@magpiefngrl invited everyone to talk about their favorite rare pairs, and I have to represent for my little pool-noodle ship, Hermione/Luna. They're my beloved neurodivergent sapphic ship.
I’m fascinated by the time they spent sharing a bedroom in Shell Cottage. Luna had been held in a lightless cellar for three months, and Hermione had been tortured almost unto death and then had a chandelier dropped on her. Canon would have us believe they were both on an even keel again after a hot meal and a good night’s sleep. Like hell they were. There were certainly weeks of late-night tears and whispered conversations. I’m sure they shared a bed. They were already confidantes and comrades in arms. At Shell Cottage, I think they were each other’s true sanctuary within the refuge of the cottage.
I HC Luna as being stimmy and echolalic when she’s not hiding it; Luna needed space to relax and act in the ways that are natural to her after months of confinement. Hermione needed space to feel her exhaustion, her fear, her ambivalence, and her injury, without anyone worrying or offering a well-intentioned pep talk. As Hermione and Luna shared that room, I believe they both grew and healed. They offered each other radical acceptance. Luna could express herself without meeting mockery and impatience, and Hermione was able to be unsteady without judgement. In the language of neurodiversity, they could stop masking.
And I do believe it's Hermione-slash-Luna rather than only Hermione-ampersand-Luna:
I think Luna is aroace, but she also enjoys trying new things just to see what will happen. For science. My blorbo song for Luna is Robert Palmer’s “Hey Julia” for the line “I sure would like to handle what’s between your ears."
Nobody can learn their own sexual responses from a book, and, as in Hermione’s first flying lesson, there’s nothing for it but to just step up and give it a try in the moment. She needs an early partner who is kind and observant but fundamentally chill with whatever happens or doesn’t happen. She needs someone with no ego wrapped up in Hermione's responses, so she can try anything, and stop anything, with no pressure to perform in order not to hurt someone’s feelings.
The only works tagged Hermiuna on Tumblr are those I’ve written myself. It’s all poetry and a drabble so far until I finish the second fic in my Brightest Witch series:
Sonnet for the femslash theme “bed sharing"
Sonnet for the femslash theme “love songs"
Smutsgiving drabble
Pantoum: Tea at Dawn