A/N: Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!!! Woohoo! Aren't you glad I'm back? I'm such a lazy duck…I mean, I was online for a long time and I sort of knew where I was going but I wasn't really positive. I bet you all forgot what had previously happened in the story so before the story gets started I'll give you an overview so that you don't have to read the last two chapters all over again. I hope you all enjoy this. I suppose I left you with a bit of a cliffy but I promise, over x-mas break I will work on this more and I will get out the next few chapters. Fear not, Herm is going to be back in the story soon, very soon…Enjoy! Oh…and I have a mistake to report…this is supposed to be like six months after the incident…he's NOT 19 as I put in the first chapter, hehe, sorry guys. I'll change mistake in the first chapter and repost it to help get rid of confusion. Thanks!

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be here writing this wonderful fan fiction would I. Nope…so, sorry pals, I don't own it.

Rating: Pg (mostly G in this chapter…much lighter than the first ones…)

Setting: The Burrow and Hogsmeade

Pairings: R/Hr

Characters: Ron, Mrs. Weasley, and ppl who work at the Prophet who you'll meet.

Summary: Ron is settled into his job at the Prophet and finds out some bad news.

Overview: So basically, in the other chapters, Ron and Herm break up because he kisses Millicent and he gets a job at the Daily Prophet, which is where I leave you now.

Chapter 3

A few days passed slowly on as I waited for a response from the Jacob Alexander, the Editor and Chief of the Daily Prophet. It came early one morning late in November. When I came down to breakfast my mum smiled at me and handed me a small roll of parchment. I recognized the seal on the front and my heart beat faster with excitement.

Unrolling it carefully, I smiled brightly as the words rang in my ears.

Mr. Weasley,

We are glad you have accepted our offer for the position here. Please come and visit our headquarters in Hogsmeade as soon as you can. We are greatly looking forward to your addition to the Prophet.

Sincerely,

Jacob Alexander

Editor and Chief of the Daily Prophet

Mum interrupted me from my thoughts. "Ronald dear, who's the letter from?"

I smiled again, "It's from Jacob Alexander at the Daily Prophet. He wants to offer me a job. I sent in a story to them a while ago. They liked it and told me that they would offer me a job as a columnist there. I thought it would-" But before I could finish, mum was on me, squeezing me to her and forcing the breath out of my chest.

"Oh Ronald, Ronald you have a job! I'm so proud! My son, working at the Daily Prophet! A writer!"

"Mum, mum you're killing me! Let me breathe for a second. I need to take a breath!" She let go, giving me a watery smile and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thanks mom, for all the support you've given me. I don't know what I would have done if you and dad had thrown me out after we graduated…you have so much to deal with, and then to have to put up with me moping around everywhere."

"Oh Ronald don't be silly. We love you and we only wanted the best for you. I'm just so glad that you're beginning to make something of your life." She looked as if she were going to hug me again so I stepped back a little and smiled down at her.

"Do you mind if I borrow your broom? They want me to come to their headquarters today to talk about my position."

"Of course not dear. Go ahead, and be sure to tell me everything when you return. I want to hear about it all." She said before giving me one more hug, one that was less bone crushing. Giving her a smile and pecking her on the cheek, I went to retrieve her broom.

It took thirty minutes to fly all the way to Hogsmeade. It was weird to see the same street. It felt like a great dream. I had never imagined that I would be this close to Hogwarts again, and the effect was almost overpowering, the memories coming back in floods.

I began to walk down the street, looking for the Prophet's building. It was strange that I'd never seen it before, considering that I was quite a lot while I went to Hogwarts. After popping into the Three Broomsticks for a quick Butterbeer (not looking Rosemerta in the eyes, for I was sure she blamed me for hurting Hermione) I continued down the street, keeping a watchful eye out for the building.

The Daily Prophet building was gigantic. I didn't realize how huge it was until I got next to it. Thinking back, I had always remembered another store here. They must have relocated recently. The building looked fairly new and modern compared to the buildings surrounding it.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward. Once inside I found the desk of the maitre de. After telling my situation, he instructed me where to go. I followed his instructions obediently and I soon found myself standing in front of two huge oak doors.

"Mr. Weasley I presume?" I heard someone squeak. I looked ahead of me but could see no one. Someone cleared their throat. They were defiantly in front of me somewhere, but I could not see anyone in front of me, just a set of doors. Taking a chance, I stepped back and looked down, and saw a tiny female house elf. Squatting down, I shook her hand.

"Why hello there. I'm looking for a man named Mr. Alexander. Do you know him?"

