Fleur's Scowls (was: SHIP: Ron and Hermione do TOO banter! - Reply to Ebony)

[Scott Northrup]

No: HPFGUIDX 50470

Angua:
> Of course.  I wasn't offering "proof" here.  However, one huge H/H
> opportunity was missed.  In each case, Fleur shows interest in Harry,
> then in Ron, and *then* Hermione scowls or looks furious.  If only
> JKR had shown Hermione scowling and looking furious after Harry and
> before Ron, we would have known it was for Harry.  But she writes
> them like this:
>
> *****
> Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him.  Hermione looked simply
> furious.
> *****
>
> and
>
> *****
> Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled.
> *****
>
> The way she puts the Ron/Fleur interaction and the Hermione reaction
> in such pointedly close proximity leaves us with only two possible
> interpretations.  Either JKR is trying to tell that Hermione scowls
> because of Ron, or JKR is trying to *fool us into thinking* that
> Hermione scowls because of Ron.  It is either a clue, or a trick.  I,
> of course, being a simple-minded R/Her, think it is a clue.

Oh, God forgive me, I'm about to comment on interpretation of SHIP related
evidence.

Well, I'm sure someone has said this before-  2 years of debate seems to
guarantee that virtually all bases have been covered.  Whether this
interpretation has been covered recently, I'm not sure.  I find SHIP debates
entertaining, but I can only stare at text for so long, so this may have
come up recently.

Here's the thing about Hermione's reaction to Fleur/Ron interactions (I'm
trying to convince myself here, so stick with me):  I think her scowls could
be interpreted as simple annoyance with Ron's susceptibility to Fleur's
charms.  Why doesn't she scowl when Fleur kisses Harry?  Perhaps it's simply
because she understands that Harry isn't enamored with Fleur; he's not
angling for a any sort of affection from Fleur. Some of the quote is above;
I wish I had my books so I could quote the whole passage, my argument is
better supported when the quote is in context.  Anyway, I think it goes
something like this:

Fleur kisses Harry for rescuing her sister.

Fleur: And you, you helped too.  *looking at Ron*

Ron: Er.. *thinks about it* Yeah, I did!

Fleur kisses Ron.

Harry has legitimately earned Fleur's admiration through his actions.  Ron
has not (not really anyway), but still takes credit for helping Harry, which
leads to getting a kiss and smile (after the second task, and at the train
station, respectively).  Now, I seem to recall that Hermione tends to
scowl/frown at both boys when either of them are being dishonest.  (we know
what she thinks about them making up their predictions for Divination
homework).

I'm still not sure I believe any of that; I am admittedly something of a
H/Her, yet Hermione being jealous does seem like the most likely answer, and
is definitely the simplest answer.  Oh well.

-Scott
(who apologizes for his hypocrisy)

PS This is so off-topic it's laughable, but has anyone ever wondered why a
part of the human brain (The Hippocampus- it helps us with the development
of long term memory) is named after a half-horse, half-fish monster?