A/N: As I said in my announcement on my profile, here is a revised version of this chapter. I figured it was easiest since I had only posted one chapter so far anyway. Don't fret! Chapter 2 is in the works already and will hopefully be posted soon! Sorry for keeping you all waiting so long for this.

P.S. I'm still searching for a beta so if you're interested, please message me!

~MIA~

Middle of September

"Draco, are you even listening to me?" Astoria asked me. Truth is, I was. Sort of. I was listening, albeit distracted by the way her soft blonde curls waved at me as someone opened the door near us and rushed passed out table. She was telling me that she wasn't happy anymore. That I never listened to her when she spoke, never remembered things like her birthday or her favorite color. Which was yellow, by the way. Odd choice for a Slytherin; but who am I to judge, my favorite color is blue. Deep, dark navy. Not bright like the color of the sky or a Ravenclaw scarf.

"Yes, Tori. I'm listening." Yes, I really was listening. I just wasn't processing what she was saying. Not very well anyway. It kind of sounded like she was telling me it was over. I had to be sure my head wasn't playing games with me. After another minute or so, I asked, "Are you still going to the Deregistration of Werewolves Gala with me?" Mother is expecting me to be there with Tori.

Mother plans charity events for the Ministry. The Gala for the Deregistration of Werewolves is going to be one of the biggest events she has planned for as long as I can remember. The ballroom will be opened onto the patio in the garden to accommodate the number of guests expected to be there.

"I don't think that's going to be a good idea, Draco." Astoria almost looked sad. Almost. I could see a hint of relief in her face before she schooled herself the way only a pureblood witch or wizard could do. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. I'm still not sure. Is this what heartbreak is like?

"Why would it not be a good idea?" I asked, trying to get the shakiness out of my voice before the words left my mouth. I probably shouldn't have asked but I needed to know. This seemed like it was coming from nowhere.

Astoria looked as if she were trying to find the right words. She was silent for a long while before she replied, "I am going with someone else." Wow. Way to just let the ball drop on that one. It's a good thing I grew up a pureblood and knew how to keep my calm in uncomfortable situations. A wonderful thing, indeed, as I currently felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. Or maybe this is what it feels like to receive the Kiss. I'm grateful I will never have to find out which is worse.

"I'm assuming you don't want me to know who the lucky wizard is." I replied after a few moments. I honestly couldn't think of anything else to say at that moment.

She looked up and finally caught my eyes for the first time during the whole conversation. "I wanted this to be as easy as possible. Besides, I didn't want you to overreact when you found out."

"So be it." So be it? Who the hell am I? Some cartoon character from a crappy muggle movie? I had been introduced to the telly by my best friend Blaise Zabini a few years ago and his favorite thing to watch is old movies made by a company called Disney.

I stood up and made my way over to the bar. Tom, the bartender of the Leaky Cauldron, was putting away some clean shot glasses. "Tom, I have to check out earlier than I thought. Please make sure Astoria's bill for today gets charged to my vault." I walked back over to Astoria to say goodbye. She stood up and hugged me. I almost lost it when she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Draco."

I couldn't stay anymore. I had to get out of there. I hurried to the door and stepped out into Diagon Alley where I could get lost in a sea of people who couldn't care less who I was or what had just happened to me.

"Ronald, you can't keep getting angry with me over these things. I'm the assistant to the Minister. I can't just blow off my job for quidditch!" I was practically shouting at him. He was angry because I wouldn't say no to the Minister of Magic when I was asked to head another research project.

It seemed to me like all Ronald ever did was talk about quidditch or watch quidditch, or play quidditch. His whole life was about quidditch and he stayed angry that mine was not. I actually had very little interest in quidditch.

It was as if we had absolutely nothing in common anymore. I loved him, yes. But I couldn't for the life of me remember why we were still together. It was a life of constant bickering and it was always about putting my job above quidditch. He didn't seem to understand that I wanted more.

"I'm getting angry because you don't seem to care about me anymore. You never want to spend time with me and all you ever do is work!" He yelled back at me. Maybe he was right. I really didn't want to spend time with him, at least not when that time consisted of only quidditch. But I did care about him, didn't I?

I stood up from the kitchen table in the flat that we shared. Ron was standing by the sink and I walked over to him. I caught him off guard when I hugged him tightly around the neck. After a few seconds that seems like ages, he wrapped his arms around my back. I looked up at him, his arms still around me, and cupped his cheeks in my hands. "Ron, you know I care about you. I care about you more than anyone else in this world. I just have different priorities at the moment. My work at the Ministry is important and it could help a lot of people."

He smiled at me. "I know 'Mione. I just can't stand to spend another night alone. I mean, we live together, for Merlin's sake, and I hardly ever see you."

"I'm sorry, Ron. I'm not sure what to do to fix this. I try to be here as much as I can. It's just gotten so busy at work lately and it's been harder for me to break away."

"Hermione, I love you. I need you to be here for me too. If you can't make that happen, then…" he trailed off, like he didn't want to finish was he was saying. He let go of me and I backed up a little bit.

"Then what, Ron?" I asked, almost timidly. I know what he was about to say. Did I want him to go there? Did I want him to try and make me choose between him and my job?

"Then I'll have to leave. I didn't want it to come to this, 'Mione. But if you can't choose me over your job then when you get home, I won't be here."

He was talking about my new assignment from the Minister. I had to do some research, some of which involved traveling, to find some substitutes for potions ingredients to make the potions cheaper. Mostly, I was looking at cutting the cost of Wolfsbane, but that was not the only one on my list.

"Ronald, you know I have to do this assignment. I'm trying to become Minister of Magic one day and I can't do that by blowing off assignments handed to me by the Minister himself."

"Then I'm sorry Hermione. When you get back, I won't be here." He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. He then walked away from me, through the kitchen door and into the living room. He walked into the bedroom and shut the door. I assumed he had started packing his things. I walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the small cauldron hanging on the hearth. I threw it in and said "Assistant to the Minister's Office" and before I knew what was happening, I was back at the Ministry, looking at my mahogany desk that was covered with paperwork and lists that I was going to need for my travels.

I sat down and started crying. I didn't think I was going to feel as bad as I did. But I was also sort of relieved. I felt like I could breathe again. I never again had to feel guilt about not going to a quidditch match. I knew then that I would be just fine, even if it took a little while to feel that way.