MODLY NOTE:
Previous Thread
Essay

I've removed debate-ish and off-topic posts and moved most of them in the Debates archive.
Some of them are here, here, here and here.

I've moved comments about Padfoot's H/H Playlist here.

- gal-texter Jun - Sep 2008


I find it immensely interesting that Harry seems to share most of his most important moments with Hermione,yet we're led to believe their relationship is strictly sibling-like. As far as we know,she's the only one who's saw Harry's mother's letter and the baby picture of himself at Grimmauld Place. This is a ver private moment that he doesn't even share with his other best friend and I'm left wondering why wasn't Ron included in seeing Lily's letter as well? The other significant H/Hr moment is at Godrics Hollow,which has now become a classic and probably the most beloved H/Hr moment in the entire series. I'm glad JKR reunited them for Christmas in this book,rather than the slightly strained Christmas he had at the Burrow in HBP.

Of course Harry had fun as he always does at Ron's house and he was able to spend the holidays with his future wife,but I get the feeling Harry wished Hermione could have been there as well. He knew she wouldn't be there after the whole "Won-Won" fiasco had started,but he seemed to be the only one that missed her prescence. As Padfoot has pointed out in her essay,there were one too many slip ups in this book that contradicted the eventual OBHWF ending. The subtle contradictions of H/Hr's relationship show us why we have our dobuts as to whether or not their feelings for eachother,were more than what Harry said they were,based on his assumption of Hermione's feelings for him.

Yeah I also noticed that. Harry doesnt talk about his parents to anyone but the people who knew them best. Sirius and Lupin. James's best friends and brothers. Its a sensitive issue that Harry isnt comfortable talking about to anyone. Why then, is he so open about telling Hermione? Its not only the Picture scene or the Godrics Hollow scene. I remember in PoA when Harry thinks he's seen his dad, he wants to tell her badly but at that point is still debating on whether he should. And he does, he confesses a very private thought with Hermione.

I noticed the HBP Christmas thing as well. It even says in the book that he wished Ron and Hermione would make up, so she could come to the burrow. Guilt is what I'm thinking. The first thing he did when he got back was rush and talk to her.

You make very interesting points, and yes, Harry and Hermione's relationship seems a bit too close to be only sibling-like. There's definitely something fishy there, and not only in DH with Godric's Hollow but as you pointed out in HBP too, as well as in the whole series. I nver thought too much of the letter thing but you're right, he never shows it to Ron, only to her.

Thanks, Harry85. I'm re-reading DH for the second time now,(I know I must be a glutton for punishment) and after reading this essay the book makes clearer sense in this second reading than it did the first time. I find it interesting that everybody and their grandmother in the series talks about what Hermione is feeling,yet nobody asks the lady herself who she's in love with. In HBP,we see Ginny telling the guys that Hermione kissed Krum,yet Hermione never confirms that she did or not. I would have thought that if Harry truly loves her only as his sister,he would have waited until after Ron destroyed the horcrux,then they could have solved once and for all whom she wants as her boyfriend. If they had waited to tell her the whole story of what Ron saw in the horcrux and how it made him feel,it would have been interesting to see what Hermione's response would have been.

That's why many of us are not convinced that Hermione is deeply in love with Ron,as we're supposed to believe. She has romantic feelings for him,but it's not the depth that she has for Harry. It makes me wonder why JKR continued to keep Hermione's feelings off-page and quiet,yet we're supposed to assume based on kiss during the battle,Hermione has been in love with Ron since at least GOF. The simple fact that she chose to stay with Harry,not to mention Ron says what Krum and Cho already knew was Hermione's true feelings for Harry,spekes volumes as to how far she'll go for him and I don't think it's because she has sisterly feelings only for him. Of course this is still delusional thinkinng here,right?

Quick question: Does Harry or Ron ever tell Hermione what the locket horcrux showed? (If so, please post a quote)

No, they never tell her. Ron gets as far as when the locket opens, and the Harry jumps in by saying that he (Ron) stabbed the locket with the sword. The locket tormenting Ron is left out completely.

