Ron walked over to the bar and spotted Harry. Once again, Harry seemed to be engulfed by his circle of companions: a large crowd of witches, wizards, elves and even a few goblins. Smiling slightly, Ron pushed his way through the bubble and shouted at his friend, "Harry! Over here a minute!" Looking apologetic, Harry immediately said to his cohorts, "Sorry guys, maybe next time." Then, with enormous effort, he strode through the sea of the disappointed group and stopped to sit next to Ron.
"You'll never guess what." Ron said instantly.
"What?" Harry asked, indicating to the barman his choice of drink: butterbeer.
"I've been promoted!" Ron beamed happily.
Harry clapped his friend on the back, "Well done, mate. Three years of anticipation and you've finally done it!"
Ron chose to ignore this comment, "And you'll never guess where,"
"Where?"
"Sutton. Hermione's station!"
"And why's that so exciting?"
"Well, Harry, we've never been able to see each other—"
"You see each other everyday."
"—let me finish. We've never been able to see each other at work times! And now I don't have to travel as far for lunch!"
"Great work. Have you told her yet, then?"
"Nope. Gonna wait till she gets home. She has an interview today at Newbury." Ron said solemnly.
"With who?"
"Guess."
"Um…George?"
"My brother? No!"
"Well I dunno. Who is it?"
"Malfoy."
Harry stared at him, "Malfoy? Which—"
"Come on, Harry, how many Malfoy's do we know?"
Harry shrugged, "There are always gonna be plenty more out there; you don't know which one."
"It's gotta be him. DW Malfoy, apparently. Can't be anyone else, could it?"
"I dunno. Could be Dramelia Wilkins Malfoy for all we know."
"Cut it out, Harry. The point is, I don't want Hermione mixing with him. It's bad enough having to interview him; they're going out for lunch too!"
"Ron, what are you afraid of? Hermione's perfectly fine to look after herself! There's really no need to worry."
"Easy for you to say."