Essay on H/H in light of OoP (long, VERY long) (SHIP, mostly SHIP)

[pennylin]

Hi --

Not having heard a chorus of groans, I'm posting this so it can't be said I
didn't make any substantive contributions to discussion.  <g>  I've retained
the old HPfGU SHIP prefix to give fair notice as well.........so consider
yourself duly warned.

Again, this was written for a specific forum so some of the points made are
specifically included to refute threads or arguments on the DeathMarch
Thread.

Penny

*********************

All OoP page references refer to the UK hardback edition of OoP.  Page
references to GoF refer to the UK paperback edition.



INTRODUCTION



I believe that OoP sets in motion a trend that had begun developing in PoA
and GoF: the trend of Harry and Hermione becoming partners.  They are in
effect equals in leadership roles, and though Harry certainly remains the
"hero," I think that Hermione is increasingly filling the role of "heroine."
I think this partnership is a solid basis on which a romantic relationship
can be based in later books and/or in the epilogue to the series.



TREND OF BECOMING PARTNERS



  1.. Working in Tandem
Harry and Hermione work more as a partnership (and less as two members of a
Trio) in OoP than they have previously.  When they are reading the Prophet
article about Sirius, they shush Ron and continue to have their own
conversation (257).  Harry and Hermione obviously hadn't clued Ron in on the
conversation they had the night he made the Quidditch team regarding
Umbridge and Harry's scar, since Ron is utterly bewildered by this when the
three of them are talking to Sirius in the fire (270).



Hermione takes the initiative with forming the DA, anticipating and
countering Harry's reluctance with powers of persuasion and calm certitude
in his abilities (290-96).  The two of them have a conversation about the
similarity between the gold coins given to the DA members and the Dark Mark,
another sign of a growing shared outlook (353).   She also takes the
initiative with arranging Harry's interview with Rita Skeeter ("I want him
given the opportunity to tell the truth") (500).  She seemingly sat through
the interview with him.  Harry himself indicates that talking about the
events of that night in such detail was difficult, and therefore, Hermione
may be privy to details or emotions from Harry that he hadn't previously
confided to both her and Ron (502).



Significantly, Harry and Hermione share in the key moments of the events
depicted in OoP as a pair.  It is Harry and Hermione together who accompany
Hagrid to the Forest to meet Grawp (604-618).  It is Harry and Hermione
together who steal into Umbridge's office to check on Sirius' whereabouts
(651-653).  It is Harry and Hermione together who accompany Umbridge into
the Forest (660).



And, finally, Hermione is with Harry and Neville (both of whom may be
integral to the final resolution of the series) when the group is split in
two at the Department of Mysteries.  Though she ultimately falls in battle
so to speak, she doesn't exit the scene immediately and gets in her fair
share of hexes and curses before being taken out of action.  In fact, they
play off each other in turn, saving each other repeatedly: Hermione saves
Harry with the "stupefy" hex (694); Harry launches himself across the floor
to interrupt the Avada Kevadra curse from hitting Hermione (696); Hermione
comes to Harry's aid once again (696-97); and then the two of them work
together with Silencio and Petrificus Totalus (698) before Hermione falls
out of action at last.



These are all choices made deliberately by Rowling; in each case, Ron
*could* have been included in the general scene without disruption of the
plot or narrative.  Instead, Rowling has chosen to keep Ron on the sidelines
during integral events in OoP, while pushing Harry and Hermione front and
center.  This trend of highlighting Harry and Hermione as a team or
partnership began in PoA, when it is Harry and Hermione as a pair who must
save Buckbeak and rescue Sirius.  This trend is solidified in GoF by having
Harry and Ron not speaking to one another for an extended period of time, so
that Harry and Hermione work together to get him through the First Task.
Though Ron certainly helped Harry in his preparation for the Third Task,
Hermione's contributions are possibly more note-worthy in some respects (the
very fact that he knew the curses and hexes that helped save his life that
night is attributable to Hermione's sleuthing and research skills).  And, of
course, again, OoP places Harry and Hermione together, working in tandem, at
all the key moments in the plot.  Their partnership is in the spotlight.



