R/H, H/G, OBHWF, M-O-U-S-E

[Kelley]

No: HPFGUIDX 11389

Thoughts on some shipping threads:

Pairing Harry with Ginny was never a 'consolation prize' to my mind.  
If I'm remembering correctly, I saw an H/G pairing consciously before 
I saw R/H.  Saw it in CoS, once Ginny got to HW, and was given 
*something* to do.  I have no idea what JKR is planning; this is just 
my hunch (for no air-tight reasons at all).  Yes, Ginny is not 
developed yet.  There are three books to go, though, guys.  Moody 
wasn't well-developed before GoF in which he figured very strongly.  
Granted that was a long book, JKR had plenty of space in which to 
develop him.  I still contend that all it will take to make Ginny a 
well-developed character is one book.  She's had more 'page-time' 
than Cho, yet we all saw her as a romantic interest for Harry, albeit 
just a crush in which he didn't know anything about her.  I agree, 
Harry ~is~ part of the Weasley family, and Hermione too, to an 
extent, so pairing these characters off isn't necessary to show 
that.  I do not believe that JKR will not go in -some- romantic 
direction with any of the characters, though.  With the similarities 
that can, and have been, drawn between the Marauder generation and 
the generation of today, some romantic pairing seems a given to me... 

I also strongly contend that if anyone can make OBHWF happen without 
sap, it's JKR.  Cliche, maybe; but perhaps this scenario will serve 
her purposes.  We don't know yet.  The characters seem ripe with 
cliched characteristics to me, so I wouldn't put any cliche past 
JKR.  I will say that JKR has avoided sap and schmaltz thus far 
wonderfully well.  I venture to think most would agree with me on 
that.  Now, given that, why would anyone assume if JKR goes for 
the 'tied up in a bow' ending, that she will do so sappily?  I can 
see her guiding our realizations of whom the characters 'end up with' 
the same way she has handled so many other bits already:  Mrs. 
Weasley hugging Harry while he tries to choke back long withheld 
tears; Sirius' reaction when Harry tells them about J & L coming out 
of Vold's wand and speaking to him; the *Kiss; Harry seeing J & L, et 
al, in Erised; on and on.  To me, these situations were handled with 
a minimum of sap, so I'm thinking that if big-happy-family is where 
this will all end up, JKR certainly won't choose that time to go 
heavy on the saccharine.  She may go this route in such a way that it 
will seem 'right', even to those who right now may think this would 
be the most disappointing ending of all.  Additionally, if JKR really 
does not want to ever return to HP once the series is done, giving 
the impression of Happily Ever After for the characters would be a 
good way to avoid the pleas she'll surely get to continue.  If she 
gives enough hints as to what the future will be of the characters, 
enough sense of closure for the characters and the story in general, 
fans should be relatively satisfied.  Thoughts? 
Kelley