Again, good points. I'd have liked to see her reaction to the locket images too, it would have been interesting to see her reaction. And of course, seeing how canon ended, many would say to you that the second part of your post is delusional talk, but then I'm delusional too, because I don't think Hermione feels for Ron so much. And again...why would anyone point out that there may be something between Harry and Hermione if they only had sibling-like feelings for each other? It doesn't make sense, there may be one person who makes the mistake, but hey, here we have Krum, Cho (Hermione and Harry's first boyfriend and girlfriend), Molly believes it may be true reading Skeeter's article, and even Ron who lives by them for seven years, they all believe there's something going on between them. Why? Are they all stupid that can't recognize romantic attraction from sibling-like love?


No, they never tell her. Which is a shame because I'd have loved to see her reaction to it.

Just a question: If they (Ron & Harry) ever did tell her (hermione) regarding the locket horcrux, what do you think would Hermione say?Or how would she react? Do you think it would affect the ships?

And give JKR another reason to twist the knife in deeper? Ah, no thank you.

Yeah we'll never know what he reaction to the locket is. Thats something to play around with though. And neither will we know if the locket was right, did she choose his best friend? After all, she was wearing it too.

Have you noticed that there are very few people that Harry has emotional conversations with in general. Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin to an extent, and Hermione. He has never had even close to an emotional discussion with another peer. He tells her his inner most doubts, and hopes (PoA Dementer scene) as welll as a bit of Godrics Hollow. Also I've never seen him apologise to someone as much as her.

Well, I don't really know, but I bet she would reassure Ron too that they would never leave him behind whatever happens. And i think in the end they would still get together but maybe Hermione would be a bit more reluctant because she may fear Harry would feel like Ron did in front of the Horcrux if she and Ron got together.

I think the locket expressed some of what Ron already thought and was not wrong about in terms of who Hermione was in love with. However,seeing it to the extreme where an evil H/Hr would be taunting him with it,was a little over the top. Voldemort picked up on Ron's fears and used it against him and I think that caused an even bigger rift between himself and Harry. What's interesting is that it's not written that Harry is also disturbed by seeing himself and Hermione kiss and that he knows he'd never want to. After seeing the horcrux versions of himself and Hermione,Harry now has to convince Ron that he's never had any romantic feelings for her. His speech doesn't hold water and Ron knows it. Otherwise he would have looked pleased to hear that Harry is not in love with Hermione,as he's protesting that he doesn't.

I think if they told Hermione she would be distant to toward Harry just to prove to Ron that she doesn't have feelings for him.

But I do find it interesting that Harry is not disgusted by the sight of him and Hermione kissing. How many people would be able to stomach the image of making out with a sibling?

Well, aren't we too smart to be reading her books and actually believe that Ron and Hermione are 'so perfect' for each other?....

What I found funny is that, after 7 books, 17 years in the making.....I am not not fully convinced of the ending.....We might actually need another 10-book-series if someone would want us to actually believe that the 'canon' ships are in some way better than the ones we want.....

Well, it may be possible that she would distance herself from Harry, but not for too long. He's been her worry for seven years, she is not going to change that when things get more dangerous. Otherwise she would have gone with Ron instead of sticking with him.

As for Harry being able to stomach that, it's interesting, yes. I know some girls I like as friends but I wouldn't be able to imagine myself snogging them...

Yeah. harry is quite reluctant to open up his feelings and there are only a few who has heard them. Now, in his generation, only Hermione can touch him like that, that he would be telling his guts to her. Though he may snap at her sometimes, he will always confide his inner thoughts to her. That's why Hermione can read him with just one look. Good point!

H/Hr have this connection that no one else seems to break,yet he tries to convince Ron and the reader for that matter,that his and Hermione's relationship is sibling-like only. Throughout the rest of the book after Harry's proclimation of "brotherly love" towards Hermione,you still see them working together and being on the same page working out strategies,while Ron is left in the background until the battle at Hogwarts. If JKR was trying to illustrate that a guy and a girl can be partners/friends but not carry over into a romantic relationship,she didn't quite do her job. She created way too much symbolism for H/Hr that contradicts everything he told Ron,yet we're supposed to believe that (according to Harry) Hermione loves him as a brother.

Harry's speech to Ron was supposed to once and for all be closure to whether there was anything romantic between himself and Hermione. However when you read the chapters that Ron is absent from,it seems they work well without him. Harry tries to paint Ron the picture that Hermione spent most of the holidays pining away over Ron,. Correct me if I'm wrong,but it looked as though they got through Christmas pretty well without him. If Hermione had confirmed Harry's speech on page,I would have believed it and thought well I guess we were wrong to think otherwise. The way I see it and this could be just delusional thinking here,but since Hermione never told Harry whether she loved him as more than a friend,he only thought Ginny alone had romantic feelings for him. As stated in the essay,H/Hr were always at cross-purposes with eachother wanting to make Ron and Ginny happy,so they buried their feelings for eachother. It's a decent end to the story,but it doesn't make it any easier to read.

