Behind the cut, Uncle Bill explains it all:
Ok, so
why Harry gets Ginny and Ron gets Hermione? Simple story dynamics, folks, based on the available women.
If Harry gets Hermione, then Ron becomes the perpetual third wheel. Not a good fate for the best friend.
But if Harry gets
Ginny, then Ron's his eventual brother-in-law. And if Ron gets Hermione, then everybody's family in the end, which is a pretty satisfying way to end up.
The triangle is unstable, but the square isn't.
If they all survive to see the end of Book 7. And I so hope Rowling allows them all to survive to see the end of Book 7.
Here's my favorite quote from a recommended essay I read earlier in the week about the power of the Trio in HP beyond the "shipping wars":
"Hermione, it is clear, holds Ron in high esteem as well [as he holds her]. She *knows* that, technically speaking, Harry is more "fanciable". She even expounds on the subject during breakfast. She's best friends with the Chosen One, the youngest House Quidditch player in a century, the Boy Who Lived, the best in the year at DADA. And knowing this, she falls for the other guy. God, I love this girl."
Me, too :). I think Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione is a lovely dynamic.
Hence, I think, the vitriolic hatred of Ron you sometimes find among Harry/Hermione shippers. If Ron is not worthy of Harry's friendship, then it's OK for Harry to leave him in the dust.
Sam Winolj