Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter books or characters, but I wish I did.
Later that night, Ron sat at the small desk in his room, chewing thoughtfully on the end of his quill. He was trying to write to Hermione to tell her she could come to the Burrow, but for some reason that hug and kiss at King's Cross kept getting in the way of his thought process.
"Dear Hermione..." he wrote. Wait a minute, he thought. Maybe I shouldn't say "dear". Maybe that's pushing it. Have I ever written "dear Hermione" before? He couldn't remember. He crumpled up the sheet of parchment and started writing on a fresh one.
"Hermione," he wrote. That's better...I hope. Maybe I should write "dear". "Oh, bloody hell," he muttered to himself. "Just write the stupid letter already."
"Mum says she reckons your parents would like to have some time with you, but she says it would be fine for you to come on July 20th, if they agree. Dumbledore says Harry can come here on his birthday, then we'll all leave together for Snuffles’ place on August 5th." (He had been warned repeatedly not to write "headquarters", "London", or worse still, "#12 Grimmauld Place".) "Mum insisted to Dumbledore that we have as normal a holiday as possible (unlike last summer, right?), and he agreed. I just wish 'normal' for Harry didn't mean spending it with those Muggles."
He paused for a moment. July 20th. Less than four weeks until he saw her again. And he couldn't help thinking it...he would have 11 days with Hermione without Harry. He felt guilty at the thought. He was worried about Harry, about his state of mind after Sirius' death, and he knew the Dursleys would be no help. But he couldn't help feeling glad that he would be alone with Hermione. And nervous. And... could he admit it?... hopeful. That hug and that kiss had opened up a world of possibilities that he had never allowed himself to think about...well, almost never.
"Anyway, write me back and let me know if this is OK with your parents. Mum said that she and Dad will be glad to come pick you up and talk to them about our plans. So, let me know, OK?
---Ron"
Should I write "Love Ron"? No... no, that's pushing it. He sat for a moment, staring at the letter. She told me she would miss me. The feel of her kiss still lingered on his cheek, and he could hear her whisper those three words again..."I'll miss you."
He put his quill back down to the parchment, then lifted it again quickly, changing his mind. "I'll miss you," he heard her say again. He hadn't said it back to her, everything had happened so quickly. Did she even know he would miss her?
He lowered the quill again, and quickly, before he could lose his nerve, he scrawled, "I'll miss you, too." Grabbing Pig from mid-flight (a trick which he sometimes thought would be an excellent training technique for a Seeker), he tied the letter to the small owl's leg and took him to the window. "Take this to Hermione," he told him. "Fast, before I change my mind." Pig hooted happily and took off into the dark sky.
~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was also sitting in her room, but she was writing a letter to Harry. She was very worried about him, and she had promised herself she would write to him as often as possible. And to her delight, just as she was wondering if the Dursleys would give the letter to Harry if she mailed it, Hedwig showed up at her window.
"You wonderful bird. You always know when Harry needs something, don't you?" she said, taking the snowy owl on her arm and stroking her head gently. She sat Hedwig on her dresser and gave her an Owl Treat, which she kept handy for any visiting owls, then returned to her letter. "I'll be finished in a minute, Hedwig, then you can take this to Harry."
"Hedwig just showed up, she really is quite wonderful. Anyway, as I was saying good-bye to Ron today at King's Cross, we talked about the three of us getting together at the Burrow, so hopefully I'll be seeing you soon. Take care of yourself, Harry, and please stay in touch. Ron and I care about you, you're our best friend, so please let us know how you are.
---Love from Hermione"
She looked over the letter again, and her eyes stopped at the words "as I was saying good-bye to Ron." She sighed, embarrassed, as she thought about how she had clung to him when she hugged him good-bye. She consoled herself with the thought that he hadn't seemed to mind. But she cringed as she remembered how she had almost, almost, kissed him on the lips. She had realized what she was doing at the last moment and kissed him on the cheek near his mouth. "You're going to have to watch yourself, Hermione," she muttered. "He only thinks of you as a friend." She did wonder sometimes, such as when he jumped in to defend her or when he seemed to be jealous of Viktor, just exactly how Ron did feel about her. She rolled up her letter to Harry and secured it to Hedwig's leg. "There you go, Hedwig. And look out for him, will you?" Hedwig hooted very seriously and soared off into the night.
As she was watching Hedwig's silhouette disappear, she noticed what appeared to be a small cannon ball with feathers hurtling toward her. A moment later, Pig flew in through the open window and started careening around and around her room, hooting crazily. "Hold still, you silly little thing," she laughed, making a grab for Pig and missing. "You're supposed to give me the letter, not make me dizzy!" Pig finally landed on her bed, and Hermione was able to take the letter from his leg. She gave him a couple of Owl Treats, which temporarily distracted him from bouncing off the walls.
As Hermione sat down and unfolded the letter, she noticed that her heart was pounding. "Get a grip on yourself, Hermione," she muttered and began to read.
July 20th. That meant she would be seeing Ron again in less than four weeks. A very long four weeks. She also noticed that they would have 11 days together without Harry, a thought that made her feel breathless. And immediately after, guilty. Well, she would just have to make sure she wrote to Harry every day. But 11 days with Ron! She and Ron had spent a lot of time together without Harry over the past year, but that had been first at Grimmauld Place and then at Hogwarts. This would be at the Burrow, a place where they could relax (she hoped) and maybe...maybe things would start progressing.
She finished reading the letter, stopping at the bottom of the page. What had he written? She could barely read it; it was almost illegible. She squinted and finally made it out. "I'll miss you, too." She smiled, her heart beginning to pound again, afraid to let herself read too much into the meaning of those four words. She looked at them again. It looked as though he had scrawled them in a hurry; the ink was slightly smudged, as if he had folded the letter immediately after writing it. Had it taken courage for him to write that? And if it had, what did that mean?
"You're going to drive yourself mad, Hermione. See? You're already talking to yourself." Smiling, she put Ron's letter on her desk and headed downstairs to talk to her parents about the plans. And to start contemplating two letters she needed to write: one to a certain red-headed boy which she would write immediately after talking to her parents, and one to another boy, farther away, which she would have to write soon.