Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

A/N: So, this is a re-write of my story A Different Life. I'm not sure why I have decided to re-write my original fic, but I know that I have read this story many times throughout the years and there are a lot of parts of it that seem to drag. Or worse, seemed to be out of place for the flow of the story. The biggest issue I think I had was the war backstories, I seemed to want to show how this world was different than canon and that took up a lot of space, especially in the middle of the story (and there's a big chuck of that part that has nothing to do with Ron and Hermione). When I get to that part of the story, I think I'll just post a different fic with that material so the information will still be there if people want to read it, but it won't slow down the pace of this story.

The other hope is that I have improved my writing skills since I started. I'm still my own beta, so I'm sure there are plenty of mistakes, but I have used the reader feature on my computer, so I was able to hear some of the errors I made. I've always had this theory that I'm dyslexic when it comes to writing, I often get my m's and b's, (and d's and t's) mixed up. So sometimes I would write make instead of back. I did this with both handwriting and typing so I'm sure it's real. A lot of times when I re-read my own work, I can't spot these errors because I'm reading what I think is there, not the actual words. Then there was my bad spelling. I have always been a bad speller and there are times when I wasn't even close to the word that I was trying to spell, so when I used spell check, I wasn't choosing the right word. I've gotten better at looking up the words I spelled wrong to make sure it means what I think it means.

The last reason I'm doing this, is I'm starting to get more into writing again and I'm using this as an exercise to get back into the swing of things. I'm finding as I write these chapters (the ones I've gotten to at least) that I'm trying to put in more details and make the dialogue clearer. Hopefully, that will make this story more enjoyable to read, and easier to understand. Well, anyways I hope you like this fic.

On another note. I'm not really sure how warnings work, or if this story even needs a warning, but here it goes, anyways. I don't think I go into too much detail about any of these things but there are mentions of the wizarding war, of people dying in the past, and of people being depressed about that on Ron's side. On Hermione's, mentions of high anxiety issues, relationship issues (both physical and emotional), parent issues and probably more that I can't think of.

Chapter One

The Meeting

It had been another long day. Another long and pointless day, he thought bitterly as he walked along the streets, his frustration with his work occupying his mind. He had been working hard for the last two years and for the most part his job was very satisfying. However, that wasn't the case today, because today he didn't have anything to do. There were no new cases, or any kind of emergency for him to investigate, so all he was left to do was busy work. For the third day in a row! He hated busy work, because it left him a lot of time to think, and he didn't want to do that. He had enough time to think when he was at home, and he didn't need that while he worked too.

That was why he had decided to go somewhere that night, and he headed for the Muggles streets because he wanted to go somewhere that no one would know him, for you see, Ronald Weasley was quite famous in his community. He did have a big hand in saving the wizarding world, after all. Most of the time he wasn't bothered by his fame, though it wasn't as glorious or as enjoyable as he had imagined it would be when he was younger. However, on a day like this, he just wanted to be left alone. If he went to any of his usual places, he would have to plaster a fake smile on his face so all the people could see their happy little hero, and he just didn't have the energy for that.

As he walked past the Muggle pub, he was tempted to go inside, but he didn't want to fall back on bad habits. After everything that happened, he had found that he enjoyed drinking in pubs, and it didn't matter if it was a wizard or Muggle one, both experiences were fun. Still, it was about a year ago that he realized that he was going out a little too often, and all he was really doing was trying to drown his sorrows. He could see that his family was starting to get concerned for him, but it was the look in his best friend's eyes that really got to him (his friend couldn't take any more sorrow in his life).

So, he continued walking until he found a quaint little coffee shop, where he was able to get a seat in the corner. He was glad that the shop had a few other people in it, but it wasn't too busy, as a peaceful hum filled the place. Somehow, it helped being surrounded by all these people but having no need to talk to anyone. However, he knew that this peace wasn't going to last long, so he decided to take out some of his paperwork he hadn't finished yet, hoping that the new scenery would make it less tedious (as if that was possible).

"Hello, what can I get you?" a girl's voice asked a few minutes later.

"Just a coffee," he ordered, not even bothering to look up from his parchment (that was charmed to look like regular paper to Muggles). He was pretty sure he heard the waitress huff as she walked away but didn't put much thought into that as he tried to make sense of what he was reading.

O

She was having a very long day. It started with her alarm ringing at six in the morning. It was funny how she always felt like she was late when it was her alarm that woke her instead of rising naturally, even when the difference in time was no more than a few minutes. Still, it was days like this that she wished she didn't schedule all morning classes as she hurriedly got ready. To make matters worse, she remembered that she had agreed to take an extra shift at the coffee shop starting at two. Now, instead of her day ending with her last class at one, she was going to have to rush to the shop and work until closing.