  2.. Daring Gryffindor Spirit
 Hermione moves from still wincing at the sound of the name Voldemort early
on (65) to using the name Voldemort frequently, starting in October when she
first proposes Harry teaching DADA to other students (294).  "It was the
first time she had ever said Voldemort's name, and it was *this*, more than
anything else, that calmed Harry" (293).  She is the only peer of Harry who
dares to say the name, and this sets her and Harry apart from the others.
Early on in OoP, Harry asks Ron when he's going to "say the name Voldemort."
Ron evades the question and never does use the name in OoP.   Hermione is
absolutely scathing in her disdain for Ron's reactions to hearing her or
Harry speak the name (296, 297, 519).



  3.. Ability to Communicate without Words
In OoP, Harry and Hermione communicate without words, and in both cases, the
situation is lost on Ron, who is oblivious, and the details are not shared
with him until much later.  Hermione is the only one to notice that
something is wrong with Harry at dinner one night (144); she is obviously
very attuned to his facial expressions and emotions.  On the train ride to
school, Harry realizes that Hermione has taken the same meaning from Draco's
"dogging" comment that he did (176).  Hermione again displays perceptiveness
with respect to Harry's emotional state, though she guesses the wrong cause
(575).  Harry catches on quickly to her ruse with Umbridge (the lack of
tears) (659).



I'm now shifting away from authorial intent to an examination of the
character's feelings for each other.





FOUNDATION FOR A ROMANCE



As discussed above, Harry and Hermione have become more and more of a
partnership of equals, with Hermione arguably filling the role of heroine.
Does this mean that they are destined to become romantic partners?  Does the
Hero always "get the girl"?  I don't know that they are so much *destined*
to be romantic partners, but I surely think that the foundation for that to
develop at some point is in place by the end of OoP.  Harry and Hermione
have a solid friendship, built on trust, respect and shared history, and
this could easily provide a good foundation for a romantic relationship.  In
addition, they aren't so "boring" that they never have any disagreements,
but, as shown in detail below, they have demonstrated that they most often
use positive conflict resolution rather than retreating into silence with
one another.  They exhibit an above-average concern for each other's safety
and well-being in OoP.  Both of their respective love interests have been
jealous of their relationship and have inferred an underlying romantic
attachment between Harry and Hermione.  Harry finds Hermione attractive, and
they both show no discomfort with the increasing physical interaction
between them.  Although Harry has thus far shown no particular interest in
Hermione's love life, she arguably is not as keen on Harry pairing up with
Cho as it might appear on the surface.  Certainly there is time enough for
both these adolescents to "change their minds" in any case.



  1..  Trust, Respect and History
 Trust



Harry and Hermione trust each other (just as they trust Ron of course), but
there are specific examples in OoP where the trust of these two characters
is put to the test.  Harry, though he is skeptical initially about what Cho
will say about this, agrees to meet Hermione while he's having a date with
Cho, even though Hermione doesn't give him a clue as to why she needs him to
meet her that specific day (489).  In another instance, Harry and Hermione
demonstrate that they will "be there to catch each other's falls" in that
classic example of falling backwards with utter trust in your partner
(though it is, in this case, unintentional, it is worth noting).  "He
[Hagrid] stopped suddenly and turned around; Hermione walked right into him
and was knocked over backward.  Harry caught her just before she hit the
forest floor" (607).



The most important scene to observe Harry and Hermione showing trust in one
another, however, is the scene when Harry tells Hermione and Ron about his
vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius.  The interaction between Harry and
Hermione fairly crackles with intensity in this scene (I could *see* it on
the movie screen almost); in fact, if there is [u]any[/u] unresolved sexual
tension indicators in the Potterverse, I would say it is here, in this
scene.  She grows more and more confident in questioning him, even in the
face of his anger, and they keep taking steps closer to each other.  Ron is
very definitely on the periphery of this pivotal scene.   Though Harry says
it "aggressively," he trusts her judgment enough to sanction one check at
Grimmauld Place (645-650).  It is Harry and Hermione who cloak themselves in
Harry's invisibility cloak and sneak into Umbridge's office; Ron is sent
offscreen.



