Brook had one single comfort in the darkness he'd become trapped in. One thing that kept him going through the endless night. His shadow.

Before he'd become a skeleton, before he'd died Brook was one of the rare few who did not have a shadow and therefore did not have a soul-mate. Though if he asked he'd said it had never truly bothered him. Brook was optimistic, and he knew that sometimes people didn't have shadows. This was typically because one half of a pair was born too early, and most of the time, the older pair would gain their shadow by the time they were ten. Brook had not. But Brook still remained hopeful that he'd earn his eventually.

Even as he joined the Rumbar pirates and started to travel the world. Even as he had people at every island stare when Brook walked in the sun without a thing behind him. Brook kept the faith, kept smiling, and kept playing music and enjoying life. He did not need a soul-mate or even a significant other to make him happy, though he was sure he'd love whoever fate chose to be his. Brook was content.

And then Brook lost his entire crew, and then he lost his own life.

When he'd finally located and regained his body, well, Brook was more bone than anything else. But he didn't mind too much, Being all bone meant Brook wasn't going to starve to death in the Florian Triangle. He still had his afro, so he knew Laboon would recognize him after he finally escaped. Brook was fine. And then he set a small fire on the deck to burn one of his beloved crew, as was part of the traditions. And from behind him, a shadow grew for the first time in his life - 'but he was dead! Skull joke!'

Spanning behind him was an infant's form, and as Brook dropped his violin in shock, he watched it shift and move about. He watched his shadow crawl about while attached to him, watched it play, and clap, watch it shake with silent giggles and grab at the ground. Brook found he couldn't look away as he watched them, his tiny soul-mate, a baby, but unmistakably alive. Brook squatted before his shadow and watched in complete awe. Because well, he'd been lying to himself for years. Brook had always said he was okay with it, okay with the fact that he had no shadow, but he hadn't been.

He wanted one.

And now… now he had one.

Gently Brook ran his bones across the shadow at his feet reveling in the fact that his little soul-mate existed. He spent the rest of the afternoon just watching them. Watching them crawl about, play and sleep, watching his shadow do everything they were doing. And then every day afterward he did the same. Life became habitual for him; every day Brook practiced with his violin, he played the last song of the Rumbar Pirates, he tried to bend at a deeper degree than he'd managed the day before, and he watched his soul-mate.

He watched when they took their first steps, stumbling into arms that he couldn't see but knew must belong to their parents. He watched them bounce soundless to a song he couldn't hear and played along trying to guess the beat that had so enthralled them. He observed the very odd movements that occurred when he supposed them to be about one and a few months. Then… watched when the natural actions shifted.

Concern grew within Brook when the playing, the dancing, the happiness faded from his small soul-mate. When his shadow looked like they were being struck, when they were sobbing curled up in a ball, and there were nothing he could do. Nothing but act out little shows for them when he could. Brook thought he grew excellent with shadow puppets and practiced all day long when his soul-mate was sleeping.

Five years he watched his little soul-mate grow. Five years he spent doing little shadow puppets to play with them, and eventually attempting to communicate. Finger-spelling and sign-language had always been very popular, especially for un-matched pairs. After all, you could sign your location to a soul-mate to find them and Brook had learned to finger-spell from his crew regardless that he hadn't had a shadow at the time. So when his soul-mate was around four, he started to spell to her. Brook knew most parents taught their children to sign early on, and if they didn't, most schools would instead. He assumed quickly that she didn't know how to do it for she had a habit of copying him and not saying anything new. Which was fine, he knew she'd pick it up eventually.

When she didn't, he thought, perhaps he'd guessed her age wrong or maybe the school she must have gone to would get to it later? When something knocked against the side of his ship.

Brook had a single comfort in the darkness of the Florian Triangle. Five years he spent in the dark watching the growing shadow of his small soul-mate. And then a ship found him.

And a monster ripped away his shadow as he screamed.

Lily was the first one to see her daughter's shadow. Alone in the delivery room as James rushed off to yell at Remus, Sirius, and Peter about their brand new fawn. The nurse had brought Holly in cleaned and ready for her first feeding, which was when Lily saw it. Truthfully it was common to check for a shadow early, and Lily had the moment her daughter was free from her and she knew Holly was safe and hale, Lily noted the darkness under her and felt secure in the knowledge that Holly wouldn't suffer like the shadow-less. But until that first feeding, Lily hadn't seen the details of Holly's too large shadow.

