Harry Potter TV Series
Also, I never really saw Harry as the jock captain of the football team type. But that again could be a movie vs. book kind of thing. But, frankly, if he really was that type I probably would not have liked him as a character.
Yep, Harry Potter was captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts in his sixth year. But that's kind of my point. Harry IS the football star on campus but HP isn't Americanized. I think on a subconscious level though that's where some of the Harry/Hermione stuff comes from. Our desire to put together the seemingly perfect choices for Prom Queen and King.
In the books, the dynamics between all three are move obvious. Especially in the way the friends would argue. When Harry and Hermione argue (or Harry and Ron for that matter), they have it out and sometimes it got ugly. Then they would resolve it, and hug it out. When Ron and Hermione argue it’s a knock-down, drag-out fight that ends with Hermione stomping away in frustration and tears and Ron turning into a moody mess. There was always underlying tension to their fights. Of course Hermione figured out long before either of the boys did why that was. And then I think Harry figured it out and wisely said, "yeah, I ain't getting in it, either they figure it out or not, I ain't touching it." Eventually though, Ron catches up too. And once they finally figured it out, it's like a cloud is lifted and they live happily ever after.
I love that Harry and Hermione can have this beautiful friendship and it's just that. Boys and girls, men and women CAN have incredible platonic relationships. It's one of the things I really like about the series. A young adult series that didn't devolve into a love triangle is absolutely refreshing. And again on the American sensibility side, we know the movie formula. Star of the movie Guy and leading girl go through life or death situation, when they come out excited that they're alive, "oh wait, were we kissing? I just realized I love you. Let's have sex cause we've bonded through this trauma!"