Lavender couldn�t take it anymore.

�Ron! Ron- I want you out! I want a divorce!� she shouted as she watched him stumble in through their front door, drunk, for the fifth time in two weeks.

Ron looked at her curiously and staggered towards her. �What� what are you talking about darling- argh!�

Lavender slapped him as he tried to put his arms around her. He staggered back against the wall and fell to the floor, giggling madly. He had a half-bottle of firewhiskey clutched in his hand.

�Look at you!� his wife shouted, the curlers in her hair shaking madly. �I can�t stand you anymore, Ron!�

Ron froze and glared at Lavender. She glared back. All of a sudden, he stood up and shook his head violently, making her shriek, but only out of habit. He snatched his wand out of his robes, pointed it at his head, and murmured something. He shook his head and blinked a few times.

�What was that? What are you doing?� Lavender snapped, narrowing her eyes at his wand.

�Do you have to be so loud?� Ron complained, rubbing his temple. �Let me stay the night and I�ll be out first thing in the morning. I promise.� He walked towards the staircase.

Their relationship had been full of empty promises, and Lavender knew that well.

�You don�t know what you�re saying- you�re drunk,� Lavender said.

�Look, woman, I know what I�m saying. I�ll be gone in the morning. And I�m not drunk anymore, but you wouldn�t know since you�ve never had to use that spell before.�

Lavender watched Ron retreat up the stairs, and then come back down with his pillow and a few blankets.

�What are you doing?� asked Lavender in a tired voice.

�Figured you don�t want to spend the night next to me, huh?� he said to her, settling himself on the couch. Lavender watched silently with her arms crossed.

�G�night,� Ron said to her, knowing it would be the last one he would ever tell her.

Lavender frowned at him. �Good night, Ron.� She was at the top of the stairs when Ron added something.

�Oh, and Lav?�

�Yes, Ron?�

Ron sighed. �Goodbye.�

And, hearing a clink, Lavender knew that Ron had taken off his ring for the first time in five years.

*

Ron was gone by the time Lavender woke up. She jumped out of her bed and ran down the stairs, hoping to find him still asleep, but only found the ring on the table.

She sat on the couch and picked up the ring, remembering the times they shared. A tear rolled down her cheek. She looked down at the table and noticed a note there.

Lavender,

I�m out of your life forever. I won�t tell you where I�m going- you probably don�t want to talk to me. I�m so, so sorry.

Love,
Ron

Lavender shrank into the couch and cried into Ron�s pillow.

So he finally keeps a promise�

*

Shock spread throughout Harry Potter�s body as he looked at his best friend in the face at three in the morning.

�Hey, mate,� Ron said shakily, grinning.

�What�s going on?� Harry asked, frowning.

Ron smiled, his eyes glowing.

Harry took concern. �Ron? Why don�t you come inside?� He stood aside so Ron could pass through the doorway.

But Ron didn�t move. All he did was stand there with a blank expression on his face.

�Um� Ron?�

There was a thump as Ron dropped his bags. He looked Harry straight in the eye and said, very seriously, �Divorce,� and fell over in a heap on the Potter�s front porch.

*

The next thing Ron knew he was lying down on a sofa with his younger sister, Ginny, peering over him. He was suddenly aware that he was being slapped repeatedly.

�Wake up!� Ginny said pleadingly.

�Ughrmph,� Ron managed.

Ginny let out a sigh. �Oh, thank Merlin. Harry, he�s getting better.�

�Good,� Ron heard Harry say. He felt himself being lifted up and was soon sitting upright on the couch, a glass of water now in his hand, and Harry and Ginny sitting on either sides of him.

�What happened?� Ginny asked him, but Ron didn�t answer. Everything was echoing, the room was spinning, and his head was pounding like someone was beating on a drum.

Ron closed his eyes.

�Come on, Ron, no more fainting!� Harry said, slapping him again and sprinkling some of the water from the cup onto his face.

Harry and Ginny watched as Ron�s eyes rolled around in his head.

�What can we do?� she asked him.

Harry shrugged. �I dunno, let him sleep more, I suppose?�

�Nah- nah dun go!� Ron exclaimed suddenly, waving his arms around in the air and spilling the water all over the carpet.

Ginny took out her wand and muttered, �Scourgify.�

�What do you want us to do, Ron?� Harry said impatiently

�I�m feeling better,� Ron said. �Can I have some more water? Sorry.�

Harry nodded. �No problem, it�s okay. Sure.� He took the glass to the kitchen and filled it with cold water from the tap. He brought it back to Ron and sat down.

�So what happened?� Ginny asked.

