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Posted by: cjole Aug 20 2007, 06:57 AM

I mean, seriously. I think one of the worst parts about the series was how cliched the marriages were. Harry and Ron were best friends, and Harry started going out, and eventually marrying, Ron's sister? And on top of that, Ron married Hermione, despite her being his second- best friend.

The Ron+Hermione ordeal seemed to be planned out, so it wasn't SO bad. But Harry showed absolutely no feelings for Ginny until randomly in the sixth book. But, feelings or no, I do not think I have ever heard a story of a person marrying his best friend's sister, or someone marrying a good friend. Hermione and Ron should have been "just really good friends," and Ginny should have definitely moved on. "Friends" and "girl/boyfriends" are completely different entities, and JK Rowling fails to grasp this.

Posted by: mankytoes Aug 20 2007, 07:03 AM

I agree that it was a bit wishy washy that they all ended up marrying their teenage partners. Ron and Hermione I can accept, but Harry and Ginny seemed a bit too neat.

Posted by: _pureblood_ Aug 20 2007, 07:04 AM

Ahh, but Harry did find it difficult to like Ginny. He was constantly worried about what Ron would think, he even had nightmares about it. And he was likewise worried about what would happen if Ron and Hermione got together and then split up.
The Ron/Hermione thing was coming on for ages. We all knew it was going to happen.

Of course 'friends' and 'girl/boyfriends' are completely different. One means you have babies, and the other one doesn't. I think JK can grasp this aspect. I think Ron/Hermione's relationship was really sweet, and served as comic relief sometimes. Oh, and you can be best friends and lovers, can't you?

But, speh. I hate Ginny. I would much prefer it if Harry found someone else, or ran off with Cho XD. I feel so alone in my hate of Ginny it's unfair, but I do. I wish she died instead of Fred. Grrr!

Posted by: cjole Aug 20 2007, 07:05 AM

Yeah, me too; I would have loved for Ginny to have died instead of Fred, or, anyone else who died in the seventh book for that matter.

Posted by: _pureblood_ Aug 20 2007, 07:11 AM

! We must unite in our hatred, for together we are strong!

I dunno, guys. I think finding your life's partner in school, at the age of 17 is a bit unbelievable, to be honest. How many people actually find their soul mate while still in school?

Posted by: fluffygreycat Aug 20 2007, 07:12 AM

I think that since the wizarding world is smaller, and people seem to get married earlier [read about Harry's parents' headstone and do the math] it is likely that a lot more wizards would marry school sweethearts than is the norm now for Muggles.

How many small-town people married their childhood sweetheart in the year 1900? That's the situation these people are in. Heck, something like 90% of all the wizards in the British Isles attend a single school.

As for the question of whether I personally would marry my best friend's sister, my best friends didn't have any sisters who were cute redheads, so I was never put to the test.

Posted by: Eleanora Snowmantle Aug 20 2007, 07:14 AM

You seriously would've preferred Ginny to die? I'm quite happy actually that he eventually went on to marry Ginny, because her character, and the way she's bold, and brave ( + a good seeker) she has many aspects thats real compatible with Harry that's what makes them go together so well. She really understands him and has been through a bit (The Diary)

And if you're best friends eventually going onto lovers, I've never heard of a more better way to start a relationship. This means you already have things in common, things to talk about etc. If you had enough interests to be friends, turning into something more wouldn't be hard to obtain and fade out because they already have at least a slight interest in eachother.

So Harry's best friend is now his brother-in-law, and his children's auntie is Hermione, etc. So I think it's like one big happy family. Something Harry deserves after everything, isn't it?

Posted by: Rachel_G Aug 20 2007, 07:26 AM

really if you think about it it's not that far fetched and it does happen quite often. I have known several PPL who married their HS sweetheart. My Dad was friends w/my uncle before he became intrested in my mom (his little sister). Think about it. you are buddies w/this person and they have a sibling. you know them, their family, you are comfortable around them, you hang out w/them. You know them for who they really are and not who they want others to think they are. You see them angry at their sibling (your friend) you see first hand how they interact in a family enviroment, how they care for their family and so on. over time it is not uncommon to eventually find that person atractive.

