A/N: WOW!! An even longer chapter! I am surprised at myself for not getting bored with this… Though I'm a bit worried you are. This story's not getting very many reviews, favorites, subscriptions, or hits, so I greatly appreciate those of you who have helped me out. I PROMISE this story will get a lot more interesting eventually.

Ron woke up the next morning in his bed, though he didn't remember ever taking himself there: He supposed his mother had levitated him up the stairs.

He folded his arms behind his head, and breathed deeply. Somehow, today, the decision to divorce Lavender felt more life changing than it had yesterday. It hit him as he lay there, smelling eggs from the kitchen and the scent of moving life out the window, that he might never be the same. Divorce changed people. But he also didn't feel nervous at all: as if all his overwhelming stress and anger had disappeared, as a sign to him that he was making the right choice.

And so with that in mind, he dressed and went down stairs.

His mother put a large, hot plate of eggs in front of him on the table, and he smiled at her as he downed his orange juice in one gulp. When he finished eating, he asked his mother where Harry was: Since Harry worked for the ministry, he would be the person to ask about divorce papers and such. Ron had decided to move on right away.

"He and Ginny went home very late last night, but I imagine he's at work right now." She didn't ask him why he needed to know, but hummed to herself while she flipped some eggs on her pan.

Ron nodded to himself, and drummed his fingers on the table for a moment, before standing up and crossing to his mother. He kissed her on the cheek, and then he headed out the door.

He apparated straight to the Ministry, and then he walked, very deliberately, across the crowded Atrium. Candles hung, without support, above him, even in the early morning and the green fire from many hearths along the wallslit up the room even further A few people recognized him as Ron Weasley from The War, and tried to attract his attention, but he ignored them: The more he thought about it, and the longer he waited, the quicker he wanted to start the whole divorce process right away. Just walking across the Atrium felt like a waste of his precious time, and he wished he could apparate straight into Harry's office, but he knew there were enchantments to stop him from doing so.

He squeezed himself into an elevator, beside a few disgruntled looking witches, and a Wizard with a very long, purple nose carrying a golden egg, right before the door closed. The calming voice of a woman, one Ron had grown quite accustomed to over the years, announced that they were on the fifth floor soon after, and Ron stepped out of the elevator. He went straight down the hall, and was about to knock on Harry's door when it opened: and out stepped Draco Malfoy, the very last person Ron wanted, or expected, to see.

Malfoy seemed to asses Ron for a moment, before he snorted and tried to walk away. Ron was not going to let him escape so easily though, and he felt like he had to say something to prove himself. With a flick of his wand, silver ropes tied Malfoy's legs together, and he fell, flat on his face, with a loud clatter. Ron turned him over, and looking him straight in the eye, he said, "Don't think you've done anything to get back at me, Malfoy. You've only made me realize what I've been putting myself through these past two years, and you can have her." He paused for a moment, wondering if he should actually thank the Ferret, but he decided it was pointless.

He flicked his wrist again, and the ropes around Malfoy disappeared. He stepped over the threshold, and closed the door to Harry's office quickly.

Harry looked up from his desk. "Hey," he said. Ron watched, amused, as Harry shook his head and chuckled a little: Clearly he was laughing at Ron's antics with Malfoy.

"What are you doing working with the slime-ball?" Ron asked him.

"Well," said Harry, "Since I'm the Head of the Auror Department and the slime-ball, as you put it, is the head of one of my most successful Auror teams, we sort of have to work together." He gave Ron a look that Ron couldn't help but laugh at.

"So," Harry said, looking back down at a pamphlet on his desk, "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you knew where I should start with the divorce. You know, who I should talk to fist and where I can get the papers."

Harry looked up from his desk. "Wow. You're really sure about this aren't you?"

Ron didn't have to think about it. He nodded and said, "So sure."

Harry smiled at him: "I'm proud of you," he said. "But I honestly don't know anything about divorce. And I'm not sure what department you could look in…" He paused for a moment, and looked out the window, before he turned back to Ron with a suspicious looking grin on his face. "You could, I suppose, talk to Hermione about it… She's working on getting House Elves the right to marry… and the two sort of come hand in hand."

Ron couldn't help but hear the double meaning in Harry's words: It was as if Harry was implying that not only marriage and divorce came hand in hand, but that his divorce and Hermione did. But he shrugged it off, and thanked Harry for his advice, before heading out of his office.

He stepped back into the elevator, and went down to the atrium, where he asked the receptionist where he could find Hermione Granger. She directed him to the seventh floor, and Ron went straight back into the elevator again.

He arrived on the seventh floor, and found Hermione's door at the far end of the hall. He paused for a moment, the first time that day, before he knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Ron opened the door, and walked slowly inside. The room was brightly lit but the windows were closed; Hermione had her feet up on her desk in front of her, a long sheet of parchment, trailing onto the floor, in her hand. She didn't look up from her parchment until Ron cleared his throat and then she gasped when she saw him.

"Oh… Ronald! Erm… What are you doing here?" She tucked a thick strand of her hair behind her ear, and Ron saw, out of the corner of his eye, that she pushed a picture frame face-down onto her desk, very discreetly.

He looked back up at her deep brown eyes, and tried to smile, but found that his skin wouldn't stretch far enough. "I was wondering if you knew… where I should start with my divorce."

Hermione turned a little red, and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Oh," she said, "We'll I hardly think I'm the one to talk to about that. I'm just working for the elves."

