(00 : THE STORY OF KAT AND ALEX)

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     — 26th December 1977

     KAT AND ALEX. ALEX AND KAT. THE two of them had always been a package deal — ever since that fateful encounter when she boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time in 1972. It was back in those days that they were both still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, peering into the world of magic through rose-coloured lenses. In many ways, Kat hadn't changed. Her gaze had remained stoically wide-eyed and her view of magic remained untainted. Alex, on the other hand, had been hardened by a world that didn't want either of them because of their supposedly dirty blood.

     But Kat swore she saw a glimmer of the boy — the golden-haired boy with a golden heart to match — that she had met eleven when he dropped down on one knee in front of his family on Boxing Day. At the thought, her artificial smile flickered with truth as she looked down at a modest silver ring in a velvet-lined box. Of course they were still young — Kat wouldn't even be seventeen until February — but there was no point prolonging the inevitable when the two were undeniably meant to be.

     Something changed the day she stepped on the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Something that made an eleven year old Katherine Geller swear that she had met her soulmate that day.

      — 1st September 1972

     Kat — never Kath, or Kate, or Katie — was running late. An inexcusable act, really, considering it was her first day attending a magical school that she hadn't known existed until a stern woman in sweeping emerald robes knocked on her door and made her mum's teacups dance. Awestruck, Kat had clapped along whilst Diana Geller refrained from having a nervous breakdown in front of the stranger, more stressed about whether or not the teacups were chipped than the fact her daughter was a witch. All in all, it was an unforgettable day. And yet, Kat forgot to set her alarm for the very thing she had been counting down to all summer.

     It wasn't entirely her fault though. Things were hard at home and she already felt a lot older than she was at eleven. Her parents worked late hours in a desperate effort to pay the bills, so she was always under pressure to 'step up' for her siblings — Kat was the oldest, followed by Lissa at six and then Ellie at three. There was a selfish part of her that was excited to be a reckless kid for once, one that didn't have to worry about microwaving meals for three or tucking their sisters into bed each night. If only she could actually make the train, that was.

     Per instructed by Professor McGonagall, Kat ran headfirst at the wall between Platform 9 and 10 at 10:58am. Although a squeak of surprise escaped her throat when she found herself facing a rather daunting red steam train on the other side, Kat didn't loiter. Short on time, she instead took a deep breath and struggled with her luggage. Even if her family could have passed through, she had bid her goodbyes beforehand — her dad was too busy working the early shift at the factory and her mum had fretted about the scene a toddler would no doubt cause in the busy train station. Thus, she was completely and pathetically alone.

     "Excuse me," she murmured as she awkwardly tried to squeeze between two boys who were blocking the entrance doors. They were locked in some kind of intense stare off and didn't move. Shifting from foot to foot, Kat tried again, "Excuse me, um, could I get past please?"

Both of them snapped their gazes towards her and she immediately shrunk back. The shorter of the pair paused to scrutinise her appearance and Kat grew uncomfortable under his piercing stare. He must've disapproved of her brightly coloured pinafore, knee high socks and slightly scuffed Mary Janes because he rolled his eyes and muttered something derogatory under his breath before walking away.

     His companion remained, their stormy grey eyes following the retreating figure. Once they were gone from view, he shook himself from his daze and finally grinned up at Kat. "I'm sorry about my brother. He's been acting like a right arse all morning. It's not personal or anything."

     Somehow, Kat felt it was personal, but pretended to believe otherwise because she couldn't fathom how her appearance could have offended a stranger so much. Maybe some of her outfit was thrifted and maybe her braids were a little messy because she was only ever able to read fashion magazines when she visited her cousin's house, but she looked pretty enough. Kat briefly wondered if people were prejudiced like they were in the muggle world, if her skin colour would put a target on her back.

     "Are you twins? You look very alike," Kat said conversationally, never one for silence, as she lugged her suitcase behind her.

     "Oh, no! I'm already a Second Year, older by nineteen months," he announced, puffing out his chest with pride. Without asking, he then lifted her suitcase up onto the train for her and continued to chatter away. "The name's Sirius, by the way. I don't recognise you though. First time at Hogwarts?"

     Gratitude flooded her expression at his kindness and she extended her hand for him to shake. "Yeah. I'm Kat. Nice to meet you, Sirius."

     He opened his mouth to say something just as three bodies suddenly tumbled into him. "Run, Sirius! Run!" was what they screamed before dragging her new friend away from her.

