Chapter 1: Midlife Crisis

It was the biggest quidditch match of the season, the undefeated Puddlemere United was up against the Chudley Cannons who hadn´t had a chance to win the league in almost half a century. The bleachers was packed with people and amongst the crowd were 3 couples watching intensely as the players faced off against each other.

Or well almost everyone was intensely watching the game, Hermione was glancing up from her book here and there but she was too wrapped up in her latest case and the research required to find the ultimate approach to be able to wholeheartedly focus on the match. Astoria who was actually watching the game had more eyes for the players themselves than for what they were actually doing on the field, she had always seen a quidditch game as an excuse to watch young attractive people while giving the masses the impression of the happy pureblood couple enjoying each other's company.

That left Harry, Ginny, Draco and Ron who was absorbed in the game and followed every movement of the players in the air. That had been the case when the game had started but as the time went on one of them had started to be distracted and his eyes was now staring straight ahead instead of following the witches and wizards swishing by right in front of his eyes.

Ron Weasley was one of the biggest Chudley Cannons fans and yet he was not aware of anything that was happening around him at the moment, he didn´t hear the crowd cheering or the commentator announcing that the seekers had noticed the snitch.

He had just been told today that he was put on desk duty in the auror office because of his age, well they hadn´t said so in so many words but it had been clear to Ron that it was the reason for his replacement. He had done the best bloody work in the field for the last 25 years and more and now they were just telling him it was time to "pass over the torch to the next generation" he snorted at the notion, they had said that they was looking forward to him teaching the aurors in training, that he was perfect for the job as he had so much experience and had been a prominent figure in the last wizarding war.

He didn´t want to be a freaking teacher if he did he would have taken a position at Hogwarts, they had just made it seem like they needed him somewhere else and that they was doing both him and the wizarding world a favour. Sometimes he hated when people tried to cuddle him, if they had something to say they had better say it straight to his face instead of cleaning up the wound they had slowly cut up but had no intention on closing.

He had went home to prepare for the game of the century feeling betrayed and needing reassurance and someone backing him up. He had knocked on the door to his wife´s study hoping that she was not wrapped up in her work like she usually was because today he needed her, he needed her whole attention and not someone with half a mind on something else. She had listened to him but instead of being upset on his behalf she had smiled and said it was time he did something else than chase criminals all day, she pointed out she had evolved in her carrier through the years and that she thought this was the perfect opportunity for him to do the same.

He had not wanted to get into an argument with her and had therefor not started a discussion, his wife´s opinion on the matter was pretty clear after all. That had made him wonder though, he had always thought that he and Hermione had a great life together and that they knew each other inside and out.

He had always loved being an auror, being in the middle of the action and being the one that cast the spell that made the difference in getting the guy or him escaping. He had always loved having something to go to everyday where he knew he would do something meaningful, he was someone that made sure people were safe and didn´t have to face injustice. He had thought Hermione had known this and that she was proud of him and his accomplishments, now he wondered if she had just chosen not to say anything but had in reality thought he was stuck in his carrier.

He glanced briefly at his wife who sat next to him and frowned at her when he noticed the book in her lap, she loved her books and that was one thing he had always loved about her but maybe she loved them more than she loved him and their family?

After they had finally gotten together everything had gone so fast and they had married and had Rose and Hugo a few years later, he had taken a sabbatical taking care of his children being fully content with staying at home when Hermione went to work every morning, he would do it again if they had a third child.

They had always had this ease in their relationship, Ron had thought it was because they knew what the other wanted, that they didn´t need to voice everything because they already knew. He was not so sure now though, was they as close as he had always thought or was they just close on the surface.

He loved Hermione it was no question about it but when he thought about it there was things that had changed over the many years they had been married. There was something that had been there but wasn´t anymore, he thought back on when they first got together and he felt excitement in the pit of his stomach. When he thought of them now he just saw daily routines, quiet and relaxing evenings in the others company. There was nothing new and exciting there anymore, not with them as a couple or with him as a person, he was really becoming old and grey.

