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OotP: A Terrible Weight Lessened |
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Harry & Luna grownup by flying_tunafish |
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WIt Beyond Measure by Lady Aeryn |
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Off the Record, by Ladyknyght. Harry finds Luna's not one to kiss and tell...
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(in)sanely connected: the harry & luna fanlisting |
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"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," said Luna, once again displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty. "You are cool," said Harry shortly. "None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me." "That's a very nice thing to say," beamed Luna. --Half-Blood Prince |
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POTTY & LOONY >> WHY HARRY/LUNA?
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Okay, I'll admit it. I was not a Harry/Luna shipper on first read of OotP - or even the second. I loved Luna as a character, but I was still a devoted Harry/Hermione shipper. Some part of me thought that if it couldn't be H/Hr, H/L would be a tolerable second option, though I honestly didn't think much of it.
It was Half-Blood Prince that made me a Harry/Luna shipper. Not just the cute moments like the "date" to Slughorn's party, but - apologies to any visiting Harry/Ginny fans - I found I didn't care at all for the side of Harry that came out in the H/G relationship the way it was executed in HBP. A Harry willing to forsake his closest friends no matter how vicious Ginny was to them simply because he was lusting after her, and who didn't ever seem to give any consideration to what Ginny herself might be feeling or thinking.
Looking back through HBP, I realized many of the moments where I still saw the Harry I loved were his moments with Luna. She somehow still brought out the best side of him. The Harry who was willing to defend his friends against perceived slights, the Harry who showed genuine compassion for another person's well-being.
So I looked even closer at that odd little Ravenclaw girl. This was a girl who'd helped him to open up about Sirius' death when even his closest friends couldn't get him to talk, and who Harry managed to feel genuine sympathy for despite his own grief and stubborn self-centered anger (I definitely don't see the "pity" he feels for her in the bulletin board scene as a bad thing - it's the first time since Sirius' death he manages to look outside himself and feel compassion for someone else's misfortune). She doesn't even actively try to bring out this side of Harry, it just comes naturally by interacting with her.
And just as much as I think Luna is a great girl for Harry, I think he is the best choice out there for her. HBP proved (contrary to several nasty theories) that Harry does indeed enjoy spending time with Luna, and doesn't have any concern over what people think about people seeing him with her. He does not mock Luna for her eccentricities - he accepts them more than any other character we've seen, and even sometimes enjoys them and defends them.
Where he is angry and hot-headed, she is serene. They both understand what it's like to be mocked and ridiculed as an outcast, and what it is like to deal with witnessing the death of a loved one. She is honest and straightforward and doesn't shy away from telling him when she thinks he's wrong (but does it by not getting angry back at him and driving his temper even higher), and has the ability to constantly surprise Harry without completely sending his life into upheaval, which I think would be a pleasant change of pace for him if he survives the war.
The relationship does not "change" either of them - it brings out the compassionate side of Harry, and it gives Luna someone who can accept her for who she is and not force her to undergo some drastic makeover. Regardless of whether their relationship turns romantic or not in Book 7, I'll always cherish that about their friendship.
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Want to share your own reasons for loving Harry/Luna?
Check out the "How Did You Become a H/L Shipper?" page.