I've always thought that the Godric's Hallow chapter was Hermione and Harry taking a go at it. The whole taking off the invisibility quote b/c "no one knows who they are" kinda hot me as odd. And hte fact that they were so awkward when Ron left. They're relationship wasn't akward when Ron was absent in GOF. I ean it was akward to the point where they wouldn't touch each other (hold hands) for too long, or Harry didn't comfort her like he wanted to b/c he kept seeing Ron's face. That almost came off to me as he was gulty; but if he has no feelings whatsoeverl, why would he feel guilty. that reminded of the time I had a crush on one of my friends bfs. Me and him were very close before...but I wouldn't even let myself be too close to him b/c I felt guilty for liking her bf (does that make sense?)

And if Harry's never had any feelings for Hermione, why is she the only person that we've ever seen him have the urge to comfort. Harry doesn't seem like the type who's very comfortable w/ the whole touchy feely thing ( he's even kind of ehh (lack of better word) when Mrs Weasley showers him with affection) and he often seeks physical contact w/ Hermione. (in DH...he is like forever reaching for her hand or touching her...or thinking about her) And also in DH...Harry often thinks of Hermione in the beggining...her mentions her like 6 times I swear. How many times does he mention/ think about Ron or Ginny? Hmm, how about close to never! I mean, according to Freud, Harry's in love with Hermione on a subconcious level. Harry ostly only thinks of Ginny when she's physically there (wether she's brought up in convo, she's actually somewhere close to him, or...when she's there in...dot...form? (that's still so odd to me) Harry will just see a random object and think "Oh, Hermione would like that" or someone will do something cough*ron*cough "Hermione's more sensible than.." or something like that.

I'm just saying, in my personal experience, I tend to think about the person i like more than I'd ever admit...a lot more than i think about my friends. Hermione's voice is Harry's subconcious thought. She's also his conscience (in religion class I learned that it most cultures people see God as being their conscience /sunconcious. Now what is God, people? God=love... *shrugs shoulders*) I wonder if Harry had sex with Dane Cook would he still have married Ginny...or would he have married Hermione? (yay for Good Luck Chuck!!!)

everything padfoot wrote, well 90% of them were the thoughts I had and the rest was the ones which I missed during the time I started to lose my head because of the epiluoge. anyway padfoot made everything clear so I am really happy avutally overjoyed about the book and I can't wait to see the movie(actually how they will show the HHR thing) but the part which I'm looking forward to is the "silver doe" chapter oh god I can read the part over and over again it's soo adorable actually after reading this thread all of the book is adorable thx JKR for not letting us down:P*over joyed dancing and singing around the house*

All debates aside,lets get back to the essay and discuss why we loved the H/Hr canon moments they shared. The level of trust between H/Hr in this last book was very strong and it led to some really great interaction between them. The Godrics Hollow scene stands out as the strongest H/Hr scene in DH and possibly the entire series,because it's just the two of them visiting his parents grave. Not an ideal setting to set up a possible romance between them,but the simple fact that she's there with him and conjures the wreath for his parents made reading the book very worthwhile. I guess it's the simple things that she does for him,is the reason why we love the H/Hr pairing. As Padfoot pointed out in the essay,they have a beautiful relationship that goes beyond ordinary love and it's a very deep,soul-bonding union. Not to say that they don't find happiness in their marriages to Ron and Ginny,but Harmonians know that H/Hr are bonded for life.

I was gonna say that as well! No more debates! Time for the feel good stuff again! I love how we all just came to that conclusion at the same time lol.

I think its awesome that everything Harmonians predicted about Harry and Hermione's realationship came true in this book. (Except for the fact of them actualy getting together ).

Like a lot of people imagined another finishing-eachothers-sentances moment. A lot of people thought of a time where Hermione is trying to erase some of Harry doubts and wants to make sure he knows that someone loves him. I dont know about you guys, but I always had an inkling just Hermione would be there for the Godrics Hollow instance, of course I never kept my hopes high, but you can the shock when I read that chapter! Truley a culmination of all that is good in their realationship. Also what else...oh yes like every Harmonian predicted a Harry/Hermione moment at Bill and Fleurs wedding and we got that too! Yay! And also the head-brush thing was tottaly unexpected for me.