Ron sighed. �Lavender and I are getting a divorce.�

Ginny gasped. She hugged her brother. �Oh, Ron, I�m so sorry!�

Harry put a hand on his shoulder. �Sorry, mate.�

Ron put his face in his hands. �I don�t know what happened. I mean, at first everything was wonderful, but then she started getting cranky and I started to come home drunk real late at night every once in a while. Today was the fifth time in a month or something, I think, and she just couldn�t take it anymore. She yelled at me and said she wanted a divorce.� He showed them his ringless finger. �I gave it back to her. Left it on the table.�

Ginny rubbed his back with one hand. �It�s okay. Everything is going to be okay.�

Ron rounded on her. �How is everything going to be okay? I�m getting divorced, Ginny! Nothing is okay!�

�Sorry,� she said quietly and looked down.

�It�s already morning,� Harry said in a warning voice, looking between them.

Ron looked at his watch (it had been a present from his dad for his twenty-first birthday). It read 6:34 AM. Even the sun was starting to come in through the windows.

�Where�re the girls?� Ron asked the couple. He hadn�t seen his nieces, Karen and Michelle, in a long time.

Ginny got up from the couch. �Sleeping, obviously,� she replied tartly as Ron threw her a glare. �They should be up around eight or nine.�

But she was wrong.

Two little girls, twins, in fact, came running into the living room. They both had flaming red hair with a light sprinkle of freckles on their noses. They looked so much like Ginny. Except for their eyes. They had Harry’s eyes.

“What’s going on?” Karen asked Harry, not noticing Ron because she was blinking profusely with a patch of sun in her face. Michelle was the one who realized there was an extra person in the room.

“UNCLE RON!” she yelled, and jumped onto him, laughing. She hugged and kissed him and before he could even return the greetings, he was bombarded by the other twin.

These two remind me of Fred and George, Ron thought.
He saw Harry and Ginny smile at eachother. They got up from the couch.

“We’re going to go back to bed,” Harry told Ron as he watched the girls climb all over him. “Can you manage?”

“I think all that experience with my older brothers pulling pranks on me was just enough to get myself ready for these two,” Ron laughed, tickling the girls. They screamed with delight.

Harry shrugged. “If you say so.” He and Ginny went back into their bedroom.

After ten minutes, the girls finally settled down, panting dramatically.

Ron chuckled. “So who’s who?” he asked them.

“I’m Karen,” said the one on his right.

“I’m Michelle,” said the one on his left.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Four,” they replied harmoniously.

“How old are you?” Karen asked Ron, who was taken aback.

“Twenty-five.”

“So then you were twenty-one when we were born?” Michelle inquired, frowning.

Ron’s eyebrows rose. These were smart girls. He suddenly realized that they were not just like Fred and George, but they had a little bit of all the Weasley’s in them, too.

“That’s right,” Ron told them, smiling. “Now, what do you two want for breakfast?”

“You’re making breakfast?!” Karen asked excitedly.

Ron nodded.

“I want waffles!” Michelle exclaimed, running into the kitchen and pulling a chair to reach the freezer door. She opened the freezer, took out a box of frozen waffles, and shoved it in Ron’s hands.

“No, pancakes!” Karen argued.

“It’s all right, girls-”

“Waffles!”

“No fighting-”

“Pancakes!”

“Girls, please-”

“WAFFLES!”

Ron looked at Michelle, and before he knew it, the box of waffles sprung out of his hands and hit Karen in the middle of her forehead.

“OW!”

Karen glared at Michelle, and soon a wooden spoon shot out of a drawer and hit Michelle in the arm.

"HEY!"

Yes, Ron thought, these are definitely Harry’s girls.

“GIRLS!” Ron shouted. His voice boomed over theirs. They instantly grew quiet. “I can make both.”

“Oh, okay then!” the girls smiled. They each had the same front tooth missing.

“What is all the yelling about?!” Ginny’s voice shrieked, making the girls recoil. Ron laughed- it was just like when he got into trouble with his mom.

Ginny stomped into the kitchen, bathrobe flowing. “Well?” she said, tapping her foot and looking from one guilty girl to the other.

“She started it!” Karen pointed accusingly at Michelle.

“She made a spoon hit me!” Michelle said in her own defense.

“What do you mean by she made it hit you?” Ginny asked, frowning.

“I was thinking that something bad would happen to her and then the spoon came out of the drawer and hit her!” Karen said.

“Me, too,” Michelle added.

Ginny looked up at Ron with wide eyes.

“I saw everything,” he told her. “This is the first time they’ve done this?”

Ginny nodded, standing up again. It was clear that excitement was rising in her chest.

