SHHermione's Reaction to... Was: Re: Harry's first Kiss

[mayeaux45]

No: HPFGUIDX 106352

Jim Ferer wrote:
>  Could you point out how she [Hermione] shows her romantic 
attachment
> to Ron? <snip>
> 
Carol responds:
> Okay, I'm not a shipper, but one quote says it all:
> 
> "Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and 
not as
> a last resort!" (GoF Am. ed. 432).
> 
> If that's not showing her romantic attachment to Ron (and her
> frustration with him for not recognizing his own attraction to 
her),
> I'm a mandrake. Well, okay, that's pushing it a bit far. But to me,
> that one remark says all we need to know about Hermione's feelings 
for
> Ron.


IMO, this particular statement made by Hermione doesn't really mean 
anything.  I've read this part of GoF over and over and it seems to 
me that yes, Hermione is showing her frustration, but not 
necessarily in a *romantic* sense.  She's frustrated that Ron can't 
even realize his *feelings* for her and how stupid he's been acting 
all night.  It might be Hermione's reasoning that if he's going to 
be acting like a jealous git all night long and be blatantly obvious 
about his feelings for her, then he should have asked her out to 
begin with instead of making shallow and superficial comments about 
other girls prior to the ball.  

This argument might have been more convincing (even to me) if it 
weren't for OotP already being out...because there are relatively NO 
concrete clues to say that Hermione has any feelings for Ron beyond 
friendship.  Like I said before...I would have totally agreed with 
you a year and half ago.  OotP threw a lot of HP fans for a loop! 
But one thing is for sure even after reading OotP...Ron definitely 
has strong feelings for Hermione. Whether it goes both ways remains 
to be seen.  I just find it interesting that JKR put in another 
*potential* love interest for Ron by introducing Luna Lovegood (who 
I found to be absolutely hilarious by the way)!  The way JKR 
described her and her facial expressions, mood, etc. througout the 
book gave me a good laugh when it was most definitely needed.  
Mayeaux45, who has recently been playing with the idea of forming a 
HP book club in my hometown so we can go over every single detail in 
person!  ;)