Ron and Hermione friendship

[lupinesque]

No: HPFGUIDX 38700

David wrote:

>I see plenty of bickering, but 'defining characteristic' -  not me. 
We need Amy's list.

<bows>  Your wish is my command.

There's no SHIP in the subject heading because I don't think Ron and 
Hermione's friendship or lack thereof necessarily implies romantic 
possibilities or lack thereof.  But that they *are* genuine friends, I 
have no doubt, and I decided it was high time to document that fact. 

Doing this exercise-going through the books jotting down interactions 
between them-confirms that they do bicker a lot.  Man, do they bicker. 
 It's very entertaining for the reader (this one anyway), but must 
grow tiresome if you're actually in the room (Harry is the soul of 
patience).  I suppose the main question is not whether it exceeds 
Harry's threshold or ours, but whether it exceeds their own.

In any case, it has been suggested on this list from time to time that 
not only do they bicker, but they don't seem to do much else, so: 
follows a list of other things Ron and Hermione do.  I've tried to 
focus on the things they do alone together, as their time with Harry 
can too easily (though not convincingly, IMO) be dismissed as their 
tolerating one another in order to be with their real friend.  I've 
written down interactions in Harry's presence, of course, since those 
are most of the interactions we see, but only when they are 
interactions between the two of them that show things like agreement 
or mutual concern, and not just each talking to him.  

(1) Play chess together  (PS/SS 13, GF 37)

(2) Agree with each other.
    PS/SS 16:  "Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as 
        long as Dumbledore's around."
    PS/SS 13:  "Don't play," said Hermione at once.
               "Say you're ill," said Ron.
               "Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.
               "*Really* break your leg," said Ron.
    PA 22: "But if he's resigned-"
   	    "--doesn't sound like there's anything we can do-"

(3) Watch Quidditch together: practice (CS 7), games (PS 11, 13)

(4) Shop for school things together (PA 4)

(5) Write each other letters (Hermione to Ron, CS 4; Ron to Hermione, 
      PA 1)

(6) Visit Harry when he's injured 
       PA 9 after the Hufflepuff match
       PS/SS 17 after the showdown with Voldemort
       GF 36 ditto

(7) Talk about Harry 
       PA 11: "Harry could tell they had rehearsed this       
           conversation while he had been asleep"

(8) Work together on a project (Buckbeak's defense, PA 11)

(9) Show concern for the other when he/she is hurt
     Ron re: Hermione:
       CS 14: And on the bed next to her was-
                   "*Hermione!*" Ron groaned.
       CS 16: "Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" said Ron, 
         looking sadly at Hermione's rigid face.
       CS 18: "I daresay the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any 
         moment."
                   "So Hermione's OK!" said Ron brightly.  
       GF 9: "Let's just keep moving, shall we?" said Ron, and Harry  
        saw him glance edgily at Hermione.  Perhaps there was truth   
       in what Malfoy had said; perhaps Hermione *was* in more        
  danger than they were.
     Hermione re: Ron:
        PS 16: [screams when the white queen strikes Ron, then:]
                With one last desperate look back at Ron, Harry and   
             Hermione charged through the door and up the next        
             passageway.
                "What if he's-"
                "He'll be all right," said Harry, trying to convince  
            himself.
        PA 17:  On the floor beside him, clutching his leg, which     
         stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron.
                Harry and Hermione dashed across to him.
        CS9:  "Ron!  Ron!  Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.

(10) Sort through mysteries, speculate, etc. together
        PA 22: "[T]hey and Harry wandered into the grounds, still     
       talking about the extraordinary events of the previous         
   night and wondering where Sirius and Buckbeak were now.            
 Sitting near the lake, watching the giant squid waving its           
 tentacles lazily above the water, Harry lost the thread of           
 the conversation as he looked across to the opposite bank."

(11) Tease (as distinct from "bicker with") each other
         GF 13:  "Well, that won't matter if they turn out to cure sea 
            sickness or something, will it?" said Ron, grinning slyly 
            at her.

(12) Hug at moments of great emotion
         GF 20, when Ron and Harry make up
         PA 15, when Ron and Hermione do

(13) Intercede in friendship troubles
         GF 19: "She went from one to the other, trying ot force them 
            to talk to each other."

(14) Soothe/reassure (again, Hermione's department)
         PS 14: Harry and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.
                "It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said     
           Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all. (<g> She's    
            trying, though!)
         CS 9: "Nearly there, Ron," said Hermione, as the gamekeeper's 
               cabin came into view.  "You'll be all right in a minute 
               . . . almost there . . ."
         GF 11:  "Dad could've got promotion any time . . . he just   
             likes it where he is . . . "
                 "Of course he does," said Hermione quietly.

(15) Defend each other (here it's Ron defending Hermione)
          CS 7, GF 9: against Draco when he calls her "Mudblood"
          GF 18:  "Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said.  "*Look!*"
                  He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth . . . 

(16) Go to Hogsmeade together without Harry and have a great time
          PA 8

(17) Study together
           PA 8: Harry returns from practice to find Ron and Hermione 
             "sitting in two of the best chairs by the fireside and   
             completing some star charts for Astronomy."

(18) Hermione gives Ron Christmas presents (we can only hope he       
  reciprocates . . . <g>)
            CS 12

Is this the way a writer would portray a relationship between two 
people whose only connection was their friendship with a third?  I 
don't see how JKR could make it much clearer that Ron and Hermione are 
friends in their own right.  They spend too much time voluntarily in 
one another's company-not just to be with Harry, but just being 
together even when he isn't around-and have too wide a variety of 
pleasant interactions for their relationship to be less than genuine 
friendship.

<disappears in a puff of green smoke>

Amy Z