The all too familiar halls of Hogwarts always brought Harry a sense of calm and happiness upon returning to them. Considering that he went through so much while he was here, he couldn't help but feel as if he was as much a part of this institution as the portraits and the suits of armors that lined the halls were. Hogwarts would always feel like home to him. No matter his age or where he went in life.

"It's weird being back," Ron said as the two of them made their way down the Grand Staircase. Several students were whispering and pointing, while others were snapping pictures. This had been the case every year Harry made the trip back to Hogwarts to talk to the students about the battle that had taken place here six years previously. What had started out as a favor three years ago for McGonagall and the new headmaster had now turned into a sort of a tradition for not only Harry, but the students as well. An informative treat for the seventh-years to help to break up their N.E.W.T studies.

"I always like coming back," Harry said as they entered the entrance hall on the bottom floor. "The lecture went well. You know the kids we talked to today were in their first year here when the battle took place? Some of the questions and stories they have of being evacuated from the school that night are pretty interesting to take in."

Ron shuddered. "Some of the stories they have of the Carrows beating them during their first year are horrifying."

"Next year will be strange," Harry said once they walked past the Great Hall. "It'll be the first group I'll talk to that wasn't there that night in some way. I'll miss the stories they have."

"I'm glad you made me come," Ron said as they noticed Professor McGonagall walking towards them. "You're right. It's a different sort of experience than the usual sort of thing."

"Yeah," Harry said. "That and I didn't really have much of a choice since I can't send you anywhere else. Don't forget that Robards is back in two days…"

"I know," Ron said distractedly as he smiled at McGonagall just as she put her hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Wonderful job, Mr. Potter," she said. "You managed to hold those students' attention in a way I haven't seen since they were small and actually intimidated by me."

"You still intimidate me, Professor," Ron joked.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," she said. "I always enjoy seeing you both—" She stopped to scold a nearby student for yelling a swear word before she turned back and added, "but I'll be seeing the two of you again shortly."

"So, I can tell Ginny that's a yes?" Harry asked.

"Why of course, Mr. Potter," she said with a small trace of a smile crossing her lips before she turned to follow up on scolding the foul mouthed student.

"Come on," Harry said to Ron. "Let's go down and see Hagrid. I always go down for a visit when I'm here."

"Okay," he said as they made their way towards the large double front doors. Ron couldn't help but wave merrily at Argus Filch as they passed. He snarled in return.

"Still just as friendly, I see. I wonder what happened to his bloody cat?"

"She died," Harry said once the sunlight hit them the second they were outside, "or so Hagrid told me last time I was up here."

"Such a shame," Ron said without remorse just as they both noticed Professor Sprout hobbling up the front stairs towards them.

"Hello, Professor," said Harry.

"Oh, Mr. Potter," she said. "And Mr. Weasley. What a wonderful surprise! How coincidental it is that I should have just talked to Mr. Longbottom as well."

"Neville's here?" Ron and Harry asked at the same time.

"Yes. He's interviewing for the soon to be vacant Herbology position."

"Soon to be vacant?"

Professor Sprout laughed. "Oh, yes. I've been considering retirement for quite some time now, but I've just found it so difficult to leave the job." She sighed. "I do hope Mr. Longbottom gets the position, though. He was always one of my favorites and I know he truly would make students love the subject as he does."

"Neville? A professor?" said Ron in a clearly amused tone. "Who'd have thought?"

"We should see if we can find him," Harry said. "I haven't seen him in forever."

"I'm on my way to the headmaster's office right now," Sprout said. "It's where he should be almost finishing up. Are you leaving?"

"No, we'll be down at Hagrid's hut for a visit," he said. "At least for a bit."

"Oh, well, I'll let him know," she said before she bid the two of them goodbye and hobbled inside of the castle.

"It'll be good to see Neville," Ron said as the two of them continued across the grounds.

"We would have seen him in a week's time," Harry said. "We got his R.S.V.P in the post yesterday. Longbottom plus one. I think Ginny would have killed him if he had said he wasn't coming."

"Plus one?"

"Yeah. Ginny said he's seeing someone."

"Anyone we know?"

"She didn't say. She heard it from Luna."

