A/N:J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and all related plot and characters.

In case anyone couldn't tell, the first chapter was pretty much an occurrence that happened to me and I was writing therapeutically. Now, I'm continuing. Nothing from the about the last fourth of the first chapter on is related to real life or what I wish would have happened or anything like that. I found that I really couldn't leave a Ron/Hermione break up. I kept writing different scenarios in my head, and this is one of them. I'll hopefully be continuing with chapter three soon. Sorry for the lack of depth in the OC's, I'm really bad at coming up with them.

Hermione POV:

Flashback:

"Hermione, I don't think you're right. I don't think there's someone out there to make both of us happier. But if I- I mean if this isn't what's going to make you happiest, I'm not going to beg you to stay."

I had my hand on the door handle. I couldn't even look at him. "Good-bye, Ron. You're wrong. I know you'll find her. I know you will." And with that, I yanked the door open, shut it behind me and disapparated. Back in my apartment, I let the tears flow and sank to the floor. He was free and so was I. But that pain that I saw in his eyes, it broke my heart to be the cause of it.

"Please, Ron, you have to move on." No one was there to hear me and in the emptiness of my flat, the words seemed to hang in the air.

End flashback:

Hermione stared at the mirror. She'd never really enjoyed her reflection, with the possible exception of the Yule Ball, but that was a bust of a night. She'd learned how to style her hair so it was more manageable, but this outfit she was wearing just didn't seem her. Several friends from work were hitting the pubs tonight and had invited her along.

One of her friends in particular had decided that Hermione had been single too long and tonight was the night to fix that. It was true that since she and Ron had split up a few years ago, she had been with few men. It wasn't that she wasn't asked out. She had plenty of offers, some of them she accepted, some she didn't, but none of them measured up. If she was completely honest with herself, none of them was the man she had left Ron to find.

One man who she had the longest, although still admittedly, short, relationship with, was McLaggen. He'd grown up little since Hogwarts. He was enough to make her happy, but he still had his ego. His whole idea that he was the greatest gift to women ever created was ultimately their undoing after she had denied him sex after little more than a few months of dating. His poor pride couldn't take it and he broke up with her.

Hermione had kept up with Ron through Harry and Ginny. Neither one of them had been happy about the break up, but they had both chosen not to take sides. Although she did hear from them, at the beginning at least, that Ron was going through a tough time. The fact that she was with Cormac had apparently made Ron and a bottle of firewhiskey new best friends. Of course this troubled her, but once she had heard that he'd stopped going on drinking binges, after she and McLaggen had split, the guilt eased, somewhat.

That guilt was never going to go away. She broke up with him with the best of intentions. That didn't make knowing Ron was in pain and that she was the sole cause of it any easier. Ironically, he had found someone. Ginny had let slip the last time that the two had seen each other, that Ron was seeing someone new. While her longest relationship, if you wanted to call it that, had been with a fabulous egotist, Ron seemed to have found a genuinely nice girl.

"So much for never looking for anyone else." Hermione thought to herself. The news had made her quite happy, with a very slight pang of jealousy. She truly wanted the best for him and she sincerely hoped he had found it in this girl.

A sharp rap on the door of her flat brought her out of her musings and back to the present problem of her appearance. She went to open the door and found her co-worker, Autumn, standing there.

"Ahh! You look great, Hermione! We'll help you land a guy tonight for sure!"

Autumn's zeal was contagious, but Hermione wasn't sure, showing this much skin wasn't a common occurrence for her. Not that the outfit was trashy, it just showed a little more cleavage than what she was usually comfortable wearing. "Are you sure? It's not too- "

"No! It's perfect. Don't you dare go change. Come on, let's head out!" With that, Hermione headed out the door and locked up her flat.

When they reached the pub where they were meeting up with other friends, she and Autumn joined the laughing group at a table. Music was playing and the dance floor looked enticing. As she and her friends scanned the room, looking for cute guys to ask to the dance floor, Hermione's gaze landed on a very familiar face.

Ron Weasley had just walked up to the bar.

Ron PoV:

"Do we have to go to this place tonight?" Ron Weasley was whining, but he didn't care. He wasn't one for pubs or dancing. He was just fine with a night at home with his girlfriend.

"Yes, Ron, we do. We rarely go out and most nights just stay in and watch a movie. We're going." He shook his head at his girlfriend of 8 months, Janelle, and buttoned up his shirt. He could always pull out his wand and make her think that they had already gone out. No. It wasn't right. Just because he was a wizard dating a muggle didn't give him license to use magic on her. Janelle didn't even know magic existed. He would cross that bridge if he came to it.

Janelle walked out of the bathroom looking amazing. She had on a light blue dress and had her hair pulled back and in curls. A sharp pang hit his chest. She rarely did her hair like this, but whenever she did, it reminded him of Hermione. Janelle's usually stick straight hair was similar in color, but only when she took a curling iron to it did the resemblance affect him.

