Work Text:
The concept of soulmates was something Harry never understood until he went shopping in Diagon Alley for the first time. He had always wondered why there was a name on his forehead, right next to his scar, but nobody he had told could see the name. There were the few people who had gawked at his scar in public, always tripping over their weird robes, who seemed like they may have noticed, but he could never get confirmation.
Reading about soulmates answered a lot of questions for Harry. Soulmates weren’t the classic cliché of one true love. Rather it’s the person that’s the most in sync with your soul. It’s commonly the person who knows you the best and the one who you could always rely on when needed. Soulmates weren’t permanent, rather they changed based upon one’s experiences in life. Despite all of this information Harry still found it weird that he had a name on the middle of his forehead and kept his hair down to hide it. There was nothing wrong with the name, it was quite common actually. Harry didn’t fancy people always asking him about someone named Tom Riddle. Especially since his soul mark was right where his scar was, and everyone already gawked at that.
Harry had hoped that meeting new people at Hogwarts would change his soul mark. He wanted somebody he knew to be his soulmate. Harry wanted to have somebody he could share everything with and learn about them in return. Despite all of Harry’s hopes that never happened throughout his first year. He grew closer to Ron and Hermione, but nothing changed. Nobody really noticed his soul mark during his first year except for Dumbledore. When he was being sorted, the Headmaster caught a glimpse of the name on Harry’s head and looked like he had just lost a loved one. Harry never found the courage to ask Dumbledore about his reaction during his first year.
At the end of Harry’s first year, his soul mark changed. Harry hadn’t noticed until he awoke in the hospital wing and talked with Dumbledore. Harry finally found the courage to finally ask why Dumbledore had reacted so strongly during the sorting, and while Dumbledore was hesitant, he told him that before Voldemort rose, he was a young man known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. Harry was immediately distraught but was calmed as Dumbledore told him that his soul mark had changed. Looking everywhere on his body he finally found his new soulmate’s name above his heart. Ronald Weasley.
The next two years of Hogwarts were less hectic for Harry than the first year. Realizing his new soulmate was Ron made Harry more excited than he had ever been. His first friend was the one he could connect with deeper than anyone else. Ron also had Harry as his soulmate and their friendship grew even more strong. They kept Hermione included but there was a different level of closeness that they shared, and she understood.
During his second year Harry found a diary in the common room, but after realizing that it belonged to his previous soulmate, immediately brought it to Dumbledore. He and Dumbledore ended up killing the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets with a banishing charm and the Sword of Gryffindor. During his third year, there was the Sirius Black breakout from Azkaban. When the three of them were in the Shrieking Shack and Ron stood up on a broken leg defending Harry against Sirius Black, Harry knew that he would never want to have another soulmate.
Things changed for Harry during his fourth year when the Triwizard Tournament began, and he got selected as a champion. Ron hadn’t believed him despite Harry proclaiming that he hadn’t put his name in the cup. When Harry awoke the next morning and changed, he realized Ron’s name was no longer on his chest. A part of him felt empty as he went without a soul mark for that brief period of time, but hours after Hermione told him that she believed him Harry noticed her name wrapped around his bicep.
Once the Tournament was over and Voldemort had risen things were a bit awkward between the three of them as Harry and Hermione both had each other as soulmates yet Ron still had Harry as a soulmate too. Despite the chaos in their fifth year with Umbridge seizing control of Hogwarts, the DA going in full swing, and Harry’s odd bouts of rage the three of them managed to make their friendship stronger than ever. Even during Harry’s sixth year when his mark changed to Ginny Weasley, Hermione’s mark changed to Ron, and Ron’s changed to Hermione, the three of them were still inseparable. Harry still maintained that he was right about the Half-Blood-Prince.
After leaving Bill and Fleur’s wedding Harry realized that he had both his old soul marks back. Ron was back over his heart, while Hermione was curled around his bicep again. He immediately questioned it as he had never heard of people having two soul marks, but according to Hermione, it was incredibly rare for three people to be in sync with each other. Hunting for a Dark Lord’s soul was a good way to bring three people together. The fact that they had all been soulmates with one another helped with their new connection.
Harry had almost walked away from the Forbidden Forest when he realized his soul marks were missing. He had the assurance of his parents, Sirius, and Remus that everything would be fine. Despite their soothing words he still wanted Ron and Hermione to be with him in spirit as he was walking towards his death. After he gathered his courage, Harry walked to his death, feeling less confident and whole than before. When he awoke and told Narcissa Malfoy that her son was alive she lied to Voldemort. That was the beginning of the end of the Battle of Hogwarts.
After Voldemort was dead and Harry wanted to escape the Great Hall, Narcissa told him who his soulmate had changed to. When she checked his body, she noticed Harry’s new soul mark right where his first one was. This time it had read Voldemort instead of Tom Riddle. Harry found that odd but realized that the Horcrux in his head must have given him Tom Riddle’s name for the first eleven years of his life. After viewing Snape’s memories and walking into the forest he understood Voldemort better than anyone resulting in Voldemort being his soulmate for one fateful hour.
Harry didn’t get back together with Ginny immediately after the war. There was so much to do and so many funerals to attend. Even after all of that was over there was healing that had to be done. It took Harry a better part of a year to realize that the war was over and that he could move on with everything. During that year Harry didn’t have any soul marks on his body. He found it freeing as it was a sign of change and the beginning of a new chapter in his life. After he got back with Ginny her soul mark came back but in a different location. Her name was directly where she said his Hungarian Horntail tattoo was to Ron during their sixth year. Harry knew he’d never live that down when he told Ron and Hermione.