"My taxi's here," Lauren said, when they reached the reception area. "Time to get back to the real world and enjoy the last of the English summer sun back home," she smiled from under her floppy hat.

Charlie felt his stomach lurch with an emotion that he couldn't name, although he was vaguely aware that it had been creeping up on him for a while. As the end of August had drawn near and the darkness began to fall a few minutes earlier each night, the two had realised that their time together was coming to an end but, by mutual agreement, they had steered clear of discussing it. They skirted around the topic of saying goodbye, instead staying awake longer chatting and kissing into the early hours; encouraging each other to talk about their plans for the autumn. Lauren had told Charlie more about her research project, and he teased her about the list she had been making of all the things she wanted to do when she returned home.

"So you're here all through the winter as well?" Lauren had asked him in return. "They close the resort in October, don't they? You'll have to get a proper girlfriend if you want to get laid after that…" she teased him.

Charlie laughed and shook his head. "You show me the woman who wants to live in the mountains," he had said, "and I'll reconsider my single status. You know how isolated it is," he nuzzled her neck. "You can't wait to get back to the big city and the lights and the people…"

Lauren had laughed softly. "I like villages, not cities, Charlie Weasley," she said. "But I take your point. And I get it. I need to follow my own path for a few years as well; that's one reason I don't want anything serious right now." She had turned in his arms to look at the mountains. "If only real life was like Star Trek…" She broke off, remembering that Charlie had told her that his family hadn't had a TV and he therefore wouldn't have the first clue about the seemingly magical transporters that took people from one place to another in an instant. And, even if he did, it wouldn't have changed anything. Such modes of transportation didn't exist, at least not outside of books and films.

Their last night had been amazing and it had been one a.m. by the time they had finally fallen asleep in each other's arms. Perhaps because of that, the morning had flown by so quickly. When they awoke, Lauren had crawled on top of Charlie, holding his gaze as she rode him one last time before they moved Lauren's mattress back inside and went to eat breakfast. Charlie felt grateful that she had packed most of her things before the gala evening so that he wouldn't have to watch. On the way back from what Lauren teasingly described as his final baconfest, she paid her bill and then they returned to her room.

Once Lauren had opened every drawer and done a final sweep of the bathroom, she declared herself ready to leave the room that they had spent so much time in. As soon as she had zipped up her navy suitcase and put her straw bag down on the bedroom floor, all ready for the trip, Charlie had stepped forward, sliding his arms around her body for a goodbye cuddle. He began kissing her lips and then licked his way down her body, removing her knickers but leaving her dress on. He brought her to orgasm with his tongue and then stood, encouraging her onto her unmade bed and pushing his cock inside her one last time, making them both cry out.

"I'm sorry," she had said, panting with him in the afterglow. "That was wonderful, but I really have to go. Or I'll miss my flight…"

Charlie simply nodded. He knelt in front of Lauren and held her knickers so that she could step into them, pulling them gently up her legs and into place before giving her a smile and taking her hand for their final walk to the reception area.

Outside the hotel, Charlie let the taxi driver deal with her suitcase while he picked Lauren's hat off her head with one hand and then leaned down and kissed her very thoroughly, as if he wanted to ensure that she would remember the taste and feel of him all the way home.

Lauren took a small piece of card from her pocket and handed it to him. "Here," she said. "If you're ever back in England and over my way and fancy rescuing the local lizards over a beer, look me up."

Charlie looked at her. He seemed to be having difficulty knowing what to say. "I will, sweets," he nodded. He had a feeling that he should say more, but he didn't know what he could add.

"OK you, no weird goodbyes, no regrets," she said, giving him one last long, gentle kiss on the lips, her fingers gently stroking the soft red hair whose texture she didn't think she would ever forget. She moved her hand to cup his face. "Thank you for a lovely summer fling. You're a gorgeous, wonderful man, Charlie Weasley," she told him, with a happy smile, her fingers stroking the red stubble that was covering the lower half of his face. "And one day, when you've got your career sorted and your masters under your belt, you're going to make some lucky woman very, very happy."

And with that, Lauren Bennett was no longer in his arms. She gave Charlie a cheeky wave before she took her hat from him, replaced it on her head, turned around and walked out of his life.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

In the weeks that followed, Charlie was haunted by the thought of a hundred different things that he could have said; should have said. He kept Lauren's card with him at all times, not wanting to be parted from the one link he had to the woman who, he now realised, had taken his heart with her in that taxi.

But he could have carried the card to the moon and back and he would still have had no idea how to use it to find her. Charlie was a pureblooded wizard. He didn't know how to use muggle communications or what to do with the number that she had given him. Which was a bit of a moot point, for there wasn't a muggle telephone on the reserve even if he had known what to do. Charlie could lull a sick dragon into slumber, apparate himself around the mountains and – thanks to having so much time and so little comfort when he was camping – he could transfigure an entire living room's worth of soft furniture from leaves and twigs, but he didn't know how to find the woman he now knew he loved.

