After a whole day of responding to letters from worried clients and reassuring everyone that she had a handle on finding a new brewer, Hermione sat back in her chair and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. It was the first time the entire day after the meeting with Draco that she was able to actually take a breather and gather her thoughts.
"Knock knock!"
She groaned and looked up to see Ron giving her a warm smile from the doorway. "Heard you had a rough day."
"Rough doesn't even begin to cover it," She answered, unable to muster up a smile in return. "Did Harry talk to you about dinner tonight?"
"Yes, I told them we'd head over after I grabbed you," He said with a nod.
"Let me just make sure that I have everything finished that I needed to get done today." She sighed and rifled through the papers that were on her desk, sorting them out and putting them back into the appropriate files.
Ron came in and sat down, giving her a small smile while he waited. She forced a small smile, casting a quick glance down at her wedding rings. They had been married for nearly a year then, with their anniversary coming up the next month. Ron decided to wait to propose until after his Auror training had ended in 2001, and they spent a year planning their wedding before getting married the spring before.
"Are you nearly finished?" He asked, nodding towards her desk.
She scowled at him. "If you want to go over there now, you can. I can't really rush through any of this."
"I didn't mean anything by that," Ron said, putting his hands up defensively. "Don't snap at me."
"I didn't snap at you," She countered. "Look, I'm sorry but today has been very stressful for me and I don't think tomorrow is going to be much better."
"I understand, but that doesn't mean you need to take it out on me," He said with a frown.
She sighed. "I wasn't taking it out on you. I felt like you were rushing me, and this type of thing can't be rushed."
"I know, I know..." He trailed off with a sigh, looking over at her bookcase.
Shaking her head, she began clearing off her desk and noticed that his foot was tapping anxiously. "Everything alright?"
He shrugged. "Just wanting to make sure I don't upset you."
"Ron, don't," She sighed. "The potion brewer for my clients was just murdered and not only do I have to make sure they all are alright and not bothering me as much, I have to also find another competent potion brewer who isn't going to charge us an arm and a leg for their services. And that's on top of everything else that I have to do."
He simply sighed and she rolled her eyes slightly. He had been in a mood lately; it seemed ever since she became Head of the Beings division, he always got upset when she was doing something for work that took her over her typical hours.
"I'll be finished here in a few moments," She said quietly.
He nodded and watched her as she put away her files and gathered her things. A few minutes later, they exited her office and she locked it behind her before turning and nodding to Claire on her way out.
"Have a good night!" She said, giving her assistant a smile.
"Goodnight, Hermione!"
She and Ron stepped onto the elevator and soon were making their way towards the fireplaces on the main floor.
"Have you submitted the paperwork to get your last name changed yet?" He asked then after a few minutes of silence.
"Not yet, I've got the paperwork all put together but it's just at home right now," Hermione answered.
"Are you still wanting to hyphenate?" He asked, looking over at her with a frown after they had stopped at the end of one of the lines.
"Yes, I think that for my career it would be best if my maiden name was included as that it the one I started with when I became a Ministry employee," She explained, trying to not roll her eyes. He had been unhappy when she had told him that she wanted to hyphenate her last name; truthfully, she never thought Hermione Weasley sounded right and had been putting off the change for as long as she could.
"It's been nearly a year and our wedding was all in the papers," He said. "I think they would still know who you are."
"Ron, I really don't want to get into it right now, okay?" She reached the front of the line and pulled away from him, grabbing a handful of floo powder and stepping into the fireplace. "12 Grimmauld Place!"
Moments later, she stepped out of the fireplace into Ginny and Harry's living room, looking around. There was a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen downstairs, and Hermione's stomach growled. She grimaced as she remembered that she hadn't eaten anything that day.
Ron appeared shortly after with a sour look on his face and he stepped out, giving her a look. "Well that was rather rude."
"What was?" She asked, taken aback.
"Leaving right in the middle of our conversation!" He exclaimed. "I'm simply trying to figure out why you won't fully change your last name and you just up and leave!"
"What has gotten into you lately?" She asked, looking him up and down. "You've been snapping at me for the smallest things! And I told you that I didn't want to discuss it right then because I'm stressed out with my own work!"
Ron ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath looking down at the floor. "I just don't understand why you can't change your last name."
"This isn't a discussion we need to have right now, can it please wait until later?" She pleaded.
He was silent for a few moments before nodding and they made their way through the house to the back where the stairs were leading down to the kitchen. Ginny was moving around quickly as she willed the plates and silverware onto the table while checking on the food.
"Oh, hi you two!" She greeted happily. As soon as she saw the looks on their faces though, she faltered. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, just a rough day at work," Hermione said, setting her bag down on a nearby table.
"For both of us," Ron added, which earned him a glare from Hermione that he didn't see.
Ginny looked between the two of them and raised an eyebrow before changing the subject. "Harry should be down soon and dinner is almost ready."
Ron nodded and immediately made his way to the liquor cabinet, grabbing the bottle of firewhiskey and a glass. Hermione went over to the stove to stir one of the pots and asked, "Do you need help with anything?"