A bit unrelated but i worked w/my DH for a year and we were buddies at work, i had absolutley no romantic intrest in him at all but he was fun to be around. Eventually he asked me out and I figured he was fun to work with and figured he would be fun to hang with and that was how that went. Also by working with him I could see that he was dependable and caring and that we were compatable.

I like the way it paired up.

Posted by: Siriusly doubt it Aug 20 2007, 07:35 AM

Yeah, I think I have to agree. At the end of the day, Harry just wanted to be normal & have a real family. Ron (+ his whole family) & Hermione are the closest thing to family he's ever had in his life who didn't end up dying, too, once he met them. JKR is a romantic & she wrote so much strife in his life that I'm sure she did want his outcome to be "neat"; all tied up with a nice little predictable bow.

I thought Ginny was okay. I had a feeling they'd end up together early on & therefore, wasn't a bit surprised. Maybe he should have had more experience with girls but the books were already long enough! They ultimately serve to prove that fame doesn't equal easy life -- doesn't guarantee friends, romantic interest, happiness. Ginny seemed to be the only girl who really adored him & held out hope that they would be together one day. Otherwise, I thought she was pretty minor...consistent, but minor overall.

Ron & Hermione, well...no one knew them better than each other. Would it have been better if she had ended up with Krum?

Posted by: holic Aug 20 2007, 07:38 AM

It's likely to marry you best friend sister, but it's still corny to write it. I wouldn't go as far as wishing Ginny dead, tho. I wouldn't want her to get the pleasure of being grieved. Nope she should have gone off to marry...well, since Colin died, then maybe Dennis.
It was just so...I'm sorry, Ginny reminds me so much of another character in this other series of books I hate, who also is a real Mary Sue in a nutshell. Beautiful, smart, funny, lovable, you name it! Zero backsides!
But it is realistic. Ginny is a pretty girl. Boys like pretty girls. Harry isn't different. If he can have her, why should he go and marry somebody else like Luna who is a bit strange of Cho who cries a little to much?
I just hated the whole fact that Harry wasn't interested until Ginny started dating everybody around him and became all popular and outgoing, before that she was barely worthy of his attention!
Nope, if anyone is to blame it's Harry!

Posted by: _pureblood_ Aug 20 2007, 07:53 AM

>:3 Unite! We will unite!!!

I agree with holic that Harry wasn't interested, and all of a sudden he was obsessed. It was really weird... but maybe love works like that? And yes. Ginny is much to Mary-Sue IMHO. Sorry, people, but she is. I've hated her since Book 5 when she started to appear.

Posted by: tonksrock Aug 20 2007, 08:07 AM

yep i found it odd for both relationships... i settled into ron and hermione as inevitable...i could have dealt with harry and ginny except we never get to see the relationship really develop...at least not in DH and i dont think a little in HBP made it strong enough....saw it coming far enough out tho because harry and ginny look just like lily and james

Posted by: ByRichard Aug 20 2007, 10:16 AM

i guess it really depends on the relationship you have with your friends, sister, brother, etc etc.
i have had friends in the past who practically begged me to go out with his sister.
also the oppisite, i really wanted to go out with my friends sister, but he wasnt happy, so i didnt.

Ron Harry and Ginny are all good friends, also Harry sees Herminone like a sister. like i say, its all about the type of relationship they have. which is a good one.

Posted by: Shard Aug 20 2007, 10:24 AM

Well I married my best friends Sister so I guess I'm a cliche. I don't think it was random at all, I was on good friendly terms with my future wife until suddenly I realised I was in love with her. I felt like my romance mirrored Harry's and thus I love the H/G relationship. Also Jo did have this planned from begining with having Harry meet Ginny at the trainstation.

Posted by: JoRowlingRocks Aug 20 2007, 10:30 AM

I'd marry someone I fell in love with, regardless of whether they were my best friend, my best friend's sister [well, brother in my case] or anyone else.

To those saying that Harry didn't have feelings for Ginny until HBP- well, they have to start sometime, don't they? Haven't you ever had an obsessive crush where you realise you have feelings for someone and then suddenly you can't stop thinking about them? And bear in mind that Harry & Ginny's eldest child is 13, leaving a six year gap between Voldy going mouldy and James being born, so Harry had plenty of time to find out whether his feelings for Ginny were just a crush or true love.