“Ginny,” Ron said, grinning, “these girls are witches!”

Ginny began to scream wildly. She jumped on Ron and hugged him, and then ran to her bedroom, dragging the girls with her.

*

“Harry! Harry, guess what!” Ginny shrieked, jumping on the bed. Her husband turned over and smiled at his two children, who were standing in the doorway looking gleeful.

“What?” he asked groggily.

“They’re witches, Harry, they’re magic!”

Harry’s jaw dropped. “How do you know?”

“Me and Michelle just had a fight and I was wishing for something bad to happen to her and a spoon came out of the drawer and hit her arm!” Karen announced, a proud grin on her face.

“And I wished for something bad to happen to her and the waffle box that Uncle Ron was holding jumped out of his hands and hit her head!” Michelle told Harry.

“This is wonderful!” Harry exclaimed. He pulled all three of his girls into a tight hug, and he and Ginny immediately began telling the girls all about Hogwarts and the teachers. Most fortunately, Dumbledore was still headmaster and would hopefully be there when the girls started.

Ron came and stood at their bedroom door. He watched them look excitedly from one to another and wished he had a family like theirs. It was full of love, and he needed that right then. But there was nobody on this Earth that could give it to him- considering the fact that he was now separated from his wife.

What had he seen in her anyway? Sure, Lavender had the good looks and sexy figure, but he never really knew her. He dumped Hermione and took Lavender- making the biggest mistake of his life. Hermione loved him beyond all reason, yet he was too stupid to realize it.

After the breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, waffles, and pancakes, Ginny went out to go shopping and took the girls with her. She sensed that Ron and Harry needed some time to talk.

The men sank into the couch and turned on the television.

“I wish we could watch some Quidditch,” Ron complained.

“Only Muggle stuff,” Harry replied. He switched to the sports channel. A football game was on

“Oh, so this is football!” Ron exclaimed, sitting upright and looking intently at the screen. “Dean always talked about this in school.”

“I know. I was there.”

“But why can’t they touch the ball with their hands?”

“It’s just how the game is played.”

“That’s stupid.”

“You’re just too used to Quidditch to change opinions.”

“I thought you like Quidditch!”

“I do! It’s the best sport in the world! It’s just that now I live in the Muggle world again, I’m beginning to realize that it’s not the only sport in the world,” Harry replied.

“Did you play a lot of football before you went to Hogwarts?”

“No, not really. Dudley wouldn’t let me near any of the balls he had- if I wanted to play, I would have had to roll up a bunch of my uncle’s socks and kick that around. So I didn’t bother.”

Ron laughed.

There was a minute of silence in which the boys watched the television.

“Aren’t you sad at all?” Harry asked him suddenly.

Ron didn’t answer.

“Sorry- I shouldn’t have-”

Ron shook his head. “Not really. I think it’s about time I started my life over. If I had married Hermione- like she wanted me to- I’d be happy now. I don’t even know why I chose Lavender.”

He looked at Harry.

“Where is Hermione anyway?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Everywhere. She runs Witch Weekly now- making loads of cash. She stops by every once in a while for a visit, but never stays for long because she’s got loads of work to do. She’s always saying that.”

“What’s new?” Ron said sarcastically.

Another moment of silence drew over the room.

Ron looked at Harry. “Why hasn’t she stopped by to see me?” he asked quietly.

Harry sighed. “Think about it- you dumped her for another woman. You ran away from her and she watched you kiss Lavender. If I were her I would never want to talk to you again either.”

“She said that?”

“…Yeah, but that was five years ago, Ron. Things change. Who knows- by now she could be married or have a boyfriend or whatever.” Harry looked into Ron’s eyes. “Why don’t you go and meet her? She’s your friend, too.”

“Yeah- yeah I’ll do that.” Ron sat back into the couch and watched some more football. The two of them didn’t say any more until Ginny came back home with the girls and a load of groceries.

*

A week had passed since Ron turned up at his sister’s house. Ron and Lavender were now officially divorced, and they looked at eachother for the last time while walking out of the Ministry of Magic doors.

Ron knew that Harry and Ginny were glad to have him, but he also knew that he was interrupting their normal routine.

So that Thursday Ron dressed up especially nicely. He was going to go and see Hermione. Harry wanted him to call to confirm that she was going to be there, but Ron wanted his appearance to be a surprise.

“Fine,” Harry said after they had breakfast. “Just don’t be all, ‘I’ve realized my mistake now that Lavender and I are divorced,’ because she’ll just go running from the room.”

Ron said nothing.