Those are some of the main things in the book. There were other squee worthy moments too like the "Harry, do you trust me?" moment.

Feel good talk people! Long overdue I'd say!

Nothin' wrong with that! I love some angst, but we've got to cheer up. It's over now and there's nowhere to go but up! Or pirate ship, whichever you prefer.

Everything that is H/Hr was in Godric's Hollow. The trust, the understanding, the silent conversations, the cute hand holding.... Beautiful chapter and imagery. Why does it seem she tried harder on that part than the reunion between Harry and his one True Love?

Good essay, Padfoot_Lives. Thanks for sharing.

I was glad to see that H/Hr's chemical wedding took place during Bill and Fleur's wedding at the Burrow. No words were needed as Hermione made her commitment to Harry just by beaming at him,when ministry official pronounced Bill and Fleur bonded for life,H/Hr were declared the same. I'll take a soul-bonding wedding over a fairytale wedding anyday. Padfoot said it best,"if ever there was a chemical wedding between Sulfur and Mercury in DH,this is it." Truer words were never spoken.

I don't care what he bloody epilouge is! I just care what happensthrough the whole book. about the points padfoot made clear I just love being delusional and harmionian thx for this thread padfoot I am overly happy about HHR thx a billion

Amen to that. The canon couples happend, but yeah, thats it they just sort of happened. I dont care about the outcome either, but by substance of realationship we have so much you know? People get disheartned by the fact that Harry and Hermione didnt happen as a final outcome, but if you read the books back again we have more than enough to enjoy. So yeah I just care about what happens in the series, not the four page epilouge.

More often than not,soulmate couples rarely get together towards the end of the book. So this shouldn't have surprised me how H/Hr ended showing them married to other people. That being said H/Hr were given some of the most beautiful imagery in DH and the Godrics Hollow to Life of Albus Dumbledore chapters,showed how strong their relationship is. He was devastated by the loss of his wand,yet he didn't want her to think he would be angry with forever about it. The level of trust between them remained a constant theme throughout the series and it's one of the many things I love about H/Hr. Sweet and simple,that's H/Hr. It doesn't get any better than that for me.

You forgot delusional, evil, and x-rated...DUH!

A song, if you will, that I thought would fit the general coarse of the essay...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUoEil40qZA...ted&search=

Really, I just can't get over the fact that Harry and Hermione have that bond...JK makes it obvious in canon, and padfoot did point out earlier, Herons argue that Ron stood between them, but the mere fact that he had to stand between them, shows that Harmony is simply an amazing relationship...

It's true that in retrospect, HH is a love story on a higher level...DH was a book of conflict between the feelings, and it was quite plain that Hermione wanted and desired to be with Harry...simultaneously, he grew to share those feelings for her...but what stopped them was indeed Ron Weasley and Ginny Weasley...the final canon relationships were average...in the sense that it could be better, but it could be worse...if given the choice and opportunity, both Harry and Hermione might trade up...

Their children, however, are a reason to keep a family together, even if the fallacy of the relationships has endured...I just think that there will always be this silent agreement and subtle attraction between Harry and Hermione...it's hidden, but intense, and the mere fact that Ron was worried about HH proves it...

Once again, the essay was brilliant, and I'm just replaying what you, padfoot, said; JK may have wanted her OBF(!@#$:######:)WF ending, but the dynamic she created simply does not go away, whatever she does...

Voldy ships H/Hr

I much prefer the substance of the Harry and Hermione dynamic to any other characters in the entire series. Deathly Hallows did have its moments where you had to kind fo scratch your head, but it did nothing to change my mind, that Harry and Hermione would have been the best outcome.

But, in life we rarely if ever get the best possible outcome...can't win the lotto every time you play, right?

This thread is still alive! Wow! I've just arrived at university, so I've been so incredibly busy that I can't even check Portkey more than once a week... so this is... um... a bit of a shock, really. But thank you, thank you, everyone! I'm so glad you've all found some encouragement with my essay!

