haha believe me, i know how you feel. "love" is usually the thing people behave LEAST sensibly about, especially if those people are teenagers.

i think another thing about the ron/hermione dynamic, particularly the reason it's taking so long to flesh out, is because it's so much harder admitting you like one of your best friends than it is admitting you like someone you barely know. like ron with lavender, if (when) they broke up, he didn't have anything to lose. he would just be back where he started from. but with hermione, if they got together and then broke up, it would change ron's whole world. he'd be losing someone very important. it can be extremely difficult to take that step.