I'm starting this poll in response to a certain debate in the OotP forum. We're trying to decide why Ron reacted the way he did to Hermione.

One school of thought is that Ron, still annoyed with Hermione, was too blinded by bitterness and jealousy to let himself see that Hermione was pretty.
The other says says that Ron was in love with the inner Hermione and already found Hermione beautiful - that her appearance at the Yule Ball didn't affect him.

This is not a poll on who you think will get together, this is a poll on how you viewed Ron's reaction to Hermione at the Yule Ball.

This part of your post is unclear. Are you trying to say he already found her beautiful?

Yes, that's what I meant - sorry! I'll just change that now.

I think he saw her before Harry did because he had been looking for her constantly from the time they got downstairs - then when he saw she was with Krum he was angry/jealouse and wasn't going to act like he noticed her. It was like petty revenge for him to pretend he didn't see her when everyone else was clearly in awe of her transformation.

Okay, let me expres my opinion...
Harry's reaction to Hermione's appearence is quiet average, he shared the same look on his face that Draco Malfoy had. Just complete surprise that Hermione could be pretty, from what JK gives us we have reason to believe everyone had this reaction. Harry was shocked, Pavarti was shocked, Malfoy was shocked, Pansy was shocked. Not with great company then, so this is another debunking of H/Hr.
Ron's reaction, is the only one in the entire student body that is pointed out to be different, he didn't look twice at pretty!Hermione, she walked right past him and he didn't stare at her. Why? Because he was too busy craning his neck looking for that bushy head of hers. He wasn't interested in the outer beauty of Hermione, he was interested in the girl who she was. He overlooked heaps of pretty girls to find Hermione, very, very mature. Harry noticed how pretty Pavarti and Padma was, Ron didn't even look at either of them; where's those priorities?
And once Ron relised where she was, he saw she was with Krum, the guy Ron has idolised and he was with the girl he loved, how quickly things changed. Did we hear about how shocked he was with her beauty like Harry and Draco? No, JK choose to show that he didn't even notice how pretty she was, she was still Hermione and he would always see her the same no matter if she was a supermodel or covered in rubbish.
So Ron was already inlove. (and I think more people would vote for it if they understood what the poll points where asking, they are very confusing, I had to read through it twice to understand what it was asking me)

Can't really stop (this isn't my computer and I'm supposed to be looking up some stuff for history).
Will, with respect, you didn't need to go into a mini-essay - this is meant to be separate from the shipping, as I said in the Love in OotP forum just after I set this poll up.

Sorry if the question is unclear but I can't think how I can make it clearer.
g2g

I think that he was sort of in love with her and was almost like... she was trying to hard and that she was being stupid. i dont know....

^Thats a really good explaination.

Yeah, I agree with you.

Hey, no need to jump down his throat. If he wanted to write a bit, he can. Plus, how can you say this is to be separate from shipping when this thread in all actuality has everything to do with shipping? (The Ron/Hermione ship that is) That makes no sense to me...

Thanks Caligurl for your support! And I have to agree, how can you ask if one character is inlove with another without it being shippy?
The reason that the poll is confusing is that you have selected answers. You either say that Ron was a snivelling little jelous git or him and Hermione are desperatly inlove. Really, at this stage I think Ron's interest in her romantically had been built and he was crushing on her without relising. I don't think Ron's "inlove" with Hermione in a romantic sense at this point of the series. He is defenetly interested and noticing her as a girl, but in all honesty they are teenagers who haven't even kissed, 'love' should not be downgraded. Not saying R/Hr is incapable of love, they do love each other as friends and they do have romantic implications, but at this stage they are not inlove.
They are crushing and what that leads too is important.

I guess Ron was furoius at Hermione bcoz they'd had a row just some time before. He didn't like to see her look fantastic and being appreciated just after he'd had a sour word with her. Umm, I mean to say it's neither jealousy nor love. He's just acting like an angry person who doesn't like his (temporary) opponent to be appreciated when he's not on good terms. Sulking, like.

I think that Ron is already falling for Hermione. And if you'll just read between the lines, you'll see that the feeling is mutual. Not that they want it, not that they admit it. He was rather rude when he saw Hermione's transformation not because he doesn't find her beautiful but because she was with Victor. The jealousy inside him made him behaved badly towards Hermione, mainly because he doesn't know how to deal with such emotions.

I thimk he's already falling to hermione.

I thought he seemed jealous.

well i think that he fancies her maybe not in a totaly romantic way but the feelings he has towards her are very stong he's bodys still change hormones running wild i don't think he understands whats going on in his brain i think he was in completely in awe of krum that when he saw that he was with his best friend he couldn't stand it so instead of looking at her or confronting her about it then he waited coz he didn't want to ruin her night coz he cares about her i mean they fought later but that was after he relized that she had a good night and he didn't

He likes Hermione and was jealous of Krum. He tried to blame the rivalry on his rage because he is at first not aware of his feelings, but then later on becomes scared of them as though they were wrong. He simply is enraged that some famous athlete whom he admired, waltzed in and took his place. I think it is sweet and I am so excited to see where it goes in the last two books. Krum is the catalyst, the push those two need to get together.

Shannon

Ron and Hermione forever!!!! and ever and ever and ever....

I personally think that Ron has feelings of love for Hermione but he didn't realize them until after he saw her walk in to the Yule Ball looking not like his best friend but like a beautiful young woman. It hit him like a ton of bricks! He was probably thinking wow she is the nicest person I know and she is gorgeous!! Awe Puppy Love.

I think that Ron already loved her, but didn't realise it..

Yeah! I'm with you Hermionespell. He loves Hermione, it's obvious that he was JEALOUSY. He wanted to be the one who dances with her not Victor. But he didn't know why he is thinking that??? He didn't realised that he fall in love.

I dissagree, JKR doesn't give us Ron's reaction to Hermione, from what we can gather her appearence means nothing to him. The appearence meant something to Harry/Draco/Pavarti/Pansy and the rest of the school, but not Ron, he was too busy looking for Hermione's bushy hair, not the next beautiful girl around.
It hit him when he saw her in 'a-whole-new-light' scene.

I am thinking the second reason for R :sorcerer: ons reaction

In my opinion I think he was already in love...but then again he couldv'e been shock to find out how beautiful Hermione really is!!!

He was already in love. Heck, even JKR pretty much admited that when asked if there was 'something going on' and she said, "Yes, there is 'something going on', but Ron doesn't know it yet. Typical boy." Heh.