Another short one; sorry folks. This is as far as the story goes until I can decide what I want to crossover with. I'm thinking about either World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, or maybe Mass Effect. Regardless, there is going to be a huge time-jump, but it will be filled in with flashbacks. Until next time, folks.
"Wake up, kiddo! Lots to do today!"
The voice of her uncle Sirius coming through her bedroom door startled her out of her nightmare. The phrase 'kill the spare' was still everpresent in her mind, but all the recent excitement had pushed it to the background. Now that the shock of her new lifestyle had somewhat simmered down, the graveyard took its rightful place at the forefront of her mind.
She wiped an errant tear from her cheek and shook her head to clear up her mind before standing up, still somewhat uncomfortable with being more or less nude in a female form. Sure, Serina had accepted that she wasn't Harry anymore but the fact remains that she was Harry and had fifteen years of being a downtrodden teen male hardwired into her brain; a teen who had never seen a naked female until the life-altering events of his/her birthday mere days earlier.
Though she still liked girls and had no amorous thoughts concerning males, so at least she wasn't fighting the awkwardness that would come with her sexual preferences doing a backflip in a single day. Small mercies. Except being gay, not just in the wizarding world but in the muggle world as well, was still highly discriminated against. Shit. Maybe not a small mercy? To be decided.
She looked at the laid-out dress with utter distaste. It was a plain but clearly upper-class dress; black, velvety, and designed to show off what was underneath while still remaining somewhat modest. It was cut to show just a hint of cleavage and had a high back so at least she could wear a bra underneath it all. With a sigh, she snapped on the thin black bra and knickers that accompanied it and then slipped the dress over her head. She made sure the wide shoulder straps covered the straps of her bra and then groaned when she noticed the matching heels laid out as well.
"Walburga! No! I WILL not wear these!"
"Oh quit your bawling and act like the lady I've been training you to be; you'll wear them without complaint."
"I've never even worn these things before; these aren't like the other platforms you forced me into!" Serina whined. "I've seen girls sent to the hospital wing because of these things!"
"Oh shush. They're charmed," Walburga insisted in her most placating tone. "You won't have to worry about rolling your ankle, and considering how easily you handled the platforms, I'm sure you'll pick these up in a hurry."
With a quiet sigh, Serina acquiesced and slipped her small feet into the heels and buckled them before making a couple tentative laps around the room to get a feel for them. The heel-to-toe steps came surprisingly naturally to her without any thought on her part.
"Very good dear, and you look beautiful. I wouldn't say no to some makeup but frankly, I don't want to fight that battle right now. Make your way down; you're to have a busy day today. Getting a nod, Walburga settled herself in her frame to nap until her student returned.
/
"Gringotts first; we're going to have to sort out your vault," Tonks told her younger cousin as the two stepped into Diagon Alley. Sirius wanted to come as well, but he was still a wanted man and neither Serina or Tonks would allow him to risk it. With Sirius not being allowed to come, they had to let Tonks in on the secret of Serina's origins.
"My vault?"
"Well your vault was the Potter vault, but you're not a Potter anymore. Well, never was technically, but you know what I'm saying," she explained in a quiet voice, wary of anybody overhearing. "So we need to go in and see if you still have access and if you don't then we need to get you into the Black vaults. We were going to do that anyways."
They weaved their way through a crowd that was congesting the alley as Tonks continued to give Serina directions. "When we get in there, don't make eye contact with anybody but the goblins and let me do the talking. If the goblins ask you questions, respectfully decline to answer them until we can get a secure meeting. Got that?"
"Yes, I got it," Serina answered calmly, even though her insides were in turmoil. The money really didn't mean anything to her, but if she was denied access to the Potter vault then that was just one more tie to her parents being cut and she didn't know if she could handle that.
