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Harry didn’t know what the timer on his wrist had been, for the longest time he suspected that it was this which made him a freak in his relatives eyes.
His aunt, uncle or Dudley didn’t have this timer, nor did anyone in school. It only supported the rumors his relatives were spreading about him. How he was a freak, and being associated with him was never a good thing.
It had been until he was on the Hogwarts Express and Ron had seen the numbers on his wrist that he had gleefully shown off his own.
“What do they mean?”
Ron had been confused, until he realized that Harry had never been told. At which point he gladly explained, “That’s your soulmark counter, as soon as you get to zero you meet someone in your life who's there to stay. In a lot of times it’s a romantic soulmate, but there have been cases of platonic soulmates finding each other through the counter.”
Looking at Ron’s counter, Harry hummed, “You’re set to meet yours soon.”
Beaming at him, Ron nodded, “I know! I’m so looking forward to it.”
Running his finger over his own counter, Harry settled back into the seats they were in, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders knowing that this was something that every magical person had going on. He wasn’t a freak, he was normal in his community and that was all he needed right now.
He hoped that whoever it was, whoever his soulmate would be, they would like him for being Harry and not for whatever other reason. Even a platonic soulmate would be something he was looking forward to, someone who would never leave his side. Someone who would be there for so long, there had never been someone on his side to begin with.
He sees Ron’s timer had hit zero, which he told him, causing him to be shocked before turning angry. There had been three people here since his timer stopped, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. None of whom he thought would be his soulmate. Harry tried to explain that it might be something that grew over time, something that they were sure would be between Hermione and Ron given that they were close enough to form such a relationship.
Part of Harry hoped that it wasn’t Hermione, as she and Ron didn’t seem compatible right now. But he wouldn’t judge, he’d wait and see what happened. Supporting them as they had grown to support them as they grew up.
The summer before his fourth year, the first night he spent at the Burrow, Ron pointed out to him that his timer was running up.
He blushed at that, looking happy as he nodded, “I know, I’m hoping that I’ll know who they are when it runs out. I don’t know how that will go, but I… I really want them to be someone who will be there for me no matter what happens.”
Ron, and later that day; Hermione, were happy for him. Gushing about what a great person they had to be if his timer is soon to be running out. Ron was telling him about the possibility of them being from another country.
Hermione on the other hand said that maybe they were a transfer student or even one of the new students. A three year age gap wouldn’t be so much once they were out of school. She even added that her parents had an age gap of three years.
“It doesn’t matter, all that does matter is the chance that this is something that will bring so much joy in your life, Harry. You totally deserve it!”
Sadly, nothing about that was true. By the time they noticed that his timer had stopped, they had been to the game where they met a lot of people. Not only that, but there had been that scare with the Death Eaters and the Dark Mark appearing. It was terrifying to think that somewhere in between they had met Harry’s soulmate who they wouldn’t have been able to recognize anyway as there were too many people they had run into at the time.
That summer seemed to foreshadow the kind of year their fourth year was going to be. With the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament, followed by Harry getting chosen as a champion from a school that had nothing to do with it, it was bound to be quite the stressful year.
At the end, and after the tournament had played it’s part Harry was just exhausted. He didn’t want to think about his soulmate anymore. The knowledge that Voldemort was out there again was terrifying to the point that he didn’t want to drag whoever it was that was his soulmate down under him. He had seen what had happened to someone not even close to him, in Cedric, to see that someone he would actually come to love go through that was just too much.
He whispered as much to Ron and Hermione when they came to visit him in the infirmary. Adding that he was scared for them too, to which the both of them replied that they would never leave him. Not when it was obvious that he cared for them (was willing to give them a second chance after being a prick even) and he needed someone to protect his back.
It took the war ending, sitting at Grimmauld Place to think about what he wanted to do with his life. By faith there hadn’t been too many casualties. Their plan on going on the run and taking out Voldemort’s forces behind his back seemed to be helping.