Posted by: galadriel12 Aug 20 2007, 10:47 AM

Are we discussing the way JKR has developed the respective relationships or the characters or are we discussing whether it is believable to marry your best friend´s sister in the case of H/G, or your best friend in the case of R/Hr?

I´m sure it has happend frequently in the history of mankind that someone married their best friend´s sibling, we have got two examples of that already in the two pages of this thread. And it has happened frequently that two best friends marry each other. I don´t think there is anything weird or unbelievable about it.

And it all fit with how JKR has created her world and how she wanted to depict the final couples. She has established a society in which it isn´t unusual to marry young and to meet your future spouse at school. Lily/James and Molly/Arthur are examples of it. Plus, the wizarding society is quite small and due to the International Statute of Secrecy they live quite secluded and normally do not deal with Muggles. Although there are muggle-borns and some wizards or witches do marry muggles. But generally I would say it is not unusual in the world JKR has created that future spouses meet at school.

And I guess, JKR wanted to pair her main characters up with characters we know very good and we are emotionally attached to. Thus it was best to pair up two best friends and bring a little sister into the mix for the third best friend. OBHWF has been planned from the beginning, and while both couples have been developed onpage differently, I find both convincing and believable.

Posted by: Ketryne Aug 20 2007, 11:04 AM

Well i personally loved Ginny's character! Ive always wanted to be a bit more like Ginny, but unfortunately am far more like Hermione! (not that theres anything wrong with Hermione of course lol!) So, personally i couldnt imagine Harry with anyone else! As for her being his best friends sister, that isnt so strange! The sister of my boyfriend's best friend has a major crush on him, so if he was interested in her (which he isnt) and not dating me, it would be logical for him to go out with her, regardless of the fact that she is closely related to his best friend.

Harry might not have had feelings for Ginny before that, but its because ginny very much changed her behaviour towards Harry! Also, being a teenager isnt easy, but you tend to reach a stage of maturity at some point when you really come out of our shell and feel comfortable in showing your true self around others, particularly those of the opposite sex! This happens quite young for some and a lot older for others! Ginny simply reached hers in OotP!

When it comes to Ron and Hermione, the whole best friends first thing is very commonly done in literature, however i dont see this as a bad thing because it does happen in real life! most of my friends were good mates with there current girlfriends/boyfriends before they started to go out because it means you know that there are things in common! I'm not saying it always works, but theres no reason why it shouldnt!

Posted by: holic Aug 20 2007, 12:18 PM

Ron/Hermione was always there, pretty much from the start so that's allright with me.

But there's nothing about Harry/Ginny that isn't cliched. First she's the shy little sister and his number one fan, her feelings were there from the start but that just made Harry uncomfortable. She has red hair like his mother. He saved her life. Blablabla. Then suddenly she appears as she's all over him, and I didn't even notice. Then suddenly Harry started getting feelings. 'Why is there a dragon in my chest roaring whenever I see this beautiful girl I've for some reason never noticed before?'
And why does he want her now? Because now everybody else does too! And as if luck should have it, it turns out she still loves him after all this time, she had just decided to move on. How convenient!

I honestly hated the whole 19 years later thing. Fine, Jo can pair up whoever she wants, it's her book, but leave some room for the things we want to imagine for ourselves and answer the questions that really matter.

