Hermione's Reaction to... Was: Re: Harry's first Kiss (is it a smoke screen?)

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 105754

Del: "Isn't that the usual excuse for people who are trying to change
others : "I'm just trying to help you" ? And I disagree that Hermione
is trying to change them only as far as academics go. Just one example
: Cho comes to Harry, and Ron attacks her on her Tornado badge. Then
Hermione berates Ron for being such an insensitive person. Well, if
she really accepted Ron for what he is, she would know that he is
insensitive (we all do, that's part of his make-up), and she would
accept that. She would maybe explain to him calmly that he just did a
mistake, but she wouldn't go berating him like she did."

You're asking too much of Hermione not to speak her mind.  You have to
do more than that to be fairly accused of trying to manage people. 
Most women of my acquaintance would be irritated by a friend's
churlish behavior.

Del: "Well, that was the starting supposition, wasn't it :-) ? That
Hermione was in love with Ron too. I'm not saying she is, I'm just
saying her behaviour is concordant with being in love with Ron and
cannot be used to prove that she loves Harry."

Could you point out how she shows her romantic attachment to Ron?  The
problem here is that all three are closely attached to one another by
their shared experience. That makes things confusing. We see more
evidence of Hermione's and Harry's emotional convergence – Harry
hearing Hermione's voice, Hermione's keen perception of Harry – but
even there it's potential romance, not romance.

Del: "Will it surprise you that I disagree :-) ? Cho was horribly
jealous, there's nothing wrong with that. If Harry had understood what
was going on and had reassured her accordingly, she would probably
have stopped talking about Hermione in that way."

I suspect that others see what Harry does not: how close he is to
Hermione.  Again, that's not romance right now, but it wouldn't take
much to tip the scales, and I think the scales will tip at some point.
As far as Harry being offended when Cho dumped on Hermione, he is
Hermione's close friend, after all.

Here's what I think would have happened with Cho, had she been
"reassured:" she would have started pressuring Harry to loosen his
ties with Hermione.

Del:Del, who's not a R/H shipper, but thinks it would be too unfair if
Hermione ended up with Harry... unless Ron finds another love interest
first !"

Huh? Was Hermione issued to Ron, or something? He didn't buy her on
ebay.  Ron wouldn't be happy with her, anyway. He's an ordinary guy (a
good guy) who wants an ordinary life, and that's not Hermione.

Jim Ferer