Ginny & Hermione (small bit on SHIPs) Long

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 32809

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Penny & Bryce <pennylin at s...> wrote:



> Nope.  As far as canon Ginny is concerned, she's just a background 
> character we don't know much about.  Doesn't mean JKR can't or 
won't do 
> more with her, but *for now,* the fact is that Hermione *is* the 
only 
> female character strong enough to be the love interest of the hero. 
> IMHO of course.

Hi Penny,

I was hoping this topic would flush you out, and I wasn't 
disappointed <g>


> I don't see that they are spending "much more time" together.  They 
are 
> forced to spend some time together by virtue of being the only 
girls in 
> a sea of boys at the Burrow & at the QWC.  She does know about 
> Hermione's date, which indicates some amount of friendship between 
the 
> two girls, presumably anyway.  But, as of now, we don't have 
evidence of 
> exactly how much.  We also don't really know *how* Ginny came by 
this 
> information.  What if she was eavesdropping & overheard Hermione 
telling 
> Seamus Finnegan?  What if she overheard Hermione's conversation 
with 
> Neville for that matter?  Just a few possibilities that don't 
involve 
> any sort of friendship between the girls.  There's also nothing 
> textually to say that Neville isn't the one who informed Ginny of 
> Hermione having a date.

One thing that's always bothered me with respect to Hermione, is her 
complete lack of same-sex friends.  I agree with you that there 
really isn't much of anything to indicate any real closeness with 
Ginny, so far, and she never seems to have much to do with the other 
girls in her year.  Parvati and Lavender don't even seem to know that 
she has a date for the ball until Harry tells them, and Parvati 
doesn't even seem to have laid eyes on her while getting ready for 
the ball, as shown by her shock at how nice Hermione looks when she 
appears with Victor.  This is pretty strange for girls who have been 
roommates for 3+ years and are getting ready for their first formal 
occasion.

It's pretty standard for girls in early adolesence to form close 
friendships with other girls their age, as part of the 
whole "becoming a woman"-thing.  While Harry and Ron are certainly 
her closest friends, you never hear her share anything really 
personal with them (not that they'd be much use to her if she did).
I really hope JKR gives her a close girl friend soon, because if she 
continues to hang out with the boys exclusively, she's going to find 
herself excluded more and more.  It was ok when they were younger, 
but now they can't pretend that it doesn't make any difference that 
they are boys and she's a girl, as GOF made so obvious.
> 

Penny writes:
> 
> She spent the same amount of time with Molly as all the other kids, 
> right?  Mathematics isn't my strong suit, but didn't they all spend 
> 10.5/11 yrs with their mother before leaving for Hogwarts?  Being 
the 
> youngest doesn't translate into *more* time, just different 
time.  :--)

But don't you think that being the youngest girl would probably mean 
that she would be especially close to Molly? 

Penny writes:
> Harry needs a little woman to just "stand by his side" then?  
Harumph. 
> We have a very different idea of what *Harry* might need then.
> 
Now, be fair Penny.  I don't think anyone thinks that Harry needs "a 
little woman to just stand by his side".  However, I do think that he 
would tend to appreciate someone a lot more easygoing who was secure 
enough in herself that she wouldn't need to be constantly proving 
that she's the smartest one in the room.  The last thing he needs in 
a romantic partner is someone who would feel that she needs to 
compete with him for attention.  I've always thought that as fond as 
Harry surely is of Hermione, he would find her exhausting as a 
constant companion (as he does when he and Ron are on the outs in 
GOF, and he's forced to spend more time one on one with Hermione).

I really don't want to make a case for H/G, R/H, or Harry with anyone 
else, at this point.  Still, everytime someone suggests that Hermione 
belongs with Harry, something inside me cringes and says "surely 
not!".

Still I love hearing your arguments on this topic, so fire away!

Jo,
Who really loves Hermione and wishes she could introduce her to some 
smart, cool chicks with whom she could argue elf rights as well as 
swap hair care charms