It was surprisingly easy. They made their way to Gringotts and to a teller booth. After a short wait in line, Tonks leaned in close to the goblin and said something so quietly that even Serina who was right next to her couldn't hear. With a nod in her direction to confirm, Tonks followed after the goblin with Serina right behind her. They were led into a small room directly behind the teller station that was completely bare of any and all furniture. Once the door was closed behind them, the goblin looked at Tonks expectantly.
"We're dealing with a victim of a blood glamour and need to inquire about accessibility to the host families vault," Tonks answered his unspoken question in a no-nonsense tone.
"Vault and circumstances?" The goblin asked in a monologue.
"Potter vault. Harry Potter," Tonks made a motion towards a silent Serina with her hand, "was blood glamoured. Harry Potter never existed."
That certainly got a shock out of the goblin. He turned to Serina with wide eyes, shock and wonder written in them. "Not even a male? Cruel. Cruel indeed."
The goblin looked between the two females. "We'll have to look into the Potter's general will to see what we can do, but don't get your hopes up."
"My parents had a will?"
The goblin looked up at Serina. "A general will. Not exactly a last will and testament. It's more like saying 'everything goes to this person or this person' as opposed to 'divide these up between these people' if that makes sense?"
With Serina's nod of understanding, he continued on. "We're going to need a contract quill, veritiserum, and the general will so if you will wait here then I will return with what we need." Saying that the goblin took his leave and left them in the room alone.
Past Tonks saying, "fingers crossed, yeah?" no words were exchanged in the ten minutes that they were left waiting. After those ten minutes, the original teller goblin came back with two more goblins in tow, carrying a waist-high table between them. They placed the table in the middle of the room and exited without a word. Once they were gone and the door secured again, the teller placed a small box on the table and opened it.
As he pulled items out of the box he explained what each was. "Veritiserum. Most powerful truth potion in existence. Have to make sure you are who you say you are, don't we? Contract quill; signing anything with this is the equivalent of doing a binding ritual. This was nobody can contest ownership of the vault. And the potter general will." The Potter general will was actually just a small piece of parchment.
"First, the veritiserum. Three drops on the tongue and even the strongest mind would crack and tell us what we need to know. I have the antidote in my pocket so no worries there and we'll only ask questions to identify you as formerly being Harry Potter. Ready?"
Serina gave an extremely nervous and shaky nod and slowly opened her mouth so that the goblin could administer the truth potion. As the three drops hit her tongue, she could feel her body relax as the tension bled out of her. If it wasn't for Tonks supporting her, she was sure she would have crashed to the stone floor.
"Name?"
Serina actually struggled to answer this. Her two names were fighting for dominance in her mind and it came out that way as well. "Harina Poblatter." It seemed like an expected answer though, because the goblin just nodded. She was also faintly sure that she could hear Tonks snickering behind her.
"Current name?"
"Serina Black."
"Former name?"
"Harry James Potter."
"Birthday?"
"I-I don't know."
"That's good enough for me." Saying this, the goblin pulled a small vial from his pocket and uncorked it before letting a drop of it fall on Serina's tongue. "Next is the general will. You'll be happy to know that it doesn't specify Harry James Potter as the recipient."
"What?! What do you mean, I should be happy? That means I lose my family's vault, doesn't it?" Serina exploded, near hysterical.
"No! No, no!" The goblin placated. "Calm yourself! If they left everything to Harry James Potter then you would not be eligible for the will, do you understand? Let me read the will out for you?"
"We, James and Lily Potter, leave everything of ours to the child that came into our home and hearts on the night of July 31, 1980."
The goblin gave them a feral grin. "The vault is yours, Serina Black. They planned ahead for your circumstances. Very cunning of them."
Serina couldn't even reply, the shock and awe freezing her in place with wide eyes.
"Sign here please and then we can conclude our business." He unfurled several rolls of parchment and laid them out on the table next to the contract quill. "The first one here is a confirmation of identity. Being blood glamoured, you don't exist. Signing your name here will bring you to life, so to speak."