"Yes sir. That would be master you are talking about sir. He is right in this room here sir." She led me into the room and a short man, who looked at me from behind the desk, greeted me.

"Oh hello Ronald. I'm glad you could make it. I'm Jacob Alexander." He came out from behind the desk and shook my hand. For someone who came up to my chest, he had a very powerful handshake. He smiled up cheerfully at me.

"Sit down, make yourself comfortable." I sat in a chair near his desk and watched as he sat in his own chair. "As you know, I'm the editor and chief of The Prophet. You won't be working for me directly. Not yet anyway. We are going to start you off with Toby Romero. He is the columnist for current events. I'll have Mintra show you his office."

"Thank you Mr. Alexander. You have no idea how happy I am Mr. Alexander."

He laughed heartily. "I'm glad you're pleased with the job. I will see you around here. Stop by and say hello once in a while."

"Of course Mr. Alexa-"

"You don't have to say my name every time. I know who I am." He told me with evident humor in his voice. I smiled, feeling very relieved. I was not entirely sure how I was supposed to talk to him, considering the fact that he was one of the most important people in the entire newspaper.

"Goodbye Mr., I mean, good bye." I said to him, smiling again and following Mintra the house elf out of his office.

"He has taken a liking to Ronald Weasley sir." Mintra squeaked as they walked down the hall. It took her five of her small steps to catch up to one of mine, so I slowed my pace.

"Do you really think so? He did seem very kind didn't he?" I asked. The little elf bobbed her head up and down excitedly, her huge eyes glowing brightly.

"Mintra knows Master Alexander for many years. Mintra knows when Master likes sir. She can tell." Shooting an eerily toothy grin at him, she stopped at the front of a dark oak door with a nameplate reading, 'Toby Romero'.

"This is the room sir needs to be at. Mintra hopes to see sir again."

"I hope to see you again too Mintra. Good bye." I told her smiling again. However, before she left a thought struck me. "Mintra?"

"Yes sir?"

"Call me Ron from now on."

"Oh, yes sir. As you wish R-Ron." She stuttered. It looked to me like she had not used such an informal name for someone before. "Mintra needs to return to Master Alexander's office now she will see Ron again soon."

"Bye Mintra." I turned to the door after she left. This was it. I was about to meet the first boss of the first job I had ever had in my life. But I was brave! I was strong! I was determined to do the best, er, whatever my job would entail me to do.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open. "Excuse me, but are you Mr. Romero?" The young man that sat before me looked up. He looked a little shocked though I didn't know why.

"Yes, I'm Toby." He said a little awkwardly. The more I looked at him, the more I realized that he looked strangely familiar, and also very young. "You're Ronald Weasley." He finally said, smiling.

"Yes, I'm supposed to be working for you. Mr. Andrews sent me here with Mintra."

"Of course, of course. But you are Ronald Weasley." I gave him an odd glance. What was he going on about? Why was it so wonderful that I was Ronald Weasley? I had always been Ronald Weasley and no one had thought my name, let alone me as a person, was anything all too special.

"Uh, yes, I am." I responded finally, not knowing what he was expecting me to say.

"You don't remember me do you?"

"I'm sorry." I said earnestly, hoping to all goodness that I had not done something bad to him while in school that he could get back at me for while I was working under him.

"No, no don't be. We weren't in the same house, or even in the same year. I was in Fred and George's year, a Hufflepuff. I only remember you from the spectacular games of Quidditch you played, and for your bravery during the Crisis."

I shuddered as the memories came back in quick succession. Memories of being fifteen years old, cold, damp, scared, hiding in the tunnels of the Forbidden Forest while the Death Eaters came to roam around the school, raiding and looking for muggles. I had fled with Hermione and other students to the caves where we stayed the entire night. It was both the best and worst day of my life. The fear and pain that I felt when I thought of losing Hermione, though at the time she was still only a friend, were almost crushing. However, looking back, it was one of the nights I treasure the most. She had tried to make me believe that she was not afraid, she had always wanted me to believe that, but I could feel it somehow. And that fact made me feel worse than I had ever felt, at that point.

Something changed then. Maybe it was the fear that I could lose her, or maybe it was just the realization that I had to grow up, and in growing up, I became mature enough to see what I had right before me, but she was different to me. I don't know why she let me do it, but I had held her in my arms for as long as I could, the entire night, and I felt safer, calmer with her there. That's how I knew I had changed. She was the same. I just realized how great she was after that. Besides the fact that I realized how I truly felt (or began to realize), that night was the first we ever spent really talking to each other. She told me how frightened she really was, not just for herself, but also for her parents and the other muggle born who would be affected. There was talk that the Death Eaters didn't even want half bloods, which meant that hundreds more would be in danger.

