Hermione and SHIPping from life

[Amy Z <lupinesque@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52144

Jo Serenadust wrote:

> Why can't we love her as she actually 
> is instead of trying to idealize her so that she will be a more 
> compatible romantic partner?  

I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of Amens.  I do think Hermione 
has mellowed a bit, but she is still bossy and argumentative at 
times, and shows definite know-it-all tendencies.  The latter show up 
in a speech pattern I know Jim has noticed:  Hermione has a habit of 
ending sentences with an interrogative (hey, does anyone know what 
this grammatical structure is called?):

"His *slave*, you mean!" said Hermione, her voice rising 
shrilly.  "Because he didn't *pay* Winky, did he?" (10)

"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned . . . .
  "You should have given it up like me, shouldn't you?" said Hermione 
briskly.  (13)

"What are they doing here?" said Harry in surprise.
  "They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said 
Hermione. (16)

Etc. etc.  While innocent in many cases, in many others, and as a 
cumulative effect, this phrasing has an air of "isn't it obvious?" 
that can get on the nerves of even one's best friends.  And yes, they 
love her anyway.  And so do I.

Another question is why we think that someone *isn't* a compatible 
romantic partner if she is a bit of a know-it-all.  This comes up in 
shipping debates all the time, and while I don't think any of us can 
leave our personal preferences at the door, it's important to 
remember that these characters are not us.  The world is full of 
happily partnered couples who bicker <looks meaningfully at the anti-
R/Hers>, occasionally boss one another or dismiss one another's 
concerns <looks pointedly at the anti-H/Hers>, or have personalities 
that don't exactly sparkle <looks significantly at the anti-H/Gers.  
We're none of us perfect.  

Of course we draw on what we know of the characters and human nature 
to guess where things are headed, but some things are pretty obvious 
("McGonagall and Lucius aren't compatible") and some things are very 
much a matter of conjecture and opinion ("Harry and Hermione aren't 
compatible").

Amy Z
who occasionally wonders how anyone could live with her grumpy, 
messy, disorganized, pedantic self, but notices her dh seems to like 
it just fine