A/N: Heads up folks, we're about to jump into some deep emotional gender shit for this and the next chapter at least, if that's not your cup of tea that's fine, you can get off the ride here. Otherwise I hope you enjoy it because I thought it was fun to write.

Additionally, by the time this chapter has come out, I will have edited the first chapter so that it mostly follows Harry's training and growth through the summer. It's been a long overlooked issue and its inclusion in this story is overdue. What was originally most of the first chapter is now chapter two, and the chapter numbers follow from there fairly logically. While I don't intend to make further tweaks to the early chapters after this, I'd say it's safe to consider that this story is in a continuous state of fine tuning. I always try to focus on producing new quality content quickly, and regularly fail, but I hope that you enjoy the story going forward from here.

DISCLAIMER: I do not now, nor will I ever, own the intellectual property of Harry Potter, or any related properties. This work is not intended to produce a profit of any sort.

Chapter Five: The Woman in White

A sharp crack reverberated around Privet Drive as Harry and Tonks returned to the Dursley's back yard. The dark haired wizard momentarily tensed, half expecting his uncle to come barreling out of the house at the loud noise, only to realize that it was nearly eleven, "Vernon must already be at work." He sighed thankfully, "If we're lucky Petunia might be gone too."

"If you're lucky, you mean." Tonks replied cheekily, beaming when Harry blinked in a moment of confusion, only to flush deeply as his mind careened off track.

"N-no! I mean-" The wizard stuttered, trying and failing to form a competent response, until his friend burst out laughing.

Tonks' hair shifted wildly between pink and yellow as she struggled to control her amusement at Harry's awkwardness, "I know what you mean, Harry, I was just havin' a go at you. But seriously, if I don't leave now then I'm gonna catch hell from Shacklebolt for being late for my patrol briefing." She explained quickly before pulling the dark haired boy into a hug and shoving a small case into his hands.

Harry, still somewhat in shock from the unexpected hug, glanced down at the leather object curiously as the colorful witch pulled away, "What's this?"

"It's your birthday present from me!" She replied cheerily, "I know that it's late, but in my defense I the shop took longer than they said they would." A bright smile spread across Harry's face at her explanation, he was about to open the case up when the auror shook her head, "Hold up, you should probably wait to open it until you have time to read the instructions. You'll want to try them out when you see what it is and you probably don't have much time."

With that said the metamorphmagus gave her friend one last bright smile before twirling on her heel and vanishing as quickly as the two had appeared, leaving Harry alone as he made his way into his relatives' house, only to feel a sinking weight in his stomach as he saw Petunia's purse on the counter. 'Wonderful, well there goes that dream. I do wonder where she is, though, it's not like Aunt Petunia to leave her stuff out like this.' He mused while making his way upstairs, giving the unfolded ladder to the attic a curious glance as he passed it.'Looks like I found Petunia...good at least that means she'll be busy for a while. I can't remember the last time she went up there."

The moment the dark haired wizard's feet touched the landing he hurried to pry open the loose floorboard and hide his new possessions, minus his wand, before his brief respite could be interrupted. A soft sigh escaped Harry's lips once he'd covered the stash back up and pushed himself to his feet, only to let out a frustrated groan as his swollen chest throbbed again. 'It feels like it's getting worse...I wonder if the swelling is one of the side effects of the cruciatus curse that Madame Pomfrey mentioned? Unless it's some other veela thing...maybe I should ask-' Before he had the chance to explore that line of thought any further, his attention was stolen by a quiet tap hastily followed by three more knocks from the other side of his door. He hadn't heard anybody come into the house but it wasn't like the Dursleys to come looking for him, never mind respecting his privacy by knocking. "Well...let's get this over with then." He muttered, crossing the small room warily, "Look, if you're wanting me to do chores then..." The words died on Harry's lips as the disheveled figure of his aunt standing outside his door sunk in, her normally immaculate clothes were splotched with dust and cobwebs while a raw red color ringed her eyes, "Aunt Petunia? Are you...are you okay?"

"Ah..." Petunia stared back at her nephew wordlessly for a moment, clearly not as prepared as she thought she'd been for whatever brought her here. Silence hung heavily over the hallway while she gaped at Harry as if she were seeing him for the first time, confusion was clear on her face but regret quickly started overtaking it, "You look so much like Lily..." She finally whispered, one thin hand pressed itself against her lips as tears welled up in her eyes while the other tightly clutched a small dusty book against her chest.

