Strictly Professional
By Cabbage Rose
Summary: On the day of graduation, Hermione has to move suddenly, leaving Ron heartbroken. 10 years later, Hermione is presumed dead and Ron moves on, taking a job at Hogwarts. But what happens when he finds a certain someone at Hogwarts as well? Will old flames rekindle or will their relationship be strictly professional? RonHer.
Author's Notes: Ouch. I haven't updated in awhile. Sorry! Well, hopefully I won't get sidetracked like I usually do and make a good chapter. I have some interesting stuff planned for later in this story, but for the next few chapters I am not sure how I will fill it in. Oh well. Maybe I'll get some sudden inspiration out of nowhere. Now to the good stuff…that isn't the story. The responses:
Tiny One: Thanks! Just to let you know, in England that is their way of saying good friend. It isn't what some of us think when we say 'mate'.
SarcasmRox: Thanks for the tips. As for Avril, I guess that is somewhat true. It is kinda creepy…lol.
Legolascrazy17: I hope this chapter is good too!
Cocotrain: Gotta love the E-props! As for Ron, yes he is totally adoreable. I just hope that Rowling doesn't kill him (or Hermione, I don't really care about Harry) in the last book.
Lois Lane IV: I love stories that reduce me to that state. So I try to write like it too. If you liked this, my favorite stories list has some really good RonHer stories. Glad you liked mine!
AshAnana: Thanks! Yep, fate is against them right now. Damn stupid rules…that I made up. Oh well. D.A.D.A teacher? Not really important right now, but yes, the curse lives on. I am glad you liked the letter. That was totally fun to write.
I apologize profusely for my spelling and grammar mistakes in this (such as McGonagal and Aragog). I will be more alert in the future. Now to the story!
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't have to go to school, therefore letting me update this more often. Since I don't, though, I have to put this off until weekends. Which really annoys me as well as readers.
Chapter 4Ron had awoken rather early that Tuesday morning. Not that he had gotten much sleep, anyway. He kept tossing and turning in his sleep, thinking about random things to important things. The main topic on his mind that night, though, was Hermione. He didn't know why, but it was. Sure, it was rather reasonable for he had not seen her in 10 years and then she abruptly shows up. He was amazed how things were not really different between them, though. He hoped that Harry and Ginny (and the whole Weasley family, for that matter) would not be mad with her. For some reason, he didn't want her to be hurt. It wasn't her fault, after all. Ron had realized it a while ago, and now he hoped that the others would realize it too.
He made his way down to the Great Hall, completely ravenous. After all that had happened the night before, he had forgotten his aching stomach and didn't eat his breakfast bar. So he had completely nothing to eat, except the goodies on the train, that day. That was a first for Ron.
But for some unknown reason to Ron, he did not feel really hungry. He knew he was hungry though; his stomach was rumbling every few seconds. He was just so caught up with one of the many topics he thought about the night before. It was still a mystery to him why he felt that way when Hermione hugged him, or when they were talking about the past. It wasn't like Hermione hadn't hugged him before; in Hogwarts she did so all the time. It was just her way, most girls' way for that matter, of greeting. Nothing special, nothing abnormal, nothing that was supposed to be discovered. It was just that. As for the past, that was a completely ridiculous feeling he had.
As he opened the doors of the Great Hall, the food was out on display, even though it was early. Many students were already there, as well as some teachers. As he went to the teacher's table, the delicious smells greeted his slightly freckled nose. With these new smells came a logical explanation to his ordeal: he was just so completely out of it, due to lack of food and rest, that he was just feeling off. Yes, that was it.
His mind now clear from doubt, he cheerfully took the seat next to Neville, saying, "Morning, mate!"
