J.K. Rowling on Ron and Hermione

Was something going on between Ron and Hermione during the last half of GOF?

Yes, something’s ‘going on’ … but Ron doesn’t realise it yet … typical boy”
Will Ron ever get a girlfriend?
I’m laughing again…. Why wouldn’t he?! Though he’s not doing too well at the moment, is he? But then, Fleur Delacour was really aiming a bit high.

- BN.com, 2000

Does Hermione like Ron as more than a friend?
The answer to that is in Goblet of Fire!

- Comic Relief Chat, 2001

In this movie we’ve seen the kids develop from the first film, can you tell us about the relationship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione and how that is developing film by film?
Well I think it is developing in the films as it does in the books, which is to say that they are, they’re much stronger together than apart. They’re much more aware, in the second film, of their particular strengths. So they’re more effective, the children are able to do more complex things, for example the Polyjuice Potion. And also Chris in the second film has kind of foreshadowed what I don’t do until the fourth book, which is that you get hints of certain feelings between the three of them, that belong to a sort of slightly more mature person.

- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVD

Any snogging with Hermione?
(slight frown) Hermione and Harry! Do you think so?
No I’m kidding.
Ron and Hermione, I would say, have more tension there.

- NBC Dateline Show, 2003

What happened between Hermione and Viktor Krum during the summer?
Ron would like to know that, too.

- World Book Day Chat, 2004

Will Ron and Hermione ever get together?
Well, What do you think? I’m not going to say. I can’t say, can I? I think that, by now, I’ve given quite a lot of clues on the subject. That is all I’m going to say. You will have to read between the lines on that one.

- Edinburgh Book Festiva, 2004

ES: We thought it was clearer than ever that Harry and Ginny are an item and Ron and Hermione — although we think you made it painfully obvious in the first five books-
JKR: So do I!
ES: What was that?
JKR: Well so do I! So do I!
ES: Harry/Hermione shippers – they’re delusional!
JKR: Well no, I’m not going to – Emerson, I am not going to say they’re delusional! They are still valued members of my readership! I am not going to use the word delusional. I am however, going to say — now I am trusting both of you to do the spoiler thing when you write this up — I will say, that yes, I personally feel – well it’s going to be clear once people have read book six. I mean, that’s it. It’s done, isn’t it? We know. Yes, we do now know that it’s Ron and Hermione. I do feel that I have dropped heavy – hints. ANVIL-sized, actually, hints, prior to this point. I certainly think even if subtle clues hadn’t been picked up by the end of “Azkaban,” that by the time we hit Krum in Goblet…
But Ron — I had a lot of fun with that in this book. I really enjoyed writing the Ron/Lavender business, and the reason that was enjoyable was Ron up to this point has been quite immature compared to the other two and he kind of needed to make himself worthy of Hermione. Now, that didn’t mean necessarily physical experience but he had to grow up emotionally and now he’s taken a big step up. Because he’s had the meaningless physical experience – let’s face it, his emotions were never deeply engaged with Lavender – and he’s realized that that is ultimately not what he wants, which takes him a huge emotional step forward.
ES: So he’s got a little bit more than a teaspoon, now there’s a tablespoon?
JKR: Yeah, I think.
MA: Watching all this, were you surprised when you first logged on and found this intense devotion to this thing that you knew was not going to happen?
JKR: Yes. Well, you see, I’m a relative newcomer to the world of shipping, because for a long time, I didn’t go on the net and look up Harry Potter. A long time. Occasionally I had to, because there were weird news stories or something that I would have to go and check, because I was supposed to have said something I hadn’t said. I had never gone and looked at fan sites, and then one day I did and oh – my – god. Five hours later or something, I get up from the computer shaking slightly [all laugh]. ‘What is going on?’ And it was during that first mammoth session that I met the shippers, and it was a most extraordinary thing. I had no idea there was this huge underworld seething beneath me.
ES: She’s putting it into a positive light!
JKR: Well I am, I am, but you know. I want to make it clear that delusional is your word and not mine!
MA: You’re making our lives a lot easier by laying it on the table -
JKR: Well I think anyone who is still shipping Harry/Hermione after this book –
ES: Delusional!
JKR: Uh – no! But they need to go back and reread, I think.
ES: Thank you.
JKR:Yeah.
MA: That is going to -
JKR: Will it make your lives slightly easier?
All three: Yeah, yeah.
JKR: I think so.
MA: I have to tell you, I’m looking forward to this coming out, because, you know, a lot of this is predicated upon a necessary hate for another character. Ron has suffered horribly at the hands of Harry/Hermione shippers.
JKR: That bit makes me very uncomfortable, actually. Yeah, that bit does make me uncomfortable.
ES: Honestly, I think the Harry/Hermione shippers are a very small percentage of the population anyway.
MA: Yeah, if you do a general poll -
ES: They seem more prominent online, but that’s just because the online fandom is very -
MA: Militant was the best word I heard -
JKR: Militant is a beautifully chosen word. Energetic. Feisty.

