So...short one this time. My bad. Turns out that as much as I enjoy the Harry Potter series, I actually hate writing in its universe. With that in mind, there's a decent chance that I turn this story into a crossover as some point; if you don't like crossovers then I'm sorry but it's that or this story is never going to go anywhere. It won't be immediate and I haven't really picked what I want to crossover with but you'll know as soon as I do when I figure that out.
Harry woke early in the morning, shaken out of his slumber by the words "kill the spare". It wasn't the first time that he'd heard those words in his sleep, but to him, it was the worst. He had hoped, foolishly so, that the nightmares would stop with his change - oh. Right. His change. Her change.
She sighed loudly and ran her hand through her hair, trying to urge away an incessant tingle on her scalp. Ignoring the tickle of sweat running down between her breasts, and the hair plastered to her forehead, she kicked her legs over the side of her bed and stood up before stretching her arms over her head and releasing a very feminine yawn that almost had her running from the...the cuteness of it.
Serina almost had a breakdown at the solid realization that she was actually a girl, and that yesterday really happened. Thankfully, she managed to quell an emotional outburst with a single thought - 'I don't have to be Harry Potter, anymore' which was immediately followed by another thought that made her snort in amusement. 'I hope Sirius is okay with having a gay niece.'
Despite the fact that she knew she badly needed a shower, she decided that she needed food more, so she threw on a large plain black t-shirt and a matching pair of shorts that had been laid out the chair in the corner of the room and made her way down to the kitchen.
As soon as she opened the kitchen door and stepped in, Tonks and Sirius looked at her for a split second before simultaneously bursting out in laughter.
"Oh Sirius, what did you do to the poor thing?" Tonks exclaimed between laughter as her hair cycled through the colors of the rainbow.
"Oh no, Dora!" Sirius wheezed. "This is all her! I did nothing!"
Huffing in annoyance, Serina threw herself into the chair directly to the right of Sirius and pulled his breakfast plate in front of her before sticking her tongue out at him and digging in. "What did I do that has you laughing like little girls?"
In lieu of an answer, Tonks conjured a mirror in front of Serina. "Why is my hair blue?"
Her question sparked more hysterical laughter from the older pair. Tonks was the first to stop laughing and gave Serina a critical look. "Did you do any spellwork this morning?"
"No, I haven't even touched my wand-"
"And you're too old for accidental magic..." Sirius added, with a smirk.
Tonks' look turned thoughtful and she and Sirius shared a look. "Alright kiddo, close your eyes and picture your hair in your mind. Look and feel."
Unsure of what was happening and what the point of what the point of what she was being asked to do was, she tentatively closed her eyes and waited for the prank that she just knew was coming. After several moments when nothing happened, she did what she was told and imagined the long wavy, silky black tresses that framed her face and cascaded down her back. Hearing a gasp and a slow clap, she opened her eyes and fixed the two others at the table with a quizzical look.
"Congratulations, you're a metamorphmagus," Tonks said, with a large smile. "We'll get along just fine!"
"I'm a...a what?"
It was Sirius that answered her question. "A metamorphmagus. It's a rare trait that allows witches or wizards to change their body at will. Like you, you just changed your hair from blue back to black, just by picturing it in your mind."
"So you're a metamorphmagus, too?" Serina asked, shifting her gave to Tonks.
"Yup!" Tonks said enthusiastically, and to further prove her point, she gave herself a duckbill. "Don't do what I just did, though. Using metamorph talents is dangerous once you go into nonhuman changes. If you're not careful, you could get stuck in the change. I don't recommend doing nonhuman until you cover nonhuman transfiguration in school."
"By stuck, you mean-"
"That you can't fix it. Yeah. Promise me that you won't try it."
"I promise. Could I change into a boy?"
"You could, yes...but I don't recommend trying it unless you're extremely familiar with a boy's body," the older metamorphmagus explained. "The easiest way for cross-gender changes if for you to take polyjuice to become the opposite gender so that you can get a feel for it. I tried it once before I took the polyjuice and it was a nightmare. Bloody uncomfortable having both sets at once if you know what I mean."
Tonks' last statement had Sirius howling in laughter and beating the table with his fist. Serina hardly caught Tonks drawing her wand and tipping Sirius' chair over, before she too cracked up. Serina took a final bite of her cold and forgotten breakfast before saying her goodbyes and heading back up to her room to shower; the dried sweat on her body was extremely uncomfortable.
