Did Ron and Hermione have a happy marriage?

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by meesha1971

Statistically speaking, it is common for men to look for women who remind them of their mothers and for women to look for men who remind them of their fathers. However, nobody is looking for a carbon copy of their parents. Hermione is very similar to Molly in terms of personality - and Ron does notice that and comment on it occasionally. It is likely that is part of his attraction to Hermione. However, Ron wasn't looking to marry Molly 2.0. Hermione's similarities to Molly in terms of personality might be part of his attraction, but he fell in love with Hermione for who she is. And he continued to love her in spite of the revelation that she's not a very good cook in DH.

To be fair to Hermione, in DH they had almost nothing in terms of food to work with sometimes. Ron at that point knew very little of cooking (magically or not), and naively believed that his mother could "produce food out of thin air" (DH, pages 292-293). Ron had apparently not paid attention in the class on the 5 exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Ron also was not thinking that his mother had years of practice before he came along, while none of the trio had any experience cooking food, only eating it. This doesn't mean that Hermione wasn't a good cook, only that with a fish (pike) and little else, you can't make a great meal out of that, and I don't think they had any seasonings either. I think that Hermione would make a very good cook with good food to work with, and some practice. I don't see that as being an issue in their marriage in any way.

As far as if they would have had a happy marriage, I think yes. They certainly seem so in the epilogue. I don't think Hermione was looking for an "intellectual match", but rather an honest person with a good heart. And except for the initial irritation at being shown up in Charms class in book 1, I don't think that Ron resented Hermione's intelligence, he admired it. We have him saying so several times on-page in the series.

[meesha1971]

Originally Posted by HedwigOwl

To be fair to Hermione, in DH they had almost nothing in terms of food to work with sometimes. Ron at that point knew very little of cooking (magically or not), and naively believed that his mother could "produce food out of thin air" (DH, pages 292-293). Ron had apparently not paid attention in the class on the 5 exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Ron also was not thinking that his mother had years of practice before he came along, while none of the trio had any experience cooking food, only eating it. This doesn't mean that Hermione wasn't a good cook, only that with a fish (pike) and little else, you can't make a great meal out of that, and I don't think they had any seasonings either. I think that Hermione would make a very good cook with good food to work with, and some practice. I don't see that as being an issue in their marriage in any way.

I was mostly joking with that comment - but I do think that it applies that Hermione's cooking abilities were not a determent in terms of Ron being in love with her because he was upset with the food situation there, but still loved Hermione. I think Hermione could potentially be a decent cook because she is very good at magic in general, but I don't think cooking would be an area of expertise for her. She doesn't seem to enjoy it very much and I think the best cooks are those who really enjoy it. I actually think Ron would probably be the better cook in the long run simply because he loves to eat so much.

Regardless, I don't see that ever being a major issue in their marriage. Again, I think that applies to the struggles they went through before they even became a couple. They've already had this argument and they still loved each other when it was all said and done. I tend to think Ron and Hermione would be more likely to divide up such chores between them since they both work outside the home.

As far as if they would have had a happy marriage, I think yes. They certainly seem so in the epilogue. I don't think Hermione was looking for an "intellectual match", but rather an honest person with a good heart. And except for the initial irritation at being shown up in Charms class in book 1, I don't think that Ron resented Hermione's intelligence, he admired it. We have him saying so several times on-page in the series.

That's a really good point. Ron had a lot of issues due to his insecurities, but he never resented Hermione for being intelligent or demonstrated any jealousy regarding her getting the best grades of their year. On the contrary, Ron admired Hermione for her intelligence and was proud of her achievements - sometimes more proud than Hermione was herself. He could tell that she was disappointed with her OWL results in HBP - nine ‘Outstandings’ and one ‘Exceeds Expectations’ - but he also knew that was because she held herself to such high standards and he was still very proud of her. And I think that helped her feel proud of herself and not beat herself up over getting an E in DADA because that actually was a good grade.

That was always the greatest strength of Ron and Hermione's relationship, IMO. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, but they balance each other out. Hermione helps Ron to be more focused and to apply himself more. Ron helps Hermione to be more balanced and to relax and have some fun instead of just working herself to death. With everything they went through together and dealt with before they even became a couple, I think they would have a very solid, happy marriage.

[Peakes]

Let's not forget that Hermione - the brightest witch of her age - for all her intellect, ended up in Gryffindor because she valued other virtues ahead of intelligence; bravery and friendship. She gets that with Ron. I think they do fine together.

[meesha1971]

Originally Posted by Peakes

Let's not forget that Hermione - the brightest witch of her age - for all her intellect, ended up in Gryffindor because she valued other virtues ahead of intelligence; bravery and friendship. She gets that with Ron. I think they do fine together.

Very true. Hermione told Harry in PS/SS that there were more important things than books and cleverness - like friendship and bravery. I think another example of that would be her choice to buy Crookshanks in POA. Her parents gave her money to buy herself a present and, initially, she planned to get an owl because she saw that as logical - it could carry her mail and such. But instead she falls in love with a bad tempered, ginger haired cat - who turned out to be a lot more intelligent than they initially gave him credit for.

[ShadowSonic]

A ginger who turns out to be smarter than he appears.

Sounds like something Hermione would be plenty happy with, given Crookshanks.

[JewelVee]

Its not always about being smart you know. Sometime being clever isnt al that it is made out to be. Clever people also need a time to relax and let loose and not be worrried about what people would say. That is what Ron is for Hermione.
He offers her a chance to not always be the smart one, but to be just like everyone else.
And Ron isnt stupid, if you really paid attention to the books and not just what Harry or Hermione did, you would see that Ron wasnt so dumb, he saved their lives a few times, he was brave and he came up with some of the ideas. He was loyal to his friends as well..
Ron really loves her and love is all that matters...

[eatus_Benevol1]

I think that Hermione, being an only child, relished marrying into an extended family. And on the flip side, Ron, being way down the totum pole in his family, probably relished the times he could get away to Hermione's parents and be the center of attention. That being said, I think they both smoothed the other's faults - Ron's laid back attitude helped curb Hermione's sometime's too passionate feelings. And Hermione's attention to detail helped Ron stay involved. The early attraction in the first few books between them I think included Hermione's appreciation that Ron was not predjudiced about pure bloods and accepted all kinds of people and beings. And I think Ron really admired Hermione's brains and it didn't intimidate him at all.