Chapter Five: Together Again

Disclaimer: I wish Harry Potter was my genius idea. I wish.

A/N: OMG! I can't decide! I originally wanted to write a Ron/Hermione fic but now, it seems like it could become a great Harry/Hermione fic. Which one, which one? Should Harry stay as the colossal loner? Well folks, send me an email or give me a review and tell me what you think!

"Omigosh, it's Harry Potter!"

Ron looked around frantically and sure enough, his best friend was standing in front of him, holding her hand. 'This is going to be interesting,' thought Ron.

"Ron! My good buddy! What are you doing here?" asked Harry as he put out his hand for their 'handshake'.

It took Ron awhile to register the fact that he was suppose to return the gesture and shake Harry's hand. However, before his hand touched Harry's, Stacy literally jumped in front of him and shook Harry's hand for him. She was practically drooling.

"Omigosh! You're Harry Potter! I mean, I finally get to meet you, without the crowds of girls around! I knew dating Ron would pay off! I was starting to become desperate. I was going to marry the guy for goodness sake, thinking you'd probably be the best man," squealed Stacy. (A/N: When I mean squealed, I mean squealed. Stacy has a very high voice.) She was still shaking his hand, although she looked like she wanted to kiss him instead.

"So you only wanted to marry me to get to know Harry? Why didn't you just … ugh!" said Ron. Stacy just grabbed Harry's head in an extremely forceful way, pulled it to her face and was now giving him a suffocating smooch.

Ron turned really red. Oh boy, was he embarrassed. His girlfriend was using him and he found out in front of Harry, who, in return was with the girl he… loved. Ron stormed out of the restaurant until he reached a bench in the park by the restaurant and sat down, head in his hands.

Meanwhile, back at the restaurant…

Harry was not the only one surprised of course. Hermione wasn't prepared to find Ron at the restaurant, but when she did, she found herself surprisingly calm. That of course was until she saw Stacy. She grabbed Harry's hand as he walked over to greet Ron. Hermione had let Harry do the talking while she observed Ron and the expressions on his face. She was quite pleased to see him frown a bit when he saw her holding Harry's hand. 'Maybe Ron doesn't believe everything he reads about in the papers,' Hermione had thought. At the moment though, Hermione felt really sorry for Ron. He always had such bad luck with girls. 'Even with me, who loved him more than any of other girls,' thought Hermione. With a sigh, she left the restaurant to find Ron. It was time the two finally talk to each other, and hopefully, start new. Just as friends of course.

Harry on the other hand was utterly helpless. The girl was so clingy; she was like super glue. He was about to grab hold onto Hermione for help when the girl attacked him. He thought the girl was about to bite his head off or something. When he finally broke Stacy's grip, he saw Hermione walking out the door. With a defeated sigh, he turned to face Stacy, hoping to get rid of her. Before he had time to do anything though, Stacy attacked him again. This time, she playfully pinched his ass. Ouch! Poor, poor Harry.

********

"Ron?" asked Hermione.

Ron, who still had his head in his hands, looked up. 'Now what?'

"Look Hermione, I don't need you to tell me what a loser I am. I know that already," said Ron.

Hermione gave Ron an evil glare. "Well, thanks for the warning Ron, I was going to give you a 10 minute speech on what a loser you are and why you'll never find a girl. Really, you are unbelievable! I came over to see if you're all right. Besides, I thought we were friends. I do care about you, you know."

Ron suddenly regretted what he had get said. "I'm sorry Hermione. I just thought you were still mad at me. You care about me? Really?" asked Ron.

Hermione gave Ron a small smile. "Of course I care about you, silly!"

"The same way you care for Harry?" asked Ron, almost hopefully.

Hermione, for once, had no response. After a few moments of silence, she finally managed to say, "I don't know." Ron didn't pursue the subject after that. Hermione sat down beside Ron and they both sat there silently, just enjoying each other's company, which they both had sorely missed.

