Home and Work

Ron got up around lunchtime and went downstairs to join his family in the kitchen. He smiled at the activity around him.

"Got to get use to all the noise again Ron?" Bill asked.

"No. This isn't anywhere near as loud and busy as the mess hall at breakfast time."

His mother looked at him with a furrowed brow. "The what hall?"

"The mess hall. It's what they call the cafeteria over there."

"Well, you would think they could come up with a better name."

Ron and Bill grinned at each other. "So Ronnie boy, what are you up to today?"

"I'd like to go look at some houses. I've saved up a good amount of money and would like to get into something as soon as I can."

"You know you're welcome to stay here Ron."

"I know mum, but my schedule is going to be crazy once I start work again. I'm going to be popping in and out at all different times and time zones. I need to be somewhere I won't disturb everyone. I could use some help finding one though."

"I would love to help you son, but I promised Bill and Fleur I'd watch Victorie today while they were at work. Since the neighborhood kids have all gone back to Hogwarts it's hard to find someone to sit with short notice."

"How about you Charlie? Hermione?" Ron looked at each of them. Hermione still had a tense relationship with Charlie. He seemed to inherit a larger portion of stubborn than the other Weasleys. She nodded that she would go.

Charlie glanced at his mother, and nodded. "Well Ron, I can help until about 4:00. I have a date tonight I need to get ready for." His ears turned the famous Weasley red.

"Oh really?" his mother asked. "And who is this person? Why haven't I heard anything about her?"

Charlie gave Ron a pitiful look. Ron stood and grabbed Hermione's hand. "Come on Charlie. We need to get started. The day's halfway gone." He pushed Charlie out of the door and waved goodbye to his mother, grinning all the while.

They landed at the apparition spot at the end of Diagon Alley. Ron spotted the sign that read "Magical Homes". They went into the office. The receptionist was reading a book and did not even look up as she said in a nasal tone "Can I help you?"

Ron waited for a moment to see if she would look up. When she didn't Ron cleared his throat. The lady snapped her head up with her mouth open to say something, but slammed it shut when she saw who was standing in front of her.

"Mr. Weasley, sir, I am so sorry. I wasn't expecting you. What can I do to help you sir?" Charlie and Hermione grinned at each other behind Rons back.

"I would like to buy a house today or tomorrow. I want to start moving in Wednesday. Will that be a problem?" Ron used his most serious authoritative voice.

"No sir, not at all. Please have a seat. I'll get our top agent right out here to help you sir." The little woman scurried down the hall and disappeared behind a door.

Charlie and Ron laughed out loud. Hermione hid her laughter behind her hand.

"I'd be scared of you too Ron if I didn't know you."

"As if your size isn't scary enough, that voice was priceless." Charlie wiped a tear from his eye.

Ron grinned. "It's fun to do that sometimes. I made a guy wet himself back in the States. Rather embarrassing, that was."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ron Weasley." Ron turned around to find Daphne Greengrass standing behind him. She looked him up and down and smiled. "My you have grown up well."

"Daphne" Ron stuck his hand out to shake "I'm sure you remember Hermione Granger. This is my older brother Charlie."

"I had heard that you two broken up. Oh well, can't always believe the rumor mill. Pity." Hermione wanted to climb under the rug. "No bother. Now, what can I do for you Ron?"

"I've just returned to England and want to buy a house. I need to be away from the city crowd because my business requires meetings at all hours. I want a minimum of three bedrooms and two baths. A decent sized yard would be nice. Nothing too sleek or modern, except I would like a modern kitchen. Something with a homey feel. If it is accepting of muggle electronics I would be happy. I store a lot of things on my computer" Hermione raised her eyebrow as she looked at Ron. "Anything else you guys can think of?" He looked at Charlie and Hermione. They both shook their heads. "Oh, I want to move in this week. Can you do this for me?"

Daphne cocked her eyebrow at Ron "In what price range?" She had a smug look on her face.

Ron picked up the quill off of the receptionists desk and wrote down a number which he then handed to Daphne. "This price range would be comfortable. We can always go lower if you don't have anything that fits."

Daphne smirked at Ron and looked at the piece of paper. She almost fainted.

"Do you need to sit Daphne?"

Daphne looked up at Ron. "No sir Mr. Weasley. Let me get our listings and I'll be right back. Please have a seat in my office."

"Do you think we can go at least an hour today without you shocking the crap out of some woman please?" Charlie joked as he sat in the comfortable chair offered.

"I can't make any promises brother."

They looked at four houses before Charlie had to leave. Too big, too small, too modern, and just too…ugly. Daphne gave Ron a slip of paper with an address on it. "This may be the last place we can see today. If you don't like it, we can see some more tomorrow." They all apparated to the address.

Ron and Hermione turned around and looked at the house in front of them. "This looks familiar" Ron said.

"We're only about 6 miles from the burrow Ron. This is the old Diggory place. Ever since Cedrick was killed his mother has refused to come back here. They've only just put it on the market since she became ill. They have the house ready for muggle electronics, too. Apparently they had some muggle friends. It's well within your price range Ron." Daphne explained.

"It's breathtaking" Hermione said.

The house was an older Tudor style home with a gated fence around the property. It was two stories and had a garage on the side. There were flowers and shrubbery all in front of the house.

