soulmates//a drarry story

burn

      Harry watched Ron and Hermione intently as they pulled their worn-out sweater sleeves to reveal reddish-pink patched on their thin wrists. "Wha-?" He looked down at his own arm, clean and fair as a fresh spring morning. Ron's arm was almost a similar shade as his hair, and Hermione's was a burnt shade of pink.

      "Hermione, d'you know what it is?"

      "No, I'd have figured that you would've known, seeing as you're pure-blood..."

      "Mum never told us about this step." Ron shook his head vigorously. "Harry, is yours itching, too?" he inquired. Ashamed, he held his wrist close to himself, fighting off Hermione's tugs of concern.

      "There's nothing there," Harry admitted, defeated. The trio spoke no words as they gazed out the window, admiring the glare of the late summer sun marking the start of a new school year.

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      The usual bellows of "Firs' years over here!" subsided as Hagrid sat on a cold metal bench on the platform. Greeting him, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stalked over hand-in-hand toward the once self-drawing carriages. Ron took a moment, just a moment, to run his long fingers over the gray flesh of a Thestral, making contact with its soulless, pearly eyes. Neville and Luna hopped into the front seats in the meantime. "Scary, aren't they?" he whispered.

      "Yeah."

      "I see what you were on about back then," few moments remained until the ascension of the winged creatures, causing a momentous rush of adrenaline in Ginny's absence. Nevertheless, she found a way to climb in at the very last second in typical Ginny fashion. Relieved, Harry beamed at her warmly.

      "Hi, Gin."

      "Hello, Harry." She kissed his cheek swiftly, earning a wolf-whistle from her brother and a dreamy sigh from Luna. This sudden burst of energy in the group ensured that the ride would be filled to the brim with conversation, the ornate carriage seats heating with laughter.

      "D'you reckon the new potions teacher'll be hot?" Ron bantered, slapping his thigh playfully. 

      "Well, Ronald, that eliminates the possibility that it might be a man." Hermione giggled, smacking that same place on his leg.

      "Just imagine,"

      "Ron, your single's showing and you've already got a girlfriend! If you shut it now, the leg-locker'll be spared." Ginny teased mercilessly. 

      "Leg-locker? That sounds like something you'd find in McGonagall's knickers-"

      "Ta-"

      "No!" The youngest Weasley child remained family tormenter even as they grew to become adults.