The sudden outburst of more familial affection than his aunt had ever showed him brought forth a medley of warring emotions that threatened to send Harry's already teetering patience with her crashing down. It was all he could do to fight back the temptation to slam the door in Petunia's face as his throat tightened painfully, "What do you want, Aunt Petunia?" He managed to get out, his tone much cooler than he'd anticipated, "I've got plans today and don't have a lot of time."

"P-plans?" His aunt stuttered back, seemingly in shock, "I-I thought maybe we could talk some about-"

Itching pinpricks erupted across the wizard's body as a righteous fury washed through him, "Oh, you want to talk?! After all these years of ignoring and degrading me, now that Dumbledore came and told you that I'm leaving, now you want to talk?!"

Shock and fear flashed in Petunia's eyes at her nephew's outburst, the tears that had been threatening to escape earlier suddenly burst forth and streamed down her cheeks freely as she stumbled back into the hall. "B-b-but-"

Harry's eyes narrowed further at the sight of his aunt's tears as she struggled to form a coherent response, "It's too late, Petunia, you had eleven years to talk, and three summers after that! Instead you locked me up in a cupboard and let Vernon and Dudley use me as their personal punching bag, so no, I don't want to talk anymore!"

The thin woman stared back in horror at what was clearly a conversation gone horribly wrong in her view, though before either could say anything else the shrill chime of the doorbell rang through the house,'Thank Merlin, I hope it's that Delacour lady.' Harry fumed silently as he pushed past Petunia, only to pause at the sound of a strangled sob echoing through the hall, "I-I'm s-sorry, Harry! P-please, j-just giv-"

His gaze locked itself to the staircase, a small amount of guilt welling up and twisting his stomach at the sound of his aunt's desperate pleading, "I'm leaving soon, Petunia...I don't know why you care all of a sudden, but it'll be easier for both of us if you just stop. I didn't matter to you before, and you're not going to convince me that anything's different now." He replied numbly, before swallowing the lump in his throat and pushing forward down the stairs and into the kitchen, his mind racing,'No...this is not okay. I don't know what her game is but she's never cared before...there has to be something else going on here. Maybe she's afraid of Voldemort coming back...she wants me for protection? That's got to be it...she's barely ever even mentioned Mom before yesterday and now she's trying to use her against me!'

A second chime of the doorbell shook the wizard from his thoughts, forcing him to refocus his mind like Dumbledore had instructed before taking one last deep breath while opening the door, "I'm sorry for the wait, I-" Harry's words died on his lips as a wave of awe washed over him at the beauty of the woman standing on the other side of the door, he struggled to continue for several seconds until finally falling completely silent as their eyes met.

"Harry Potter, I presume?" The woman asked politely, offering him a friendly smile while extending a delicate looking hand, "My name is Eloise Delacour, it's a pleasure to meet you."

As Harry reached out to take her hand he felt the warm discomfort in his navel return with a vengeance and did his best to suppress the wince that came with it, "I-it's nice to meet you too Mrs. Delacour." He managed to push out, cringing internally at the bright blush that flooded his cheeks.

If the blonde witch was at all bothered by his sudden bout of nervousness she declined to show it, though her polite smile seemed to quirk into a more amused one as she released Harry's hand, "Do you mind if I come inside?"

The image of Petunia bawling in the upstairs hallway flashed briefly through Harry's mind, leading him to shake his head slowly, "Actually...my relatives aren't very welcoming of magic in the house, I think it would be better if we went somewhere else." He explained apprehensively, "I-if that's okay, I mean. We could go upstairs but my room isn't very big."

His guest briefly quirked an eyebrow, appearing confused for a moment until something in the kitchen seemed to catch her attention. Following her gaze, he glanced over his shoulder only to see that Petunia had finally made her way downstairs as well and was gaping wordlessly at the woman, looking no less distraught than she had when he left. An awkward air threatened to descend upon the kitchen, but Eloise preempted it deftly, turning her focus back towards Harry, "I understand completely, did you have someplace in mind?"

Relief flooded through Harry as he released a breath he'd barely realized he'd been holding, "Ah...well, I know a park not too far from here. It's usually pretty empty this time of day, is that okay?"

The suggestion was met with the return of the blonde's smile as she stepped back from the door, "Of course, wherever you feel most comfortable, Harry, lead the way."

