I hate that I can't reply to comments on this site, but just know that I love and appreciate every review and think you all are amazing! Here is a big chapter for my thanks. :)
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*3 Months Later*
Ever since his talk with Hermione in his office, things on the whole had been looking up for the better. Since they all worked at the ministry, he, Harry and Hermione had started getting together almost every day during their lunch breaks. The exception to this of course was when either himself or Harry had a mission to go out on, but missions right now were few and far between, the wizarding community being more at peace than it had ever been.
Although it had at first been a little awkward and uncomfortable between him and Hermione moving on as friends, now it was starting to feel almost like old times. When he was around her, they both made it a point to keep the chatter friendly and light, making it easier to ignore all of the unsaid words between them. They purposely didn't touch each other, both of them keeping a friendly distance and if possible, always keeping Harry between them. He was trying to remain optimistic, and even though he knew that his situation wasn't ideal it was certainly better than what it had been before. Sure, he wasn't with the woman that he wanted to be with, the one that he was in love with, but at least she was now once again a part of his life.
While things had been a bit strained between him and Iz for a bit after Hermione had returned, things had again gone back to normal there as well and he was thankful. She had started back at her healer training, and to him she seemed overall happier in general. Part of him knew that he probably should have talked her into starting back earlier, but she had always been very hesitant to leave Max. He knew that even though she of course trusted Molly, she had always been anxious when it came to their son.
Besides the first time at Grimmauld Place, he had only seen Hermione at work and she had yet to meet either Iz or Max. He knew of course that neither Hermione or Iz would provoke each other if they happened to meet, but part of him was still hesitant despite both women having shown interest to meet each other. He couldn't help the uncomfortable feeling that he got when he thought about it, and had been avoiding them meeting for as long as he possibly could.
It was a Thursday afternoon, and Harry was out on a small mission that day while Ron was stuck doing paperwork. He had sent a post to Hermione earlier that morning that had read.
Hey fledgling. Harry is out on a non-dangerous (so you won't worry) mission today. Do you still want to meet for lunch?
He had resumed his old ways of messing with her, happily joking around and trying to push her buttons. Lately he had been gloating that while he was 23, she was technically still 18 and he hadn't been letting her forget it. He would throw little quips into their conversations, calling her names such as 'little girl' and 'teen-queen' and asking her if her parents knew where she was, etc. This amused Harry to no end, and even though Hermione always acted annoyed, he could tell that she was trying to hide the fact that she found it funny as well as she always retorted by calling him an old man.
Only a few minutes later, he got her reply, a hastily scribbled,
Hello decrepit fellow, I'll meet you in the cafeteria at noon.
He smiled, imagining her being interrupted from her work and a being just a tad annoyed to have to stop for a second to reply to him. He was practically counting down the minutes until lunch, and he told himself that was only because he was hungry as hell, not because he was looking forward to having lunch alone with Hermione.
When the clock hit 11:55, he made a small whooping sound before jumping up, putting on his auror robes and walking out. When he made it to the cafeteria, he looked around for Hermione but she was nowhere in sight. He went ahead and went through the line, grabbing her lunch as well as his, so she wouldn't have to go through the line once she got there. Once he had paid, he walked over to an empty table and sat down, unable to wait for her to start eating. About five or so minutes later he was done with his sandwich, and Hermione was still nowhere in sight. He stood up, grabbing his trash and throwing it away before starting the walk to the department that he knew that Hermione worked at.
Unlike the auror department, where they all had their own offices, her department consisted of several rows of cubicles. He had never been to this part of the Ministry before, and slowly walked along, looking for her name on the outside of the cubicles. He was almost to the end of the first row before he spotted her name, and when he looked in he was relieved to see her hunched over her desk, writing furiously. He leaned back and watched her, unable to stop the smile on his face as she frustratingly blew the loose strands of her hair that had broken free from her braid. He had seen her look that way at Hogwarts millions of times, but hadn't seen it since and it gave him such a powerful feeling of nostalgia.
She was so into what she was doing that she was oblivious to him standing there and watching her. wanting to get her attention without startling her, he loudly cleared his throat. She gasped and twirled around in her chair, letting out an audible sigh when she realized that it was him.
"What are you doing here Ron?" she asked, her hand over her heart.
