[HPforGrownups] SHIPping For the Long Haul

[heiditandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 50586

Susanne wrote: 
> It's almost like Eloise with her "off-center" nose.
> Ron is seen as unworthy to be part of the trio in a way, or
> be liked by Hermione, because he doesn't show any special 
> magical strength or logical thinking.
> 
> I'm not sure if I'm getting across what I'm trying to say :}

I'm not sure if I'm interpriting you properly, so I'll say that as a
disclaimer right up front. 

I think Ron does show good strategic logic in chess - there's no other
way to win consistently - and I'm sure there have been other times when
he's been logical in his thinking (no need to list them, anyone, at
least not for my sake) - and I haven't seen much, if any, commenting on
some theory that Ron is an unworthy friend at this point in canon, in an
overall sense (although he *did* have that fight with Harry which *he*
instigated in Book 4 (in contrast to Harry's semifallingout with
Hermione, which was at least motivated by her concern for Harry's safety
and well-being)). 

However, there is a tremendously large difference between being a good
friend and a good lifetime-companion-in-the-akin-to-marital-sense. I'm
lucky enough to have friends of both genders - longtime friends, from
elementary school and college and beyond - and there is no way I'd've
married any of them. The concept of friendship is so different from the
situation of living with someone who you're in love with that I really
don't think there's any requirement for correlation between the two at
all. 

Where Ron might be fine for Hermione as a friend (although I continue to
believe that had Harry not created the impetus for their friendship by
going after Hermione during the troll incident, they would *not* be best
friends at this point, which is why I always have issues with AU fanfics
that show them as best friends despite Harry's being sorted into
Slytherin), there are things like his competativeness and their
bickering which would have a stronger/more significant impact on a
romantic situation. 

So please, Susanne, don't paint a broad brush over those of us who think
that a long-term romance between Ron and Hermione would be unsuccessful,
and presume that it also means that we think that a long-term friendship
between Ron and Hermione would be unsuccessful - even if they date in
the interim. 

Of course, those of us who think that romance is in the cards between
Draco and Hermione may see that romance as a glitch in the Ron-Hermione
friendship, but that's a story for another time.

Heidi, muddling her own arguments since 2000