A/N – Welcome to my new reunion style story – A New Chapter. This story has 8 chapters and an epilogue, and updates will be Mondays and Thursdays, except for the epilogue which will be published the same week as the final two chapters. I hope you all enjoy this short story while I try and battle the heat and get some other stories finished and ready for publishing.
Aurors Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were busy doing some paperwork when they received a message asking them to go and see the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Well aware that a summons from the Minister himself meant something important was going on, Harry and Ron set aside their work and made their way to the top floor of the Ministry, where Kingsley's offices were located. Even with the summons only just arriving, the two wizards still had to sit and wait until Kingsley was available to speak with them. Although to be fair to Kingsley, he didn't even keep them waiting for ten minutes before they were ushered into his office.
"Thank you both for coming," Kingsley said as the pair settled themselves in chairs in front of his large desk. "I wish to discuss an upcoming security assignment with you."
Along with their regular roles, the Auror Department also provided security for the Ministry and its officials during special events and trips abroad. Not all Aurors were security trained, but Harry and Ron were, and when they performed security work it usually involved the Minister himself. Therefore, they both suspected that Kingsley had some upcoming event or trip for which they would be required to provide his security.
"Next month, I will be taking a trip to France," Kingsley explained. "It will be a weeklong trip, during which I will be doing my utmost to tighten our international relations with wizarding France. We will be leaving on the Monday, and it will be a full week of meetings and engagements, culminating in a formal dinner on the Saturday evening. We will then be returning home on the Sunday. Can I assume you will both be available for such a trip?"
"Of course," Harry confirmed with a bob of his head. It was a great privilege to provide the Minister's security, and he wasn't about to turn around and refuse to accompany Kingsley to France.
"Ron?" Kingsley questioned, glancing at the redheaded wizard, who seemed to be deep in thought about something.
"Yes, yes, of course," Ron muttered, mainly thanks to a less then subtle dig in his ribs by his best friend.
"Details of the trip will be sent to the security team, and they'll be in touch once they've made the final arrangements," Kingsley said, dismissing the two Aurors.
While the Aurors did the actual security work, a team of dedicated withes and wizards did the background work and they would be the ones ensuring that every detail was in place for Kingsley's trip to France. All Harry and Ron would have to do was stick with him during his trip and make sure that nothing untoward occurred. Kingsley had been the spearhead of a drastic change in Wizarding Britain following the demise of Voldemort and the end of the second war, and while most people admired him and what he'd achieved, there were some witches and wizards out there still opposed to what he stood for, and there had been attempts made on his life before now.
Returning to their shared office, Harry waited until they were alone and the door was shut behind them before checking that Ron was okay. He was well aware of the reason for his best friend's delve into melancholy. The mention of France would no doubt have brought back memories.
"Do you think we'll see her?" Ron asked once he'd assured Harry that he was fine, just a bit shocked at the idea of visiting France.
"It's a possibility, she does work for the French Ministry, and I guess it would make sense to have a British witch who works for the French in on whatever meetings will be taking place," Harry said, knowing exactly who Ron was asking about. The witch Ron was talking about was their old friend, and Ron's former fiancée, Hermione Granger.
"Especially one with a personal connection to the Minister himself," Ron added. "She's bound to be around. We're bound to see her."
"Is that what you want, Ron?" Harry asked. "You and Hermione were over long ago."
"I know," Ron admitted with a sigh. "But even now, I still think about what might have been. I think I still love her, Harry."
"Oh Ron," Harry sighed sadly, feeling for his best friend who was still pining after his ex-fiancée ten years after they'd parted ways. "It's been over a decade since you and Hermione split up, and you haven't set eyes on her for almost that long. There's a pretty good chance she's moved on. In fact, it would be more shocking if she hadn't moved on."
"I know that as well," Ron snorted bitterly. "I don't expect to win her back, Harry. I tried that once and it failed. But maybe seeing her in the flesh, and seeing how she's moved on with her life will help me do the same. Maybe seeing her with someone else will break the spell she still has over me. Maybe it will allow me to put our relationship behind me and let me find someone else to love."
"If that's what you want, then I hope it works out that way," Harry said. "You really do need to let her go, Ron."