The thought of his age took him back to the original problem, he hadn´t felt that old or tired before earlier today but now it felt like he had just aged 10 years in a few hours. His hair was starting to grey on the sides, he had small wrinkles around his mouth and on his forehead, sleeping in the wrong position made his body ache for hours when he would have not even noticed it a few years ago. He was old and he had not even realized it which just made it a bit pathetic, he didn´t know why he felt so depressed all of a sudden, it wasn´t like he was going to die tomorrow.

Maybe not die but he was going to be 50, yea that was right 50 years old halfway to 100, his birthday was just in a week and he dreaded it.

"…Ron" he blinked but was to down at the moment to lay energy on what his family and friends wanted. It wasn´t before someone was shaking him that he turned his head "mate, what has gotten into you?" he looked at Harry who looked confused but happy.

"Huh…" Harry just shook his head and clapped him on the back "you got into a chock or something when the Cannons won, didn´t you?" Harry chuckled "I don't blame you that was spectacular, but we should really get going we already are the only ones left."

Wait what? The match was over and he had missed it, the match of all matches and for what sulking over his age and what his life had ended up becoming. He shook his head, this just couldn´t be happening, the day really couldn´t get much worse.

Ginny was standing beside Harry now and took his hand in hers "the Weasley faint combined with the Potter spiral was the coolest maneuver I have ever seen" she gave him a grin "you must be so proud of your sister and brother in law right now, without us that maneuver right there would never have happened."

Ron continued to blink, he gave a small nod not knowing what else to do. He was not about to give away that he had missed it and everything else, he didn´t need or want to be questioned about it.

Unlucky for him though everyone were not so easy to fool "he has no idea what you are talking about" Draco remarked from behind Harry and Ginny. The both of them looked at him then and frowned when they saw what Draco had seen.

"Are you sick" Ginny inquired at the same time as Harry said "who are you and where is Ron? He would never have missed that match for anything." Ron just looked at them and shook his head, hoping that they would get the hint that he didn´t want to talk about it.

That was the time however when Hermione looked up from her book to contribute to the conversation "he´s gotten into a midlife crisis, he has just realized he will turn 50 next week and he got put on desk duty with a side responsibility of training the junior and trainee aurors" she smiled and added "which I think is a great opportunity."

Ron glared at her, midlife crisis his arse, he was just a little down at the moment and that was all it was to it.

At least it seemed that someone knew him and felt a bit of compassion, Harry looked apologetic and sat down beside him "how could they just do that, you are one of the best field aurors the British islands have ever seen" Ron smiled at him a little, Harry understood him and could see his frustration. He couldn't help but think that Hermione should have been able to see it as well.

Ginny just shook her head and to Ron´s displeasure focused on the other thing Hermione had said "midlife crisis, Ron you are way too young for that."

Harry turned his attention from him and back to his wife "50 is halfway to 100, I think it´s not so strange and I have also thought about that I´m getting old." Ron didn´t know what to feel, relived that someone understood and felt the same way or more depressed by the fact that someone else also thought that they were getting old.

"Harry I´m just 1 year younger than you, are you saying I´m getting old" Ginny was saying making Ron wince, you didn´t want to get his sister going, he was saved from listening to her rant and Harry trying to defend himself though by Draco that seemed to think it was time to interfere.

"In the muggle world 50 may be middle aged or even above, here in the wizarding world however the expected age is often somewhere around 150 or higher, so no we really are not that old" Ron still didn´t like it when Draco made a valid point that he hadn´t been able to see. Yes they were friends and had been for a long time but that didn´t mean that he wanted Draco to be a male version of Hermione that was able to correct or prove him wrong more times than he wanted to admit.

Even if he may not be middle aged yet it still felt like he was old, he had adult children both being over 20 now and he couldn´t help but think that someday in the near future they may even make him and Hermione become grandparents. He had become a father when he was just a little older than the age Rose was at the moment after all, Draco´s words really did not help much in making him feel better about his age.

