We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- Red Wax Seal -

"We spent every day of our lives side by side, like two halves of the same soul—then we're apart, as if four walls and a name could undo a lifetime of being one."

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Before Hogwarts, before the strange letters, before the moment their lives quietly cracked open and revealed something far greater than they had ever imagined, Harry and Katherine Potter lived a life that could hardly be called a childhood at all.

In a house that was perfectly tidy, perfectly ordinary, and utterly joyless for two children who had never truly belonged there. The Dursleys liked everything neat and controlled, every corner polished and every curtain drawn just so, and the presence of Harry and Katherine in their home had always felt to them like an untidy stain they could never quite scrub away.

From the time they were very young, the twins had understood, without ever needing the words spoken aloud, that they were not welcome members of the household. The Dursleys did not shout their resentment every day, nor did they always need to; it existed in the tightness of Petunia's smile, the sharp impatience in Vernon's voice, and the way Dudley treated them as if they were servants who existed purely for his entertainment.

Their childhood had not been made of birthday parties or lazy afternoons in the garden.

It had been made of chores.

Still, children are remarkably adaptable creatures, and over the years Harry and Katherine had learned to endure the cold indifference of the house in the only way they knew how, together.

On this particular morning, however, the uneasy quiet of Privet Drive was shattered rather abruptly.

Katherine was jolted awake by a loud, aggressive banging somewhere above her, the sharp sound echoing through the narrow hallway and rattling against the thin walls of the house.

Before she had even managed to properly sit up in her bed, the locks on her bedroom door began clicking open one after another, each metallic snap sounding like the dramatic opening of a prison cell.

The door burst inward.

"Wake up, Potter!"

Dudley's booming voice filled the small room as he leaned triumphantly against the doorframe, his face flushed with excitement and smug satisfaction.

"We're going to the zoo!"

Katherine stared at him through heavy, half-lidded eyes, her patience already thin despite the early hour.

"I heard you from downstairs, Dudley," she replied sharply, her voice dry with irritation as she swung her legs out of bed. "There's no need to shout."

Without waiting for a response, she pushed the door closed firmly in his face.

From the hallway came the immediate sound of Dudley's offended whining as he stomped away toward the stairs, undoubtedly on his way to complain to his mother about the terrible injustice that had just occurred.

Katherine allowed herself a small, satisfied chuckle.

Pulling her dark hair back into a high ponytail, she ran a brush through the stubborn knots left from sleep, smoothing the strands until they fell neatly into place.

The moment her bare feet touched the wooden floor, the cold surface sent a sharp shiver up her spine, finally forcing the last traces of sleep from her mind.

Fully awake now, she stepped into the hallway and quietly made her way down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, she paused for a moment outside the small cupboard tucked beneath them.