Absurdly young age for marriage..

[Terri Lyn Layman]

No: HPFGUIDX 34102

Ok... here's a thought...

I have seen a few people say that they think James and Lilly married too
young...

But, really... ask yourself this: "What age were my parents when they
married?"

The current (1990) statistical age for marriage is 25 for women, and 27 for
men. source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/95facts/fs_4312s.htm  In 1996,
I got married at 21, which
in retrospect was "an absurdly young age".  However, back in 1972, my
parents married when
they were 22.  Their parents married at the age of 18 (give or take), and
even further back Laura
Ingalls Wilder (another fine female author), got married at 17 (according to
the TV series).  While
discussing literary females, the fictional Juliet was 14 and beginning to be
considerd an "Old Maid".

Now, if we are to assume that Harry at this point is 14 (just a year younger
than my nephew),  I see
it as completely plausible that his parents may have married when they were
in their late teens to
early 20's (as my sister- and brother- in law married at about 19/20).
Canon never explicitly states
how long they courted, the nature of their courtship (Don't we all have a
couple of friends who were
in various stages of dating, broken up, and engaged for so long that when
the final invite came we were
flabbergasted they'd finally made up their minds?), or how long after
marriage Harry was born for that matter.

We are also given very little insight into Mr&Mrs Evans and Mr&Mrs
Potter(Sr).  The ages that those couples
married at, coupled with the enviornment they projected around them as to
what a relationship is also bears
on things.  (Granted, any positive Marriage message sent to Petunia seems to
have been lost.. either that or
combined with the (s)mother ing messages sent to her. I don't think she
makes a good wife or mother.)

These are just my thoughts on the matter, YMMV.
-TerriLyn