“You look nice, Ron,” Ginny told him. Karen and Michelle looked at their uncle and blushed. He really did look nice- dark blue robes had always suited him.

“Okay, I’m going to do it,” he announced.

Harry smiled at him encouragingly. “Tell Hermione we say hi.”

Ron nodded. “See you later!” And with a crack, he was gone.

*

Ron was right outside the Witch Weekly building. He had to crane his neck to see the top, and he hoped that wasn’t where Hermione’s office was.

Ron walked into the building and found himself standing in front of a desk with a dumpy witch sitting behind it.

“Yes?” the witch said in a creaky voice.

“Can you tell me where Hermione Granger’s office is?”

“Ms. Granger? Sonny boy, you’ll never see her, she has meetings all day.”

“Is she in one now?”

“No, but her next one is in ten minutes.”

“That’s fine. Where’s her office?”

“Top floor.”

Ron groaned. “How do I get there?” he asked impatiently.

The old witch pointed down the hallway. Ron turned around and saw a door marked TOP FLOOR. He thanked the witch and nearly ran for the door. He opened it, stepped into the next hallway, and walked down to the only door there.

“It even has her name on it,” he said to himself as he read the door.

He was going to just walk in, but he decided to knock.

“Who is it?” Hermione yelled from behind the door. Ron’s stomach did a somersault.

“Ron.”

There was a silence as Ron’s hand started to sweat. He wasn’t sure if he could open the doorknob.

But he didn’t have to- the swung open itself and there was Hermione, standing on the other side of it and staring at Ron.

“Ron,” she muttered.

“Hi.”

Hermione looked at him for another second and shook her head. Her hair was still extremely wild, but looked nice- in fact it looked wonderful. Ron had never seen a more beautiful woman.

“Why don’t you come in?” she said, opening the door for him. Ron stepped through and had to stifle a laugh- the whole room was full of books. He realized she hadn’t changed as much as he thought.

“Sit down,” Hermione said, more to herself than Ron as she did so. “Would you like some coffee?”

“I already had some this morning.”

“Oh…”

Ron nodded and looked around the room. There was a picture of Harry, Hermione and him standing outside of Hagrid's hut. Ron remembered that- it was the last day of school and Hagrid wanted one last memory of them before they left. Ron had his arms around Hermione’s shoulder and she was smiling up at him. Every now and then they would kiss eachother and Harry would look and them and roll his eyes and laugh.

All of a sudden a big, furry, ginger pillow jumped into Ron’s lap and he nearly fell out of the chair- until he realized it was Crookshanks.

“He remembers you,” Hermione said coolly.

“Yeah, yeah I guess so.” Ron scratched the cat behind the ears. “He’s grown.”

They sat like that for a few minutes, just listening to Crookshanks purr, when Hermione spoke up.

“Why are you here, Ron?”

Ron looked at her. “Lavender and I got divorced.”

Hermione’s eyebrows rose. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah…”

She didn’t seem very sorry at all. In fact, she acted like she couldn’t care less. Ron tapped his two index fingers together and tried to think of something else to say.

“So… Harry and Ginny say hello,” he said, trying to make up for the conversation.

“Well, that’s nice of them. How old are the girls?”

“Four.”

“I'm sure they were happy to see you,” Hermione chuckled.

Ron rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t get them settled down for ten minutes.”

Hermione laughed.

“They’re witches, you know. They made a waffle box and a spoon hit eachother, just like Harry used to.”

“Really?” Hermione said, looking happy for the first time that Ron had arrived. “That’s wonderful!”

“I thought you disapproved of that!” Ron exclaimed.

“Yes, but, this time it’s a good thing. Just as long as neither of them got hurt.”

Ron nodded again.

Hermione stood up and poured herself some tea out of her wand. “So what are you doing with yourself these days- besides getting divorced?” She smirked.

“I work at the Ministry- I’m the Treasurer. I get to work with my dad a lot, considering he’s the Minister now. I couldn’t ask for a better job.”

“So why aren’t you at work now?”

“I took a few weeks off.”

“Ah.”

There was yet another second of silence, but it was interrupted by a sharp rapping on the door.

Hermione looked up. “Come in!"

A small, timid man that reminded Ron of Peter Pettigrew came in and looked worried. “Ms. Granger, you’ve been keeping your meeting waiting for half an hour now!”

“Oh my goodness!” Hermione chugged down the rest of her coffee and grabbed her notebook. “I’m sorry, Ron, I have to go!”

“Wait!” Ron grabbed up his coat and ran to the door before Hermione could leave. “Could I see you again? Tomorrow night?”

Hermione stopped in front of him and looked into his eyes. “I’d like that.”

