SHIP: Overflowing opinions (long)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 97328


Jim Ferer wrote:
> WHERE DO H/H SHIPPERS GET THEIR OPINION?
> 
> Not from clues in the text.  The textual clues mostly go the R/H 
> way, or the Hermione/Viktor way.  My H/H opinion comes from 
> watching the various characters interact as they grow.  We've 
> watched Hermione and Harry work closely together, we've seen 
> Hermione's apparent understanding of Harry grow, some of us 
> believe we've seen their characters meshing.

Del replies :
You're forgetting one thing, Jim : the story is told from *Harry's* 
POV. So *of course* we'll see more of Hermione interacting with 
Harry than with anyone else. But that doesn't mean anything. Harry 
doesn't know anything about Hermione's life when she's not around 
him. After all, she did manage to keep her little romance with 
Viktor a secret for several weeks without Harry even *suspecting* 
anything !
Morever, we also know that Harry can be blind to things that are 
happening right under his nose. If Ron and Hermione had a thing 
going on full blast between them, but had decided to hide it from 
Harry, I'm sure he wouldn't notice anything more than a few odd 
remarks or gestures once in a while. I'm not saying they do, I'm 
sure they don't. Yet.

Jim Ferer wrote :
> We see little in return from Hermione – she still writes to
> Viktor, after all.  IMO, that hurts R/H more than H/H because Ron 
> is supposed to be the incumbent here.

Del replies :
Which is why I now *hope* we're headed to V/H, not H/H or R/H. 

Jim Ferer said : 
> HARRY AND HERMIONE REALLY ARE WELL SUITED
> 
> Del said, "Harry and Ginny are converging too. And Hermione and Ron
> might be converging too through their arguments. And Hermione and
> Viktor must be converging too, or they would have stopped writing 
> to each other by now."
> 
> We see no sign of that.  Many years ago I was converging with a 
> young lady in the mail right up until she told me she was 
> diverging.

Del replies :
Yep, but I married the man I was writing to on the Net :-)
50-50, no winner ;-D !

Jim Ferer wrote :
> We don't see Hermione and Ron working together towards common goals
> beyond helping Harry, and it doesnt look to me as though their
> arguments bring them closer.  Are there any signs that Hermione is
> that in tun with Ron?

Del replies :
As I said, I simply don't trust Harry to *see* anything. The proofs 
we're looking for could be dancing naked right under his nose, he 
still very well might not see them.
After all, we're talking about the boy who doesn't get it when the 
girl he fancies tells him that the next Hogsmeade week-end happens 
to be on February 14 :-)
So no we don't see much interaction between Ron and Hermione, but we 
can't take that as a sign. We simply can't depend on Harry to gather 
information, but the books are written in Harry's POV, so we're very 
limited.

Jim Ferer : 
> Who has demonstrated that she knows how to handle the notoriety and
> pressure Harry's had to live with? Hermione.  Who's helped him deal
> with it? Hermione.

Del replies :
I agree. But how is that a sign that Harry and Hermione are getting 
closer in a romantic way ? Hermione is a wonderful advisor to Harry, 
for sure, but that doesn't mean there's any romantic spark between 
them.

Jim Ferer :
> There's a special sense of completion that's at the heart of love 
> for a couple.  Many people are less with someone else than alone,
> depending on the "someone else."

Del replies :
Sure, I understand that. But I also know that I was more complete 
with some very good friends, we formed terrific pairs, but we were 
never an item.
For some things, I'm also more complete with my sister than with 
anyone else... ;-)

Jim Ferer wrote :
> RON AND HERMIONE AREN'T THAT WELL SUITED
> 
> What has Ron and Hermione got going for them? Shared experience and
> proximity.  The center of and reason for the shared experience is
> Harry Potter.

Del replies :
How do you know that ?? Hermione met Harry and Ron at the same time, 
and she's never shown any kind of favouritism since. I personally 
think the Trio is a well-balanced group, where each member enjoys 
the company of the other two almost equally. When Harry and Ron had 
a fall-out in GoF, Hermione didn't think "Yeah ! I can finally have 
Harry all for myself !". She kept in contact with both boys and kept 
trying to reconcile them. And when they finally got back together, 
she *cried* of happiness.
On the other hand, when Harry was stuck with only Hermione in GoF, 
he didn't like it too much. He's always preferred Ron's company over 
Hermione's.

Jim Ferer wrote : 
> No argument Ron is attracted to Hermione now, but is she what he
> really wants in life? (they're 15/16, remember) I see him as an 
> adult as much like his dad.  He wants a nice family and a wife who 
> loves him to come home to, have his kids, and be his companion.  
> That's great when it's in line with both partners' expectations.  
> He will not find happiness with a high-intensity, supercharged 
> intellectually driven person like Hermione Granger.  He already is 
> rattled by her intensity sometimes, and it's not going to ease 
> up.  At bottom, Ron's our example of an ordinary, solid friend. 
> Neither Harry nor Hermione will ever be ordinary.
> 
> Both need an extraordinary partner.

Del replies :
You're basing that reasoning on so many *suppositions* that I 
wouldn't even know where to start :-)
To simplify, I'll just say this :
1. We know Harry quite well, but we don't know either Hermione nor 
Ron.
2. We don't know what they all want in a partner. I'm not even sure 
*they* know :-)
3. We have *no idea* what they'll turn into as adults !
4. We have even less of an idea what they'll be looking for in a 
partner by that time. (I'm not at all what my husband imagined as a 
future wife when he was 15. As for me, I abhorred the idea of 
marriage and children at that age, it was akin to bondage for me. I 
wanted a high-profile career, with intense intellectual stimulation 
among peers. But now, at 30, I can't wait to quit my job in 2 weeks 
to become a stay-at-home wife and mom...)
5. *Everyone* is extraordinary...

Del, who wishes H/H shippers stopped thinking just for a minute 
about Harry's needs only and started wondering what would be in that 
relationship for *Hermione * !