her wrist in the shape of a bone, and before Susan could muster the last few breaths to speak, Hannah stole them away with a single, tear-stained kiss.

It was the opposite of what she hoped for, but it was the peace she needed to pass on.

Originally Written For:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Written for Monthly Challenges for All

Written for The Houses Competition

Word Count: 936

Originally Written: September 2018