True Love's Heart

Chapter 2: Good 'Ole Research

"Harry! I think I figured it out!" Hermione shouted as soon as she stumbled through the portrait hole and practically bounced across the Gryffindor common room.

"Huh? Figured out what 'Mione?" Harry lifted his head from the chess board he and Ron were occupying. Ron was too focused on planning his next move to hear the neighboring conversation.

"Merlin's pants Harry! Your mysterious tattoo? Remember that?" She scoffed and shook her head in disbelief as she sat on a couch kiddy-corner to the chess set.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Whatcha find out?" Harry turned to face her, forgetting about the game. Ron had finally made his next move and looked up to Harry, looking accomplished, but when he saw Harry's back he sighed and focused on Hermione too.

The students had been back to Hogwarts for two days; it was now sunday afternoon. Harry had been glad to come back to the normal swing of things with its three square meals and its host of happy faces. No angry uncles or bolted doors. He was back to the place where he felt truly wanted and loved. This surge of happiness made him almost forget about his odd birthday 'gift'.

With a roll of her eyes and a mumble about 'dense dunderheads', Hermione pulled an ancient-looking book out of her backpack, sitting it on her lap. "I first doubled checked our current and past school-issued charms books to search for clues, but as I thought this particular charm looked too old fashioned to be in any modern texts."

As Hermione flipped through the book to a page marked with a bookmark, the boys looked at each other and shrugged. They knew nothing about what made a charm look old, but they did know not to interrupt Hermione when she had a lead.

"I then went to the library looking for underused and unique charms that involve the use of heart tattoos and this one caught my attention." She sat the open book on the coffee table in front of her where the three of them could see. "Its called 'True Love's Heart'. New mothers used to use this charm to help their children find their soul mates once they became adults. Its often used on young children whose mothers were worried that they would not live to help their children find love the traditional way. So I'm guessing your mum charmed that on you before she died, Harry."

"Sounds like it..." Harry agreed, closing his eyes momentarily in remembrance of his parents. He knew he was alive today because of their sacrifices, but he now had a visual that would remind him daily of their love. 'Thanks Mum' Harry prayed.

"The charm manifests itself as a heart tattoo on the child's chest above their own heart that appears when they turn sixteen. Running through the tattooed heart is a banner that will remain blank until its owner meets their soul mate. the charm doesn't start searching before the child is sixteen, though, so if you met your soul mate before then, it wouldn't show up on the tattoo until you meet them post-initiation."

"So Harry, does your tattoo say anything yet?" Ron asked.

Harry unbuttoned his robe and lifted his shirt to expose his chest. above his heart sat the same tattoo described and illustrated in the book. The banner remained blank. "Nope, doesn't look like it."

"Well at least you know that your mate isn't Hermione or I, or any other student or teacher we've seen so far." Ron remarked as Harry pulled down and refastened his clothing.

"Am I going to have to check my chest repeatedly?" Harry asked Hermione, "if it could be anyone, it could show up at any time, right?"

"The book doesn't say specifically, but I'm guessing you'll know. Its still a tattoo; it has to imbed into your skin somehow. I'm guessing you'll be able to feel it."

Harry scrunched up his nose, "That doesn't sound like fun."

"There's more." Hermione flipped the page and continued to read aloud. "Not only does the charm reveal the name of your soul mate to you, it also sort of guarantees you'll end up with them. It'll create a sense of urgency to be in their presence and instill a sense of protectiveness over them. It also causes you to only be able to have a successful romantic relationship with that individual. you will be able to reproduce only with your soul mate and you'll be driven to a state of madness if you or your mate pursue a intimate relationship with anyone but each other. That finality in life partner is why this charm isn't often used anymore. Many modern parents want their child to make the choice in mate themselves instead of the choice being 'locked in' with the charm."

"I can see their point." Harry pondered the new information, "but it does cut down the worry of being with someone who isn't your perfect match. At least I wont have to worry about dating any losers along the way." The three of them giggled at that.

"Uh oh..." Hermione groaned as she closed the book and stored it back in her bag. "Whose going to tell Ginny that she can't date you? She's had a crush on you for a while now and we saw her at dinner yesterday."

"Well crap..."