A/N:

I'm adding to the one shot and making it a story. I don't know if I can technically do this because it's part of a one shot community but I loved this one shot so much that I decided I should continue it.

Rules of Romance .02

Unlike the rest of the scantily clad tramps that ran around this bar, she was reserved. The trashy atmosphere clashed with her navy pencil skirt and red blazer. It was evident to everyone around her that she clearly didn't belong in a place like this. Even she knew it.

However, it didn't stop her from sitting at a pub table while she pushed around the ice in her previously watered down cocktail. She couldn't imagine why a person of business would want to meet her here but she has never denied a fan the chance to tell their story.

It had been months since Hermione Granger was granted the title of columnist at The Daily Prophet. It had been years since she had started working there and now that she was the ripe age of 26, she couldn't believe she was sitting here in a place that could very well be shut down tomorrow. Of course, that's just based on hygiene alone. Then again, she was a romance columnist and not a bar reviewer.

Regardless, she had been sitting there for nearly half an hour before she decided to give up. The moment she started packing her bags, she was stopped by the person who had written her.

"I should have known," she said, sarcastically.

"I'm glad you came," Ron answered but just loud enough so he could be heard over the music.

"In a way I knew because of that chicken scratch you call handwriting,"

Hermione took out her journal, along with her favorite quill, and opened up to a fresh page of parchment.

"I suppose you wrote to me so that you could have a story of you and Lavender in the next edition of paper?" Hermione asked, putting on her best fake smile.

They had not gotten along since the split and the moment that Ron cheated on her made everything so much clearer for her. She had become preoccupied with the ridiculousness that comes with love. Since she had been obsessed with knowing all there was to know about love, she had become blind to the real matter at hand; adultery.

She tried to be perfect for Ron only to be shut down like The Three Broomsticks. That was a sad day.

"Actually, I came to tell you that we've...split up," Ron said the last part so quietly that Hermione almost swore she didn't hear it correctly.

Of course, she had heard it the way he said it but she wished she had missed it. The undeniable pain in his eyes as he talked about it did nothing to Hermione. In fact, she didn't care.

"What are you wanting me to do about it?" Hermione questioned, uninterested.

"Oh, come on, are you not the new columnist that gives romance advice?" Ron joked.

"What can I say? Lavender is a slut and you are an idiot," Hermione mocked and slammed her journal shut.

"Come on, Hermione. You're making this really hard to ask," Ron groaned.

Hermione just threw her things in the bottom of her bag and stood up straight.

"I can only assume that Harry told you I was writing for the Daily Prophet," Hermione said simply.

"I was wondering who this bitter female, Helen Rose, was and what she had against the bloke she lashed out at. However, when Harry told me I understood it…Hermione, I'm s-"

"Don't start! Have a nice life, Ronald,"

"But I was hoping that…we might could give it another go?" Ron asked, hopeful.

"You've got to be joking," Hermione stated.

She could see that he was definitely not joking and that he was still waiting for a response. Hermione just started laughing and before long it turned into an uproar that even the music couldn't drown out.

"Oh boy, do you not know me at all?" Hermione wondered out loud, "I'm not some trollop that you can dump and pick up whenever you feel like it. I'm not that kind of girl. You should know that more than anyone," she huffed, turning towards the exit and leaving him in his own thoughts.

She just wished she'd had her camera.

-XOX-

"Hermione, delivery for you!" Claudia, her secretary, had sent an intercom bubble to Hermione's office.

Hermione cleaned off a spot on her desk that she had filled with paperwork. She had tried to keep busy since her lunch meeting with Ron and she was far too frustrated to concentrate. That is, until another large bag of letters found their way onto her desk along with less than a dozen red roses. A sudden sense of dread filled her stomach.

She hoped that Ron wasn't going to resort to sending flowers but the note hanging off the flowers told her that he had. She handed them back to Claudia and told her that she should have flowers for her own desk. Besides, Hermione was still in love with the vibrantly pink Hydrangeas sitting in the corner of the room. The smell of them couldn't be masked and they added such a wonderful light to her office.

Hermione looked down at her schedule and panicked.

"Claudia, I have a meeting in 3 minutes?!" Hermione shouted, looking for a fresh stack of parchment.

"Yes. It seems that they are adding someone to the staff. It's more of just a welcome, not a meeting," she answered.

Hermione ran down the hallway to the meeting room where everyone was already seated. She made several memos to herself the moment she sat down: 1. Keep fresh parchment on hand and 2. Never wear heels to work.

"Is everyone here?" Mr. Cuffe questioned the room.

"I don't see Doge anywhere," Rita remarked, kissing ass as she usually did.

"Then he's fired!" Cuffe announced.

Rita looked particularly proud of herself as she peered around the table. She often took the time to make herself seem more dominant over the other journalists. She liked to prove that she still had power but really she was just creating more enemies for herself.

"Now, on with the rest of our business. I have a quick announcement about someone that I've just hired to take a spot within this wonderful team of writers,"

Hermione held the urge to roll her eyes. Cuffe never meant anything he said so if he said they were good writer, he was lying. He must really be trying to impress whoever is getting added to the Prophet.

"Miss Granger, you do such a marvelous job on the column with your romance advice. Helen Rose has sold a great deal of copies since the day we announced that You-Know-Who was gone forever. Hell, we've sold more prophets since the day Rita was introduced,"

Rita scowled at Hermione from across the table but Hermione didn't really care that much. Rita had been gunning for her since the day she arrived in the employment office.

"However, I'm wondering how many more copies we would sell if you had a counterpart. You know, someone who believes the opposite of what you believe,"

"I'm sorry?" Hermione questioned, pretending she hadn't heard that.

"Miss Granger, please meet your new partner, Draco Malfoy,"

Hermione didn't even turn around. She thought that maybe if she didn't see him that it wouldn't be true. The unfortunate part is that no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, it was true.

"Mr. Cuffe, it is a pleasure to join this group of talented writers," Draco thanked from the doorway.

Hermione gritted her teeth as her quill shook in her hands. There was no way this could be happening. NO WAY!

"Well, meeting adjourned. We will have a brainstorm meeting tomorrow at nine sharp. Off you go!"

Hermione hurried out of the meeting room as she purposefully slammed her shoulder into Draco Malfoy.

She had to have at least some satisfaction out of today.

-XOX-