Harry nervously tapped his foot on the floor as he checked his watch. Hermione would be arriving any second, and Harry was praying that the dinner went well. Especially as opposite him, Ron finished off his glass of fire-whisky and immediately summoned a waiter to order a second drink.

"Shouldn't you take it easy, Ron?" Harry asked in a low voice once the waiter had delivered the second glass and left the table.

"Why? Worried I'll get drunk and let Hermione hear a few home truths?" Ron snapped.

"What home truths?" Harry questioned with a shake of his head. "We've been over this numerous times, Ron. Hermione has done nothing wrong."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time," Ron muttered, taking a hearty swig of his drink.

"You better not mess this up, Ron," Harry warned.

For the first time, Harry had taken a stand with Ron before the dinner and he'd made sure his best friend understood how much this meeting with Hermione meant to him. He hadn't asked Ron to do anything he wasn't comfortable with, all he'd asked was for his friend to ensure that he didn't say or do anything that would cost Harry his friendship with Hermione for a second time. He'd also made it clear that if things went badly because of Ron, he would never forgive him.

"I'll be good," Ron promised with a grimace. "But for the record, despite what you say, I still believe Hermione thought I wasn't good enough for her."

"That wasn't why you didn't work out, Ron," Harry gently pointed out. "Hermione never thought she was better than you or your family. You simply wanted different things."

"Yet look at how similar our lives turned out," Ron argued. "Hermione claimed not to want a boring married life with children, yet she's married with a son."

"She never said that," Harry protested. "She just wasn't ready to settle down back when you were together. She wanted to do things, live her life, before getting married and starting a family."

"We could have done things together," Ron grouched as he finished his second drink, although thankfully he didn't order a third.

Technically, Harry agreed with Ron that he and Hermione could have lived a life together before settling down, but he knew that it still wouldn't have worked. Hermione had wanted to travel and have adventures, whereas Ron hadn't wanted to leave his family. He never would have wanted to do half the things Hermione would have liked to do, and if he'd managed it, he would have worn Hermione down and persuaded her that settling down at such a young age was what she really wanted to do. But luckily, Hermione had been strong enough to walk away from a situation that wasn't working, and quite honestly Harry thought it had all worked out for the best. Hermione seemed happy, and despite his complaining about Hermione, Ron was happy with Lavender and very much in love with his wife.

"Is she even coming?" Ron asked as he checked the time with a sigh.

"Here she is now," Harry answered, spotting the familiar figure of his old friend entering the restaurant.

Harry had picked somewhere casual for them to dine, and Hermione had dressed accordingly. She was wearing a pair of dark, skin tight jeans and a deep emerald top paired with a long white cardigan. Her hair was casually gathered at the nape of her neck with a silver rose clip, and she was wearing minimal make-up and jewellery. But even dressed as casual as she was, she oozed class and sophistication and several people turned to watch her as she followed a waiter to their table.

"Hello boys," she greeted, settling down in the one spare seat at the circular table.

"Hi, Hermione," Harry said brightly. "You look lovely."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione returned with a smile.

"Shall we order?" Ron asked. "I'm starving."

"Some things never change," Hermione chuckled.

Even Ron managed a smile at the mention of his notorious appetite, and Harry hoped it was a good sign. With any luck the evening would go better than he dared to imagine.

After placing their orders, and the waiter brought Ron a fresh drink and Hermione a glass of chilled rose wine, a slightly awkward silence descended over the table. It saddened Harry to think that they'd once been so close that there was never any awkward silences between them. But a lot had changed, and he knew that even with the best intentions things were never going to be the same again.

"Well this is thrilling," Ron drawled.

"It is a bit awkward," Hermione conceded. "I just don't know what to say."

"You could tell us about your life," Harry suggested.

"Yeah, you could tell us how you ended up with Malfoy of all people," Ron added. "What happened to your desire for travel and adventure? Did that all disappear when some rich git flashed his wallet at you?"

"Why are you so determined that I'm a gold-digger, Ron?" Hermione asked with genuine sadness. "I still don't know what I ever did to give you the impression I thought you weren't good enough for me. I loved you Ron. In fact, I loved your family as well. I didn't look down on them. I would have been honoured to have ended up as part of your family."

