At the suggestion of a fellow harmonian thought I'd reverse the thread 'Moments where Hermione feels more than frienship--can you find any' and see what we could come up with for Harry...

His actions in the DoM sum up his feelings for me, (pulling Hermione to safety when Ginny was the one threatened) but maybe (and hopefully) you guys have some more??

I think his reaction when she was hit is more telling. When have we ever seen Harry panic and lose his head. Thankfully Neville kept his cool and saved the day.

I love those moments when he sees something and thinks Hermione--like seeing the elf statue in the DoM.

Harry frequently seeks Hermione out especially when he has something important to discuss...issues that DRIVE the plot, I might add! Also, she's the "voice in his head" and he thought of what she might think should he do poorly in his academics. Harry cares about what Hermione thinks and she's the only female in the book that he feels this way about. I can't think of one instance in all the books that he had a thought about what Ginny would think especially in regard to the important issues in his life...heck, he hasn't even discussed any of it with her.

Harry shows us time and time again how important Hermione is to him. And he'll realize that that kind of trust and understanding makes a great foundation for love.

And of course, the most important moment already mentioned...Harry's total brain freeze when he thought Hermione might be dead. Nobody reacts that strongly over someone they consider "just a friend"...that was an OMG moment for him...strong feelings indeed.

When Harry sees Hermione as Hermione for the first time in te Yule Ball. In all honesty, if H/Hr were to be simply friends, there would have been no reason for Harry's epiphany in this scene. This should have been given to Ron, and Harry should had one for Ginny. But that's not how it was written, was it?

P.S. I tought at first that this was a duplicate thread.

Hammergal's right...

HHr do drive the plot forward...Ron just has the supporting role.

Another example is when in PoA, Harry asks hermione if she'll report him about the firebolt, and she becomes all hot and bothered...call me crazy, but if that's not flirting...

There are actualy a few in HBP that come to mind. For one, how he mentions her all the time to other people. He doesn't mention Ginny or Ron, or anyone else, just Hermione. Also, he flirts with her all the time in the begining.

In OotP, Harry feels a surge of pride in Hermione's jinxing ability. If Rowling had just said admiration, it wouldn't mean the same. You can admire someone you don't even know, but you feel pride in something or someone you associate with yourself--"my family", "my team". Hermione's his.

Joanne

Not that this is a Hermione vs. Ginny thread (it KIND of is, you know?), but I had to put in here that Harry never says what a smashing hit of a bat bogey hex about Ginny, though that particular jinx and her ability to do it are shoved down the reader's throat. If Ginny's ability were so great, wouldn't her supposed LI say something about it? We never see that.

Jemknight, what you say kind of reminds me when Hermione set up the Galleons as sort of memo coins for the D.A. Whoever it was made the comment that Protean Charms were N.E.W.T. level, and she blushed at the compliment. Harry noticed that, too.

Well, I think there are a few key one's, all of which have already been mentioned:

1) When Harry "notices" Hermione at the Yule Ball. JK specifically made it out to be something significant when it wasn't necessary to be as such if H/Hr are truly to remain "just friends". It was really the first time Harry had bothered to notice how attractive Hermione was/is.

2) Harry's reaction to thinking Hermione was dead. I suppose the "just friends" argument could work here, but I don't buy it. Ron, Harry's other best friend, was in just as much danger and Harry never literally panicked to the point of being capable of absolutely no thought, and of being positively light-headed the moment he discovered he was okay. This was reserved for Hermione, and again made out to be something sigificant when it wasn't necessary. If JKR plans for H/Hr to remain friends, why not give Harry the huge panic over Ginny's injury instead? It could've just as easily been Ginny Harry pulled along with him, but he didn't: he pulled Hermione and he panicked over Hermione. JK had to have chosen that for a reason.

3) Harry's feelings on R/Hr in HBP. I really think the fact that he's so uncomfortable with the idea of Ron dating Hermione, is that he doesn't like the idea of Hermione being Ron's. Then, for him, it's like what about him? He probably thinks Hermione would push him aside and not pay him as much attention anymore, and so he'd prefer for her to give him the attention she'd be giving Ron. I think he's posessive over Hermione because of this.

