Ron, Hermione, perfume, and Harry's (romantic) fate

[msbeadsley]

Laura Ingalls Huntley wrote:
> Well, the perfume-giving was pretty indicative of Ron coming at 
> least marginally to terms with his crush, right?  Especially if, as 
> you theorized, he asked Molly and/or Ginny for advice?  So, I'm a 
> little confused as to why Hermione didn't take her cue and move on 
> in. <snip> I suspect the *real* reason, however, is because JKR 
> doesn't want to bring the final romantic pairings to a head until 
> the climatic 7th book <snip>

Although Ron gave Hermione perfume for Christmas, which I do think is 
a statement of intent, I also think that both he and Hermione are 
hanging back, in no real hurry to get paired off. I also think that 
Hermione was acutely aware in OoP that Harry was feeling isolated 
enough without his two best friends going off to that poufy tea shop 
together for some snogging. So it could also be a case of Hermione 
being only too aware of Ron's feelings and just sort of putting him 
and *them* on hold until things aren't so crazy. That's kind of how I 
see it. I'm not terribly invested in any of the ships, but I think it 
will probably end up R/H, with H/G or H/L, assuming Harry has the 
time and survives to have a girlfriend besides his short-lived thing 
with Cho. That was the one prediction I had exactly right, BTW, about 
OoP. I thought Harry and Cho might get together, and that Cedric 
would be a factor in their relationship. I'll bet a lot of people saw 
that one coming, though. (I really, really want Harry to survive long 
enough that he doesn't have to die a virgin. It hurts just to think 
about. He has been denied so many kinds of love already...but I think 
that pretty much means he has to survive past the end of the series 
(considering the degree of carnality I do and don't expect from JKR's 
teens), and I'm not placing any bets.)

Sandy