In the meeting room was a long, rectangular table made of dark wood with five chairs on either long side and two chairs at the head of the table. To the left was a projector where the usual company statistics and charts appear.

It was only 9:30 AM, so Hermione and Draco were the only ones in the room. Hermione sat down three seats away from the projector and Draco sat directly in front of her. He was flipping through some papers and nodding to himself in satisfaction. Hermione couldn't help but notice that he looked almost the exact same as when they graduated, except he now had more facial hair and small wrinkles around his eyes.

He must have sensed her gaze because he looked up, gave her a quick nod and returned to his paper work. "Quit staring at me, Granger," he said with a smile. "It's rather unnerving."

Before she could reply, the president of the company, Mr. Scott, his assistant, Grace, and several other colleagues walked into the room. They sat down around Hermione and Draco, Mr. Scott taking the seat at the head of the table. Some of them had brought folders and papers like Draco, but the rest just sat down and prepared to listen attentively like Hermione.

However, when the meeting actually started, she did not listen attentively and in fact drifted off into her own mind. She began to wonder why Draco was here in the first place. It must have something to do with those papers, she thought. She let her mind wander until the sound of someone calling her name snapped her out of her reverie. It was Mr. Scott, and now everyone was looking at her.

"Yes, sir?" she asked. How long had they been waiting for her to respond?

"You are on the list of people we are relocating to Mr. Malfoy's company. Please pack up your desk and prepare to leave with the other coworkers by noon," he replied. Then everyone looked at the projector, which stated that the company Hermione works for was bought out by Draco's company and he now wants to tale some of their employees to see how efficient his new company was.

Draco was still looking at her, and he nodded his head towards the door to tell her to get her things. She blankly nodded and slowly stood up. When she left the room, she softly closed the door behind her to not disturb anyone in the room. As she was walking away, she could feel Draco's gaze still on her through the glass pane window. She decided not to look back at him, so she quickened her pace to get to her office faster.

By the time she got to her office it was 10:45 AM. She had a little over an hour before she had to leave the building. It's a good thing she didn't leave a lot in her office anyway, because then it would have taken a lot more than an hour to get all of her things. She only had her coat, an extra pair of shoes, some picture frames and folders of paperwork that she needed to take with her. She could get that done in an hour, maybe less than that even.

Hermione went downstairs to the main desk to ask Flora if she had any boxes that she could use to pack up all her stuff in. She found a few boxes that would work and went back upstairs to pack. When she finished, she put all of her stuff in her car, said goodbye to Flora one last time, and headed for Draco's company building.

It was already 6 o'clock by the time Hermione got home. Ron would be home within the hour and she still had to make dinner. She slipped out of her heels, dropped her bag to the floor and walked barefoot to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. Then she walked over to the fridge to see what she would make for dinner. There wasn't much in the fridge since she missed her bi-weekly Sunday grocery shopping trip, but there were still some chicken breasts, eggs and green beans. She would batter and fry the chicken and sauté the vegetables.

Ron got home at 7 that night; little later than usual, but not by much. When Hermione heard the front door open she finished up sautéing the beans and went to the door. She saw Ron standing there holding his briefcase, staring blankly at the floor in front of him. When she called his name, he didn't even flinch. He looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Ron," she repeated, "are you alright?"

"Mione," he said, finally meeting her gaze. "Is dinner ready?"

She was startled. "Yes, it is. Is dinner really what you looked so worried over?"

It seemed like he was still processing her words. "No, but I'll tell you over dinner."

She didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if he was still looking at her, but she gave a small nod and slowly walked back to the kitchen to set the table. She could hear Ron's footsteps going up the stairs and into the bedroom. What had made him look like that?

Ron's footsteps pounded through the floor as he made his way back downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, Hermione was pouring herself her fourth glass of water and the food was already at the table. He sat down at his usual spot and Hermione stood at the counter drinking her water. He still looked pale, but he was beginning to take in his surroundings. He motioned for Hermione to sit, and so she sat. She took another sip of water while Ron was putting some chicken and green beans onto his plate. Then he took Hermione's plate and did the same thing.

She put down her glass of water, took a bite of the chicken and watched as Ron took a bite of his own chicken. Her mind still wandered. With each second that passed by, she grew more and more curious as to what Ron was so worried about. Soon she couldn't take it, and was going to bring it up when Ron started to speak.

"Dad visited me at work today,' he said. Ron worked at the Ministry of Magic as an auror. His office was a few floors down from Mr. Weasley's office, so seeing each other at work was not an abnormal event.

"Oh," she replied, confused. "Well… how is he then?"

