The afternoon was a dreary one. Rain poured outside onto the London pavement as Muggles bustled from one building to another under smooth, black umbrellas. The weather was a perfect match to Hermione Granger's mood. She had walked into the Ministry with her hair soaked and frizzing, and it took all she could to not burst into tears when she arrived at her office that morning.

Her sweet secretary brought her a cup of tea and canceled all of her meetings for that day, allowing her boss to catch up on work and relax. Had it not been for the pile of work sitting untouched on her desk, Hermione would have loved to stay home curled up with a book or two and a bottle of Firewhiskey. However after reminding herself that Hermione Jean Granger did not miss work for any ailment of her health, she forced herself out of bed with the tears still running down her face from the night before.

The young witch sighed deeply at the pile of work that was beginning to recede before her. She had decided to take lunch in her office to make the workload disappear faster, but so far there were more crumbs on her paperwork than notes. It had been a long morning, and thanks to her secretary there had been no visitors—even Ginny and Harry had been banned from her office, despite their protests. She wanted her workday to be quiet and drama free…

"Ms. Granger?" The large wooden door opened quietly and Hermione's secretary poked her head through the crack of door. "Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley is here with the, uh, paperwork. He's insisting that he come in and give it to you himself but I took it from him and made him wait in the hall until I got your 'okay'."

Hermione sighed deeply. She knew she couldn't avoid him forever. "That's alright, Gracelynn. You can let him in."

The girl nodded and shut the door behind her. Standing up too fast, Hermione nearly fell over once more as her vision was stolen from her for a few seconds. She tried her best to clean herself up, but her hair was untamable, much like when she was a first year, and she hadn't bothered wearing her nicest of work clothes. Her entire appearance was utterly atrocious, but it would have to do.

"'Mione?" A mess of red hair and freckles emerged from behind the door. He wasn't dressed much better than Hermione in a suit and robes that were too small and a bit of dirt on the side of his nose. As a pair, they must have looked as if they were just getting onto the Hogwarts Express back when they were eleven. The thought brought tears to her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

"Ronald."

He stood uncomfortably. At least she knew this was just as hard for him as it was for her. "I, uh, I brought the papers. I've already signed them all, and if you do your part now, I can have this all settled within the afternoon."

She nodded quietly taking the stack from him. Quickly flipping through the pages, it shows that he would not touch a single knut from her vault at Gringotts, and she was entitled to the flat that had been destroyed the night earlier due to a vicious Oppugno jinx. "I do still love you, 'Mione. But we're just too different. You working here at the Ministry and me helping George at the shop, it's just impossible to find anything in common anymore."

Hermione just stood there staring at the bits of paper. She wanted to cry and scream out how they had gotten through five years after the Second Wizarding War then, dating and being married. She wanted to ask if she was just a convenience to him, but she knew that wasn't true. She could feel their relationship disintegrating every day, and the only thing she could do was sign the papers and let him on his way. Maybe being married to him was a convenience to her, not having to worry about going out into the world and dating. Not having to listen to her mum talk about the nice muggle boy she knew from the shop or see the look on her dad's face when he told her she should stop working so hard and settle down. No, she hadn't even told them about the divorce. It would be disastrous. Married at 20, divorced at 22, now that would be a story to tell at Christmas.

She quickly signed the papers, trying to wave away any unnecessary emotions or thoughts. This was just as much her fault as it was his, and there wasn't any point in losing her head over it. She had to remain logical. She had to remain in control.

She finished signing the papers and handed them back to Ron whose hands rested in his robes pockets. He looked uncomfortable, and in that instant Hermione regretted not buying him new robes when she had the chance. He watched her sheepishly for a second before turning around and walking to her office door. "Thanks, 'Mione. You always were, and always will be the best." With that he left her office, robe tails swishing behind him. Not knowing what to do next, Hermione stood there staring where her former redheaded lover stood. The room seemed colder than it was before, and Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

Gathering her belongings, she sent a hasty owl to Ginny asking her to come over as soon as she could to get rid of Ron's possessions and have them sent to wherever he was currently staying. Leaving her workload and half eaten lunch behind, Hermione practically ran out of her office, asking Gracelynn to clean up and that she was leaving for the day. The young girl stood looking confused at her employer's sudden departure, but turned and hurried into the office just as Hermione marched around the corner to the Attrium and disapparated to her flat.

