Hermione was tired of the questions she was near constantly asked that out of everyone she could have chosen, she chose Ron. They acted like Ron was someone who just happened to be friends with Harry Potter and her. Like Harry was some kind of saint that easily could have been close to anybody.

The thing was Harry wasn't so easy to get along with as everybody thinks. He is stubborn with a one track mind and when he was on a warpath you had better get out of his way. Harry had plenty of people who thought they knew him, lots of people that thought the ground he walked on turned to pure gold.

He wasn't so selfless as people assumed, he could be selfish and when he got into his thoughts he was a right terrible person to be around. There weren't a lot of people willing to put Harry in his place, people who were willing to yell at him or give him the absolute cold hard truth.

Hermione could admit she hesitated with Harry sometimes but Ron was the type to be as bullheaded and stubborn as Harry. He didn't back down when it mattered most. Ron stuck by Harry no matter how terrible he was being. The one time he didn't, Hermione was positive he wouldn't have done if he had a clear mind.

Hermione stared at the irritating article that had been placed on the table. Witch Weekly had decided to target her Ron in their gossip column. Ron had read it first before setting it down and going to the kitchen to chop vegetables and things for a salad.

His expression hadn't changed at all but she could tell from the tension of his shoulders he'd been affected. She read the article, feeling annoyed by the minute. The article had started in about how Hermione picking the least important member of "the golden trio" because of guilty emotions.

It continued on with trollop about how Ron was cowardly about a proposal to her and continued on with talk of how Ron continued to use Harry's fame for his own gain to get into the auror program and have a job. She had told Ron that she'd rather wait until Hermione was at a good place in her job first before a wedding.

She set her jaw thinking how ridiculous it was because Ron had fought as hard as Harry during the war to allow his acceptance into the Auror program. Ron wasn't even Harry's partner so his success was all from his own ability.

"Ron-"

"I don't need a pep talk, I know it's all stupid rumors," Ron said, furiously shredding carrots then dropping them into a bowl.

Hermione sighed, wishing people could see him as she did. She watched him chop and toss with practiced ease, Ron was so good at cooking. He was incredible to watch, especially when he was free to go as elaborate as possible. Everyone who was friends with them noticed this new side of him.

She was even willing to bet he could beat out a professional chef. She smiled as Ron almost unconsciously plated the salad with shrimp on top. He added the dressing last and set it in front of her.

"This is beautiful, what kind of salad," she asked.

"Hm? Oh, it's a lettuce and spinach salad topped with carrots, shrimp, apple, and feta cheese. The dressing is a kind of honey mustard, I dunno I was just experimenting" Ron shrugged, blushing as he sat down with his own plate.

Hermione nodded then speared a little of everything and tried her first bite. The taste was incredible with the sweetness of the apple and more salty feta. "Mm, this is really great," she said.

Ron smiled, still looking flushed as he took a bite, looking thoughtful "maybe next time I'd add some peanuts, help balance out the apple more" he said.

"Sounds good, I really like the apple," Hermione said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "I'm so lucky to have you, Ron, really. I have half a mind to put Witch Weekly out of business. Harry just has to say he doesn't like the magazine and there goes 70% of their sales" Hermione said.

"I… I won't pretend it doesn't bother me, I promised you not to do that but I think you just can't help what others say. That is a lesson that took 7 years to learn" Ron said. He reached up to tuck a curl behind her ear and kissed her.

"I'm proud of you, Ron," Hermione said after he pulled back.

"Me too," Ron said then laughed as she rolled her eyes fondly "so um, Neville talked to me the other day about something kind of interesting. He actually plans to take over The Leaky Caudron, he's going to renovate it a bit. He wants to reinvent it by adding a restaurant portion and he wanted to see if I wanted in on it" Ron explained, his face burning a little as Hermione's smile got bigger and bigger until it was a full-blown beam with sparkling eyes and all.

"That sounds amazing, Ron," Hermione said, scooting her chair closer to him.

"Yeah but it just means that I have some important to things to think about it. Hermione, I can't do a restaurant and do auror work" Ron said.

Hermione nodded only calming a little "your so good at what you do and I hate that you don't think you are. Every time I meet your coworkers they always go on and on about you. You went into training to prove something to yourself and you wanted to be there for Harry, right?" she said.

Ron sighed and nodded "I couldn't leave him to wrangling up leftover Death Eaters and Snatchers all alone. He'd give us a bleeding heart attack" he said.

"Right, but it's been years and most of them are in Azkaban now. You're allowed to be selfish," Hermione said. "Harry will be fine and I think you need to let Harry worry about you for a change. You know he was worried? You work long hours and he can see your not happy."

"I didn't say I wasn't" Ron said defensively.

"You don't have to," Hermione said, "we can see it, to us we can read you like you can read us."

"Fine, I'll quit being an auror," Ron said and Hermione smiled kissing him deeply. He leaned into the kiss, placing an arm around her waist. They paused when the door opened then closed, Harry walked in.

"Er, bad time?" he asked.

"No your ok," Hermione said, giggling once then sat back in her chair.

"Harry, I think… I'm gonna stop being an Auror" Ron said.

Harry's eyes widened a fraction "really? Thank Merlin" he said smiling. Ron frowned "not because your bad, in fact, it's a loss for the department because your so incredibly good at it. If your up for it, occasionally I'll ask you to lecture occasionally for the academy. I'm just glad because it's pretty obvious it doesn't really make you very happy" Harry explained quickly.

"Ah," Ron said flushing "sure, I can do that," he agreed then proceeded to explain the offer he'd been given by Neville.