Also, the flirt scene in HBP when Ron is suspicious, and possibly when Harry seeks Hermione out and finds her in the classroom. I always find that scene very strange.

This remind me on Chap. 35 "Beyond theVeil," in OotP. Harry was helping Ron to escape from the DE's. As soon as he smashed his way to another room ( I believed the Brain room), He unceremoniously flung Ron away from him, and ducked back to help Neville in with Hermione.

I love that moment in HPB, when Harry's leaving for the cave with Dumbledore and instead of going to find Ginny (who he knows is in the library) and tell her everything, he goes to Ron and Hermione. It seems to me that he's far more concerned about saying goodbye to Hermione than to Ginny...

Let's not forget he says something like "Don't look at me like that, Hermione, I'll be back soon"... to me, this means two things. One: that Hermione's obviously terrified for him (more so than Ron, or else Ron's expression would have been mentioned), and that implies more-than-friendship. While this bit fits more into the Hermione-->Harry thread, the part I always really focus on is the fact that he's trying to reassure her, trying to tell her that everything's going to be okay and not to worry about him. I think that's really sweet.

Oh, and of course, the fact that he happens to be staring hard enough at her to notice how worried and afraid for him she is.

The bolded part hits the nail on the head. It actually took me a couple of times to read into that and put forth my own experineces in dealing with creeping, unsuspecting jealousy. I can tell you, as a guy, that it happens.


And I also saw the scene after Hermione confunded McClaggen, when Harry pulls her aside to confront her about it. The way it was written was... well, I think the intent to was to lead back into R/Hr (Ron's jealousy), and cover up the fact that Hermione is at a loss for words when Harry gives his little smirk.

HBP = H/Hr flirt files!!!

again, the fact that whenever hermione 'nearly knocks him flat', he never ever complains!

and whether he realizes it or not, he wants to be the one to compliment her, or comfort her when she needs it.

his reaction to the idea of r/hr is the first sign of jealousy. he thinks that if and when they do get together, he'll be left out, and he won't be able to be with hermione as much as he... wants?

I don't have my OoTP book with me right now would anyone mind posting this little bit of the book? I would love to read it cause I don't remember it

OotP, Bloomsbury hardcover, p. 702:

(Ron has been hit with some sort of jinx and is currently thoroughly befuddled. The brains thing happens in the next scene.)



Not only does Harry drop Ron in order to help get Hermione through the door, he delegates Ginny to Luna.

Hey guys! Great thread!

I think that scene with Cho in OotP is pretty telling... Harry jumps to defend Hermione when Cho says putting a curse on the coins was a "rotten thing to do" (or something along those lines, I dont have my book on me) Harry doesn't miss a beat in saying he thought it was a brilliant idea.
And then of course we need to remember Cho's reaction to that.
"Of course, it was darling Hermiones idea..."
Correct me if I'm wrong but Harry didn't bat an eyelid to that remark right?
I think he was more concerned with yelling at Cho.
That scene shows a little more than friendship IMO- arguing with his "crush" (or was it girlfriend/ex girlfriend by then?) when she insinuated something about Hermione, he immediately jumps in to defend her and then he doesn't say a word about the "darling Hermione" comment...?

I agree about the DOM scene- "such a powerful wave of relief" and that relief made him "lightheaded"? That shows a little more than friendship feelings to me...
He didn't have the same reaction when he knew Ron would be alright and Ron was in just as much danger as Hermione. His reaction to Ron getting hurt didn't even come close to the mind stopping fear he felt (we know he did- it's canon. Hah!) when he saw Hermione get hit with that curse.

Then, as you guys have mentioned, the whole throwing Ron through the door so he could go and help Neville with Hermione... if he was just as worried about Ron as he was Hermione he wouldn't have chucked him!
Yes, I think that going back to help Neville with Hermione is something that he would have done with any of the others but the one thing I keep coiming back to is the fact that he "flung Ron unceremoniuously from him"
Is it just me or if your friend had just been attacked by brains and almost killed you'd want to be careful right? You wouldn't throw him/her away from you. You'd carefully (but quickly) put your friend on the floor, the you'd run back to help your other friend.
But no, and I know I keep saying this, but he flung Ron away from him so he could go back and help. If it were Hermione he had, chances are he'd be a lot more careful.

