( CNN ) -- If anyone here feels Ron and Hermione should not be united in holy matrimony , speak now or forever hold your peace . Well , guess who 's got a problem -- seven years later . Author JK Rowling , the woman who dreamed up the pair and turned them into two of the most recognized figures in literature , is now throwing cold water on the central romance in the gazillion-selling Harry Potter series . Rowling now says she should have paired Hermoine Granger with Harry Potter , instead of his bud Ron Weasley . And then she delivers this punch to the gut of Ron fans everywhere : . Ron and Hermione would have needed relationship counseling . What the what ? ? ! ! Rowling makes her disclosure in an interview that Emma Watson conducted with her for the entertainment mag , Wonderland . ( Watson , of course , played Hermione in the film adaptations of the Harry Potter books . ) The Wonderland issue does n't come out until Thursday . But Britain 's Sunday Times published excerpts of the interview in a front-page story , `` JK admits Hermione should have wed Harry . '' `` I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment . That 's how it was conceived , really , '' Rowling says in the interview . `` For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it , Hermione ended up with Ron . '' `` I know , I 'm sorry , '' she adds . `` I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans , but if I 'm absolutely honest , distance has given me perspective on that . It was a choice I made for very personal reasons , not for reasons of credibility . Am I breaking people 's hearts by saying this ? I hope not . '' And what did the fictional Mrs. Weasley have to say about all this ? She agrees ! `` I think there are fans out there who know that too and who wonder whether Ron would have really been able to make her happy , '' Watson says in the interview . Say it is n't so , howled Potter fans on Mugglenet.com ( which bills itself as the world 's No . 1 Harry Potter site ) . `` WHAT ? ? ? I am heartbroken ! , '' commented someone named `` ana . '' `` Ron and Hermione 's relationship is wonderful because it is FAR from perfect at the beginning of the series and slowly ( and ingeniously ) develops into my favorite couple in the whole series ! I could go on for days about why I love them . '' But the we-told-you-so side also came out in force . `` Hermione deserved someone better . Ron would have been insecure and it would not have been a healthy relationship , '' said a commenter who goes by the name `` militant delusionalist . '' `` Harry had always said good things about Hermione and both of them being powerful wizards and brought up as muggles would have made them compatible . '' Hermione meets Ron in the first book of the series , `` Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone , '' when he and Harry save her from a mountain troll . We learned of the pair getting hitched in the epilogue of the seventh and final book -- `` Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , '' published in 2007 . The couple even have two kids , Rose and Hugo . And they lived happily ever after ? Not quite . Not even before Rowling delivered this latest bombshell . Two years ago , she said she once considered offing Ron altogether . `` Funnily enough , I planned from the start that none of them would die . Then midway through , which I think was a reflection that I was n't in a very happy place , I started thinking I might punish one of them off . Out of sheer spite , '' she says in a conversation with Daniel Radcliffe for the DVD extra feature for `` Deathly Hallows . '' ( Radcliff , of course , played Harry in the movies . ) `` In my absolute heart of hearts of hearts -- although I did seriously consider killing ... Ron . '' 'Harry Potter ' play coming to British stage . Rowling returns for more in Potter 's world . Rowling almost killed off Ron Weasley .
Rowling : Ron and Hermione would have needed `` relationship counseling '' The full interview will appear Thursday . Some fans of the book are aghast . (CNN)