The rest of her day was going just about as good as it started. It wasn't bad per se, but everything seemed to be just a little off. It started as soon as she got to her first class and the Professor announced that he had been delayed in grading their last term paper and they wouldn't get it back until the next class. This frustrated her, she had always (since her first assignment at school) worried about how she had done, which was only relieved once she got her results back. Now she would have to wait another five days!

Her next class had been fine until the Professor gave them a two-page paper assignment due the following Wednesday. The assignment itself was something she was looking forward to, she always enjoyed writing essays. However, when the Professor had added 'and I mean two pages, not ten' he smiled at her, and she could feel her face start to heat up. It was true that she did tend to write more than she was supposed to, but it was hard to boil down the essential qualities of a subject, as everything seemed to be important to her. She wasn't too embarrassed by her professor's words; he was one of her favorite teachers and she knew he was just teasing her. However, when she heard the muttering, she could almost feel the glares the rest of her classmates were giving her.

At the time, she was glad she was in a hurry to leave that class so she could get to work, but now that it was almost five, and knowing she still had four more hours to work, she just felt exhausted. Luckily, the shop hadn't been too busy throughout the day, and she was even able to take a break to catch her breath.

"Someone's at your table," her co-worker and friend Jess said, and she looked at the clock realizing that she'd have to get back to work.

Jess was the reason why she still worked at the coffee shop. She didn't really need this job; she has saved most of her earnings for the last three years and she had enough money to get her through her last year of college. However, she enjoyed seeing her friend and she knew that if it wasn't for work that wasn't likely to happen. She has never been very good at making friends, as she had trouble relating to most people and she was happy enough being by herself. However, she had found that she had really like talking with Jess, seeing as the other girl was easygoing, friendly and open. So, she made the effort to keep in touch with her ... by working.

"On it," she said as she got up and walked out of the backroom heading towards the back of the shop where a man was sitting by himself. As she walked, she noticed that the man was tall, it was obvious even though he was sitting down, and he had fiery red hair. Though he didn't seem to be looking at her, she thought that he probably would be quite attractive if she could see his face full on, and immediately she chastised herself for that thought.

"Hello, what can I get you?" she asked trying to make her voice sound cheerful.

"Just a coffee," the man said not even looking at her as he continued reading his strange looking paperwork.

She let out an infuriated sigh and grumbled 'just because you're cute, doesn't mean you can be rude,' under her breath and was immediately angry with herself, for she knew she was overreacting (he wasn't even that rude), and she could guess why she was. And she had sworn to herself that she wasn't going to do this again.

O

Ron really did try to read through his work as he waited for his coffee, but after five minutes of reading the same line, he realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere. It was then that a coffee cup was placed (rather loudly) on the table.

"Here's your coffee," the waitress said, and he could hear the irritation in her voice though he could tell that she was trying to force it to be cheerful.

"Thanks," he said, knowing that he was rude before, his mum probably would have been ashamed (though not surprised) by his behavior. "Sorry about before," he added as he turned to look at her with an apologetic smile.

His breath caught in his throat as their eyes met and it seemed as if his heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, but that still didn't explain why he reacted so strongly. He couldn't explain how just looking at her seemed to make him feel lightheaded. Her brunette hair was wavy, and there was something about the unmanageable curls framing her face that seem to add to her beauty. His eyes traveled to her lips that were nicely shaped, and his mind lingered on things he probably shouldn't be thinking about, so it took him a few seconds to realized that unlike most of the girls he met, she wasn't wearing any makeup. Looking back into her eyes, his breath caught again. It wasn't the fact that they were the most beautiful shade of chocolate brown he had ever seen, no it was the emotions that he was able to read from them that held his attention. He was sure that her eyes were normally filled with warmth and life, though right now they clearly showed her annoyance with him as she scowled.

She narrowed her eyes at him and his smile that he was obviously trying to appease her with, though she couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat as she looked into his deep blue eyes. This is not good, she thought, definitely not good.

"It's all right," she forced herself to say, trying to make her voice sound indifferent.

"I was being rude," he said hoping his voice wasn't as breathless as he felt.

"No more so than most the people that come here," she said, the words coming out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying.

"That's no excuse," he said giving her a genuine smile and she could feel her stomach squirm a little as she stared into his eyes. "How about I buy you a coffee to make up for my rudeness? My name is Ron Weasley, by the way."

