A/N: This is a story that came to mind the other day and just wouldn't leave haha. Hopefully I can stick with this one and see it through. Disclaimer: I own nothing, JK Rowling owns it all.
It was the end of summer after the Final Battle. Things had been tough for the Golden Trio. All of them trying to acclimate to not being in a war anymore. Once everything had calmed down and everyone was physically healed, Hermione went down to Australia to check on her parents. Only to find that they had a child with them, Hermione knew that they must have adopted, but she still couldn't go and try and get their memories back; so she left.
During this time Ron started working at the joke shop while George was recovering over the loss of Fred. Harry eventually moved into Grimmauld Place to start fixing it up. Molly had wanted him to stay at the Burrow, and he did have supper there every night,spending time with Ginny and Ron. He would also go and visit Andromeda and Teddy at least once a week to try and help her out, and learn things that he would need to know in case he ever had Teddy on his own..
Hermione had just gotten back from Australia, having met up with everyone at the Burrow for supper. Afterwards Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting on the table while everyone else was sitting in front of the fire listening to the radio.
"September first is coming up soon...and I'm going back to Hogwarts." Hermione said, looking at the others as if she expected them to fight her on it.
Ron sighed a little and looked at Hermione, who was sitting next to him "You know you don't have to Hermione. Kingsley gave us the go ahead to go through Auror training if we want to, and I'm going to take him up on it. And even then I'm sure anyone would hire you."
Hermione shook her head a little "I know. But I don't want to be an Auror and I don't want to get a job just because I help defeat Voldemort. I want to get one on my own by working for it."
Ron looked at her with slightly wide eyes. "And us helping to defeat Voldemort wasn't working for it?"
She sighed and shook her head more. "That's different. Yes it was hard and we worked for it. I just want to be able to do this on my own and know that I can get a job because of me and not just because they hired me for the fact I'm a friend of Harry or helped with the Final Battle."
Ron sighed softly and nods a little, reaching out to cover her hand on his that was resting on the table. He looks over at Harry and Ginny, raising an eyebrow as he waited for them to put in their input.
Ginny smiles a little and leans forward on her arms a little. "Well at least I know now that I won't be alone. Cause I do still have my last year to do." She says, giving a look to Ron before turning her attention to Harry.
Harry looks back at all three of them before looking down at the table, hands clasped together in front of him. "I won't be going back to Hogwarts either.." Ron makes an excited noise before Harry interrupts him, "But I won't be going into the training program either."
Ron gets a confused look on his face, along with Hermione while Ginny just looked a little sad. "But I thought you wanted to be an Auror Harry?" He asked with Hermione nodding along and Ginny looking down at her lap.
Harry lets out a breath and clears his throat, nodding a little. "And I did. But with the Final Battle and defeating Voldemort...I'm tired of fighting bad guys." He says with a tired look on his face, only looking up when he feels a hand rest on his, looking up to see Hermione giving him a soft smile in understanding.
Ron looked away for a moment with a slightly hard look on his face before shaking his head and sighing a little, looking back at Harry with a calm face. "I understand Harry. Guess I'll just have to do this on my own." He says, laughing softly. Hermione smiles and squeezes both Ron and Harry's hand before bringing her own back to her lap and turning her attention to Harry.
"So what are you going to do Harry?" She asks.
Harry shrugs a little and looks over at Ginny, who looked like she had calmed a little but seemed to be lost in thought. "I'm not sure. I want to continue fixing up Grimmauld Place, and help Andromeda take care of Teddy. I don't really need to worry about working from What Sirius and my parents left me."
Hermione glances at Ginny and nods a little before taking Ron's hand in her own. "That sounds like a plan for now. I'm sure Andromeda will appreciate the help too C'Mon Ron, let's go outside." She says to him with a pointed look before getting up and pulling him with her outside. Ron gives a smile to Harry and Ginny as he follows Hermione out, the door closing behind them.
Both Harry and Ginny were silent for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, after a minute, Ginny sighed roughly and turned in her seat to face Harry.
"I don't think this is going to work Harry." She says softly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Harry looks back at her and nods a little. "I was thinking the same thing." He replies just as soft.
Ginny uncrosses her arms and reaches out to rest her hand on his arm. "I know we never officially got back together...but when I heard you say that you weren't going back to Hogwarts, or even doing the Auror training, I realized how much you had changed, and how much I had moved on." She tells him with a kind look on her face.
He nods some more. "I tried to make it work, I really did, but it kinda seemed like neither of us was really feeling it."
Ginny smiles softly and nods a little, patting his arm. "I agree. Now that that's over with," she says as she shares a soft laugh with Harry, "I'm going to go to bed, so that I can go to Diagon Alley in the morning to get everything. Night Harry "She tells him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before going upstairs.
Harry sighs and runs his fingers through his hair as he gets up from his seat. He didn't hear ron and Hermione come back in so he decided to look for them outside. As he passed the living room he saw that the fire was dying out and everyone had already gone to bed. When he got outside it didn't take long to find them, both laying in the grass looking up at the start. He looks at them for a moment before calling out. "I'm going back home for the night guys. I'll see you tomorrow ok?"
Both Ron and Hermione sat up and looked back at him, Hermione nodding. "Ok Harry. Is everything ok between you and Ginny?" she asks, ever perceptive, knowing that things were tense at the table.
Harry smiles softly and nods. "Yea, we broke up, but we're good. It was a mutual thing."
Ron nods and puts his arm around Hermione, "That's good Harry. I'm glad you both figured things out. Now go so I can have some alone time with 'Mione here." He says with a crooked smile on his face, laughing when Hermione playful smacks his chest as she laughs too.
Harry chuckled at the two before waving his arm and heading back to the fireplace. Grabbing some floo powder, he tosses some into the fire and steps in. "Grimmauld Place."
