He opened up the letter and read:
Hi! It's me, Hermione. I bet you don't recognize the owl. My parents went down to London to visit some relatives of mine I don't really know, so they let me go into Diagon Alley and wander around. So I found a post office! I'm writing to you and Harry, because I already miss you both. I can already hear the question you're going to ask me the next time you see me, so I'll answer it now. I have and I will not visit Viktor in Bulgaria. I explained everything that happened this year to my parents and they thought that it would be best just to stay in England. Of course, if I'm really in danger from Voldemort, it doesn't matter where I am, but I'm not going to argue. How is news on your side? How are your parents, and how is Ginny? Well, since I don't have much to say, I'll end the letter here.
Love From,
Hermione
"Well, who's the letter from, Ron?" Fred asked.
"Hermione," Ron answered.
He missed the sly wink that passed between Fred and George. "Well, is she pining away for you, or having the time of her life in Bulgaria?" asked George.
Ron grew bright red. "None of your business!" he snapped.
"Aw, ickle Ronniekins misses his girlfriend!"
"Shut up!"
"Leave him alone, you two." It was Ginny. "Hermione is not his girlfriend."
"Yet."
"George!" Ginny exclaimed, but it was evident she was trying to hide laughter.
"Well, just kick in the old Weasley charm, Ron. Works every time!" Fred put in.
At this point in time, Ron resembled a beetroot with red hair. "Oh shut up all of you!" He stormed out of the room, and he heard hearty chuckles on his way out.
Up in his room, he sat down and examined the letter. It said she was in Diagon Alley on the 17th. He looked at his Chudley Cannons Calendar. Along with the Interesting Quidditch Fact of the Day (Today in history, the Snitch was caught two seconds after the game started, setting a world record.), it informed him the date was the 17th.
He perked up visibly and went off to find his mother. He found her gazing at the household clock that informed her that Arthur and Percy were still at work.
"Mum?"
Molly Weasley turned around and looked at her son. "Yes, dear, what is it?"
"Well, I was wondering, could I possibly go to Diagon Alley for a little while?"
"Diagon Alley! Whatever for?"
"Well, Hermione's there today, and I wanted to go see her," he answered, turning slightly pink around the ears.
A knowing twinkle appeared in her eyes.
"Does everyone know about my personal life?" Ron thought angrily to himself.
"Well, in that case, dear, I suppose you can."
Ron goggled at her. She never gave in that easily.
Molly noticed the look, and with a smile on her face, said, "I was fifteen once also, you know." She smiled even wider at him. "The Floo Powder's on the kitchen counter. Just don't get into any mischief, now."
Ron ignored the last thing his mother said and bolted off, shouting, "Thanks, Mum!" over his shoulder.
Ten minutes later, Ron was outside Gringott's looking for Hermione everywhere. Finally, he decided that she might still me in the post office writing to Harry. He walked as quickly as his legs would take him. As he stepped into the post office, he caught sight of a brown bushy head of hair. He ran towards it.
He saw her turn around as she heard him approach. Suddenly, she smiled. "Ron!" she cried. She then proceeded to hug him. Ron suddenly felt awkward and decided to try and hug her back. Just as he was about to, however, she pulled away and looked at him, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"What are you doing here, Ron?" she asked. "And where's the rest of your family?" she added looking over his shoulder.
"They're not here. I was bored, so I came here."
He noticed Hermione looking at him suspiciously.
"Don't worry, my mum knows," he added quickly.
"How's Ginny?" she asked.
"Ginny?" He felt slightly hurt. After all, he came all the way to Diagon Alley to see her, and all she could do was inquire after his sister.
Hermione knew as soon as she asked it, she shouldn't have. But it was a shock, seeing Ron here. She had missed him and Harry so much ever since school had let out for the holidays. It was nice to see him.
"Ginny's fine," Ron answered, somewhat curtly.
"That's good," Hermione answered. "Let me just send off this letter, okay?" If she didn't feel guilty enough for asking Ron about Ginny, he just had to come in when she was writing to Viktor. Of course, she was telling him that she thought they should break whatever they had going on, being in two different countries and all. But of course, if Ron saw the address, he might not give her time to explain all that.
Out of her nervousness she dropped the envelope. "Drat!" she thought to herself as Ron picked it up and handed it to her. She smiled her thanks, though, and sent off the letter with an owl.
