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Everyone knew about the lightning bolt scar on Harry's head. It was one of the first things seen about him - something he had been mocked for as a child in muggle school and then revered for as he finally entered the wizarding world.
But it wasn't the only mark on Harry's body. When he was eight, he first noticed the pattern of dots on his shoulder. He had never paid attention to it before, but it almost clustered together like letters. He spent many hours staring at the dots, trying to decipher them, but they were too far apart to read.
As he grew, the dots got closer and closer together, but Harry never really thought it meant anything. It was just another odd birthmark, something he snickered about privately. Even as it began to form a word.
It wasn't until his sixth year at Hogwarts that he was able to put the pieces together. He was in the Gryffindor tower, lying on his bed only half listening to Ron complain about his love life.
"It's just so pointless, you know?" Ron sighed. "Neither of them are my soulmate, so why I am even trying?"
"But do you really know when you meet your soulmate?" Harry asked.
Ron looked over at him, confusion written across his face.
"Yeah, of course, you do?" Ron replied. "I mean, like, you know their name?"
"What?" Harry asked, sitting up. "How?"
Was there like a spell or something? Maybe a potion that their name would appear in. It sounded more like something preteen girls would do at a slumber party, not a real thing in the wizarding world.
"It's a wizard thing," Ron said. "I don't- most people don't have one anymore, so maybe no one told you, but I have my soulmate's name."
"Then why don't you go to them?" Harry asked. It couldn't be that hard, could it?
"Harry-" Ron said, unbuttoning the top of his shirt. "It's not that simple." He pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing the name. Harry sucked in a breath as he read it: Draco .
"Shit," Harry breathed. If that was what the letters on himself meant, then -
"I mean, it's not possible, right? Even if he wasn't such a bloody git, and probably a Death Eater, I can't see his parents welcoming me into the family with open arms-"
"Ron," Harry interrupted, pulling his own collar down to reveal his own mark.
"Tom... Riddle?"