Why didn't Hermione hug Ron Weasley in this scene?

Question

If Hermione hugged Harry Potter, then why didn't she hug Ron Weasley in this scene from the end of the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film?

Answer 1

Chris Columbus, director for the first and second films, answered this in an interview with The Leaky Cauldron. In short though this is foreshadowing of their feelings for each other and eventual relationship. That isn't the case with Harry because they are simply just friends.

*TLC*: Quick thing about the end of the movie. There’s a very adorable scene where Hermione hugs Harry, but she doesn’t hug Ron – what was behind that non-hug for you?

CC: Did you read book four?

*TLC*: Yeah, I did. [You’ve no idea.]

CC: So, it’s a little bit of a taste of what’s to happen, what’s coming up.

TLC: So it is foreshadowing.

CC: It is foreshadowing, yeah. I just love the idea that the two of them, that there’s an impending crush. And it’s such a real thing for kids at that age. For instance, I asked Emma to hug Dan, and she said, ‘No way,’ and that was the day she was the most nervous being on the set. She was like, ‘I am not going to hug him, no I’m not.’ And I said, ‘You’ve been petrified, this is one of your best friends, if not your best friend, you have to hug him,’ I said, ‘but you won’t hug Ron, because that’s where the tension is.

So basically, she had all her friends, all the actors, actresses, she had to hug him in front of 350 actors, so as a kid she was terrified. So she hugged him, and I had to extend it through editing. She would hug him, and at the next frame, gone.

_{The Leaky Cauldron, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Press Junket: Chris Columbus Interview}

Answer 2

The original script by Steven Kloves calls for an awkward handshake because of the social dynamics between Ron and Hermione. This contradicts what the video All the Best Unscripted Moments from the Series! says, which is false.

Seated at the tables, are the formerly petrified, revived students. Justin Finch-Fletchley joins his fellow Hufflepuffs. Colin Creevey SNAPS photos of the proceedings.

At the rear of the hall, standing near the entrance, Filch is reunited with Mrs. Norris. Then... Hermione enters, searching the room for Harry and Ron. Finally, she sees them. Smiles. Runs forward and embraces Harry.

HERMIONE: You solved it! You solved it!

HARRY: With loads of help from you.

She turns to embrace Ron. They pause, an awkward moment between them and... shake hands instead.

RON: Welcome back, Hermione.

Kloves immersed himself so deeply into the world of HP that by the end of The Deathly Hallows Part 2, he seemed to "know" and understand the characters almost as well as JKR.

He almost certainly was working closely with JKR throughout the entire process of drafting the movie screenplays, and knew that Ron and Hermione would forge intimate feelings as a relationship crystalized in future installments as they grew older. It would have been seen as too intimate of an interaction between the two at the time.