Here's the next chapter. I won't get a chance to post for a few days, but I do have the next chapter planned out and will get it up as soon as I can, hopefully on Monday. Enjoy!

I own nothing Harry Potter!

After leaving Hermione's office Draco took a detour to the washrooms, needing to clear his mind of everything that had just happened before he went to see Ron. It would be very awkward if Draco was thinking about going down on Ron's ex-wife the whole time they were talking about Draco's current wife. The whole situation was fucked up as is, Draco didn't need to complicate it more by giving Ron any insight into what had just gone down between him and Hermione.

It was hard to get Hermione and the look on her face as she climaxed out of his head, but Draco made it happen. Thinking about Astoria and her bitchiness was enough to kill any desire for Hermione that had been stirring under the surface. Draco knew he needed to focus on the problem at hand because once that was solved her could have Hermione or at least pursue a relationship with her.

Slashing some water on his face and running a hand through his hair, Draco took a look in the mirror and gathered his thoughts. It was time to focus on Ron and what he had on Seth McCoy that could incriminate Astoria.

Taking a deep breath, Draco pushes out of the washroom and heads back down the hall passed Hermione's office, refusing to look that way knowing if he did he'd end up locked in the room with Hermione again while he gave in to his desires. Walking to the office towards the end of the hall, Draco checks the name plaque to make sure he's in the right location before knocking.

"Come in," Ron's voice comes from the other side of the closed door.

Steeling himself for his conversation with Ron about Astoria and Seth, Draco opens the door and enters the office that is almost identical to Hermione and Ginny's. There are two desks in the room, one sits empty at the left side of the room, the occupant probably out in the field, and Ron sits at the one on the right. Curious blue eyes meet Draco as he enters the office and closes the door behind him.

"Draco, I didn't expect to see you," Ron says as he leans back in his desk chair, arms folded behind his head. The redhead had changed a lot over the years since Hogwarts, Draco was realizing. He looked the same, just older, but his temperament was calmer than it had been. Draco had noticed that the other day at Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Ron seemed to have matured and he seemed to be happy.

"I can't say the same, Ron," Draco shrugs as he makes his way over to the open desk chair across from Ron's desk. "I have a few questions for you."

"About Hermione?" Ron asks, brow arched and a knowing smirk on his lips. Apparently word had gotten around that Draco had been spending some time with Hermione. He assumed Grace had told her father about their visit to Malfoy Manor.

"No, not about Hermione," Draco answers, mind flicking back to his encounter with the feisty brunette just moments before. Hermione's sweet taste was still on his tongue. Draco tries to stop the smile from forming on his lips, Ron really doesn't need to know the thoughts Draco had about his ex-wife that would only complicate matters farther.

"For what it's worth, if you make her happy I'm not going to stand in your way," Ron's words surprise Draco as he moves his hands from behind his head to fold them on his desk. If someone had told Draco a few years ago that the hot headed Weasley who hated his guts would be giving him permission to be with his ex-wife, Draco would have thought the person was crazy. It was funny how things changed.

"But if you hurt her, you will have to answer to me," Ron adds, turning serious as his light blue eyes bore into Draco in warning.

"I don't plan on hurting her," Draco holds up his hands in surrender. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Hermione.

"Okay," Ron gives one simple nod before asking, "What can I help you with, Malfoy?"

"Blaise tells me you were involved with the take down of Seth McCoy over the weekend," Draco answers, getting back on track and down to business. He was here to figure out what Ron had on his wife. He wasn't here to get Ron's permission to go after Hermione.

"Ahh, yes," Ron nods slowly, leaning back in his chair again. "The was exciting," there's a small smirk on Ron's lips as he seems to reminisce his weekend fun. "What do you want to know?" he asks as he comes out of his reverie.

"What went down?" Draco asks, folding his hand and place them on his lap in front of her, leaning forward slightly as he waited anxiously to hear what Ron had to say.

