never until forever [s. black]

fourtytwo

"oh, katherine you really didn't have to." euphemia breaths out with a grateful smile as she takes the plates from girl, who shakes her head.

"please, i want to help in any way possible." katherine hums, making euphemia beam happily as she places the plates in the sink, using a spell for it to get washed by itself.

"you've been more helpful the past month than james has his whole life. you should really just enjoy your summer, with the boys." euphemia says as she leads katherine back into the dinning room, where the others are seated. katherine takes her seat next to sirius back and he immediately puts a hand on her thigh, smiling at her softly. she smiles back.

she felt extremely happy and at peace. something she thought she would never feel, but here surrounded by the people who were slowly becoming her own family, she couldn't help but feel over the moon. today marked her eighteenth birthday, something they were unaware as far as she was concerned, and by just being themselves, they'd given her one of the most amazing birthday gifts; love and acceptance. what she was unaware of though, was that they knew it was her birthday and they had planned everything to be perfect, as long as james or sirius don't do something stupid.

"so, what are you three doing today?" fleamont asks them and they all shrug, but sirius and james give each other knowing looks. katherine stays absolutely clueless of the plans being unveiled. "sirius, didn't you mention something about showing katherine a thing?"

"oh, yes! of course. i nearly forgot. what would i do without you, fleamont?" sirius asks, as katherine looks at him both amused and curious. sirius stands up, offering his hand to her, which takes and he helps her up. "we'll be right back. don't miss us too much."

"with a face like yours sirius, i miss you already." james says, making his mother roll her eyes at him as katherine snickers and sirius smirks, before the couple leave the room.

"what do you want to show me?" she asks as he leads her upstairs, into his room and she raises an eyebrow. "if you want me to see you naked, that's nothing new."

"okay, princess. i know. and i'm sure you'd love to see it again, don't worry. i want see you naked as well, but that's not what we're here for. " he says, making her roll her eyes in amusement. he walks up to a cupboard and opens one of the drawers, before pulling a small box. her breath gets caught at the back of her throat as he walks up to her and hands her the box. she hesitantly takes it and looks at him in bewilderment, before looking back down. she slowly opens it, and bites her lip to stop the wide grin. "what do you think?"

"it's beautiful." she hums, as she runs her fingers over the chain. it was a simple necklace, it couldn't get more simple than this necklace with the dog paw pendant, but it meant the world to her.

"i got it to match your patronus and my animagus." he says, making her take the necklace out of the box and he takes it from her. "turn around."

she complies, turning to face the door. he moves her hair a side as he wraps the necklace around her neck, his hands rubbing against her back of her neck as he attaches it. she puts a hand over the pendant as he wraps his arms around her and rests his chin on her shoulder. he kisses her cheek softly, making her blush and grin. moments like this, made her fall in love with him so fast.

"happy birthday, darling." he hums, and she lets out a breathy chuckle.

"how'd you know?" she asks softly, turning around in his arms and putting her arms loosely around his neck.

"where would the fun be in telling you? now come on. we still have a lot in store for today." sirius as he pulls away and takes her hand, making her raise an eyebrow. he leads her back down the stairs in the direction of the living room.

"sirius, you really didn't need to do-"

"surprise!" she is cut off by the shouts of her friends, who all smile happily at the sight of her. remus and lily had joined james and his parents during the time that sirius had brought her upstairs.

"happy eighteenth birthday, katherine. you're like old now." lily says teasingly as she hugs her best friend, who snorts.

"oh, shut it, evans. you're not getting younger either." katherine says pointedly, before lily is replaced by remus. "i'm so happy to see you, lups."

"and i you, kat. i was worried these idiots had already killed you by accident." remus says jokingly, before pulling away and she chuckles.

"no, she was in good hands." james assures remus as he walks past him to hug the birthday girl, who snorts.

"i'm still trying to come up with a way to get back at you two for the pond incident." katherine says, making the two boys smile sheepishly.

"i don't even want to know what happened." lily admits.