Posted by: blue4t Aug 20 2007, 12:20 PM

I do find Harry/Ginny believable. Of course, he didn't really start having feelings for her until HBP, but look at it. He was crushing on Cho. Once he broke up with her and Ginny came out of her shell, he started to realize who Ginny was. Many crushes start out of the blue. That's not uncommon. Harry's feelings for Ginny weren't so much a crush as they were true feelings, but it's the same deal.
Wizards and witches don't hang out with a wide variety of people. Muggle-borns may go to a regular school before they reach Hogwarts (or whatever their local school is) age, but I do think the others are home schooled. The wizarding world is not that populated and they spend 7 years at one school with the same kids...the only new kids being first years.
As for them marrying their teenage sweethearts, it's not like they only dated that one person. Harry went with Parvati Patil to the Yule Ball and dated Cho before getting together with Ginny. Ron took Padma Patil to the Yule Ball and dated Lavender before getting with Hermione. Hermione dated Krum and took Cormac McLaggen to the Slug Club Christmas Party before she got with Ron. Ginny went with Neville to the Yule Ball and dated Michael Corner and Dean Thomas before getting with Harry. So, even though they got together with their high school sweatheart, it's not like they only dated them. They just knew at a young age that they were with their true love. It does seem to be common in the wizarding world.
You know, before Harry's feelings developed Ginny had become a friend. She was hanging out with them at the Burrow. When he got to school, he had forgotten that Ginny didn't hang out with them there. He'd gotten used to her presence, so I don't think he was really thinking of her as Ron's sister, but more as a friend. But, he did realize that she was Ron's sister (and thus was glad Ron didn't know how to do legilimacy).

Posted by: Iheartprofessorsnape Aug 20 2007, 12:22 PM

Well...I feel like I'm in a bit of an interresting situation when it comes to this. I have seen my best friends brother off an on for the past couple of years. We usually go out a few times and then it gets a bit awkward and then we stop, won't see each other for a couple of months and then the feelings come back again when we do finally see each other again. Even though we have her blessing the hardest obstacle is our own feelings, not my friends.

So, I can feel for what Harry and Ginny have gone through to get where they are now. I actually find it more awkward that Hermione and Ron have gotten together, I'm happy don't get me wrong, but that must have been soooo strange for Harry seeing the two of them get together that when Harry and Ginny got together it wasn't as bad.

Posted by: George Weasley's Girlfriend Aug 20 2007, 12:33 PM

I'm sorry but it seems that you fail to grasp things. I married my best friend. We were friends for quite a while before we started dating and it's been the best realtionship I've ever been in. My friends husband's sister also married her brothers best friend and they are in a good relationship too. You have to be friends in order to have that realtionship because looks go away then all you have left is good conversation. If you don't enjoy your spouse as a friend you are in for a very boring marriage.

Posted by: hermiobbin Aug 20 2007, 12:37 PM

i have nothing wrong with harry and ginny, i mean i would have rather seen him with hermione, but she liked ron so that wouldn't work. Ginny is much better than cho though, i couln't stand cho , and was quite glad when she did very little in the last two books.

Posted by: Blibbering Humdinger Aug 20 2007, 12:57 PM

Its sort of like a Jane Austen novel...everyone seems to get married to their cousin I think it was good for Harry; he always felt like a part of the Weasly family and now he is one. As for Ron and Hermione--they've been through so much together, how could they possibly separate.

Posted by: camelfox Aug 20 2007, 04:49 PM

Totally Jane Austen - and that is like his parents too .... the idea of the dashing, arrogant man who finally is brought down to size and earns the love of the heroine, having proved he is worthy of her love (after her initially really disliking him) - Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy - read Lily and James or Hermione and Ron...

As for Ginny and Harry - if from the get go you could not spot the obvious clues - how much Harry looks like his Dad and how in so many ways Ginny is talked of in a simialr way to his mum, not forgeting that red hair and that she is a babe... it is to my mind JKR writing the happy ending that Lily and James never had with Harry and Ginny - lets not forget Ginny fell for Harry on platfom 9 and 3/4 in the very first book - and slowly but surely Harry realised that he loved her in a way he didn't love Hermione and I think that starts happening in book 4 and there is certainly stuff going on in book 5 - and I like that, if fits with the coming full circle idea that I think is in that ending - and is I guess a form of closure on the whole story.

