I’m simply saying that H&C likely won’t succeed while being thought of as “creepy” by Hermione (actually creepy, not “that sort of behavior usually would be creepy, but somehow I trust him/her anyway”). If you think that ambushing her like he does will inevitably creep her out, well, I’m not sure I disagree since I’m a bit dubious on whether he can actually succeed with that approach. If the descriptor “creepy” wasn’t supposed to carry any weight that already happened, more or less, and Hermione stopped the conversation at the word “Santa”.
I’m simply saying that H&C likely won’t succeed while being thought of as “creepy” by Hermione (actually creepy, not “that sort of behavior usually would be creepy, but somehow I trust him/her anyway”). If you think that ambushing her like he does will inevitably creep her out, well, I’m not sure I disagree since I’m a bit dubious on whether he can actually succeed with that approach. If the descriptor “creepy” wasn’t supposed to carry any weight that already happened, more or less, and Hermione stopped the conversation at the word “Santa”.