Sorry this has taken so long! Had a very busy few days and had to get up at 6.40 each day and was out of the house pretty much all of Saturday and Sunday. I also volunteer on Mondays and Thursdays and I work every weekday from 3.30-5.30 so time in the last few days has been limited to think about how to even start this chapter.
Charlie hadn't returned to the Burrow since he had shouted at his mother. He had rejected every Floo call, turned away from his mother if he passed her in Diagon Alley, ignored every letter delivered by Errol's failing wings. Lyra had had to revive the poor owl every time he had staggered into Charlie's flat, or sometimes into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
Eventually, getting tired of finding Errol sprawled across tables and countertops and then having to painstakingly drip water into his mouth until he revived, Lyra grabbed Charlie one afternoon nearly two weeks after his argument with his mother, and dragged him back to the Burrow.
Both of Lyra's future parents in law were there. Molly was bustling around the kitchen, but dropped everything when she saw who was in the doorway. Arthur was sitting at the table and when he heard his wife exclaim, looked up and beamed at their visitors. Lyra smiled weakly back, before dragging a reluctant Charlie in to the room and glaring at him.
"Charlie?" Arthur asked, bemused. Charlie just shrugged in response, glaring halfheartedly at Lyra. She stared back, before turning her gaze to Molly as well. Eventually, she spoke.
"We're going to sort this out!"
Arthur looked in surprise at her, as he had not been aware of the cause of the rift between his wife and second son. He had known that there was one, but not the cause. He had definitely not known that Lyra had been involved, but here she was, attempting to mend it.
Lyra briefly explained the situation, but keeping one eye on Charlie throughout her explanation. When she finished, both Charlie and Molly were shifting uncomfortably. Charlie finally spoke.
"I'm sorry mum, but you made me so angry! You'd made Ly upset, and then you tried to control our wedding.." His mother flushed, her face almost matching her fiery hair.
"And we want our wedding to be near Ly's parents grave. It's important to both of us. Because we're lucky, we haven't lost anybody. But Ly lost her parents and she didn't have anybody until she was eleven, and she didn't have Remus or Sirius until she was thirteen. And if it hadn't been for the war, we would have all had to traipse to France to go to Bill's wedding. Mum, I know you want us to get married at the Burrow, but we don't."
"But it's your home!" Molly finally exclaimed, her hands gripping the tabletop.
"Yeah.. But it's not Ly's is it! And it won't be my home for much longer! We're going to have our own life! And without the threat of Voldemort it doesn't have to be behind strong wards, it doesn't have to be here. We are free to marry anywhere we choose and we want to be married in Godric's Hollow." He finished firmly, his eyes almost challenging his mother to speak.
Finally, she conceded, bowing her head in acceptance before apologising profusely to both her son and to Lyra. The conversation continued, sometimes stilted, until Lyra and Charlie took their leave. It wasn't until they returned to Grimmauld Place, that Lyra realised something.
"Charlie?" She asked, turning to him in the kitchen.
"Hmm?"
"Where are we going to live when we get married?"
Charlie's face became serious as he stared at his fiancée. In all their conversations, in all their chats, in all their thoughts, a home had never come up. He didn't know the answer to her question. But he knew one thing.
"I don't want to stay at the flat" he said, solemnly, "I only rent it and I don't want it to be our first home."
Lyra nodded,
"Well, we don't have to have the answer now.. We can think about it and talk about it tomorrow maybe?"
Charlie agreed, but offered up the thought of living with Sirius, for at least a short while after the wedding.
"I don't want to live here though.. I love it here, but it would be too much like living with my dad." She grinned mischievously, before adding, "and your mum would hate it."
They laughed together, before turning as a sound in the shadows interrupted their conversation. Their instincts still tuned after years of fighting and looking over their shoulder, their wands were out in a flash and pointed into the recesses of the kitchen.