Dear Lyra,

Romania is hot, so when I have had time I have grabbed an ice cream and sat by the lake with the other dragon keepers. They all miss you, by the way. The dragons are lots of work, so moments like this are few and far between unfortunately. Your friend Norberta has recently laid a clutch of eggs, so as well as several weaning dragons, we now have four baby Hungarian Horntails running through the nursery.

As I now have you to write to, and I don't want to tire Hedwig out (she is good at glaring!) and it's not just writing to mum and dad, I have decided to finally get an owl of my own. This is Bertram - he's a Eurasian Eagle Owl, and is very friendly.

Oh, Ly.

It has been just a week since I left you at the Burrow, and I miss you so much. I miss your laughs, I miss our hugs and our jokes, I miss just sitting on the sofa together. I love you, Ly, and I'm counting down the days until I get to see you again - just thirteen to go!

I can't wait, Lyra.

Dora has sent me a letter saying you've chosen your wedding dress? Don't worry - she hasn't told me what it looks like! Just that you looked beautiful (as if you ever look anything less than stunning) and that Teddy adored it. I'm glad you've got your dress, it makes it all seem real that once I come back it will only be three weeks until I see you walking down the aisle at your parents house and become your husband.

Merlin, Ly, just the thought of becoming your husband sends shivers down my spine. How did I ever become lucky enough to fall in love with you! Just the thought of standing up in front of mum and dad, and all my brothers and Ginny and Hermione and Sirius and Remus and Dora and your little Teddy and all of our friends and being bonded for life.

I can't wait to wear a wedding ring Ly, because I love you and I want to show off to the world that my heart belongs only to you.

It's feeding time now, so I should go -

I love you,

Love,

Your Charlie

Lyra folded the letter back and stroked it with her finger before holding it to her heart. She couldn't stop smiling as she did so, had not stopped since she had first opened the letter.

"Who's it from?" Hermione asked. Hermione was sitting opposite her, and tried to turn the letter towards her so she could read it, but Lyra tucked the letter in her pocket.

"It's Charlie of course - have you ever seen Lyra smile like that about anyone else?" Ron replied, rolling his eyes. Hermione nodded, firmly.

"Have you not seen her with Teddy?!" She asked incredulously.

"Well.. Yeah, but that letter was long with small handwriting and Teddy is only just one."

Hermione blushed, and changed the subject.

"So, Lyra, have you and Charlie decided where you're going to live yet?"

Lyra's face fell immediately and the answer was obvious.

"No!" She replied, "we haven't decided. I know Molly and Arthur would probably like us to stay with them until we find our own place, if we had to.. But so would Sirius. We want to live in the country anyway, we'll still only be minutes away from the Burrow or here or anywhere, really, if we use the Floo or apparate." Hermione nodded, and although Lyra opened her mouth to speak, she was interrupted by Sirius, who was leaning in the doorway.

"What about your grandparents house?" He asked. Lyra, Ron and Hermione's faces all snapped towards him.

"What?" Lyra asked, a confused look written all across her face. Sirius approached the table and sat down.

"Your grandparents house, where your dad grew up. It's in Devon, about half an hours walk from Godric's Hollow. It's just land now, you'd have to get the house rebuilt if you wanted to live there because the Death Eaters destroyed it years ago when they killed Charlus and Dorea a few months after you were born, Ly." Lyra looked contemplative, and Sirius added, "of course, you'll always be welcome to stay here if you wanted to rebuild it or make a new house on the land. The land belongs to you anyway so you can do what you like with it."

Hermione and Ron were still staring at Sirius, but Lyra was staring at the table, tracing it's grooves with her finger.

"How big was the house?" She asked, and Sirius explained that it was a large manor house that wasn't quite as imposing as Malfoy Manor. It had been built of red brick, with several floors and rambling, ancient corridors from when it had been built several hundred years before.

"Why haven't I heard about this before?" Lyra sounded heartbroken, and a shocked look quickly crossed Sirius' face, while Hermione reached across to grasp Lyra's hand and Ron got her a drink.

"'Cause it was too hard to remember Ly." Sirius replied, "I should have told you, I know, but your grandparents were like parents to me and I was just as upset as James when they died and the house was destroyed. I didn't think to tell you because, well, I just forgot. I'm sorry."

Lyra smiled at him, leaning into his shoulder before laughing.

"I'll have to ask Charlie what he wants to do. He might want to find a whole new place to live."

Sirius soon drifted off, leaving the three friends to chat in to the evening. Once they had gone, Lyra turned back to her letter and pored over it again, reading it until she fell asleep with it clasped in her hand and a smile on her lips.

I'm sorry this took so long! I went and saw my godson earlier, which has been the end of a very busy and tiring week! Interesting point about Charlie's owl. I've had the name Bertram stuck in my head for months, ever since I thought about getting him an owl, but his species... I googled 'owls native to romania' or something along those lines, and went down the list on Wikipedia until I found the Eurasian eagle owl which sounded quite big and so suitable for Charlie really. (And I thought the name sounded good) I then went into the Eurasian eagle owl wiki page to find this (and I've copied this off Wikipedia) It is sometimes called the European eagle-owl and is, in Europe where it is the only member of its genus besides the snowy owl. I'd decided on this species of owl before I went into the page, so once I read the description I knew it was meant to be!