"Ginny got a hold of Luna?"

"She managed to get our wedding invitation," he said. "She wrote Ginny a twelve page letter filled with drawings and photos. It was actually really cool. Anyway, I guess she randomly ran into Neville at some sort of flower festival in Holland and they caught up. Apparently, Neville's been rather hard to get a hold himself because he took the last year off to do some traveling."

"Go figure," Ron mused as they approached Hagrid's hut. He leaned forward to knock on the door, but it flew open just as he had lifted his fist.

"Harry!" Hagrid said happily. "Ron!"

"Hey, Hagrid," they both said in mixed unison.

Hagrid immediately stood aside to usher them into the hut. "How are ya?" he asked cheerfully, a fresh grey streak of hair standing visibly against his dark beard. "Let me get some tea started."

"I'm fantastic," said Harry. "How about you?"

"Ah, ya know," he said as he laid some rock cakes out on the table. "I've got to teach a class in a half hour and I was afraid I wouldn't have the chance to see ya." He turned his back on them to fuss with the tea kettle. "How 'er Ginny and Hermione?"

"They're both doing well," Harry said was he pushed the plate of rock cakes towards Ron. He vehemently shook his head.

"Glad to hear it," Hagrid said as he set the kettle on the stove. "How's the wedding planning going?"

"Sometimes I think dealing with Death Eaters was easier," Harry joked.

Hagrid chuckled. "I'm really excited for ya, Harry," he said fondly. "I can still remember holding ya in my arms as a baby and you were just this little thing, all cut up. And now…" he sniffled before dabbing his eyes with his shirt sleeve. "And then Ginny. I still remember her when she was just this little girl in here during her first-year."

Harry and Ron exchanged amused looks as Hagrid blew his nose on the tablecloth.

"I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of that," Ron said.

"I'm bracing myself," said Harry as the kettle began to whistle on the stove top. Ron made a motion for Hagrid to sit as he stood to take care of it.

"Are ya expecting a lot of people?" Hagrid asked.

"I don't know. We invited a load of people to the reception and so far everyone's pretty much responded saying they're coming."

"How have ya managed to keep it so quiet?" Hagrid asked. "I mean, ya invited all these people and the press isn't talking about it—"

"No more than they usually do," Harry interrupted once Ron reappeared at the table. "The papers are always saying I'm getting married or having kids or whatever as it is, so for once, I'm just using it to my advantage. Besides word of mouth, they don't have any proof. They constantly have someone trying to sell them a story about me, but they don't even know what to believe anymore."

"Not that it stops them from printing any of it," Ron added.

"They'd need some real proof to get really excited about it," Harry continued, "and all they'd have now are the invitations, but we used this invisible ink stuff on them that George Weasley sells at his shops."

"So, that's why when I went to look back at the invitation all the stuff had disappeared," Hagrid said.

"Exactly," he said. "That's why we actually wrote at the top to write this stuff down because the invitation would disappear after just a few moments."

"You'll probably have a handful of people forget the date," Ron said.

Harry shrugged. "The ones that matter will show up."

Hagrid stared from Harry to Ron and then nonchalantly reached for a quill and piece of parchment on the table.

"April 17th," Harry said before Hagrid had to ask. "The ceremony is at 5:00 in Avebury in a clearing at the north of town."

Ron hid his laughter as Hagrid wrote it all down and looked up at Harry sheepishly. "Sorry, Harry. I missed the part about taking the information all down because it would disappear."

"That's why I'm telling you now," Harry said, sounding unfazed. "I want to make sure you're there."

"I would have made it there one way or another," Hagrid said proudly as a sudden knock at the door made him turn. He stood and Harry leaned himself back in his chair in order to see around Hagrid to the outside. He had a good feeling he already knew who was there.

"Hi, Hagrid," said a bearded version of Neville Longbottom that Harry and Ron had grown up with. "How are you?"

"Is that Neville Longbottom!?" Hagrid said, turning around towards Harry. "Look who it is?!"

"Well, actually," Neville said with a modest laugh as Hagrid gestured for him to enter. "It's soon to be Professor Longbottom."

"You got the job?" Ron asked as he greeted him. "You're going to be a professor?"

He smiled and nodded.

