SHIP Ron/Hermione

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 151578

> >>Betsy Hp: 
> > And actually, I think I've figured out why this particular       
> > bickering couple just doesn't work for me: They have so very    
> > little in common.  Which actually goes against, I think, the    
> > bickering couple template.

> >>houyhnhnm:
> I agree somewhat.  None of the teen romances really worked for me.
> Maybe I'm just too old to empathize.

Betsy Hp:
I'm usually all over the romance stuff, eating it up with a spoon, 
etc.  And I don't think the age of the players is the problem.  I'm 
starting to think it's more that writing romance just isn't JKR's 
thing.  There's something missing, IMO.  (It doesn't kill the books 
at all, since they aren't about romance, really.  It just means that 
the parts that should read romantically come across as a bit stiff 
or forced to me.)

> >>houyhnhnm:
> I do think the Ron/Hermione pairing makes a kind of sense, though. 
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I do see the logic.  The two characters supporting Harry, the 
melding of the pureblood and the muggleborn, logic and intuition, 
etc.  It's just...  It's *too* logical, IMO.  Ron and Hermione are 
coming together because it makes story sense.  Not because they'd 
naturally end up with each other.  I mean, Hermione honestly 
*should* hold Ron in a bit of contempt.  And Ron should think 
Hermione just doesn't get it.  That's what their personalities are 
like.  But what is it that gets them past that?  *Why* does Ron make 
Hermione weak in the knees?  What do they sit around talking about?  
That's where the romance starts getting a little bumpy for me. 

> >>houyhnhnm:
> Additionally, "there are some things you can't share without      
> ending up liking each other," and being the two best friends of    
> The Chosen One is one of them.

Betsy Hp:
But what happens when the war is over?  I mean, do they sit around 
talking only about *Harry* all those times they're alone 
together?  'Cause that is not an example of a healthy or romantic 
relationship.  At least, not in my opinion.

It explains how two completely different people can become 
*friends*.  But it's not enough, usually, to carry the friendship 
through to happily ever after land.

> >>Pippin:
> Um, they've been working hand in glove for six years straight      
> (with a time out in PoA) and you think they've got nothing in     
> common?

Betsy Hp:
Not personality-wise.  No.

> >>Pippin:
> Nothing except their devotion to Project Harry, their courage and 
> determination, and their sense of justice. Hanging out with Harry 
> stopped being all fun and games quite a while ago, but they've    
> never faltered. 

Betsy Hp:
Well, yes.  They're very loyal to Harry.  But I'm talking about the 
two of them *without* Harry.  And yes, they're brave and determined, 
but in very different ways.  That actually is a strength for Harry, 
but it's not a common link between Ron and Hermione.  Not enough of 
one anyway.

And, I would argue that Ron and Hermione have very different views 
on justice.  Ron has a pretty good sense of fair play.  Hermione 
seems to think that what she thinks is right is right.  She thinks 
tricking the house-elves is justice.  Ron thinks it's wrong.  I'm 
betting she didn't tell Ron about her jinx on the DA sign up sheet.  
It doesn't strike me as his style.

And see, that strikes me as very different from the usual bickering 
couple template.  The bickering couple usually *do* have a very 
similar style.  They just fail to recognize it (while usually 
everyone around them sees the similarities quite clearly).  Ron and 
Hermione would *never* approach a task in the same way, even if the 
end goal was the same.  And the problem, to my mind, is Hermione (at 
least in HBP) would see Ron's way as totally, completely wrong. 

> >>Pippin: 
> It's true Hermione  sneers at Ron's lack of intelligence,
> but as he sneers at her for being a swot, I'd say they're even.
> Neither of them seems to be horribly sensitive about it.

Betsy Hp:
I don't recall Ron sneering at Hermione for being a swot.  He 
actually seems at turns amused, fond and even proud of her.  Of 
course, when they're fighting, he does mock her enthusiasm in the 
classroom, but that's because he knows it'll hurt her.

But, yeah, Hermione really seems to think Ron is gigantic idiot.  
And yeah, for some reason Ron isn't horribly bothered by it.  (Until 
he is.)  But it still leaves me mystified about *what* exactly 
Hermione likes about Ron, and why exactly Ron puts up with her 
sneering.

What on earth do those two have in common?

Betsy Hp