Posted by: ami louthwaite Aug 20 2007, 05:02 PM

Personally, I would find having to admit attraction to my friend's sister akward (which is true, and I deny). Unless it was a very sure thing, like in Harry and Ginny, you just knew. Actually, even Harry knew, so who didn't know? Well, maybe Ron. The one bad thing that could come out of it is if you break up, and then what? You're hanging out with your friend, his sister/your ex walks in. *awkward turtle*

Posted by: wonky Aug 20 2007, 05:05 PM

Well, if any of my best friends had available brothers, I might marry them, but probably not. Then, breakups can lead to the loss of two relationships. While it's entirely possible, JKR's pairings made for very corny, unoriginal writing. Why not make more unexpected couples? The idea of marrying an old school friend and getting a job right out of high school seems more in line with the way things were in the '70's, not the way they are now. The H/G pairing was the hardest to swallow because Ginny received poor character development. She's very shy, then suddenly becomes this outspoken babette. Ok, big deal. Why not show some in-between stages of her growing personality? Even worse, Harry only seemed to love her for her looks. Their relationship was entirely driven by lust, with hardly an inkling of friendship. After all, Ginny rarely got to participate in the trio's adventures. Her interaction and dialogue with Harry are really very minimal. I really wish he'd been paired with someone else or stayed single.

Posted by: Chocolatl Aug 20 2007, 07:08 PM

Yes, yes, yes, yes. yes! I've been married for 27 years--more than half my life. I, too, married my best friend. I'm not saying that the physical side of things ever goes away--it hasn't in our case--but it's not enough. Our best times are spent laughing and discussing things together. Even when we disagree, we can usually have a fascinating talk about our differences.

I can't imagine being married to someone I didn't like. Not just love--like, as a person and a friend.

Posted by: freebird Aug 20 2007, 07:17 PM

I was never a big patron of the Harry/Ginny relationship. Harry liking Ginny was very out of the blue in HBP, and I never liked Ginny that much. It is very strange to marry your best friend's sister, but hey, whatever works for Harry.

Posted by: pittsburghmuggle Aug 20 2007, 07:55 PM

I see where you're coming from, but from a cohesive-storywriting standpoint you have to play within bounds.

On one side of the forums you have people saying that ending up with your teenage sweetheart is unrealistic, on the other side of the forum you have people speculating who the devil Draco's wife was in the epilogue. There's both sides right there.

It's more realistic for some people to marry people who weren't their teenage sweethearts, this is true. But this is a story and if Rowling pulled out "Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione each drifted apart over the next few years, met people I haven't brought up in the story and married them" it wouldn't fit into a complete story, and wouldn't bring about any decent closure.

Posted by: adris Aug 20 2007, 08:39 PM

yeah!!! i loved it all!! haha..i really loved harry and ginny relationship bc ginny is sort of the girl that really gets harry!! that somehow understands him! she has always been mature enough to get to harry's point of maturity! bc of all that happened to harry..he needed someone who was as brave as he is..who really fought for what she wants..who has an internal strenght to equal harry's...and that is ginny!! not hermione..ginny..
also..whydoes it matter the fact that she is ron's sister??? i dont see the BIG problem about that!

the whole ron and hermione thing was always there for me! and i loved and love it!
someone said..i really dont remember who..sorry..that the fact that ron and hermione got together doesnt show what a true friendship bw a man and a woman is really like! and i thought to myself..well what about harry and hermione??? i mean..what they feels for eachother.-.that bortherhood! that feeling of loving someone as a sister/brother is really something true! i have male friends that are brothers to me! and it it GREAT!
and ron and hermione never were THAT best friends! THEY WERE dont misunderstand me! but there was alwayas akwardness bw them! how they never hugged eachother! how they were embarrassed to hug eachother! that is a typical sign of love when you are 12 or 13..
so..what im trying to say that the whole male and female friendship is more harry hermione..that hermione ron !

Posted by: kenzwillluvharryalways Aug 20 2007, 08:47 PM

I get so mad when people say harry and herimone shouldve got together!I know its there opioun they have a right the only way i can picture them together is in the first 2 books besides that i never even thought of them gettin together.BUt anyway i think it perfectly fine if you go out with someone thats your friend and now more.I mean im only 15 but i know some of my friends have gotton together with there friend and yes some of them did break up but some of them are still together

Posted by: Danny266 Aug 20 2007, 09:31 PM

See, what you don't realize is that when Harry started liking Ginny, it was born out of one of the most potent human urges, jealousy. Plus, Ginny's cute, smart, and isn't overly emotional, just turn her from a redhead to a olive skinned, dark haired beauty, and she'd be perfect .

