Author's Note: I just want to thank everyone for the positive reviews that everyone left after I re-posted this story. It's a really happy feeling that after so many years that I can still get this type of positive response. Thank you.

I might be tempted to write in a few new chapters along the way, so keep your eye out for them down the road.

Chapter 2: Co-op

The whole school will know and I'll be the laughing stock sidekick once again. Ron thought as he was sitting beneath his favorite tree by the lake underneath the stars and half-moon.

How am I going too…I have every class with Hermione and not to mention a bunch with Malfoy? I can't sit in another class with them two looking at one another. Ron thought as he grabbed his rolling stomach.

And you know that ferret is just going to rub it in, when Hermione's back is turn. I'll have to pound him into lunchmeat and they will expel me because he's the Head Boy and I'm...

Dirty rotten lying ferret!

He wants that, probably been planning all of this just to see me get expelled. I'll quit first.

Ron thought back to when Fred and George quit and left school.

They quit and even got to join the Order. Of course, if I quit I can kiss being an Auror goodbye. Well not like, I had a bloody chance anyway. I am barely passing my classes even now and no way can I get all them NEWTs' to be an Auror. Besides they don't want me, they just want Harry. They want the Boy-who-lived, not Stupid-sidekick-Weasley. So stupid he didn't know his girl was cheating on him. Ron thought, while looking up at the half moon.

"Feels like my heart – ripped down the middle."

Ron hits his head on the tree while he continued to think, "Stupid"…bang…"stupid"…bang…"stupid"…bang.

Draco has probably dated over twenty girls including Hermione and I haven't even really dated one. I mean I could be the world's worst kisser and I wouldn't know it, and h…he can kiss the knickers off any of them. Merlin, The Anti-Merlin has my girl and I can't do a bloody thing about it!

"Stupid"…bang…"stupid"…bang.

Get a grip - now plan your next move. Play like it's wizard's chess. I'm the only piece on the board. I cannot win and I cannot stay on the board for long.

Ron dropped his head to his chest realizing that he can't win this chess match.

Quit then, Forfeit. Save what's left of your pride and leave.

What will I do? I can't bloody well live on the streets. Maybe, I could get Fred and George to let me stay at their place and I can work in their shop in return. I might even try to go to a few Quidditch team tryouts for Keeper. Then who knows if I practice really hard and with a little bit of luck - maybe I can be a Keeper on the Chudley Cannons team. It won't be easy. It's not like I'm a Malfoy where everything and everybody is handed to me on a silver platter. No, I'm a Weasley and I'll just have to work hard enough to earn it. Ron thought, making his mind up as he stood and walked back toward the castle.

Ron made his way in through the front entrance and slowly walked back to the Gryffindor tower to get his stuff to leave for good.

"Mr. Weasley it's past midnight, where have you been?" Professor McGonagall demanded, as she glided over to him with a stern look on her face.

"Oh… hi professor, I was at the lake," replied Ron not even stopping as he walked past a stern face Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Weasley... Mr. Wealsey stop this instant. No student, even a prefect is allowed to walk on the grounds after curfew." McGonagall shouted angrily in her very strict authoritarian voice, as she was a little bit flustered at Ron's reaction. "I'm afraid you will have to serve a week's detention with Mr. Filch."

Ron wheeled around and unbuttoned his prefect badge before replying, "It doesn't matter, Professor, I decided to quit."

"It certainly does matter… what do you mean quit?" Professor McGonagall asked, changing her tone from anger to confusion.

"I'm quitting Hogwarts. I'm sorry. Here's my prefect badge and - I'm going to miss you," Ron replied, as he handed her his prefect badge and then briefly hugged a confused Professor McGonagall.

For all practical purposes, Professor McGonagall had been the Grandmother he never had as his real Grandparents died during the first war. Ron was definitely going to miss her, in spite of all the detentions and loads of homework that she gave him.

"Mr.… Mr. Weasley you can't be serious?"

"Yes ma'am - I am. I can't stay any longer, ah… for personal reasons. So I'm going upstairs to pack and I'll be gone in an hour or two." Ron said, turning around and walked to the moving staircase with a shock Professor McGonagall following.

"Your mother, Molly, will not approve of this Mr. Weasley," retorted Professor McGonagall trying to keep up with a longer-legged Ron.

"Yeah well, it won't be the first bloody time she yelled at me. But don't worry Professor; I'll still join the Order straight away. I ought to at least be useful for something."

"Mr. Weasley, watch your language and stop right now." Professor McGonagall snapped back at him, as she was a little bit winded at having to try to keep up with him.

Ron stopped at the foot of the moving staircase and waiting on her to catch up. "Sorry Professor, hey can I call you Minerva now?" Ron asked in the hope of being on a more personal level with Professor McGonagall now that he was no longer a student.

"No you may not," snapped Professor McGonagall who started to resize up Ron and the situation. "Mr. Weasley, perhaps it is better if we have this discussion in Professor Dumbledore's office."

