SHIP Ron/Hermione: The Bickering Couple

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 151661

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > I think the romance angle would have worked better if Ron and 
> > Hermione worked more smoothly together and fought less often.  

> >>Pippin:
> Well, of course it would! But JKR doesn't want them getting       
> romantic with each other too soon. From her point of view, her job 
> is to invent obstacles to keep them apart until they can be joined 
> decently. It wouldn't do to have *them* behaving like a pair of   
> eels. :)

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I agree.  And I've probably made the mistake of giving JKR's 
interviews too much weight (they *alway* lead me astray <g>).  But I 
was under the impression that she meant for the fighting in HBP to 
read as a romantic build up.  That we were supposed to be cheering 
for Ron and Hermione to get together, in a "don't they realize 
they're made for each other?" sort of way.

Actually, I do think JKR will end up going with the different but 
complimentary thing that makes them so annoying at the moment.  My 
point was just that the bickering, in the past two books especially, 
doesn't fit under romance.

> >>Joe:
> <snip>
> For one I also think their bickering is a bit overblown both as   
> evidence of attraction and as a deterrent. It may just happen to  
> be the part that causes Harry inconvience so he may note it more   
> often.

Betsy Hp:
Now that's something I can get behind.  Because while I question 
JKR's ability to write romance, she's killer on human foibles.  And 
she captures beautifully, IMO, the discomfort and worry Ron and 
Hermione's interactions are giving Harry. 

So, yeah.  Ron and Hermione -- not yet a romance.  They're both far 
too immature for that sort of thing.  And that will change, of 
course, through the course of book 7.  (We've already seen signs of 
change in Ron's willingness to confront the evil twins, and in 
Hermione's acknowledging a mistake.)  But it doesn't leave much time 
for JKR to write them a romance.  Which may not have been her point 
in the first place.

Betsy Hp