Love or something like it.

[willow_wand]

This week at Checkmated, we posted a question in our Meta Monday thread about who was the first (Ron or Hermione) to realize they loved the other. It sparked a few comments about the concept of "love at first sight," which made me curious. So what do you guys think?

Poll LovePersonally, I don't believe in love at first sight. I think a lot of people

Comments

[pigwithhairfics]

Do I believe in love at first sight?
Nope. You can't love someone you do not know. BUT, you can be attracted to someone instantly in a far stronger way than you have been attracted before. That is not love: it's lust, strong lust but lust all the same. I've experienced this one myself. I did meet a guy and it was very different right away than anything I'd experienced before and I did fall in love with him... but not at first sight. Some people confuse strong lust and obsession with love but no, not the same thing.

Do I believe in "soulmates?"
Yes, but not in the way you might think. I love my husband but I think I could love someone else and I think he could do the same, if one of us dies. I would hope he would if I died; I wouldn't want him to be alone.

But I do think there are people who go together far outside of love itself. My husband and I both have much older parents than any of our contemporaries. Oddly, we found that out after we'd been going out for a bit. And we're both the youngest, after a long gap, with three older siblings of the opposite sex, each. We found that out after we'd been together. Thus, we have a greater understanding of each other's frame of reference. That wouldn't be so much if we weren't friends, if we weren't compatible in other aspects of our friendship. But because we are there is a greater understanding between us. I have more fun with him than with anyone else. And we're the exact same age: we have the same frame of reference with our place in history.

Given all that, there is a far greater connection with him than anyone else I might have fallen in love with. And that understanding goes deep into who we are, so that's what I mean when I say I believe in it.

Let's take Ron and Hermione since that was the topic that started this: they balance each other and they've known each other, been best friends for years. They have a deep understanding of each other, more so than each of them does with Harry even though he's also their best friend. So I think it's safe to say they'd have a similiar connection. Sure, Ron could fall in love with someone else but it wouldn't be as deep a connection perhaps as he has with Hermione and vice versa.