Ron gulped for air at the mention of Dumbledore and thought it better to leave him out of it.

"If it's all the same to you. I rather just get my stuff and leave quietly."

"In the dead of night as it were," said Professor McGonagall finishing Ron's thought.

"Exactly ma'am, it just takes me an hour to pack," said Ron smiling back at Professor McGonagall, as she finally understood on how he wanted to leave.

"No, Mr. Weasley, but I promise after you talk with Professor Dumbledore you can leave as quickly and quietly as you want." Professor McGonagall smugly replied as she pulled out her wand and started tapping it against her other hand.

Ron gulped for air again and nodded his head in defeat, as Professor McGonagall lead him to Professor Dumbledore's office with her wand out.

"Canary Creams!"

The Phoenix statue spiral staircase moved upward as Ron and Professor McGonagall rode it up to Dumbledore's office.

"Mr. Weasley, stay right here until we call for you. And I do mean right here," Professor McGonagall ordered firmly.

"Yes ma'am."

After twenty nerve wracking minutes outside of Professor Dumbledore's office, Ron heard a voice directed at him.

"Mr. Weasley, you can come in and join us now." Professor Dumbledore said, with a calm voice.

Ron slowly entered the tower office of the Headmaster. The Headmaster's portraits are once again all feigning sleep, and the books and shiny objects are a little bit dustier than usual since the last time he had been in his office. He looked around the corner of the office to see a familiar adult red Phoenix on his perch. Behind the Phoenix is Professor McGonagall standing to the right of Professor Dumbledore, who was sitting behind his cherry oak desk.

"Hello Fawkes," said Ron, as he walked over to the Phoenix and petted his beak.

Over the years since being rescued and carried out of the Secret Chamber, Ron has grown to admire and befriend the resilient Phoenix. Harry was still Fawkes favorite student, but Ron had a feeling he was a close second.

"Please be seated, Mr. Weasley," interrupted Professor McGonagall pointing to an empty chair in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk.

"Yes ma'am," replied Ron as he left a singing Fawkes and fell into the chair assigned to him. He was a little bit tired and impatient at wanting all of this to be over with so he could leave.

"I understand you wish to leave us, Mr. Weasley," replied Professor Dumbledore with a sad look in his eyes.

Ron had never got the sense that Professor Dumbledore viewed him as a favorite student of his, as he did with Fred and George his older brothers, Harry, or even Hermione for that matter. Not that he didn't help or show any displeasure toward him. He just never had a personal connection with the Headmaster. Ron always felt that Dumbledore viewed him as Harry's trusted sidekick and nothing more. So lacking a personal connection, he decided it best to be formal and quick with the answers.

"Yes sir, for personal reasons."

"Would those personal reasons be because of a certain Head Girl?" asked Professor Dumbledore with a touch of sadness in his voice and coming straight to the point.

The abruptness of the question, manage to catch Ron's funny bone. He had been throwing up all day and for all practical purpose was thinking and running with a tank on empty. His wit, pain, and humor seem to be the only things working within him after that last question.

"Ha-ha…hahaha. Am I the last person to know? Ha-ha!" Ron cracked madly as he stood up and walked back to the door as he was now laughing with tears running down his cheeks. "Hahaha…cheers!"

Ron reached out for the doorknob only to have it snap back shut.

"Mr. Weasley… Ronald, my boy would you like some tea and cake," pleaded Professor Dumbledore waving his wand and creating a platter of slice cake and a pitcher of hot tea in front of him.

"Ha-ha… to be honest with you Professor I've been throwing up all day it seems like, so I doubt if I could hold it down. Haha." Ron said, twisting the doorknob again to get out and wondered why he managed to start laughing and crying now of all times. "I appreciate what you are doing, but I can't stay and I won't. I'm of age, so if you just let me out; I'll pack, leave, then go someplace and quietly die."

"Before you die, how about a little Earl Grey," replied Professor Dumbledore moving around his desk and pouring the tea into a small teacup. "It always soothes my stomach. Come on over and lets talk about it."

Ron twisted the doorknob again, and gave up as he laid his forehead against the magically shut door.

"Mr. Weasley… Ron, you're not the first person to have a broken heart. I can assure you," calmly added Professor McGonagall as she whipped up another chair for herself with her wand.

"She was different - she was special." Ron gulped for another breath of air as he can feel the pain in his stomach. "And now she is in love with an evil ferret. The slightest touch or thought of her makes me vomit." Ron remarked but as he was talking about her he remembered Hermione passionately kissing Draco again in his memory. This caused him to make a quick lunge at a small wastebasket in Dumbledore's office.

After a few painful seconds, Ron pleaded one more time with his head in the wastebasket.

"The deal – Blagh! The deal was if I come to this office and talk, then you would let me go quietly. I came, I added something to the trash, and now I'm going." Ron demanded, as he stood up, wiped his face, and tried to maintain his balance as he was talking. "I'll still join the Order and be useful – guard duty, messenger, sacrificed pawn, or if need be a paperweight. I'll be good for something."

