http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/02/showbiz/rowling-hermione-ron-revelation/index.html?hpt=hp_bn9 Apparently Ron and Hermione weren't J.K.'s choice for a couple. I kinda understand... I mean, he was abusive to her. But the fans are still going nuts.
I get why people are mad about this, I like Ron and Herms as a couple a lot too. But at the end of the day, it's still completely canon, lol. J.K.'s not just gonna go back and change it, and tbh, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a "well dang there were other avenues I could have gone down but 2 late now" thing. Or what hatok said. Wait, when did this happen? o.O I only really recall like...the one scene in Goblet of Fire with the Krum jealousy thing and in the Deathly Hallows where he's also jealous again. But those really seemed like relatively self-contained, one off things to me?
I think people are really misinterpreting what she said. Given what I know about the history of the books, she planned for Ron and Hermione to get together from the very start (she says herself that the two "definitely started something" in GoF, even if they weren't really conscious of it). Along the way, though, she seriously considered killing Ron, which I think would have been an understandable (though heartbreaking) choice, she's so wonderfully ruthless with her characters. Towards the end of the series I think she began to entertain the idea that Harry and Hermione should get together, and you can definitely see this in Deathly Hallows. In the end she decided it was best to stick with what she planned from the beginning and spent so many books establishing. Really though, having the Harry - Hermione friendship platonic is so so important. There's really something to be said for a male - female friendship that goes along with no expectation or interest in romance, since in nearly everything else the male and female leads end up together. Despite the lack of any romantic or sexual tension between Harry and Hermione, they are still tremendously close and something really special passes between them, particularly in Deathly Hallows. It's such an essential and beautiful friendship. It's meaningful to their characterization also that Hermione and Ron ended up together. JKR is clearly critical of the girls who fangirl over Harry because he's famous and special (Romilda), and Hermione is, in all respects, the anti-Romilda. Hermione doesn't want fame or splendor or renown. What's most attractive to her? Freshly mown grass, new parchment, and spearmint toothpaste. She doesn't "settle" for Ron, he's not "not good enough" for her. He is what she wants and that's amazing. We see this turned into Ron's characterization in the Locket scene in Deathly Hallows -- throughout all the books he's been insecure about being "Harry Potter's friend" or overshadowed by his brothers' legacies (Charlie the Quidditch Captain etc.). His deepest fear is that the girl he loves overlooks him because he's ordinary and unimportant. And we see, thankfully, that Hermione doesn't overlook him, nor is he ordinary or unimportant. Instead of talking about who Hermione should or shouldn't have ended up with, it's way more fun to discuss how absolutely bonkers and brilliant she it.
Reading the books, and watching the movies I always though Harry and Hermoine were going to end up together, but the ending wasn't so bad. The only people who are panicking over this are the people who really ship Harry and Hermoine a lot.
