OOP: Give OoP a chance!; SHIP (Romantic Chaos in OOP)

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 65884

Penny:

 
> Yes, well, I've always maintained that the bickering can just be a 
clash of personalities, and I still think that's the case with Ron 
and Hermione, by and large.  In fact, we see pretty clearly in OOP 
(judging from what Harry says and what we readers personally observe) 
that Ron and Hermione are not engaging in cute banter to disguise 
Unresolved Sexual Tension they are allegedly experiencing.  No, they 
are *arguing* and it's not pleasant for anyone to witness.  Certainly 
Ron remains scathingly critical of SPEW.  
 
I bought the unresolved sexual tension until OoP. Then it just seemed 
to turn into two people who have had to spend wayyyy too much time 
together and didn't belong together. (Hermione essentially was with 
Ron, without Harry, most of the summer.)

Not only is Ron critical of SPEW, but Hermione is starting to become 
more critical of Quidditch (at least at the school level and she 
remains pretty disinterested about the pro leagues)

I have a hard time believing two people who do not seem to really 
respect each other's primary interests could ever make it together. 

Of course, Harry is at fault here. He makes them stop bickering, 
which means they can't have foreplay any longer!

Havings said that, Ron is only 15. He's still got some growing to do. 
Lily saw something in James, didn't she?

A counter-argument:

Hermione softened toward Ron and helped him with his homework after 
Percy sent the owl, which Hermione knew, though Ron wouldn't say, 
tore him up inside.  That was touching to me, that Hermione is still 
looking out for Ron.

It's pretty clear why Ron, in spite of himself, likes Hermione, if 
you buy the "Guys are looking for their mothers" argument. Hermione 
is very much a younger Molly in many ways.

As for the kiss, well, she's getting a bit more touchy-feely with the 
boys, but it could still be platonic or romantic either way.


>One example might be when she thanks Ron for the perfume he gave her 
for Christmas.  Um......... based on the R/H evidence of her blushes 
in GoF, shouldn't she be blushing or have pink spots on her cheeks 
when she thanks him for that perfume?  Um?  :::arches eyebrows 
questioningly:::::::  No, the opportunities were there, and they were 
not taken, which leads me to conclude that Rowling is not ready to 
give away the romance angle just yet.
>


Well, when she said "unusual" perfume, I took that to mean, "This 
smells so bad that I will pour it on items that I want Crookshanks to 
stay away from."

Ron, as usual, didn't get it. Harry and Hermione have always had a 
kind of telepathy -- about Hagrid's follies, Draco's double-meaning 
with "dogging", both noticing the car was too small in CoS -- that 
Ron doesn't get. 

I also noticed that Hermione's gifts, usually so appropriate, were 
different this time. A homework planner? For Christmas??? This is the 
girl who knew to get Harry a broomstick maintenance kit? 


 
> Er......yes.  Despite the surface level non-chalance with which she 
sets about trying to "help" Harry get together with Cho, methinks 
there is more to the story.  She asks "briskly" if he kissed Cho, and 
is seen to be wearing a "slight frown" as she awaits his response.  
Hmmmmmmmm.  In addition, look at how she reacts in the prefect badge 
scene.  IMHO, she could quite possibly be treading the line of giving 
away her true feelings before she recovers herself, and *that's* why 
she blushes in that scene.  


Oh, yeah, this I completely buy. Of course, we'll have to see how she 
reacts when Ron starts dating someone else, for comparison. But yeah, 
poor Harry seemed to be caught between two girls that liked him, 
didn't he?

And you know, I wonder if Hermione's long and detailed explanations 
were just Hermione being Hermione, OR her attempt at making Cho sound 
like a complete nutter and more trouble than she's worth? 


> *nods*  Yes, we now have *2* books wherein a Harry/Hermione 
relationship is suspected by potential romantic partners of one or 
the other.  I think this is no accident.  Yes, it *could* be just a 
commentary on how people wrongly suspect that members of the opposite 
sex can never *be* just friends (spoken in best Billy Crystal 
voice).  But, I think there's something more to this, very 
definitely.  Why are Ron and Hermione never suspected of being an 
item?  


Just to point out. When Harry asked Parvati if she knew of a date for 
Ron to the ball, she immediately suggested Hermione. Now, this could 
be Parvati's general disbelief that Hermione could attract anyone but 
Ron, but it also made me think that at least one person grasped that 
they might belong together. 

(Or, I suppose, following Hermione's twisted and tortured threads 
about female behavior, Parvati was immediately trying to remove her 
competition for Harry from the scene.)

And I've always wondered if Molly's hateful reaction to Hermione 
after the stories about Hermione and Harry dating came out was 
because she believes Ron and Hermione belong together.


 
> <<<<<<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).>>>>>>>


Yeah, but there were openings in other directions. Until they 
completely fail, I think Hermione and Ron still have to be in play. I 
don't think Ginny and Harry can be completely ruled out yet, either, 
and it seems to me that Ron would love to see that happen. (He 
glances at Harry when he says he never liked that Ravenclaw Ginny was 
dating.) 

I wrote a post that kinda got lost in the shuffle about the tendency 
of Head Boys and Girls to date. James and Lily and Percy and Penelope 
(I think Penelope was Head Girl.)

So... assuming Hermione is Head Girl in 7th year (and I see no other 
candidate, save MAYBE Pansy Parkinson, but that's a long-shot) who 
will be the Head Boys? The candidates so far are:

Harry: Gots the pedigree. Gots the leadership capability. Grades a 
problem. 

Ron: Even better pedigree. Prefect already. Grades a problem.

Draco: Prefect already. Grades probably pretty good.

Ernie MacMillan: Prefect already. Character showing leadership 
skills. 

Neville: The difference in GoF Neville and OoP Neville is startling. 
If he keeps improving, he will be a force.

Among those five might be Hermione's mate: (And I mean in the male-
female sense, not that annoying guy-bonding term.)

Darrin
-- Never buys a woman perfume unless she tells me the brand she 
likes. Better to get it right and be unromantic than to get it wrong 
and be a fool.