When she appeared in her sitting area, Hermione promptly burst into tears. She was divorced and alone in a flat that looked like a battle from the Second Wizarding War took place in. Her precious books lined the floors, and papers were scattered from where they had turned to attack Ronald. Glass had shattered on the kitchen floor, and pillows were amiss and open. Hermione was both confused and distraught about how she could have possibly gotten ready for work that morning amongst the mess of artifacts that lined the floor.

Walking carefully to the bedroom, she changed into comfort clothes, and began waving her wand around fixing dishes and realigning the books on her shelves once more. Within a few minutes she could walk across the floor without impaling her feet. Within the next half hour she was on her couch blasting the telly on some muggle channel she had never once before known existed. She felt vulnerable and positively pathetic, but there was nothing she could do about that. Every bone in her body ached, and she didn't even have a good enough reason for it. Yes, she had just gotten divorced, but while Ronald had been the one to bring it up, she knew it was coming. And it's not like he did anything horrible to her. He was and continued to be a good man.

They just didn't have anything significant in common anymore.

"That bloody bastard! I'll hex him I will when I get my hands on that goddamn arse who approved this. It hasn't even been a full 24 hours yet and they're already posting it in The Daily Prophet!"

Ginny's usual apparations were normally not discreet, but this one in particular made Hermione jump from her spot on the couch. The firey red-head was still in her Quiddich uniform, the deep green robes flowing behind her as she stormed into the sitting area waving her copy of the Wizard paper. "I mean look at this filth. Mum's already on her way to that scum Barnabus' office to have a talk with him. This is ridiculous. If you want to get a divorce you bloody well should be able to without the entire public knowing." She thrust the paper down violently onto the coffee table for Hermione to see. On the open page, there was a picture of Hermione and Ron together at the most recent social event, their smiling faces caught in laughter of some unknown joke. It had been taken only a few months prior. The headline read, "Is the Golden Trio Finally Going Their Separate Ways?" and underneath there was a lengthy article going on about the two's complete romantic history. She hadn't bothered to check the author. "Bloody hell I'm so sick of the four of us being followed and posted about every goddamn day."

Hermione was a little peeved about the attention as well. While Ron had always craved that attention that came from accomplishment, Harry and Hermione had not. They wanted their private lives kept away from the public, but of course being two-thirds of the Golden Trio, that was not possible. And after Harry and Ginny's marriage, the four became top news. They were the couples of the year, and one of the pairs was now divorced.

Ginny stormed out of the room and changed quickly into some of Hermione's older clothes so that she could do the dirty work without getting anything on her uniform. "I'll go make some tea and then get started. I know what's his and what isn't, so I'll just pack it all into boxes for you and send it off to George's. Don't you worry your head about the littlest thing. I'll take care of everything." She kissed the top of Hermione's frizzy hair lightly and disappeared into the kitchen. She just lay on the couch in complete agony, wondering how in fact she'll break the news to her parents. They loved Ron. They wouldn't see reason behind the decision. Just the thought of the disaster of telling her mum over lunch one day made Hermione's head spin.

When Ginny brought the scalding tea, Hermione decided she would just send her mother a cut out of her own Daily Prophet's article with a short letter, hoping she would understand and tell her father. It would take a few days as well, since the owl would be flying all the way from the UK to Australia where her parents continued to reside. Continuously throughout the letter, Hermione had to remind herself that this was for the better, that this small bundle would contain everything needed, and that within a few days she would feel better, especially with Ron's clothing absent from the shared closet.

With the letter completed, Hermione tied it to her mail owl's leg and sent him on his way, hoping that instead of receiving a call of turmoil and disappointment, her mother would demand to see her daughter and help her through this time, without mention of having called the entire family and letting them know that the Christmas gossip was coming early this year.

Author's Note:

Hello, lovelies! This is my first Harry Potter fic, so I hope you enjoy. Reviews are always appreciated for improvement of chapters, and if you want to, contribute ideas towards the next chapter.

Thanks! ~Beadlebug3