SHIP: That Darned Kiss--The Problem With Reading R/H in GoF

[Ebony <selah_1977@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50157

(Second half of my essay excerpts.  I'd post more of it, but I just 
saw my previous post was over 30K, and now must accordingly hide from 
the Mod Squad and everyone on digest.  --Eb, going back to lurkdom.)



PADFOOT RETURNS—THE SECOND RITA SKEETER ARTICLE

*********************
"I told you!"  Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the 
article.  "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter!  She's made you out 
to be some sort of- of scarlet woman!"

Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with 
laughter. "Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed 
giggles as she looked around at Ron.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said 
Hermione, still giggling, as she threw Witch Weekly onto the empty 
chair beside her.  "What a pile of old rubbish."

She looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her and 
Harry closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the 
article.  Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, 
Harry, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for 
their Wit-Sharpening Potion.  (GoF  p. 445 UK paper)
**********************

Wow.  I have to say this, as a tangential observation--one of the 
reasons why I just love Hermione for Harry is because she is 
definitely the only girl in canon who's strong enough to handle
the 
press and the pressure that would result from being Harry's girl.
 

And even if she isn't Harry's girl, even if she starts dating
Ron, I 
think she's going to have to suffer anyway because she's in
that girl-
who-is-closest-to-Harry role--what, we're supposed to think
Voldemort 
is going to think that the Skeeter articles about Harry's
"Mudblood 
girlfriend" are all lies?  We have to remember that as of the end
of 
GoF, the majority of the wizarding world does not know Harry and has 
only those articles to go by
 including the Death Eaters and
their 
sympathizers.  Even Molly Weasley herself (who should have known 
better!) treats the poor girl differently because of an article *by a 
woman who has slandered her own husband!*  Tsk, tsk!

And Hermione herself is a bit obtuse about clearing up rumors

but 
I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, I love how Hermione deals with the rumors summarily
 but 
never outright denies them.  She declares this Skeeter article to 
be "rubbish"—which it is, after all.  In it, she's
accused of two-
timing Harry for Krum's sake.  This is so antithetical to her 
character that it doesn't make her angry.  She finds it funny. 
So 
she dismisses the article as completely ridiculous.

Note that she *never* calls the first article "rubbish",
though.  
Just "ignore it" is her only suggestion for Harry
 not
vehement 
protest of the kind she showed at the Yule Ball, or the amusement 
she's expressing at this point.  Hermione doesn't even seem 
incredulous when faced with that first article.  She doesn't get 
angry as she did when Ron accused her of being disloyal to Harry at 
the Yule Ball.  Instead after that first autumn article she just 
holds her head high and keeps right on hanging with Harry
 and
her 
grace under pressure is something that he admires.

*********************
"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, 
holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles.  "How 
could Rita Skeeter have known . . . ?"

"Known what?" said Ron quickly. "You haven't been mixing up Love 
Potions, have you?"

"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound up her beetles 
again. "No, it's just. . . how did she know Viktor asked me to visit 
him over the summer?"

Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided 
Ron's eyes.

"What?" said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione 
muttered.  "After he'd got rid of his shark's head.  Madam Pomfrey 
gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the 
judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything 
over the summer, would I like to -"

"And what did you say?"  said Ron, who had picked up his pestle and 
was grinding it on the desk, a good six inches from his bowl, because 
he was looking at Hermione.

"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," 
Hermione went on, going so red now that Harry could almost feel the 
heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him?  
She wasn't there ... or was she?  Maybe she has got an Invisibility 
Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second 
task. ..."

"And what did you say?" Ron repeated, pounding his pestle down so 
hard that it dented the desk.

"Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry were okay to-"

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is. Miss Granger," 
said an icy voice right behind them, and all three of them jumped, "I 
must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from 
Gryffindor." (GoF  p. 445-446 UK paper)
**********************

Is Hermione blushing because of some more-than-friendship feeling for 
Ron?  Nope.  Remember, she didn't blush under his intense
scrutiny 
when it had nothing to do with Krum .  Yet here again she's
blushing 
hotly
 *but they're talking about Krum again*.  Not only
that
 and I 
know I'm going to get yelled at for this one
 Harry is once
again 
sitting right there!  It was he who was mentioned in the article

not 
Ron.  Hermione is embarrassed to talk about Krum and blushes - which 
could be that she doesn't want to admit it in front of Ron *or* Harry.

And then Ron starts pounding the counter with his pestle half a foot 
from his beetles.  She avoids his eyes because he's looking at her 
and crushing the desk with a pestle.  If I were her, I'd avoid 
looking at someone in the eye who was acting like that too.  