Three years later and he still wasn't over her. He had spent a fair bit of time staring at the bottom of various bottles. When that hadn't helped, he got up and did something with his life. He kept going to work, being an auror hadn't exactly been a snap while constantly hung over, so his job improved once he had cleaned himself up. While out on a mission, he had run into Janelle. After a few months of trading messages on the internet (a fascinating muggle communication device that he found much superior to owls) and some dates, they became "Official."

She had gotten him to open up to her. They had even talked about Hermione. Janelle also talked about a guy from her past. They were both healing and they were there to help each other. What he didn't share with her, though, was when she did things that were so very Hermione-like. He figured he would get over her with more time. Eventually.

When they pulled up at the pub, he turned to her and said, "You know I don't dance. I can stand at the bar and watch you, though."

"Please? Please, Ron, just one dance and then I'll let you stand at the bar and brood all night if you like!" She was giving him a puppy-dog pout.

"One dance. Just one"

"Yay! Thank you!" she squealed and practically dragged him to the dance floor. After the one dance was over he walked over to the bar and ordered a drink. He really could watch her dance all night. She loved it and it made her face light up. However, watching her spin around on the dance floor did bring up some memories of watching Hermione dance with Krum at the Yule Ball. At least Janelle wasn't dancing with anyone.

As he sat at the bar, he scanned the room. His eyes caught a very familiar pair staring back at him.

Hermione Granger was looking at him.

Hermione PoV:

"I'll be right back." Hermione didn't even wait to hear her friends' reactions as she got up and made a beeline for where Ron sat. When they had locked eyes, he downed his drink as if it was a shot, which it most definitely was not. For some reason, she felt the need to go talk to him.

"Hey, Ron. How are you?"

He eyed her over the rim of his now empty glass. The last time they had seen each other had been when she had torn his heart out of his chest, and blasted it to pieces. Now she had the audacity to come over and ask how he is doing? "Umm, I'm fine, Hermione, really fine. You?" He signaled the bartender for another drink.

"Oh, I'm fine, just out with some friends tonight." As she gestured back at the table she had just left.

"I'm here with my girlfriend." Ron blurted it out. He didn't know why he had just said it like that. He really wanted her to know. He wasn't just at some random pub drinking himself into oblivion.

"I kind figured you would be. Ginny told me you were seeing someone. Where is she? It would be lovely to meet her."

"She's out on the dance floor. She loves to dance, I'll try to get her attention between songs. Why did you come over here, Hermione? We didn't exactly leave things on the best terms the last time we talked." It was true, they hadn't. Both of them had been crying, if she remembered correctly.

"Yeah, but, we've both moved on. We were friends before we ever dated. And I've heard about how happy she makes you. I was hoping we could at least be amicable toward each other." He let out a sigh.

"No, Hermione, I'm not sure we can be. Oh, this is Janelle. Janelle, this is, uh, Hermione."

"Oh! Hermione! I've heard so much about you! It's lovely to meet you, finally." She seemed genuinely happy and even hugged Hermione.

"It's lovely to meet you too. Although, I have to admit that I'm not sure you hearing about me is a good thing. I'm not sure how positive it would have all been." Hermione tried to put on a smile, but this girl's perkiness reminded her of Lavender's. What was Ron doing with a girl like this?

"Oh, well, you know… but I've heard from Harry and Ginny too. It's fine." Janelle glanced between Ron's expression and Hermione's. "I, umm, I'll just head back to the dance floor now. It really was lovely meeting you." With that she flounced back to the thrumming music.

"Well, she certainly is… enthusiastic."

"Don't start, 'Mione. She put me back together where you left me broken." He took a drink from his refilled drink and glared at her as if daring her to contradict what he said.

"I know. And I'll forever be grateful to her for that. I'll always feel guilty for hurting you like that, Ron, you have to know that. Did I mention I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, only about ten times that day. I know you are, Hermione, but feeling guilty and sorry doesn't change what happened." His eyes were staring in the direction of the dance floor, but not quite at Janelle. It seemed like he was focused on a memory and trying to make it look like he was focused on his girlfriend. "She's great, Hermione, really. Her enthusiasm, as you put it, offsets my moodiness when I don't feel like doing anything. She's smart, not like you, of course, but I can almost always understand her." He chuckled at that and so did she, it was so like Ron. "And she's bloody beautiful."

Tears had begun to form in Hermione's eyes and she blinked them back. This was exactly why she had broken up with him. This was the happiness that she had wanted to set him free for. She had no right to be upset at all. Even though the way he was talking about Janelle was so similar to the way he had once talked about her. "I'm so happy for you, Ron. She sounds perfect."

"No, she's great, Hermione. But there's one thing stopping her from being perfect." He took a deep breath and set down his glass.

"She's not you."