That's what made me think Harry cared about Hermione as more than a friend- he's just too blind to see it!
Now I guess we have to wait and see how it all turns out...

~Bec

I just love the fact that he felt the need to reassure her he'd be back soon. Kind of like, she wouldn't be without him for long, because he would be back, safe and sound. The fact that he didn't even bother to seek Ginny out is telling. Instead, he goes for Ron and Hermione, and makes the extra effort of comforting Hermione when he should have been comforting his own girlfriend.

To me it shows once again that Harry feels the need to protect and reassure Hermione, that he is her 'safety' when she is in trouble just like vice versa.

I believe the scene in the DOM when Harry grabbed Hermione out to escape the death eaters is very telling... not to mention that it is Ginny that the death eaters had threatened, and yet it is still Hermione he grabs...

Yes, and intense moments like these are why I found HBP so incomprehensible. OOTP kept heating up the H/Hr moments to the point where it seemed almost inevitable that theyd be together in the next book. And instead, we got...well, whatever HBP is. As if OOTP had never been written at all.

If DH really is the second half of one book, as we've so often heard, it's going to have to pull an awful lot of rabbits out of its hat to make the discontinuity between OOTP and HBP believable.

One thing about Cho's "Darling Hermione" remark is that she was probably choosing her words carefully expecting Harry to correct her. Months before, he was on a date with her and left to meet Hermione which is a total slap in the face to Cho. Of course she thinks that Hermione is more important to him. Cho isn't stupid. I think she was fishing for Harry to say something like, "Hermione isn't my darling!" or the like all she got was "Hermione is brilliant."

First, there is the fact that all over the series, Harry's preocupation for Hermione is constantly increasing. He certainly keeps being, book after book, way more concerned about Hermione than Ron is. Isn't it weird, if it's Ron who's meant to be with Hermione?
He's the one who think to look for her when they're told about the troll, in PS/SS. He's the one McGonagall instinctively goes to when Hermione is attacked in CoS, and it's Harry who manages to understand what Hermione has found - meaning he knows her well enough to work her clues. In PoA when Hermione shows tireness and have trouble working through her schedule, he worries about her (while Ron is too angry with the Crookshanks/Scabbers fight), and even when he's angry at her because of the firebolt, he understands why she did it. In GoF, he does not refuse to believe she has someone for the ball (why is it considered by Herons like the first sign of R/Hr, when it's clear that Ron does not consider Hermione as "dateable"); and I won't even go through OotP - there are so many occasions during the book where Harry thinks about Hermione. And in HBP, at second reading, you can't help but notice all the little times Harry wonder what Hermione would say, or thinks about Hermione, or talks about her. Even during his "Ginny/monster-in-the-chest" period.

All of this, separately, can be shown as "best friend" things, but put them all together and it kind of changes the picture. This constant preocupation is, IMO, showing that Hermione is growing on him. His reaction at the DoM is revealing about that, as well as his concern at the end of HBP - while he's still with Ginny. And during HBP, he keeps being the one who's there for Hermione, who tries to look for her and talk to her when she's sad. All of this is telling, and Ginny and Ron do notice it, by the way. Don't have the book with me but it's mentioned numerous time that Ron loooked at them suspiciously, and Ginny is more than once a little hostile with Hermione.

For Harry, it's a little less clear than for Hermione, but if you put his actions together, it's meaningful.

Oh I found one that I had forgotten about.

"...what about Cho and you?"
"What d'you mean?" said Harry quickly...
"Well," said Hermione, smiling slightly, she just couldn't keep her eyes off you, could she?"
Harry had never before appreciated how beautiful the village of Hogsmeade was.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by J.K. Rowling, Chapter 16

Heehee, oddly enough, I found this because of The Leaky Cauldron.