"He's well. He's not ill anymore," he said, still sulking.

"Is that bad?" she asked, confused.

"No, no that's great news. But after dad left my office, Mr. Ott came in."

"Your boss?" she asked slowly. Hermione couldn't remember who he was, but when he nodded she gave herself a high-five in her mind. "Did he say anything?" Anything that might have startled you? she thought to herself.

"Yes actually," he said. Ron hesitated before saying, "he offered to promote me. Better pay, he says."

Hermione felt ecstatic for a brief moment. She was so happy for Ron that Mr. Ott himself came into Ron's office to offer him his promotion. She was in the middle of wondering whether or not he took it when she realized he still looked deeply upset.

"Ron?" she said softly, and he snapped his head up, raising his eyebrows as if to let her continue. "Ron this is good news. I don't understand why you look so depressed over it. Did you accept the offer?"

He slowly shook his head and looked down to the floor again. "I told him I would think about it for now. I thought I would take it too, but when he started telling me the details I was slowly backing out on his offer." When Hermione asked what the details were, he took a big breath and then exhaled. Another breath. Then said: "It's not exactly a promotion. An auror is an auror and there isn't really a higher level than that that I'm aware of. However, what Mr. Ott was offering me was something like that. Same position, but he's relocating me to a new office and I get a raise in my salary." His face dropped when he said the last few words.

Hermione still didn't understand. Ron should have been as happy as she was. Why wasn't he? "Ron this is fantastic, though you still seem upset. Is there something you haven't told me?"

She heard him sniff, and when he looked up, tears threatened to spill out like a bursting water balloon. "The office they plan to relocate me to is in America. It's only for 18 months, but it seems like much more," and when he said "America" tears sprang out of his eyes, and then more came until they were creating little rivers on his face. His crying made Hermione want to cry, but she told herself not to because she knew that if she started she would never stop. Especially if she was crying because of Ron.

When she composed herself, she stood up from her chair and walked over to where her boyfriend was sitting. She moved his arms out of the way to sit on his lap. He rested his head in the crook of her elbow and she pet his hair to calm him down, though it seemed impossible, because the rivers of tears were now turning into lakes that would eventually become ponds on his shirt. She pulled the sleeve of her blouse over her hand and wiped his tears. Useless, since they just kept coming. She kept petting his hair and shushing him until he looked up.

"What are we going to do for 18 months?" he asked, with what seemed to be the last of the tears streaming down his face.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean- well. It's kind of how I just asked it. What are we going to do? The Ministry is only paying for me to go, since I'm the only one with business in America. I don't think we have enough for you to come with me. And that would mean we have to sell this house, wouldn't it? Also, what are you going to do in America for 18 months? I imagine it would be hard to get a job there because there are so many bloody people. And maybe they have different requirements-"

Hermione didn't get to hear the rest of his rant because she had tuned him out. What were they going to do? She hadn't thought about all this in during the silence he had given her while coming up with how to break the news to her. It definitely would be hard to get a job in America because they might have different standards, and she had no interest in working with Americans.

So did that mean he was leaving her here in London? She had never thought that she would be alone. Well, without Ron really. She had never thought about it before because it was absurd. In her mind, she didn't see a reason as to why they would ever be apart. But now here it was, right in front of her, happening right now.

And her new job. She still hadn't old Ron.

"Ron, I also have news."

He quickly stopped his frantic mumbling and asked, "What? What is it? Are you pregnant? Are we having a child?!"

She softly slapped his arm and said, "Goodness, Ron, no! I'm not pregnant! I was in a meeting today and Mr. Scott told me that he was relocating some employees to another company, and I was one of them. They had apparently let go of some of their employees and when they bought my company they wanted to bring some people in to see if they worked efficiently; make sure they got their money's worth."

He stretched up to kiss her cheek. "Mione, I'm so happy for you," he said with a sincere smile. Then he scrunched his eyebrows together and said, "Then that means I really can't bring you to America with me. You need to stay here and work."

She saw that as reasonable, and didn't have the energy to form a rebuttal. She simply nodded and slid off his lap. Seeing as neither of them had much of an appetite, she took both plates of untouched chicken and vegetables and placed them onto the counter so she could wrap them up and save them for later. When she turned around, Ron was right in her face, startling her. He walked forward, making her walk backwards until her hip hit the edge of the counter. Hermione looked up into his big eyes that were now tear-free. He wrapped his big, strong arms around her and she did the same and rested her head in the crook of his neck. His thumb rubbed small circles in the small of her back and she held onto him tighter.

When they finally released each other, he kissed her forehead and took her hand to lead her into the bedroom.

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