Ron and Susan after Work
After a long day of work in the joke-shop, Ron was happy to see his girlfriend. Susan picked him up after an equally long day at the clinic. They hugged each other. Even after ha closed the shop George was still not letting his brother go. The shelves needed restocking.
"I´ll help you," the young medi-witch said to her annoyed boyfriend but the older Weasley brother wouldn´t let her.
It was rude to make a guest work when he got a younger brother to do so. He offered her a chair and sweets. Susan gladly sat down but refused to eat any of the sweets. She wasn´t willing to take any risks in her condition.
Once he was finally done with all the tedious tasks his brother assigned to him he was quick to leave the shop with the pretty witch. Ron proudly took her hand as they strolled through Diagon Alley. Since most shops were already closed it wasn´t too crowded.
Susan told him about her work-day at St. Mungo´s. She had to treat a few injuries from misguided hexes and a boy who fell from the rooftop after a burst of accidental magic. While she was a healer and knew significantly more about curing curse-damage it wasn´t her specialty and she much preferred to check on expecting witches and their offspring.
Tomorrow she would spend the afternoon checking on Daphne which she was grateful for. Susan would go nuts if she had to help her colleagues sat St. Mungo´s out on a daily base. She didn´t mind being available for her witches 24/7 and having irregular working and sleeping patterns.
Proud to be making his own money the young war-hero treated his witch to a big portion of ice-cream. They ordered the biggest one the ice-cafe had available and shared it. The two of them weren´t the only ones who enjoyed a long summer evening outside.
On a bigger table next to them a group of ministry employes, judging by the bits of conversation he overheard, were spending their after-work-hours there as well. They seemed to be working in different departments and chatted freely not only over their families but also work and other ministry-employees as well.
Apparently did an older wizard not enjoy working under Draco as he complained a lot about the much younger demanding wizard. 'Malfoy' appeared to be some kind of magic word that immediately triggered a discussion about the family as a whole.
A younger witch working in Hermione´s department complained about her perfectionism while older witches were much more interested in her private life. His best friend´s marriage seemed to be a topic everybody had something to say about.
A lot of ugly words were spoken. She was called a disgrace to the Malfoy-family and a whore. While some of them felt betrayed by her for marrying a death eater others thought a wizard as stunning as Mr. Malfoy could have found himself a better wife.
A young wizard went as far as insinuating Hermione to be the reason for the scandalous divorce of Lord and Lady Malfoy in the first place. That would explain how he managed to avoid Askaban again.
Ron couldn´t take it anymore. He jumped up and turned around. He pointed the long spoon he was holding onto tightly at them as if it was a wand.
"HOW DARE YOU! You have absolutely no idea what she´s been thru! Without her, we wouldn´t have made it and all of you would be either dead or enslaved by Voldemort!" he screamed at them.
They gasped. He had just said his name out loud. Everyone was staring at them. Susan took his hand and dragged him away before he would do something he might regret. She kissed his cheek and smiled at him. That seemed to ease the tension immediately. They walked in silence.
"How can you deal with it? After every one you lost," he asked the witch by his side.
"Mm. For once, I grew up with my aunt she was never full of vengeance. I mean, I have ears, I knew what people were talking about. When I was younger I got into a big fight with her, I just couldn´t understand how she could let the people who murdered my parents get away with it. She said that it wasn´t that easy and that the worst crimes are not illegal. I didn´t really understand it back then. it´s odd but I knew she kinda respected Mr. Malfoy, I overheard them talking once. She was to him like she was to Mr. Shaklebolt, unlike Fudge. She couldn´t stand him, even less after Harry. My aunt didn´t even try to hide it but the former minister was totally clueless.
Also, you know, Rose was the first baby I delivered all by myself. Before that Madame Hewitt, who trained me was always near. She even postponed her retirement to give me more time to get comfortable in my abilities. But still, I was so nervous, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. And it was Hermione´s first baby as well. But Mr. Malfoy remained calm. Even though I would bet he wasn´t present when Draco was born. It was a different time and can you imagine Lady Black appreciating it when someone saw her sweaty, screaming in pain and cursing? Anyway, that night he did a great job allowing Hermione to scream at him, hex him and I think she even bit him at some point. It might sound silly but for all his wrongdoings he has his nerves in check even under high pressure. I´ll be forever grateful for that."