"Sorry, but I'm working right now," she said hastily trying to back away.

"That's rude you know," Ron said, trying to stall her as he was kicking himself for coming on a little strong with that offer, he just didn't want her to leave.

"What is?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I introduced myself," he supplied, his smile turning to a smirk, "you could at least have the courtesy to do the same." Ron waited with bated breath as she stared at him incredulously for a second before she shook her head and had to return his smile. I was right, he thought as his own smile widen, she does have warm eyes and a very kind smile.

"You're right," she said sounding bemused. "My name is Hermione Granger."

"Hermione," Ron repeated, it rolled off his tongue well, it was an interesting name … it suited her.

"Yeah, my parents thought it would be amusing to name me after a little-known Shakespearean character," Hermione replied with a laugh before she realized that she was being too honest again … why the hell did I just tell him that?

"Well, it suits you," Ron said hoping that he would get her to smile again.

"Have you heard of it?" Hermione said making a face.

"No," Ron sighed, he hadn't even heard of Shakesaren or whatever she had said. He tried not to grimace as he knew that he was showing his ignorance of Muggle culture and he didn't even get the smile that he was looking for (though he had to admit he enjoyed the face she was making now).

"Good … I really don't want to be like her," Hermione stated.

"I just meant that it was beautiful and interesting, like you," Ron said hardly hearing her reply and then blushed as he realized what he had just said. Merlin that sounded like a line even if it was true.

"Oh," Hermione could feel her face heating up as she could hear the honesty in his words, even if it did sound like he just delivered a line. She couldn't help but feel her insides squirm again, but she forced herself to remember the promise that she made to herself. She had to turn him away now … and fast. However, instead of walking away like she probably should have she said, "You're wasting your time."

"What?" Ron asked confused, not sure what she was talking about but knew he was coming on too strong … again.

"I play for the other team," Hermione said quickly looking away from him, she was a terrible liar, and she couldn't look him in the eyes.

"What? What team?" Ron blinked completely confused … were all Muggles this crazy?

"I'm into girls," Hermione clarified trying not to blush at her blatant lie.

"Oh," Ron bowed his head, great, the first time I felt this alive in months, years really, and it was all for nothing, he thought bitterly. But wait, she was blushing, wasn't she?

Hermione felt relieved that he seemed to accept her excuse, but she also felt more than a little disappointed that he didn't put up a fight. "Well, I've got to go back to work," she mumbled as she started to turn away.

"Are you really?" he asked, and she made the mistake of looking into his eyes again, seeing that they were now narrowed with suspicion, "you know … into girls?"

"No," the answer was out of her mouth before she could think, I know I couldn't lie if I looked into his eyes. "I just swore off guys so the only option I have left are girls."

"I don't think that's how it works," he laughed suddenly feeling giddy.

"I can't believe I just said that!" she groaned shaking her head. "That is no way to discourage you."

"Maybe you don't want to discourage me," his eye's sparkled with his amusement.

"I've got to get back to work," she repeated, feeling that he was probably right and hating that.

"The place is empty," he pointed out.

"No, there's two people in the other corner over there," she said nodding her head towards where she was talking about and as soon as he turned to look in that direction, she quickly left the table.

"Oi!" he exclaimed in exasperation and more than a little amusement.

She couldn't help but laugh at his exclamation, but as she walked through the backroom doors, she was more annoyed with herself than anything else.

"What was that?" Jess asked chuckling and she could tell that her friend had been watching her interaction with Ron and was highly amused by it.

"I don't know," Hermione answered honestly.

"Well, I think you should go for him, he's very cute and obviously into you," Jess said encouragingly.

"Jess …" Hermione groaned in exasperation. "You know why I don't want to …"

"Yeah, I know," Jess interrupted, remembering what Hermione told her about her past relationships, she could see why the other girl wouldn't be keen on receiving too much attention. She looked through the door again to look at the man and she smiled slyly, "well, if you don't want to make a move, I think I might."

"Don't you dare!" Hermione exclaimed immediately without thinking; I really don't seem to have much control over my impulses today. All she knew was that the idea of Jess flirting with Ron, with her natural beauty and easy smile (that guys always seemed to be drooling over) made her stomach clench. There was no way she would be able to compete against her friend.

"Oh, so you do like him," Jess smirked, a little surprised about how vehemently her friend protested the comment. "You shouldn't let your nerves stop you from living a little."

