I own nothing but Serena and anyone not mentioned in the books or films.

"This format means that it is not written by Serena."

"This format means that it is written by Serena."


At first, everyone thought that I was put in the wrong house. Serena Winters, a girl who never spoke, placed in Griffindor House. Never getting in trouble. Never had any friends. A year later and it's like I'm not even there. My room-mates ignore my presence, as do the bullies. No one knows anything about me, not even what I sound like.

How did I manage that? I sent back my reply to be enrolled as well as a note saying that I am selectively mute. The truth was that I simply preferred silence. No one would know I was Muggle-born, and that's how I liked it. I went through the first four and a half years of Hogwarts with nobody bothering me.

However, in my fifth year, I wasn't able to go home, and so that left me alone with the only boy staying in our house... Sirius Black.


I was sat in the common room on Christmas day, drawing in my new sketchbook with my new pencils.

It was 9:30 in the morning, and I had only just started hearing movement from the boy's dormitories. I looked behind me, pulling my sketchbook under the green quilt my dad had sent.

I saw Sirius Black, one of the only boys who stayed behind, stumbling down the stairs, before looking up at the tree. His eyes shot open as he dived at the presents. I attempted to stifle my laughter as he face-planted into a rather solid box.

He looked up at me. "Merry Christmas." He nodded in my direction, sitting up. Notepad.

I held up a finger, before sprinting upstairs for my notepad. I fetched it and sprinted back down to the common room. I picked up a fountain pen and wrote "Merry Christmas. I'm Serena." He smiled a little.

"Oh, you're that one." He said. "I'm Sirius." I cocked my head to the side.

"What do you mean by 'that one' ?"

"Just that you're that girl who doesn't talk. Don't worry." His hesitation was obvious. "Can you talk?"

"Yes, I just choose not to talk at school. Prevents bullies." He nodded in understanding.

"So, do I have to call you 'Serena' all the time, or is there a nickname?" I tapped the pen on the paper as I looked up at the rafters.

"My cousins call me 'Reena'."

He whispered the name a few times, testing it out, before shrugging. "That'll work."

I looked upstairs. "Is anyone else here? I'm almost certain I'm the only girl."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, pouting a little, obviously thinking. "I don't think so. You see, unlike our parents, most actually love their children."

Only one parent hated me. My mother. I can't imagine what it would be like to have two cruel parents. I slid off the couch onto the floor next to him and offered a hug. He accepted and squeezed me, hands around my waist, head over my shoulder. I couldn't move other than to stroke his hair.

"It's okay, Sirius. You have friends." I whispered.

His head shot up. "...Did you... Did you just...speak?" He struggled to get the words out, moving away a bit so he could see me properly.

I nodded, picking up my notepad again. He stretched out his hand over the paper. I rolled my eyes as he took the pad away.

"Not exactly used to... speaking. We're probably the only ones here. It's...easier." I explained, trying not to hurt my voice.

He nodded and gave the pad back. "You have presents."

Sirius looked over at the tree, noticing one carefully wrapped gift, one wrapped in ripped paper and one messily wrapped one. Sirius let out a chuckle.

"They're from the boys." He said, pulling them out from under the tree. He took the slightly ripped one in his hands."Peter..." Then the neat one."Remus..."And finally..."James."

He first went to open Peter's gift. A brown paper package, tied up with string. He tugged gently at the string, the gift revealing itself to be... Enchanted paper, as well as a letter. Sirius pulled the seal loose. Sirius read it aloud.

"Sirius, Sorry you couldn't be here with us at James', but hopefully there's someone there to talk to." Sirius looked over his shoulder at me and smiled. "I think you'll like the gift. We all made sure you got top quality stuff. We have to keep the letters short, because we have to go to bed. See you next term."

He then picked up James' gift. He opened it to find a bunch of Zonko's products, as well as Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. He took the letter out again.

"Sirius, Sorry we had to leave you behind, but we are going to tell you some great stories when we get back. I hope you have a great time, Mum wishes you a merry Christmas. Try not to use all the stuff until we get back! James."

He smiles at the letter, before looking over to Remus' present. He was careful not to rip too much of the wrapping, caring for the effort his friend had put in. Inside, was two bottles, wrapped in the recipes, as well as a bar of chocolate.

"Dear Sirius, I can't believe you're not with us. However, I have sent a hair colour potion and an eye colour potion with the recipes. Also, enjoy the chocolate and I'll see you soon. From Remus."

He looked up at me, opening the pack of Every Flavour Beans and eating one before pulling a sour face. I frown at him. "Tomato and lemon."

I cringed, and he offered me the box, I covered my eyes and picked one. It was brown with yellow flakes. I questioned what it would be and shivered.I ate it quickly, before finding that it was better than any other bean I'd had before. Lucky me.

"Banana and chocolate!" He looked at me with fake hate, making me laugh.

"Am I the first person you've spoken to this year?" Sirius' eyebrows knotted together again.

I nodded. "More like since I started Hogwarts, actually." His eyes widened as his jaw dropped. He offered me a sympathetic face, before eating another bean.

"I think...That was air." He said in confusion.

"Bertie Botts has really outdone himself." I picked another bean. This one was light pink with flecks of blue and purple. "Berries! Winters-2, Black-0.5"

"Half a point!?" I giggled.

"Air." He opened his mouth to protest but I quickly covered it with my hand. He rolled his eyes and licked it. I stayed still. He then started sucking on my hand like the strange person he is. I wiped my hand on his cheek and he moved back from me, disgust on his face.

Over the next few hours, we became friends. I found out about his family, and he found out about mine. I told him about my big brother, Dean, Dad a.k.a Jonathan, Mum a.k.a Mary, and my dog, Gabriel.

He told me about Peter, Remus, James and James' crush, Lily. We finished off the beans, my streak of good luck still going.

Sirius then left to send a letter to the boys.


Sirius POV

I gave my letter one last read through before I would send it.

"As much as I wish I was there, I am having far too much fun with the Serena Winters girl. Yeah, she's pretty great, and you're going to meet each other when you get back so she can join us. The beans have already been eaten, (thanks James) and we will continue our project ASAP. Maybe she can help- she's rather smart, maybe smarter than Remus! Anyway, see you when you get back! Sirius."

I realised that I wrote quite a bit about Serena, before sending it off and walking back to the common room. As I walked towards the stairs to the common room, I heard music coming from inside.

I walked a little faster, saying the password before I reached the door. I walked in as quietly as I could, careful not to disturb or scare her. I saw her sat facing what I thought was a desk, but was in fact a piano. She was playing a song I didn't know, but it was a beautiful piece of music. She finished the song and I applauded her work.

She jumped from the sudden knowledge of someone else watching her.


Serena POV

I jumped at the sudden noise, turning around to find Sirius. My face went red.

He's going to find out that I'm a muggle-born.

"You play beautifully." I nodded in thanks. "What's the piece called?"

I looked for my notepad, my hands quickly rummaging through my pockets and darting my eyes around the room. Sirius spotted it first and gave it back to me.

"It's called 'Hey Jude'. Thank you for my notepad." He scrunched his face up, looking up, probably trying to rack his brains for the song.

"Is it a muggle song?" He asked. I nodded slowly. He grinned. "Can you teach it to me?"

"Just want to annoy your parents?"

"I do that anyway. I don't care that you didn't tell me outright that you're muggle-born. You weren't exactly lying, and I've used that tactic on people a few times myself. Anyway, are you going to teach me the song or not?"

"I'll teach you as many as you like!"


Tell me what you think so far! BlackWinter is now my baby. I love it. More than any other ship between an OC and a canon character I've ever created. Critisism is allowed.