Author's Note: Thanks for reading! This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, and my first fanfic in many, many years (I posted 3 or 4 X-Files fanfics on a different site a long, long time ago), so please forgive me if it isn't very good! I don't have a beta (if anyone would like to volunteer, please PM me!), so all mistakes are mine. In actuality, I ship Romione, but for some reason, I love reading Dramione. As I read, I get ideas in my head for stories, so I figured I would write one. I hope you enjoy!

Author's Note 2: As I was re-reading this, I noticed that I forgot to put in a disclaimer. So, here it is - I do not own, nor claim to own the rights to the Harry Potter series. I'm just a fan.

"A New Beginning"

By galaapple12

Chapter 1

Draco stood by the gravesite, watching as Astoria's coffin was lowered into the ground in the Malfoy family cemetery. At 22, she was one of the youngest Malfoys to be buried here. Draco closed his eyes and thought, This cannot be happening. He felt a light touch on his shoulder and opened his eyes to look into his mother's mournful ones.

"Draco…" she started, but was not able to finish her sentence. Draco looked so heartbroken that she could not find the words to say to him. As his mother, it has always been her job to make him feel better. She couldn't in this case, and Narcissa felt lost.

"Mother," he began softly, "what…why…I…I can't do this. I can't do this without her."

"I know you feel that way, but you have to…for Scorpius," she answered as she touched his cheek.

Draco answered by crying onto his mother's shoulder, as she held him. She was thankful that Astoria's family had left Draco by the grave to mourn. She knew Draco hated to appear weak.

"You will find a way for your son. He needs you and you need him. I promise you can do this. You are strong. You are a Malfoy," she said.

Draco lifted his head and looked at his mother.

"Astoria would want you to watch over your son," she continued.

He nodded and wiped his eyes. "For Scorpius," he said.

He then looked at the sky and said, "I can't do it alone, Mother. I don't know how to raise a child."

Narcissa grabbed her son's hand and said, "I will help you. Astoria's family will help you. You are not alone, Draco."

Draco looked down at his mother and nodded again, wanting to believe her. Now that Astoria was gone, he felt alone. A part of him had died with her, and he knew that he would never feel whole again.

Hermione Granger woke early to get in some reading before getting ready for work. Her job at the Ministry of Magic left her little free time, and she cherished her early morning reading. She had just finished pouring herself a cup of coffee when she heard the familiar sound of a delivery owl on her window.

Wonder what the Daily Prophet has to report today, she thought. As she walked to her purse to get a knut for the owl, she thought about what she read yesterday in the paper. "Astoria Malfoy Laid to Rest in Malfoy Cemetery". Even though she had little love for Draco Malfoy, her heart went out to him. She thought about Ron, and couldn't imagine what she would do if he suddenly passed away. It was something she did not like to think about, but she had done so on more than one occasion. He was an Auror, and he went on many dangerous missions, some of which he could not tell her about. Hermione was proud of Ron, but she sometimes hated his job.

She gave the knut to the brown owl and took her copy of the newspaper. She watched as the owl flew away and closed her window against the chilly morning breeze. Hermione began to reach for her coffee when she noticed the front page headline: "War Hero Weasley Caught with Another Woman!" Her breath caught as she stared at the picture – Ron was clearly kissing Mystina Lausterman, a fellow Auror, in what looked like the park near the Ministry of Magic. As she began to scan the article, she heard someone come through her fireplace.

It was Ron. "Hermione, I…" he began, but stopped as he saw what she was reading.

Hermione held up the paper and asked, "Ron…what is the meaning of this?"

"It's not what it looks like! We had just returned from catching a couple of Death Eaters and we were so relieved to be alive that we got caught up in the moment," he explained.

Hermione closed her eyes and slowly nodded. "So this is the only time this has ever happened?" she asked as she opened her eyes to look at him.

He swallowed and looked down.

"It isn't?" she asked loudly.

"No. We've only kissed twice, though! I'm sorry, Hermione, I won't do it again, I promise," Ron said.

"Twice?" she repeated.

"It's just that Tina and I work together on a lot of assignments, so we've become close to each other over the past year. Lately we've been working together 8-9 hours a day. I see her more than I see you," he explained.

"So because YOUR job takes you away from me, that gives you the right to kiss another woman?" she yelled.

"No! That's not what I'm saying! I'm saying that I feel closer to her than to you right now. I'm so confused, Hermione. I love you, but I have feelings for Tina. I don't know what to do," he said, exasperated.

"Choose. That's what you do," she matter-of-factly stated.

"Choose?" he asked.

"Yes, it's simple. Choose her or choose me. You can't have both,"

"But I work with her. I see her all the time!" he said.

"Then quit. Find another job! You would have no problems finding a different position within the Ministry,"

"Quit being an Auror? That's the only thing I want to do, Hermione," he stated.

Hermione glared at him. "Then you choose her, Ron. I won't accept less than 100% of your commitment."

Ron stared at her with an astounded look on his face, and then said, "Then I guess I do choose her. I refuse to stop being an Auror."

Hermione looked down and felt the tears begin to fall down her face. When she looked up, she saw that Ron was staring at her with a pained look on his face.

"I love you, Hermione. I…I just…" he stuttered.

"You just don't love me enough," she said through tears.

"Herm…" he began.

"No, please…just leave," she said.

Ron opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of it, and turned to the mantelpiece and grabbed some Floo Powder instead.

"Goodbye, Hermione," he said before he called out "Ministry of Magic" and stepped into her fireplace.

Hermione let herself fall to her knees and cried until she had no more tears left.

A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter! I've sort of got an idea of what will be happening, but I don't have the complete picture in my head just yet. I will try to post a chapter every week, but my job and my family keep me pretty busy, so no promises. Please feel free to review and leave constructive criticism. For the record, I actually love Ron to death, but I couldn't figure out a way to break him and Hermione apart except for his death, and I didn't want to do that. So, he cheated, but hopefully not in a way that makes him too big of a jerk!