Another reason why Hermione looks away is because she looks away 
because she knows that mentioning Krum leads to arguments with Ron.  
I bet she's trying to avoid a row this time.  Like Harry, I think she 
likes being on speaking terms with Ron
 because Ron is her
*friend*.



THE THINGS HERMIONE DOES NOT DO

Nothing else about the Harry Potter series makes me feel as if
we're 
reading two different books more than this argument does.  H/Hers 
have been told repeatedly by R/H shippers that the reason for 
everything from Hermione grabbing Harry in the Top Box at the 
Quidditch World Cup (94) to her constant talk about him to Viktor 
Krum (479-480), to That Kiss (636), is evidence of a comfort and an 
ease with Harry that she does not feel with Ron.  In other words, 
Hermione is comfortable touching, kissing, and talking about Harry 
because she sees him as a brother, whereas the fact that she does not 
touch, kiss, or talk about Ron in the text quite as often is seen as 
tacit R/H subtextual evidence.

Okay.

I would totally buy that if I saw anywhere in canon that Hermione is 
uncomfortable talking to Ron or any other reason other than Viktor or 
avoiding an argument in general.  She simply isn't.  She is more
than 
willing to engage with Ron if she thinks he is wrong.  She is willing 
to give as good as she gets.  Other than the two reasons listed 
above, she does not back down from Ron.

She isn't uncomfortable hugging Ron.  She hugs him in PoA and in 
GoF.  Both times it is Ron who is uncomfortable, not her. 
Where's 
the physical awkwardness on her part?

On the other hand, I see evidence in canon that Hermione is very 
conscious of what Harry thinks.  Other than the Firebolt incident, 
Harry's opinion of Hermione appears to be very important to
her
 and 
is generally very high.  In PoA, he stops a tirade of hers with a 
single statement, checks on her when she is swamped with work 
(whereas Ron could care less), and encourages her to have fun.  In 
GoF, he stops her from saying anything about Hagrid with a look.

And we still don't know what Hermione's boggart is, do we? 
We have 
to take her word for it.  Is it really failing every subject
 or
is 
it finding Harry dead?

One wonders why Lupin didn't let her attack the boggart during
the 
classroom lesson.  That's significant.

Back to The Things Hermione Does Not Do.  I think this is definitely 
related to The Dates and Fun Times that Ron and Hermione Have That We 
Do Not See, The Other Kiss at the End of GoF, and other such fanon 
myths.  That is not even subtext.  It isn't contrapuntal reading.
 It 
is a completely fallacious argument.  

If I can talk about what happens Behind the Scenes in canon to 
support a "canonical" ship, then I can make any of my
favorite ships 
canon.  I happen to like Draco/Ginny, for instance
 and 
Draco/Hermione
 and Remus/Sirius in spots.  Can't I talk
about What 
Remus and Sirius Obviously Do When We Don't See Them, or The D/G 
Meeting in the Astronomy Tower That Got Edited Out of GoF?

R/Hers think that when Ron and Hermione are together, they have fun 
that isn't very Harry-related.  Well.  We've seen several
instances 
throughout the text of Ron/Hermione together without Harry. 
We've 
caught glimpses of them, especially in PoA and GoF.  In PoA (again, 
forgive me for dipping back a book), there's Ron and Hermione at 
Honeydukes, together
 but when Harry comes over, they don't
act weird 
or awkward.  They yell for him to come over, obviously very happy to 
see him.  They're all glad to be together after a long
summer
 that's 
the impression I get from that scene.  Very balanced friends indeed 
IMO.  (Oh, how I adore PoA
 from cover to cover!)  And then when
we 
see Ron and Hermione together in Honeydukes, they're having yet 
another conversation about Harry!

It's the same at the Quidditch World Cup, when Harry gets to the 
Burrow.  Hermione isn't with Ron; she's with Molly and Ginny.
 Of 
course she sits with Ron during all those Quidditch games and 
Triwizard Tournament matches—there is absolutely nothing in canon
to 
indicate that she ever is anything other than totally Harry-focused 
during his games and the Tournament.  

So the things that Hermione does not do are evidently eclipsed by the 
things she does do.  She is great friends with Ron, but it is just 
that—friendship.  

I do think she's very aware of how Ron feels about her, and
isn't 
sure how to deal with it.  I think throughout GoF she is sorting out 
her feelings for both of the boys
 but by the end, as JKR has
alluded 
in interviews, she's got a better handle on it all than Ron does.

