** DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

*** I hop you all enjoy reading ^_^ this is my first Fanfiction

Chapter 1- Poor and happy?

"Urgh", Hermione groaned as the key wouldn't open the rusty lock to Ron's old apartment. After a while, Hermione heard a loud click and the door creaked open. She made her way to the ancient armchair that used to belong to Ron's great-grandad, over a hundred years ago. Hermione plopped herself down on the armchair as it gave a loud squeak. She began to rub her eyes vigorously and pulled a large pile of students' homework, out from her bag, towards her and began to lazily correct them. "Ah…" Hermione said relaxed as she began to think of the current love of her life, her boyfriend Ron. "Although Ron works as a part-time dust cleaner and a part-time Quidditch player for the 'Flying Eagles' he only earns one galleon and four sickles a week and that's not enough," Hermione sighed while talking aloud to herself. "But despite the money problem Ron is a great person, like he's very funny and all…" she said fading herself out and continued to correct her students' homework a bit more enthusiastically. In five minutes of Hermione correcting homework, a few consecutive knocks on the door drove her out of her reverie.

"MIONE! OPEN UP! I'M STUCK! THE BLOODY DOOR WON'T OPEN!" sounded the other end of the door. Hermione sprang right out of her armchair as she quickly opened the door to reveal a dirty, smiling Ron. With his hands in his pockets, he walked himself in proudly. He asked Hermione excitedly with a wide smile, showing all his decayed, crooked and missing teeth that he got from continuously bumping into Quidditch poles. "Guess what Mione?"

"What?" Hermione responded with a smile creeping up on her face.

"I… I…" he giggled uncontrollably, his horrible breath leaking out between the gaps in his teeth.

"Did you finally win a Quidditch match?" Hermione asked, eyes shining.

"No…" Ron mumbled. "But… this time the other team won us three hundred and fifty to ten!" Ron said excitedly. Hermione remained quiet. "And the person who scored the ten was none other than ME! Guess how I did it," Ron added. Hermione barely said a word yet and Ron had already continued himself. "I scored it because when I was trying to block the other team from getting a goal and I bumped my head into the pole! The announcer then gave me ten points for trying so hard. You see Mione, we're improving." Ron nudged Hermione merrily. "Now what was I about to say, " Ron said trying to remind himself of something that he had recently forgotten. "Oh, I know! I remember now guess what Mione?" Ron asked once again.

"What is it now?" Hermione asked, still with a smile.

"I found a knut! On the floor! In the mud!" he whooped hand reaching excitedly into his pocket and took out a muddy coin. Hermione crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"No? Not impressed?" Ron's smile grew even wider, assuming that's even possible, as he set his hand once again into his pocket locating something.

"I found TWO knuts! Good eh?" he bellowed triumphantly. Hermione shook her head and held back a laugh at her loving husband.

"Mioneee! It's really good!" Ron whined, "I spent an hour digging through the mud to find this coin after I fell off my broom!

"If I keep finding knuts, by the end of the week we can have enough to buy doughnuts! Get it!?" he added giggling goofily. Hermione joined in the laughter for a while, but she suddenly stopped.

"Ron…" she sighed.

"Yes?" Ron asked, eyebrows wriggling.

"N- Nothing Ron." she answered, not wanting Ron to feel bad about being so poor and not working as hard as she was.

"Err… ok then, now my turn," Ron said slightly awkwardly.

"Well, Hermione the truth is I really truly totally undeniably absolutely positively unquestionably-" he started but was rudely interrupted by Hermione.

"JUST SAY WHAT IT IS ALREADY?!"

"Ok... I truly love you Hermione…" he continued.

"Aww… I love you too Ron." Hermione said sweetly.

"But… it's just that-" he added, shuffling his feet a bit.

"Ron… what is it?" Hermione interrupted annoyance and curiosity obvious in her voice.

"It's just th- th- that…" Ron stuttered.

"JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!" Hermione yelled. Ron sighed, and he said very quickly hoping she wouldn't process his words too fast.

"I-I-I just don't really see this working."

"Wha-what…?" Hermione said her voice cracking.

"You're a great person and all but…" he started again.

"I just- you don't- I will-" he said cutting himself off repeatedly. He sighed and took a deep breath through his wide nostrils, a piece of his nostril hair dangling shook violently.

"I just don't see that you and I really suit," he finished, head drooping, showing a little bump that he got from bumping his head.

"Well, Ron… if you really think…" Hermione said as she took a deep shuddering breath. Ron gave her a tight hug, however, she didn't react. Hermione just stood there like a permanently frozen statue.

"Hermione…" Ron whispered, "I'm really sorry…"

Hermione shook her head wearily.

"It's ok Ron… I understand…" Hermione said ever so gently. Just then Ron broke away from her and left the room to take a shower. Hermione quickly ran to the fireplace, Floo powder in hand she said loud and clearly "Potter residents" before letting the Floo powder go.

