Caitlin strides forward so that she is walking next to him. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? I know what Harry and the media say, but they're biased." At his stunned look, she adds, "The whole point of this is for us to get to know each other, isn't it? So why not just get straight to the point?"
Hermione sneaks a glance at Harry, worried at how he might take the other witch's bluntness after their little tiff. To her surprise, he seems unaffected by it. Since he isn't a good enough liar to be able to pull that off so smoothly, she has to accept that he genuinely doesn't mind.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is. Well, I don't really know what to say. I went to Hogwarts with Harry and Hermione before the war, but – as you probably know – none of us went back for our NEWTs. I love anything relating to games, particularly Quidditch and chess. And I'm currently working with my brothers at their joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
"You're in retail? I've heard it can be a tough gig."
"For now, I am. I'm starting to get into the swing of it, but I'm not sure if I want to do it long term." He glances at Hermione before adding, his voice tentative, "I was going to resign, but I think I'll stick it out for a bit longer first."
She avoids his gaze. They might be rebuilding their friendship again, but some things are still – and may always be – too uncomfortable to talk about. And that fight is chief among them.
"What else are you be interested in?"
"I'm not sure. That's the problem."
"Have you thought about applying for the Department of Magical Games and Sports? I know the Auror Office didn't work out, but that doesn't mean another branch of the Ministry wouldn't."
Tilting her head to the side, Hermione mulls over her friend's words. It isn't where she would have thought he would end up, but she can almost picture it – he could do well there. His fame could only help with liaising with foreign bodies, and he does know his games inside and out. He might not feel comfortable returning to the Ministry, at least at the moment, but she could see it turning out alright if he gave it a chance.
"Yeah," Ron replies, scepticism lacing his tone and squashing her growing hope. "Maybe."
"I think you'd be good at it," Harry chimes in. "And it'd be nice to have you back at the Ministry again."
"I'll think about it," Ron says, but his words are a dismissal.
She bites her tongue to keep herself from replying. Once upon a time, she would have jumped in to tell him it was a wonderful idea, and the conversation would have ended with them both fuming at one another. I'll talk to him about it once he has had a few days to process the idea on his own, she decides.
Two hours later, as Ron and Hermione walk off in a different direction to Harry and Caitlin, Ron tells her, "Caitlin seems nice; a little forceful, but nice. But is it just me, or were things tense between them?"
Sighing, she leans her head against his shoulder. "It's not just you. It's really not just you."
He waits until they leave the park to admit, "This is one time when I was kind of hoping it was."
A/N: I usually see Hermione as having gone back to complete school, but I think this version – one who lost one of her closest friends in the battle – wouldn't have been able to deal with the memories.