Posted by: Chocolatl Aug 20 2007, 09:39 PM

But that doesn't make sense. How could there be any jealousy unless he already liked her? It's not as if he thought so much of Michael Corner or Dean Thomas that he had to have whatever they wanted.

Posted by: Danny266 Aug 20 2007, 09:45 PM

You don't have to think much of someone to want what they have, you just have to see them enjoying it.

I mean, Ron is obviously jealous of Malfoy in many ways, but he doesn't hold Malfoy in high esteem.

Posted by: harrydavid Aug 20 2007, 11:05 PM

Actually, last month my son married his sister's best friend. If that wasn't enough, my son-in-law's sister had married his best friend. So both my daughter and her husband have siblings that are married to their best friend. So no, I don't find that unusual at all.

Posted by: bibs the S.P.E.W supporter Aug 21 2007, 09:24 AM

my grand parents were best friends for 10 years before marying and celebrated thier 63rd aniversarie recently - who said you cant marry your best friend?

Posted by: Amontillada Aug 21 2007, 09:35 AM

And vice versa--Ginny had time and a successful career in Quidditch, with (I daresay) chances to meet many other men, before they began their family. It isn't as if they married at the ages of 18 and 17. In the period of Voldemort's first rise to power, when Harry and many of his schoolmates were born, it seems that many witches and wizards did marry and begin families when they were quite young; this was likely because they were afraid that there might not be future opportunities for romance.

Posted by: mollysclock Aug 21 2007, 09:28 PM

If my best friend and brother announced that they were in love I would feel so awkward. Everything would change between us. Poor Ron! Not to mention that Harry was basically adopted by the Weasleys and spent the best part of the later summers with them. He's practically her older brother by the time he notices her. It's borderline incestuous in my opinion. Ron and Hermione, however, makes perfect sense. I agree with some of the other posters that to marry your best friend is ideal. It makes the best life partners because after the honeymoon and lusty stuff is diminished and you're left chugging along with the day-to-day grind, you need someone you can just hang out with. That's why Ron and Hermione are a much easier to stomach than Harry and Ginny. They are based on physical attraction and Harry's longing for someone like his mother(oedipus complex anyone?).

Posted by: mick Aug 22 2007, 01:49 AM

i think it makes perfect sense that ron and hermione get together. their relationship was handled very well throughout the seven books. i'm also ok with harry getting together with his best friend's sister...i mean, jk did tackle all the "complications" that could have come up, in book five. ron and hermione make more sense, but honestly, i can't imagine harry getting together with anyone else.

Posted by: milliannbug Aug 22 2007, 04:14 AM

IMO it doesnt matter if ure its ure best frinds sister/brother, as long as you love them and genuinly care for them, its fine. the sibling should be happy that they genuinly care for each other...well thats what i think anyway

Posted by: Xanthus Aug 22 2007, 06:11 AM

I don't see the problem of Harry marrying Ginny...He knows her pretty well, and she's become his friend over the years. Since his 4th year, she's become a normal person, not just the chortling little girl af the 3 firsts books. She is a person of good sense, pretty smart, not the I-know-everything Hermione kind of girl, and having 6 brothers, she's pretty tough, which is exactly the person Harry needs.
When you hang out a lot in someone's house, it's pretty normal that you become familiar with the people who live in, so it's not a shocking thing to date your best friend sibling.

Concerning the dating the best friend thing, that two is not too shocking. I mean, before being your best friend, the person is your friend, someone you've been attracted to, who you've lots in common with...If this person become your best friend, it means there is a lot of confidance, easiness...So the feeling can evolve into love...

Posted by: HIKARUICHJOE (ARG) Aug 22 2007, 08:36 AM

i date wit my best friend sister, and i still love her, for this things of life, we broke up, but she still have feelings from me and i have feelings for her. we separate for the distance. she lives 400 kms far from me.
we met when she has 13 and i has 19. after a many years of friendship, finally, when she has 21, we start to date. is one of the best things that happened in my life. we conect by a way i never conected with a girlfriend. was fantastic. one day, i came back to my city and everithing finished.... at least for now....
the brother, my best friend, he was agree wit the relation since the first moment, he know me, and he know the love i still feel for her sister...
Rocio is her name, everithing end, but the feelings remain forever...