                        Respect



Harry and Hermione respect each other's accomplishments.  Hermione's opinion
of Harry is very important to him; I suspect that his reaction of not
wanting to face or talk to Hermione after the Prefect Badge scene is
motivated by a sense of having let her down.  She obviously had a high
opinion of him, considered him the likely choice for the male Gryffindor
prefect of their year, and was disappointed that she wouldn't be a prefect
with him (148).   Hermione always listens thoughtfully when Harry confides
things in her (249).  In addition, Hermione has become Harry's conscience
("the part of his mind that *often spoke in Hermione's voice") (601).  He
changes his course entirely based on her voice in his head (343).  Harry
felt a "surge of pride in Hermione's jinxing abilities" at a critical point
in the confrontation among Umbridge, Fudge and Dumbledore (541).   He also
defends Hermione's jinxing abilities in an argument with Cho, which
immediately sparks a jealous reaction from Cho (561).



She anticipates Harry's reactions at the first DA meeting at the Hog's Head
Pub; soothing his anxiety and paving the way for him to comfortably assume
the position of leadership (302).  She bolsters his confidence with her
praise at the first official DA session (351).  When Harry is disconsolate
and isolated after overhearing Moody speculating that Voldemort might be
possessing him, it is Hermione who is able to persuade Harry to talk things
out.  She claims to have come to Grimmauld Place the minute she was
permitted (and didn't join her parents at all), rushing upstairs to the room
where Harry was holed up within minutes of her arrival (there is still snow
in her hair!) (440).  Further, Harry notes that he is "surprised" to see Ron
and Ginny sitting on his bed, so he obviously expected to have (and was
amenable to having) a conversation about the situation with *just* Hermione
on her own (441).    He doesn't "have the heart" to disappoint her by
telling her what is really happening to all the hats she's been making for
the elves (399).



                  Rich History



Harry and Hermione have a rich history, and though that history is shared
with Ron, select memories Harry has of Hermione specifically are highlighted
to the reader in OoP.  We learn, for example, that the image of Hermione in
the hospital wing when the polyjuice potion had gone awry is one of Harry's
"most feared memories."  And, thinking about Hermione can bring a smile to
Harry's face.  In his first OWL exam, Harry spies Hermione a few rows ahead
of him and fondly recalls the night in which he and Hermione became friends,
the night he and Ron knocked out the Troll to save her (628).  Accordingly,
I believe that any romantic partner of Harry will have a difficult time
"replacing" Hermione in his heart.



  2.. Conflict Resolution
Harry and Hermione are not "boring."  They do argue or disagree sometimes,
but in almost every case, the disagreement is completely resolved by
discussing the matter and apologizing as necessary.  This is in contrast to
Ron and Hermione, whose arguments in OoP are *never* resolved on-screen; one
or both parties *always* retreats into silence and/or avoids the other
(72-73, 189-90, 208, 212, 228-230, 231, 264).  There is one instance of Ron
and Hermione "resolving" an argument off-page; the time when Harry blows up
at them for always "having a go at each other" and storms off.  In that
instance, Ron shows up for Divination a bit later and pronounces that "me
and Hermione have stopped arguing" (213).  But, we don't *see* that the
argument is actually resolved (it may have just been a temporary truce), and
it certainly doesn't stop them from arguing with each other after that
point.



There are instances in which Harry is angry enough with Hermione to retreat
into silence for a period of time, but this is not a pattern of behavior.
In one case, Harry is angry enough with her for siding at least partially
with McGonagall to not speak to her during Charms but forgets about being
cross with her by the time they reach the next class (285-86).  He also is
angry enough with her to stop speaking to her for the rest of the day when
she pushed him on Occlumency again (519).



It is only rarely though that Harry retreats into silence rather than
resolving his conflicts with Hermione.  Harry essentially picks a fight with
her over the issue of Lavender not believing him, and after Hermione calmly
tells him that she told Lavender off but to please stop jumping down her
throat, he apologizes (201).  In a similar discussion shortly later,
Hermione again is assertive and tells Harry to "stop biting her head off"
(227).   Though she may look anxious about it, her anxiety never stops
Hermione from facing Harry's anger at different times in the course of OoP
(293, 645-50, 686-87).  And, she grows steadily more confident (and less
anxious) about confronting Harry when she believes it's necessary.



