Almost six-year-old Rose Tyler's bleary eyes drooped. Her head bobbed briefly, then snapped up again. The young girl yawned and stretched her arms, glancing at her chubby right forearm as she did.

Tomorrow was her sixth birthday, which meant her soulmark would come at midnight. She was determined to be awake when the first words she would hear her soulmate appeared on her arm.

"Rose, sweetheart, you should be in bed."

Rose turned and looked at her mum. "It's almost time, Mummy," she said, pointing at her arm. "I wanna see it happen."

Jackie rolled her eyes, but she didn't insist Rose went to bed. "I'll allow it, since it's not a school night," she said. Then she pulled Snakes and Ladders out of the cupboard. "Why don't we play a game? It'll help you stay awake."

Rose had just won the second game when she felt a tingle in her arm. She gasped and fumbled with her sleeve, pulling it up so she could read the words as they were tattooed on her skin.

"I can't believe Dum-ble-dore…" She stumbled over the long name, then read the whole sentence in one rush. "I can't believe Dumbledore died."

Jackie gasped. "What kind of ruddy soulmark is that?" she barked. "Talkin' about death like that."

Rose stared blankly at the words on her arm. "Maybe… maybe Dumbledore is his dog," she suggested timidly. "It's a weird name."

Jackie grunted. "Yeah, it is. Well, off to bed with you, young lady."

As Rose fell asleep that night, she stroked the words on her arm and imagined the day she could hug her soulmate while he cried about his dog.

Eleven-year-old Rose Tyler eagerly read the first pages of the book her friends had all been raving about for weeks. She was still in the first chapter when her entire concept of her soulmate crashed down around her.

"Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore."

Dumbledore wasn't a dog. He was a man. A fictional character.

And Rose knew he would die.

Nineteen-year-old Rose Tyler had to admit to a bit of schadenfreude when some idiot in America posted a picture from Half-Blood Prince on the internet shortly before the book came out. A page where Harry told Hagrid that Snape killed Dumbledore. At least she wasn't the only one who had Dumbledore's death spoiled for her.

The night of the book launch, she dressed in her Gryffindor robes and went to the party with her friends. Her mum rolled her eyes at a group of nineteen-year-olds all dressing in costumes to buy a kids' book, but Rose didn't care.

The atmosphere this time was different than it had been two years ago. All around them, people talked about the spoiler—or were conspicuously not talking about the spoiler. And when the book went on sale at midnight, Rose noticed several people immediately flip to the back, searching frantically for the spoiled passage, hoping not to find it.

She and her friends were walking back to the bus stop with their heads in their books when she heard it.

"I can't believe Dumbledore died."

Rose was vaguely aware of her friends' gasps, but most of her attention was focused on the way her mark burned as her soulmate uttered the words she'd first read at age six. She whirled around, her robes billowing out as dramatically as Snape's, and stalked over to the tall man leaning against a lamppost, a book in his hands.

"You!" She poked him in the chest, and his eyebrows flew up into his hairline. "You're the one!"

His brown eyes widened and he pulled up the sleeve of his Ravenclaw robes. "That's… that's really not how I imagined that being said," he stammered. He tugged on his ear. "Oh, blimey. You mean you've known since you were six…"

Rose put her free hand on her hip and waved her book at him. "Yeah. Thanks for that."

He raked his hand through his hair and rocked back on his heels, looking rather bashful, Rose though. His face was flushed a light pink, making his freckles stand out.

It struck her suddenly. This was her soulmate, and he was gorgeous. His full bottom lip begged to be kissed and he had incredible hair that her fingers itched to touch.

"Well…" He stretched out the sound comically, and Rose watched the way his mouth formed the word. "Can I make it up to you?" He pointed down the street to an all-night diner. "I'll buy you chips, and we can get to know each other?"

Rose looked over her shoulder at her friends, but they all laughed and waved her on. Shareen winked at her. "He barely knows you and he's already suggested your favourite food," her best mate said. "He's definitely your soulmate, Rose."

"Rose?" A tingle ran down her back when she heard him say her name for the first time.

She turned back to him and smiled. "Yeah. My name's Rose Tyler."

His eyes lit up and he bounced lightly on his toes. "I'm James Noble. Nice to finally meet you, Rose."

Rose giggled. James' giddy excitement at their meeting made her feel special. "Nice to meet you, James." She raised an eyebrow. "I hope this is the last time you spoil a book for me, though."

James laughed. "If I swear not to spoil any more books, will you have chips with me?" He held his hand out and wiggled his fingers in invitation.

Rose took his hand and tried not to show the way her heart raced at this first, innocent touch from her soulmate. From the light in James' eyes, she thought he felt it too.

"Rose Tyler," he drawled, pronouncing each syllable like her name was the most important thing he'd ever said.

A manic grin crossed his face, taking Rose's breath away.

"Run!"

Epilogue: All Was Well

After putting the kettle on, James reached into the cabinet for two mugs. The motion pulled his sleeve up, revealing his soulmark, and he chuckled as he went about making tea.

He'd been so proud of those words for sixteen years. Everyone else had boring things like, "I'm new here," or, "Can I help you?" But his soulmate would obviously recognise him on sight. What else could, "You! You're the one!" possibly mean?

James rolled his eyes as he spooned sugar into his cup and poured milk into Rose's. He'd been more than a little chagrinned when he'd met Rose two years ago and learned he'd spoiled a major part of Harry Potter for his soulmate before the first book was even published.

"You done in there?" Rose called from the lounge.

James picked up the two mugs and carried them into the other room. Rose was already ensconced in the corner of the couch, and warm happiness spread through his chest when his wife smiled at him.

"I see you've nicked my shirt again," he drawled as he crossed the room and handed her her tea.

Rose took a sip of her tea, then looked down at the Ravenclaw crest. "It's comfy," she said as she tugged at the soft cotton shirt. "An' you never wear it."

James sat down in the opposite corner of the couch and stretched his legs out alongside hers. He never wore the shirt because he liked the way it looked on Rose better, and he had a feeling she knew that.

"Are you ready?" he asked, picking up the brand-new book they'd just purchased that night. Their friends thought they were mad, going to a book release party on their honeymoon, but given the way they'd met, there was no way they were going to miss this release.

Rose held up her copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and smiled at him, the tip of her tongue teasing him. "Oh yeah. First time I get to read Harry Potter without Dumbledore's death hanging over my head."

James rolled his eyes and nudged her with his foot. "All right," he said playfully. "Just read."