As a het shipper, I often get annoyed with the 'the females are cardboard' thing you see sometimes, but I've got to say that this is very well-written. I agree with everything you've said. People call the female characters weak which annoys me with a passion and isn't the case - they're just together.

Hmm. This had made me think. And it's rational and well-reasoned, rather than the 'I HATE MY OWN SEX' attitude you can't help but get from some slashy posts. Well done.

And I love what you said about JKR's characters - I think it's probably the best thing about her books is the way the characters can be fully formed with a few sentences.