The wizard hurriedly followed her outside, pointedly ignoring Petunia's stare as he let the door close behind him, "I'm sorry about my aunt, like I said she doesn't like magic." He explained quietly while taking the lead.

Eloise hummed softly, subtly eyeing his small frame as she followed closely beside him, "I take it that you and your relatives don't get along well?"

Harry didn't immediately answer the question, instead opting to fix his gaze forward and get his emotions under control before finally nodding reluctantly, "You could say that...but it doesn't matter anymore. I won't be living with them for much longer." He finally responded, expecting her to press him further on the subject, though instead she seemed to let it go, simply offering her own nod of understanding before lapsing back into a comfortable silence for the last two blocks leading up to the park.

As the pair rounded the last corner Harry was relieved to see the area devoid of any onlookers, likely due to the threat of Dudley's little gang appearing to terrorize anybody that dared to commit the sin of having too much fun in their presence. He led the way to one of the few picnic tables that still had all of its legs, catching sight of a somewhat familiar looking tabby cat perching itself on a wall across the street from them as he sat down. Suddenly all of his nervousness from earlier seemed to crash back down on him as he turned his attention back to Eloise who, for her part, seemed perfectly at ease on the uncomfortable wooden bench across from him, "So...Professor Dumbledore said that you were interested in talking to me?"

"It's okay, Harry, you don't need to be nervous. I'm just going to ask you a few questions and we'll go from there, I'm sure that you've got some questions of your own as well, right?" She started reassuringly before reaching into her stylish purse to pull out a pen and leather bound notebook, leading him to eye it suspiciously, "Don't worry, anything we talk about will stay between the two of us, I'll even show it to you when we're done if you want."

The promise of secrecy did little to calm Harry's nerves, but as he stared down the woman across from him he couldn't detect any malicious intent from her, "...Okay."

"Magnifique!" Eloise replied brightly, "Now before we start are there any questions that you'd like to ask me?"

"Are..." Harry started hesitantly, thinking back to his conversation with the headmaster the day before, "Are you actually a veela? Dumbledore only said that you could answer my questions, not whether or not you were one."

A soft laugh escaped the blonde woman at the question, making his blush return in force, "I'm sorry, Harry I didn't mean to laugh at you, I just sort of expected that you would have been told already. But yes, I am a veela...did Albus explain why I wanted to reach out to you?"

"Well...sort of?" He replied unsurely, "I'm not really sure what's going on, to be honest. He just told me that he thought I might be a veela, I didn't realize that was even possible, but didn't really explain the difference between male and female veela."

"Oh cher..." Eloise's face seemed to fall somewhat with his explanation, and she hurriedly scribbled in her notebook, "I thought that Albus would have explained...maybe he didn't really understand what I meant."

"Is there something wrong?" Harry asked with concern as she muttered under her breath before refocusing her attention on him.

"Ah, well...let's not get ahead of ourselves." She started, clearly trying to sound reassuring but only managing to make the boy who lived more uncomfortable, "I promise we'll get to it, but first why don't you tell me what's been happening lately. Have you noticed any changes in your body that seem strange or unusual?"

'Every time...why can't I ever get a straight answer?! Do people think I'm stupid or something?' Harry mused ruefully, though he did his best to bury his frustration in favor of answering her question, "Well...my stomach has been hurting a lot lately, like it's trying to do flips and sometimes it feels like it's knotting itself up?" He offered hopefully, drawing a concerned look from the witch as she went back to her notes.

"In your stomach, or down between your navel and your privates?" She asked softly, motioning to the same area on her own body that he'd been feeling discomfort in, leading him to nod with a somewhat embarrassed look.

"Y-yeah, that's where it is."

Eloise simply nodded and seemed to check something off in her book, "Anything else?"

"Well...Tonks said something about there being an aura around me, but I don't think I can feel it? I just know that it seems to bother her a lot and people have been staring at me even more than normal lately. That and my body has kind of been itching whenever I'm angry, but up in my chest area has been itches even when I'm not upset and it kinda hurts." The blonde blinked in surprise for a moment, and he quickly continued, "B-but I also got hit with the cruciatus curse at the world cup. I mean...I guess it would make sense if the itching is from the curse, I was told there might be side effects, but up here has been hurting and itching most of the summer and it's not the same pain as everywhere else." He finished, motioning to his chest again with an even more embarrassed look, unable to bring himself to admit to the swelling that Madam Malkin had pointed out.