He leaned over and set her lunch on her desk. "You're welcome."
She immediately checked her watch and groaned. "I'm so sorry! I've just been swamped and completely didn't realize what time it was."
He chuckled and then gulped as he watched her lift her arms high above her head and lean her upper back over the top of her chair, letting out a sigh of content as she stretched her head all the way back. He turned away and shook his head, annoyed at himself. Only she could make him feel like a bloody horny teenager again.
"Thanks for bringing me lunch Ron. You didn't have to do that."
"What are friends for wee one?" he replied, smiling at her.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him as she took a large bite of her sandwich. He chuckled, leaning against her desk in silence as she finished. He knew that he couldn't touch, but he wasn't able to stop himself from looking at her. He had always been enthralled by her, and enjoyed watching her no matter what she was doing, eating no exception.
When she was done, he watched as she looked him up and down almost longingly before meeting his eyes, hers widening as if she had been caught doing something wrong. Apparently he wasn't the only one.
"Are you taller now?" She asked quickly, as if to explain why she had been looking at him as she had been. "I mean, taller than when you were eighteen, I mean?" she asked, her cheeks pink.
He shrugged, "I don't really know. Possibly."
"Oh. You just seem bigger. Maybe it's because you're, I don't know, wider than you used to be..." her cheeks got even pinker
"It's amazing what growing up does to a body." he smirked. "Not that you would know of course."
"Really Ronald, when are you going to let that joke go, it's starting to get old."
"You're too young to know what that word means." he quipped and to his delight, she let out a loud laugh.
"Oh, just shut it already."
"Your birthday is coming up." he started, wondering if she knew that Ginny was throwing her a surprise party at The Three Broomsticks.
"Don't remind me." she groaned. "Ginny apparently is throwing me a party."
His mouth opened. "How do you know that?"
She frowned, "She's very obvious. And of course you knew and didn't tell me. Traitor."
He chuckled, raising his hands up in mock innocence. "Don't blame me, it's all Gin. I'm just an innocent bystander!"
"Mhm. So tell me details."
"Three Broomsticks. She invited almost everyone in our year."
"Of course she did." she mused, running her hands through her loose strands of hair. "Do I have to go?"
"You do. I'll be there."
"Now I definitely don't want to go." she teased.
He cleared his throat. "I'll be, um, I'll be bringing Iz with me."
Her grin disappeared. "Oh. Well I can't wait to meet her."
"Yeah, it will be great. An absolute blast." he said sarcastically.
"Why aren't you comfortable with me meeting her, Ron?"
He shrugged. "The answer's a bit obvious, don't you think?"
She didn't say anything, and he knew that he had already probably said too much and was treading dangerous waters. "Just might be awkward, is all." he gave her a small smile. "It will be fine though I'm sure."
They then bid their farewells, both needing to get back to work.
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"Ginny, I can not believe that you want me to wear this!" Hermione grumbled as she tried to pull up the front of the top that was showing way too much cleavage for her comfort.
"You look good Hermione. You never know, you might catch the attention of a handsome man tonight."
She rolled her eyes. "So you're saying that I won't be able to capture the attention of a handsome man without the tops of my breasts spilling out over my blouse?"
Ginny giggled, her body clad in a skin-tight dress that Hermione would never in a million years wear. "Of course not Hermione. I just want you to have fun tonight, you never have any fun. I also think that your self confidence needs a boost and I want you to feel attractive."
"And I can't feel attractive without worrying that one or both of my nipples will somehow pop out in front of everyone?"
Again Ginny laughed. "You are so exaggerating! You're hardly even showing anything I promise. But if you're uncomfortable, just magic the fabric to stretch higher, problem solved!"
Hermione did the spell and felt better, but glared at Ginny when she sneakily used her wand to make it go just a little lower, but when she saw her reflection in the mirror she liked what she saw so she left it alone.
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Thirty minutes later Hermione was waiting just around the corner from the three broomsticks with Ginny. All of the guests believed that she had no idea what was going on, and Ginny had refused to allow her to tell anyone otherwise. She had to admit to herself that she was extremely nervous about how the night would go. Not only was it a party in which she knew that she would have to see and talk to everyone, but she would also be meeting Iz.
