Read: This fic is based on solitaireclay07's "Nobody Sees Me Wishing". In this, Ivy and Sirius have a child who is a year older than Harry, making her two years old when her father is taken to Azkaban after being framed for the Potters' deaths.
First Year
"Hi", she managed to squeak, please leave me alone.
"Hello", one of them said questioningly. She wasn't surprised since they obviously hadn't seen her as they were coming in.
Catherine Bennett was busy drowning her emotions in hot chocolate and apple slices when the Weasley twins barged into the kitchens. At the time, she'd been terribly homesick, and following the advice of an upperclassman, snuck into the kitchens. Now, all thoughts of home were erased as she stared in fright at the imposing upperclassmen, half an apple slice making her cheek bulge incriminatingly.
"What do we have here? A first year out of bed and in the kitchens?" one of the boys teased.
"Aw, look, Fred, she's already scared," the one not called "Fred" said, elbowing his twin to stop. "So, how'd you find the kitchens, then?" he said, turning to Cathy who was slowly chewing and swallowing the apple slice.
"I'm…I'm a Hufflepuff," she replied, shrugging.
"Of course," said Fred, shaking his head and chuckling, "I'm Fred Weasley, by the way"
"And I'm George. We're second years-", said not-Fred.
"-and Gryffindors", added Fred.
"I'm Catherine Bennett, it's nice to meet you", she offered a hand, which the twins each shook.
"Well, Cathy, what're you having?" said George as he took a seat on Cathy's left and Fred took one on her right, effectively making her feel crowded in. Lord, why?
"Hot chocolate and apple slices", she mumbled and, bracing herself, added: "Could you please, um, not lean in so much? It's just…you're both a bit too close."
"Oops, that does tend to happen", George said, and they both gave her some more breathing space.
"Homesick, eh?" Fred asked. Until then, he'd been asking the house elves to fix him and George up with some pancakes.
"How'd you…? Yeah, I've never been away this long before"
"Hmm…three weeks?" asked George, taking a plate of pancakes from a house elf.
"Yup, and at home, it's just me and my mum too, so she's all alone right now", Cathy found herself slumping onto the table. While Cathy's policy was to always be honest with how she was feeling (she found that pretending often led to more misery for herself and others involved), sometimes it still bothered her to show negative emotions. "Sorry for being a killjoy. You two were probably expecting to have fun sneaking out tonight."
"Well, yeah…" started Fred, but trailed off at the look George gave him.
"But it's fine, we were just getting pancakes, really", finished George.
"I'm done with these now", Cathy gestured to the empty mug and plate, "So, I should probably get going anyway."
"Hold on!" George exclaimed, and then signaled to his brother that he wanted to talk in private.
Cathy was left to sit, contemplating her homesickness. A few feet away, the twins were talking in hushed whispers. Every now and then, a few words and phrases would find their way to Cathy's ears.
"…homesick…" this one, George.
"…first year…" countered Fred.
"…train…the map…Marauders…" George argued.
"…wicked…but still…" Fred, again.
Finally, the two broke apart, and sauntered over to Cathy, wearing identical grins. They returned to their respective seats, and Cathy pretended she hadn't heard a word.
"So…" she began, growing worried over their suspicious expression.
"Catherine Bennett-" Fred began, rushing through Cathy's name.
"-We've decided-" George continued, then paused, glancing at his brother.
"-To invite you to join in on one of our soon-to-be legendary pranks", finished Fred.
"I…what?!" Cathy's eyes widened again.
"Look, there's no point beating around the bush. You've probably heard of us by now," Fred said, grinning proudly.
"Not re-"
"It would be fun!" George interrupted, "Just one harmless prank, and you'll be the talk of the whole school! Running with the Weasley twins! Pulling pranks and shenanigans and getting away with it! And you only have to do it once…unless, of course, you get a taste for it", George smirked slyly.
"Wait, okay, hold on. So, you two are famous at school for pranking people-"
"-and other forms of mischief in general", Fred cut in, seeming nonchalant about the exclusion, though he did care.
"Yes, anyway, and you want me to join you on one of these pranks…because I'm homesick?" Cathy wanted to thank them for being considerate (at least, she supposed they were being kind), but didn't know how to do it without acquiescing to their request. Besides…"I'm not a charity case, you know."
"We didn't mean to-" George insisted.
"We only meant-" Fred added.
"But…" despite everything, "What did you have in mind?" Cathy couldn't deny her curiosity.
"Just, oof, hold still!" Cathy whispered harshly. The details were fuzzy, but somehow, she was now hiding in a broom closet squeezed between the Weasley twins.
"Lumos", one of the twins whispered into her right ear. A harsh white light flooded the small space, revealing their wild, smiling faces.
"Okay, no, that's definitely going to give us away"
"She's right, George."
George dropped the spell and again the closet was dark. Cathy could feel it, then. Years later, whenever she questioned why she ran with the twins, she would think back to this moment and realize that she regretted nothing. It was as simple as three hearts racing in time with each other; three crazy grins, smiling unselfconsciously; six sweaty hands, trembling in anticipation; three bated breaths.
Besides, they'd gotten caught that day. She got detention that weekend (as a first offender), while the twins had gotten a week's worth. Cathy figured she was bound to have a reputation already.
"If…if you still need an accomplice for the next one, you can sign me up"
Cathy Bennett, as the twins would discover later on, was named after Catherine Morland, the protagonist of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. After all, her mother, Ivy Elizabeth Bennett had decided to carry on her mother's tradition of naming her children after Jane Austen characters. Still, it had upset Cathy to be named after a character so bland, so unimpressive (especially compared to Elizabeth Bennett), so "almost pretty", so much like herself, really. And to add insult to injury, she had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Her mother had reasoned (in an attempt to console her) that Hufflepuff was full of kind and wonderful people, and that Cathy truly was one of them. But Cathy's thoughts flew to her father.
Yes, though (through much pestering from friends and concerned relatives) Ivy chose to change Cathy's surname from Black to Bennett, eventually her little girl had started asking questions. Ivy thought it best to warn her, before entering Hogwarts, that some unkind people would be whispering behind her back.
She knew who her father was. She knew what he was like, how her parents had met, how happy he had been when she was born, and how devastated and furious he was at being taken from his family. She was told she had his hair, his eyes, and (unfortunately) his intense eyebrows, but that she looked like her mother. She was told he had been framed, and everyday she had to remind herself that he had been framed. Eventually, after a ministry hearing that cleared her mother's name, people stopped ostracizing her mother, opting to pity her instead, an innocent victim of her father's treachery. For the sake of her child, Ivy went along with it, but as soon as someone would insult Sirius, or even so much as mention him in contempt, Ivy would stand up and leave.
It was just Ivy and Cathy in their little house. Ivy had moved soon after Sirius was taken away. Occasionally, visitors would arrive: her Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Liam, and their little kid who was too young to be company for her; once a strange man who had been her father's friend had arrived, but that was the only time Cathy could recall seeing him, he was always staring balefully at her and her mother.
So, Cathy grew up quickly, helping her mother around the house, consoling her when birthdays and wedding anniversaries came, really it shouldn't have been any surprise that she'd been sorted into Hufflepuff. But Cathy couldn't help it. She would always wonder what her father would think.