“Want to meet in Diagon Alley or something? At the Leaky Cauldron?”

Hermione nodded.

Ron smiled. “Wonderful!”

“Bye,” Hermione said as she exited the room. “And tell Harry, Ginny, and the girls that I say hello back.”

“I’ll do that.”

Ron was left standing in Hermione’s office with Crookshanks rubbing against his legs. He couldn’t believe all that just happened. He couldn’t believe he was going on a date with Hermione the next night.

He rubbed Crookshanks behind the ears for another minute, thoughts racing through his mind.

The only thing Ron knew was that he had to get back to Harry’s place and tell him exactly what happened.

“So where are you taking her tonight?”

“We’re meeting at the Leaky Cauldron,” Ron told Harry as he finished dressing. “But I don’t know if we’re going to stay there.” Ron looked at him.

“I hope it goes well- you both deserve eachother,” Harry said.

Ron nodded. “Remember how Hermione and I would take long walks around the castle? And then that one time we came back and found you snogging with Ginny.”

“And then you got really off and we started wrestling on the floor.”

They laughed.

“But I have to admit, I was really glad you were the one that Ginny snogged with.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Now you tell me.”

Ron looked at his reflection once more in the mirror. He was wearing black robes that made his bright red hair stick out. “I look good, right?”

“You look good,” Harry said.

Ginny came to the bathroom door. “You look good, Ron.”

Karen came up behind her mother and gazed at Ron. “Wow! You look good!”

Michelle, who was trying to read a book on the sofa, pronouncing each word out loud, looked up when Ron came out of the bathroom, followed by Harry, Ginny, and Karen.

“You look good!” Michelle exclaimed, putting her book down.

This was just too weird for Ron. “All right, it’s almost seven.” He looked around at his sister’s family- his family- and they all smiled at him.

“Go and win her back, Uncle Ron!” Karen shouted. Ron grinned at her.

“Here I go!”

Ron Disapparated to the Leaky Cauldron.

*

The place looked exactly the same as the last time he saw it, which was just a month ago. It never changed. Even the bartender.

He greeted Tom, the same old innkeeper, and sat down at a table. He ordered a small butterbeer which he hoped would pass the time in which he waited for Hermione.

He didn’t have to wait long. In just a few minutes the doors opened once again and Hermione walked in. Her hair was up in a bun with a few hairs hanging down, and her bangs fell just below her eyes. Ron could barely resist her.

She sat down and ordered herself a firewhiskey.

“We aren’t prefects anymore,” she said when she saw the shock on Ron’s face.

Ron laughed. “We certainly aren’t.” He clinked glasses with Hermione and drank his butterbeer deeply.

“So are we going to stay here or walk around Diagon Alley?” Hermione asked him.

“What do you want to do?”

“Well, I’ve been sitting down all day.”

“Let’s go.”

Ron smiled at her as they left their drinks on the table and went to the back door, walked outside, and tapped on the brick wall. The wall vanished and in its place stood the street of Diagon Alley lit with candles. It was very romantic.

They walked down and bought an ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor- triple cherry fudge each.

As the hours passed, Ron realized how much Hermione had actually changed. Their constant bickering had changed into lively conversation and Ron was growing fond of Hermione all over again. He didn’t want the night to end, but didn’t have a choice when she grabbed his wrist and checked the time.

“Goodness, Ron, it’s one in the morning!” she cried, looking at him with wide eyes.

“We’ve been out here a long time,” Ron answered, gazing at her. They were sitting outside of the ice cream parlor again, watching the people walk by.

“Ron I really need to get some sleep- I have a big meeting today.” Hermione got up and picked up her bag.

Ron jumped up. “But today’s Saturday. Nobody works on Saturday!”

“I’m sorry, I would reschedule but it’s too late.”

Ron couldn’t believe it. He was having the time of his life with the most wonderful girl in the entire world, and she suddenly had to leave.

Hermione took his arm as he led her back through the wall. It was pointless, really, considering they would just Disapparate anyway, but he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.

Ron turned to her just before they went into the pub so they could have a moment to themselves. “I’m really glad you came with me tonight. I mean, I didn’t expect you to considering what I did to you-”

Hermione put her finger on his lips to silence him. They looked deep into each other’s eyes. Hermione took his hands in hers.

“I’ve been waiting for you for five years… you think I ever would have turned down a chance to spend an entire evening with you?”

Ron released his left hand and put it on Hermione’s cheek. He put one finger behind her neck and gently pulled her face towards his. He felt her chest push against his. He could feel the warmth of her lips an inch away and realized that she was all he ever wanted.