Holly's shadow was abnormal, and that was being kind. For stretched out around her daughter was a motionless skeletal form. All bones and the oddest looking hair attached. Holly had a skeleton for a soul-mate, which was incredibly strange purely because for everyone else, when one half of a pair died, the other half would simply lose their shadow. No one had a rotting corpse attached to them, it didn't happen. So Holly having a skeleton meant to the ever logical Lily, that Holly had some manner of un-dead being as her mate… one with an afro. It wasn't impossible Lily reasoned, magic existed, so living skeletons could as well.

When James finally returned, she showed him Holly's shadow, which continued to lay there not doing a thing. And while he was concerned, they decided it was a problem for later because there was still a war on. And over the first few months of Holly's life, her shadow continued to do nothing.

Then one afternoon, while Lily was listening to the secure radio station a Muggleborn had set up to pass information. She heard Holly give a delighted giggle. At first, Lily thought it was because of the bubble charm she'd set up in Holly's play-pen. For Holly loved two things in the world, anything round - Lily blamed the skeletons head - and music. But when she looked over, Lily realized the truth, Holly's shadow was moving.

Lily stared in a mix of horror and relief as the skeletal figure attached to her daughter moved from the still lifeless form and was now squatted down. Lily sprung from her chair and rushed to cast the floating light charm. Carefully Lily positioned the light so Holly's shadow was lined up on the wall near them instead of flat on the ground. So Lily could see what the skeleton was doing while upright instead of flat on the ground. And Lily was ever so glad she did.

It squatted down and ran a boned hand across the ground - to its own shadow Lily realized - which meant it was so very gently observing Holly. Then she watched it clap it's boned hands together in delight and bounce a bit in place. And goodness, acting like that, Lily could almost say it was sort of… cute. Feeling far more confident in who her daughter was matched to - even if it was odd - Lily returned to her work as the skeletal figure entertained her daughter.

Which it continued to do up until the last moment Lily saw it stretched out behind Holly's crib as Voldemort bore down on her. As her life came to an end, a necessary sacrifice to keep Holly safe, Lily prayed to all the gods that no matter how strange it was, that skeleton would protect her little girl.

Truthfully, he would have if he'd been given the chance. But an entire world way, Brook could do nothing as the magical world exploded with rumors.

For Holly Lily Potter had saved the magical world yes. But no light witch had a soul-mate like that.

No matter what certain people said the rumors and tales exploded, and nothing could change the public's mind. Holly Potter had a skeleton for a soul-mate, and therefore she had to be a dark witch. Voldemort must have attacked her to get rid of a threat to his empire. Holly defeated him, so she was stronger and more dangerous than even Voldemort was. Her godfather killed a dozen people and was sent to Azkaban, of course, it was her godfather that did that.

She'd be the next Dark Lady.

They needed to deal with her before the threat grew. Before she was strong enough to defend herself.

Few believed differently; people like Dumbledore spoke again and again not to judge a child for her soul-mate. For even Voldemort had a regular looking soul-mate once upon a time. But for the first time, he went ignored. All Dumbledore could do to protect Holly, was to keep her location secret and protected. It was at his word that the Order remained alive and thriving even after Voldemort's defeat. As their members swore to be ready at a moment's notice to protect their too young savior if there was need. However, out of concern that their very presence would reveal her, the Order didn't make contact unless there was need. And as Holly grew, there never was.

So Holly was left with muggles terrified of her and the skeletal figure that stalked after her. Left with muggles in schools and public spaces which couldn't fathom the terrifyingly strange girl and the skeleton attached to her feet. To the point that her aunt and uncle were forced to keep her inside at all times. They could not allow people to see that thing. Petunia would just have to teach her what she needed, and they'd keep her in until it was dark out.

And then Holly turned five. The day was forever etched in her memory as the one where her fun-loving, playful skeleton changed. That day she watched as her shadow writhed under her, as it grabbed at itself and struggled against invisible restraints. Before abruptly, suddenly, going limp.

From that moment on, Holly's soul-mate stood limp behind her, doing no more than occasionally shifting and terrifying the people she met.