They managed to get a lot of his heavy hitters out of the way, resulting in the Light side prevailing without too many losses. Looking at Remus who was sitting next to him with baby Teddy in his arms. He grinned at knowing that there was something new on the horizon for all of them.
When he gathered the baby in his arms when Remus reached for him, he knew that his timer showed. Allowing Remus to run his finger over it, “Do you know?”
Shaking his head, Harry shared when it had stopped and what had been going on. He never thought back about it and about what had happened that night.
“A number of people from that night are dead now anyway, so… Yeah, I don’t want to think about it to be honest.”
Remus gave a soft smile, before pressing a kiss to his forehead, pulling up his sleeve to show Harry his own timer on zero.
“Mine was Sirius, and the time I had with him was precious. But, Azkaban changed him and I don’t think we could ever be what we were meant to be. It hurt, for both of us, but we know that it was for the best. It was him that told me to go after Dora, as she had been crushing on me for years.”
He pulled Harry closer, whispered, “That doesn’t take away that I still miss him each and every day in the little things.”
Smiling softly, Remus added, “What I’m trying to say is that there is a chance to find happiness without it. Sometimes it’s even better to not know at all, but I wish you all the best as long as you come and visit us at times. I want Teddy to have a chance to get to know his godfather.”
Opening and closing his mouth, Harry looked away, “So you know?”
Remus nodded, “Charlie told me the last time I saw him. I knew that he had extended an offer because of your ability to still speak Parseltongue. You need to get away from England, and we can all see it. At least this way you’ll be with someone who knows you.”
Looking away, concentrating on Teddy to not keep his eyes on Remus, Harry admitted, “I didn’t want to look at it that way but it is getting a bit much. All of those people approached me to thank me for killing Voldemort. As well as the media not getting enough of me.”
Remus patted him on the shoulder, “You don’t have to explain this to me, Harry, I understand. We all do, as soon as we hear what was on the table we’re all aware that you were going to take it. Especially with Ron and Hermione out there looking for her parents. You need something to do, you’re like Lily in that way, you need something to distract yourself with and I think that this would be a good thing to be distracted with.”
What followed after, was Harry telling his friends in the UK that he would be leaving for Romania soon enough. Charlie, still here and planning on making the trip back beamed at him. Hugging him close when he came to tell those living at the Burrow that.
“I’ll go with you, then. When are you thinking about heading down?”
Blushing softly, Harry hummed, “Somewhere at the end of the week? I just need some time to let everyone know, to visit some places and to set everything straight.”
Charlie hummed, “Well, let me know when you know definitely, we can meet up and take a portkey together.”
The way he looked at Harry was intense, enough to make him look away before he was nodding, “Will do. I might need a hand anyway, as portkeys don’t agree with me.”
If anything, Charlie beamed even brighter at that, making it certain that there was something else going on there. Something that he didn’t see right now.
It took him two weeks in Romania to sit Charlie down and talk to him, asking what was going on that he didn’t see. He was nervous to hell about it, until Charlie showed him the stopped timer on his wrist. Grinning weakly before adding, “It stopped the moment we met, I know that’s hard to believe, but I was looking at it when we met at the campground and couldn’t believe how cute you looked.”
He continued with a heated look in his eyes, “Seeing you take on those dragons was even more impressive. But you were so young then, now though…”
The way he looked Harry up and down made heat gather in his belly, a flush coming to his cheeks as he tried to think about what to say. Looking Charlie over, he had to admit to himself that he had believed the man to be so good looking several times before. He never guessed that he would be having a chance though.
“I… What?”
Chuckling, Charlie leaned in closer, “We’re soulmates and I’d like to have that relationship with you.”
Still stunned, Harry nodded, finding himself surprised when Charlie pressed even closer to kiss him gently. Pulling back with a soft smile on his face.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.”
Blushing, Harry grinned back, “Why don’t you do it again?”
To the surprise of literally no one, they came back to England about six months later letting everyone know they were in a relationship. Everyone was happy for them, and Harry couldn’t help but think that this had been all he ever wanted once he found out he even had a soulmate.