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Note: All quotes taken from pages in the American versions of the books. No quotes have been altered to fit the Harry/Hermione shipper perspective. Seeing [...] only means that I've omitted parts of text that have nothing to really do with the main point of the quote, or that the quote goes on for too long for our purposes.
The Prisoner of Azkaban "Wow, Hermione!" Hermione still manages to surprise Harry, despite how he think he knows her. She didn't buy him something she would want for herself, but got him what she really thought he'd like. She knows just what would make him happy. "I don't think it looks like a Grim," she said flatly. Hermione thought Trelawney was ridiculous and how Harry was being treated was unfair. She's the only one to stand up for him, even when it meant back-talking a teacher -- something Hermione would never normally do -- and possibly paying for it in her grades. But she does it without hesitation. Hermione is normally very sensitive to Harry's feelings and this moment is no different. She doesn't even need him to speak to know how disappointed he is to be listening to everyone talking about the Hogsmeade weekend. Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot. It's obvious that Hermione was beside herself with worry about Harry falling from his broom. Her eyes were bloodshot, as though she's been crying and was exhausted with fear. Harry is beginning to realize he has a certain sway with Hermione. He's using his charm to get out of being in trouble with her. He knows she would never report him. Hermione's first thought is of Harry's safety when he recieves the Firebolt. She sees past all the excitement immediately to think about Harry, as she always does. Hermione would rather Harry be angry at her than to see him injured in any way. Because of this, she risks losing her friends to save his life. She knows how hurt Harry would be, but she does it anyway because she cares about him. Despite being upset with her, Harry still seeks out Hermione and takes notice of her appearance and demeanor. He's worried about her even though he doesn't want to be. Harry hates not speaking to Hermione; it's driving him crazy. He hates not being able to talk to her, even though he wants to. I think Harry was genuinely upset with Hermione for a short time, but only kept it going because Ron kept prodding him about it. It's almost like Harry was trying to prove he could go a few days without speaing to her. But if you read through the entire time that they weren't speaking, Harry is often looking over at her in the common room, he's noticing where she is at night, taking notice of what she's doing... if you're really angry with someone you don't care. Fighting with Hermione always tends to leave Harry just wanting to be around her more than any other time. He takes notice of her more when he's fighting with her than at any other moment when they're still speaking. "I suppose so," said Hermione, pushing a great stack of parchment off a chair. Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still gleaming, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay ("Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity") and at the rune translation Hermione was now pouring over. "How are you getting through all this stuff?" Harry asked her. "Oh, well -- you know-- working hard," said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin. Harry is happy to make up with Hermione. He's missed her. And he's worried enough about her to notice how exhausted she looks. He keeps trying to force her into a conversation about how she's getting through everything, and tries to get her to drop a few subjects, despite her argument that she's fine - he knows she's not. He's worried about her. "Did you even come to the match?" he ask her. [...] "Come on, Hermione, come and have some food," Harry said, [...] Hermione burst into tears. Before Harry could say or do anything, she tucked the enormous book under her arm, and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight. "Can't you give her a break?" Harry asked Ron quietly. "No," said Ron flatly. Harry couldn't really enjoy the party. He noticed that Hermione was sitting in a corner by herself. He left the party to try and persuade her to join him. He missed her and knew something was wrong. He was getting tired of Ron bashing her at every chance he could and told him to back off. It's a testiment to how much Harry cares about Hermione that he confronted Ron about his behavior; Harry rarely makes waves with Ron unless absolutely necessary. "Can you hear someone talking, Harry?" growled Ron, not looking at Hermione. "Ron, how can you let him go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you? I mean it, I'll tell --" Poor Hermione. She's having a really rough time with all her schoolwork, helping Hagrid, and now her own friends are treating her badly. She cares so much about Harry that she's willing to have Harry hate her for getting him in trouble if it means he's stays safe. She won't allow Ron's anger, or even Harry's frustration, to deter her from how she feels. That's love, people! "You're going to be fine," Hermione told him, though she looked positively terrified. Hermione can often read Harry's mind. She knows just by looking at him that he's nervous even though he's trying to hide it. Hermione has always been able to read Harry when no one else can. "You -- you tap it and say, 'Dissendium,'" said Harry. "But --" Hermione didn't wait for the rest of his sentence; she strode across the room, pushed open the Fat Lady's portrait and vanished from sight. Hermione didn't care about the consequences to herself in getting Harry's cloak back. He was shocked that she'd break the rules so easily, but impressed at the same time. Throughout the entire book, Hermione puts herself in harm's way trying to help Harry -- which is a theme throughout all of the books. Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm again. [...] Hermione's grip on Harry's arm was so tight he was losing feeling in his fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded again and let go. There are so many moments in all of the books where Hermione grabs Harry's arm when she's scared or nervous. I think this is a good moment because it shows that Hermione gains strength from Harry. I don't see it as Hermione being weak and having to hold on to Harry becuse she's scared, but more as Hermione gathering her strength from physical contact with Harry. Like she needs to remind herself that he's there with her and she isn't alone. It's funny that a werewolf is going mad, Sirius is fighting him in dog form, Ron is in danger, and yet the only thing that snaps Harry back is Hermione's scream. Like his entire being is very aware of her, and her alone. The entire Time-Turner scene was fantastic. Harry and Hermione, working together as they always do at the end of the book, as Harry retold what he'd thought he'd seen. He was nervous to tell Hermione about seeing his father doing the Patronus. But she sat and listened and offered advice. She didn't judge, she didn't make him feel bad. What really makes this moment, though, is how Hermione, knowing Harry so well, was silent. She saw him struggling with the memory of seeing his father. She looked away toward the Willow and let him grieve without prodding him or embarrassing him. And Harry was thankful. I also really like the wording JK uses to describe a lot of Harry and Hermione's scenes together in this book. Along with the scene in the hospital, and many other scenes, Harry and Hermione are almost romanticized in many scenes. Describing the moonlight falling over Hermione as Harry looked at her, or how the leaves blew around them as they waited here. I also think, and this is just my opinion, that Dumbledore wants Harry and Hermione to get closer. He's always getting them in situations together. He seems to want them to work together as much as possible. This may not be romantic; he may just know that Harry has a big fight ahead of him and Hermione is going to be one of his biggest champions. But he seems to know that Harry needs Hermione and her strong-willedness as much as Harry, sometimes, seems to fight against it. This scene was just a wonderful moment between Harry and Hermione, sitting alone together.
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