Lyra couldn't get her mind away from her dream in the morning. She even kissed Charlie good bye at the Burrow with a very distracted look on her face. But when Charlie asked why, his fiancée merely shook her head and kissed him again, tears bubbling in the corner of her eyes as she prepared to watch him leave for another three weeks.
Charlie then bade farewell to everyone else; to his mother and father, his brothers and sister and Hermione. And then after one last kiss with Lyra, he was gone. Immediately Ron was by Lyra's side, he looked into her eyes briefly before giving her a hug.
"Are you ok, Lyra?" He asked. Hermione stood next to him, and the remaining Weasleys were close by, looking at them with confusion. Lyra nodded against Ron's shoulder, but immediately shook her head.
"Lyra?" Hermione asked, worriedly. Lyra moved away from Ron, her eyes shining with unshed tears. When she spoke, her voice was slightly hoarse and her eyes were fixed upon the ground rather than see the pitying faces of those around her.
"I had a dream last night", Lyra said, "it was our wedding. But.." Here, she paused, swallowed. "But it was just me there. With Hermione and Gin as my bridesmaids and Andromeda and Teddy. Sirius and Uncle Remus and Tonks were... Were dead" her voice ended on a whisper. "And I can't help thinking that if anything were different that's what it would be like. I'd have nobody to tell me about mum or dad or be there with me when I need them like my wedding. What if they really were dead?"
"Lyra" Hermione whispered, but then stopped and looked at Ron with a lost look on her face. It was times like this that she wished she was able to understand better, so she could help Lyra through it.
"Lyra, dear" clucked Mrs Weasley as she bustled towards the three friends, "oh you poor thing, come here" she enveloped Lyra in her arms, and gave her a hug as reassuring as the ones Ron gave her.
A few minutes later, Lyra found herself seated at the Burrow kitchen table with a warm tea in her hands. Her friends sat around her, her future parents in law opposite.
"Lyra, dear" Mrs Weasley said, "have you thought about guests yet?" She looked at Lyra cautiously before continuing. "Your dream last night was a bad one, so now you know what you don't want. And as Sirius and Remus and Tonks are all alive, who else would you like. And if you start thinking about it.. Maybe it will help get your mind off missing Charlie?" At the word 'Charlie' Lyra's face fell again but she conceded it was a good idea and Mrs Weasley bustled to get a quill and ink, and some parchment.
That evening, Lyra spoke to Charlie through their mirrors. Charlie beamed as he answered and started to chat, before noticing Lyra's tired face and asked her what was wrong. Lyra glowered at him.
"I've spent four hours today talking about guests. Be prepared, I couldn't say who you'd want so your mums going to write you a massive letter." Charlie grimaced.
"Oh" he replied. Lyra merely nodded.
"So who did you make a note of then?" Lyra looked at him incredulously, before rolling her eyes.
"I have just spent four hours discussing this with your mum. Why, exactly, do I have to go over this again?" She asked. But Charlie was of the opinion that as she had thought about it for four hours, merely reciting a list of names to him would be very simple, and voiced his thought.
"Fine" Lyra sighed, "ok, for me, I've got Sirius, Uncle Remus, Dora and Teddy. Hermione and Ginny are my bridesmaids. Then there's our old quidditch team. Oliver should 'cause he flew with both of us. Angelina, Katie, and Alicia as well. Then there's Luna and Neville.. Neville's with Hannah so she should come too, err.. Parvati, we shared a room for six years. Padma should come as well really. Dennis Creevey could come because Colin would have loved it.. All the members of the Order!" As Lyra continued reciting names, Charlie also discussed his own guests, and eventually they had a long list of names that Lyra could send out invitations to.
As the evening waned Charlie had to leave to take the night watch of the latest batch of eggs. Lyra needed to sleep, and so they said goodbye. Before they departed from each other's sight, Charlie briefly kissed the tip of his fingers and touched them to the mirror. Lyra's hand quickly sought his, and their fingers touched for seconds before the mirror clouded.