Posted by: Ioli Aug 22 2007, 11:44 AM

On the other hand, most of the couples I know of, were previously best friends, and I have many girlfriends who have fallen in love or actually formed a relationship with one of her best friend's brother.... Believe me is not unheard of, actually it is quite common and quite natural in my opinion.. Just think about how much time Harry Ron and Hermione spent together, they hardly had any other friends to get around with, what with all the difficult tasks they had to face, and especially Harry, as the hero, what he was actually looking for in the love department wasn't another woman ala Romilda Vane type, wanting him for being a hero, but a woman who wanted him for what he was... And who is better than Ginny, who knew him so well, who was his equal, who knew how to stand up and protect herself... Ginny is his equal...

You should also have noticed that in most cases, famous people (eg footballers) usually marry their childhood schoolhearts - It's because he knows that his woman is with him because she trully loves him, she has journeyed with him throughout his career trip to fame, and never left his side.. They feel same knowing that they are not with a woman who wants them for their money, fame and luxuries... Their women know their truth identity, and not the idol people worship and young girls idolize...


]

Posted by: Mellynnf Aug 22 2007, 01:58 PM

I actually know two married couples that met because of their brother or sister were friends with the spouse. So it really isn't that unusual. Plus Ginny is one of the few females that Harry knows who treats him like a human being and not the choosen one. The only female characters I can think of that treat him like that are Hermione who is in love with Ron, Mrs. Weasley and she is to old for him and already married, Luna and well Harry is not physically attracted to her, Cho who was still stuck up on Cedric's death and Ginny. Harry probably wouldn't want a girl who wants to marry someone famous, he wants a girl who will get to know him.

Posted by: jacobmarley Aug 23 2007, 07:19 AM

All I can say is, to those who can't envision marrying a best friend (or some semblence thereof), you need to live a little longer. When you get married, your spouse should be your best friend. In time, you are not quite so attractive as you were when you were 24, and if you do not have an emotional bond stronger than the physical lust you had as a youngster, you are in for a very painful "last leg of the journey". If she or he is not your best friend, what do you have in common when you are beyond the hormonal phase of your relationship? Marrying your best friend is the best thing that could ever happen to you. Contrary to popular belief, marriage is not a never-ending MTV video. It is lust, but also love, intellectual communion and a strong committment to get beyond all of the mundane things you need to do in life.

When your first child has its first explosive bowel movement all over you, and spits up on your chest at the same time, and you can look in your lover's eyes and laugh 'til the tears come because this is the best thing that has ever happened to you, you know you have found true love. That's what you are in store for, and if you can't see it as a good thing, then you need to wait awhile for that lifelong committment. Marrying someone who is your best friend will get you through the rest of your life. Anything else, and you are asking for a life of pain.

Posted by: maleficent Aug 23 2007, 09:13 AM

I agree with you. I also think she is to Mary-Sue.


And it doesn’t help the actors playing Lily and Ginny in the movies look like each other. In the future I see many term papers being written about this.

Posted by: Tien Aug 23 2007, 11:33 AM

I knew Harry/Ginny was inevitable... but that doesn't mean I ever liked it.

Ginny just sort of comes out of nowhere and, bam, Harry's attracted and wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

I suppose the real problem I have with it is that Ginny is nowhere near as developed as a character as she should have been.

Posted by: milliannbug Aug 23 2007, 12:58 PM

HA

i didnt even think of that. that is quite disturbing....

Posted by: bambahw Aug 24 2007, 04:13 PM

The best relationships that work are the ones based on friendship. Thats why Ron & Hermione worked, they knew each other so well - and it wasn't like it was unexpected, they always felt that way about each other thats why it was so fraught with arguments all the time.

And Harry & ginny also became friends when she relaxed, so its not unexpected that he would fall in love with her. When he got to really know her in the last three books, then he began to have feelings for her. It makes perfect sense.

Posted by: Maime the Hunter Aug 24 2007, 04:29 PM

As my Dad married his best friend's sister: my mom, I'm not certain what to make of this question.

Why is this choice objectional?

