I Hate Awkward Couples

Summary: If there is one thing that Minerva McGonagall hates, it's awkward couples.

I really, really, really hate awkward couples. This does not mean that I hate people who are with someone who you wouldn't think that they ought to be with, no, of course not. It means that I can't stand when you know that two people should be together and it's obvious that they feel the same way, but they're both too stupid, no I should say "cowardly", to even acknowledge this unbearably obvious fact. This wouldn't bother me of course, if they weren't both open about their feelings to everyone excepting the recipient of their affections. Even this, as incredibly annoying as it was, wouldn't bother me if these not-quite-couple-but-not-quite-still-friends weren't so jealous. Every time two of my students act like this, I always want to scream at them, "If you won't make a move, you can't expect that person to stay faithful to you! You should have told this person how you feel and maybe he/she would be happy with you and not this other person!" She never did of course, but that didn't mean that she didn't think it and think it very fiercely. What bothered me the most was that these couples were wasting time. People are only alive for so long and then you couldn't do or say anything after that. Couldn't people just take advantage of the time that they had together rather than just hoping that they wouldn't grow old alone while regretting what could have been? Didn't people realize that that was a possibility? Thinking over it, usually the awkward couple somehow got together, but that was always the case. I sighed as I ran over these awkward couples that I've had to put up with throughout my years at Hogwarts.

Arthur Weasley and Molly Pruitt- The two of them both admitted to anyone who asked that they had feelings for each other as long as this person promised not to tell. Usually (nine times out of ten) this person was only lying and would go straight up to the other and blab about the first's feelings for the second. Usually, someone would ask Molly how she felt about Arthur, she would tell, and this person would go off to tell Arthur. It sometimes, worked the other way around though. No matter how often this happened, they would both deny ever saying that and would insist to the third person was lying about the other saying that. Apparently in their fifth year, the two of them became a couple. The two of them snuck off from Hogsmeade (much to my annoyance) in their seventh year and eloped. They had seven children: Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. All seven of them were in Gryffindor. Eventually, Ron and Ginny had awkward relationships of their own. (See Numbers Four and Five.)

Lily Evans and James Potter- James had made his feelings very clear to not only the entire school, but also Miss Evans for about four years. She, on the other hand, had turned him down (often by hexing or hitting him) throughout their time at Hogwarts until their seventh year when she, I was surprised that it wasn't James, kissed him just before the Christmas holidays. For the past couple of terms, she had tried to keep her feelings for him silent despite the fact that half the school suspected it. I simply could not stand watching how awkward the two of them were before they finally became a couple. I had sighed with relief at the time. They were married and had one son before Lord Voldemort murdered them. Their son, Harry, was an awkward couple himself. (See Number Four.)

Frank and Alice Longbottom- Frank and Alice were friends with Lily and James. The two of them were close friends, but claimed to be "nothing more". This of course means that they had deep feelings for one another, but were too afraid of losing their friendship to do anything over the matter. That was the most ridiculous and overused cliché that I have ever had the unfortune to watch. Eventually, the two of them started dating (to the annoyance of their close friends who thought that they spoke and thought of each other too often) in their sixth year when Frank asked her to Professor Slughorn's annual Christmas party. They married and (not unlike the Potters) had one son before four Death-Eaters tortured them into insanity. Like Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom had an awkward relationship as well. (See Number Six.)

Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley- Ginny had obvious (she was unable to speak whenever he was in the room) feelings for him ever since she was only ten years old. He never returned these feelings until his sixth year, her fifth year. The year before that, he had dated Cho Chang and Ginny was secretly, but still very jealous. The next year, he became extremely jealous (I hate jealousy.) of her current boyfriend, Dean Thomas. Harry kissed Ginny at the victory party in Gryffindor Common Room (much to, her brother, Ron's discomfort) and the two of them dated for a few weeks after that. He ended their relationship shortly afterwards at Professor Dumbledor's funeral. Despite this, they both continued to have deep feelings for one another. After the war was over, their romance continued, they were married, and they had three children: James, Albus, and Lily.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger- These two were possibly the single most awkward couple that I had been forced to watch. The two of them originally didn't like each other even as friends (which is an incredibly pathetic cliché in my opinion). After he and Mr. Potter saved her from a mountain troll in their first year, they became best friends. It was obvious, even in their second year, that they would someday be much, much more than friends. In their third year, they argued continuously over her cat and his rat. Throughout their years at Hogwarts, the two of them bickered nonstop. In their fourth year, she began seeing Victor Krum and Mr. Weasley became jealous to the point of ridiculousness. I was surprised that nothing happened between them in their fifth year (this is good or bad). In their sixth year, he began dating Lavender Brown and the majority of the students with brains (Miss Granger and Ginny Weasley included) wanted to hex Mr. Weasley for this. Finally, just before the battle of Hogwarts, Miss Granger kissed Mr. Weasley. At their wedding, I continuously muttered things along the lines of, "Finally," and, "It's about time." They had two children: Rose and Hugo. Rose is currently in an awkward relationship. (See Number Eight.)

Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood- They might have been the least awkward of all these couples that I've named. The two of them became friends in his fifth year and her forth year. He had always been a bit nervous around her, but he thought that this was merely because she was slightly….odd. This was really because he had feelings for her. They started dating two years after the second war ended. They got married a few years after Ron and Hermione.

Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley- These two were most recent awkward couple that I had to deal with. Usually childhood friends don't become a couple, but if they do, they always become an awkward couple. He was two years older than her, but it was obvious that they would be together at some point. I was right. They started dating the summer before her seventh year at Hogwarts. This made me very glad.

Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy- Currently, I'm trying not to kill Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. It's their sixth year and they're having the similar type of awkward relationship that her parents had. Not only were friends that wanted to be more, their fathers also wanted to kill each other (not to mention that they had tried several times). The two of them started out hating each other because of their fathers' feud, but that only lasted a year. Currently, the two of them are best friends, but the entire school is anticipating (and making bets on) when they become more.

Professor Flitwick and Poppy Pomfrey- These two are never mentioned as they are very good at hiding how they feel when they wish to. The two of them were friends with me in school and we managed to get jobs together. Despite the fact that no one bothers to pay them any mind, every once in a while the two of them will go out for tea and I have witnessed the two of them sneaking a kiss when they are under the impression that no one is looking.

Albus Dumbledor and myself- This is definitely the most annoying awkward couple that I know about. We are the perfect example of an awkward couple that never had a chance to get out of the "awkward" phase. I shouldn't say that. What I should say is that we had many chances, but we never took them and now it's too late to do anything. There wasn't much jealousy which I'm glad about, but everyone (even the students) knew that we had feelings for each other (and I figured out that Albus had feelings for me), but we still never did anything about it. Then Severus Snape, who apparently wasn't a Death Eater, killed him in 1997.

I sighed. Awkward couples only reminded me of myself and the mistake that I made from being too afraid of making mistakes. I thought of Molly and Arthur, Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Neville and Luna, and Teddy and Victoire and I smiled. Perhaps awkward couples weren't too bad after they stop being awkwark.