"Yet you left me the first chance you got," Ron sneered.

"I left you because we wanted different things," Hermione argued. "You wanted the life you've got now with Lavender. I wasn't ready for that life, but you were. I set you free, Ron. I gave you a chance to get the life you wanted, with someone who also wanted the same thing."

"But that is the life you've got now," Ron pointed out. "This life you claimed you didn't want is exactly what you've ended up with. So therefore, it wasn't the life you didn't want, it was me."

"It wasn't like that Ron," Hermione argued. "If I'd met Draco just after our break-up, I wouldn't have settled down with him either. I wasn't ready to settle down. I wanted to live, I wanted to travel and have adventures."

At that moment their starters arrived, and their was a brief lull in conversation as plates were deposited on their table

"Did you manage it?" Harry asked Hermione once the trio were alone again. Of course he knew the answer to the travelling part as the job she'd taken had involved travelling.

"I did," Hermione replied with a smile. "My job liaising for the Ministry took me all over the world, and I loved every second of it. I experienced different cultures, met different people, ate different food. I wouldn't swap those years of my life for anything in the world."

"Not even more time with Malfoy?" Ron asked. "I would give anything to have reconnected with Lavender sooner. If we'd gotten back together years earlier, we would have already had a family."

"More time with Draco would be nice, but no, I wouldn't swap my years travelling," Hermione answered with a thoughtful smile. "It was what I needed. It was only after seeing the world that I was ready to settle down."

"But why didn't you come home?" Harry asked. "Surely the Ministry could have found you a job based in England."

"I'm sure they could have, if I'd asked," Hermione agreed. "But to be honest I hadn't thought about putting down roots until I was offered a job with the French Ministry. Their offer made me think about my future. I took the job because even after all my travelling, Paris was still one of my favourite places to be. I got to have a new adventure, starting my life over in a romantic, foreign city."

"Where does Malfoy come into things?" Harry asked.

"By that point he was living in France, and one day we ran into each other at the Ministry," Hermione explained. "It seemed childish to ignore each other, so we said hello. And that might have been it if Draco hadn't been around the Ministry on a regular basis sorting a business deal. But we seemed to see each other every day for a few weeks, and when Draco asked me out for a drink, I thought why not. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"That's it?" Ron asked in disbelief. "He asked you out for a drink and that was that."

"Pretty much," Hermione replied with a nod. "That first evening we spent hours talking about the past, and I could see how much he had changed and how haunted he was by what had happened during the war. And yes, I could have held grudges for how he used to behave, or I could have accepted he'd changed and walked away. But I didn't do either. I accepted his invitation for a second drink, and from that moment on, we started afresh. We dated like any other couple, and we fell in love like any other couple."

"Huh," Ron grunted. "I sort of expected something a bit more spectacular. I half expected you to tell us he'd saved your life or something as dramatic and that was why you fell for him."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Hermione chuckled. "I can see why you would think it would need something dramatic to get us together, but in reality it only needed something as simple as Draco turning his experiences from the war into something positive. Even something dramatic wouldn't have gotten us together if he hadn't genuinely changed. He's not the boy he once was, Ron. He's grown up, and he's a good man. He's a good husband and he's an amazing father. He loves me, and he loves our son."

"I guess even I have to admit you've obviously been embraced into the Malfoy family," Ron conceded as a waiter appeared to remove their empty plates and deliver their main courses.

"I think that's enough about me," Hermione announced as they started their main courses. "I want to hear about your lives. What have I missed?"

As they ate, Harry and Ron filled Hermione in on where their lives stood now. Harry gushed about his life with Ginny, and their amazing boys, while Ron shared his excitement over his impending fatherhood. Conversation flowed easily, and Harry was hoping that it was the start of things returning to a normal footing. He was especially hoping that Ron would ease up on Hermione, when it was so very clear that not only was he over her, but he was happy with his wife.

"Maybe things did work out in the end, Ron," Hermione suggested gently as they started their desserts. "You're happy, I'm happy, but I don't think we ever would have gotten there together."

