It was busy. Very busy. There weren't many people there as the party wasn't due to start until lunchtime but everywhere Dudley looked people were walking back and forth, and he couldn't keep track of anyone. Suddenly Lyra left his side and darted into the arms of a ginger man that wasn't Charlie, being wished happy birthday by him and then a second later by a bushy haired young woman, who also hugged her.

After a minute or two catching up Lyra remembered her cousin and turned to introduce him to everyone. She smiled at him reassuringly and invited him over.

"This is Ron, and this is Hermione. Ron is Charlie's brother and him and Hermione have been my best friends since first year - when I started Hogwarts." Both Hermione and Ron greeted him warmly, having watched Lyra warm towards her cousin in the last year and knowing that if Lyra could put the past behind her in regards to Dudley, so could they.

"Who's everyone else?" Dudley asked after a short pause. Everyone was still indistinguishable to him, most being identical. The only people he knew were Charlie, Ron and Hermione, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and the small blue haired little person running around he assumed was Teddy.

"That's Bill" Lyra pointed out a tall man,

Bill. Ponytail.

"He's Charlie's older brother. He's going to be best man on Monday. Fleur's beside him, she's his wife, it's their wedding anniversary tomorrow."

Fleur. Blonde and beautiful.

"Err.. That's Mr Weasley over there by the shed, and Mrs Weasley is by the house."

Mr Weasley. Balding, tall.

Mrs Weasley. Short, plump.

"Fred and George are... AHH!" Lyra spun round, grinning as she took in the two men standing behind her. One was moving backwards quickly, his arms still a little bit outstretched from where he'd grabbed Lyra. To Dudley, they were identical, but Lyra clearly had no problem telling them apart. "Fred, what are you doing!"

"Nothing" chimed the two simultaneously. Suddenly Dudley noticed a difference between the two.

"Err, who's who?" He asked nervously. He had just remembered where he had met the two before, and although was accustomed to magic now, he could barely repress the shudder at the thought of his elongated swollen tongue.

They smirked.

"I'm Fred"

"And I'm George." They said together. Dudley looked from one to the other in slight confusion. Lyra laughed.

"Please be nice to him..?" She asked cautiously, "and don't forget you two I know which ones which!" They both flushed as Lyra corrected Dudley on who was who.

George. Identical. One ear.

Fred. Identical. Two ears.

Batting the twins away, Lyra turned back to Dudley, a smile still on her face. "Ok, that's Percy over there." Dudley looked over to where she was pointing, to a tree that had a slender man leaning against it looking slightly awkward as he took a break. Lyra and Dudley strolled over to him, and he smiled anxiously. Dudley knew the man wasn't comfortable - his smile didn't reach his eyes, but didn't understand why.

"Hi Percy!" Lyra said, "this is Dudley." The two greeted each other, but the slightly cautious look didn't leave Percy's eyes.

"Percy for goodness sake it's been over a year!" Lyra suddenly cried, "they've all forgiven you! I've forgiven you!" Out of context, it seemed bizarre, Dudley didn't understand what Percy had done that needed forgiving as the outburst appeared to have followed on from a previous conversation. Whatever it meant, it worked, as Percy immediately relaxed.

"Happy birthday Lyra, I hope you have a lovely day" he smiled. Lyra grinned at him.

"Thanks Perce!" She called as she walked away, ignoring his splutters of "it's Percy!" Dudley hadn't noticed the twins nearby but suddenly they were ahead of him, applauding Lyra and kissing her hand.

"Yes, do have a spiffing day" one said, while the other added "one wishes the weather to be favourable for you." Lyra and Dudley both burst out laughing as Fred and George doffed their invisible caps at her and moved away again.

"And that's Gin." Lyra said suddenly, pointing towards a tall ginger girl. Ginny was helping her mother lay out the cutlery in between the occasional subtle jinx she was throwing at her brothers.

"Gin?" Asked Dudley, surprised.

"Ginny" Lyra corrected herself, "sorry" she laughed. Teddy ran over to them then, having just seen Lyra moving around the garden.

"Lyly!" He was calling, and at the sound of the nickname Charlie emerged. He saw Lyra holding Teddy and immediately strode over, grinning at Dudley as he approached before hugging Lyra.

"Hey Ly" he said, quietly. The two shared a look so intense that Dudley felt almost embarrassed to be intruding and looked away - only to see Ron and Hermione rolling their eyes good naturedly. Ron grinned at Dudley as he caught his eye and Dudley somehow got the impression that the besotted looks Lyra and Charlie were sharing were commonplace about the Burrow.

A sudden noise caused Lyra and Charlie to break apart as an influx of guests suddenly appeared - along with those Weasleys who had managed to stay on the sidelines or out of Dudley's view. Lyra returned to her cousins side as she pointed out different guests and added little facts about several.

"That's Neville, his birthday was yesterday, that's Hagrid - EEP" Dudley watched as the giant man who still occasionally haunted his dreams lifted up Lyra in a hug and bestowed a very whiskery kiss on her cheek, telling her once more that he had been the one to carry her to the Dursleys and reintroduced her back to their world. Lyra nodded along with his conversation before Hagrid spotted Charlie and left her to speak to him. Lyra returned to Dudley, greeting several guests who approached her and introduced him to all of them.

"This is Dean and Seamus, that's Luna, hello Professor!" A tall thin woman with long black hair approached them. Lyra introduced her as 'Professor McGonagall, her transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor". Several more people came and passed by and the party went on for hours. Dudley eventually found the courage to leave his cousin and instead got into a lively discussion with Dean over different football teams.

Finally, the party started to draw to a close. Remus and Tonks had bade farewell to Lyra hours before and had taken Teddy home. Sirius, too, had returned to Grimmauld Place. He had asked Dudley to tell Lyra that, and so Dudley found himself with his cousin again as she thanked everyone and waved them off. Soon, she had thanked the Weasleys for hosting the party, hugged Ron, Hermione and the others, and now it was just for her to say goodbye to Charlie, who wished her a happy birthday and an "I love you" softly in her ear. There embrace had been long, and just as Dudley started to worry about potentially staying at the Burrow they split apart and Lyra said goodbye to everyone once more before tiredly walking with Dudley to beyond the Burrow's borders so that they could apparate back to London.

Lyra's birthday was over. There were just over twenty four hours until her wedding day and she couldn't wait.