She isn't afraid to tell him when he's behaving poorly, and he likewise
feels comfortable enough to tell her when she's out of order.  For example,
after they've met Grawp for the first time, Harry tries to calm Hermione,
who was very distraught at what Hagrid was asking them to do.  When Hermione
in turn became angry, to the point of saying that Umbridge was right to
question Hagrid's competency, Harry says quietly, "you didn't mean that."
She agrees that Harry is right (617).  As another example, Harry quietly
asks if she *does* wish that she could see Thestrals; she is immediately
horrified by what she's said and apologizes for her insensitivity (398).



Harry is definitely annoyed with Hermione at different times in OoP, but
some conflict is definitely a normal and good thing in any relationship.  In
some cases, it is her logical and pragmatic nature that irritates him (327,
334-35).  For example, when she questions whether continuing with the DA is
advisable in light of Sirius' support, Harry feels annoyed with her slur on
Sirius' judgment; however, he is thinking about her words later as he falls
asleep, so he certainly takes her advice to heart even when he disagrees
(334-335).  In every other case, his annoyance with her centers on her
tenacity on the occlumency issue (489, 519, 574, 600-601) or her opposition
to his plan to break into Umbridge's office to use her fire for his chat
with Sirius (579-80, 582, 587-88).



He affirmatively hides his feelings about one of his Voldemort dreams from
Ron and Hermione because "he didn't want another telling-off from Hermione"
(520).  However, there is certainly not, as has been alleged, a pattern of
behavior whereby Harry repeatedly lies to Hermione to avoid being nagged or
lectured.  In fact, in one case where Harry has actively lied to Hermione
(when he said he'd worked out the Egg clue in GoF) and in those cases where
he failed to mention a detail or tell the entire story, he avoids her eye or
doesn't look at her or otherwise has a guilty reaction.  In these cases,
Harry is also lying to Ron, though his guilt seems to be Hermione-driven.
One instance where Harry "lies by omission" in OoP to both Hermione and Ron
can be found at: 242-243 (he doesn't tell them the full story about his
detentions with Umbridge).  When she's pushing him on occlumency, she asks
him if he's stopped having funny dreams, and he answers "pretty much" but
doesn't meet her eye (574).  Harry tries to sound as though she's insulting
him by even asking if he's continuing to work on his occlumency, but he
doesn't quite meet her eye when he says this (601).



The overall pattern of how Harry and Hermione react to and resolve
interpersonal conflicts contrasts sharply with the Ron and Hermione pattern.
Harry doesn't like conflict as evidenced by his angry outburst at them and
subsequent thoughts about their incessant bickering (212) and by his
thoughts that he didn't care what happened between him and Cho as long as
there were no more rows (603).  I also don't believe that Hermione is
thriving on her conflicts with Ron either, but I'm not sure we have adequate
canon-based evidence to make that evaluation fully since we don't have
Hermione's perspective at all.



  3.. Concern for Each Other's Safety and Well-Being
While Harry and Hermione both obviously place a high value on the safety,
happiness and general well-being of their friends (Ron in particular), they
show an especial concern for one another in OoP.  Ron himself says that
Hermione was "going spare" with anxiety about what Harry might do, stuck
alone without news (61).  Though she professed to be confident that he would
not be expelled, she looked "positively faint with anxiety and held a
shaking hand over her eyes" when Harry tells them that he got off the
charges (143).



They stick up for each other with particular ferocity in OoP.  Hermione
reacts quite sharply indeed to Draco's query of how Harry felt being
"second-best" to Ron ("Shut up!" and "Get out!"): even Draco recognizes that
he may have "hit a nerve" with her (175-176).  Harry receives another
detention for questioning why Umbridge was docking Gryffindor for Hermione's
question (284).



As tensions increase in the narrative, so too do Hermione's anxieties.  She
tells Ron to go check on Harry after his first occlumency lesson (476-478).
She is very concerned by Harry's scar hurting (144, 249, 489, 644, 651).  As
the DA members run from the Room of Requirement, Hermione looks back from
the middle of the group, shouting at Harry to "come on!" (536).   She cannot
abide the thought of Harry suffering the Crucio curse, and I'm not entirely
convinced that she knew what she was going to do when she shouted "NO!" as
Umbridge prepared to cast the curse on Harry (658).  In other words, I think
Hermione reacted with fierce emotional protectiveness of Harry and *then*
formulated a plan as she went along.  She also was particularly apprehensive
about the veil and its dangers, as if by instinct (682-683).