...

Within a second Hermione landed in Harry and Ginny's place. She had always thought that the way Harry and Ginny set the furniture out was very homey, and for that reason, Hermione usually went to Harry's place when she was feeling down.

"Hey! It's aunt Mione! How are you? And what brought you here at…" greeted Edward Teddy Remus cheerfully as he glanced at his wrist watch, "nine o'clock at night?!" He was obviously as surprised as ever when a tear stained Hermione toppled out of the fireplace.

"Don't worry sweetie, it's nothing." she answered trying to sound happy, but totally failing.

"Mione! What happened?" Ginny asked worriedly as she walked toward Teddy's voice and signalled him to go to bed.

"R-Roan-Rewn" Hermione wailed, unclearly.

"W- wha- what?" Ginny replied, confusingly not understanding what her friend had just said.

"It's Ron…" Hermione said before she burst into a fresh wave of tears.

"What! Wait… What! What did the heartless freckle face brother of mine do this time?!" Ginny asked crossly.

"H- He and I went separate ways!" sobbed a heartbroken Hermione.

"I- I don't know what I did wrong…" she added.

"Oh no… Mione…" Ginny sighed, giving her best friend a tight squeeze. "Mione, as much as it pains me to say this… you're too good for him… like he doesn't deserve you…" Ginny said trying to comfort her friend.

Hermione gave a slight smile, "But I don't have a permanent job! I'm currently an assistant teacher and I get paid one galleon, seven sickles and four knuts a week! And that's not enough considering I currently don't have a place to live!" Hermione cried.

Ginny thought for a while. "How about you work at the Ministry of Magic with me and Harry!" she suggested excitedly, clapping her hands happily as she tried to lighten the mood. "Our boss is conducting job interviews now! So would you like me to get you an application?" Ginny added.

"That'd be great!" Hermione said gleefully, wiping the last of her tears away.

"Our boss pays very generously and he makes you really enjoy the job! He is actually really nice too! You might think he's uncaring and cruel but he's not! He's changed a lot throughout the years," Ginny added hesitantly, wondering what Hermione's reaction would be if she knew who the boss was.

Hermione nodded looking forward to answering all the questions on her job application.

"GINNNYYYY!" called Harry from the study room, "WHO IS IT?!" He added.

"IT'S HERMIONE! AND ARE YOU AND DRACO DONE WITH YOUR BUSINESS PLANNING YET?!" Ginny yelled loudly, almost deafening Hermione.

"Draco?" Hermione asked confused.

"COME IN AND GREET OUR GUEST BOYS! YOU'VE BEEN IN THE ROOM ALL DAY!" Ginny hollered once again making Hermione cringe and cover her faintly sore ears.

Within a split second, two sophisticated looking business men walked out and presented themselves politely, especially the blonde one.

Hermione recognised the black haired man, Harry, but she couldn't put her finger on who the blonde one was. She noticed he had beautiful grey eyes, perfect shiny platinum blonde hair and irresistibly smooth looking skin. Hermione sat there as she admired in awe at the blonde man's perfection and keeping an eye out for any flaws he had. None so far she thought. She looked into his eyes and felt a warm feeling inside her. It was the feeling she had felt when Ron and she had first dated each other. Hermione continued to daydream with her mouth slightly open, almost drooling at the blonde standing firmly in front of her before her thoughts were interrupted.

"Well aren't you boys going to introduce yourself or say anything to our guest?" Ginny asked the two men in front of her.

"No need for introductions between friends," Harry said smiling as he went to sit opposite of Hermione, leaving Draco to stand there alone, awkwardly looking down at his white business socks.

After a few minutes of silence and just standing there and being watched by three pairs of eyes, Draco began to feel uneasy. "H- Hi…I-I'm Draco…" he finally said without the slightest bit of confidence in his voice. Almost immediately he thought of what Bellatrix had done to Hermione at the Malfoy Manor. He walked over and sat down gently next to Harry and opposite Ginny. He held both his hands together and once again stared back down at his white socks.

"Sooo…" Ginny said trying to break the awkwardness. Everyone's head shot up and looked at her excitedly. "Let's all play a game of 'Wizard's Monopoly'," Ginny suggested blissfully as she leaped up out of her seat and came back with a box with the words 'Wizard's Monopoly' spread across it.

"Merlin! Since when did we have this?" Harry asked, shocked.

"George's house-warming gift," Ginny stated as Harry nodded.

When the game was set up, Draco rolled the dice first and his chosen character icon apparated and landed on a property, he bought it.

Harry rolled the dice next and his chosen character icon pushed his car on another property but he didn't buy it.

Ginny was next to roll the dice and her character icon skipped over to Harry's spot. Unlike Harry, Ginny decided to buy the property.

