[HPforGrownups] Re: SHIP OBHWF (aka One Big Happy Weasley Family)

[Horst or Rebecca J. Bohner]

No: HPFGUIDX 15410

Heidi noted that if Harry and Ginny got together, there could be all manner
of complications in Harry's relationship with the Weasley family as a whole
and Molly in particular (especially if H & G broke up later on).

This is true, but not necessarily true.  To use a real-life example, my
sister-in-law has been a close friend of mine since we were both 14.  She
spent her teen years hanging around with me, my parents and my three older
brothers in a very Harry-with-the-Weasleys fashion.  She was especially
close to the youngest of my brothers, who was almost like a "best friend" to
her.  However, during her teen years she showed no romantic interest in my
brothers (just a massive unrequited crush on my handsome cousin).

When she turned twenty, she dated my oldest brother (who had always kind of
liked her) once, then decided that he was "too much like a brother" to her
and they broke up.  About three years later she started dating my middle
brother, a relationship which lasted about four months before it, too, broke
up.  Finally, in 1995, she began dating my youngest brother, the one who had
always been her closest friend:  they got married in 1996.

You'd think that with all these on-and-off relationships with my brothers
there'd be some bitter feelings in the family.  Well, there were a few tense
moments right at the time the breakups happened, but my parents were smart
enough not to meddle or take sides.  I kept on being friends with this girl
because, well, she was my friend, and she hadn't done anything criminal or
deliberately cruel to my brothers, so why not?  I did think it was funny,
though, that she seemed destined to join our family.  When she started
dating the last of my brothers I recall joking to my mother, "I sure hope
that this one works out, because if it doesn't, the only ones left are me
and the cat, and I think it's safe to say that neither one of us is
interested."

Anyway, all that being said, I think it *is* possible for Harry and Ginny to
have a relationship without causing major upheaval, paranoia, and resentment
in the Weasley family.  Even if the relationship didn't work out.
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj