If you’ve got the feelings for a friend of yours and are too nervous to do anything about it, then don’t lose hope just yet. You should hope a dark wizard bent on enslaving both wizards and muggles influences society in a way that you end up becoming close friends with your crush, and then proceed to spend seven years in their company culminating in a Battle at Hogwarts.
If you can’t get all that done then you can at least relate to how it feels to be stuck in the friend zone. The Harry Potter series prided itself upon featuring love interests who were indefinitely trapped here. The greatest one would be Ron and Hermione’s relationship. They were both attracted to one another for a number of years before finally admitting their feelings to one another.
It wasn’t all a smooth road to where they eventually found themselves; both of them did a lot that could have permanently sabotaged any chances of a romance blossoming. To their credit, the two were only teenagers (and pre-teens) during the events of the novels, and it’s not easy realizing how you feel during this stage of life.
A lot of ridiculous things happened between these two which would take you by surprise at how they could have ended up as husband and wife. But the greatest love stories always have definite conflict, no matter how stupid they seem to be.
So, if you want pointers on how to get that girl you’re after then read on. Just don’t follow Severus Snape’s pathway because that guy was master of the friend zone.
24 Rowling Wanted Harry-Hermione
J.K. Rowling feels remorseful about a lot of her decisions with the Harry Potter novels. Over the years, she’s taken to revealing her regrets and explaining the direction she had wanted to take. Chief among these regrettable decisions of hers was pairing Ron and Hermione.
She claims to have given into the fans’ pleas.
Rowling had kept a lot of implications for Harry and Hermione to be together up until the fifth novel. Her original plan would have seen these two end up together, but fans were more interested in Hermione’s potential relationship with Ron and so the Harry-Hermione romance was scrapped.
23 Ron Was A Jerk In Prisoner Of Azkaban
Growing up involves a lot of emotional changes; some are good and a lot are bad. In Ron’s case, it had to do with being a big whiner in his teenage years. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ron was a Grade-A jerk to Hermione, claiming her cat Crookshanks ate Scabbers.
Although there were a lot of hints this was the case, Ron still had no proof and still chose to be antagonistic to Hermione. Their friendship was pretty much done and dusted had the matter of Buckbeak’s survival not come into play.
Imagine breaking off a friendship over a rat!
22 No Appreciation
A lot of Ron’s inferiority complex manifested into him blaming others for something that wasn’t there. He would also ignore clear indications of his problems by blaming others for not taking him seriously.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hermione implored upon Ron that he was good enough to be a Keeper for the Quidditch team in his own right, only for Ron to ignore her encouragements and drink the Felix Felicis in his goblet (Harry hoodwinked him to believe that).
Later on, upon finding out there was no good luck potion in his system, he decided to admonish Hermione for not believing he could perform on his own merit despite her original argument being the very same point.
21 Hermione Broke Rules For Him
For Ron to have gotten to blaming Hermione for her lack of faith in him, he had to earn his place on the Gryffindor team. Little did the prat know that the only reason he had the spot was because of Hermione.
Hermione broke her principles.
She was staunchly against cheating of any kind and would always lecture Ron and Harry over the slightest indication they would reveal for something of the sort. But for Ron’s Quidditch tryouts, Hermione used the Cunfundus curse on Ron’s rival Cormac.
This act not only is against school rules but also sounds like it’s against the law!
20 They Went To Couples Counselling
Mental problems don’t fix themselves; they also don’t get resolved due to a significant event. It’s an undergoing process that involves a lot of time and effort. Ron’s inferiority issues fall under this category and using this as an argument, J.K. Rowling stated that Ron and Hermione’s marriage wasn’t very smooth.
Rowling said she envisioned the couple to have taken a lot of therapy to keep their marriage afloat because of communication difficulties from both individuals. So for all those fans who rejoiced at the knowledge that these two married, remember that it’s not exactly the happily ever after you were hoping they would get.
19 Ron Forgets Strategy For Her
Ron is a pretty expert tactician when the time calls for it. Unfortunately, the time hardly ever called for it after Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. In that novel, Ron was the reason why Harry and Hermione proceeded further toward Voldemort due to his expert tactics in chess.