"What's this about being a professor?" Hagrid asked as he pulled an extra chair away from the wall and towards the table.

"Herbology," he said, sitting along with everyone else. "Professor Sprout is retiring at the end of this term and actually wrote to me personally to let me know the position would be open."

"So, it's you?" Harry asked. "Officially?"

"Officially," he said. "Just met with the headmaster and interviewed with him. He said he was impressed with my research work over the last couple of years and the fact that Professor Sprout sings my praises." He paused and smiled again. "He offered it to me just now."

"Geez, Neville," Ron said in amazement. "You're going to be a professor."

"It's mad isn't it?" Neville said. "I'll be teaching kids."

"You'll be teaching my kids," Ron said. "Whenever I decide to have them."

"Congratulations!" Hagrid said as he raised his teacup in salute. "Wow, Neville, we'll be coworkers!"

"Cheers," he said happily as he took in his surroundings. "But hey, enough about me. How are you all? Ron, I haven't seen you since the last time I popped into your brother's store and that was definitely before I left for Africa."

"You went to Africa?"

"For six months," he said, "to study the water plants of the Nile river valley. Then I spent a spell in the Australian Outback before heading back west. It's all research for the book I'm writing."

"Book?" Ron asked. "Damn, Neville..."

"It's not as exciting as it sounds," he said. "Trust me, when I start to get in depth about what it is I've been doing, I tend to put people to sleep." He glanced at Harry. "People are far more interested in finding out how I killed a snake when I was seventeen. You wouldn't believe some of the versions I've heard."

"I actually would believe it," Harry said with a smirk.

Neville grinned. "But yeah, it'll be nice to actually get some stability here at Hogwarts for once. Are you running the Auror department yet, Harry?"

"Not quite," he said with a laugh. "I have been lately, though. My superior is on holiday."

Ron smiled. "He does a bang up job. He orders us around like the best of them!"

"You're an Auror now, too?" Neville asked as he leaned back in his chair. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, I quit the shop a little over a year ago and actually went after my dream." He shrugged. "Took me a few years to get there, but I eventually got back on track."

"Nothing wrong with that," said Neville. "Sometimes it's nice to explore options before settling down."

"I'll agree with that," Hagrid said, raising his teacup in salute once more.

"Oh, hey!" said Neville, as if he just remembered. "You'll never guess who I ran into a few weeks ago."

"Luna," said Ron and Harry together.

Neville looked startled by their accuracy. "All right, perhaps you will guess…"

"Ginny," Harry explained. "Luna wrote to her and mentioned it."

"Oh," he said with a small laugh. "Well, yeah. I did. She looks fantastic and seems really happy. If you think what I've been up to is interesting, you should hear half of the things she's been doing. From what I gathered, she's headed to Canada this winter to live with a group of Eskimos while she searches for some sort of snow nymph or something. I couldn't even keep up with what she was saying."

"Why does that not surprise me," said Harry fondly. "But you'll be seeing her again soon. She'll be at the wedding."

"That should be fun," he said as he reached up and scratched his chin through his beard.

"I've always thought about growing a beard like yours," Ron said. "It looks itchy, though."

"At first, but you get used to it."

"You do," Hagrid said as he began to absently stroke his. "Gosh, I don't even remember what I looked like without one."

"I did it because I just got tired of shaving when I was living in a tent and up to my waist in swamp muck," Neville said. "Plus, it makes me look older…Or so I'm told."

Ron laughed. "Who tells you that?"

"Hey now," Neville said in mock offense. "A few people do. My Grams for instance. My girlfriend for another."

"Oh, yeah, who's this girlfriend?" Harry asked. "Some exotic herbologist you met on your travels?"

"Love at first branch?" Ron asked.

"Not exactly," Neville said slowly. "Actually, it's someone you all know. It's pretty new. We just started dating when I got back from Holland."

"Who is it, then?" Hagrid asked.

"Do you all remember Hannah Abbott?" Neville asked as Ron's eyes went wide. "She was in our year at school."

"You're the boyfriend!" Ron said as he pointed at him.

"I am?" he asked. "I mean, I am, but…"

"No," Ron began, "it's just, we had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron the other day and we ran into her."

