Harry and Hermione’s relationship find new ground in Deathly Hallows, with the chapters around Ron’s leaving and Godric’s Hollow being a particularly important transition point. Their fight in the Life and Lies and the way it ends is I especially love.
They are alone in the middle of nowhere and the very foundations of everything they have ever believed in has come crashing down their ears. If there is one thing Harry and Hermione had shared in Deathly Hallows so far, it is the faith that Dumbledore was leading them in the right path. They might diverge in their interpretations or which instructions they decide to prioritize, but they are united in their faith in Dumbledore.
Finding out that Dumbledore was almost no better than the Death Eaters was earth-shattering to Harry. Everything he thought he knew about the man was wrong, and he feels so lost and betrayed at the lack of confidence. Hermione, on the other hand, is showing her characteristic loyalty and defending Dumbledore still. Their conversation is tense, and they find no resolution.
I really love the framing of this argument. They are on the top of a hilltop, surrounded by so much snow. There is no one for miles on each side, and so they fight it out to their heart’s content. It is just the two of them surrounded by so much nothingness. They are standing meters apart, Dumbledore’s biography smackdab in the middle of them, a mark of the fissure between them. It was a tense fight and a profoundly lonely scene, and the imagery does not pull its punches.
And then the scene ends. Harry sits back down. Hermione moves to go back inside the tent.
But before the chapter closes, we get this:
She picked up the book and then walked back past him into the tent, but as she did so, she brushed the top of his head lightly with her hand. He closed his eyes at her touch, and hated himself for wishing that what she said was true: that Dumbledore had really cared.
The narrative moves from a bird’s eye-view highlighting their loneliness and division to Harry savoring Hermione’s touch. It is intimacy despite the loneliness, and Harry is leaning into her comfort despite himself. In a scene that was so careful to paint isolation and division, it ends with uncharacteristic closeness. Hermione is still there for Harry, and Harry takes comfort in her presence even as the world falls down around him.
The contrast between the isolation and intimacy was so masterfully done, and it highlighted wonderfully just how complicated yet safe their relationship is - even at their worst moments.
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