Read this post. I just spent half an hour looking for it.

 

Sorry, but I don't agree with a lot of points made by PomMan.
1. Feeling jealous about Harry's fame/money is OK, but turning on your supposed best friend instead of giving him benefit of doubt (especially if the said friend never lied to you, never acted like he liked his fame, and you owe him for saving your sister's life) IS a betrayal.
2. Yes, Harry tends to keep things bottled, but keep pushing and he'll explode. Something tells me that one incidend like he had in Dumbledore office is enough for Hermione to start thinking.
3. Actually, Ginny trying to boss Harry around is more believable than Hermione doing the same. She'll just emulate her mother who was doing the same to Arthur until he ended up as a completely henpecked husband.
4. You really have low opinion on Harry if you think he'll start sleeping with random women to hurt Hermione. That's what probably what Ron could do (I don't think he was completely ignorant that he was hurting Hermione by flaunting his relationship with Lavender). Harry will more likely find a reason to start traveling to get away from Hermione and his arguments with her.

 

This article pretty much pwns the Harry/Hermione ship. The tl;dr is that half the time he feels annoyed by Hermione to the point of chronically lying to her, and it really shows their relationship in a gloomy light.

Also, in my opinion, Luna is the only girl in canon that Harry could enjoy being romantically involved with in the long term.

 

Every person who writes a good stories which includes a well executed Harry / Fem!Riddle is added to my list of deities.

 

Obviously, the best girl for Harry is Daphne. Her characterization is so exceptional that it makes it evident she's the only girl able to show Harry who are his real friends and who is spying on him on the count of DumbleBee.
[/Indy!Goten]

More seriously, we don't have much choice. There are only one and a half girls actually characterized in the series: Hermione and Ginny (half). Hermione and Harry would not work for a whole lot of reasons explained in the post linked by Radmar, and Ginny is basically characterized by the fact she is the right girl for him. Canon being canon, she is.

The only thing we know about Fleur is that she's French, and like all French people stereotypes, she's gorgeous, arrogant and superficial. That's hardly enough to decide if she's the best girl for anyone. Now if we're talking about the best wet dream for Harry she's a strong candidate.

 

Luna ia weirdo. The last thing Harry needs is a girlfriend who says and thinks stupid stuff, wanders about aimlessly and talks complete garbage, considering that he's got a bit of a bloody job on his hands.

 

I think there are a lot of evidence in the books that Luna are much more than her 'Looney' facade. The comforting speech she gave him in the end of OotP, or creating a diversion so Harry could slip away at the end of DH are one of many proofs.

 

Are you sure you've actually read the books and not just fanfiction?

 

Harry/Luna. I remember being so happy when he asked her to Slughorn's party, only to have my hopes dashed (I had liked them together since the previous book).

 

Man, I would read the shit out of a fic about Harry's marriage with Hermione falling apart because of the reasons listed on Radmar's link.


Edit:

Harry/Blank Slate all the way

 

I honestly don't see why Harry/Ginny is such a bad thing. I mean, in canon it sucks because it comes right the fuck out of nowhere, but I really can't recall Ginny having any negative qualities. (And no, crushing on a guy when she was 10 does not sodding count.)

Harry/Hermione wouldn't work until both of them grow the fuck up. Once they have, and we do see some hints of this towards book 7 (kinda) then maybe.

Harry/Luna. If only she wasn't so damn hard to write. If only. She's sweet, brave and tough. A bit crazy, yeah, but shit happens.

I don't know why Tonks or Fleur wouldn't work, as such. The problem isn't how their relationship would WORK, it's how it would happen at all. The answer to which is, it generally wouldn't, but trying is fun. xD

 

I don't see how the Harry/Ginny romance in canon comes "right the fuck out of nowhere". There is a clear buildup to it from the start.

Ginny starts off someone who is in awe of the Boy Who Lived, having heard stories about him right from birth. Her crush is shown to be shallow, and as such Harry could never like her.