"So," she said, "turning around to meet Ron. "Shall we go to Florean Fortescues's?" Without waiting for an answer, she led the way out of the Post Office.
Ron followed, and she sneaked a look at his face. He didn't look very happy.
"So," she said again. "Have you started your homework?" Then without waiting for his reply, she carried on. She felt nervous because of Ron's silence. "I've already finished all my homework, except for the essay Professor Binns assigned us. I'm only halfway through that."
"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the homework?" Ron asked angrily. "Is that all you can possibly think about. I show up here, almost immediately after I get your letter, and all you can do is ask about Ginny, send a letter to Vicky, and talk about homework! I'm supposed to be your friend, remember?!" He stopped ranting and tried to catch his breath.
Hermione goggled at him. She could feel the anger stirring in the pits of her stomach. "Well, excuse me! I'm not the one standing around like a mindless moron without anything to say!" "Did I just say that?" she thought incredulously to herself.
She saw Ron's face crumble. "Well, if that's the way you feel…"
She grabbed Ron's hand as he made to leave. "Ron, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. Let's start over. Please."
Ron looked inclined to continue the argument, but he drew in a deep breath and looked at Hermione. To her utter surprise, he grinned. "Does that mean we can redo the hug?" he asked impishly.
Hermione stared at him. Ron wasn't continuing the fight. He was asking for a hug of all things. Before she could react, Ron pulled her into an embrace. He seemed surprised at his own action, but even more surprised at Hermione's action when she hugged him back.
The stayed like that for about three seconds before Ron pulled away, looking red. "Sorry," he muttered. "I don't know what got into me."
"Forget about it," she told him, and they walked down to the ice-cream parlor.
When Ron got back to the Burrow, he was grinning. The first person he met on the way up to his bedroom was Ginny. "You're back kind of early. Nothing bad happened, did it?" Then she caught sight of Ron's grin, "I guess not," she taught to herself, smiling back at him.
Ron climbed on. He was home early because Hermione's parents had suddenly appeared, saying they had got into an argument with old Uncle Waldo about whether or not dentistry was a good occupation. Offended, they had left, and came for Hermione.
But, he and Hermione hadn't had any arguments (except for the first one), they had spent some time together talking about something else besides school, and he had finally learned how to hug. All in all, he thought, it was a good day.
Suddenly, he heard a tapping at the window. He opened it, and found two owls this time. He immediately recognized one as Hedwig, and the other as his own owl, Pig, who had gone flying off a couple days ago. Both had letters attached to their legs. This first on was from Harry.
Dear Ron,
Hey! It's been a tolerable summer break so far. The Dursleys have left for Majorca leaving me behind with this old lady called Mrs. Figg. Only it turns out that Mrs. Figg is really a witch, who was best friends with my mother. I know it sounds confusing, I was shocked at first also. I just got here today, and the next two weeks are looking bright. Oh, by the way, guess who else is staying at Arabella's (that's Mrs. Figg's) house? Parvati Patil. I hope she doesn't ruin the Dursley-free weeks for me, I don't really know her well. Ok, I hear someone coming up, and it sounds like Parvati. I better go. Write back!
From,
Harry
P.S. Do you think I should apologize for the Yule Ball?
Ron grinned as he read Harry's letter. He wondered if Harry was going to get to know Parvati really well soon. "I'll write back later," he thought.
He took the other letter from Pig and opened it. He recognized Hermione's handwriting, but it looked as if she was trying to write it in a hurry.
Dear Ron,
Thanks for the fun time today down in Diagon Alley. Pig knocked at my window, so I let him in, but he seemed in a hurry to go, so I just decided to write a quick note. Hopefully, I'll see you at the Burrow soon!
Love,
Hermione
Ron's heart soared at the word love. He knew for sure now that he was in love with Hermione. He wondered if Hermione knew it too. He decided it was time to go down for dinner, forgetting to write back to Harry. Hedwig flew out of his window with an offended hoot.
On his way to the dining room, Ron glanced at the clock. All names were
at home, except for one. With a gasp, Ron realized that Charlie Weasley's
hand was pointed to "mortal peril".
You guys are probably like, "A hug?! That's it?!" Sorry,
but there'll definitely be more in the next chapters-as for Charlie...