The next meeting she attended was a particularly difficult one to bear. She walked into the entrance hall ahead of her uncle and stopped in her tracks when she saw a glimpse of red hair and the imposing, broad build of Charlie Weasley slip through the doors of the dining hall.

"Uncle Ethan!" she whispered frantically, turning around to grab him

"I didn't know!" he whispered back "If you need to go, I'll exspl-"

"Lyla!" Tonks had stuck her head out of the door to the dining hall and spotted her. Now, she was whispering loudly and gesturing to her.

"You gunna be okay?" Ethan asked his niece as she groaned and began walking toward Tonks

She ignored him and, instead, hoisted a smile onto her face to greet Tonks, "Hey!" she whispered excitedly, hugging Tonks and allowing her to lead her into the dining room

"Do you know Charlie Weasley?" Tonks asked, her voice at a normal volume now that the door between them and the entrance hall had closed. "He was in our year!" Tonks dragged Lyla over to where Charlie was standing with Bill and Fleur

"I know Charlie very well." Lyla said softly as she stood right behind him and her vision began to get foggy.

Just as he felt a tap on his shoulder, Charlie saw Fleur and Bill' eyes grow large with fear at the sight of whoever was standing behind him.

"Wotcher, Charlie!" Tonks beamed when he turned around to see who tapped him

"Oh hey, Tonks!" Charlie said, somewhat relieved. His eyes were drawn to the bubblegum pink hair; he didn't see Lyla at first. As soon as he noticed her, he felt a pit in his stomach "L-Lyla" he stuttered, shocked to see her standing in front of him.

"Hi, Charlie" Lyla said, even more softly as her vision began going in and out.

"Are you o-?" and that's the last thing Lyla remembered.

"Sometimes, Tonks, you just do not think, I think!" Lyla heard Fleur's French accent before she even saw where she was

"I didn't know! No one told me!" Tonks said hysterically

"What happened?" Lyla groaned, sitting up on the couch in what she was coming to realize was the sitting room. Fleur and Tonks moved closer to her immediately.

"You fainted un peu" Fleur said sweetly

"I don't think anyone noticed, though!" Tonks said, assuredness layered over guilt "Just before you really fell or anything, Fleur saw and we walked you out of there!"

"Thanks you lot" Lyla smiled sadly up at them

"Here!" Tonks said, pulling out a large chocolate bar from her inside jacket pocket

"Ah, lovely!" Fleur said, smiling encouragingly at Lyla for her to take it.

She did, and as soon as the creamy bitter chocolate hit her tongue, Lyla felt her mind beginning to clear. "Thanks" she said again, more earnestly this time

Tonks settled into the couch across from her, "So, what happened?" she asked quickly

Fleur scoffed, "You cannot ask that!" she scolded

"Sor-" Tonks began

"No, it's okay." Lyla said, putting a hand on Tonks' "Charlie and I were going to have a baby together; but the baby died."

"Oh, Lyla" Tonks began, sadness etched across her face. Instead of continuing, she let silence fall over the three women until, unable to filter her thoughts, she spoke again, "So, why aren't you together anymore?"

There was silence for a moment, aside from an exasperated sigh from Fleur, while Lyla thought. She thought about Chinese food and dancing and the Astronomy Tower and scars in the firelight and Madam Puddyfoot's and a blanket of grass underneath snow capped mountains and looking at herself in the mirror and a mobile of dragons over a crib and the burnt orange sunset over the newly painted nursery and blood - so much blood - and Charlie, so far away from her in the delivery room. "It's just too painful," Lyla said, finally. Then, for the first time, she imagined the heartache of going back to their cottage in the mountains and having to walk past a room that would never be occupied. "For both of us, probably" she cleared her throat to cover the crack in her voice.

"Oh, mon cher!" Fleur exclaimed, her eyes teary, before swooping down and hugging Lyla tightly.

With absolutely no intention of doing so, Lyla burst into tears in Fleur's arms. When she did, Tonks immediately wrapped her arms around both Fleur and Lyla. As she tried to get control of her emotions and steady her breath, Lyla tried to recall the last time she had been so emotionally exposed with someone other than Vanessa or Charlie. Never. She never cried with Rebecca or shared secrets with Alaysia or shared any of her feelings sober with Jack…

As this realization dawned on her, she felt as though sharp rocks were being dragged underneath her skin on the shoulder where her tattoo was. She felt her skin getting hot, and was pulled immediately from her sadness and into pain.

"Ah!" She screamed and wrenched herself from the girls' arms. They looked confused and hurt but Lyla stopped to pay no attention. Instead, she walked close to the fireplace and the angled mirror above the mantle. There, she tried to turn to see her shoulder as the burning, gouging pain continued and she winced and groaned.

"What's wrong, what is it?" Fleur asked, quickly coming to Lyla's side when she realized she was in pain; not angry at them.

"It's-my-tattoo" Lyla gasped between twinges of pain

Tonks was there now and turned Lyla's shoulder toward her so she could see. "That looks really bad" she put her hand up to it. "Ah!" she pulled her hand back quickly, "It's red-hot!"