Indeed:) In the younger generation in the HP series, Harry and Hermione ended up with the deepest male/female relationship (regardless of whether they "got together") that JKR bothered to SHOW us. I'm thinking of the end of the book (not the epilogue, ugh) right after Harry defeated Voldemort. Harry saw Ginny sitting with her family members and rather than joining them and telling the love of his life how relieved he is that she's okay, he decides he can wait to talk to her ("there would be hours, day, maybe even years"... almost as bad as the sunlit days ) because he has to see Hermione and Ron first. JKR didn't show us enough H/G in DH to convince me of Harry's undying love for Ginny, so rather than feeling like she's Harry's soulmate, I'm left feeling that she's his consolation prize for not ending up permanently dead. Just my opinion.

That's an interesting couple of examples of JKR showing rather than telling, and the showing illustrates clearly where Harry's priorities lie. It's amusing that in one interview she did she says 'in novels authors have to resist the urge to tell everything'. It's a pointed statement that 'telling everything' is important in her writing. One of life's great paradoxes is that she can subconsciously and unitentionally write the beauty that is harmony yet still conjure that dross that was HBP & DH. I believe it's studied in the Department of Mysteries....

Padfoot,

This is without a doubt the best analysis I have ever read. You put every point and little detail between the two of them, outlining there hidden love perfectly.

Their relationship sinks any canon ship.

For a Love Unspoken is the best love. And Harmony is just that

And the Padfoot dictionary, where can I buy one?

Kalin, thank you very much! And I'd be most happy to compile and post Padfoot's Portable Dictionary! :-)

Oh, and annearchy, I just saw the tagline(?) under your avatar!! "Unrepentant HUTKAFHHer"---I laughed so much! And I'm extremely flattered, too!

Oh that would be wonderful

Maybe a little late, but after keeping on the non-shipping side for years and years, I must board this ship. I spent yesterday reading every word of this essay, and after finishing it today, I gotta say it feels unreal that H/Hr didn't end up. I expected it after the first book, but considered myself fooled in GoF.

But seriously, Padfoot has made it clear that H/Hr was indeed a love story, even if it didn't play out as one expected in the end.

Your last post here, regarding how everyone seems to marry themselves into the Weasley family, is spot on. I've had the same thoughts about that more than once.

I registered just so I could reply to this. It was very well done, and the Graveyard scene from DH will forever be the most powerful scene I can remember from all of the books.

Again, well written essay.

Better Late than never

This essay was beautifully written and one of the reasons why I can feel at peace with how the book ended.

Now I love the weasleys but I too thought that it was kind of silly that EVERYONE falls in love with a weasley. I half expected her to tell us in an interview that Luna married a Weasley. Of course I guess she ran out of Weasleys.


now off topic, I want to welcome you to Portkey

I find it interesting that after DH we have seen a fair amount of previously non-shippers join our delusional ranks. So hop aboard matey and eat some pumpkiny goodness.

also you might want to intro yourself at This forum. We just love new members

Manda

Welcome to the ship and to Portkey! I haven't actually read the essay yet; I just skimmed it to insert the "previous/next part" links and to see which replies should be removed, at least temporarily.

As Manda said, feel free to introduce yourself in the Wrestle the Troll forum.

Not to turn this into a debate,but I think it's kind of up to the interpretation that Hermione is deeply in love with Ron(as JKR wants us to believe),since we didn't see her say that she did in print. Hopedreamer said in another thread in a mini-essay that the Weasleys could be looked upon as a royal family and that both Harry and Hermione were like a prince and princess,who married more out of duty rather than based entirely on love. Although I have to agree that JKR's vision of an ideal family that everyone marries a Weasley in order to have a happy life, is not only unrealistic but one of the lamest endings in literary history. I'm just glad we have essays like this that remind us what true love really is and it's not marrying every member of the same family.

You are right. It is down right weird. I found on JKR's website behind the door her 'FAMILY TREE' she made with Molly and Arthur at the top. The KING and QUEEN.

The Six Weasley sons are the princes and Ginny is the princess.

She followed her FAMILY TREE to the letter and may have made it when she first started the Harry Potter series.

Yet if she was using that Family Tree as an outline for her story for her relationships then Hopedreamer is right. The Weasleys ARE the royal family of the wizarding world.

They were the only family she had a well drawn out Family Tree, unlike the Black family tree which pretty much DIED. There are no more Blacks.

So it seems that the Black Family was once the Royal Family. The most ancient and noble house of Black.