Ron walked over to the door and retried the doorknob; it wouldn't budge. His anger kicked in at that moment and he remembered he was a wizard after all. He pulled out his wand and pointed it directly at the door.

"Alohamo…"

Professor Dumbledore, who had been quietly sitting down sipping his tea, as he watched and listened to Ron, pulled out his own wand from his robes. Just before Ron can finish his spell, Dumbledore waved his wand and retrieved Ron's wand from across the room.

"What the…bugger!" Ron yelled, as he looked over to Professor Dumbledore putting his wand next to a full teacup set and the empty seat.

"Earl Grey really does help soothe the stomach," replied Professor McGonagall in the most British of voices as she was sitting down beside Professor Dumbledore and sipping her tea.

Ron hard-headily tried the doorknob one more time, and then acknowledged his defeat by walking back over and sitting back down beside a smiling Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"So tell me, Ronald, what are your plans after leaving us?" Professor Dumbledore asked after he finished his tea and looked directly at Ron.

"I thought I stay with Fred and George, practice during my off hours and go tryout for a Keeper on a Quidditch team."

"And what about your plans for Miss Granger?" asked Professor Dumbledore still looking directly at Ron's eyes.

"Professor, I know you are a master at Legimency, but do you mind? It's freaking me out with you in my head. Bad enough, I'm barely in there myself." Ron snapped, and broke his eye contact with Professor Dumbledore.

"Ha-ha ok, Mr. Weasley, but your wide range of emotions and feelings right now are making it difficult for me to see the truth." Professor Dumbledore said, sliding the teacup into Ron's hand. "Not that it matters you have always been truthful to me. So would you be willing to take a few days off from classes, instead of leaving us."

"No, Professor. I really would like to leave Hogwarts quietly and borrowing some emergency home study program, I rather just leave."

"For your brothers in London," finished Professor McGonagall.

"Yes ma'am," replied Ron putting the untouched teacup down beside him.

"Actually we were thinking of allowing for you to leave us for your other brother," replied Professor Dumbledore with a small smile and twinkle in his eyes.

"Bill!"

"No, Mr. Weasley."

"Charlie, but he's in Romania at the Preserve." Ron said, and then waited for the explanation from Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"We have setup a two to three month Co-op position with the Romania Dragon Preserve. Where, Charlie Weasley, your brother works at. The Co-op is a working position where you will work at handling and taking care of dragons. I envy how much fun you will have. Now you will get a small salary each week, but you also have to work on a twenty-foot scroll for us on what you have learned before coming back to us. Now this will be a long three month Co-op as you will be working there over the Christmas break." Professor Dumbledore said, with a small smile and distant look on his face as he mentioned dragons.

"Excuse me, sir. Is it just me or is it Harry and me," interrupted Ron wanting to know if he had to go beg Harry to join him in order to go.

"No, Mr. Weasley, just you. Providing that you can get the Professor of Magical Creatures recommendation for this Co-op."

"Just me! You're not going to send Ginny and a bunch of Slytherin down there a week after me, are you?" Ron asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"No, Mr. Weasley, for the entire three months it will just be you," finished Professor Dumbledore as a small smile played on his lips.

"Now you will be behind in you N.E.W.T. studies when you get back, but you will have at least five months before you actually take the tests, to catch up on the two months of school that you will miss." Professor McGonagall added, as she finished her cup of tea and smiled at the excitement on Ron's face.

"Really? This is real - I can leave right now?" asked Ron almost giddy at not having to drop out of school but still able to leave Hogwarts.

"After you get the recommendation from Hagrid, then you can catch the eight o-clock train at Hogsmeade station to London. Correction – I forgot you can Apparate and you have your license from the Ministry."

"Yes sir, I got it after my birthday."

"Then you can Apparate directly to the Ministry of Magic International Portkey office and they will send you directly to the Preserve." Professor Dumbledore said, tapping his finger on his cheek and stroking his long white beard. "First you have to finish your tea, mind you."

"Yes sir," replied Ron gulping the tea in one fell swoop then jumping up and racing toward the door to go see Hagrid.

"Mr. Weasley, you might need this," reminded a smiling Professor McGonagall holding up Ron's wand.

"Oh yeah. Professors', thank you, both of you." Ron said, racing back to the chair to get his wand and then racing out of Dumbledore's office.

Professor Dumbledore's POV:

"Whew – for a second there Albus, I almost thought he wouldn't take the deal." Professor McGonagall added, exhaling in relief.

"I wonder if we shouldn't have asked again for him to stay. You do not know how important someone is to you until they leave you. I have a very bad feeling we are going to find out just how important young Mr. Weasley is to us." Professor Dumbledore said, in a very tired voice.

Professor McGonagall disagreed. "The poor boy is embarrassed and heartbroken. I do not think anything would have kept him here. If you offered him all the Galleons in Gringotts to stay, he still would've refused."

Professor Dumbledore said nothing as he stood up and moved over to his telescope to see Ron running out on the grounds toward Hagrid's hut.