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

[marephraim]

No: HPFGUIDX 105762

Jim Ferer" wrote:
> 
> 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.

I think Hermione shows the signs of romance with Ron in several 
ways. It's been commented on numerous times that bickering is often 
a manifestation of two youngsters' unconscious attraction to each 
other. I've seen too many kids who `hate' him/her with a blue 
passion only to later confess he/she is `nice.' 

Clearly, Hermione shows concern for Harry (and Ron, for that 
matter). And Harry and Ron's different personalities can easily 
explain why she and Harry interact one way and she and Ron another. 

But how about the references (GOF or OOP, I forget which) wherein we 
see Hermione building up to one of her trademark arguments/pleadings 
over a situation only to be cut off completely by Ron. Ron and 
Hermione have obviously talked about more than Harry during his 
absences from them. 

A review of the whole Yule Ball sequence of events could be argued 
to show that Hermione's choice of Viktor is in part that Ron (who's 
always around) blew his chance to ask her out and so chose someone 
else.  Also, Hermione's reaction to Ron's attraction to the Veela 
and to Fleur shows more than casual exasperation at of a guy making 
a fool of himself. And let's not forget the great donnybrook after 
the ball, Ron's reaction every time Krum is mentioned after that, 
and Hermione's blushing in OOP when she mentions that she's still in 
contact with Krum. That blush should be given equal consideration in 
this group to the gleam in Dumbledore's eyes.

> 
> 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.

Cho's jealousy is a mere attempt to get Harry to show more devotion 
to her than really feeling threatened by Hermione. Hermione is 
correct in her interpretation of this one. Take a careful look at 
the description of her reaction to Harry when he protests that he 
doesn't think she's ugly. In five years of close personal 
interaction, this is the only thing Harry has ever said positive 
about Hermione to her (attraction-wise). She simply laughs it off 
and moves on. To take all the potential references that `could' 
support H/Hr would be no more plausible than Harry and Ron going for 
a walk during the Yule Ball supporting a H/R ship.

Cho throws out the Hermione comment simply because Hermione is the 
only girl in whose company Harry is ever consistently seen. Harry's 
reaction to Cho is simply that of a friend sticking up for a friend.

> 
> 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.

Ron certainly did not buy Hermione on ebay (It was Owl-Bay!).

I don't think it's fair to claim Ron wants an ordinary life and 
Hermione couldn't provide that. Hermione's interests are eclectic 
and academic. Once the whole Wizard World War business is over, I 
can see Hermione teaching at Hogwarts (more than the other two of 
the Trio). And I can see Ron working at the ministry (distance is 
not an issue, remember – floo powder!).

Prediction: Book six will feature a love triangle – between Ron and 
Harry and Luna Lovegood (yes, I've argued this before). This will 
accomplish several things. Firstly, it will eventually give Harry 
his requisite girlfriend; and secondly, it will finally break the 
barrier for the eventual R/Hr ship.

MarEphraim