A Defense of Ron and Hermione

Shipping is the politics of internet fandoms.

I don’t mean this shipping:

Or this shipping:

I mean the promotion of a relationship from a series.

For example, I would like Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender to end up with Sokka. So verily I ship Toph and Sokka aka Tokka.

I also ship Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Phineas Flynn and Isabella Garcia-Shapiro from Phineas and Ferb. And Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger from Harry Potter.

I don't like to get involved in big discussions about shipping much for the same reasons I don't like to get involved in big discussions about politics. Such discussions tend to make people focus on the wrong things.

However, out of all the fictional things I love, Ron and Hermione's relationship is one I particularly cherish. And so given the current turmoil over J. K. Rowling's statement that she regrets pairing them together, I decided that this time, I will throw in my two cents. Or Knuts, if you will.

People say, "Hermione is too good for Ron. Hermione deserves better."

People. How could you say that?!!!

There aren't any guys better than Ron Weasley. There are guys who are different than Ron, but not better.

I mean, look at the kid's qualities. He's funny. He's a loyal friend. He sticks up for others--Harry, Hermione, Neville. He's obviously brave--he puts his life on the line every June and sometimes more often. And no, Ron's not as academic as Hermione, but he certainly is smart. He's a chess prodigy, for crying out loud. Not to mention that he's tall and athletic.

I don't mean that Ron is flawless. My understanding is that out of the trio, Ron is the one most connected with his own emotions. Hermione filters her emotions through facts and logic. Harry constantly sacrifices his emotions to his noble spirit. Ron, however, does what he feels. That means he can be both incredibly selfish and incredibly selfless. He struggles with this pretty much every single book--but in the end, he always chooses to do the right thing. He always comes through for his friends.

This sums up Ron's character arch nicely:

"Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he gave me the Deluminator, didn’t he? He - well," Ron’s ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe, "he must’ve known I’d run out on you."

"No," Harry corrected him. "He must’ve known you’d always want to come back."

We also must remember that Hermione is super annoying.

Yes, Hermione is brilliant. She's talented. She's a good and loyal friend who means well. And the icing on the cake--she's pretty.

But she's still annoying. She tends to be critical and uptight. Ron knows that. He makes fun of it in Book One especially. But he likes her anyways. He decides that he loves her anyways.

Let me repeat: He knows who she is, her faults as well as her good qualities, and he loves her anyways. And she sees his faults as well as his good qualities, and loves him anyways. Wow. What could be better than that?

Some people desire to pair Harry and Hermione. I understand why. Everyone should end up with someone who really cares about them, and Hermione definitely cares about Harry and vice versa.

Yet we'll never know whether a Harry/Hermione relationship would work out, because it isn't in the books. The books go out of their way to show how platonic Harry and Hermione's friendship is, while Ron and Hermione's is full of chemistry and spark.

That's how the books are written. And the books are over. And Ron and Hermione are together, and no controversial interview quotes can change that.

In another universe, in another version of Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione could have ended up with other people. But that's not the version J. K. Rowling wrote.

She wrote a version in which Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger were developed in such a way that it's unthinkable for them to end up with anyone else.

I for one am very happy about it.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I am planning to write a relationship Ask Awkward Mormon Girl for Valentine's Day. So please, leave your love-related questions in the comments, and I will give you splendid advice in return.