He threw strategy out of the window in times of distress.
As seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ron was beside himself with fear for losing Hermione at Malfoy Manor. All he did was shake the bars of the prison he was trapped in along with Harry. Hermione in peril isn’t something that can bring out the most effective version of Ron.
18 Ron’s Jealousy Of Krum
The first time Ron ever realized he had feelings for Hermione was in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. When before he had idolized Krum to the point that Ron’s brothers teased him for being in love with Krum, later he began to despise the legendary Seeker.
Due to Hermione and Krum’s romance, Ron went crazy with jealousy. It was his confusion at feeling envy over Hermione’s newfound relationship that brought out the worst in him and he proceeded to ruin the poor girl’s night at the Yule ball. Hermione was surprisingly forgiving of Ron’s attitude and let it slide. But we’re not quick to forget how insufferable he was being.
17 Hermione Was Happy At Ron's Breakup
Hermione could be pretty devious herself when there was something she wanted but didn’t have. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione was incensed of Ron’s attraction toward Fleur Delacour and never backed down at throwing insults toward the gorgeous Veela.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, while Hermione didn’t outright plan Ron's breakup with Lavender Brown, she was clearly glad to have played a part in it. Harry caught Hermione’s face breaking into a smirk when the topic came to Ron’s breakup. Lavender ended things after she assumed Ron and Hermione had been carrying on a secret affair, and Hermione did nothing to dissuade Lavender’s incorrect assumptions.
16 Hermione's Plans
By Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hermione couldn’t wait around for Ron to initiate an advancement in their relationship. She began seeking out ways to indicate to him of her interest but Ron was too much of an idiot to notice.
She made her move outright.
Inviting him to Slughorn’s Christmas party was the perfect way to get his attention and make it clear she intended to date him. Somehow, Ron was still too much of a dope to figure things out and ruined any chance of a relationship starting by starting a nonsensical feud with her. Had things gone as Hermione had planned, they could’ve started dating in Book six itself.
15 The Awkward Almost Hug
There’s always some level of tension between two people who are attracted to one another. Before this becomes apparent, the couple can view physical interactions as something unsure and awkward.
Enter Ron and Hermione with a clear case of this in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In the film version, Hermione and Harry had a lovely reunion where they jump into each other’s arms for a display of pure friendship. For some reason, Ron and Hermione couldn’t do the same and settled for an awkward handshake. It doesn’t make sense why it would’ve been awkward at the time seeing that they were only 13-years-old, but it was the first hint of attraction we got from them.
14 Ron Misinterpreted Hermione
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban continued the subtle hints about a future attraction between Ron and Hermione. The first instance was when Hermione grabbed Ron’s hand as a reflex during the Hippogriff scene and both then moved away awkwardly.
The second instance was at the Shrieking shack where Hermione asked him, “Do you want to move closer?” to Ron’s insane bewilderment. Of course, she meant closer to the shack rather than to each other but Ron-being the moron he is-instead wondered if Hermione had some other motives.
It’s still pretty ridiculous of Ron never to have picked up on any of the clear signs Hermione was interested in him.
13 The Awful Interaction
For Ron and Hermione, the kiss scene was the culmination of all they had ever wanted, but for Rupert Grint and Emma Watson it was a thing of dread. By the time Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was being filmed, the two were as close as siblings.
You can imagine how unappealing it would seem now.
The idea would be embarrassing: Rupert and Emma had a terrible time getting the scene done with. Bloopers of filming shows how many times they broke character and looked highly hesitant on going through with it. But hey, if we were being paid millions like them none of us would have given it a second thought, wouldn’t you agree?
12 Hermione Initiated It
Getting back to the fictional point of view of the scene, Hermione would finally make her big move because of one specific reason: House Elves. That’s right, the reason why our favorite couple got together was because of those freaky looking creatures who loved being owned.
Hermione had unsuccessfully launched S.P.E.W. in an attempt to bring sympathy and awareness toward house elves, and this seemed to have rubbed off on Ron as he suggested they save the house elves during the Battle of Hogwarts. This wasn’t exactly the declaration of love most of us were looking forward to.