"Here" Fleur pulled out her wand and poured some water on Lyla's shoulder but that only made the skin there sizzle and Lyla fell to her knees.

"Maybe Professor McGonagall will be able to help" Tonks started rushing toward the doors

"No!" Lyla yelled, stopping Tonks in her tracks "I'll be fine" tears of pain were streaming down her cheeks "Just give me a minute" Both Tonks and Fleur stood there, watching Lyla bend over in front of the fireplace.

It took a few minutes of deep breaths until the pain finally began to subside. As soon as it did, Lyla stood up, cleared her throat, wiped the tears off her face and turned to look at the two women. "Sorry about that" she said, smiling at the two of them

"Are you sure you're alright?" Fleur asked

"Yeah," Lyla said, coming over to her and rubbing her back, "thank you."

Tonks beamed, moved closer to the pair and took Lyla's hand in hers, "You should still tell McGonagall about that tattoo. She might be able to help."

"Mayb-" Lyla began before the doors to the sitting room opened and Mr. Weasley stuck his head in.

"Oh, girls!" he said, between exasperation and relief. "Severus has just arrived and we need to get started."

The three of them nodded to Mr. Weasley and looked happily at one another before following him into the dining hall.

Lyla felt exhausted throughout the majority of the meeting and opted to focus her attention on taking small sips of water in order to avoid looking at Charlie, who was sitting almost directly across from her. It was either the residual heat from her tattoo that was burning the back of her neck or she felt Charlie staring at her.

"It's rather difficult" Snape was saying condescendingly to Sirius "to trick someone into taking a full dosage of potion. Usually, the smell or color gives it away. It doesn't exactly lend itself to covert operations."

"What if you disguise it as a drink?" Charlie piped up. Everyone looked at him. Snape had a sneer on his face that suggested he expected no less from a Weasley. "I mean, like, an alcoholic drink. You could get people drunk on all types of cocktails; they'll stop asking questions and drink whatever you put in front of them at that point." The silence around the table was more contemplative than judgemental, now. "I've seen it done." Charlie shrugged. "Right, Lyla?"

The heat on the back of Lyla's neck rushed to her cheeks and she immediately forgot the last thing Charlie said, "What?" she asked, her face getting even more pink with embarrassment

"We've seen and know of people making cocktails that have potions hidden inside of them." Charlie repeated, the tops of his ears pink as well; his heart beating more quickly

"Oh," Lyla said, shook her head and turned to look at Snape, Sirius, Lupin and Alastor. "Yeah, definitely. You can counterbalance scents and tastes naturally occurring in a potion with alcoholic - or otherwise - ingredients without compromising the potion itself." Moody and Remus began muttering together. "You can also" Lyla continued, their attention snapped back to her, "synthesize them into solid or gaseous form similar to some uncontrolled substances that exist on the underground scene. Solid is obviously easier and, therefore, more prevalent."

Snape and Lupin blinked at her in astonishment; Snape with a hint of reproach. Mad-Eye smirked proudly at her. Sirius and Mundungus had similarly impressed looks on their faces but Sirius' eyes were watching her like a hungry animal.

"Will you be willing to expand on that with Severus after the meeting, Lyla?" Remus asked politely.

Though Lyla had already begun nodding, Snape said, "No, there are actual, useful things I need to do today. I don't have the luxury of remaining in the safety of this lovely house" he shot a glance at Sirius "even if it is to hear about the unseemly activities Murphy has been a participant in."

Charlie cracked his knuckles at this but Lyla was more focused on the growl Sirius had made that made the flush in her cheeks spread throughout her body. Down at the other end of the table, Lyla heard her father begin whispering to her sister in confusion, "What does he mean b-" was all she heard before Lupin had her attention again.

Remus sighed and Sirius shot daggers at Snape, his jaw flexing in his anger. "Alright then, Lyla," Remus continued "How about you and I talk about it after, then."

Lyla nodded and focused back on her water until the end of the meeting. In her peripheral vision, she could tell Charlie was beaming at her with pride.

When the meeting ended, Charlie rushed over to her immediately, "Lyla, can we talk?"

"Uh" Lyla hesitated, suddenly queasy. She looked over as Remus who was consumed by a hurried conversation with Snape and Moody "Sure, yeah; quickly."

She led him out of the dining hall and into the sitting room, closing the doors behind them for privacy.

It was quiet for what felt like an eternity so Lyla broke the silence, "Charlie, listen I gotta talk to Remus soon, so if you-"

"Yeah." she said, sniffing and adjusting his posture "I just…" he looked up at her "I can't believe you didn't even write" Immediately he regretted starting there.

Lyla didn't mind. She felt numb inside after the incident with her tattoo. Perhaps by design, she thought for the first time. "Neither did you" she said softly

"I'm not the one who left, though" he was only slightly defensive; mostly hurt

"You as good as" she shrugged and looked down at her feet

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"For the majority of the time that I was pushing our son's dead body from mine, you were all the way across the room; couldn't even look at me...touch me. Like I needed you to."

