A week before Charlie returned from his shift in Romania, on a stunning hot day in the middle of June, Lyra returned to her parents house. The cottage was in disrepair, as it had been when she and Charlie had visited together, as it had been when she and Hermione had come for the first time when they were travelling - after Ron had left them, before he had returned. It had been Christmas Eve then, and Lyra had had the shadow of death standing over her.
But now it was summer. Lyra was free of the fear of capture, of torture, of the death she faced for merely existing. Now, she was preparing for her wedding. She returned with Remus, Molly - her future mother in law, and Kreacher, her loyal house elf. For Remus, at least, it had been eighteen years since his best friends had died and left the girl he loved as a niece an orphan. The pain had ebbed somewhat, leaving it just a mild ache in comparison to the sharp stabbing pain it used to be whenever he had thought about them.
The pain was still fresh for Sirius however, having suffered years of the Dementors of Azkaban forcing the pain he had suffered to constantly flood his body, seeing James and Lily dead, seeing their still bodies frozen for eternity. Giving Lyra up and seeing her flown away to the relative safety of Lily's sister's house. So for the mission on this day, restoring the garden of the Potter's cottage to its former glory, he had stayed at home.
Seeing the garden Lily had so lovingly tended ever since she and James had married in so much mess was a shock for Remus, as it would be for Sirius. But he knew what the garden had looked like before eighteen years had passed, for he had helped Lily, and later on, Lyra, in the garden. He had helped plant the seeds, he had helped water. He had helped Lyra dig little holes and grow her own little plants. Out of all the people alive on that hot day in June, he knew what the garden should look like better than anyone else. He had to help, in Lily's memory, for Lyra's wedding.
So here he was.
Remus stood next to Lyra and Molly, facing the cottage. He couldn't help but wonder what Lily would say if she could see it now. She had loved her garden, had loved her cottage. She had tended to the building as she had the plants, and with her love, her home had shone with beauty. But now the building was clearly old, rather than the weathered and quaint home it had been when he had helped them move in. The slabs of stone that led the visitor step by step to the front door were covered in moss, in contrast to when they had been clean and neat and tidy.
Ivy grew out of the crevices of the house, and the front door was greying with age. The grass was overgrown, but the magic that Lily and James' love had produced since their wedding day had somehow become ingrained within the walls and seeped out, maintaining the grass as much as it could. It was waist high, but not much more.
Weeds blossomed everywhere they looked; spiders webs linked plants across grassy interludes between the beds; cobwebs hung from the porch and the old gate creaked from disuse.
It was not suitable for a wedding, not at all. Although Lyra and Charlie would be wed outside, away from the obvious destruction of the inside, the garden clearly showed signs of neglect.
Remus alone out of the small group knew how it should be, remembered how it once was, and so he took charge of the other three. Molly was sent to the rear of the house to weed and trim the long grass there, Lyra to the front. Remus took the sides, that linked the front garden to the back and embraced the house itself. Kreacher was put in charge of removing all ivy, moss, and any other forms of life from the crevices within the walls of the house and the wall that surrounded the garden.
Even with the use of magic, it took them all day. Kreacher finished early, and joined Lyra - trimming the grass and weeding at the front of the house and pulling out the moss from between the stones.
Once they were done, the sun was starting on it's way to night time and so they departed, Molly headed home and Remus escorted Lyra and Kreacher back to Sirius' house, kissing his niece goodnight as he did so before returning to his own home.
The next day there was a bigger group of people. Hermione and Ginny were both busy revising for their NEWTs, so were unable to leave Scotland. However, Lyra Remus Molly and Kreacher were joined by Fleur, Arthur, Tonks and Teddy, Neville Longbottom and his girlfriend Hannah Abbot. Luna Lovegood was absent, as she too was studying for her NEWTs. Together, in the newly tidied garden, they planted flowers. Gorgeous flowers of all different types. Climbing roses adorned the walls, lilies scattered among the beds. The garden was now brightly coloured and eye catching. Teddy too, was helping plant small flowers. Lyra was working with him, and they giggled together as they dug small holes and placed little violets within.
Remus quite literally stumbled upon a small pond that rested in one corner, clogged with weeds and murky with muddy water. He had forgotten it's existence, as since Lyra had become more mobile Lily had tended to that area of the garden only when there was someone - usually Remus - to watch her. They cleared the pond, created a small waterfall with some rocks and a little bit of magic. Soon the sound of it's bubbling and the reflections in the water, as well as the dappled light filtering through the trees made that corner a brighter more cheerful place than it had been for many years.
With Neville's help, his kind, nurturing hands had caused the plants to flourish, and within a few hours butterflies and bees were starting to visit the cottage again.
The Potters small cottage in Godric's Hollow felt alive once more.