I can understand if it turns out those are Harry's grandparents on the Black Family tree--Harry and Ginny are second or third cousins if this is the case, and some people--not all object to relatives marrying, but Harry is certainly not the first character in fiction or real life to marry a best friend's sister. It could be worst: it could be his best friend's daughter like some of the Harlequins I used to sneak from my mum room.

Posted by: Shard Aug 24 2007, 04:41 PM

Well Harry didn't seem bothered by the thought that maybe Sirius and Tonks were an item and they certainly were 2nd Cousins.

Posted by: beatlette Aug 24 2007, 06:32 PM

Hmm since I'm a R/Hr and H/G shipper I disagree.

I think best friends can fall in love and marry each other, there's nothing wrong with that.

As for marrying your best friend's sibling, I think the awkwardness would mainly happened when they first start dating. I think that Harry and Ginny were dating for at least a couple years before marrying (I hope anyway...maybe it's just me, but I couldn't get married at 18 or 19) and Ron had to get used to it. And I think Ron wouldn't want Ginny to marry anyone else. Ron and Harry would really be brothers.

(Sorry if this doesn't make that much sense, I tried....heh. I'm just really tired).

Posted by: mollysclock Aug 25 2007, 06:24 PM

I have to wonder... is it written anywhere in the books that Harry's mother had long red hair, or was it just cast that way? I don't recall it being written about her hair, just her eyes. It seems to me that Harry is attracted to a woman who looks like his mother - and that's a little gross.

Posted by: beatlette Aug 25 2007, 06:50 PM

OotP chp 28 page 647 (US edition):

"She had thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders [...]"

Posted by: lupinwandcaster Aug 25 2007, 08:28 PM

i wouldn't

Posted by: DragonRunner Aug 26 2007, 11:15 AM

AFAIK, having taken absolutely zero classes in psychology, that's fairly natural. I don't know if it's true in Harry's case, seeing as he can't remember his mother, and he'd probably have fallen for ginny if she didn't have red hair, but the idea isn't as far-fetched as many would think. Someone with actual qualifications in this field can elaborate.

Posted by: fan4fred Aug 26 2007, 04:15 PM

I dont think it is weird that harry fell for someone like his mother...His mother saved his life by dieing. You can't beat that...plus if Ron hadn't given Harry the okay i think harry probably wouldn't have dated Ginny. Harry cares what Ron thinks and he doesn't want to make Ron angry at him. This is also kind of revisited when Ron destroys the locket and Harry realised that Ron thought that Hermoine and Harry might have something going on so ron was afraid to act on it. Harry told ron hermoine was like a sister thus Harry again seems to make it so that Ron wont have anything against him.

This is at least what I like to think.

Posted by: grimwauld place Aug 27 2007, 09:38 AM

I used to fancy my best friends brother for 2 years and we were on and off for that long but my friend didn't really like it and said she was afraid we would lose our friendship anyway he behaved like a complete jerk and I couldn't talk to my mate about it which was hard thankfully we stayed friends but I don't think we could've done if I had been in a serious relationship with her brother it would've been too awkward!

Posted by: HermioneGurlie8 Aug 28 2007, 05:55 PM

I don't think it's that weird that Harry and Ginny or Ron and Hermione ended up together. Personally, I liked that that happened. If my best friend had a brother that I loved, I would probably marry him, but since none of my best friends do, that is out of the question. Plus, I don't plan on getting married in the next few years. As to Ron and Hermione being best friends, isn't it a good idea to be married to someone who you have been friends with for a long time? I think it's sweet. My parents have been married for about 20 years and to this day, my mom says that my dad is her best friend and was since before they started dating. That's why I see Ron and Hermione getting together as normal. Who better could you love than one of your best friends who knows everything about you?

Posted by: secretlyaddicted_2_HP Aug 28 2007, 06:35 PM

i think its normal, i've been around some of my brother's friends so much and almost dated some of them. if i had married one of them, its like them marrying their best friend's sister, and i dont think my family would have minded

Posted by: LadyFantasyIt Aug 29 2007, 08:47 AM

I'd marry one of my brother's friend, or my best friend, if I knew he was the love of my life.