"Didn't she just buy it from Tom?" asked Hagrid.

"She did," Neville said proudly. "She's really excited about that. She's got some great plans for it."

"Tom retired?" Harry asked. "Where have I been?"

"Locked up running the Auror department and planning your wedding," Ron said before turning back towards Neville. "You'll have to stop by George's shop and let him know it's you she's dating."

"She already told me about him asking her out," Neville said with a modest smile. "The thirteen-year-old in me kind of enjoys getting the girl over him. I won't lie."

"Good for you," Ron said. "I promise she's better off, and I say this as his brother."

Hagrid chuckled. "George will find some girl that's a perfect fit for him one day."

"She'll be a very special sort of girl," Ron mumbled, making a face.

"Last time I saw him, he seemed to be dating all kinds of girls," Neville said. "It was surprising because I never remembered him being like that in school. He was always pretty calm while Fred was more—"

"You don't remember because he wasn't," Ron said heavily. "That all came after my brother died. We all thought it was a bit odd at first, because for a while he just shut down. Then one day, it was like an explosion. Suddenly he was really social and going out all the time and there was girl after girl after girl and…" He shrugged. "I don't know. I figure this behavior has got to be healthier than the constant drinking and refusing to leave his house."

"Yeah, he was pretty bad for awhile there after Fred passed," Harry added.

"It's good he's turned himself around," Hagrid said. "I still say he'll eventually find someone that will help sort him out."

"With his taste in women," Ron said. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Aren't you going out with a girl tonight that he fixed you up with?" Harry asked. "You'd think you'd be a bit more worried if you're leaving it up to George."

"He didn't really fix me up," Ron corrected. "She works for him and I met her at the—"

"Wait," Neville interrupted, looking completely confused. "You're not with Hermione anymore?"

Ron stared at him. "Oh, um, no. We split up a while ago."

"What?"

"I was surprised too," Hagrid said quietly as Ron found himself looking at Harry for support. Harry in turn was looking out the window.

"Um, yeah," he said hesitantly. "It was last year."

"Really?" Neville asked. "I would have never thought…I know I'm late here, but I'm just really surprised."

Ron shrugged.

"Are you two still friends?"

"Working on it," he said as Harry cast a glance in his direction. "We just started talking again since I spent the last year in Paris."

"What happened?" Neville asked, glancing slowly at Harry.

"We'll be here all day," Ron said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"Oh," Hagrid said as he stood and looked out his window. "Well, you're welcome to stay here and tell it if you'd like. I just see my next class coming down, so I've got to go and greet them."

"Maybe we should…?" Ron said, gesturing to Harry and then the door.

"Don't you worry about it," said Hagrid, not seeming to realize that the topic at hand wasn't exactly something Ron was excited to talk about. "Just make sure to say bye if you're leaving." With that, he picked up a nearby spade and cheerfully waved as he exited.

"It's okay," Neville said. "You don't have to if it's—"

"No," Ron said heavily. "No, it's okay. It's not even that big a deal anymore."

Harry leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling as Ron began to tell the story that he'd heard so many times before. So many times in fact, he himself felt as if he could give an accurate account of the events that transpired over the course of the end of Ron and Hermione's relationship. Of course, the story was slightly different whether you heard it from Hermione or from Ron, but he had managed to cut through the heart of both of their versions to get to the truth eventually. The truth came with far more back story than either Ron or Hermione ever let on.

After Fred Weasley had died, George was left not only without a twin brother, but without a partner. Without the other half to a business that the two of them had started from scratch. He had taken the death of Fred harder than any of the others, and in the weeks and months following his brother's death, he ended up having—what many considered—to be a breakdown. As a result, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had also begun to suffer at great lengths because of George's lack of attention to it. He didn't seem to care. He felt he just couldn't do it without Fred.

It was Ron and Hermione who felt that what George needed was someone to help him get not only himself back on track, but his business as well. It was Ron, with the help of Lee Jordan, who began to cover the slack that George couldn't handle, and it was Ron who went in and made sure the shop was open for business everyday so as to not let Fred's dream die along with him. Ron never seemed to mind putting his dreams of becoming an Auror on the backburner for a bit. After all, he had just experienced the battle of a lifetime and almost felt as if working at the joke shop for a year would be an enjoyable break. Plus, he was helping his brother in his time of need and, after a bit of coaxing, George did come around. He eventually fell back into a lot of his old habits, even though he was never quite the same George that he used to be without his brother by his side.