Well, then. If Hermione *doesn't* like Ron in that
way--gulp--then is 
she interested in anyone at all?

Although only the last three books of canon will tell the tale, I 
think we may be beginning to see somewhat of an answer towards the 
end of GoF.  I'll conclude with something I've only thought
of in the 
past few months, after 2.5 years in the debate.


THAT DARNED KISS

"Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something she had
never done 
before, and kissed him on the cheek.  (GoF, UK paper ed., p. 636)

I know.  Before you say anything--let me issue my general 
disclaimer.  

THIS H/H SHIPPER HAS ALWAYS ARGUED THAT THE KISS IS PLATONIC.

However, looking at the kiss once again helps me prove the case of 
why there is no R/H in GoF
 only Ron------->Hermione.  

So I will not tell you why Hermione kissed Harry, or whether that 
will be significant in future books.  I cannot get into
Hermione's 
(or JKR's) head.  I will not presume to do so now.

I can only speculate on why (as far as we know) she does not kiss Ron.

First, she doesn't kiss Ron not necessarily because she feels 
anything for him and it would be awkward
 but because *she knows
how 
he feels about her*.  If she knows Ron likes her, and does not feel 
the same, then to kiss him would be to lead him on.  It would be mean 
and unfair.

Second, her kissing Harry had nothing to do with making Ron jealous.  
That reading of canon, along with Hermione Went To The Ball With Krum 
To Make Ron Jealous, assumes a more Roncentric Hermione worldview 
than I am willing to concede before I see new canon.  This Hermione 
fan doubts if Hermione was thinking "gee, let's make Ron ever
madder--
let's go to the ball with Krum and look fab!" or "gee,
let's make Ron 
jealous by kissing Harry
 it's about time Ron noticed
me."  As I have 
shown above, I don't think theViktor thing was as much about Ron
as 
it was about *Hermione*--Hermione and the way she views herself as an 
emerging young woman.

Third, I think she kisses Harry and not Ron because Harry needed that 
kiss far more than Ron does.  He's just been through quite the 
ordeal.  He is about to go out into the Muggle world, and the place 
he is going will be totally unsupportive about what he's going 
through.  The Dursleys will not understand what he is going
through
 
and neither does anyone else in the world, really.

That kiss is a gesture that speaks far less of superficial
"like" 
than it does of a deep and abiding friendship. It was also something 
that only Hermione has ever does *in this context*.  JKR is the one 
who makes it significant by flagging it in the text ("And she did 
something she'd never done before
"). Now, Harry doesn't
have any 
memory of his parents or any other relatives pecking his cheek like 
that, and there was no one else in his life who ever would kiss him 
so casually.  Sure, the Chasers have done it in great moments of 
excitement, but not in that context.

Again, if JKR hadn't added that phrase--"and she did
something she'd 
never done before"--I would have had no reason to revise my
reading.  
I mean, in a chapter entitled "The Beginning"--a chapter that
seems 
as if it's going to be the turning point of the series?

Also, as I can't divorce this incident from its context, I find
it 
significant that Hermione does this with all those people around.  
Yes, I know she doesn't care who's around when she shows how
much she 
loves Harry as a friend (cough), but really
 after those Daily 
Prophet articles and the rumors, after receiving Bubotuber pus and 
threats via owl, after even Ron's own jolly mother treated her 
unfairly because of those articles



she kisses him anyway.

Right.  

Nice way to stop rumors, Hermione.  Why not a pat on the back, or 
even a friendly hug?

Why does JKR herself call attention to it?

And she did something she'd never done before.

Why doesn't Hermione kiss Ron in the text?

I have to share what JKR once said about Hermione in an interview as 
I conclude.

"Harry needs her badly."

Indeed he does.  Ron may like Hermione right now.  Ron may grow to 
want Hermione.

But does Ron really need Hermione?  

What do his actions in the most recent canon installment say? What do 
his actions throughout canon tell us?

I think Ron's actions pretty much speak for themselves.

The answer to the question "Does Hermione like Ron as more than a 
friend?" is in *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, according
to a 
spring 2001 chat with the author on AOL.  The very fact that this 
question had to be asked casts doubts on whether or not canon proves 
that Hermione likes Ron.  I think I've shown that there are
numerous 
holes in the Hermione------> Ron proof.  

So, Madam Rowling, to paraphrase your answer to a question from 
another interview, do I really think that Harry and Hermione are 
suited?

My reply is an emphatic and enthusiastic "yes!".

--Ebony AKA AngieJ