If anything, Hermione may be overly anxious on Harry's behalf, which annoys
him from time to time, but I can't help wondering if it's important that
Hermione mistranslates the word for partnership as "defense" (631).



Finally, it should be noted that Hermione disengages herself from her
parents to join the group of Harry's protectors who confront the Dursleys on
the train platform (765).



    4.  Jealousy of Romantic Partners


Hermione's romantic partner in GoF (and possibly OoP), Viktor Krum, is
jealous enough of Harry's relationship with Hermione to instigate a private
conversation.  Harry is amazed that this older boy and international
Quidditch star considers him a rival.  Then, Harry's romantic interest in
OoP, Cho Chang, is jealous of Harry's relationship with Hermione (494-96,
561).  Even if friends don't see a possible romantic pairing in the offing
when they look at Harry and Hermione (though we don't know if they do or don
't), it is indisputably clear that the romantic interests of both Harry and
Hermione are jealous of the H/H friendship.  They find it threatening; they
suspect romantic interest between Harry and Hermione.



  5.. Physical Interaction
Harry does not find Hermione unattractive or ugly (GoF 359-60, OoP 505). In
fact, at the Yule Ball, his jaw dropped in astonishment at Hermione's
appearance (GoF 360). He had earlier considered this mysterious girl to be
"pretty," though he did not yet know that it was Hermione (GoF 359). And, of
course, he flat-out confirms that he does not find her "ugly" (505). The
purpose of her even making the statement that Harry should have told Cho he
thinks she, Hermione, is ugly: well, it sounds like she was fishing for
compliments or at least testing the waters. We do not know specifically what
Hermione might think about Harry's appearance or whether she is or could be
physically attracted to him. Of course, people don't fall in love with every
person they might believe is physically attractive, but since this seems to
be one barrier to H/H speculated on by R/H types in the past, I thought it
was worth including in this essay.



In any case though, Harry and Hermione show an increasing comfort level with
physical contact in OoP.  Hermione hugs him for a fairly sustained period of
time when he first arrives at Grimmauld Place (60-61).  They are shown as
seated next to one another at various points in OoP (212, 221, 323, 498,
505, 638).  This is interesting only in the sense that Rowling has
specifically highlighted the seating arrangement in some manner.  Hermione
grabs or clings to Harry's arm with a fair bit of frequency (323, 358, 614,
668, 679).  Harry is described as being very physically protective of her as
well.  He "seizes her and pulls her behind a tree" (614) when Grawp takes a
swipe at her.  In the clash between Umbridge and the centaurs, Harry grabs
Hermione and pulls her to the ground (665).  In the Department of Mysteries
when Harry needs to signal the others to smash the shelves, it is Hermione's
foot that he finds (692-93).  In the ensuing crash, Harry grabs Hermione's
robes and drags her forwards: this has all the elements of "save one thing
from a burning building" mentality on Harry's part (694).  When he thinks
Hermione may be dead, there is a "whine of panic" inside Harry's head (699).
Learning that she is still alive, Harry feels such a "powerful wave of
relief" that he feels light-headed for a moment (700).



6.  Interest in Each Other?



How do Harry and Hermione view each other's respective love lives?  Well,
clearly, Harry has spared no thought whatsoever on Hermione's love life so
far.  His only commentary on Krum sounds more like Rowling talking to the
reader through Harry, rather than something Harry himself would say (407).
He does certainly recognize Ron's interest in Hermione (GoF 376), though he
and Ron rather interestingly don't seem to have any conversations about
girls.  Harry wishes at one point that he could ask Sirius' advice, but he
doesn't seek out his male best friend's opinion at all.  Of course, if they
did have a discussion about girls, Hermione would certainly come up, and it'
s arguable that Rowling is avoiding that entire scenario for the time being.



