Some shipping questions...

[dsslouisville at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 29567

I have to weigh in on this Hermione and Ron question...I think 
possibly that the game playing that we assign to Hermione in this 
case may be more indicitive of adult relationships than middle school 
ones.  I, myself, believe that the interest is on the part of Ron and 
Ron alone for Hermione.  I don't think that she gives any strong 
indication of a romantic interest in Harry, but that she may be 
starting to see Ron in a somewhat fuzzy light.  The fact that she is 
demonstrative with Harry (as far as kissing and hugging and such) I 
think only indicates that she is comfortable with him, and at the 
same time is starting to notice a tension between herself and Ron.

Ron is the somewhat reluctant hero, tagging along after Harry and not 
always sharing his drive and determination, except when there are 
women he loves in the line of fire.  I think that his defense of 
Hermoine in CoS and (dare I say it?) his haste to get up to the 
hospital wing to see her after she was given the Mandrake potion 
shows us that he regards her in a different light than Harry.  I'll 
wager that Harry, while he may fall for a girl hard in the following 
books, will have his hands full making good and delivering on all the 
promise of his reputation.

Andrea Crawford