Neville simply mumbled, acknowledging Ron's presence. Ron noticed as he was eating his scrambled eggs that Neville was still hunched over the teaching plans. Ron knew from the time he knew Neville was teaching here that it was going to be hard on him. For one, Neville was one of the most forgetful people you could ever meet. Ron was sure that good teaching required a bit of memorizing. Ron had nothing to memorize, on the other hand. He was just going to follow what Hagrid told him to. Also, Neville was type A in the category of teaching/learning. Type A belonged to the people who truly cared how they did in life, and studied as much as they can. Type B belonged to the people who couldn't care less. Harry and Ron sort of belonged in a different type, like Type Forced B. If it weren't for Hermione harping on them to, they wouldn't have even done their homework. At the time, they didn't care, but now they were somewhat glad that she was a wet blanket. But, back with Neville, he seemed to be totally stressed out. His eyes were blood-shot, his hair was untidier than Harry's was (wow), and he had his robes on backwards. "Neville, you got to relax!" Ron said, trying to swipe Neville's teaching plans from him.
Neville, despite his rather disoriented state, evaded Ron's hands. He spat, "I, unlike you, have to actually teach!" Neville quickly shook his head, as if deciphering something in his mind, "Ugh…sorry. I am just so tired. Teaching is a huge thing. You could ruin someone's life if you taught him or her too little, or if you taught him or her a charm wrong. It is sort of like their lives are in your hands." He covered his face with his hands, lying on the table.
Ron patted his back. He tried reassuring him, "Everything will be great. You are really good at Charms. Almost as good as Herbology!"
Neville lifted his face from the table, "Too bad someone is already teaching Herbology. That would have been easy!" He gave a weak laugh.
Ron smiled. "Don't worry about it. You will do fine!"
As they both returned to their breakfasts, the mail had arrived. There were numerous owls of different shapes and sizes fluttering around the large room, dropping letters and boxes near the children. Feathers fell to the ground and onto the tables, but as soon as they made contact the feathers disappeared in thin air. Ron had never seen it on a side view before. He was always in the middle of it, watching from above, hoping that the birds wouldn't relieve themselves above his head. He was so awed with the sight of it that he didn't notice Dotty dropping a few pieces of parchment in his cereal. It wasn't until she started pecking on his head that he noticed she was there.
"Ow! Ok, ok, what is it?" Ron asked, rubbing the raw skin on his head. Dotty simply hooted, and tended to cleaning her feathers.
Ron looked at his cereal, silently cursed to himself, and then tried to read the parchment. Luckilly, the milk hadn't messed up the ink. He looked at the parchments one by one. Most of them were junk mail, including The Quibbler and classes for Squibs (there was also a Daily Prophet as well; he now kept those to support Ginny). There was a letter from Ginny (who was always one to be prompt), and something in a striped red and green envelope-the trademark envelope for Fred and George's joke shop. He looked at Ginny's first:
'What's up, Ron?
So I am glad to see that you have made it to Hogwarts ok. I for one can't believe you got the job in the first place, but apparently miracles can happen. Neville is there too? Wow, that is great. Well, I hope he remembers things, like us. He might have Alzheimer's (that is what it is called, right?) or something. I hope not. Well anyway, I have to get going. My boss is yelling at me to get back to work…I swear, I would totally date him if he weren't such a big ass. But oh well. Oh, and Harry says hi. He doesn't want to mail back a lot, because, well you know. See ya.
XOXO, Ginny'
Ron figured that the letter was sent before they knew that Hermione was there, otherwise Ginny wouldn't have been so calm. He wasn't so sure if he was relieved or not, but he knew they would find out eventually. Then he went on to Fred and George's envelope. He was a little cautious about opening it. Knowing them, the envelope could have contained a stink bomb or automatic fireworks. They would have jumped at the chance to cause some mischief at their old school. But when he did eventually open it, all it contained was some blank parchment. He wondered what he was supposed to do with it when some words appeared, 'You there, Ronniekins?' A few seconds later, the parchment was once again blank.
Only three people called him 'Ronniekins' in the world, so he had a bit of an idea of who it was, but he asked anyway, 'Who is this?' The parchment was very weird to Ron; it was sort of like Tom Riddle's diary.
