never until forever [s. black]

twentyseven

katherine slowly opens her eyes, the light nearly blinding her. she looks around and realises she's in one of the infirmary's bed. she also notices five people sleeping in chairs around her. sirius was resting against her bed, lily had her head on james' shoulder, who has his resting on hers. remus is leaning back in what looked like one of the most uncomfortable positions ever, making her chuckle softly and peter was leaning forward. her sudden movement must have woken him up, as she feels sirius shifting next to her as he looks up. she smiles softly as he stretches the sleep out of him.

"hey, princess. how are you?" he asks softly, not to wake up the others and she shrugs as she glances down at the bandages on her arms.

"seen better days." she admits, making him hum and his eyes immediately brighten in worry.

"you really scared us there. what were you doing out there?" sirius asks, making her look down sheepishly as she starts fiddling with the the blanket.

"emma told me that there was slytherins fighting out there. and as prefect i had to go check." she says, making him sigh and run a hand in his hair.

"well, it is what it is." he sighs, making her smile weakly as she takes his hand.

"i'm sorry for worrying you. i feel like i'm just a burden." she hums as she lets go of his hand, but he takes her hand back and gives her a look.

"you're not. don't ever think you are." he says pointedly, making her smile and nod. before she can say anything else, the others wake up and smile happily at the sight of katherine being awake.

"hey, kat! welcome become to the living. how are you?" james asks excitedly.

"i'm okay, thank you." she chuckles softly, from the corner of her eyes she notices remus looking down at his lap sadly. she tilts her head in confusion as she looks at him. "hey, remus. you okay?"

"uh..." he trails off as he looks up at her. he glances at his friends, who smile at him encouragingly. he takes a deep breath as she looks back up at katherine. "last night, the werewolf who attacked you. it was me. i didn't mean to hurt you and i hope you don't hate-"

"lupin, shut it." she chuckles, making him look at her with wide eyes. she leans forward and pulls him into a hug, making him stiffen as he hesitates to wrap his arms around her. "it's okay. i'm sure you didn't mean to hurt me. but i have to admit, i have so many questions."

"you don't hate me?" remus asks in shock, as he pulls away and she shakes her head, before glances down at her arms. "even..."

"nope. not even a little bit." she assures him, and he let's out a breath of relief.

"told you, moony." peter says teasingly, making remus chuckle softly. as katherine remembers last night, her grin drops and she looks at lily in worry.

"what about the dog? is he okay?" katherine asks in with wide panicky eyes, making lily smile calmly and nod. katherine lets out a breath of relief. sirius smirks in amusement.

"way to worry about me." james huffs with a pout as he crosses his arms over his chest. katherine looks at him questioningly.

"why would i be worried about you?" katherine asks, making him gasp as he dramatically puts a hand over his chest.

"i'm the one who got remus away from you the first time." james says, making her frown and shake her head.

"no. it was a stag. i'm certain of it." katherine shakes her head and james nods as he points at himself. "are you trying to say you're an animagus?"

"yeah, he actually is one." sirius says, making her look at him and as she looks into his eyes. that's when she realises why the dog was so familiar and then looks at james with wide eyes.

"merlin's beard. no way. you're an animagus?" katherine asks in disbelief, james, peter and sirius nod in confirmation "james is a stag, sirius the dog and you peter?"

"i'm a rat." peter chuckles nervously, and katherine turns to look at sirius in shock.

"so you..."

"a promise is a promise, princess."