"No, everything's pretty much finished," Ginny said in a light tone. After Ron disappeared from the kitchen, she leaned in and asked, "What's going on?"
Hermione sighed with a shrug. "From my guess, he's upset that I'm not fully changing my last name."
"Still?" Ginny frowned. "If anything, he should take your last name since you'll be more successful than he will!"
The girls laughed quietly at that and Hermione shook her head, smiling sadly down at the food. "Unfortunately I think that's another reason he's unhappy; I'm advancing in my career faster than he is."
"What, does he think he's going to be getting Head Auror?" Ginny scoffed.
"I have absolutely no idea." Hermione shook her head and turned around, leaning against the counter. "He's just been so difficult lately."
"The first year is always the hardest," Ginny nodded. "I remember Harry and I fighting all the time."
Their conversation was cut short by Ron returning into the kitchen with Harry in tow. Harry smiled at Hermione and gave her a side hug. "Did your day get any better?"
"Not really," She answered. She debated whether or not to bring up the fact that Draco Malfoy had visited her, but decided against it. Even though she didn't like the guy, she didn't believe in outing their identities to anyone. "Did you guys get any further on who killed my potion brewer?"
"Not yet," Harry sighed. "We have a few leads but nothing official yet."
"Better than nothing," Ginny said. "Dinner's ready!"
After a nice, long dinner, the four of them retired into one of the drawing rooms that Harry had added furniture to. Hermione frowned as she saw the state of the room; it was like they hadn't done any updates at all.
"Harry, do you need help with renovating the house?" Hermione asked. "It's still practically falling apart!"
Harry stiffened at that and his eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't want to change it too much from how Sirius left it."
Ginny rolled her eyes slightly, hiding it behind a long drink of wine. Hermione saw it though and gave her a knowing look before turning back to Harry. "I don't mean change it too much, just...fix it up a bit so that the wallpaper isn't falling off, or the furniture isn't breaking apart. You can update it while still having it look the same way."
"I don't want to change it, Hermione," He snapped loudly.
She sighed and leaned back on the old couch. "Alright, don't get too upset please. It was just a suggestion."
The group fell into an uneasy silence until Ginny finished her drink and nodded towards Hermione as she stood up. "Want to help me pick out the next bottle?"
"Sure!" Hermione immediately stood up and followed her friend out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief as they made their way down the stairs. "Merlin, I haven't seen him that upset for a while."
"Yeah," Ginny said. "Changing the house is the only thing that really riles him up now. That was the main reason we fought so much early on."
"Why is he so reluctant to renovate?" Hermione asked.
Ginny shrugged as she opened her small wine cabinet. "It's still his last link to Sirius, and I think he's worried that if he changes it, it'll really mean he's gone."
"I would think though that renovating and updating a house that your godfather absolutely hated would be a better tribute to his memory," Hermione muttered, leaning down to take a look at the wine.
"See, that's my thinking on it, but he won't have it," Ginny sighed. "I've pretty much given up hoping that we'll be in a nice house."
"You can just do what I do and buy yourself a cabin out on a lake," Hermione suggested as she straightened up. "Helps me deal with Ron and his ridiculousness sometimes."
Ginny laughed. "I may need to do that. We can get cabins right next to each other!"
The girls laughed quietly to each other as Ginny took the bottle and opened it for them. "I just can't really believe this is my life now. I mean, I'm the starting chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, and I'm living in a rundown old Pureblood manor that is filled with awfulness. He won't even get rid of the picture of Walburga Black!"
"You have got to be joking," Hermione said, looking off in the direction of the hallway where the dreaded picture was. "He can't even change that?"
Shaking her head, Ginny took another drink. "It's awful, Hermione."
Hermione frowned and they both paused when they heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen. She immediately lowered her voice and said, "We can go to my cabin this weekend and talk more there."
Ginny nodded just as Harry and Ron appeared in the doorway. Ron raised an eyebrow at both of them and said, "We were starting to worry about you two."
"We were having a small argument over which bottle to open," Hermione said quickly, straightening up.
"Well, I'm ready to go when you are," Ron shrugged.
Hermione's shoulders dropped slightly. "Okay, just let me finish this glass..."
After finishing the new glass faster than she would've liked, Hermione said goodbye to Harry and Ginny before apparating away with Ron. They landed in their living room and Hermione looked around at their house. Ron had purchased a small place for them in the middle of wizarding London, and while Hermione was happy with the location, Ron wasn't. He wanted to live closer to his family, but she thought it was more practical to be closer to work.
Ron immediately moved in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him. "I'm sorry for being in a mood earlier; I just...I had a bad day too and you seemed to only be focusing on your bad day."
Hermione sighed and leaned against him, looking out of the window. "I wasn't trying to..."
"I know, but you were, and it just upset me." He pulled away slightly and leaned down to give her a kiss. "I truly do hope you have a better day tomorrow."
Shelooked up at him and nodded, forcing another small smile. She was having to dothat a lot lately....