"I know," Ron said, "But Harry said you might know since you're trying to get House Elves the right to marry."

Hermione looked up from the bottom of her shirt. "You make it sound even more pathetic than it is," she said. Ron didn't know what to say to that, so he just watched her. She smiled wanly at him, before continuing, "I guess I can help you a little bit. I have some papers here," she said, rifling through a drawer open in her desk. "Erm… You should talk to Marcus Crull in the Department of Wizard Rights. He can get you all the right papers and… set you up with a lawyer."

She crossed out from behind her desk and stood in front of him. He realized she was still very short compared to him: The top of her head barely reached his chin. 'I could come with you to his office," she said. "I mean… I should look into the whole process myself."

He nodded, and headed out of the door. Hermione came out with a purple bag on her shoulder, over a black coat, and all the colors made her face look very bright. "Well, lead the way," he said and she walked down the hall before holding the elevator open for him.

They rode downstairs in silence.

"Well, that's the last page." Hermione said, smiling at Ron over a pile of forms as tall as her arm was long.

Ron smiled back: They had been working on these files since that morning, and it was now (Ron glanced at the clock on the wall) three in the afternoon. They'd been there at least eight hours, and Ron was exhausted, but now all there was left to do was get Lavender to sign the papers. He wondered what her reaction would be, and if she would have Malfoy with her at the time. Ron surely hoped not.

He leaned back in his chair, and watched Hermione, whose upper torso had disappeared behind her desk: He could tell by the sound of her hands that she was rummaging in her bag. Her back curved elegantly and her hair, he realized, almost reached her lower back.

"You grew your hair out," Ron said pointedly. Hermione pulled up from behind her desk, looking surprised that Ron had noticed, but she recovered and nodded. "It doesn't get as messy as it does shorter," she said, and then she picked her bag up from beside her.

"Do you want to go get some tea?" she asked him.

Ron thought about for a moment, and decided he could use a little caffeine, so he agreed.

They left her office again, and Hermione took his hand outside the Atrium and apparated them away. They landed in Hogsmeade and Ron felt apprehensive for a moment. "We're not going to Madame Pudifutt's are we?"

Hermione let go of his hand, and said, "Of course not. That place nauseates me. My ex-boy… Erm, never mind. There's a new place next to the Post Office and it's quite good."

And then she lead the way. He opened the door for her to a warm tea shop: There was a fire roaring in the center of the nearest wall, and a bar set up in the corner. The chairs were covered in shiny, red velvet and the room was lit moderately darkly.

They sat themselves down at a table near the fire, and a waiter came and asked for their order. "I'll have black tea," Hermione said, giving the waiter her menu. Ron ordered the same, before slumping back in his chair. Hermione appraised him, before turning to stare deeply at the fire. The flames made her eyes shine, and a bracelet on her arm sent shimmers onto an empty glass on a nearby table.

"So," Ron said, trying to start some conversation, "You've been working for the Elves Rights… all this time?"

"All this time?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow at him. But she continued on, saying, "I've been working in the Department for the Rights of Magical Creatures at least 5 years. I started out working for all the underprivileged creatures but I decided I couldn't make too much of a difference working on such a broad scale. So I decided, in honor of S-P-E-W," she smiled at him, "that I would continue with the elves. It's a hard job, because there's still so much prejudice out there from Jack-Asses like Lucius Malfoy, but I'm not giving up."

Ron was surprised she had so blatantly cursed someone, but found he was impressed. He struggled with what to say for a moment, before saying, "Impressive. It sounds like your living up to your potential."

Hermione tilted her head to the right. She frowned and asked him, "What potential?"

Ron was even more shocked. "Wh- What potential? Hermione, you can't be serious? Do you honestly not know how smart you were at Hogwarts? And, obviously, still are? I mean, honestly, you cannot be so modest about that."

Hermione blushed, "Well… Thank you, Ron."

He nodded at her, and the waiter brought their tea to them. "Let me know if you need anything else," she said, before walking away.

Hermione thanked her quietly before sipping her tea daintily. Ron grabbed a large container of sugar off of the table, and poured some into his tea. He sipped it, and grimaced, before adding more sugar and then some cream from a silver container. Hermione continued to drink her plain tea, and Ron asked her, "Don't you want some sugar, or cream?"

She shook her head and said, "I like it plain, like a lot of things."

He nodded, and finished the rest of his tea very quickly. Hermione continued to sip slowly and Ron sat in silence for some while she finished it.

Then they began the polite chatter again, and Hermione asked him, "What about your work?"

He frowned, looking down at the dregs in his cup, which reminded him of Third year at Hogwarts, and the fight they'd had about their pets. But he looked back up and said, "I worked at a small Quidittch supplies manufacturer for the past three years. Lavender… well, she pressured me to get that job and I never really liked it. I was bored and…. Well, I'd much rather be using Quidittch supplies than making them. It made decent money though."

"Sounds like you didn't live up to your potential."

Ron considered that for a moment before he raised his cup to her. "I sure do hope so," he said. "But I'm sure that divorcing Lavender is the start of a new lifestyle for me."

Hermione appraised him for a moment, before she raised her cup and clincked it against his. "To divorcing Lavender," she said, looking him straight in the eye. Ron had to resist the urge to look away, because he found her statement a little sad and awkward, but he didn't let his eyes wander. "To divorcing Lavender," he said.

And so began Ron's new lifestyle.

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