I must not have been paying attention because Mr. Romero was taking and I never noticed.

"I'm sorry Ron, I should not have mentioned it. I didn't mean to make you feel bad on your first day here. However, I mean what I said about the Quidditch. You were amazing out there. After Wood left, and the team started losing, you came and made them better than they had been in a long time. Best keeper we had while I was going to Hogwarts at least."

I beamed at him and shook my head. "Well, Wood was incredible too. I wasn't that great." Praise wasn't something I usually got, and receiving it now felt strange. "And Harry, he was a much better player than I was."

"Not better, good, but not better. You two were an amazing team. You could have gone on to play some great games if you had gone professional." As if he had finally realized how off track the conversation was, he stood and came to shake my hand. "I'm Mr. Romero, but I had better not hear you call me that. My name is Toby, and I'd prefer you to use that name."

I laughed and nodded, "I'll remember never to call you that." I told him, "as long as you swear you won't call me Ronald. Ron will do just fine."

"You've got a deal Ron. Now I'll show you your desk, but you won't be there very often. I'm going to need you to do interviews and take pictures for the stories we'll be working on."

"I'll be doing interviews?" I asked excitedly. "That's great! So when do we start?"

"Not today. Right now, we're getting you settled in. We'll be starting next week."

I couldn't believe my ears. I was going to get to interview famous witches and wizards from all over the world. I was going to be given one of the fanciest (charmed) muggle cameras to take photographs with. It was probably going to be the most expensive thing I had ever held in my life, and I could hardly believe it. Best of all, I was starting in two days. Nothing could get me down.

That was two months ago. Right now, my job at the Prophet is steady. Toby's a great boss and friend to me. Harry moved out to get his own flat, but he visits quite a lot and enjoyed the time he had to spend with Ginny during Christmas break.

It's January now, and I've finally gotten my apparation license. Toby was surprised that I hadn't gotten it before and made me go as soon as I could to get it. He jokingly told me he'd have to fire me if I came bumbling in on the old broom I had been using.

None of the stories we have done have been very interesting to me. The sports page (written by that smug bastard Garret Neithen) gets the chance to interview the big sports stars. Harry was even in here a few times, and I got the chance to laugh with him afterward about the interview. Even Harry noticed how Garret acted. He was very cocky about his position, especially around me, knowing that I'd love to have the position. However, I wouldn't give up the chance to work with Toby for anything. We had become great friends while working together, and that was worth more than a chance to talk to the famous Quidditch stars.

Viktor Krum has been in the news quite a lot lately. The Quidditch season is starting again soon, and Bulgaria is one of the teams that are being followed closely. Viktor has also gotten himself a fan base, bigger than the one he had while I was at Hogwarts. While the male members of the office were betting on which teams Bulgaria would win (or in my case, lose) to, the women were goggling over the new pictures Garret had taken. I suppose I can understand. The twenty-two year old has shaped up finally. He's been looking far less surly and his eyebrows have been tastefully plucked, thank Merlin. The pictures in Garett's section have actually made him look handsome.

In last week's issues, Toby and I worked on a story about the top ten most important people this year. Krum was third, and the girls in the office all squealed and pleaded for me to get an autograph for them, or to have him take a picture with them. It was almost disgusting me, but I gave in and asked him to sign a few things, being the nice guy I am. I suppose he either didn't care, or didn't recognize me. I bet that rat's forgotten all about Hermione, and it's a good thing he has too.

As I walked down the hall toward Toby's office today, I felt happy that we didn't have a new story that needed an interview with it. We always had our largest articles on Wednesday, and today was Monday. I had a whole two days of peace left. Not that I didn't enjoy my job, but it did get stressful occasionally.

Toby looked grim as I walked into the office. His glasses were on the end of his nose and his hair stuck up in odd places as if he had run his hand through it many times.

"Morning Toby. What's wrong with you? You look as if someone's died." His face turned pale as he stuttered a hello, and I suddenly hoped that my joking prediction had not been correct. "Toby, what happened?" I asked, now very concerned that something was wrong.

"I read that story you turned in. The one that got you this job."

"The one about 'Mione?" I asked, the heat rising to my cheeks.

"Yes, that one. It was good, very good. You care a lot about her. I can tell."

