Chapter 9

March 2000

Ron sat down at the bar at the Leaky Cauldron, absentmindedly running his hands through his hair. Davis had been trying to get him to come out for a round of drinks after work with their fellow Aurors for weeks, and Ron had always claimed to be too busy. He'd finally ran out of excuses though, and found himself next to Davis in the crowded pub on a Friday night.

"Glad you finally made it out with us!" Davis yelled to Ron over the music and many voices surrounding them.

"Me too!" Ron replied.

"You definitely deserve it after all the hours you've been logging lately. Try to have some fun tonight, yeah?" Davis said with a wink.

An Auror down at the other end of the bar ordered a round of firewhisky shots for everyone and the night kicked off. Ron talked and laughed with his coworkers, feeling at ease. It was about an hour later that Ron found himself talking to a few girls from another department. He was just starting to feel a little tipsy, and was sipping on a butterbeer.

"We're so glad you could make it out tonight Ron!" said a girl Ron had just met, named Violet.

"Yeah, we've been wondering when we'd finally get to meet Ron Weasley. I mean it's not every day that you go from Auror in training to Lead Strategizing Specialist. You're kind of famous in the Ministry now," said Violet's friend, Claire, blushing slightly.

Ron smiled at the girls. He had to admit, he loved the attention. He had just started to notice the way that some of the younger girls in the Ministry would smile at him in the hallways, or say hi to him nervously when he went into other departments. He knew that Harry would've received the same treatment, if not even more, but everyone knew that he was with Ginny. So that left all of the attention on Ron. However, he knew something that all of those girls didn't. And it was that he would never be interested in any of them. His heart belonged to Hermione, even if she didn't reciprocate those feelings. But, he didn't mind entertaining them all the same.

"Oh, I'm not sure I'm all that special," said Ron back to the girls, who were hanging on his every word. "But I am glad I could make it out too."

The two girls chatted with him for a little while, and then pulled him over to the small area where people were dancing to the upbeat music. He danced with them, smiling and temporarily forgetting all of his problems. They finally broke apart and he went back over to the bar for another drink. Another girl he recognized, but couldn't place, approached him.

"Hi Ron!" she walked up to him smiling enthusiastically. "You probably don't remember me, I met you on your first day at the Ministry; we were shadowing the Improper Use of Magic Office together. I'm Mia."

"Oh, right! Of course. Hi Mia. Good to see you again," Ron replied.

"So, are you here alone? Or is Hermione around here somewhere?" Mia asked.

"Uh, no. I'm um, here alone. Hermione and I aren't together anymore," Ron replied, remembering that the last time he'd met Mia, they had been.

"I was wondering," she said looking down. "I'd heard the rumors of course that she was dating Elliott, but you never know at the Ministry. I swear that place has more drama amongst adults than Hogwarts ever did for the students."

"Wait, what? Who is Elliott?" Ron asked growing increasingly paranoid. He could have sworn he just heard Mia say that Hermione was dating someone.

"Elliott Wilson, the Editor of the Daily Prophet? Apparently he and Hermione are together. I'm sorry, I just figured you knew?" Mia looked around nervously realizing her mistake. "Well it was, uh, good to see you again Ron," and she walked away leaving Ron to digest what she'd just told him.

Ron was stunned. He kept to himself at work for the most part, so it wasn't surprising that he hadn't heard any of these rumors. And, he also realized that he did know who Elliott was; he just never knew his name. He'd met him once or twice in passing and always thought he was a nice guy. And though he'd never admit it, a good looking bloke at that. But Hermione was dating him? That meant that she didn't love him anymore. That she wasn't missing him as badly as he missed her. She'd moved on. The room started to spin. Ron wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, the news about Hermione, or maybe a combination of both. He stumbled back into a chair to sit down, and as he did, Davis approached him.

"Having fun mate? I don't think I've seen you without a girl since we got here," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah," Ron replied not even really hearing what he was saying. "Loads of fun. Look, I think I'm gonna head out."

"No! You can't leave yet! The night's just starting. Come on, let me get you another drink." Davis took Ron by the arm and the two went back up to the bar. Ron reluctantly agreed to another drink, and they both went to dance with some more girls.

After that, Ron decided he didn't care anymore. He wasn't going to go home and let Hermione ruin his fun night. She could date whomever she wanted to, and so could he. Ron danced with one girl after another, growing increasingly more drunk with each one. He thought that maybe if he just told himself that he was over her, it would work. And it did for the time being, especially with each new drink. He was determined to forget about Hermione, even if only for a night. At some point the girl he was dancing with, he didn't even know her name, reached up and kissed him, full on the mouth, in front of everyone. The whole bar cheered them on and Ron wrapped his arms around her, giving them a show.

