When a fictional world is packed with characters as rich and complex as Harry Potter, the shipping potential is endless. And whether a couple is canon or not, fans have crafted endless stories around their favorite connections from the series. Sites like AO3 are home to tales for everyone from Harry and Ron to Crookshanks and Hedwig.
Some are more bizarre than others and a few less age-appropriate matches are omitted here. However, those with the most stories on the site all have one thing in common. These are the pairings that highlight which characters and dynamics resonate most with the Harry Potter fandom, and show what — if anything — they wish had been different about the source material.
10 Lucius Malfoy & Narcissa Malfoy
Despite playing critical roles in the series — especially towards the end — Lucius and Narcissa rarely appear in scenes together. However, it’s the story behind the scenes that leaves fans most intrigued.
Both come from wealthy wizarding bloodlines and could easily have entered into a loveless arranged marriage like that of Narcissa’s sister, Bellatrix, but didn’t. Narcissa is deeply upset when Lucius is imprisoned, and they ultimately put their family above Voldemort’s cause by fleeing the fight in Deathly Hallows: Part 2. This is a relationship complicated by prestige and questionable morals, which is exactly what makes it so compelling.
9 Scorpius Malfoy & Albus Potter
From the moment fans discovered Scorpius and Albus were in the same year at Hogwarts, shipping ensued. As the sons of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, the pair serve as wish-fulfillment of what could have happened between their fathers in a wizarding world free of pure-blood supremacy.
And that was all before anyone knew they’d even spoken to each other. With the release of the play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, came confirmation that Scorpius and Albus are, to the shock of their parents, best friends. While Scorpius is shown to have romantic feelings towards Ron and Hermione’s daughter, Rose, the idea of him and Albus overcoming their complex family legacies to unite is far more interesting.
8 Hermione Granger & Harry Potter
There’s no denying that Harry probably wouldn’t have made it through a single year at Hogwarts without Hermione’s friendship and talents. Even though Harry insists that he loves Hermione like a sister, some fans argue that it makes more sense for their bond to be romantic.
This is understandable. Hermione definitely knows how to navigate Harry’s emotions better than most, and even JK Rowling herself admits, as reported by The Times, that the scene in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 where they dance in the tent (which isn’t in the books) articulated her thoughts on the potential for more between the pair. There are diehard shippers for Harry with just about every character, but those who prefer to write Harry and Hermione as soulmates definitely have more canon material to work with than most.
7 Harry Potter & Tom Riddle
Yes, Harry and Voldemort spend the entire series trying to kill each other, but isn’t that just the basis of any quality enemies-to-lovers story?
The majority of fan fiction centered on this ship features a younger Tom Riddle before his Voldemort days, which makes the dynamic much more palatable. Riddle’s memory in Chamber of Secrets notes the “strange likenesses” between himself and Harry — from their looks and backgrounds to their twin wand cores and ancestry — so it’s easy to see why so many craft tales around what this connection could have been in an alternate wizarding universe.
6 Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley
Harry and Ginny have a slow and sweet friends-to-lovers arc in the books, but not so much in the films. Very few of their canonical romantic moments were adapted to the big screen, with the bulk of Ginny’s appearances and dialogue cut in general.
While there’s still a lot of interest in the pairing, missing out on key details like their connection over Quidditch, witty banter, and shared dark history with Voldemort and possession definitely hurt their popularity. They still make the top 10, but a more book-accurate depiction could have sent them even higher up the list.
5 Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy
This is another controversial pairing. Mocking her looks, Muggleborn heritage, and know-it-all personality, the way Draco treats Hermione is one of the worst things he does in the entire series. Considering she punches him in the face in Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione isn’t exactly his biggest fan.
Still, the potential for a classic enemies-t0-lovers story is hard to ignore. Draco is already a complex antagonist in canon, but seeing him unlearn his inherited prejudices would have added a whole other layer to his character. While it seems more unrealistic that Hermione would forgive him for bullying her for seven years, stranger ships have happened.
4 Hermione Granger & Ron Weasley
Even though Harry is the main character of the franchise, it was the romance between his two best friends that took center stage. Proof that opposites attract, Hermione and Ron bicker throughout most of their teenage years. Even though it’s obvious from Goblet of Fire onwards that there’s something more between the two, it takes until the Battle of Hogwarts for the pair to finally act on their feelings.
Yet sadly, fans never really got to see their relationship in action. After all that tension, Hermione and Ron are only briefly seen together after Harry defeats Voldemort, and, of course, in the epilogue as a married couple. There’s plenty to wonder and theorize about their future, with Rowling herself, as mentioned in The Guardian, wondering whether they’d actually make it work, which helps keeps the pair interesting.
3 James Potter & Lily Evans
The Harry Potter movies never had much interest in showing the Boy Who Lived’s parents, but book fans know their relationship wasn’t always straightforward. For most of their time at Hogwarts, Lily was angered by James’ bullying of her then best friend, Snape. However, the pair later fell in love, married, and had Harry, before losing their lives to Lord Voldemort.
The Marauders era is a point of interest for a lot of Harry Potter fans, and James and Lily’s tragic romance is a core part of that. Nobody really knows how they went from Lily calling him an “arrogant, bullying toerag” to welcoming a baby with enough love to defeat a Dark Lord. There’s more than enough fan fiction exploring how this happened, but fans still think a Marauders spin-off spotlighting James and Lily’s relationship is much needed.
2 Sirius Black & Remus Lupin
The relationship between Sirius and Remus would be complex, to say the least. One is a wrongly imprisoned fugitive, and the other is a werewolf who spends 13 years believing the accusations against his former best friend. Nevertheless, as the only two Marauders left (Wormtail doesn’t count), there’s definitely a bond between the two that seems more romantic than platonic, at times.
Considering how well Sirius and Remus know each other, there’s plenty of scope for the imagination about what their long and checkered history could contain. Their connection feels like a wasted opportunity when compared to the actual canon relationship between Remus and Tonks, which comes completely out of the blue in Half-Blood Prince.
1 Harry Potter & Draco Malfoy
There is almost twice the number of fan fictions about Harry and Draco than there is the second most popular Harry Potter couple, which says it all about the ship’s popularity. This is the ultimate enemies-to-lovers trope, taking two bitter rivals and dialing in on their potential for romantic tension.
But it’s less unrealistic than it sounds. At their cores, Harry and Draco are quite similar. Both come from prestigious backgrounds, love Quidditch, and feel a lot of pressure to prove themselves, even if it’s in very different ways. A relationship would bring out the good in Draco and maybe even the dark in Harry, and it’s fascinating to explore the consequences of them connecting in this way.
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