11 Ron Felt She Chose Harry Over Him
As if all the clues Hermione was clearly into him weren’t enough, Ron’s abandonment of his friends in Deathly Hallows was purely a case of jealousy. The locket around his neck containing Voldemort’s soul showed him his feelings of inferiority – the most striking of which was Hermione choosing Harry over him.
When Hermione refused to abandon Harry after his big blowout with Ron, the latter assumed she chose Harry over him. Ron was a loyal friend in the end but this act of his showed how little trust he had in himself and Hermione for him to believe she and Harry could be involved at all.
10 Ron Didn’t Like Her At First
Back when they were kids, both Ron and Hermione had obvious character flaws. Ron was an immature runt who took offense very quickly along with his lack of tact. Hermione, though always smart, was extremely insufferable to the point she came across as arrogant.
It wasn’t a good match.
At least when they were 11-years-old, they needed a buffer like Harry for them to co-exist before a friendship could be formed. Ron was hurtful in his comments by calling her a “nightmare” after their Charms lesson, although he had said that without knowing Hermione was around. Regardless, fighting a mountain troll is the best way to make friends of people.
9 Ron Was A Jerk In Half-Blood Prince
More so than his behavior in the third novel, Ron was horrible to Hermione in the sixth book. Anybody who agrees with Ron’s reasoning has to be as immature as he was. According to Ron’s logic, it was okay to mistreat Hermione for her sharing a parting kiss with Viktor Krum two years previously.
Not only was it none of his business, but he had no right to hold her in contempt as if she had been unfaithful to him. He then began dating Lavender only to rub it in Hermione’s face that a woman could be interested in him. The guy never even apologized for his behavior.
8 Harry Chose Ron Over Hermione
Even Harry could be unreasonable like Ron. They were very similar to one another with only Harry’s upbringing differing them than anything else. It was obvious Harry preferred Ron to Hermione as the books show him favoring being around Ron more.
Harry ditched Hermione when Ron was angry with her.
In Prisoner of Azkaban, after the Scabbers and Crookshanks argument, Harry stopped hanging around Hermione and accompanied Ron everywhere. This was a very low thing to do seeing as Hermione needed a friend at the time and ditching a friend over someone else’s rat shows just how little they value them. At least in Half-Blood Prince, Harry evened it out with both Ron and Hermione when they were in conflict once more.
7 Ron Defended Her Honor And Got Slugs For It
A lot of the things on this list will make you question what Hermione saw in Ron at all seeing as he seems to have been a jerk to her quite a lot. But maybe she focused on the good parts of his personality rather than the immature ones. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the first hint of many to come of Ron’s feelings for Hermione was clear.
It took a slug spell backfiring for her to see how much Ron cared for her. At the time, it wasn’t a pretty sight to see-with Ron belching out one slug after another-but it did pay off in the future.
6 Ron Keeps Stepping On Her Foot
Someone ought to either work on Ron’s sense of direction or provide Hermione with extra sturdy footwear. In all of the first three films of the series, it appears as if Ron can’t walk without stepping on Hermione’s toes.
This gets even more bizarre in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when Ron apparently stepped on Hermione’s foot while remaining completely stationary. He was taking a peek out the window in the dark when Hermione accused him of stepping on her foot. There’s no way that could have happened given the way they were positioned but maybe Hermione secretly wants Ron to do that; about the only interaction they had till the seventh book.
5 Hermione Wanted Ron To Invite Her To The Yule Ball
We now return to another edition of ‘Jerk Moments involving Ron Weasley’. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the turning point in Ron and Hermione’s relationship as the two separately realized their attraction to one another. Before the Yule Ball, Hermione had been secretly wishing Ron would ask her to the event and was mortified when he admitted he wanted someone extra-gorgeous over personality.
They were both foolish here as Ron couldn’t pick up on obvious signs and if Hermione wanted to go out with him so badly all she had to do was ask him to the Ball herself rather than hope he would.