Harry Potter: Eclipse.

Chapter 11: Chapter 11:



Over the week, Harry had found his magic settling and he found it easy to perform magic non-verbally and sometimes wandlessly.

The letter, like Harry knew it would be, was asking for Harry to come round for lunch today. Setting it on fire without a thought after he had finished reading, Harry smirked and stood with a stretch.

Going upstairs, Harry put on a pair of black dragonhide trousers and a white shirt, over which he wore a dark emerald green robe. Wearing his robe open, Harry looked in the mirror; although simple enough, the outfit was a far cry away from what he used to wear. The clothes fit him like a glove and were obviously high quality without being overly fancy. Looking in the mirror, Harry decided to glamour his facial features to match the ones that Dumbledore's glamour gave him and changed his hair back to the bird's nest it used to be; there was no point in letting on that he knew anything about Dumbledore's manipulations too early.

"Kreacher," Harry summoned, waiting for the elf to appear. "I will be going to the Weasleys for lunch."

Kreacher nodded his head in understanding, withholding his comments like his master had asked; although, he did get the impression his master no longer liked the blood traitors.

Harry, finally ready, stepped into the floo and called out, "The Burrow."

~

The Burrow, 9th June 1998

Stepping out of the floo with as much grace as he was able, which was not much, Harry's arrival was met with immediate silence.

"Bloody hell mate, why are you dressed like some fancy pureblood tosser for?" Ron's voice rang out after a few seconds.

Smirking internally Harry used his wand to clean the dust from himself as Mrs. Weasley let out a squawk before bellowing, "Ronald Weasley!"

"What Ron means to say," Hermione said, shooting Ron an obvious look that had Harry wondering if part of his compulsion spells had him being oblivious to their blatant lies, "is that you look very different, Harry."

Ron, who was staring at Harry like he had grown another head, nodded, "Yeah, I mean your clothes…." he trailed off.

Harry tried to look nonchalant. "I thought I would try something new," is all he said, resulting in another silence.

"Well, you look very nice dear," Mrs. Weasley said eventually.

"Yes, Harry," agreed Ginny, who suddenly plastered herself to his arm. 'He really does look great,' she thought.

Trying not to snarl at her touch, Harry smiled tightly. "How have you all been?" he asked, trying to surreptitiously remove himself from Ginny's clutches.

Listening as they spoke about how hard it was without Fred, Harry felt a pang of guilt - not towards them, but to George. He was sure the twins were not in on Dumbledore's plans and he felt bad for not checking in on him. Harry had been surprised when he had read a book on Wizarding customs and gotten to the death chapter; in traditional Wizarding customs, a family usually held a funeral within days, yet he had heard nothing about a funeral for Fred.

Realising that they had moved into the kitchen while he had been lost in his thought, Harry took a moment to look at the clock and saw that Arthur, George, Percy, Fleur, and Bill all pointed to Shell Cottage. Not surprised, Harry refocused on the conversation.

"So Harry," Hermione eventually began, "what prompted the new look?" Although her tone was light, Harry could feel the tension in the room suddenly skyrocket.

"Well, 'Mione," Harry said, making sure to use her nickname, "I recently got a letter from Gringotts."

As soon as the word left his mouth they all froze and sent each other panicked looks. Ron seemed to choke on his own tongue and ended up gagging slightly. Pretending to be concerned Harry feigned worry and asked, "Ron, are you alright?"

Coughing slightly, Ron turned red. "Yeah, sorry about that, mate," he said, his voice strained.

"It's fine, as long as you're okay," Harry said in a concerned tone. His act seemed to ease everybody around him as they exchanged more covert glances before smiling.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I got a letter from Gringotts asking me to go in. Imagine my surprise when I went in and found out I was apparently named Sirius's heir and also that I was apparently Lord Potter. Apparently Dumbledore should have told me, but I'm guessing because he died—" at this point Harry made his voice break, taking a moment to suppress his real emotions. Harry made his voice waver slightly when he continued, "Because he died he didn't get a chance to tell me."

After he had finished speaking Harry looked up surreptitiously. Seeing their panicked glances, he suppressed his chuckles.

"What's that got to do with you looking different?" Ron asked.

Harry let out a sad sigh. "Well, after I found out I had money, not just what was in my trust vault, I decided to buy a few things. I mean, I've always worn Dudley's old clothes and now that I can afford not to, I indulged a little."

"Right," Ron said, sounding annoyed.

"What else was in the vaults?" Hermione asked, her eyes gleaming in a way Harry had never noticed before.

"Just money mainly, some old books and stuff I'm guessing," Harry said, making sure to sound disinterested.

"You know Harry, I would be happy to help you sort through them," she said. "I mean, it's important you document what you have."

Harry tried not to snort dismissively; as if he would ever let her near his vaults. "That's a good idea, 'Mione," Harry said. And it was - maybe he should check out his vaults and see if one of them holds an answer for him.

Mrs. Weasley took that moment to announce it was time for lunch. Plating up, she handed Harry his and took a seat. Harry, knowing he would be protected from any love potions by his lordship rings, still took a moment to send a nullifier at the plate before taking a bite.


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