Ron and Hermione becoming a couple at the end of the epic tale of the Harry Potter series did not surprise most fans. The will they won't they energy the couple gave off for nearly seven books, eight films, and one play was undeniable. It was like the Ross and Rachel of the Wizarding World.
While their eventual getting together may have seemed inevitable, there are still a few parts of their relationship that make it very strange that the pair worked out in the end at all. The plot may have made the pair endgame, but a few details call the likelihood and happiness of their relationship into question.
Ron Bullied Hermione
Severus Snape is the best example in the Harry Potter series of the serious and lasting damage that bullying can do. However, Snape was far from the only character who was abused by bullies in the story. Hermione, in fact, was bullied by Ron in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Before the trio fights the troll together, Hermione overhears Ron making fun of her. Why is he making fun of her? Because she was better than him in charms class. That's cruel, and the fact Hermione was able to get past it is impressive, to say the least.
Ron Didn't Ask Hermione to the Yule Ball
Ron and Harry struggle greatly to find dates for the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The Yule Ball is a school-wide event.
Everyone is looking for a date. Hermione, as Ron's friend, should have been the first person he asked to go with him to the ball. Without romantic relationships at that point, it would have made perfect sense for Ron and Hermione to go together, just as friends, to the celebration. It makes no sense that it took so long for Ron to even remember that Hermione was a girl.
Hating on Viktor Krum
Ron's celebrity crush, seeker Viktor Krum, becomes his greatest enemy after Viktor is the one to ask Hermione to the Yule Ball. Ron didn't even think of asking Hermione to the ball as a friend at that point, much less as a romantic flame. That he should be so angry at Krum, as well as Hermione, because they go together, doesn't make any sense at all.
He should have used Hermione's relationship to cultivate his own friendship with the famed Bulgarian seeker.
Can't Find Gifts for One Another
Hermione and Ron are much more successful in picking Christmas presents for Harry than they ever are in picking out gifts for one another.
The stand out gifts includes perfume for Hermione and a talking homework planner for Ron. How Hermione and Ron were meant for each other while still being so oblivious to who the other really was is just baffling.
Ignoring Hermione's Advances
Ron was obviously never going to go on the offense and pursue Hermione. Just looking at his actions and reactions to the Yule Ball it's clear Ron was not capable of reading and interpreting his own feelings. Yet, once Hermione, the wiser and more introspective of the two, went on the offensive and began trying to make her feelings known, Ron was still oblivious to the world around him.
Hermione invites Ron to go to the Slug Club Christmas party with her and he takes it as an insult. How Ron could be so callous and oblivious to a person who is one of his best friends in mind-boggling.
Ron Thinking Hermione Liked Harry
The fact that Ron ever thought Hermione and Harry could have been in a romantic relationship together doesn't make any sense. It would have made more sense if Ron thought Harry was in love with him. Harry always takes Ron's side. In the fight about Scabbers and Crookshanks Harry sides with Ron.
In the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, it isn't Hermione that Harry is meant to rescue under the lake, it is Ron. Harry always cared more for Ron than Hermione.
Ron Not Standing Up For Hermione
Ron may have spoken up for Hermione in the books when Snape calls her a know it all, but he couldn't stand up for her to his own mother. He was so mad at Harry, and about Krum, that Ron didn't let his mother know that all the articles about Hermione toying with the hearts of two Triwizard competitors was completely false.
That's why Hermione gets such a sad Easter present from Mrs. Weasley. Ron could be a bit selfish and shortsighted when it came to his second-best friend.
Always Arguing
Hermione and Ron's default setting seemed to be argument. From their debating how to ask Hagrid about Fluffy in Sorcerer's Stone, to their fighting over Scabbers and Crookshanks, the Yule Ball, Ron's relationship with Lavender, and Ron leaving Harry and Hermione in the woods on their search for Horcruxes, it's much harder to list calm and loving moments in their relationship.
Sometimes it's hard to track exactly how their love blossomed for one another.
Married So Young
Both Hermione and Ron, as well as Harry and Ginny, get married very quickly once they have left Hogwarts behind. While both couples were officially together before graduation, it's strange that Hermione in particular would rush into tying the knot.
Hermione took the time to return to Hogwarts and officially graduate after the war. She was always brilliant, determined, and successful. It's strange that she wouldn't work harder and settle a bit more before accepting a ring and marriage from Ron.
Happiness Dependent on Marriage
It is (unfortunately) made clear in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that Ron and Hermione's happiness was dependent on their getting married to one another. In the one possible future where the pair don't end up together Ron is miserable and Hermione is just mean.
While fans always wanted the pair to end up together, it doesn't make sense that, such independent and successful characters in their own right, should be so tied to marriage to find true happiness, with or without one another, in the end.