"I know I do," Ron admitted with a soft sigh. "But sometimes it's not that easy."
As they settled back down to their paperwork, Hermione was on both of their minds – specifically how she came to be estranged from them. She was now living and working in a foreign country, and neither of them had spoken to her in over ten years.
It had all been so very different directly after the end of the second war. Hermione was still very much a part of their lives back then, in fact she and Ron had become a couple mere days after the final battle and for a while everything was great between them. Things were so good that rather than be separated for months, Hermione decided not to go back to Hogwarts to gain her qualifications and instead she'd spent several months studying at home with the aid of the staff at Hogwarts and when she'd been ready, she'd taken her N.E.W.T.S privately.
The day her results came in, all of which she passed with flying colours and gained some of the best results Hogwarts had ever seen, Ron proposed and an ecstatic Hermione had said yes. The next few months were the best of Ron's life and he could genuinely never remembered a time when he'd been happier. It had felt as though everything had been going his way and he'd been walking on air. But sadly, that feeling hadn't lasted as the excitement of the engagement died down and the practicalities started to take over.
It was when they started to seriously discuss setting a date for the wedding that the issues began as Ron's mother, Molly, had taken that as a sign that it was time for her to share her visions of the life she believed Ron and Hermione should share. However, Molly's visions differed greatly to Hermione's, as while Hermione had envisioned a high flying career in her future, Molly's vision had her in a more traditional role. In fact, Molly seemed eager to convince Hermione that she should live a life similar to the one she had lived, a life which was dedicated to her husband and multiple children.
Although Molly's ideas might not have caused too much trouble if Ron had sided with Hermione when she'd asked for his support. But the picture Molly had painted of his future was a one he had liked the sound of and he'd admitted to Hermione that maybe a life like his parents wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to him. Truth be told, he'd rather liked the idea of a big family with a stay at home wife, where he was the main provider for the family. Not that Hermione agreed and she'd been adamant that while she had every respect for women that chose to be stay at home mothers, it wasn't for her. She'd wanted a career and a family, and she'd wanted a partner to share the experience of raising a family, she didn't want to do it all on her own.
They had genuinely tried to reach a compromise and make their relationship work after that, but the damage had already been done as their different views of their future had been exposed. In the end they had parted ways fairly amicably and had tried to remain friends. But staying friends with someone you still loved wasn't easy for either of them and within a few months of their break-up things had turned bitter between them and they couldn't be in the same room without sniping at each other.
Three months after their break-up, Hermione had been offered a chance to take part in a workplace exchange with the French Ministry. The placement was for eight months, and Ron had hoped the time apart might have been what they needed to gain some perspective and save their friendship, possibly even their relationship. However, less than three months after leaving for Paris, the French Ministry offered Hermione a permanent job with them and she'd taken them up on the offer. She had come back to explain her decision to her friends, and to say goodbye, but it wasn't until she'd left to return to start her new job in France that Ron truly realised how much he loved her, and how much he wanted to be with her.
Ron had then rushed over to France after Hermione, and had thrown himself on her mercy, begging her to take him back. He'd promised to give her anything she wanted, and he promised to never stand in the way of her career. In fact, he even offered to give up work himself and become a stay at home father. But for Hermione it had all been too late, and despite Ron's pleas, she had declined to give them another chance. She'd decided that their differences were insurmountable and that even though they loved each other, they weren't meant to be together.
And so Ron had returned home from France with a broken heart. Over time he had come to see that Hermione was right and their differences would have only torn them apart in the end, but it still didn't stop him from loving her. Maybe it would have been different if he'd met someone else and fallen in love, but no other witch he dated could compete with Hermione in his eyes. He was constantly comparing his dates to the witch he had loved and lost, and they always came up wanting.
But he knew he needed to find a way to move on with his life. He needed to find a way to put Hermione behind him once and for all. And maybe this trip could provide him with the closure he needed. Maybe if he did see Hermione again, he could finally put her ghost to rest. Especially if she had moved on and was with someone else, which after ten years was the most likely scenario. After all, he wasn't going to be pathetic enough to pine for someone who was happy and living a life across the other side of the English Channel, not giving him a second thought.