There was a certain irony in the fact that Charlie Weasley, the man who had never wanted to settle down, had given his heart to a woman who seemed to be his female counterpart in that respect, and Charlie wasn't unaware of that. He had absorbed enough of Lauren's philosophy to not fall into making the assumption that it was some kind of cosmic punishment for his previous actions and, indeed, he had never pretended to any woman that he was up for more than a bit of fun, but it engaged his mind through the long autumn nights that followed Lauren's departure. On one of those nights, tired and overwhelmed by the loss of a second baby dragon egg despite all his efforts, he sat on the edge of his bed and cried. Charlie's first tears were for the dragonlet, but they morphed into tears for Lauren and for himself; finally facing the pain of the possibility that he might never see her again; that he might never find another woman who made him feel the way he had felt when he was in her arms.

From the next morning onwards, Charlie walked an uneasy path between accepting fate and holding onto a spark of hope. He was constantly aware of the thought that, even though neither of them had made any promises, and they had both been clear that they weren't looking for anything permanent, they had loved each other wholeheartedly in the weeks that they had been together. If only he could find her again, he thought, maybe they would have a chance. Anytime he found himself unable to sleep at night in his cabin, he would lie there remembering their time together and imagining what he would say if they ever met again; clinging to the hope that, one day, that miracle might happen.

By the time December came, Charlie had saved enough leave to go home for a week and a half over Christmas and New Year, but festivities were overshadowed by the news that his father had been attacked by a basilisk. Within hours of arriving at The Burrow and establishing that Arthur was going to be alright, Charlie had contacted a muggle-born friend and arranged a meeting in a Hogsmeade pub. He didn't tell Ben the whole story, just that he was looking for a muggle woman who he had met while abroad. Ben took down all the details from Lauren's business card, noting with amusement that Charlie wouldn't even let him hold it so he could copy her work address and phone number, and promised to get back in touch with Charlie as soon as he could.

"It's not good news, mate, I'm sorry," he said, almost as soon as Charlie had put their butterbeers on the table in the same pub a couple of days later. "I called the number on her card, but they said she didn't work there anymore. Wouldn't say where she had gone. Apparently it's not policy to pass on personal details. I think there are people who'll look for muggles, if you pay them; I saw a film about that once, but I don't know that there's anything else I can do."

"Thanks, mate," Charlie sighed. He had hoped for better news.

That was a hard Christmas, with the only silver lining being that his mother assumed his unhappy mood was related to everybody's rising concerns about his father, the dark wizard Voldemort and the way that his siblings were being treated by a woman called Umbridge, who seemed to have installed herself at Hogwarts. All of this meant that Molly didn't quiz Charlie as much as she might otherwise have done.

After that, trouble continued to brew in the wizarding world and life at the reserve got busier still. Spring saw his eggs hatch and kept him busy helping care for seven babies and, once they were able to manage without him, he was enlisted as the leader of a new project involving the development of weather magic. Over the next couple of years, Charlie put all of his energy into his work, achieving the promotions that he had hoped for and gaining his mastery. War became a growing possibility, then a certainty, then a reality. But in all of that time, Charlie didn't forget Lauren, and his thoughts would still often turn to her in the dark of the night, when he would remember how her soft, warm body had felt against his, and replay some of their conversations in his mind. His dreams of her were so vivid, so real, that sometimes he would wake and be surprised that she was not there. That was a special kind of grief that he wouldn't wish upon anyone.

And it never abated. Throughout the war, he would wonder what she was doing; what was happening in her world; whether she had any idea of the turmoil in his. He hoped not. He knew that muggles were in danger, though, and he fervently hoped she was safe. When that thought crossed his mind, he would place his hand on his heart and send her thoughts of peace and kindness, hoping that she was safe and warm and that somehow his magic would find a way to let her know that he was thinking of her.

It was something of a blessing that other events called for Charlie's attention during that time, although too many of the events were too tragic to really be described in that vein. One of his brothers was injured, losing an ear to a dark spell, and every month seemed to bring more news of a threat, kidnapping or worse – the deaths of old friends, colleagues and teachers. Charlie was doing everything he could from Romania; he was working hard at recruiting for The Order in Europe as well as doing his day job. For several months, he couldn't even get home for Sunday dinner and when he did make it home to serve as his elder brother's best man, the chaos of the wedding reception overshadowed the affairs of Charlie Weasley's heart.

Charlie put his energies into fighting with and for his family in the wizarding war. He became good at pretending to others that he was still playing the field, although the truth was that he had no interest in that anymore. He had been out with women twice since Lauren left. Both times were because Piotr had persuaded him, and both times ended in embarrassment for Charlie, who just wasn't interested in being with anyone else. Only his brother Bill seemed to know that something deeper was going on, as everyone else was so preoccupied with the war. But Charlie half-mentioned something once, in the pub, and then Bill could get nothing else out of him.

