[HPforGrownups] Romantic Chaos in OotP

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 65745


>It seems as though everything is going nutters in book five as far as 
>relationships go. What I see, is that Harry isn't sure who he likes, 
>Hermione seems to be confused as to wether she likes Harry or Ron better, 
>Ron isn't really showing interest in anyone in this book, and the list goes 
>on.
>
Pretty typical.  :-)  I know that I fell in love with one guy at 16 and 
stayed that way for four years (until he came out of the closet, actually - 
I knew there was something strange going on, but had no experience with 
homosexuality in my own life to make a guess like that).  However, I know 
that many of my peers (I'm 42 now) express the view that they can't take 
teenagers in love seriously because "they fall 'in love' with someone new 
every week".  In some cases, that's right - in others, it's not, and I had 
the unfortunate experience of having a classmate who committed suicide 
because her parents didn't take her love for her boyfriend seriously, 
thought she was letting that "get in the way of schoolwork" rather than that 
he was encouraging her to study and do well and that she did better when 
they studied together, and transferred her to another school in our district 
- short of it is, the poor girl committed suicide, because she also had 
undiagnosed clinical depression and saw only the short term of this and not 
that it would be over with in a year and they could do as they liked if they 
still wanted to be together.

that cheery digression aside:  I think JKR has steered a rather realistic 
path here - the fact is that most teenagers haven't figured out what they 
want, it's 'way too soon to be slapping labels off of Jerry Springer on them 
about their behavior (and I do get a little alarmed when I see that on this 
and my other list), and it's probably too soon for the "permanent pairings" 
to be set.

You forgot Viktor in whom Hermione might "like".  :-)  I don't think she's 
confused, I think that she probably feels - quite *rightly* - that there's 
just too much going on this year to worry about romance!  Studying for 
O.W.L.s, all of the peril everyone is facing, her new duties as prefect, the 
horrible headmistress...survival is the order of the day.

>First, lets tackle Hermione's feelings. She doesn't do much on the Ron 
>front in this book, save for the bickering, the protection of him being 
>picked on, and that kiss on the cheek. First, I'm sorry, but I don't see 
>their constant bickering as 'romantic' in any aspect. Being a 'recent 
>adult' of 18, I had one good friendship with a guy I bickered with some of 
>the time, but there were no romantic feelings about it. So it is possible 
>for bickering to be just that. A clash of personality. I don't see Hermione 
>and Ron having all that much in common other than having Harry as a friend. 
>The kiss on the cheek was probably to calm his nerves, and didn't 
>necessarily mean all that much, unless you buy into the theory that 
>Hermione likes both Harry and Ron as she kissed Harry on the cheek at the 
>end of GoF.
>
You're right, sometime bickering is just not getting along.  :-)

>Now, Harry and Hermione. Not quite plausible just yet, but I do see 
>something there (but that might just be my H/H shippiness kicking in. But 
>I'm trying to be objective. Really.) I see Hermione having more than 
>friendly feelings towards her raven-haired friend, from the interrogative 
>method in which she asked Harry about Cho, she asked in a "business-like 
>way." Her attitude throughout the conversation was rather abrupt and cold 
>(US Ed. Pgs 457-8). Quite possibly that could be a hint that she wasn't 
>pleased at all with the situation, yet didn't want it to be obvious as 
>such. J.K. Rowling is nothing but a master at subtle clues.
>
>Poor Hermione, however, because I don't see much interest in her coming 
>from Harry, with the exception of him being confused as to why Hermione 
>would think that he sees her as ugly (US Ed. Pg 572) and then when Hermione 
>was attacked and Harry's more-than-standard fear of her being dead. His 
>reaction to 'dead' Hermione was much stronger than his reaction to say, 
>Ron's wooziness and bleeding from the mouth. In book 5, Harry doesn't seem 
>to show much of an interest in anyone, as he is even rid of his crush on 
>Cho by the end of the school year. It's just a transitional book for him 
>and he is too busy being mad and frustrated with everyone to put much 
>thought into dating.
>
>Also, there must be something there to make so many people now believe 
>there is more going on between Harry and Hermione than just a mere 
>friendship. From Krum's walk with Harry in GoF where he asks him flat out, 
>"what's with you and Hermione", to Cho's not one, but two arguments with 
>Harry over his friendship with Hermione. And lets not forget Rita Skeeter's 
>scoop from GoF. True, some might say that her scoop was to only get at 
>Hermione, but all of Rita's scoops have some basis in reality.
>
Heh.  The sad fact is, in this sex-crazed society and the idea that 
*everything* in the teen years is driven by hormones - I really relate to 
Harry and Neville because I think they're looking for *acceptance* and love 
not in the romantic but in the familial sense - and nothing by emotion - and 
some teenagers are hormone-crazed, but some like my friend I mentioned 
above, are driven by emotions that are powerful and unfamiliar.  And some 
are just not interested in romance yet - in modern society because they 
don't want to get coerced into sex before they're ready, in others because 
they're just slow developers in that realm - and in some because they really 
are driven by ambition.  Hermione is a really ambitious, goal-driven young 
woman.  She is perfectly capable of rationally putting all the 'boy" issues 
on the back burner, trusting they'll all sort themselves out eventually - 
and she is also quite capable, as she has been demonstrating for several 
books now, for seriously being just good friends with a boy - something 
which our society (North American, at least) finds strangely odd and 
difficult.  Male-female friendships are always assumed to either have sexual 
overtones, or to inevitably lead either to romance/sex or splitting apart; 
and that's just not so.  I'd like to see HRH remain great friends always, 
*regardless* of what happens on the romantic front.   I don't want to see a 
major conflict between Ron and Harry over Hermione.

>Ron seems to be confused, as is normal for a boy his age (and attitude). I 
>see only the slightest hint of a R/H ship in the fact that he still got 
>worked up when Hermione was writing to Krum, and his whole bit about, 
>"Writing to Krum again? Sounds like he wants to be more than just penpals." 
>His confusion at the kiss could have been something, so I'll leave open a 
>real possibility that Ron has more than friendly feelings towards Hermione 
>(but she hasn't been giving any back, really.)
>
I think that Hermione, wisely, might think Ron's too mixed up to possibly be 
a success at a relationship now, and she doesn't want to be the guinea pig 
and spoil their friendship.  :-)

>But like I said, it was a confusing book. I do see a Luna possibility for 
>Ron, a Hermione possibility for Harry (but that all depends on if Harry can 
>get out of this raging, angry mode he is in), and a Neville possibility for 
>Ginny, as it was Ginny that Neville was trying to save (and he who took her 
>to the Yule Ball in GoF).
>
But Ginny basically hooked up with Michael Corner there.  :-)

Felinia

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