"I-" he stuttered his voice thick with tears "I'm sorry, I was in shock."

"I get it" Lyla said with a large exhale "But I needed you. And, I needed you after but I woke up in that hospital room alone. I thought you'd at least be there." her voice cracked "Thought you'd always be there for me."

Charlie rushed to her and took her hands in his, "I am, I will be"

Lyla shook her head and walked away from him "It's just different now, Charlie, it is." she looked back at him. "When I needed you, you weren't there."

"Please, Lyla" he began, his voice shaking as tears erupted from his eyes. Lyla turned away from him and stared into the fire. Charlie walked toward her and stopped dead when he saw the raw, black perversion of the tattoo on her back. He felt a pang in his lungs at the sight of it. He approached her slowly, grabbed her shoulders from behind and rested his forehead on the base of her neck. "I can't go on without you." Lyla's hand shot up to her mouth and she closed her eyes gently. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she said, turning around to face him, she wavered slightly on the spot as she paused before speaking her next thought, "Remember when we were in my apartment and you convinced me to give you a chance?" He nodded, unsure of where this thread was taking them, "You said, 'let me have a chance to learn what you're so afraid of and try to make you feel safe so you don't have to be scared anymore.'" Her tear-filled eyes met his "My fear is of being abandoned, Charlie, and, now, I am more scared than ever...and things will never be the same again." She cupped his face in her hands and he completely dissolved into tears. He sank to his knees in front of her and wrapped his arms around her legs, pressing his cheek into her obnoxiously flat stomach.

"No, no, no," he started muttering into her abdomen

"Yes, Charlie!" She said, more loudly and exasperatedly than she intended, half trying to push him off of her. "You know, it's one thing for my mom to disappear into herself the moment I need her, she's done that before, and then Vanessa gets preoccupied trying to make up for her shortcomings, my uncle throws himself into his work to maintain his sanity and a comfortable sense of denial and I am left all alone...all alone with my pain." she stood in silence for a minute while he knelt in front of her with his arms wrapped around her legs and his tears soaking into the front of her shirt "I thought you were someone who would always be there; no matter what, but now I'll never forget what it felt like to wake up in that hospital room alone." She finally succeeded in breaking free from him "I'm sure you had your reasons and I don't begrudge you of them but I'd rather be alone now if that's how I'm going to end up anyway." She crossed the room quickly; back to the door.

"I will be here" Charlie blurted just as Lyla's hand touched the door to push it open. She froze. "You will not end up alone. I will be here, always"

She smiled at him sadly. "Take care of yourself, Charlie" she said softly before squeezing herself through the barely open door.

"Ah! Miss Murphy, there you are" Remus smiled at her and waved her toward the dining hall. When she reached him, however, he turned and led her down the steps past the dining hall and down into the kitchens. "We'll probably begin meeting here" he told her conversationally as they descended the steps "once the Weasleys move in."

"The Weasleys are going to be living here?" she asked, trying to hide the concern in her voice

"Just, uh," Remus looked back at her uncertainly, "just Molly, Aurthur and the school-aged ones. Fred, George, Ron and Ginny."

"Ah" Lyla said, understanding. Her diaphragm dropped; releasing the air she didn't even realise she had been holding on to. Seeing Charlie once or once in a while at meetings was one thing, but moving to London was more than she could bear.

"Please, sit" Lupin getured at one of the chairs at the filthy and overladen table in the kitchen. Already occupying some of them were Sirius, Alastor and Mundungus. "Now, the people at this table are aware of some of the illegal substances that exist in the underground markets. What we're unaware of is the extensive forms they come in, how they're made and distributed."

There was silence for a brief second until Lyla said, impatiently, "Yeahhh…"

"So, we'd like to know what gaps you can fill in for us" Moody said, his gruff manner unable to hide his curiosity

"All of them" Lyla said matter of factly. Each of the men's eyebrows shot up, so she continued. "I know what's out there, today; not twenty years ago," she shot a cheeky smile at Sirius, "what's in high demand, who sells what and how it's made."

"So you can make some of these things?" Mundungus asked, his level of intrigue raising flags of caution with the rest of the seated parties.

"Y-es" Lyla said, uncertainly. "Yeah. It's just as simple as making any potion with a few extra steps. A lot of them use muggle technology and products and once you know those, they can be applied in a number of different ways."

"See!" Sirius boomed, jovially, "We don't even need Snivelus!"

"Snivel-?" Lyla began, confused

"Padfoot" Remus said warningly. Sirius raised his hands up in surrender but winked at Lyla, making something flutter just south of her navel. "What would you need to make this stuff?"

"Standard potions equipment, unless you want me to convert to gaseous state then I'll need coiled tubing, ingredients I can get from any muggle grocery store and" she looked around, "A clean kitchen"

"I think we can manage that" Sirius smiled at Lyla and leaned forward. She locked eyes with him and smiled back.