"I got the owl yesterday afternoon saying the deal was going down. When I got there, Seth was dealing illegal dragons blood to one of our undercover agents. He's sitting in custody now, awaiting his hearing, but he won't be getting off very easily. We searched his offices this morning and turned up all kinds of illegal materials. Seth McCoy will be out of the business for a while," Ron answers, filling Draco in on the details of the bust.

Draco just nods for a second, digesting the information. Seth McCoy was the scum that Draco and Blaise had assumed he was, now the only question was, could Astoria be tied to him? "Was anyone else implicated in the dealings?" Draco asks, unsure whether he wanted Ron to say Astoria was involved or not. Yes, he wanted to stick it to her and hold the final nail in her coffin in his hand, but she was also his wife and even though he had never really loved her, at one time he had cared for her. Yes, he thought she was a cold hearted bitch, but she was also the mother of his son and that meant something even if she didn't seem to give a damn about Liam.

"Did you have someone in mind?" Ron asks, leaning forward to rest his arms on his desk as his blue eyes study Draco.

Draco lets out a sigh, running his hand over his face before sitting back and admitting, "Astoria has been spending a lot of time with Seth lately."

"Do you want Seth out of the way so you can have your wife back or do you want your wife to be implicated so you can stick it to her?" Ron asks, his questions much more insightful than Draco would have ever given him credit for. If Draco was being honest, he liked this new version of Ron, he actually found him entertaining. Who would have thought that would ever happen?

Draco lets out another sigh with a shake of his head, not believing he was about to admit this to Ron Weasley of all people. "The latter," he answers with a shrug, having the decency to feel sheepish. Yes, he was hoping Astoria was involved so he could get out of their sham of a marriage and pursue Ron's ex-wife. Oh how complicated this situation was.

"Then yes, I do think we have enough of a connection between the two to implicate her. Do you want her to be implicated?" Ron asks with a raised brow.

"No, not exactly," Draco finds himself admitting as he runs a hand through his hair. "I don't want her to end up in prison or anything, but I want out of this marriage." Where had that come from? He'd just admitted his inner feelings to Ron. Things had definitely changed.

"So you can go after my ex-wife?" Ron asks, his perceptiveness surprising Draco again.

"Yes," Draco nods, not backing down. There was no point in keeping it a secret or lying to Ron, his intentions would become clear soon enough and he might as well face this hurdle now.

"I'm not going to stand in your way, Malfoy. Like I said earlier, if you make Hermione happy I'm not going to interfere," Ron assures as he leans back in his seat. "My daughter and ex-wife both seem to like you, I can't imagine why," he adds with a joking roll of his eyes.

"Thank you," Draco finds himself saying, surprised at how easily this conversation with Ron was going. It was official, they were both adults and over their childhood squabbling.

"Now back to Astoria," Ron changes the subject. "We don't plan on pursuing her at this time, do you have any reason we should?" Ron asks, waiting patiently for Draco's answer.

Draco stares up at the ceiling for a second as his mind races a mile a minute with thoughts of Astoria and Hermione and the complicated mess that was currently his life. "No, I can't think of any reason, but I'll let you know if something comes to light," Draco answers after a second. He was going to hope that his threat was enough to get Astoria to come to her senses and give him what he wanted, but if she didn't he would have to resort to taking action and Ron had just given him the perfect opportunity to do that. Tonight, Draco had every intention of laying it all out for Astoria, showing her the best option was for her to pack her bags and leave before he brought her dirty little secrets to light.

"Okay, I'll let you know if anything else comes up with the case," Ron nods, their conversation drawing to an end.

"Thank you, for everything, Weasley," Draco nods as he stands from the chair and heads to the door.

"Anytime, Malfoy," Ron says as Draco slips out of the office, the irony of the whole situation isn't lost on Draco.

As he makes his way back to his office, he runs over everything from the last hour in his mind. Ron had given him the answers he needed to ensure his marriage with Astoria was about to end. The quicker that happened the better because after this afternoon in Hermione's office, Draco wasn't so sure how long he could resist the incredible pull he felt towards the sexy brunette.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to know what you think!