never until forever [s. black]

twelve

"hey, princess. i haven't seen you since the courtyard incident. how was the night outside?" katherine sighs as she looks up in annoyance at the sight of not just sirius, but his other friends as well.

"how about regulus' hair? i hope it's not too bright." james snickers, making her roll her eyes and look back down at her book. she wasn't about to fall into their nonsense, because they knew how to push her buttons.

"oh. silent treatment. i think katherine doesn't want us here." peter snickers, making james and sirius laugh as remus shakes his head. he didn't really enjoy his friends tormenting katherine, but every time he tried to stop them, they found a way to make it worse.

"you're right, peter. she doesn't so let's go." remus says, but the three ignore him. katherine turns the page of the book mindlessly, although she hadn't even finished reading that page.

"not even telling us leave. just absolute silence? wow princess. have we successfully gotten you and regulus to stop whatever you two are trying to prove?" sirius asks, making her clench her jaw as she still doesn't respond and he smirks, taking her silence as a victory. "okay, well it was fun while it lasted. i'll see you around, princess."

"cut one head off, two more will grow in its place." katherine finally speaks up, making him look at her with a raised eyebrow. she looks up at him, clearly annoyed. "the muggle jake roberts once said snakes will always bite back. he wasn't wrong."

"is that a threat, princess?" he asks, making her lean back in her seat smugly and shrug as she smirks.

"it is what you perceive it to be, sirius. this whole time, all you keep thinking about is yourself, that you haven't gotten the bigger picture. this isn't about us trying to prove you a point. no, this is about us being tired of you assuming everything about slytherins." katherine snarls as she stands up, leans against the table towards him. "we all walked in here, not knowing what house we would be in. and merlin only knows we wouldn't be at each other's throat if i were to have been sorted in any other house."

"maybe we did walk in here all the same. but we aren't walking out the same, katherine. after all, your friend severus would know about it." peter says tauntingly, making her glare at him as she straightens up and crosses her arms over her chest.

"severus is responsible of his own decision. that doesn't make him less human than any of us. and it doesn't make him more slytherin either." she snaps at the shortest of them, her eyes reflecting her anger as she glares at him. "how about instead of wasting my time, you go back to chasing after poor girls, who actually have your time."

"you jealous katherine?" james asks with a smirk and she gives him a look of disbelief, before chuckling dryly, shaking her head.

"you wish i were. there is really nothing to be jealous." she snarls, as she slams her book shut and picks it up. she turns around to leave, but sirius speaks up, stopping her in her tracks momentarily.

"katherine. i'd keep an eye out for your friend, severus, because he's more of a snake than any of you. he'll bite back, but not at the people you'd expect." sirius says, making her scoff and walk away. for some unknown reason his last words resonate in her mind and she can't stop thinking over them, trying to figure what he meant.