A brief silence hung over the pair as Eloise continued scribbling in her notebook until finally she set it down and looked back up at Harry, offering him a soft smile, "Well, the good news is that there's nothing wrong with you, Harry. All of those are symptoms of a perfectly healthy veela starting puberty..." She began, unable to contain a small grin at the mortified groan that escaped from the teenager as he quickly glanced around to double check that nobody else was there to witness his embarrassment. "You're a little young to have started sprouting feathers, but it's not unheard of. You won't have a full avian transformation until you've reached maturity, but I suspect that you'll develop an affinity with fire magic soon if you haven't already. The discomfort that you mentioned in your stomach is normal too, it's actually linked to your aura...I can't tell you for sure when it'll quit bothering you, but you'll notice it less over time as your body develops. Eventually the sensation will change, but you'll only be able to feel it in certain circumstances at that point."

"I wish it would just stop..." Harry muttered mutinously, promting the veela to shake her head in amusement.

"You'll be grateful for it later." The blonde replied cryptically, before letting out a hum as she glanced back down at her notes, "As for your aura itself, it usually takes a young veela between two or three years before their body has developed enough for them to start learning how to control it. If you study occlumency then it can help but it'll cut a year off the process at most. That said, I'm afraid that the most that can be done is dampening it's effects, you won't be able to suppress it entirely. There are precious few individuals who are naturally resistant to our charm, so for the most part it will have at least a partial effect on those around you." Eloise paused to let the younger veela absorb her explanation, "That is a large part of why so many veela choose to live in the conclaves rather than with the general population...many of us lose most of our friends when puberty starts."

"That's awful..." He croaked out, feeling like a block of ice had been dropped into his stomach at her words,'I don't know what I would do if I lost Ron and Hermione...' Suddenly he shook his head at the thought, 'We've been through too much together for that to happen. They wouldn't stop being friends with me over something I can't control.'

Eloise stared back him sadly, giving him a moment with his thoughts before letting out a soft sigh, "I wish I didn't have to be the bearer of bad news. I do hope that your own friends are more loyal, but you should prepare yourself for the possibility." Harry's eyes flashed angrily at her suggestion, though she stared back seemingly unfazed by his silent outburst, "Regardless of whether or not it has an effect on your friendships, I should warn you that the behavior you've noticed in others will only increase in frequency as you mature. Unfortunately while our charms do have the ability to bring out the best in those around us, it tends to be more of a burden than a blessing."

"Great...as if I really needed any more attention."

The French woman reached across the picnic table and gently took Harry's hands in her own, "If it's any consolation, I suspect that life will get much simpler for you once you leave school. It certainly did for me."

"Maybe..." Harry muttered doubtfully, 'If I make it that far...'

"Certainly." Eloise rebutted with a soft smile, "Puberty is a difficult time for any young woman, doubly so for a veela, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to make it through."

The dark haired wizard quirked a questioning eyebrow at her wording, but opted to simply nod in agreement, "I guess, but what about -"

"What about male veela?" The blonde interrupted softly, drawing a hesitant nod from Harry, "I'm afraid you might not want to hear this, Harry, but there's no such thing as a 'male' veela, at least not in the sense you're thinking of. Some veela do have outwardly masculine genitalia that function as you would expect, but all veela are women regardless of whether they have a penis or not. I told your headmaster as much but it seems that he may have misunderstood my meaning."

Harry blinked rapidly before shaking his head in denial, "Wait, what? But that doesn't make sense, I'm not..." He trailed off as the memory Snape had dug up of the little girl begging the Dursleys not to cut her hair resurfaced. Eloise, for her part, simply offered a sympathetic smile, apparently content to give him time to wrap his mind around the bombshell she'd just dropped on him. 'This can't be right, I know that was me now, but...I have to be a boy, don't I? "The boy who lived" that's what everybody says. But then...why would she lie about something like this? It doesn't make any sense...'

Finally the dark haired veela refocused his attention on the older woman, "I'm confused." He admitted, the twisting knot in his navel replaced by nervous butterflies as the memories repeated themselves despite his attempt to concentrate. "How is that supposed to work?"