And then, all of a sudden, the war was over and, after celebrating the win, mourning the dead and beginning the work of rebuilding their world, it was time for Charlie to return to Romania. He was still feeling like the luckiest man in the world because, although his beloved school friend Tonks and her husband were amongst those who had been killed, his entire family had survived.

At the end of his first week back at the reserve, Charlie made a decision on a whim. For the first time since Lauren's departure, nearly three years before, he apparated himself into the mountains to the secluded spot where he used to pitch his tent and then walked to the terrace bar at the spa hotel, half pleased and half dismayed that the sofa they had sat on was still in the same place; purple, welcoming and empty.

Charlie greeted the barman – not Andrei, who he supposed must have moved on – and settled himself down in what had been their favourite spot with a beer. He slung his arm along the back of the sofa and closed his eyes, wishing that he could turn back the clock and open them again to find that Lauren was there with him, snuggled under his arm with her bare toes tucked underneath her and her silly hat and magical reading book on the table. His stomach lurched at the thought, even after all this time. But perhaps, he thought, losing the only woman he had ever loved was the price he had had to pay for having his family. Realistically, Charlie knew that the relationship probably couldn't have worked; he was a wizard, she was a muggle, and he knew he wasn't supposed to tell her about his world. But that didn't stop his heart wishing that things might have turned out differently.

That evening, on their purple sofa, Charlie found himself having an imaginary conversation with Lauren. In it, she had reminded him of her own losses and of the importance of living life to the full. Wiping a few tears that had unaccountably fallen from his eyes when he thought of this, Charlie resolved to spend more time with his own family. Pining for Lauren, especially after all this time, just wasn't fair on everyone else he loved. He whispered a few words of love and hope to her, sending them out on the breeze towards the mountains. Then, striding back to his self-chosen apparition point, he decided to speak to his boss the next day and begin to negotiate to reduce his workload so he could take some of the leave that he had accrued after throwing himself into his work for so long.

As a result, just a few weeks later he went back to The Burrow for the midsummer weekend. It was promising to be a nice, quiet weekend until his brother Percy flooed in while they were eating breakfast on the Saturday morning with some unexpected news about a threatened marriage law which might seriously affect his youngest brother's friend Hermione. Having got to know the young witch better over the past couple of years and having huge admiration for her, Charlie didn't hesitate to offer Hermione his hand in marriage in the same way he offered his help to any other person or creature who needed it. He found himself wondering for several seconds what his life might be like with another clever woman who loved books and ideas, even if she wasn't the love of his life. But Hermione turned him down, revealing her own love for another of his brothers, which set in motion the fastest wedding in wizarding history.

Later that same afternoon, after Charlie had helped his brother George to stock and sort the bar ready for Fred and Hermione's wedding the next day, he spotted Hermione sitting alone in the garden on a quilt. Charlie grabbed a butterbeer and headed over to her. It had occurred to him that the greatest wedding gift he could give the woman who his family had adopted as another sister would be to pass on the knowledge and wisdom that Lauren had taught him. That seemed, to Charlie, a wonderful way of keeping what he and Lauren had shared alive, even if they weren't destined to find each other and be together in this lifetime.

"Hello love," he called to Hermione as he neared the younger witch. "Can I summon you a drink?"

Hermione smiled at him. "I'm OK thanks, Charlie. I've drunk enough of your mum's tea to sink a ship, and it's still a bit early for me to hit the hard stuff."

Charlie laughed, remembering another clever woman who had always made a clear distinction between when it was time for tea and when it was time for wine. Smiling wistfully, he tipped his butterbeer towards Hermione. "Fair enough, well cheers, love. I've come to give you the sex talk." He swigged from his bottle, readying himself to pass on the love that he and Lauren had shared in whatever form he could.

But that's another story…

.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

.

OK, so if you're already reading my Fremione and the Weasleys series, you'll know that Charlie and Lauren's story doesn't finish here. Please don't put any spoilers in the comments though ... others might have read this one first!

If you're not already reading Fremione and the Weasleys, then you may be interested to know that this chapter leads directly into the happenings in Fremione and the Weasleys, which is a long, low-angst, happy family saga which happens after the war and in which Fred lives. If you've not read that one, l'd love it if you would like to start at the beginning (The Line Up) and read the whole thing ... just follow through to the next part each time.

If you don't want to read all the lovely Fremione chapters that lead up to the chapter in which Charlie shares Lauren's wisdom with Hermione, though, the chapter that follows on directly from this story is called 'Charlie's Advice' and, if you enjoy that chapter and want to continue to skip forward to the other bits that tell the rest of Charlie's story without reading the Fred/Hermione bits in between, you then need to skip forward and read from 'Dear Lauren' onwards.

Enjoy! ?