When did you realise what romantic pairings would be canon?

[GingerCat1]

Just like the title says i am curious to see when people felt sure that the romantic pairings of Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione and to a lesser extent Remus/Tonks would actually happen. At what point in the books did you go "Yes Ron and Hermione are going to end up together" (and for both the other pairings as well).

For me i'd have to go

Harry/Ginny - I suspected this one reasonably early to be honest but when Ginny seemed to have a personality change in the 5th book i was almost certain as JKR seemed to be lining Ginny up so she would end up with Harry.

Ron/Hermione - I suspected this one very early on as they bickered like a old married couple. I was certain they would get together after both of them got jealous in GoF (Ron when Hermione went to the Ball with Krum and Hermione when Fleur kissed Ron in the cheek).

So when did you know (or at least suspect) that Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione would be the canon pairings.

[cardinalguy]

I didn't actually read the series until HBP was out, and even then I read them straight through, not really paying attention to the whole relationship angle until it became a plot point.

This should be fun.

[Slartibartfast]

Well since i was a "Movie before the Books" person, i noticed the pairing of Hermione and Ron around the end of CoS when they had the awkward handshake. lol! It was cemented when i saw GoF. The books more or less reiterated that point so i didnt think otherwise.

Harry/Ginny. Err, well...Ginny seemed to have a big thing for Harry so in the back of my mind, i thought that they might get together later on. I actually really like that pairing.

As for Remus/Tonks, that was totally left field.

[winky45]

Well, really I didn't realize Harry will go out with Ginny until he felt bad seeing Dean and Ginny snogging.

I used to think Cho and Harry was a delightful pair. But I think JK Rowling was determined to make this puppy love stay puppy love, meaning, not really work out in the end.

As for Hermione, I knew Ron sort of like her but not quite admit it. They argued so much that I didn't even feel positive for them to work out.

Winky45

[heathurrr]

I always thought Ron and Hermione would end up together. I'm not even sure why...I just knew in the back of my head.
I wasnt sure about who would be with Harry. But I hate him and Ginny together. =x

[SirDobster]

Harry/Ginny: when Harry smells the potion in HBP and thinks it has Ginny's scent.

Ron/Hermione: From the beginning; seems like they're always together and always bickering; and they spend a lot of time together throughout the series, too much time for it to be just a friendship.

[Clockworthy]

As for Hermione, I knew Ron sort of like her but not quite admit it. They argued so much that I didn't even feel positive for them to work out.

This. Even with the epilogue, I still don't think it will...anyway, it took me all the way until Deathly Hallows when Ron left and Hermione cried. Most of the way through HBP when she was acting funny I was like 'What is your problem, girl? Do something productive!'

[SpiritThalia]

I think I first realized that Harry/Ginny would be canon when he kissed her in Half-Blood Prince (yes, I'm that slow).

Ron/Hermione was one of the ones I was expecting more, mostly due to the hints in Goblet of Fire.

And as for Remus/Tonks... well, I don't think anyone was predicting that until it actually happened. (:

[ignisia]

Harry/Ginny was in the back of my brain for quite a while, probably since the time GoF came out. I didn't give it much thought, though.

Ron/Hermione I discovered after talking to my friends about their impressions of GoF. A few of them pointed out how jealous Ron seemed after the ball, and I thought they had a point.

Remus/Tonks and Bill/Fleur came out of nowhere for me. So I only figured those out Tonks confronted Remus and when Ron pointed out how Bill was helping Fleur "eemprove 'er Eenglish."

[ccollinsmith]

Originally Posted by ignisia

Harry/Ginny was in the back of my brain for quite a while, probably since the time GoF came out. I didn't give it much thought, though.

Ron/Hermione I discovered after talking to my friends about their impressions of GoF. A few of them pointed out how jealous Ron seemed after the ball, and I thought they had a point.

Remus/Tonks and Bill/Fleur came out of nowhere for me. So I only figured those out Tonks confronted Remus and when Ron pointed out how Bill was helping Fleur "eemprove 'er Eenglish."

I figured out Ron/Hermione fairly early on. The fact that they were always getting on each other's nerves told me that they loved each other without knowing it... and would end up married someday (assuming they both survived the series). I definitely knew it by GoF, but I may have had it in the back of my mind as early as PS/SS.

I figured out Harry/Ginny somewhere in OotP.

Remus/Tonks and Bill/Fleur came out of the blue. But I never really gave those characters' love lives much thought. I think I really fell in love with Fleur at the end of HBP, though, when she shatters the "beautiful woman = superficial woman" stereotype and demonstrates that she loves Bill for himself.

[Yoana]

If I remember correctly, I figured out Ron/Hermione in book 1. Harry/Ginny however came as a complete (and unpleasant) surprise to me in HBP. I didn't really expect Remus/Nymphadora either. Thanks to discussions on CoS I heard of and started to apssionately believe the Severus/Lily connection (and my idea of it was almost 100% correct ). Oh but my favourite [sort of] canon pairing was Dumbeldore/Grindelwald and I sure did not expect that one!

