The day Charlie returned from his long shift at work, Lyra wasn't at his flat. She wasn't at his parents house, or at Grimmauld Place. Finally, Charlie headed to the cottage at Godric's Hollow, where the little cottage that had once been desolate and deserted was now bright and cheerful. The roof, too, had been mended and the house looked as good as it had once, he presumed years before. He could hear laughter from the back garden, and the faint sound of water. He could hear a small child giggling and Lyra's answering laugh.
As he rounded the corner he saw Lyra swinging Teddy about, the child cackling above her, and his hair was, as it often was, black. Charlie immediately lost himself in thoughts of what he'd do in a few years time, returning home from work to his wife and child. Teddy could so easily be their child, given how he looked when morphed to look like Lyra.
Teddy saw Charlie first, and halfway through being swung through the air, changed his hair colour to a Weasley ginger. Lyra stopped. And stared. She turned, finally, meeting Charlie's eyes before a grin spread across her face. She placed Teddy down, distractedly moving him aside, towards where his parents and Sirius were sitting, before she ran towards where Charlie stood against the wall of the house. In seconds she was in his arms as if she had always been there. His arms wrapped around her as naturally as if they hadn't spent three weeks apart.
They were together, once more. They stayed together as if to separate meant pain, and to her onlooking family, they looked perfectly matched. Suddenly, they were pulled apart. They both looked down to see Teddy's little face looking up at them.
"Lyly!" He said, holding up his arms. His godmother swung him up between her and Charlie, and Teddy leant over to embrace Charlie with his chubby arms. Behind them, Tonks was laughing at her cheeky son, while Remus and Sirius were staring at Lyra and Charlie. They could suddenly vividly imagine Lyra as a mother, and were struggling to process that she was so grown up.
"Come on!" Lyra smiled at Charlie, "I want to show you the house!" Charlie followed her as she led the way into her parents grimy cottage. But it was grimy no longer. The abandoned cottage was clean and bright, the little utility area that the back door entered into had been thoroughly cleaned; the sink scrubbed; the cabinets scoured, so no trace of mould could be found. The room itself was still outdated, but at least it looked fresh, as opposed to abandoned. The rest of the house was the same way, and Charlie stared almost open mouthed at the transformation. Other than cleaning, though, no changes had been made and the layout of the cottage was exactly the same as it had been when he had visited it with her, as it had been when her parents died. The photos were in the same place, the sofa had the same upholstery, although Lyra assured him that the chairs and sheets and cushions had all been washed and aired thoroughly before being replaced.
The bedrooms upstairs, they too had stayed the same. Lyra's parents bedroom was as it had been all those years ago, just dusted and cleaned, and Sirius' room too. But Lyra's bedroom was the most startling difference. The roof that had lain, crumbled on the floor, was strong and holding out the elements once more. The rubble was non existent, the room sparkling clean. There was a small cross, now, at the spot where her mother had slipped away from this realm, and Charlie was sure that there would be a matching one with James' name on downstairs, but he hadn't noticed it.
Lyra turned a hesitant face upon her fiancé. He realised he had not spoken once since being brought into the house and quickly turned to reassure her.
"I love it, Ly. It feels like a home again, and the garden looks beautiful. But why did you decide to do the house?"
"Because Sirius was struggling to come back here, seeing the house exactly as it was but really old and ruined and crumbled. It would have been horrible to get married here knowing Sirius wasn't comfortable that the house had just been left since... And I didn't want to get married with the house looking like it had after they... I'd rather it looked like it did when we all lived here. I didn't want it to be a reminder of that night, and the roof was still fallen in... I didn't like it. You don't mind, do you?"
Charlie quickly shook his head.
"No! Course I don't! But are you ok being in here?" He asked cautiously. Lyra nodded, her eyes holding the sadness they always seemed to hold on mention of her parents within.
"I am now, but it was really hard at first. Really hard" her voice cracked slightly, "but if I couldn't cope with it to clean it, how would I cope on the wedding day. It would ruin it completely."
"I should have been here for you Ly", he said as he looked at her sadly, "I should have been here to support you. Did anyone else help?" Lyra listed the people who had come together to help.
"Neville was amazing with the garden, absolutely incredible, but your mum has done so much, she's just been so helpful" she added, grinning as he squeezed her hand. They made their way back down to the others, stepping out of the door seconds before Teddy threw himself at them.
"Lyly!" He cried, wrapping his arms around her neck as she picked him up and kissed his cheek, "wuv oo", he added. A large smile spread across Lyra's face and Charlie couldn't help but grin.
"When did he learn that?" He asked, for Teddy hadn't been able to speak that much when he left. Lyra's smile grew even bigger. She told him how he had learnt to say it after Lyra had repeated the words to it over and over again, until one day she had walked into the room and he said it without having to copy it.
Lyra and Charlie joined the others, who greeted him warmly. Tonks hugged Charlie, while Sirius and Remus shook his hand. Charlie was home.
Im so sorry! This chapter has been in the process of being written since the last one it's just taken a while and I've been very busy. I realised that Teddy is only about 15 months old... But I saw my little godson yesterday and he can say 'wuv oo' and it is the most heart warming thing so tough. Teddy can just be an advanced speaker. Besides, I'm almost certain that my godson was speaking at 15 months, he just didn't say 'wuv oo'