"Probably not," Ron conceded with a sigh. "I'm sorry for accusing you of being a gold-digger. I know you're not like that. And deep down, I know you never thought you were better than me. I guess I just felt bad knowing that I could never give you what you wanted. I couldn't afford to travel and have spontaneous breaks away. I couldn't give you the excitement you craved."

"And I couldn't give you the stability you craved," Hermione agreed. "Even now, I'm not sure I'd be the sort of wife you'd want, Ron. I'm stubborn, I'm opinionated, I like to be in charge, and I still don't want a big family. We might have another child, but Scorpius might very well be it for us."

"What does Malfoy think of that?" Ron asked. Hermione certainly wasn't selling herself, and she was making him grateful for Lavender, who was very easy going and very rarely argued with him.

"He's happy with a couple of children at the most," Hermione answered. "And he knew what a bossy cow I was before he married me. Although to be honest, sometimes I think he just likes a good argument."

"So you fight?" Harry asked with a frown, wondering if Hermione's marriage wasn't as happy as she was making it out to be.

"Sometimes," Hermione replied with an unconcerned shrug. "But it was always going to be that way. Can you honestly imagine Draco and I living in complete harmony without ever exchanging a cross word?"

"Not really," Harry admitted.

"So yes, we fight, but we always make up," Hermione said. "Our relationship isn't perfect, but what relationship is? Sometimes we work bloody hard to make things work between us, but we love each other and neither of us wants to be without each other."

"And what about adventure and travel?" Ron asked. "Has that craving gone, or can Malfoy deliver on both?"

"We do still travel and have adventures," Hermione replied. "And before you say anything Ron, yes the fact we have money helps with that. It gives us a freedom we might not have had otherwise. I may be married and have a son, but I still don't feel as thought I've completely settled down. I still feel free."

"You're right Hermione, we never would have worked," Ron decided with a firm nod of his head, looking as though he was only just accepting the fact himself. "I wouldn't change my life with Lavender for anything. She's what I want."

"And I'm so pleased you've found her," Hermione said with a warm smile. "I really am pleased you're happy, Ron. It's all I ever wanted for you."

"I can see that now," Ron conceded. "And I'm glad you're happy."

"I'm just glad we're friends again," Harry said with a broad smile. "We are friends again, aren't we?" he checked, suddenly wondering if he'd jumped the gun.

"Yes, we're friends again," Ron said, smiling at Hermione. "And in time I might even come to get to know Malfoy. But I still need time to adjust, Hermione. I can't promise miracles."

"I don't expect miracles," Hermione replied. "To be honest, this is turning out better than I'd hoped. And even if you and Draco are never friends, it doesn't matter. I don't need you to be friends with my husband. I am allowed a life outside of being a Malfoy you know."

"And does that life include us again?" Harry asked hopefully. "Even if we were stupid enough to think you were married to Lucius?"

"If I can forgive Draco for the past, I can forgive you two for making assumptions," Hermione assured the pair. "Besides, I actually went back and re-read that article and you were right, it did make it sound as though I was married to Lucius. There's no hard feelings, and let's move on. We've been given a second chance with our friendship, so let's take it."

With the trio in agreement that only an idiot would turn down a second chance at what had once been a valuable friendship, they toasted their new start. It was unexpected that Hermione and Ron had reached an understanding, but it helped that both of them had found true happiness with other people. Considering they were both happy with other people, it was hard to argue that their break-up hadn't been for the best. It had given them both a chance at real love, and they'd both managed to achieve it – Ron with Lavender and Hermione with Draco.

The End!

A/N – Thanks to everyone for reading this story, and thanks for all the lovely reviews I have received. As always the positive support I receive keeps me writing and publishing, and it's greatly appreciated. Even the smallest review makes my day. I know some people would have preferred Hermione to react differently towards Ron in this story, and maybe if I'd written it at a different time that might have happened, but as with everything I write, the outcome often depends on my mood when I'm writing a particular scene or story. Anyway, this was the way Lady of the Manor turned out, and I hoped that on a whole people enjoyed it. Thanks again for your support, and I'll be back soon with my next story.