From the few things that Ron had told her she was very nice, but Hermione instinctively had to have some negative feelings for her, even though she knew that they were irrational. The woman after all had the one thing that Hermione had always wanted. Not that Ron was a possession of course, but she had quite literally wanted him since she was twelve.
Through the years of course, her feelings for him had only gotten stronger and her attraction to him had grown. The older he had gotten, the easier it had been for him to melt her, even if he had been extremely oblivious to that fact. She didn't know how she would be able to handle seeing him actually interacting with his wife. It was one thing to know that he was married, and another to see that proof in front of her. She didn't think that she would be able to handle seeing Iz's hands all over Ron, or his hands all over her. She couldn't see Ron doing that to her though, so that gave her at least a little piece of mind.
She was interrupted from her thoughts by Harry's stag patronus flying towards them, before stopping and telling them that everyone was there.
"Okay, ready?" Ginny asked excitedly, grabbing tightly ahold of Hermione's arm.
"Nope," she replied honestly.
Ginny ignored her, "Great, let's go!"
When they made it there and walked inside, she really hadn't had to do that much acting. Everyone had screamed 'Happy Birthday!' so loud that she had immediately taken a step back in surprise. Ron hadn't been lying when he had said that Ginny had invited everyone there. Along with Harry and the Weasley siblings, she saw Neville, Dean, Seamus, Hagrid, Luna, the Patil twins, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbot plus a few others.
She spotted Ron with Iz towards the back, and she pointedly did not look their way again, wanting to get a few drinks in her first to hopefully calm her nerves before talking to them. Someone put a fruity drink into her hand as she went around saying hi to everyone, and when she finished it she was immediately handed another. Eventually she found that she was quite enjoying seeing everyone, and discussing how much their lives had changed while she had basically been frozen in time.
She tried not to think of that fact very much, as it sometimes made her feel somewhat bitter. Not only had she lost Ron of course, she also had to get reacquainted with people who had had no contact with her in years. She also felt so much younger than everyone, as they all had experienced many different things, met a lot of new people, and overall gotten their life on track while she felt left behind.
She hadn't ever really had much experience with alcohol and found she quite liked the feeling of being a little tipsy. By her third drink she was feeling the effects of it a little too strongly so she excused herself. She went to the bar and leaned over it to see the menu, wanting to order a bit of food to put in her stomach.
Someone quickly slid onto the stool next to her and when she turned she saw Ron grinning at her. With the alcohol in her system, seeing him smile at her like that was making it just that much harder to resist him so she quickly looked away again.
"Hey kiddo, having a good time?" he asked, playfully nudging her with his elbow.
"I don't talk to creepy old men." she replied, looking at the menu to decide what she wanted to order.
She heard him sigh. "You look really beautiful Hermione," he said in a pensive voice.
She turned to him in surprise and for the first time she noticed a glazed look in his usually crystal clear eyes. He must have wanted to drink some due to the inevitable meeting as well.
"Just how drunk are you Ron?" she asked.
He scoffed. "I needed to get drunk enough to do what I have to do tonight."
"Touche." she replied, earning her another one of his lopsided grins to which she had to turn away from once more.
"It's…" he heard him say before trailing off.
When she turned to him, she saw that he was biting his bottom lip while not so subtly staring at her chest as she leaned over the bar.
While part of her was pleased by this, the larger part of her was mortified. "Ron!" she hissed at him, his eyes instantly going up to her face. She watched his eyes widen as his face turned scarlet.
"Really sorry Hermione." he said earnestly, turning away from her and taking a swig of his butterbeer.
"You're fine." she assured him, before turning around to see if anyone was close behind them. To her relief, no one was.
"So. Are you ready?" he asked her with an apprehensive look on his face.
"Are you ready?" she replied.
"Hell no."
"Okay, then let's do it." she said, sliding off of her stool and waiting for him to do the same.
"Bloody brilliant. Great. Best day of my life." he mumbled as he started leading her to the back where Iz was standing with Harry and George.
If she hadn't been so nervous, she might have laughed at his sarcasm. "Except opposite." she added.
"Yep."
"Ron, just so I can be better prepared, what all does she know abo-"
"Everything." he cut her off. "She knows about everything."