In GoF And OOTP (mostly the latter) she becomes Harry's friend. Now that she's come out of her shell, Harry finds her fun to be around. Later she fights in the DoM, proving to be a strong person in her own right. Meanwhile, Harry dates and breaks up with Cho, who is pretty, plays Quidditch and cries all the time, and that's all Harry knows about her.

In HBP, Harry spends a lot of time with her in the Burrow and comes to really like her. Unfortunately, she's unavailable at the moment. Stuff happens, Harry gleefully breaks up her relationship with Dean with a little help from Felix felicis, and they get together in the end.

Honestly, I'm a bit unsure as to what people were expecting from the canon romance. It was a teenage romance in a series which was never about romance. Were people expecting an entire book devoted to it with passionate declarations of love or something?

As to why people some dislike Ginny, I imagine very little of it is due to her canon personality. Mostly, fans of other pairings (mostly 'Harmonians') were determined to hate her and actually did hate her Pre-OoTP, which is amusing for obvious reasons. The HP fandom on the Internet was increasing in popularity, and the Internet being the Internet, it all sort of snowballed from there to Love Potions, evil Weasleys and whatnot.

 

I think the Ginny romance was missing some sort of key scene when she would surprise Harry with a moment of awesomeness.

Luna gave him that moment by saying the right thing to him when he was despairing from the loss of Sirius. Luna also provides key emotional support in the last book when Harry can't find a memory to fuel his Patronus- these are 'power of love' moments that were essentially misdirected, if JKR was committed to making Ginny meaningful to Harry beyond 'wow she's hot and funny'.

It's why I'm with Ashaya thinking Harry/Luna was the strongest contender. Luna seems a more spiritually significant fit for Harry.

 

The Harry/Ginny romance blossomed when Ginny beats out Cho for the Snitch while Harry is in detention with Snape. Harry was obsessing over the fact that he wasn't going to get to play in the last game of the season, and Ginny, essentially, won the Quidditch cup for him. That was the key scene.

Should there have been more? Yes, but there's a bit to go on. She sits down with Harry when he's freaked out about his Volde-dreams, and the Egg, and helps him with both. She's cute, quirky, and caring, and always sticks up for what she believes in. She makes friends easily, she's probably one of the best in her class, she's built athletically but pretty enough to even make Slytherins notice.

She shares more than a few common experiences with Harry, not the least a death-defying, soul-crushing scenario when she was very young and already hero-worshipping him. I think that is where our problems rest with Harry/Ginny; she starts out as a fangirl, and we just can't see someone who stuck her elbow in the butter dish as fanciable. It doesn't help her character's case that her actress pales in comparison looks-wise to Hermione, Lavender, Cho, Parvati and Padma, Luna, Fleur, Nymphadora and many more.

 

I think the problem with Harry/Luna is that Harry never understood Luna. Accepted, yes -- it is one of Harry's most admirable qualities that he would accept anyone as a friend, but he never understood her and was totally baffled when Luna wasn't bothered in the least about her bullying. Sure, Luna can be surprisingly insightful at times, but can Harry spend his life with someone he can't really understand?

I mean, compare Harry and Rolf Scamander, who supposedly went Globetrotting with Luna looking for weird creatures. Can you imagine Harry and Luna going on a Snorcack hunt with it sounding condescending on Harry's part?

I like to think that Luna operates outside the norms, and she could never be attracted to someone as normal as Harry. She would pair best with someone as eccentric as her.

 

You've obviously never read https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2390865/1/Lovegood-Boobs-Gooder

 

Don't you think Harry learned his lesson after Thestrals and especially Deathly Hallows not to dismiss the possible existence of Luna's creatures?

Normal? Harry isn't exactly normal after everything that hppened to him.

 

But all he ever wants to have is a 'normal life', which Post-Voldemort is what he gets I suppose.

 

B-but you ship Harry/Daphne in your WBA fic!

---------- Post automerged at 09:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 PM ----------

I must disagree.

Being a Dark Wizard Catcher is hardly 'normal'.

Then again, his other skill is being good at flying on a broomstick, and a professional Quidditch career wouldn't be normal either.