She stayed in the shower much longer much longer than she had the first time, forcing herself to not be uncomfortable with her body. It was her body, after all. In all reality, she had nothing to be embarrassed about, because she wasn't a guy in a girl's body. She was a girl in a girl's body, who was forced to be in a guy's body for a very long time. Serina knew it was going to be some time probably before she was completely comfortable, but the sooner she acclimated to the changes, the sooner she could move on.
In her time in the shower though, she did learn than having boobs was a serious pain in the ass. Even just trying to wash them sent jolts throughout her entire body. Were they all so sensitive? 'It's probably just because it's a new feeling. It'll pass in time.' Hopefully. Or hopefully not? Matters for another time. She also spent more time than she was willing to admit on washing her hair, wanting it to continue to shine like it had after her first shower.
Once done in the shower, she wrapped a towel around her body and entered her room, to find a pair of loose grey sweatpants and a matching grey sweater laid out for her, with a set of plain blue knickers and bra. As soon as she was dressed the portrait of Walburga made her presence known and told her to sit, which she did, choosing the plush green armchair in the corner of the room.
"Alright dear; your next lesson is one that I'm sure might frighten you a little, but it's natural so you'll have to learn to cope with it."
Picking at the redwood armrest out of nervousness, Serina nodded her head as a sign for the portrait to continue. "Not sure I like the sound of that..."
"You won't like the feel of it either," Walburga laughed with a teasing lilt that was at odds with her harsh voice. "Now, for a few days once a month-"
"No!" Serina's eyes widened in horror as the realization crashed down on her. "I don't won't monthlies," she whimpered.
"I'm sorry dear, but we all have to go through them. There's nothing you can do about it, so be quiet and listen so we can get you through this as painlessly...and cleanly...as possible."
Needless to say, it was a haunted-looking daughter of Black that showed her face at lunch that day. Sirius tried talking to her, but she couldn't make herself look at him and she answered with as few words as possible.
"Serina? Serina! You're worse than your mother when she was on her time of the month," he joked.
Serina didn't think it was a very good joke, as Sirius found out fifteen minutes later when Tonks finally showed up and ennervated him with a questioning look at the youngest.
"I have periods now..." she mumbled in response.
Tonks' face flashed in understanding. "Tell you what, cousin. When it starts, tell me and we'll spend the day being lazy and eating ice cream, yeah?" Getting a small smile and a nod from Serina, Tonks then turned to Sirius. "And you better watch yourself. She's under my wing now, dog. And I'd hate to have to get you fixed."
Sirius' eyes widened comically before standing and turning to the still seating former Potter. With a flourish, he bowed and added, "My crass behavior has insulted you and I beg for your apologies, my lady. I'll endeavor to see that it doesn't happen again."
She couldn't help it; it started as a smile, then turned into a chuckle, before exploding into musical laughter and tears of mirth. "Sirius, never change."
Her godfather shot her a grin before shooing her upstairs and out of the way of an Order meeting that was to be taking place soon. Were she still Harry Potter then she would have begged to be allowed in but Serina Black was content with heading to the library for some self-study on defense. That was one thing that she knew would never change, her love of DADA.
Walking into the dark and musty library, she flicked her wand at a row of lamps along the wall before grabbing a book on curses and counter-curses. She found the least destroyed looking chair near the only window in the room and took a seat, tucking her legs under her and slightly off to the side. 'Well, that was weird.' As a guy, he never would have caught himself sitting like this, but as a girl, it seemed to come naturally. Whatever.
She leaned back in the chair and cracked the book in her lap. 'Really, maybe going to Hogwarts wouldn't be such a bad thing. On the other hand, if I don't go then I can stay here and learn what I want to learn. Not good for my future, though...though really I'm not sure where astronomy, goblin rebellions, and divination comes into play with job prospects'. And so Serina spent the next couple of hours reading through a mixture of horrifying and not so horrifying curses, which internally debating the merits and drawbacks of attending the school of magic. She lay her head back and closed her eyes, sore from hours of reading in low light. 'This place seriously needs some damn electric lights.'
She was just about to doze off when a heavy breeze blew in from the slightly cracked window. Her eyes opened to the sound of pages shifting; not wanting to lose her page she tried to stop the pages from flipping, but when she slapped her hand onto the open book, Serina was interesting to see that a loose piece of parchment was shoved into the book. She brought it close to her face to read the tiny scrawl.
For those whose will is strong, they can find themselves in new worlds.
That was it. That was all the page said. It didn't mean anything to the newly discovered teen girl but it seemed like something that had a deeper meaning than it would suggest. Still curious, Serina folded the piece of parchment and pocketed it with plans on thinking on it the next day. Just noticing how late it'd gotten, she made her way to her room to call it a night.