A panic rose in my chest as my breathing came in short. I hadn't felt this way since the Crisis. It was the same feeling I had when I thought that the Death Eaters might kill Hermione that night in the caves. Hermione couldn't be hurt. That would not be why Toby was acting like this. I would have heard another way. He would have called me, told me not to come in. Still, I needed to know what was causing him such grief, and my voice came out shaky when I said, "Toby, what are you getting at? What's wrong? Nothing's happened to 'Mione right?"

"No, no, she's perfectly healthy as far as I know. It's just…" He stopped and pushed a sheet of paper toward me.

Written in bulky writing, a letter to both Toby and I was laid out. My throat tightened with worry as I read the letter aloud to Toby.

"'Dear Mr. Romero and Mr. Weasley,

As you have been so kind to my client, we have decided to allow the Prophet to be the first paper to write about his engagement. Tell me the day you wish to make the interview and Viktor will meet you with his fiancé. He is eager to tell the public about the engagement and glad that you will be the two doing it for him.'"

"Toby, I don't see why I would care that Viktor's getting married. I know the girls will go wild with sorrow about it, but how does that affect me?"

"Read the post script Ron." He told me, definitely not looking me in the eye as he said it.

"'Ps. Both Mr. Krum and Ms. Granger…' what?"

I stared down at the slip of paper, looking up to Toby with a shocked expression on my face. It could not be saying what I thought it was. It just wasn't right. Someone was playing a joke on me. "What is this Toby? Who gave this to you?"

"It came with an owl about an hour ago…it's the truth Ron…supposedly, he proposed to her a few days ago, and she agreed."

"Willingly?" I was not going to believe this, there was no way that this could be real.

"They didn't say, but Ron, he didn't force her to say yes."

My hands were shaking as I continued to stand in the doorway, the letter clamped in my hand. "But, it can't be. Viktor doesn't love her. She can't love him! I just don't understand!" I shouted, collapsing into a chair nearby.

"I'm sorry Ron. Listen, you have my permission to take the day off if you want. Sort things out."

"But, but…she can't marry him." It sounded weak as I said it, but I was feeling terrible. I didn't know what to say. Toby had to know how I was feeling, had to understand. "He can't marry her, because I'm in love with her."

Toby didn't seem as fazed by this new revelation even though I felt slightly surprised that I had said it aloud. I felt hopeless but light at the same time. It was the first time I had voiced the thought and somehow, it made me feel stronger, more determined.

"Did you tell her that Ron?"

"Well, no. I never had the courage to while we were going out, and by the time I felt like I had enough courage, it was too late." I put my head in my hands and mumbled, "She hates me now. I can't tell her now because it's too late. She doesn't care about me anymore. She won't even talk to me."

"Ron, pull yourself together and look at what's going on. If you feel sorry for yourself, the girl you love is going to leave your life forever. Now you have to do something about it. I know we've only known each other for a few months but I know how much you care about her. If you ever do anything correct in your life, do this correctly. I've never had that; someone that you know is the person you need to spend the rest of your life with. She's the one you want to spend the rest of your life with am I correct?"

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. I'm still young to think about something that serious, after all, I'm only seventeen still. But, really, as I think about it, I can't imagine living with anyone else for the rest of my life, and not being with Hermione, it was just something I couldn't bear to think. I may be young but I definitely found my soul mate, and she was about to marry someone else. I suddenly felt a great anger and hate toward Viktor, one ten times as bad as the hate I felt toward him in my fourth year. I still hadn't answered Toby's question.

"Yes. She's the one. I can't even imagine her not being with me." I told him seriously, looking him in the eye before looking at the floor. "What am I going to do Toby? How am I going to do this?"

"I'll help you. Harry will help you. You're going to be ok. And I'm going to get you back to her if it's the last thing I ever do. But if you don't hurry, she'll marry that jerk and you'll never get your chance at having her back."

He was right. I needed to do something about it, and I needed to do it fast. I would talk to her as soon as I could and tell her that I still cared about her, more than anything else in the world, more than my own life. However, she was engaged to Viktor Krum, that piece of shit. No matter how popular and no matter how handsome he was, he would never take my 'Mione away from me, not as long as I'm alive to stop him, and somehow, I'll convince her that I'm a better person now, one that will do whatever they can to get her back.

A/N: So…are you guys mad at me? Was it too predictable? Because I know a lot of people make her marry Viktor…but I'm going to have Herm explain herself sometime during the story, so you'll hear how she met Vicky again…and you'll have Ron being angsty and missing her and all that good stuff. I'm giving this to you as a Christmas present so you'd better enjoy! Humph. :-p just kidding. Thanks to all who reviewed! I love you guys!

~Addy