Hermione might seem on the surface to be supportive of the Harry/Cho
relationship; she even encourages him by mentioning that Cho couldn't take
her eyes off him at the Hog's Head Pub (311).  But, on closer examination,
it seems at least reasonable to be suspicious of why Hermione is so
interested in Harry's love life.  For a "disinterested observer," Hermione
watches Cho from afar frequently and does quite a lot of thinking about Cho'
s emotional state and interest in Harry.  Hermione interrupts his
conversation with Cho at the first DA meeting, by shouting to him to look at
his watch.  Obviously, she'd been watching Harry and Cho for at least a
moment; did she interrupt them on purpose? (351)



When Harry tells Ron and Hermione about his snog session with Cho, he does
so only as a result of Hermione's prompting.  For her part in this
conversation, Rowling used "business-like," "brisk" and "impatiently" to
describe Hermione's manner.  Those are odd descriptors to ascribe to an
indifferent observer if you ask me.  In addition, of course, Hermione is
seen to be wearing a "slight frown" while waiting for Harry to confirm that
he and Cho had kissed (404-406).  She is all too happy to tell Harry what he
's done wrong on his date with Cho after-the-fact.  But she doesn't
seemingly take the initiative to set Cho straight about her relationship
with Harry (or Cho wouldn't continue to be jealous), and we all know that
Hermione *can* be meddlesome when it suits her (Firebolt, anyone?).  She
questions Harry about Cho at different times (575, 602), and of course, it
is none other than Hermione who informs Harry that Cho is dating someone new
(762).  All in all, I'm not convinced that Hermione is as fully supportive
of the Harry/Cho relationship as she appeared to be on the surface.  This
leaves open the possibility that Hermione has or will develop romantic
feelings for Harry.   Even if she has romantic feelings for Ron (which I don
't believe she does, though the purpose of this essay is not to be
anti-R/H), this doesn't preclude her from also having romantic interest in
Harry or from developing those feelings later on.



In sum, I believe there is enough ambiguity in the relationships between all
three members of the Trio to leave open a definite possibility for Harry and
Hermione to develop a romantic interest in one another, even if it's not
currently overt for either of them.  They have the emotional bond already,
and they do find each other physically attractive (there's nothing to
suggest that Hermione *doesn't* find Harry physically attractive anyway).
It's definitely true that they might well find other parties *more*
appealing than each other (such as ..oh Ron for Hermione and Ginny for
Harry), but it seems to me that the odds on Harry/Hermione pairing off are
higher when one examines all the canon evidence as a whole.



CONCLUSION



I believe that OoP dramatically accelerates the trend begun in PoA and GoF
of Harry and Hermione working and acting as partners.  While it is Harry who
has the destiny to fulfill and the books are titled "Harry Potter and the
_____," I believe that Rowling intends us to view Hermione as more than just
a "side-kick," more than just a "secondary character."  I believe that Harry
and Hermione working in tandem as they increasingly do is a solid basis on
which a romantic relationship can be based in later books and/or in the
epilogue to the series.



While it can be argued that Harry will end up paired with Ginny as more and
more of her character is revealed to Harry and the reader, it is also firmly
within literary tradition for an author to create incentives for a certain
romantic outcome by making certain that the readers are emotionally invested
in the potential love interest.  In that case, Rowling has certainly
spotlighted Hermione, both in terms of her individual accomplishments and
strengths, and also as part of a dynamic partnership with Harry.  By
contrast, Ginny's development has been sparse and is largely off-page
(testimonials from her brothers and tidbits from Hermione), thereby creating
a situation where a large number of readers are not at this stage
emotionally invested in her as the hero's love interest.  Rowling used that
technique already to make sure that readers were not emotionally invested in
Cho as Harry's romantic partner.  She accomplished this by filtering Cho
entirely through Hermione: virtually everything the reader learns or hears
about Cho is related by Hermione.  The reader isn't given the chance to feel
any romantic rush when Harry kissed Cho, as that first kiss was off-page.
So, the reader doesn't ever feel any connection to Cho.  I believe she's
using this same technique with Ginny.  And, I believe that she has made
certain that readers are very emotionally invested in Hermione, though
naturally not all readers want her paired up with the hero.  :--)



Even if you don't buy into the notion that Hermione is the heroine of the
series, it is indisputable that Harry and Hermione working together has been
highlighted, particularly in the latest installment.  As was shown above, in
addition to being a formidable duo, Harry and Hermione have a friendship and
emotional relationship that could easily form the basis for romantic
interest.  I believe that they are both subconsciously aware of an
attraction for each other, though Harry certainly isn't overtly aware of any
latent feelings for Hermione.  Because Hermione's feelings are still
ambiguous, it is hard to say whether she might be aware of any interest in
Harry.  But whether or not they have any *current* romantic feelings about
one another, the stage is clearly set for that possible outcome.