*******

Hermione walked into her office. She was glad to have the week off and now that it was over, she was glad to be back. Seven years of the same routine is hard to break. Luckily, during her week off, she had plenty of things to keep her busy.

"Hermione! Looking good! Noticed you had a very busy week huh?" teased Bryan, one of her male colleagues.

The witch gave him a cheeky smile. "Get back to work Bryan!" was her reply.

"I love you too Hermione!" said Bryan as he stepped back into his own office. Hermione couldn't help but smile. As soon as she entered her office however, she noticed that it was a mess. Due to the fact that Hermione was at her office more than she was anywhere else, she had all her mail delivered to her office. During the week off, Hermione had received tons of Howlers, which had exploded because they were left unopened for so long. Her office was also full of rodents, because apparently, howlers and bubotuber pus wasn't enough for fans anymore.

Hermione spent the entire morning cleaning up her office and sorting out her mail. By the time lunch came along, she was exhausted. Her boss had already gave her some files to sort through she decided to buy take-out and get started. She had just started on her salad when someone knocked on her office door. It was Ron.

"Umm, hi Hermione. I was wondering if we could have lunch together. I mean, we haven't seen each other for so long and yesterday just didn't seem right to catch up," said Ron.

Hermione looked down at her salad. "Well, I do have some files to get through and I haven't done anything this morning since I was busy sorting through junk mail. Maybe next time. Sorry Ron."

"Well, if you don't mind, maybe I can help you out," said Ron. He looked at Hermione hopefully.

It took Hermione a few seconds to consider his offer. She did want to catch up with Ron and have him back in her life again. "Okay," said Hermione. Ron smiled. "However, if you are late getting back to work, it's not my fault."

"No problem," replied Ron. "So, where should we start?"

Hermione was wondering if he meant work or their personal life. "Hmm, good question. Why don't we get you something to eat first, then while eat, we can talk. Afterwards, you can help me sort out some files. Since you're helping me, it'll be done much faster."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Great." It was then that Ron took a good look at the files she was pointing at. There were a lot of files. "Hermione? Why don't you get yourself a secretary?"

Hermione gave Ron a look that clearly told him that the reason was obvious. Ron thought he had said something wrong. "Well, I have a certain way of doing things. If I have to monitor the way my secretary does everything, why don't I just do things myself?"

"But you could always train him/her in the beginning, and afterwards, he/she'll know what to do."

"No, they won't. They'll still pester me with details, so why bother? Besides, I will know for sure were everything is that way."

"Ah, okay. (ahem) So… besides your work, have you dated often these past seven years?" asked Ron, hoping to change the subject.

"No."

"Oh."

"I've been really busy."

"Oh, yes, I've heard about a few of the cases you've won. So, no one significant in your life all these years?"

"No, Ron. Now that you've pestered me with my non-existent love life, it's your turn. Anyone in the seven years that you even considered marrying?"

"No Hermione. I never found anyone whom I thought I could marry."

"So you have never been in love?"

Ron took awhile to think of what she just said. Then slowly, Ron exclaimed, "No. There was someone who I was in love with. Actually, I still love her."

Hermione stiffened. "Oh really? So what happened?" asked Hermione, as casually as she could.

"We had a fight. She's a bit of the stubborn type, but that's one of the reasons I love her and well, she wouldn't let me explain."

Hermione snorted. "That is so typical of you, Ron. Blame it on the girl. She won't let you explain. Poor Ronnie!"

Ron didn't know what to say. "Well Hermione, I have you know that I am not blaming our problems on you! I can't believe this. I thought after all these years that you'd finally let me explain. Good-bye Hermione. I hope you're happy with Harry." Ron left Hermione's office and slammed the door behind her.

Hermione was in a state of shock. 'Our problems? What? Ron still loves me? I'm with Harry? Oh, I need another week off!'

AN: I finally finished! Yay! Review review! =) Thanks to those extremely special people who reviewed before! I LOVE YOU for that!