And she killed it. All that was left are the Weasleys. There are what 100,000 wizards and witches at the Quidditch World cup. So out of those thousands that attended, not to mention all over the world (Krum), the Weasleys are at the center of the Wizarding World. It is like they are the NEW BLOOD grafting on Half-Bloods, Muggleborns, Part Veela, Metamorphs, etc.

It is thier tree that is the strongtest. Stonger than Voldmorts, Stronger than the Potters, muggles, etc.

Man! Might as well call the Harry Potter series the Weasley Chronicles! It would make more sense.

~Rockgod30

Well, I think it is definitely worthwhile. As to legal, I'd just have to guess. JKR and her publishers seem to have been pretty tolerant up till now, as long as everything is kept on the Internet. They only got huffy when the HP encyclopedia people proposed to publish their "research" in book form and sell it.

There have been several complete finishes to the HP Canon by fanfic writers who were impatient waiting for JKR to finish the Canon, most notably Barb Purdom's "Psychic Serpent" trilogy (Books 5, 6 and 7), and not a peep out of JKR. Rewriting JKR's work, of course would be different, but I'd certainly like to see someone try it. And, what the heck, start with HBP, delete the Harry-kisses-Ginny scene, and let Harry and Hermione get together alone after the famous Ron/Lavender scene. Go for it!

I don't hang out in the forums, but I am so glad I've spent the last hour reading your quote-by-quote analysis of DH. I think you are absolutely spot-on that h/hr's aborted romance is the tragedy of the book. Your thought that Harry literally shoved Ron at Hermione after Ron returned to them because it was the perfect opportunity to make sure she was going to have someone after he, Harry, was dead was like a light in the forest. We tend to forget that Harry harbored that notion throughout the book, really, since the ending of OOTP. He (JKR, actually) doesn't say it often, but it's there, hovering over his head.

The way he says it, the way he doesn't look at anyone where he deliberately lies to Ron about being Hermione being his sister--absolutely correct.

And then he settles for Ginny.

Marvelous literary analysis! Thanks so much.

fixed quote tags. - gal-texter

Hi Abigail89. Welcome to Portkey!

I'm so glad to hear that you took the time to read Padfoot's essay. She did a wonderful job, didn't she? Made me feel a lot better about the final book, knowing that we could look at it that way.

Again, welcome. Hope to see you on the forums!

H/Hr forever!

Hi abigail89, welcome!

Everyone, I've brought back some of the old reactions to Padfoot's essay here.

Welcome to Portkey,Abigail89! I'm so glad you took the time to read the wonderful essay Padfoot_Lives wrote and it actually made me laugh at some of the scenes that could be looked upon as anti-H/Hr. Her essay was instrumental in showing that you have to look past the OBWF smokescreen and see that H/Hr's relation was the best in the series,although it's very tragic. I would hope more and more people discover the essay and get as much enjoyment out it as the rest of us have.

I'm not sure how I never got around to reading Padfoot_Lives' essay, but I just did recently, and it really gave me a different perspective on DH and the series as a whole. Makes me want to reread the book again with that perspective in mind.

And welcome to Portkey abigail89! I'm glad I took the time to read it too. I've heard a lot about it, but never got around to reading it. Anyway, I hope you decide to stick around the forums!

--Sabrina

Hi All, have just joined up here

want to say a HUGE thanks to padfoot_lives for the Kindred spirits essay, have just finished reading it and loved it Squee! only wish that H/hr ended up together

With all that was written in DH i dont understand where JK was going with it all! i certainly dont know any siblings like she claims them to be like.

I also hope many more stumble upon this essay as I am so glad that i did

Welcome Dani! Always great to see another H/Hr shipper on board!

padfoot_lives' essay should be required reading for all of us including the non-Harmony shippers as they need to know where we H/Hr shippers are coming from!

H/Hr is in canon baby!

I agree,Padfoot_Lives essay should be recommended reading for any H/Hr shipper who had given up on them. Her essay proves that they loved eachother despite outside circumstances that couldn't fully destroy their soul-bonded relationship. I had just finished reading DH when I discovered the essay and I'm glad I did or else I would have been like some other misguided Harmonians and let the OBWF shippers think they have a victory over us. Seeing as we're still here and will continue to love H/Hr,I think we still have a strong argument as to why H/Hr was the best written ship in the series. I hope more people will read the essay and see that as beautifully tragic as H/Hr is,OBWF is small by comparison.