Ron smiled as they entered the house. "Daphne, I want to walk around a little. Do you mind waiting outside?" Daphne stepped out the front door. "This is it Hermione. I got a good feeling when we walked into the front yard." Ron walked around the house, through the huge kitchen and pantry, the formal areas and the den. There was even a small bath downstairs. They stepped upstairs and looked at the two smaller bedrooms and then the bath they shared. They came to the master bedroom and Ron opened the door. "King size bed" was all he said. Hermione grinned. The master bathroom was huge. There was a large tub in the corner that even Rons long frame could fit in. When they finished upstairs they went to the backyard. They found Daphne sitting on a bench under and old Oak tree.

"The property line is the same as the fencing. The property behind you is for sale too, if you were to ever be interested. So what do you think?"

"Let the Diggory's know I'll have their money tomorrow. It's sold."

Daphne clapped her hands and scheduled a meeting for 1:00 the next day. Ron and Hermione headed back to the burrow hand in hand.

Ron and Harry brought the last box and fell onto the sofas. "At least the store delivered the furniture." Ron grinned at Harry. "Butterbeer?"

"Thanks mate. It's funny how everybody had to work today when they found out you were moving in, isn't it?"

Ron laughed. "That's okay. It's not like I had a lot of stuff to move. Besides, Charlie did have to go back to Romania. I didn't get to see a lot of him yesterday after his hot date though. It will be nice to visit him when I go to Romania for work."

"It's hard to believe that you are such a jet setter. I'm really happy for you Ron. You've done really well for yourself. Of course, I've always known you would. You just had to believe it."

"I never thought I'd say this, but it's all because of Hermione." Harry looked at Ron with doubt on his face. "No, really mate. If she hadn't done all of that stuff years ago, I never would have left. I would have taken a job with the Ministry and stayed here. Leaving made me grow up fast and rely on myself. Good things sometimes come from bad situations."

"How are things going with you two?"

"We're taking it slow. I still love her, but I'm scared of getting too comfortable. I'm just trying to relax and have a good time. Hopefully something will grow."

There were several pops outside. "Well how convenient. Looks like everyone shows up just as we get finished. I hope they brought food."

The following Monday, Ron started his new job. He met his receptionist and had her start the task of setting up meetings with the Ministers of each country to review their plans. He also started looking through the resume's to select his staff. There were several names he recognized both from school and his previous training sessions. He had applicants from several different countries. He liked the idea of having people from different places working together. He stopped cold at one of the applications. He stepped to the fireplace and called Harry.

"Hey mate. What can I help you with?"

"Can you come to my office for a minute?"

"Sure. I don't have to be in until 6:00 tonight. We can talk and have lunch."

"See you in a few minutes."

Ron stood and stared out of the window. A few minutes later his receptionist knocked on his door. She looked shocked. "Mr. Harry Potter to see you sir." Harry stepped into the room.

"Thank you Ms…"

"Simpson."

"That will be all Ms. Simpson."

After she left they guys laughed.

"So what can I do for you SIR."

"I was looking through the applications for my team and came across this."
Ron handed Harry an application.

Harry looked at it and immediately understood Ron's concern. "Draco."

"Yeah Draco. I'm sure he knew who was in charge of this division when he applied. I've been gone so long I wanted your opinion."

"Ron, Draco has been a very good auror. After the war he was lost for a long time. He lost his parents, his money, his home. He came to the order after about a year and asked for our help. He's changed Ron. You need to meet with him and feel him out. You need a staff you can trust. He's partnered with a guy named Jacobson. I'll talk to him if you want me to."

"No, I don't want you to do that. I'll talk with Tonks and Hermione. I respect their opinions. Now, how about lunch? Any new places around?"

"There's a new really good sandwich shop down the alley called Bite of Love .

It's really good even if the name does suck." Ron laughed.

"Well, let's go get a bite."

They walked down the street and took a table on the sidewalk outside of the shop. The waitress took their orders and brought their drinks. "Well speak of the devil" Ron said. Harry turned around to see Draco walking towards the shop. Draco spotted them and approached the table.

"Gentlemen" Draco nodded at them.

"Draco" Ron stood and shook his hand. Draco seemed surprised. "Why don't you join us. We were actually talking about you."

"You must have seen my application." The waitress returned with their order and took Draco's. "I know you must be surprised. Would you like me to explain?"

"If you would like to."

"I've been following your career since you left for America. At first I hoped you'd fall on your face." Ron snickered. Draco smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "But then I started hearing more and more about what you were doing and I noticed how your name suddenly demanded attention. I have to admit I was a surprised and to be honest perhaps a little jealous. So I decided to see what all of the hype was about. When I joined the auror division I had to study your training session. I hate to admit it, but I was impressed. I always knew you had a different thought process than most people, but I had no idea it was so brilliant. I knew then and there I wanted to be a part of it."

Ron studied Draco's face as he spoke. He didn't see any of the old hatred and snottiness. He thought that maybe he was being honest. "Thank you Draco. I'm glad you feel comfortable speaking to me this way. I hope you understand that I have to check with other people."

"I understand. We don't have the best history, do we?"

Harry smiled. "That's the understatement of the year."

The men finished eating. They stood to go their separate ways. Ron shook Draco's hand. "I'll be in touch Draco either way."

Draco shook his head, nodded, and headed home.

"So what do you think Harry?"

"Sounded pretty honest to me."

"Let's head to the Ministry. I want to talk to Tonks and Hermione."