Astoria who had not said anything so far looked at him and raised an eyebrow "I think 50 is a very respectable age, many people in our society value experience and expertise. There is no reason to become crestfallen over getting older, it should be something to celebrate" he could see Hermione nodding in agreement, how was it that his wife didn´t see it like he did or even tried to see why he was feeling bad over it.

"Oh on the talk of celebrations" Ginny looked like she had forgotten about being called old and instead was getting excited about something "how is the preparations going?"

Everyone else of their little group except Ron exclaimed "Ginny!" and looked at her in reprimand. Harry was shaking his head and Astoria was rolling her eyes while Draco muttered "Gryffindor's" under his breath. Ron on his part just frowned not getting what his sister was talking about, he was not feeling much for celebrating anything at the moment.

"What, I just got excited thinking about going to Greece in a week" Ginny said a little defensively, she looked a little apologetic though when everyone else sighed and looked at her like she was a dumb hippogriff.

Ron looked at everyone wondering why they were going to Greece and he didn´t know about it, then he realized it had to have something to do with his birthday, he really hoped he was wrong but he doubted they would all just leave him alone in his despair on his 50th birthday. Being alone would be preferable to go and celebrate something he didn´t want to even think about, and Greece what were they going to do in bloody Greece.

Ron looked pleadingly at his best friend and Harry smiled sheepishly "it was supposed to be a surprise but someone ruined that" he glared at his wife who grimaced before Harry turned back to Ron "we are throwing you a party at one of the Malfoy estates in Greece." Ron tried to look more enthusiastic about it than he felt, giving them a smile like it was something he had wanted to hear.

"Well as the surprise is ruined already I have good news, Scorpius will be able to make it over from America and stay for the whole 2 weeks we will be there" Astoria informed the others with a smile.

Ron blinked and was unable to stop himself before blurting out "bloody hell, 2 weeks?" they were throwing him a party that would last 2 weeks, he had thought he would have to stand to be reminded that he was half a century old for a weekend at the most and not 2 weeks.

"It really is a miracle, all our children, your brothers and most of their children that is out of school, together with some of their friends, our friends, some of your colleagues and your parents will all be able to come. We will have the birthday celebration and then we thought if possible we could take an extended family holiday, most will stay the whole 2 weeks but some will have to go home after 1 week because of work." Ron looked at Harry incredulous, merlin that was a lot of people.

He noticed Harry glaring at Hermione "I am sorry Ron but I have a very important case and I couldn´t get away more than a week, you know how it is" she smiled apologetically at him. Ron just nodded he wasn´t surprised, he was hoping that he would be able to go home after the first week as well but knew that would never be possible. That Hermione prioritized work was nothing new and he had never thought anything of it before, he knew she needed the stimulation and that it would make her happy, now he wondered when he had stopped wishing it was different and when he had started just being content with how things were.

His stomach made a sound and everyone started to laugh "It´s time to go if we want to get to the restaurant in time for our reservation" Draco said with a smile. Ron didn´t feel like going out to dinner like they did every week, really his life was just going around and around like in a circle where he was doing the same things week in and week out.

The only thing that had been different was his work where he had been able to work on new and exciting cases, learn new things and experience new heights but that was over now when he was getting older. Losing the one exciting thing he had in his day to day life made him see that everything else lacked a bit of color, it lacked that little bit of something that would make your heart pound a little faster and your stomach to flip with anticipation.

He was hungry though, even that was like it always had been. He thought about asking the others to go someplace new to get some variation but he put that thought aside, they already had a reservation anyway.

They made their way from the stadium and Ron couldn´t help to think that he had to change something to get out of the boring life he had found himself in. He had to find something exciting and new with what he had, he loved his family and friends he just had to find that spark to enjoy life again and not just go through it content without experiencing that thrill of living he had felt when he was younger.

From where Ron trailed behind the others deep in thought he decided he was going to change his life, he promised himself he was going to get back on track again.