How about we just go back to nominating cool fics instead of having a pointless shipper bitch?

I rec Midnight Blues. The story is hardly a romance but Harry and Hermione's relationship is interesting. There are some nice interactions between the two and while it hasn't happened yet I expect the two to bang by the end of the fic.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9121877/1/Midnight-Blues

 

Wow, this discussion wandered impressively off topic. Not entirely sure that one is allowed to "revive" such a completely shot thread as this, but, hoping against hope that some people might still have a few actual recommendations to make, let me put forward a few of my own. First off, let's all agree that writers such as robst, canoncansodoff and chem prof belong firmly back in the 2000s, along with Lynney, Gabilian, schlamboozle, Full Pensieve and madscientist (enjoyable in a nostalgically portkey-ish sort of way though these last may be) and are, besides, full of formulaic and derivative rubbish. Good H/Hr is an absolutely rare narcotic and must be savored; let's please everyone from now on refrain from posting such vulgar recommendations.

I don't care so much about plot when reading about Harry and Hermione; what's important to me is the prose, the atmosphere and the respect paid to their respective characters. In that spirit, here are the very few I would unequivocally urge you all to read:

-Stanrick is an absolute joy to read, his most enjoyable stuff probably being Thresholds and Hearts on Detour. He's a florid and extravagant writer, whose characters sound more like books than like people, so no points for realism, and his characters are a little too mature for their age, but sometimes it's nice to read about people who allegedly think a lot from someone who actually does appear to think a lot. Geniuses written by nitwits and trolls are somehow off-putting.

-Potato19, also thoroughly enjoyable though her plots oftentimes stretch the limits of credulity: particularly liked the WIP called I'm Not the Only One, but she's written a whole stock of good stuff

-Taliesin19 and her A Memoir, written as a sort of companion to canon from Hermione's point of view. It's comparable to Annerb's A Changeling, in that canon is strictly respected but you never one have the slightest feeling of canon-rehash: it's so well thought-out and planned-out that it just fleshes canon out in an incredibly satisfying way. unfortunately it was abandoned just as it was running out of canon, which is a bit of a pity. Not really romance either, I should point out, now that I think of it. Or at least not yet.

-Lorien829, actually of portkey, but she writes really well and, though Hermione is often thrust centre-stage to the detriment of Harry, her stories are all very well-paced and -plotted. This is older stuff.

-Obsidian Warlock's The Meaning of Father, which is totally un-DLP in that it features a clearly super-powered Hermione, but also a uniquely mesmerising relationship between the two, which I haven't seen elsewere. Should warn that it goes completely off the reservation at the end though. Also less recent than the first three.

 

I've recently gotten in the mood for H/Hr fanfics again (I come back to it from time to time), and I feel like I have to start at least 30 fics before I can find one that is good enough to keep reading and give me exactly what I want... which, coincidentally, is the same Stan is looking for. I'd be happy if I could find more fics with everything he asked for.

So, I'm happy to say I found at least two, which in my opinion are very very good!

One if "Need and Want" by chocfrgs4brkfst. Harry comes to a realization in the summer between 5th and 6th year. I thought H and Hr were very in character, the story is well written, Ron is a bit uncomfortable with their relationship but in a to-be-expected natural kind of way. It's a short fic and I wish the author would write more in this universe. It's completed, though.

The other fic that had me OBSESSED for a while is "Fulfilling Obligations" by forbiddenharmony7. It's canon compliant, and it's about what happened in the 19 years before the epilogue starting at the end of the battle of Hogwarts. I think there are some errors in spelling like "their" instead of "they're", but nothing that takes the merit off the story and characterization. I think this story could well be Canon... I love Harry and Hermione's interactions, Ron and Ginny are well-written 3 dimensional characters, the events unfolding make sense... it's still unfinished, but the author replied to my review and assured me it'd be completed. The summary says it has 2 more chapters to go before it's done. I wish it was more.

Anyways, I'll be following this thread, hopefully more good quality H/Hr fics will pop up!

 

Read Full filling Obligations and it's a surprisingly decent read. Zero bashing or anything majorly OOC.

The first few chapters are fairly hairy but once it settles into a rythym I found myself dreading it coming to a conclusion.

4/5 simply because it's well written and I enjoyed it quite a lot.