     "Hey!" Kat called after them, leaning down to see one of them had dropped a small blue ball on the floor. "I think you forgot —"

     As soon as her fingertips brushed the surface of the object, it seemingly exploded and caused a cloud of bright blue smoke to expand in the corridor. All the commotion attracted the attention of a prefect, who fixed the damage with a wave of their wand, but what they couldn't fix was what the prank had left behind. Every inch of the corridor was dyed blue — including Kat. Laughter ricocheted off the walls as students gathered to gape at the poor First Year with electric blue hair and electric blue skin.

     Humiliated, her vision quickly blurred with tears. Kat was convinced she would've keeled over from embarrassment if it weren't for the strong pair of hands that landed on her shoulders and steered her to the safety of an empty compartment.

     "Thank you," she sniffled. "I — I really needed to get out of there."

     Her saviour turned out to be a boy not much older than her — one with perfectly coiffed brown hair and a perfectly blinding smile. When he noticed how she was still shaking from the incident, he sat her down and offered her half of his Mars bar. He rambled about how muggle chocolates were much better than wizarding sweets and he didn't even bristle when she started crying. It wasn't a pretty type of crying either, rather it was the type that involved puffy eyes and a snotty nose.

     "Chin up, Smurfette," the boy teased. "There'll be another drama that takes precedence by tomorrow."

     Kat faltered, noticing for the first time how prominently his RP accent contrasted with her Northern one. She already felt inadequate compared to everyone around her and she was hesitant to believe this clearly beautiful boy would want to be friends with her.

     Upon noticing her hesitation, he winced. "Too soon to joke, huh?"

     "Maybe save that until we know each other's real names," she suggested lightly, knowing the nickname wasn't intended to be cruel. "I'm Katherine Geller. You can call me Kat though."

     "Alexander Carstairs."

     Her heart skipped a beat and she didn't understand why. "Can I call you Alex?"

     He contemplated it. "Nobody really does."

     "Then I'll be the first," she mused as she went to stand up. Her hand accidentally brushed his in the process and her heart seemed to skip another beat. "Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to —"

     Alex's face turned red. And if Kat's wasn't dyed blue, hers no doubt would have too. But, somehow, that was the start of the story of Kat and Alex.

     — 26th December 1977

     Five years later, the two were inseparable. They had started out as best friends and then best friends became something more when Alex impulsively kissed her at King's Cross before they parted ways one summer. They had been going steady for three years — which was quite the accomplishment compared to most secondary school relationships — and Kat truly couldn't imagine spending the rest of her life with anyone else. He was everything she could ever want in a partner. Then again, he was the only person she had ever been with.

"Katherine Elizabeth Geller," Alex began, his voice thick with emotion, "I love you. I think I've been in love with you since the moment we met. I was twelve then and realistically didn't know a thing about love, but I knew I wanted to be near you and I wanted to hurt anyone that hurt you. I'm not sure my knuckles ever did recover from punching Sirius Black in the face. And I'm sure anybody here could tell you that I wouldn't have shared my Mars bar with just anyone." He took a deep breath. "I guess the point of this long, run-on speech is that I've always known you were special and . . . we're not getting any younger, but it's not guaranteed we'll be getting any older either —"

Kat tensed. "Alex —"

"No, I need to say this," he insisted, not missing a beat. "A war is coming and we're involved whether we like it or not. And I'm scared. I'm scared that one day I'll come to realise that I've wasted my life because I've been waiting for the right moment, the perfect moment, to act. I know we're still in school, I know there's so much you still want to do with your life, but I want to be there every step of the way. If we can't grow old and grey together, I want to die at your side." The glimmer of hope in his hazel eyes was damning as he asked, "Kat, will you marry me?"

It wasn't totally out of the blue. They had talked about it before and she definitely wanted to marry him, but not yet. And with all those eyes on her, she didn't quite know how to say that without sounding like a monster. He was dependable and thoughtful and he still gave her butterflies all those years later — she should've been jumping at the chance to say yes. Yet, fears of a possible war didn't feel like a stable foundation for marriage.

"I would love to marry you one day, but —"

The end of Kat's sentence was lost to the cheers and party poppers around them. Not registering her reluctance over the noise, Alex wound an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss that left her breathless. When Kat tried to tug Alex away to speak in private, their hands were soon yanked apart by overeager family members wanting to be the first to congratulate them.

Panic bloomed in her chest — how the hell did she accidentally get herself engaged?

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A.N: Reg's appearance is only very brief (and silent) in this chapter, but I'm so excited to start this book. I have a lot planned and the Reg/Kat dynamic is going to be so much fun, which we'll see in the next chapter. And...yeah, I don't have much to say for once. I just wanted to get the prologue up and establish a little about Kat's life.

Question, if you were a Marauder, what prank(s) would you pull?