"Oh, never mind," Hermione sighed, it would be better if Jess distracted him, I don't want him anyways. "You should help him next time."

"Hermione …" Jest started to say but the other girl walked away.

O

"No, I'm serious, you do it," Hermione said sternly; she decided that she wasn't going near Ron again and was forcing Jess to ask if he needed anything else.

"Hermione you …" Jess said.

"I've made up my mind," Hermione stated for the umpteenth time.

"Fine!" Jess finally gave in knowing that there was no arguing with the girl when she was being stubborn. She quickly walked to the back corner of the shop towards the man feeling a little annoyed by her friend. She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice as she asked, "excuse me sir, can I get you anything else?"

"Huh?" Ron said looking up at her hopefully only to be disappointed. "Where's Hermione?"

"Hiding from you?" Jess smirked, well Hermione never said I couldn't speak freely.

"Really?" the amusement in Ron's voice was clear to hear as he smiled. "I didn't realize I was so scary."

"Well, you are quite terrifying, but I'll manage," Jess teased lightly, he really was cute and though she knew that she couldn't do anything with him, Hermione would never speak to her again (no matter how much she said it didn't matter to her), that didn't mean she couldn't flirt a little.

"I'm good thanks," Ron replied simply, though he thought this girl might be flirting with him, it didn't matter, he wanted to see Hermione again. "Unless you can convince Hermione to come out here and give me a refill."

"I'll try," Jess smiled and went to the backroom where she could tell Hermione had been watching their conversation. "He really wants you; you know. He refused to be serviced by anyone but you."

"What?" Hermione said distractedly and blushed beet red at the words her friend had used.

"Mind out of the gutter, Granger," Jess laughed, "you know what I meant."

"Yeah," Hermione sighed as she bit her lip, "I just don't know ..."

"He didn't even look at me Hermy," Jess supplied.

"Don't call me that!" Hermione made a face.

"Just talk to the bloke," Jess pressed, "what's the harm in talking to him?"

"Fine, but if something terrible happens I'm blaming you," Hermione huffed and picked up the coffee pot and headed towards Ron.

"So, you're done hiding?" Ron asked once she got to him, a smug smile was on his face.

"Hiding?" Hermione said trying to laugh it off … it didn't work.

"Yeah, your friend said you were hiding," Ron said.

"Did she?" Hermione said now glaring at the window where Jess was looking through a moment ago. "Well, isn't that nice!"

"Very," Ron agreed pleasantly. "Will you join me now?"

"Of course not," Hermione said coldly. "I'm only here to rid you of your hard-earned money and then I'll be gone."

"Oh," was all Ron could say to that.

"You really shouldn't believe everything that you hear," Hermione smile, but looked over to the front doors and sighed, "However, it looks like the rush is about to start … sorry."

"It's all right … I can wait," Ron said.

He did have to wait quite a while, the shop didn't quiet down for the rest of the night, though he was happy to note that Hermione did spend any spare moment she had talking with him.

"We're closing soon," Hermione informed him, it was ten minutes to nine.

"Right," Ron sighed, not pleased that he would have to leave and knowing that he had to see her again. "Can I take you out sometime?"

"Oh," Hermione said surprised by the questioned, even though she probably should have expected this. Or maybe she was more surprised by how much she wanted to say yes … but she couldn't … she wasn't ready to go down this path … she knew where it would lead, and she wasn't ready. "I don't know …"

"Okay," Ron sighed, he was hoping for a yes, but he was trying not to press her too far. Still, he was going to make sure that he would see her again. "When do you work next?"

"Er …" Hermione didn't know how to respond to this.

"I really want to see you again," Ron pressed, "and if it has to be for a few minutes at a time, watching you shell out coffee to people … so be it."

"You're no good," Hermione shook her head, she couldn't seem to refuse his request and that scared her, but still she was excited at just the thought of seeing him again. "I'll be working tomorrow at four to nine."

"Right … I'll be here," Ron smiled.

"Well, you better order more than just a coffee then, if you're going to take up a valuable seat all day," Hermione smiled at him. "My manager won't be pleased with me if I allow you to sit there for so cheap."

"I'll think about it," Ron laughed, "until tomorrow."

A/N: So, there it is, the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. When I originally wrote this story, I included a lot more meetings and interactions in this chapter, but I thought it would be better just having Ron and Hermione's first meeting in this fic. That being the case, I decided I would post the next chapter in a few hours seeing as it was originally supposed to be one chapter. After that, I'll probably post chapters twice a week, on Mondays (starting with the one coming in a few days) and Fridays.