First Name: Serina Middle Name: Amaryllis Last Name: Black
"Amaryllis?" Tonks asked.
"A flower. For my mum. It's not Lily, but it holds the same meaning to me."
"Next. The transfer contract. Nothing will change other than you being the owner. Business will go on as it always has."
With a nod, Serina skimmed over the contract and signed her new official name everywhere she was directed to. For everybody claiming that the goblins were so crafty and underhanded, she was surprised with how upfront and simplistic the contract was. Exactly as the goblin said, it literally just put the Potter vault under her control.
"And that concludes our business, Ms. Black. Good day." The goblin rolled up the documents and let the room.
"Well. What next?" Serina asked with an ear-to-ear grin.
A quick trip to Serina's reaquired vault and then they were out of Gringotts and on their way to Olivanders.
"So why are we going to Ollivander's? I already have a wand, and it still works just fine for me."
"Wizards and witches can be identified just by their wand. We're not going to get you a new wand, we're just going to get yours a makeover," Tonks explained as they pushed open the door to the musty wand shop and stepped inside.
Ollivander looked up from the counter where he was doing maintenance on a stack of dusty looking wands. "Another wand replacement, Nymphadora? It's only been weeks since your last one. I'm afraid I don't approve of how you treat my creations."
Tonks at least had the good sense to look ashamed. "Not quite. We need a wand reskinned. You see, it's a pretty well-known wand and-"
"And Mr. Potter wishes to disappear. Yes, very well. Give me the wand and fifteen minutes and you won't even recognize it."
With wide eyes, Tonks withdrew the wand of Harry Potter from her sleeve and placed it on the counter in front of the wandmaker. Ignoring the muttering of 'what a shame to do away with such a magnificent wand' Tonks took Serina by the shoulder and dragged her out of the store.
"I don't know how he always knows who everybody is but don't worry. He won't tell anybody." She turned to Serina and shot a chill-inducing smile at her. "Now the best part. Shopping."
"Oh, sweet Merlin."
/
Shopping was nowhere near as bad as Serina though it would be. In fact, loathe as she was to admit it, she had a great time with Tonks. She must have tried on half the store and left with half of the things she tried on. She got mostly casual clothes, being sweatpants and sweatshirts, jeans, t-shirts, a couple pair of trainers, and some heavier clothes for winter.
After a couple hours in the clothing shop, they made their way back to Ollivanders and seven galleons later they had a wandbox which Serina insisted they wait to open until they got home. With their business in the alley done, Tonks took Serina by the arm and with a snap they were standing on the front step of 12 Grimmauld Place. Before Tonks could steady herself from the sudden transportation, Serina was already bolting to the kitchen with the intent of examining her reskinned wand.
When Tonks caught up it was to see a teen girl with a look of absolute confusion on her face and a note in her hand. The older cousin made her way behind Serina and read the note over her shoulder.
I can give you a sword, but I cannot swing it for you.
"I don't understand..." Serina muttered. Regardless, she picked up her 'new' wand an examined it. It truly was a work of beauty with a swirling vine pattern covering the entire length of it, and small blossoms set into it. She rolled it in her hands, marveling at just how different it was from her admittedly plain old wand.
With a start, Tonks noticed something. "Hold on, there's another wand in there."
Before Tonks could warn her away to check for curses or anything of the sort, Serina snatched the wand out of the box. There was no explosion of sparks or blanket of warmth like with her holly and phoenix wand, but rather it felt cold. Cold yet comforting that is, and it was a strange feeling.
Serina was startled from her observations of the strange, knobby new wand by a quiet tink. Looking for the source, she found a ring that must have been hooped around the wand and picked it up. The ring, like the wand, had a somewhat cold aura to it and was plain in design. It was a plain silver ring with an onyx black stone set on it. The stone was unremarkable as well, minus the symbol on it; a triangle with a circle etched into the middle of it, with a single line going vertically through it.