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.