The problems for Ron started when his temporary position suddenly started to become anything but that. The after-war business that the joke shop ended up receiving took off in a way that none of them could have anticipated. More staff was needed to cover the influx of people, and an entire new location was constructed in Hogsmeade to meet the demands of crowds. Money began pouring in left and right, and for Ron, who had grown up with little to no money his entire life, it was all he could have ever dreamed of. He knew it was far more money than he would have ever made as an Auror; he knew that if he kept this up, he could get him all the things he'd ever wanted in life.

Yet, it wasn't that easy. The money was there, but so were the long hours and the resentment of doing a job that he didn't enjoy. He and Hermione were both working long and late hours at their respective jobs—she spent her time peddling new reforms for werewolf employment— and the lack of contact and time together soon wore on them both. They began to argue about never seeing each other, and decided that a fix to this problem would be to move in together.

This solution worked for about a year. Ron and Hermione did grow closer and happier as they saw each other more and more. However, Ron's depression from working a job that made him miserable was starting to become more evident as time wore on. He was surrounded by people who loved and excelled at their jobs: Hermione in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Ginny in Quidditch, George as an entrepreneur, and then Harry as an Auror—the later striking him the hardest, since Harry was living the life that Ron wanted for himself.

As much as Ron wanted to quit the store, he was terrified of the thought of being poor again. It was something that haunted him. He'd gotten himself out and he refused to let himself be dragged back down. He'd already saved enough money to buy a place to live, and felt that if he stayed on track, he could easily support Hermione in a life she deserved. In fact, with the income the two of them brought in together, they were already making more money than most people double their ages were; he didn't want to lose that. He wanted to make sure that he and Hermione could have whatever they wanted one day. If it took a few years of backbreaking work at a job he hated, it would be worth it.

However, no matter how much he told himself this, he couldn't stage off the bitterness and resentment of not doing what he wanted to do while everyone around him was. Ron himself didn't realize how much he had started to complain or snap at people for random things until Hermione confronted him one day. When he did confess his fears to her, she didn't seem to feel it was an issue that wasn't solvable. She felt he should just quit the store and become an Auror like he wanted to, and insisted to him it wasn't hard. She, however, didn't seem to understand how afraid he was to quit and lose everything, and often told him he was worrying too much when he mentioned it. Of course, this made Ron feel worse. It only caused the strain on their relationship to grow even larger.

The nagging on Hermione's part and the complaining on Ron's part got to be too much for the both of them. For a two month period, they both grew distant and became so on edge that they would fight about the dumbest of things. It got to the point where work soon became a refuge for the both of them and, eventually, it was Ron who said he couldn't take the strain anymore.

"I don't remember what exactly I thought would come from that conversation," Ron said several minutes later as he finished telling Neville his version of the story. "But I didn't mean that I wanted to split up. That's the way she took it, though. And then the next thing I know she was saying that this was something we both needed to do for ourselves."

Harry let his chair drop back to the ground. In Hermione's version, it was Ron who said that he was the one who wanted to split up. It was the one part of the story that he hadn't managed to truly figure out since they both always contended that it was the other who wanted the breakup.

"So, to make an already long story longer," Ron said casually as he shrugged his shoulders. "I moved out and moved in with George for a bit. After about a month on my own, I realized that without Hermione, I didn't see the point in sticking it out at the shop. I'd saved a bunch and the money just didn't seem as important anymore. So, I quit. I went straight to Harry and he helped me get accepted into the department, and helped push me through training rather quickly. I finished it while I was in Paris…" He paused. "And now I'm here."

"Wow," Neville said. "That's involved."

"You asked for it," he said as he cracked his knuckles. "It's weird, I feel like I've told that story to so many people and yet that's the first time I've told it in forever and not felt strange about it."

"Is strange how sometimes time heals things, isn't it?" Harry joked.

"Yeah," Ron said as he began to stare out the window. "I suppose it is."