"It's...complicated. Most veela have the typical configuration of sexual organs that one would expect for a woman, but on the rare occasion a little girl like yourself can be born. It's uncommon but far from unheard of. Typically your family would have raised you as a girl regardless, since that's what you are, but if I had to guess your grandfather on your mother's side is actually your grandmother. If she wasn't around to help raise her, then that would explain why your mother didn't understand the difficulties that trying to raise you as a boy would cause. She probably never understood her culture or biology either."

Harry swallowed thickly, shaking his head, "My mom was muggleborn. What you're saying is that her dad was actually..."

"A veela like you, yes." Eloise nodded, offering him a gentle smile, "The pain and itching you asked about in your chest? It's because your breasts are starting to develop, it's perfectly normal."

'Madame Malkin was right?! Then that means...'

"R-really?" A shocked hand found its way to the teen's chest only to immediately retreat with a hiss as a sharp pain erupted at the contact.

An amused smile tugged at the blonde's lips at the display, "I'd recommend taking care to avoid anything coming into direct contact with your chest as much as possible. While veela start puberty a little later than most witches, our breasts tend to develop much quicker, unfortunately the the growing pains are also worse. I suspect that you're still in for the worst of it, but if they've been bothering you for a couple months then you'll probably start seeing some growth soon. My recommendation is to try rubbing lotion on them, it won't do much for the pain but it might relieve the itching a little."

Harry stared down at the table in absolute shock as the full reality of the situation descended upon him, "But then...what if I don't want to be a girl?" He asked numbly.

Eloise's smile faded somewhat as she considered the question, "Would it really be so terrible to be a woman?" She asked softly, reaching out to gently nudge his chin up so that their eyes met.

"I..." He hesitated, unsure how to answer her question. "I've never really thought about it...everybody always just said I was a boy." 'The only time I tried to the Dursleys beat it out of me...'

"What about now, though? I'm telling you that you can be a girl, how does that make you feel?"

A heavy silence descended over the table as Harry considered the question. He had always written the awkwardness he'd felt throughout his life off to the Dursley's treatment of him, and then later his status as the boy who lived. It hadn't ever occurred to him that maybe it was because he was trying to force himself into a role that he didn't fit. 'I...I knew something was wrong back then, right? If my body is really changing like she says, and it seems like it is, then I might not even have a choice anyway. The more that she explains it, the more it seems to make sense...maybe I really AM a girl? Have I been one all along and just didn't realize it?'

"It...I guess it feels kind of alright?" She admitted quietly, glancing back into Eloise's eyes before looking away again as the butterflies in her stomach intensified, "It's still a little confusing, but I think I like the idea."

"Well in that case, let me be the first to welcome you to womanhood, Miss Potter." Harry's heart fluttered in her chest at the older woman's words, and despite her best attempts she couldn't keep an embarrassed grin from her face.

"It's so weird to hear somebody call me that, but...also right somehow? I don't know if that makes any sense."

"It makes perfect sense to me, I'm sure that you'll get used to it the more you hear it." Eloise replied with a warm smile as she sat her book down, "So, I'm afraid that our time is almost up, but before I leave I'm sure you have some questions for me. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

A multitude of thoughts were swirling through Harry's mind at the moment but, while she found it difficult to form the words for most of them, one stood out to her in particular. "Does this mean I have to change my name?"

"You can if you want, most young veela that find themselves in situations like your own do, but you certainly don't have to. I'd recommend thinking on it for a little bit before you decide, but always remember that the only one who can decide how you live your life is you, Harry."

With those words, for just a moment, Harry saw an entire new world of opportunities opening up before her, only for it to all come crashing back down to Earth as her scar pulsed angrily. She didn't have the luxury of complete self determination...but even so she appreciated the idea. "Thanks, Mrs. Dela- err, Eloise, you've helped a lot. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about all this, but...it feels good to know what's going on at least."

"I'm more than happy to help, in fact..." The older veela returned her attention to her notebook just long enough to jot down a few more notes before delicately tearing out the pages she'd written on and handing them over to Harry. "I told you that you'd be able to read them when we were done, so they're yours. If you ever have any questions about being a veela that you can't answer with those, or even if you just feel like you need to talk to somebody, please feel free to send me an owl. It might take time for me to respond, given the distance, but I'll always answer if you need me to."

Harry blinked down at the pages in her hands in thrilled surprise, normally she had to argue why she should be kept in the loop about her own life, and despite her earlier frustration she found the change of pace refreshing. She doubted Hedwig would be thrilled with the idea of flying all the way to France though, "I'll keep that in mind, thank you. I really appreciate you talking to me like this, instead of treating me like a kid."

