never until forever [s. black]

thirtyfive

she looks around with wide eyes, her heart rate increasing with every second she spends here. she was standing in the filled room of the avery mansion, death eaters conversing with one another everywhere. it was like a nightmare. she felt extremely trapped. after the last time here, she never thought she'd be back, but in all honesty she had never expected to be in one of these meetings. she feels someone walk up to her and her body stiffens, but once she realises who it is, she relaxes.

"you stick out like a sore thumb." regulus says teasingly, making her huff as she glances around. he can sense her discomfort and sighs. "i wish you didn't have to do this."

"me too. but we don't always get what we want." she points out and he chuckles softly, just as her brother and father walk into the room. her fear increases even more as her brother looks around and his eyes land on her. her breath gets stuck at the back of her throat as he raises an eyebrow, before looking away.

"come on. stick with me and everything will be fine." regulus assures her and she smiles gratefully as everyone gathers around to face charles avery.

"today we are all gathered as the time for us to rise is coming sooner." charles grins with a proud look on his face. a chill runs up her back and shifts to move closer to regulus, a movement that doesn't go unnoticed by her brother. "the dark lord will rise and all mud bloods will be exterminated!"

katherine's eyes widen as she looks up at regulus, who is just as shocked as she is. everyone around them cheers at his words and she can't help but fear for lily's safety. she glances over at severus, who frowns slightly, but immediately shakes it off. regulus takes her hand in a reassuring manner and she is about to say something to him, but someone appears in front of them and her heart drops.

"good to see you, regulus. i see you've brought a friend." joseph smirks as he looks down at katherine, for a split second a flash of recognition appears in his eyes, but as fast as it appeared, it's gone.

"this is my girlfriend, katherine. she's a half blood, but hates her muggle born father." regulus lies, making joseph hum approvingly as his smirk widens even more.

"lovely. i must say you seem very familiar." joseph says, making katherine shift uncomfortably.

"i must have one of those faces, i suppose. i get that a lot." she says, making him chuckle dryly and shake his head.

"trust me, a face like yours is unforgettable." he smirks, before he walks away and it takes all her strength to not puke right there, right then.

"i need some fresh air." katherine says, making regulus nod understandingly, before leading her out of the room. once the doors close behind them, she lets out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. "there are so many things wrong with this."

"i can't believe they're going to murder people." regulus breaths out softly, and she looks up at him with a soft smile.

"you know, you could always leave this. i mean your parents didn't seem to mind sirius doing it, so why not you." she suggests and he shakes his head as he looks down at her.

"and who'll keep an eye out for you. i'm not leaving you in this mess." regulus says sternly and she smiles appreciatively, before hugging him. "by the way, i heard what happened with my brother. how are you feeling?"

"horrible. you should have seen the look on his face, regulus. for a split second it was the same look he used to give me when we crossed path last year, a mix of disgust and hatred. i never thought anything could hurt more than that." katherine admits, making him smile weakly.

"there you guys are!" the two turn around to see severus and emma walking up to them. katherine sighs as she smiles falsely. "we brought you something to drink."

"oh. thanks." katherine hums as she takes the cup and looks in it, to see it's only water. she brings it up to her lips as she glances at severus over the brim. regulus frowns, having an extremely bad feeling about this.