SHIP: Need opinions? That's easy!

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 97178

Ghostwriter:" Ok, I am sure this is a topic that has been beaten to
death on this  list..."

If you only knew the half of it....
 
Ghostwriter "Harry and Hermione or Ron and Hermione?  To me, these are
the only  pairings that may come out of the book that are important.
"This is what I need an opinion on.  To me, the obvious couple is 
Harry Hermione.  Sure, there seems to be some sort of tension  between
Ron and Hermione, but if Hermione is as smart as she seems  to be, she
will realize that when two people argue as much as those  two, there
is no way in hell a relationship will work out.  On the  other hand,
with as many assumptions to a relationship as there are  about Harry
and Hermione, maybe others are seeing what is obviously  there."

Jim (me): I'll try.  I'm an H/H shipper, but I don't go around looking
for tiny clues – I don't care whose pillow lands on whose in Charms
class.  I see Harry and Hermione converging all the time. They've
changed each other and are more complete together than apart.
 
Never have two people been more suited to each other, perfect
soulmates. Hermione has been the person who has prepared him for his
challenges; while he is the greatest natural talent of his generation,
she is the exemplar of what hard work and application can do - a
perfect yin and yang. She understands him better than anyone else.

Hermione cares for him as much or more than anyone. When she asks
after Harry and Cho, what's going on there? Is she not interested in
Harry, or not aware of *how* she might care for him, or is she mature
enough to know his feelings for Cho have to be resolved, that the risk
must be run? I don't know, but I know that Harry and Hermione love
each other already. It may not be romantic love, but they are
incredibly close. Hermione with anybody else - even Ron - would be a
step backward in intimacy.

Hermione knows exactly what Harry needs. Her DA idea was brilliant,
giving him a purpose and a boost he badly needed at the same time
providing others with something they needed as well. She sees in Harry
his natural leadership qualities and the isolation that was hurting
him, and came up with just the right thing that helped him keep going.
It's not an accident that JKR tells us more than once how much the DA
means to Harry. Let's remember whose idea it was, and how she cared
for him at a time when Harry was just plain unlikable. (I was mad at
him about fifty times in OOP).   Hermione also has the idea to use
Rita Skeeter to get Harry's story out, which aids him mentally as
well.  You will answer that any friend might do that for him, but I
offer it up as an example of how in tune Hermione is to Harry.

Harry has noticed her, and the subtlety of the clues make them more
convincing. In OOP, when she suggests he tell Cho how ugly he thinks
Hermione is, he says 'but I don't think you're ugly!' which was a
spontaneous letting out of his feelings. In GoF, there were true
sparks when he noticed her at the Yule Ball. These seeds are not idly
planted. They will burst out someday. (BTW, when JKR repeats
something, remember it). I suspect Cho, and others, see how close
Harry and Hermione are better than the principals themselves.
 
Harry's 'saved' Hermione, too. I don't mean physically, although he
has, but Hermione knew early that she would be a different person and
a lesser one without being in the Trio. She started out with an
affinity to Percy, but look at how the two have diverged. Because of
her adventures, because she's discovered real purpose, she's a young
woman of character and moral courage and Percy's a disgusting
sycophant. She might have been a Ravenclaw at heart when she arrived,
but there never was a truer Gryffindor now. She's seen what bravery
can do. Hermione has gained immensely from knowing Harry.

THE CASE FOR HARRY AND GINNY

Toad, in the original exchange::"See, I [see] this completely
different [than GEO does]. Ginny is over her hero- worship crush. She
sees Harry with all his flaws. The stage is set for true love to enter
the picture. I actually have more hope for an H/G romance after
reading OotP. They wouldn't have stood a chance if Ginny fell in love
with the Boy Who Lived."

I agree completely.  H/G would never work if she was in little girlish
infatuation.  Now we see Ginny growing up in a really good way.  This
girl's head is screwed on straight.  She's her own person, and I like
how she's integrated  Fred and George into herself.  She has the
gumption and character for a complex guy like Harry.

Ron wants it, FWIW, and he's Harry's best friend.  I absolutely do not
believe that Ron's promoting H/G to leave Hermione clear for him; I am
sure Ron is completely sincere in wanting to see his sister and his
best friend together for both their sakes, which brings us to a
mine-field concept in the shipping lexicon:

ONE BIG HAPPY WEASLEY FAMILY

OBHWF is a minefield in shipping debate, beginning with a double R/H
and H/G wedding, and everybody living happily ever after on Walton -
er, Weasley - Mountain.  Many shippers find it too corny and
saccharine for words, but I don't.  Harry's going to be beat to hell
at the end of the war, wounded, in mind and probably body, exhausted,
and more stressed than anyone should ever be.  He'll need all the
support he can get, and most people would count themselves blessed to
be in the bosom of a family like the Weasleys, who know him, love him,
and understand him.  Love is the greatest power in the Universe, and
the deepest mystery in the Department of Mysteries.  Where else but
OBHWF would there be more in one spot?


WHAT DOES HARRY NEED?

If Harry ends up with Ginny, he's going to have a supportive, loving
woman and family, a healing balm for all the hurts he's got and will
get. If it's Hermione, she's going to care for him in a different way,
pushing him when he needs it, tough when she has to be, challenging
him back to health. Which will he need?  He's going to need something,
because he's going to pay a high price for defying Voldemort, as all
the Dark Lord's enemies have.

If anyone wants to argue an R/H viewpoint based on the idea that "JKR
says so," that's weak, IMO. JKR doesn't want us to do that. She wants
us to find it in her text. She keeps telling us everything is there,
and it is, but you won't find it in how the pillows fall or anything
like that.

I come down on the H/H side, but I won't cry for him if he ends up
with Ginny, no way. She's a great girl, and they all deserve to be happy.

Jim Ferer