Next was Hermione's turn. Hermione rolled the dice and her character icon flew over to an empty spot.

"Oh," Hermione said, unimpressed.

"Don't worry Mione, the empty spot is better than landing on Ginny's or Draco's property because if you landed on their property you'd have to pay them," Harry explained.

"Hey!" Draco and Ginny said at the same time slightly offended.

"You're just jealous you don't have a property to own unlike us," Ginny said her head held high.

Hermione giggled at her two friends, after a few minutes of arguing over who was jealous, the game started again. Hermione realised a labelled block as Draco rolled the dice. Being Hermione, she felt a nagging urge to ask what it was, "Hey, Gin!"

"Yeah what's up, Mione?" Her friend replied.

"What's this block?" Hermione asked pointing to the block.

"Oh, that! That's easy! So basically if you land on that block and then another person does after you then you'd have to challenge them in some way, for their fortune," Ginny finished.

Hermione hesitantly nodded, her mind spinning at the thought of going up against Harry, her best friend or Draco who seemed to be a stranger or even sweet competitive Ginny. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and coughed, mentally preparing for the worst as she nodded dreadfully.

Draco began to shuffle himself uncomfortably at that point, but no one noticed.

When it was Hermione's turn, she rolled the dice and just her luck she thought, as she landed square on the block.

Next was Draco's turn. With sweaty hands, he picked up the dice and hoped not to land on the 'challenge' block. He spun the dice and just to his fate his character icon landed, right where he anticipated. Draco found himself inwardly cursing and inhaled deeply as he looked up at Hermione slowly to find that she was already gulping and staring right back at him. "Now what?" Draco asked, looking at Ginny and Harry.

"Staring competition?" Ginny suggested, innocently as Draco looked at her signalling 'NO!' "I mean it could be worse," she added.

"Do it! Do it!" chanted Harry as Ginny excitedly joined in.

Draco gulped and walked over to Hermione carefully before looking down and seating himself next to her.

He then looked at her red puffy crying eyes. His pupils shook violently and his lips trembled but he steadied once he sat down. 'No, this is wrong, this is so incredibly wrong,' he thought 'I can't look at her like this, she's in so much pain.'

Hermione began to feel tense at that moment and her pupils expanded whilst her lips shook uncontrollably. The moment was already awkward, and Harry and Ginny's chanting just made everything twenty times worse.

Draco gave Hermione a light smirk and Hermione smiled back softly. Just then Ron appeared in the fireplace with an odd expression on his face, noticing the intimate stare off and just how close their heads were.

"Harry…" Ron whined innocently before he saw the dashing blonde man. Ron, unlike Hermione, recognised Draco immediately, and when he did his face instantly transitioned into a grossed out look. "What the bloody hell is that slimy git doing here?!" Ron shouted while pointing rudely at Draco who simply focusing on Hermione's eyes. Ron's eyes widened and almost popped out of his sockets. He began to panic and breathe heavily as he pointed to the duo.

"Ok, Ron breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out…" Ron said continuously trying to calm himself down. "It's just a dream and your ex isn't really going to kiss another man, especially not right after your break-up," Ron continued still trying to calm himself down. He shook his head and slapped himself a couple of times just to make sure he was awake. Within a few seconds, Ron ran and dived towards Draco and Hermione and pushed them both away from each other roughly.

Draco and Hermione, distracted by the competition didn't realise Ron's actions and fell back. Luckily for Hermione, she fell back onto Ginny. Draco, however, fell on his back on Harry's floor making a really loud thump.

Ron raced towards Draco and held him tightly by the collar.

"STOP! STOP IT RON! IT'S NOT HIS FAULT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Hermione shouted at her ex loudly. Ron totally ignored Hermione and pressed his knuckles down on Draco's neck and tried to strangle the life out of Draco, who was just starting to sit up on the floor. Harry who saw his friend strangling his other friend ran straight towards Ron and pulled him away from Draco.

"STOP! I SAID STOP IT!" Hermione shouted feeling helpless as she couldn't do anything.

"RON! STOP!" Ginny yelled firmly at her brother.

"HERMIONE! DO ONE OF YOUR SPELLS" Harry suggested to Hermione. Hermione shook her head.

"You can't solve anything with violence Harry," Hermione said, looking down sadly.

Ron, who seemed like he had smoke coming out of his nostrils stood up once again, ignored all the yelling and shouting and continued to try to jump back at Draco, even with Harry there holding him back.

Draco quickly stood up, swept himself, grabbed his jacket and apparated away, with a nod.

Within a few minutes, Ron finally calmed down, glared at everyone and left back home to his apartment. If looks could kill, they would've been dead at that instant.

That night, Hermione stayed at Harry's and Ginny's place. However, she didn't sleep a wink as the events of that night were continuously racing through her mind and Draco's stare kept floating in her face.