Eloise stood from the picnic table with a smile and gracefully brushed the chipped wood from her otherwise spotless white dress, "You may technically still be a teenager, but I know how difficult it can be to be forced to grow up faster than everybody around you. The way I see it you, more than most people, deserve the respect of being taken seriously.

Despite her best attempts not to ruin her newfound respect, with one person at least, she found it difficult to fight the proud smile that spread across her face. Thankfully it didn't seem to impact the blonde's opinion of her in the slightest, "Do you think we could talk like this again sometime?"

"If you'd like, sure. Like I said you're more than welcome to write me any time, maybe we can arrange to meet again during one of your school breaks if our schedules line up. I'm afraid that for now I have to go, though. It's getting late and I have to make sure I'm back in France in time for dinner, it was wonderful meeting you, Miss Potter."

Harry nodded in agreement before waving as Eloise turned to head in the opposite direction from the one they came. Once the elegant woman's form had turned the corner she let out a long breath and slumped back down against the picnic table. She hadn't realized how late it was getting while they had been talking, but if there were any question in her mind that they hadn't spent hours talking then both the evening sun and her own exhaustion seemed determined to set her straight.

A deep sigh escaped the girl who lived, she'd known it would probably be a long day when she woke up but nothing could have possibly prepared her for the reality of what she had learned about herself. 'The aura is one thing, I hate being stared at but it's not like I haven't gotten used to it by now, the rest of it though? How am I ever going to explain this to Ron and Hermione? Bloody hell, how am I going to explain this to anybody? I mean, yeah it feels right but I can't help but get the feeling that this going to come back to bite me somehow when people eventually find out about it. God, Draco's going to be insufferable, isn't he?'

"Fuck me..." Harry groaned tiredly as she buried her head in her hands. She was genuinely tempted to just stay right here for the rest of the night rather than go back and deal with the Dursleys, especially after Petunia's fit earlier. She'd promised Dumbledore that she would take charging the blood wards seriously, though, and while it was possible that the magic fueling the protections would count her being in the general vicinity as good enough, she didn't want to risk the possibility of having to stay in Little Whinging any longer than absolutely necessary.

With that thought in mind the dark haired teen forced herself to get up from the table and start heading back to her relative's home. Glancing at the spot where the tabby cat had perched itself earlier she found it empty and felt a frown tug at her lips. She supposed that it was late enough for her evening guard, whoever that may be, to take over but she felt a little uneasy knowing there was likely somebody she didn't know and couldn't see watching her.

Harry shook her head and tried to refocus on organizing her thoughts rather than dwell on the creep factor of her guard roster as she made her way home. After all, she had enough to think about right now and, while she had more answers than she was used to, they were the kind that only lead to more questions. For once though the top concern on her mind wasn't about Voldemort, and that was certainly something to be grateful for.

By the time that Harry managed to get back to Privet Drive the sun had finished sinking below the horizon. She'd feared that she would have to face Vernon or Petunia, frankly after the display her aunt had put on this afternoon she wasn't sure which would be worse. Thankfully, however, she found the car out of the drive and the back door unlocked. It was unusual for the Dursleys to think to leave a door unlocked for her, but then she knew there was at least one person watching out for her in the area at any given time.

After locking the door behind her Harry hurried to the kitchen to raid the fridge of whatever leftovers it had, spaghetti as it turned out, and poured herself a glass of milk before making her way upstairs. Stepping into her room she quickly sat down at her desk to eat before the Dursleys could get back, rather than risk a potential blow up at her need for food. Once she finished she hurried back to the kitchen to wash her dishes before returning to her room.

As soon as her door was safely locked again Harry turned her attention to retrieving her wand box and Tonks' gift from her hiding spot. She was halfway through pulling out the small booklet included with her wand when she noticed a dusty book propped up against her pillow. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously before darting around the small room, just waiting for an unseen intruder to jump out of the shadows, though when the phantom menace failed to materialize she relaxed somewhat.

Setting her other items off to the side for the moment, Harry picked up the book to get a closer look, hesitating to open it for the moment as she remembered Tom's journal from her second year. Sitting down, she racked her brain for any idea of who could have left it in her room, 'Maybe Tonks came back and left it? I guess it could have been Professor McGonagall or one of my other guards, but...wait, haven't I seen this before? It was...yeah, this is the book Petunia was holding when she knocked on my door! She never gives me books, why would she start now? It looks pretty old...'

