On Harry and Ginny: I love H/G, but I hate the way it's written in the books, especially in HBP.
Under an LJ cut just because.
I can't remember now, but I think I began liking Harry and Ginny in HPSS, or whatever book it was that revealed Ginny's crush on Harry. It was great reading HPSS because Harry and Ginny spent quite some time together because Harry was in The Burrow that summer. Then, later that year, Harry saved Ginny from the Basilisk. I loved how that developed, because it showed that Harry and Ginny were becoming friends. It was a good start.
But the next thing I knew, there wasn't even a mention of Ginny in PoA! So when GoF came out and Harry was crushing on Cho, I felt like the connection between Harry and Ginny was severed, though we know that Ginny was still into Harry. It was pretty awkward after that, and then in the next books we learn that Ginny has become quite popular with the boys and has dated Michael Corner in OotP (?) and Dean Thomas in HBP.
It was rather difficult for me to process the Harry-Ginny situation in HBP, and though "Harry's beast" jumpstarted my hopes of having Harry and Ginny together, I still think it's pretty awkward the way their relationship was developed in the books. I mean, it's too abrupt--though JKR dropped hints about Harry and Ginny throughout HBP (Amortentia to Harry smelled like a familiar flowery scent, later revealed as Ginny's), Harry and Ginny's connection to each other lacked the continuity of Ron and Hermione's. Every HP book that has been released bear hints and evidence of Ron and Hermione's attraction to each other, but Harry and Ginny's (well, mostly just Harry's)attraction to each other seemed too conveniently crammed into a single book. I hate that, because the book is in Harry's point of view, and Harry unconsciously picked up vibes from Ron and Hermione, but he never noticed Ginny.
Now, people might say that that was the whole point: Harry saw Ginny in a new light when he and Ron saw Ginny and Dean kissing. Harry realized that he felt something for her. Yeah, that may be right, since I don't know what JKR's is actually thinking about, but the development of Harry and Ginny's relationship would make much more sense to me if there were parts in other books where Harry unconsciously picked up things about Ginny. Parts where he was actually looking at or thinking about Ginny, even in just a platonic way. Because what I don't get is, how would the creature in Harry's chest react to Ginny kissing another guy when he isn't even aware of Ginny? Though it hasn't been explicitly said, Ron and Hermione have feelings for each other--because they saw things in each other that they have come to love. But Harry seldom saw Ginny, let alone think about her, so how would his feelings for Ginny grow?
You see, I don't believe in love at first sight. And I don't think it was love at first sight for Harry, either. He's known Ginny for six years before he realized his feelings. There are a lot of moments in the books that are missing and there are a lot of things that aren't said, because the books are in Harry's point of view, but he couldn't have missed picked up things about Ginny.
Right now, I'd like to think Harry was just too caught up with his Voldemort issues to actually talk about Ginny, but he saw her, all right, and that's why I only started writing H/G fics after HBP.
{ If there are corrections and violent reactions, please feel free to comment on them. I need all the insights I can get, especially since I wrote this in the middle of a terrible toothache. Please and thank you! }
I can't remember now, but I think I began liking Harry and Ginny in HPSS, or whatever book it was that revealed Ginny's crush on Harry. It was great reading HPSS because Harry and Ginny spent quite some time together because Harry was in The Burrow that summer. Then, later that year, Harry saved Ginny from the Basilisk. I loved how that developed, because it showed that Harry and Ginny were becoming friends. It was a good start.
But the next thing I knew, there wasn't even a mention of Ginny in PoA! So when GoF came out and Harry was crushing on Cho, I felt like the connection between Harry and Ginny was severed, though we know that Ginny was still into Harry. It was pretty awkward after that, and then in the next books we learn that Ginny has become quite popular with the boys and has dated Michael Corner in OotP (?) and Dean Thomas in HBP.
It was rather difficult for me to process the Harry-Ginny situation in HBP, and though "Harry's beast" jumpstarted my hopes of having Harry and Ginny together, I still think it's pretty awkward the way their relationship was developed in the books. I mean, it's too abrupt--though JKR dropped hints about Harry and Ginny throughout HBP (Amortentia to Harry smelled like a familiar flowery scent, later revealed as Ginny's), Harry and Ginny's connection to each other lacked the continuity of Ron and Hermione's. Every HP book that has been released bear hints and evidence of Ron and Hermione's attraction to each other, but Harry and Ginny's (well, mostly just Harry's)attraction to each other seemed too conveniently crammed into a single book. I hate that, because the book is in Harry's point of view, and Harry unconsciously picked up vibes from Ron and Hermione, but he never noticed Ginny.
Now, people might say that that was the whole point: Harry saw Ginny in a new light when he and Ron saw Ginny and Dean kissing. Harry realized that he felt something for her. Yeah, that may be right, since I don't know what JKR's is actually thinking about, but the development of Harry and Ginny's relationship would make much more sense to me if there were parts in other books where Harry unconsciously picked up things about Ginny. Parts where he was actually looking at or thinking about Ginny, even in just a platonic way. Because what I don't get is, how would the creature in Harry's chest react to Ginny kissing another guy when he isn't even aware of Ginny? Though it hasn't been explicitly said, Ron and Hermione have feelings for each other--because they saw things in each other that they have come to love. But Harry seldom saw Ginny, let alone think about her, so how would his feelings for Ginny grow?
You see, I don't believe in love at first sight. And I don't think it was love at first sight for Harry, either. He's known Ginny for six years before he realized his feelings. There are a lot of moments in the books that are missing and there are a lot of things that aren't said, because the books are in Harry's point of view, but he couldn't have missed picked up things about Ginny.
Right now, I'd like to think Harry was just too caught up with his Voldemort issues to actually talk about Ginny, but he saw her, all right, and that's why I only started writing H/G fics after HBP.
{ If there are corrections and violent reactions, please feel free to comment on them. I need all the insights I can get, especially since I wrote this in the middle of a terrible toothache. Please and thank you! }