[HPforGrownups] Re: The Kiss

[Meredith Wilson]

No: HPFGUIDX 7379



** "Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something she had 
** never done 
** > before, and kissed him on the cheek.  (GoF, 1st Amer. ed., p. 734)
** > 
** > Yes, it was discussed.  I think the consensus was that it means 
** > nothing.  Personally, I agree.  I've already established the fact 
** > that I have a psychology block that's insurmountable.  :)
** 
** > My eighth graders from this summer are convinced that Hermione 
** likes 
** > Harry, and they use the kiss as part of their evidence.  "You've 
** > forgotten what it's like to be 13 and 14, Miss Thomas," they 
** > said.  "A kiss is a big deal.  Even if it's on the cheek." 
**  They're 
** > not shippers at all, they claim.  "It's not a question of who's 
** going 
** > to get together... it's a question of what's going to happen."  
** 
** Maybe your kids had something there. After all they're the same age 
** as Harry and Hermione, and who would know better the 
** emotions of a 14 
** yr old than a 14 yr old.
** 
** However Jo isn't 14 and she's the one writing. Perhaps she is more 
** inclined to look at it in the same light as members of this group. 
** 
** I for one agree with the latter, doubting very seriously that it 
** meant anything at all. I'm not about to tell that to Ron though!
** 
** Scott

It's true that Jo isn't 14, but she's done a pretty good job of writing
appropriately for the kids in the book.  Not that I think the kiss
necessarily means anything (though I'd like it to, as a proud H/H
shipper...), but also the kiss might mean more to a 14 y/o boy than to a 14
y/o girl.  I mean, girls do things frivolously sometimes (especially at 14)
and while a quick peck on the cheek is friendly in the eyes of a girl, it
might bring up questions for a boy.  Or actually, now that I'm writing this,
I think the difference might be a giver/receiver thing.  What might seem
friendly for the giver of a peck on the cheek, might bring up 'what was that
supposed to mean' questions from the receiver - regardless of sex.  Hmmm...

Mer