A frustrated sigh escaped Harry's lips at her aunt's sudden persistence in her attempts to...whatever it was that she was trying do with her. The mystery to it's appearance solved, she sat the book on her nightstand and forgot about it for the moment, much more interested in Ollivander and Tonks' gifts. 'If you can call a cleaning manual a gift, but whatever he wanted me to read it so I will.'

Turning her attention back to the wand box the girl who lived plucked the booklet off her bed and opened it up, only for a folded note to tumble out onto her lap. She blinked down at it before letting a small grin tug at her lips, "The plot thickens..."

She quickly set the manual back down and unfolded the note, squinting to read it in the dim light,

'Harry,

I would never in a thousand years risk telling you this in my shop, lest we both face questions from the ministry, but I felt I should inform you that your new wand does not hold the ministry standard trace on underage magic. While the law dictates that I must put the trace on every wand that I stock within my shop, I have rarely felt the need to do so for my custom ordered wands. This, of course, means that you are free to practice magic outside of the school year, though I'm sure an upstanding student such as yourself would never get caught breaking a law as just and righteous as the prohibition against underage magic!

Truly, I hope this finds you well,

-Ollivander

P.S.: Please ensure that you throughly dispose of this note after reading it. As I said, neither of us need to find ourselves under scrutiny by the authorities.

Harry let out a disbelieving laugh as she shook her head before drawing her wand with a flick of her wrist. She only just managed to catch it before it escaped her grasp and she noted that she should probably practice before she did drop it. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she walked over to the bin beside her desk and tossed the note before incinerating it with a silent wave of her wand.

A tense several minutes passed as Harry waited breathlessly for a ministry owl to show up, but thankfully it appeared that Ollivander had been telling her the truth. "Wicked...this is going to make my life so much easier." She sighed with relief before turning her attention to the leather case Tonks had shoved into her hands before leaving. "Alright, so what do we have- oh wow..."

A soft gasp escaped the girl's lips as she opened the case and found a pair of beautifully crafted glasses sitting inside. Harry had to fight back tears of happiness as she discarded her disused and long out of date glasses in favor of the gold rimmed pair, unfortunately she found herself squinting even worse as she tried to make out the room through the lenses. For a moment she thought she might actually cry at having to tell her friend that such a beautiful gift didn't work but as she reluctantly shoved her old glasses back on she caught sight of a note in the case. Quickly unfolding it Harry's eyes scanned the paper up and down several times trying to understand it before realizing that it was a list of 'features' along with instructions to tune them to herself.

'To the proud new owner of this pair of Bonnie Bella's enchanted eyeglasses!

You will never need to purchase a new set of spectacles ever again! Your brand new pair of glasses are enchanted to be water proof, unbreakable, and can only be summoned by you! All you need to do in order to start wearing them is to put them on, tap the rim with your wand, and then do the same to yourself. Within seconds your glasses will focus to you, now and forever! If your vision ever changes and you find yourself needing a new prescription, don't worry! You will be able to refocus your spectacles as many times as you need, no matter how old they are!

Thank you for shopping with Bonnie Bella's Enchantment Emporium!

Once she had read the note twice over Harry put her new glasses back on and followed the instructions. Almost immediately the room around her came into focus and she gasped at the realization that her vision was clearer than she had ever remembered it. A giddy feeling rushed through her as she collapsed backwards onto her bed with a beaming smile after tossing her foggy lensed glasses into the bin with the remains of Ollivander's note. As she felt herself drifting off to sleep she reluctantly set her glasses on the nightstand, next to Petunia's book, which gave her some pause. 'I feel like I'm going to regret it, but I'll read it tomorrow...at least a little. I'm sure it'll be something stupid, but what's the worst that could come of it?'

A/N: I would like to take this moment to, once again, apologize for the long delay in putting out this chapter. While it has become something of a frustrating tradition to put out a single chapter a year for this story, part of that has been my own insistence that each chapter meet a minimum of seven thousand words or more. Originally I decided to buck that trend but came in at the last second with inspiration for the last scene, even with that said however I intend to go with the flow of my inspiration in the future with the hope of ensuring speedier updates. Regardless I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, and if you're a returning reader that hasn't reread the previous chapters I would recommend checking them out there are some pretty significant tweaks across the board and even some entirely new sections in others.