sudden crushes
Ok. For the past two days I've seen lots of "it was so sudden" comments about the H/G relationship in HBP. And I'm going to go on record here as saying...it happens.
I've known my husband since we were in the 4th grade (well, at least, that was when we met briefly at a summer enhancement program). We met again in the 7th grade when we went to junior high together. Frankly, for much of the 7th and 8th grades, he was a bit of a nuisance. (sorry honey, you know I love you) He had a crush on me, I didn't return his affections (I had a crush on one of his friends). 9th grade, we became friends, hung out some, talked on the phone some.
10th grade...something changed. I remember the night that he asked me out that for the first time I didn't say no. It was after a football game, and the strongest sense I have of that memory is the cologne he was wearing. Part of the reason I said yes that time was because he smelled so good...sometimes I still make him wear that scent--it also didn't hurt that I thought he looked cute in his drum corps uniform. We went out for 2 years, broke up, but remained friends, even though we lost touch for a few years. When he came back into my life (after he had married, had a child, and got a divorce), it was almost as if he'd never been gone. We fell right back into an easy friendship and the relationship just progressed from there.
Anyway, I think that's why some of the H/G stuff in the book rings so true to me, especially the bit about the love potion. Scent can be a powerful catalyst and a strong identifier, and sometimes just a simple change in the way someone dresses can be enough to make you sit up for the first time and take notice of them. Realizing that he liked the way Ginny smelled and then seeing her kissing Dean were both big wake-up calls for Harry. He knew of Ginny's relationship with Michael, but he never really got to see her interact with him in a boy/girl way. However, seeing Ginny and Dean kissing...live and in his face...put her in a new role for the first time..."desirable member of the opposite sex" instead of "best friend's little sis". It happens this way in real life, it can happen this way in books, too. I don't think Jo tried to trick anyone, and I don't think the H/G relationship came out of left field, either.
Anyway...me, rambling about my fave subject. :)