Hermione gulped, now impossibly more nervous than she had been before, and the next thing she knew they were standing right in front of Iz.
"Iz, this is Hermione. Hermione, this is Iz." he gestured between the two of them seeming almost bored.
He certainly hadn't made it any easier for her and she would have glared at him but didn't feel that it was appropriate to do so in front of his wife.
To her surprise, there was no hostility or resentment in the other woman's face as she smiled at her. "Hi, it's so nice to finally meet you Hermione."
She sounded genuine and Hermione felt more at ease as she held her hand out and shook Iz's. As she shook her hand, Hermione tried not to think of the fact that the hand that she was shaking had probably touched every single square inch of Ron's body.
"It's nice to meet you too." she replied.
She watched as Ron stepped up beside Iz, his hands in his pockets and his expression as awkward as could be.
Iz ignored him, taking Hermione's hand and leading her to the small corner table for some privacy. Hermione didn't miss the groan of frustration that came from Ron as she did this and noticed that Iz hadn't missed it either when she let out a small laugh.
When they were both seated they looked at Ron who was still standing a few feet away. Iz smiled sweetly at him before she made a slight sweeping motion with her hand, wordlessly telling him to go away. Ron rolled his eyes and threw his head back dramatically before turning around and stomping off as both of them laughed.
"He can throw a fit like a child, that one can." Iz said, smiling fondly at Ron's retreating back.
"Don't I know it." Hermione replied, still laughing. As much as she didn't want to like Iz, she couldn't help but like her already.
"But still, at his core he's a really great man. Probably the best one I know."
"He is." Hermione replied softly, not knowing if that was saying too much.
"So Ron tells me that you three see each other almost everyday for lunch at the ministry. That must be nice." Iz said warmly.
"It is. Harry and Ron have always been my best friends. I honestly don't know what I'd do without them." she replied truthfully.
Iz nodded. "Trust me, I've heard and seen the pictures of how close you three were-are."
Maybe it was the alcohol making her brave, but she wanted the other woman to know. "I want to thank you. For being there for Ron I mean. Ginny told me how you helped him. So thank you."
Iz looked touched by her words. "He helped me too. We helped each other I guess."
Hermione nodded. "He told me."
"Hermione, I really am sorry."
Hermione's head snapped up, her eyes meeting Iz's as she continued. "I never meant to get in the middle of anything, it just happened that way. Trust me when I say that I am genuinely sorry."
Hermione hadn't been expecting an apology, and could only slightly nod her head at Iz's words.
"I can only imagine how hurt you were when you found out that Ron was married, how hurt you still might be. He hurts too you know, he tries to hide it from me but I know he does."
Hermione's eyes started watering. "Please." she begged. "Please stop. I can't- I can't hear this."
Iz looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. I just needed you to know that I never meant to take him away from you. But he's the father of my son and that means so much to me. Max needs him, and I do too."
Hermione sniffed and nodded her head, tears now streaming down her face. "We've been doing great actually, these last few months I mean. We are working out just fine as friends, so there's really nothing to apologize for," she said in a small voice.
Iz gave her a sad smile just as Ron reappeared to check on them. Hermione watched as his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as he took in the sight of the two women, his wife looking sad and Hermione with tear tracks running down her face.
"It's about time to pick up Max." Iz stated, getting up and standing next to Ron before looking down at Hermione. "I'm sorry again. I hope I didn't stop you from enjoying your party. I really shouldn't have said anything."
Hermione shook her head and plastered a smile on her face that she hoped would be convincing , but by the look on Ron's face she knew that she at least wasn't fooling him. "No, of course not. Thank you, it was lovely to meet you."
Iz gave her one last smile before she and Ron turned around and headed out. She watched them walk away together, her heart breaking at the sight of Ron's hand gently holding on to Iz's elbow, guiding her through the crowd towards the front door.
Just before she lost sight of them, Ron turned his head to look at her. He gave her the saddest gaze that she had ever seen, his eyes full of worry and regret. When they were out of sight she grabbed a full shot of firewhiskey that had been set in front of her earlier and downed it in one gulp. She smiled as she saw Neville and Hannah walk towards her, knowing that it was her party and she had to socialize, even though she wanted nothing more than to go home, lay in her bed and cry.