Ron had to wait for a moment before it responded, 'Guess.'
Ron, who was already getting annoyed, wrote back, 'I dunno. Fred? Seriously, if I were there I'd hex you.'
The person wrote back a bit faster this time, 'It is George. God, Ron, aren't you pissy in the morning?'
Ron wrote back while rolling his eyes, 'What do you want?'
'This is something new we are selling. It is sort of like that IM Ginny goes on to talk to her muggle friends, except more efficient…more or less. People can't spy on you using it, but you still have to write.'
Ron still didn't see the point of him telling him this. 'And you are telling me this because…?'
'You can have all in that envelope for 20 knuts. Pretty cheap, if you ask me.'
'Oh, so this wasn't selling and you were trying to get me to buy it all. No thanks, but I'll take it for free…but I know something that you might find interesting. I'll tell you for this.' Ron wasn't going to pay for the paper, but he still wanted it. Besides, he wanted to know if everyone knew about Hermione or not.
'If it is that Hermione is back, everyone knows. If Ginny knows something, everyone knows it. I for one can't wait to see that bookworm again…it was fun teasing her. Like the younger sister we never had. Are you guys going to Hogsmeade soon?'
Ron was surprised by the way George reacted. 'So, you're not mad? And by the way, you have a younger sister. Ginny.'
'Why would I be mad? It wasn't her fault, right? I am not sure about how the others feel, but Fred and I are fine with it. As for Ginny, it isn't as fun teasing her. Hermione turns this cute shade of pink when we tease her. It is so easy to piss her off. It is hilarious!'
Even though Ron knew this, it angered him a bit to hear his brother say it. The cute shade of pink and the easy to piss off thing. That was his job. 'Yeah, but I think she has grown up now. And I thought you guys did too. I doubt Hermione would get upset if you tease her…but whatever floats your boat. Well, I've got to go. Thanks for the free paper.' Ron wrote, suddenly not in the mood to talk to his brother anymore. He shoved the parchment into his pocket, while George wrote, 'Hey. Wait! You still have to pay for this!'
Ron looked up and down the tables. He was going to give some of the cool parchment to Hermione, but he saw that she wasn't there. Every teacher was there, except Hermione. 'Oh great, Hermione is sick on one of the most important days in her life…again,' He thought as he scanned the whole hall for her. She wasn't there.
Ron, for some reason feeling like he was obligated to, took some food from the breakfast feast and his parchment, and carried it out of the Great Hall. While doing so, though, he couldn't help but notice Lavender's eyes boring into his back. She knew what he was doing; he shivered at the thought. He didn't dare look at her, though.
Since he went through this situation before, he first checked the teacher's dormitories. He tried to open the door to Hermione's bedroom, but with no prevail. He didn't know if he was supposed to laugh at or pity the situation. McGonagal had trusted the Head People more than the teachers themselves. He knocked on the door; there was no reply. He was sure that, even if Hermione was sick, she would have made some sort of noise to let whoever was out there know she was there. He guessed that she wasn't in the dormitory after all, which was somewhat disappointing. He wouldn't have minded comforting her again. As soon as he thought this, he wondered why he did. He just guessed that it would be a good way to skip work. Yeah…
So now that his first theory was a failure, Ron checked out his best friend's normal hangouts: the library, the girls' bathroom, etc. As you could have guessed (since the author likes to be difficult, lol), she wasn't there.
Now that he had checked out all of the places that she could have been, he wondered what he did next the last time. He paced around the marble hallways, trying to remember. 'Well, first I looked at where she usually was,' Ron listed in his brain, 'And then I…looked at the last place I would have suspected, even though it was totally obvious.'