- Mugglenet/Leaky Cauldron, 2005

At the moment, as you know, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have just finished their penultimate year at Hogwarts and Hermione and Ron have told Harry that they’re going to go with him wherever he goes next. So at the moment I think that Hermione would see most likely the three of them alive and unscathed and Voldemort finished.
But I think that Hermione would also see herself closely entwined…with…another…person. I think you can probably guess who.

- Radio City1, 2006

Dumbledore is really Ron/Harry ‘from the future’?
Your inventiveness knows no bounds, and I do not mean that sarcastically; these theories open up exhilarating new vistas of possibility… but they’re wrong. Could it be that by speculating that Harry/Ron becomes Dumbledore, you are seeking reassurance that neither dies young?
I’ve also heard a whisper about Ron and Hermione’s son time-travelling, so I shall go further and tell you that NONE of the characters in the books has returned from the future. As for the idea of Ron and Hermione having a son… (chuckles as the distant roars of a million shippers reach my ears, all cursing me to an eternity of unsatisfied curiosity).
I can’t believe that some of you haven’t worked this one out yet

- J.K. Rowling’s Website

Leaky Cauldron: What, if anything, did the wizarding world learn, and how did society change, as a direct result of the war with voldemort? (i.E., not as a result of harry, ron and hermione’s future careers.)
J.K. Rowling: The Ministry of Magic was de-corrupted, and with Kingsley at the helm the discrimination that was always latent there was eradicated.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny et al would of course play a significant part in the re-building of wizarding society through their future careers.
Fomy: What did you feel when you finally wrote the kiss, awaited so much by the fans, of Ron and Hermione.
J.K. Rowling: I loved writing it, and I loved the fact that Hermione took the initiative! Ron had finally got SPEW and earned himself a snog!
Katieleigh: Does Hermione still continue to do work with SPEW and is life any better for house elves?
J.K. Rowling: Hermione began her post-Hogwarts career at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures where she was instrumental in greatly improving life for house-elves and their ilk. She then moved (despite her jibe to Scrimgeour) to the Dept. of Magical Law Enforcement where she was a progressive voice who ensured the eradication of oppressive, pro-pureblood laws.
Blodeuwedd: Hi J.K.! first of all, thank you for all the books I have enjoyed each and every one of them, Could you tell us what professions Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna go on to have did the trio do their final year at school and take their NEWTS?
J.K. Rowling: Harry did so (just because Voldemort was gone, it didn’t mean that there would not be other Dark witches and wizards in the coming years).
Ron joined George at Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes, which became an enormous money-spinner.
Camille: How is george getting along without his twin?
J.K. Rowling: Well, I don’t think that George would ever get over losing Fred, which makes me feel so sad. However, he names his first child and son Fred, and he goes on to have a very successful career, helped by good old Ron.
Sampotterish: Why did dumbledore want ron to keep his deluminator?
J.K. Rowling: Because he knew that Ron might need a little more guidance than the other two.
Dumbledore understood Ron’s importance in the trio. He wasn’t the most skilled, or the most intelligent, but he held them together; his humour and his good heart were essential.
Lulu: Do you think dumbledore was a little more fond of ron than either Ron or Harry believed?
J.K. Rowling: Yes, I do. Through Harry’s account of Ron, and from reports of the professors who taught Ron, Dumbledore understood Ron better than Ron ever knew, and liked him, too.

- Bloomsbury WebChat, 2007

As for his occupation, Harry, along with Ron, is working at the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. After all these years, Harry is now the department head.
“Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department,” Rowling said. “They are now the experts. It doesn’t matter how old they are or what else they’ve done.”
Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron’s wife, is “pretty high up” in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, despite laughing at the idea of becoming a lawyer in “Deathly Hallows.”
“I would imagine that her brainpower and her knowledge of how the Dark Arts operate would really give her a sound grounding,” Rowling said.
Harry, Ron and Hermione don’t join the same Ministry of Magic they had been at odds with for years; they revolutionize it and the ministry evolves into a “really good place to be.”
“They made a new world,” Rowling said.

- Today’s Show, 2007

At the session earlier in the day, questions about love were directed at Rowling herself. When asked by an 18-year-old 12th grader, “Which of the Potter characters would you marry?,” Rowling giggled. “The truth is, in my younger days, I dated Ron more than once,” she admitted, giving an inside look at why Hermione (the closest character to Rowling’s younger self) might be attracted to Harry’s best friend. “He’s fun to write, but not so much fun to date.”[...]
Fans might think that’s even more reason why Hermione should end up with Harry — but Rowling said she always knew that Ron and Hermione were meant to be together.[...]
Ron and Hermione, however, are drawn to each other because they balance each other out. Hermione’s got the sensitivity and maturity that’s been left out of Ron, and Ron loosens up Hermione a bit, gets her to have some fun. They love each other and they bicker a bit, but they enjoy bickering, so we shouldn’t worry about it.”

- Open Book Tour at Carnegie Hall, NY, October 19 2007