The Kiss

[Ebony]

No: HPFGUIDX 7352

Penny wrote: 
> > I know she might have just been thinking, "oh, poor Harry, he's 
been through > > so> > much in the last few weeks," and just kissed 
him spontaneously, without> > any real romantic interest.  But .... 
it could also indicate there are> > underlying feelings for him too.  
Especially when you think about the> > way JKR emphasized it as an 
ending detail.

To which Mo replied: 

> I don't think Hermione has underlying feelings for Harry.  I think 
that this > was an extremely emotional time for all of them and she's 
relieved that one > of her best friends is ok.   I do think that JKR 
was trying to emphasize not > only to Ron, but the reader that yes, 
Hermione is a girl (and she's becoming > a woman).  Hermione gets 
emotional and IMO hormonal in a > once-a-month-mood-swingy kind of 
way.  I'm a few years from being 14 but I > can remember the mood 
swings like like they were just last month.  : )


See what I mean?  JKR did it on purpose--she *knew* we'd be 
discussing the last page for years!  (And since there'll be no *Order 
of the Phoenix* in 2001 (sniff) I do mean years.  Thank God for 
fanfic.)  

I'd say that Hermione does have underlying feelings for Harry at this 
point... refer to the overdone post sent 24 hours ago on Freud and 
Lacan.  LOL!

I like the way Penny's keeping score (especially when H/H is winning) 
but I still don't think we can get too excited yet.  I'm re-reading 
the canon now to get a feel for the writing, and the canon is not 
helping my argument for the Harry side of things at all.  In fact, in 
the paper he *had* to be the ever-retreating Lacanian Other, because 
he seems to be keeping her at arm's length as far as anything other 
than friendship is concerned.  JKR gives us the kiss, but she also 
takes great pains to detail the period of time when Harry and 
Hermione were spending a lot of time together, the tabloid write-ups, 
etc.  I wonder if there's any reason for this beyond GoF. 

We can't just ignore the fact that Harry at least seems to not even 
consider the possibility of anything other than friendship with 
Hermione all throughout GoF.  A friend is one thing, but if she 
starts to head to the "sister" category we can hang it up.

No, I'm not shooting myself or my fellow H/H shippers (who have 
*extraordinarily* good taste, might I add) in the foot.  I just like 
to argue both sides of the debate... pick up the R/H ball and run 
with it... it's fun to see how right we are anyway.  (laughing again)

--Ebony