"Do you want to get out of here?" the girl slurred in his ear after they broke apart.

"Yeah," he said back.

She led him away from the dance floor and he stumbled as he followed.

"I'm just going to use the loo," she called to him as she headed towards it.

Ron found a seat and sat down to wait for her, so drunk he barely knew where he was. He didn't remember anything else afterwards. Just the sickening feeling of disapparating, the pounding in his head, and after that, it all went dark.

• • •

When Ron woke up, he glanced around. He was on a couch in an unfamiliar flat. His head was pounding and he felt as though he might be sick. It was then that the events of the prior night started to come back to him. He had no idea where he was. He tried to sit up, but his head hurt so badly he lay back down, staring at the ceiling. It was just then, that a girl came around the corner in her pajamas.

"Oh good, you're up," she said, coming into view. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a baggy long-sleeved shirt of a band he didn't recognize.

Ron realized who she was immediately. It was Maisie Jenkins, an Auror in his department. She was a few years older than him, and usually kept to herself. "Maisie, I-" Ron said, starting to speak and tried to get up again.

"Woah there. You're probably going to want to lie down. I reckon you've got a nasty hangover after last night," she said, coming to his side and gently pressing him back down onto the couch.

"What am I doing here?" he asked nervously, unsure if he wanted to know the answer. "We didn't…did we?"

"No, of course not! Ron, you were so drunk last night you could barely stand. I was with some friends at the pub and I watched you on that dance floor go from girl to girl, when you finally started following one of them out. When she was in the loo I grabbed you and disapparated here. You immediately passed out on the couch and I slept in my room," Maisie finished looking him in the eyes. "I don't know what made me do it. But I reckoned that neither one of you should have been trying to make decisions in the state you were in."

Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. He remembered parts of what Maisie was telling him. He had every intention to follow that girl out of the pub, and then what? Would they have gone back to her place? He shuddered to think what he might have done in his drunken state. "Oh, wow. Maisie, thank you. Thanks for basically saving me from myself," Ron said.

"Well, you're welcome," she said with a small smile. "I know we don't know each other all that well, but I know you're a good guy, Ron. What on earth got into you last night?"

Ron didn't know why, but he told Maisie the whole story. Starting with he and Hermione's break up, the events that followed, and last night where he found out about Elliott. He wasn't sure what prompted him to share everything with her. He hadn't even told Harry the whole story. But he knew he could trust her, and felt she was at least owed an explanation for his behavior. When he finished, he took a breath and looked at her for a response.

"Wow. That is some story. So, obviously you're still in love with her. It's honestly painful to hear you talk about her," Maisie replied sadly. "And, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me," she added quickly. "I didn't bring you here last night because I'm just another Ministry girl who is obsessed with you. I genuinely like you Ron, as a person. From the limited interactions we've had I really think you're a great Auror and a great leader."

Ron was taken aback by her kind words. "Thanks Maisie, that really means a lot. And I'm so grateful to you for this. Honestly, I owe you one," Ron said with a smile.

"I might just take you up on that sometime," she said grinning herself. "And Ron, I want you to know that I think you should fight for Hermione. From what you've told me it sounds like she's moved on, but what if dating Elliott is her version of almost going home with a drunken girl from a pub, you know? What if she's just trying to convince herself that she's over you too? If everything you told me is true then you owe it to yourself to try, one last time. If she's truly over you, then maybe you can finally move on too."

Ron absorbed Maisie's words, thinking about it. What if she was right? If there was even a small chance that Hermione still wanted to be with him he knew he would do everything he could to get her back. He decided right then that she was worth fighting for. He obviously just needed someone else to point it out. "You're right, Maisie. I should. And I will. She deserves someone who will fight for her."

Maisie gave him a smile and turned on her heel to go make the two of them some breakfast. Ron smiled to himself, thinking that although last night was pretty much a disaster, he had at least made a new friend. As he lay staring at the ceiling with his head pounding, he started to think about what he'd say to Hermione. He'd apologized to her so many times already, but that obviously wasn't good enough or what she wanted to hear. He knew he'd have to speak from the heart, something he wasn't particularly good at, if he ever wanted her back. And that, he realized, was all he wanted. Not to dance and flirt with random girls in a pub. Not to go home with drunken girls and make drunken mistakes, but Hermione. Sweet, perfect, beautiful Hermione. She was his breath of fresh air that he so desperately longed for, and no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he knew he simply couldn't live without her.

That was a fun chapter to write. Please review and let me know your thoughts and predictions!

xoxo