As the summer before third year wore on, Hermione felt more and more alone at the absence of Harry and Ron's presence. Because of this, she was excited when an invitation arrived at her house:
Hermione,
Just came back from Egypt! It's completely brilliant, the whole wizarding country is covered in pyramids and dead guys. 'Course, I know just what you would say: "Ron, there's more to Egypt than pyramids and dead guys. History has been made in the country!" Hermione, history has been made everywhere. You can't possibly be fascinated by everything.
Anyway, how was France? And tell about more things than its history. It'll bore me to tears.
I know I'm a git.
By the way, we'll all be in Diagon Alley on August 30th. D'you think you'll want to join us? If you do (and you do, right?) we'll be at the Leaky Cauldron at 10:00 am.
Hope to see you there,
Ron
Hermione had laughed at this letter, and had replied straight away:
Dear Ron,
I'm glad you had fun in Egypt. And for the record, you are a git. I'm not just fascinated by its history; the location of Egypt is also captivating.
France was extraordinary; the wizards are so different there. Of course, I wouldn't know. Mum and Dad were with me, so I couldn't visit any of the wizard part of France. I've just read about it, and from that, I think it's fascinating.
Just asked Mum and Dad, and they said I can leave early for Hogwarts and see you lot at Diagon Alley. I'm sure Tom will give me a room.
I'll see you then,
Hermione
She sighed as she put down the quill. Now she felt complete, despite the feeling of loneliness she had felt a few moments ago. She was going to see Ron a day earlier than planned, though it felt like a month earlier than planned.
Before she sent the letter off, she thought of one last minute thing to say:
P.S. Are you inviting Harry? He's probably feeling lonely at his aunt and uncle's; you know how they are to him.
She sent it off with Errol, who had been waiting almost impatiently for her to finish.
It seemed to take a lifetime for the day of Hermione's deportation to arrive. Ron had responded to her letter, saying he wasn't sure if Harry was going to come, because Harry hadn't replied to his letter. This had made Hermione worry a bit, the only time this had happened before had been when a house elf had stopped Harry's letters. But as she hauled her trunk down the spiral stairs in her muggle home, she forgot all about Harry.
Hermione arrived in Diagon Alley, and after greeting Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and a brief conversation with her parents and Ron's, she bade her parents' farewell, and set out to find Ron and the rest of the Weasleys.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had told her that all their children had spread out throughout Diagon Alley, and they had no idea where Ron was. However, they told Hermione that they were all due back at the Leaky Cauldron at one o' clock for lunch.
Hermione did know where Ron would be, however. If she knew Ron well enough, he would either be in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, pigging out on ice cream with his brothers, or at Zonko's Joke Shop with Fred and George.
She decided to check Florean Fortescue's first, since it was closer. She saw no one but a few people in there, none of them redheads. So, she continued down the bumpy path to Zonko's where she was sure she would find Ron.
She looked in the window to the little shop, and there he was.
His back was to her, he was looking at something she could not see with the twins. One of them, however (she suspected it to be George) saw her.
She entered the shop as she heard George say, "Hey, Ron, look who it is."
Ron turned around and she saw the face she had missed for the last two months.
He grinned at her; he had clearly missed her as much as she missed him. He had gotten taller and frecklier over the summer. He had a tan, which was strange, because most redheads don't possess this trait. Either way, Hermione admired his appearance, as she always had.
"Hermione!" Ron approached her grinning with that lopsided grin she loved.
"Hello, Ron." She responded with a warm smile. "How has your summer been?"
Ron shrugged and made a face. "S'alright. Bit lonely though, with you and Harry gone. Been playing Quidditch mostly with Fred and George and Ginny. How was France?"
Hermione gave the same response Ron had given her. "It was alright, but it would've been much better if I had been able to see the wizard part of it. And it probably would've been much more fun if you and Harry had been there. I think we would've had fun together."
Hermione smiled and Ron grinned back. "You want to go over to Florean Fortescue's? I'm hungry."
"Are you? Isn't that quite the surprise."
"Hm, clever and cheeky," Fred approached Ron and Hermione with George at his side. "Ronnie, you've better get a move on this girl before –"
"Shove off," Ron snapped at the twins. "We're going to Florean Fortescue's, just keep out of our way."
"What an unnecessary snappish comment!" George continued. "Mother Dearest would never call for such rubbish!"
"Well, Mother Dearest isn't here, now is she?" Ron snapped back. Hermione laughed at the boys and grabbed Ron by the arm, and lead him out of the shop before the twins could get him any angrier.
"You can't let the twins get to you anymore, Ron," Hermione said once they were outside. "You know that's what they want."
"Easy for you to say," Ron said grumpily. "You haven't had to deal with their smart comments all summer…the gits…."
"Alright, they're gone now. So please don't be this way for the rest of the day. Alright?"
She squeezed his arm in a warning sort of way, and he smiled at her and said, "Alright."
She smirked back at him; she couldn't help it. The uneven grin of Ron Weasley made her smile for days on end.
As they approached the ice cream parlor, she couldn't help noticing how tall Ron had grown from when she first saw him. He had always been tall, yes, but over the summer he had really sprouted.
"You've gotten really tall, Ron," Hermione finally said when they were directly in front of the shop.
Ron seemed unsure how to respond to this. His mouth curled into a smirk, however, and he responded smartly, "Well, maybe you're just too short."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm average height. You're just abnormally tall," she said teasingly.
"Wrong. You're average height for a girl. Blokes are taller." He took a step closer to Hermione, and looked down at her, as if to prove his point. However, Hermione was the least bit threatened.
"You don't scare me, Ron. I always win, anyway."
"How's that, then?"
Hermione counted off on her fingers. "One: I'm a girl; we always win everything, even if we lose. Two: I'm a lot cleverer than you. And three: I can do this."
She grabbed a nearby chair and stood on it next to Ron, making her half a foot taller than him. Hermione smiled cheekily down at him, and stated, "I win."
"For now." Ron responded with a grin on his face. They were both in such good moods! Hermione liked it. "But if you were a bloke, I'd kick that chair out from under you, and then I would win."
Hermione rolled her eyes again, and they both entered the shop to order their ice creams.
When they came back out, they saw the one person they loved to see at the moment.
Harry was just down the street, and coming straight for them.
Ron saw him too, and they both yelled, "HARRY!" at the exact same time.
Hermione couldn't stop smiling that day. After two months apart, she was with her boys again.