[UselessCharmMaster]

Ron/Hermione was obvious from the first moment. Harry/Ginny - wel, I suspected it first, then decided it was too obvious and that JKR was above of such banality - and then, suddenly, hey, there was the monster in Harry's chest.

Lupin/Tonks - ahem... I still can't believe it.

[ignisia]

Ah, Snape/Lily. I think I became convinced of that sometime after HBP. Slughorn raved about Lily's Potions prowess in the same book Severus' skill in the same subject was emphasized. Plus a ton of other little clues including JKR's cryptic interview comment about how shocked she was that someone asked about Snape being in love.

Dumbledore/Grindelwald...That came as a total shock to me, but I liked it. It was nice to learn DD's backstory.

[ccollinsmith]

Originally Posted by Yoana

Thanks to discussions on CoS I heard of and started to apssionately believe the Severus/Lily connection (and my idea of it was almost 100% correct ).

Of course, it's not a final pairing, but I figured out Sev/Lily in PoA. But I didn't realize that they knew each other well from the time they were about 9 years old until DH canto, uh chapter, 33.

[UselessCharmMaster]

Ah, Sev/Lily... Well, I HOPED that would be not true. To me, all these pairings are the worst examples of stereotyped, cheap solutions.

Ron/Hermy - oh, because they are arguing since they first met, so OBVIOUS
Harry/Ginny - oh, because it's soo cool to marry your best friend's sister
Snape/Lily - oh, because it gives us such a simple explanation of Severus' actions

[Yoana]

I did think they knew each other before school, because of the "that horrible boy" comment Petunia let slip. I was convinced she meant Snape, because we knew she and James didn't become closer until year 6, and that episode obviously happened in Lily's home; and since she was being told about Dementors, rather than discuss them with the horrible boy, it had to be pre-Hogwarts. That, coupled with JKR's intriguing qualification of the question "Is Petunia a squib" as "a very good guess" and immediate confession that she was being shockingly indiscreet made me think that Lily and Petunia must have been raised by magicfolk sometime before Lily went to Hogwarts, after their parents died, and that's how Lily met Severus so early. Well, I got that last part wrong, but other than that, I was very proud of my deduction skills

[OldMotherCrow]

Small quibble: Sev/Lily was never a romantic pairing. They were friends, though, and Severus had this romantic thing for Lily--feelings that she didn't return.

I'm not much of a shipper. I suppose Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione were the most obvious to me, although I really thought it most likely that Harry and Ginny wouldn't start dating until after Voldemort's defeat, so their relationship in HBP surprised me.

I would also have been okay with Harry/Hermione (although they seemed to me to have something more like a sibling relationship, so it wasn't as likely to my mind), or Hermione/Neville, or Ginny/Neville (or Neville/Luna). Or Harry/Susan Bones, or Neville/Parvati, or Hermione/Dean-- as long as they're happy, I'm happy.

What I really wanted was years later for all of them to still get together as friends regardless of the romantic pairings-- which is something I did get from the epilogue that makes me happy.

ETA: Forgot to say: I never saw Tonks/Lupin coming. For me it was out of the blue.

[leah49]

Harry/Ginny - did not suspect this til HBP. I was too caught up in Harry/Cho (not that I shipped it just that Harry had a crush on her and did eventually date her) to see if anyone else was suitable for Harry.

Ron/Hermione - honestly I'm not really sure. I think I sort of believed it from the beginning, not that I saw it in the books, but just that I wanted it to happen. They were written for each other from the very beginning.

[mexicant]

Originally Posted by OldMotherCrow

I'm not much of a shipper.

This was me as well; I don't believe I really speculated on any ships because it wasn't why I was reading the books, and it didn't even take a backseat to most of my thoughts while reading. It was more like it didn't even make it in the car at all.

Even when we saw kisses or anything, the only one that seemed definitive to me were weddings and Hermione kissing Ron during the battle. Everything else...well, they were mostly teenagers, and first loves are often fickle. I wouldn't have been surprised by anything, really, as far as those relationships went.

So I suppose the most accurate response for me would be the epilogue.

[Clockworthy]

Harry/Ginny...that was beyond unpleasant. Maybe because I could never imagine Ginny as anything beyond that little first year who needed saving because we hardly see her character years 3-5, and Harry kept growing older.


To everyone saying that Ron/Hermione = Because they argued a lot;
I'm not disagreeing, but I do find that hard to equate to their romance. Maybe it's because I'm pretty darn naive when it comes to romance matters xD

I thought they would stop being friends permanently more than get together. But I suppose that her telling McGonagall about the broomstick in third year and Ron getting angry is like a 'protect my friend(s)' movement (Hr), and more of a 'I thought we were friends!' notion (R).

Though the latter thought above makes little sense...forgive me, I'm rambling.