Minor edits 3rd Feb
Thanks to JKR for creating the potterverse and for letting us play in it. Thanks also to my betas “ Cryst Malfoy and Ron Weasley.
This story starts at the end of OotP, as Harry leaves the train station.
"I Just Wanted You to Know"
Chapter 1 - The Train
Ron and Hermione watched Harry leave the station with the Dursleys. Moody, Tonks, and Lupin followed them from the station to make sure the Dursleys got the message about how Harry should be treated.
Ginny was busy sorting enormous piles of luggage - Fred and George hadn't thought to take their trunks with them when they'd made their dramatic exit from Hogwarts, and she'd been left to deal with their belongings. She wasn't about to open the boxes they'd left behind, so they'd all been magically bound together and loaded into the train's luggage car. Hermione's parents stood chatting to Ron's, although the tone was somewhat strained - their children had barely survived the conflict at the Department of Mysteries, and the Grangers were having doubts about the wisdom of continuing Hermione's magical education at Hogwarts.
Platform nine and three-quarters was suddenly enveloped in steam as the Hogwarts locomotive let go.
"We'll see him soon, don't worry," assured Ron to Hermione.
"I suppose so," she replied. "I am worried that he's more vulnerable than everybody thinks. There are only so many magical guards you can have in the muggle world without attracting suspicion. I wonder what Dumbledore's going to do this time."
"I don't know, there's just not much we can do about it. I'll be locked in the cellar if I try to get to him this summer. We'll just have to wait until Dumbledore lets him come to stay - it'll only be a couple of weeks."
"That's what I'm worried about. The Death Eaters will be after him and he's so far away from everyone else!"
"I doubt it. The ones that weren't captured are lying low again, and they won't do anything without instructions from You-Know-Who. It must have been a shock for them to lose so many at the Department."
Ron fell silent as he remembered that Sirius was one of those lost. His leg still ached slightly where it had been broken. Sirius was someone he wouldn't ever forget.
Hermione's thoughts also turned to the aftermath of the conflict, and her own reflections since then about friends, death, betrayal, and pain.
One morning in the hospital she'd woken to a blinding revelation - encounters with Voldemort and Death Eaters, Sirius - she missed him terribly and could only imagine how Harry was feeling about it - Lupin's courage in the face of his lifelong affliction, Pettigrew, the constant taunts of Malfoy and those other idiots from Slytherin, as well as Snape. She was fed up. There were going to be some changes, starting with herself. Cleverest witch she may be, but she'd also realised that she was tired of waiting, tired of reacting to events instead of taking charge and MAKING THINGS HAPPEN! Her studies were important, but now she'd demand equal time for herself.
She braced herself for the question she'd been planning. "So, what are you up to during the holidays?" she asked.
"Not much. How about you?"
He is so infuriating. Couldn't he take a hint? she thought.
"I'm going to catch up on the classes I missed while I was in hospital." This was only partly true. She intended to spend much of the holidays studying, but only if Ron didn't ask her to come and stay at his house.
Ron gave her a strange look. Why would anyone want to study during summer holidays? "Hermione, give it a rest, no-one else is thinking about classes, not after everything that's happened."
"It's more important than ever before, Ron. Can't you see that?"
She'd just pressed the wrong button. "I can see that you think your bloody classes are more important than Harry and the rest of us!" Ron replied angrily.
Hermione was shocked. After all they'd been through...she only wanted to make sure they were as well prepared as possible. For heaven's sake, there were still Death Eaters on the loose! Her own temper flared.
"I suppose you're going to spend the summer following Quidditch matches and being a guinea pig for Fred and George's latest inventions. What's the matter, Ron? Not enough excitement for you in Voldemort's plans?"
Ron jumped at the mention of the dark lord's name. "Well, if that's how you feel about it, I'll see you here next term when the train's ready to leave for Hogwarts!" he shouted. "Have a nice holiday,” he said bitterly and stormed off, pulling his trunk from the bottom of the pile Ginny had just finished. It tottered for a moment, and then collapsed, spilling boxes of potential mayhem all over the platform.
Hermione's eyes filled with tears. This wasn't what she'd wanted to happen, not at all. She'd anticipated him asking nervously whether she wanted to come and spend the holidays with him at The Burrow, her eager response, perhaps a parting kiss, then a joyful few weeks of time spent with each other... instead she watched Ron angrily walk away, dragging his trunk through the gate and disappearing in the crowd.
Ginny was rounding up the luggage when she noticed Hermione standing alone, crying quietly. She gave up the hunt and walked over to stand beside her friend. "Not another fight, Hermione?" she asked.
"I wanted to (hic) tell him how much I (hic)..." Hermione sobbed and threw her arms around Ginny.
She waited until her friend's breathing had calmed a little, then asked: "Well, what are you going to do about it?"
Hermione drew back and spoke. "I need to talk to him, but now he doesn't want to see me until school starts again."
"What?" Ginny was certain that Ron had planned to ask Hermione to stay for the holidays, and she'd been looking forward to spending some time with a girl near her own age. Well, Ron wasn't going to get in her way. She'd had enough of six older brothers and no girlfriends during summer break. "Hermione, would you like to come and stay with me this summer?"
Hermione looked up, startled. "Do you mean it? I mean, do you really want me to come?"
Ginny smiled. She might not end up spending much time with Hermione, but Ron would, she was certain. "You bet. Go and ask your parents, I'm sure they'll say it's OK."
"Wh-what about Ron?"
Ginny's eyes twinkled with impish glee. "He'll just have to put up with you, won't he?"