Ok, so now he had a vague idea of where to look. Where could she be that was so obvious that he overlooked it? The Great Hall? Nah, he had already checked there. Quidditch field? No, that was where you would find him, not her. Ron doubted that if it were not because of Harry and him, she would have never set foot on a Quidditch field. The Forbidden Forest? Why in the Hell would she be in there? He knew he would like to never set foot in that place again, after Aragog. Ron was just about to run out of ideas when he thought of another place: the Ancient Ruins classroom? He doubted it, but it was the best idea of his so far. Plus, Hermione was a lot like Neville; she was in Type A.
Ron made his way to the seventh floor: Ancient Ruins. With all that he was carrying, he was starting to get tired. He struggled with keeping a glass of orange juice from spilling to the ground. Meanwhile, some of the portraits were laughing at him. "Shut it." He hissed at the portraits as he entered the classroom.
As he went through the doorway, he tripped on a rug, sending all of the food onto the floor. He cursed loudly. Hermione, who looked deeply engrossed in something on her desk, looked up because of the loud profanity. She gasped, and looked to see who it was. "Oh, Ron. Are you ok?"
Ron quickly got up and blushed, embarrassed by his 'interesting' way of entering. Plus, not to mention, he totally ruined Hermione's breakfast. "Sorry. I was just looking for you. You didn't come down from breakfast, like the last time it was an important day. Is that a habit of yours or something?"
"Is it a habit of yours to worry whenever I am not eating?" She snapped. "Some of us aren't garbage disposals." Ron noticed that Hermione also looked very stressed. But at least she managed to put her robes on right and brush her hair, unlike Neville.
"Well excuse me for caring about your health!" Ron said, not really angry. It wasn't her fault.
Hermione said, "Accio food." The spelt breakfast floated across the room and onto Hermione's desk; the orange juice that was once soaked into the carpet was refilling itself into the cup. Ron was pretty amazed; he wasn't aware that the 'accio' spell could do more than bring things to you.
"That was wicked." He said, rather dumbly. Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to the desk, sipping the orange juice.
"…Thanks for the food." Hermione said, in between bites of bacon, "I am just so nervous about teaching. I know I will do ok, but Minerva is counting on me to do wonders. I don't want to let her down."
Ron, who already had to do this once that morning, said, "You will do fine Hermione! You know possibly everything there is to know about ancient ruins. Hell, you know everything about everything." Hermione was about to interrupt, saying that he was over exaggerating, when Ron said, "Ok. Maybe not everything; but you do know your stuff. You won't let McGonagal down, you won't let the students down, and you won't let yourself down. Got it?"
Hermione half-smiled. "Since when were you good at giving pep-talks?"
"I practiced on Neville earlier," Ron said. He wondered if he was going to do bad; he seemed to be the only one that wasn't nervous.
"So he is nervous too? So I am not some mental case, taking everything too seriously?" Hermione asked, finishing off her eggs.
"Well, you do take things a bit to seriously, but no. It seems like everyone is nervous…but me. But I guess that is because I am an assistant." Ron said.
Hermione glanced at her watch, somewhat automatically, and said, "You better get going! You are going to be late because of me."
"Ok. See ya at lunch. Promise me you'll eat?" He said, walking towards the door.
"Of course." Hermione said. Ron was heading out the door, a few student's making their way in the class on his other side when Hermione said, "And Ron?"
He stopped and said, "Yeah?"
She smiled. "Thanks."
"Anytime," Ron said, smiling back. And with that, he rushed out of the classroom and towards Hagrid's hut, wishing that both he and Hermione survive this day.
Author's Notes: There you go. It was somewhat fluffy in the end, but it was more of a friendly thing. I try to make my stories as realistic as possible, like they won't be totally horny and stuff. I tend to see that in some fanfics (they are extremely OOC; but if you think about it, all romances are a bit OOC). Now this does have some romance, mind you, but if you are expecting lemons, there probably won't. I am thirteen for goodness sakes. But hey, you never know what my little perverted mind will do! Lol. I watch Miroku too much (and if you don't know who Miroku is look it up; you will get exactly what I mean). Please review!