I have to admit that I do not like any non-canon pairing for Tolkien's work, and I dislike the idea of reading fan-fiction about romances, anyway. That isn't the main point of why I like the original stories. As far as I'm concerned, romance and pairing people off should just peek around the edges of a story. If the romance
is the story....why should this interest anyone else?
But I have trouble taking Harry Potter as seriously as I take LotR, so I have no problem with people doing whatever they want with the characters for fun - not that I'll read it all! And when I write my own, the point of the story is not romance. Torture, perhaps....but not romance.
Most stories that focus on romance have an 'artificial' quality to them - there is some contrived situation that sets it all in motion. So, for
Harry Potter, someone drinks a potion or is hit by a curse or needs to be nursed back to health or the Ministry passes a Marriage Law or something like that. Sometimes, the fact that people hate each other is glossed over, but most of the time, the author works at them seeing each other in a new light (not always convincingly, but there you have it).
And I also agree that if the story is "innocent," then any departure from that is (by definition) AU (Alternative Universe). It can't be considered canon-compatible.
Of course Hermione and Snape would never see each other as potential dates! But, if you remove the characters from their surroundings, it
is true that they are somewhat compatible (as intellectual equals, anyway). She always defends him to Harry and Ron, and she found Viktor Krum attractive. He's never expressed any liking for her (I mean, as a good student), but he seems to have liked Lily Evans, who is a cross between Hermione and Ginny. Of course, she's 16 when he's 35 (or so). So, not exactly realistic! (Even if that was the age difference between my grandparents...)
I would imagine most people are totally shocked by a lot of the HP pairings. I didn't mean to derail this thread with one, I just thought it might serve as a nice alternative to Hermione/Ron or Hermione/Harry - meaning, if you don't like the way the real story goes, make up your own! And yes, poor Hermione (as the leading female character) has been paired with everyone under the sun (usually humorously, but I'm sure you can find some serious attempts too
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
)
Basically, if Hermione's 'real' choices are between Harry and Ron, (we don't really know any of the rest of her classmates well enough), then Harry is the better choice. He's more mature and more stable (and wiser and more impressive) than poor ol' Ron. Ron really is the sidekick who is used to make Harry look good.
That is why it is so strange that she falls for Ron. On the other hand, Harry has a lot of weight on his shoulders and is old beyond his years. Given enough time, Ron will grow up (at a 'normal' pace) and be mature enough for her...but he'll almost certainly never be clever enough for her to respect him.
Although, the more I think of it, I can see Hermione falling for one of the twins - she
does respect the cleverness of Fred and George, and they do keep her on her toes with all their antics. (She disapproves, but Harry and Ron have gotten her used to rule-breaking by now!) Also, they are some of the few who will actually challenge her. Everyone else just ignored SPEW or wrote it off, but they challenged her premise by asking (up front) - have you actually
talked to the House Elves about this? (Ron's other brothers are too old, I think - but the twins are only 2 years older, which would be fine.) Of course, JKR will not do this
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
.
And yes, Snape has a target on his back now
![Help :help:](./images/smilies/help_3.gif)
. Poor guy...