The romantic relationships throughout the Harry Potter series had it all: love at first sight, unrequited love, tragedy, cutesy nicknames – but which made the top of our definitive list? We rank Harry Potter couples from our ultimate favourites to the ones that we’d rather see be kissed by Dementors than by each other.
13. Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown
Forget the gag-inducing thought of drinking Polyjuice Potion or the pain of growing back bones, because if anything from the Harry Potter series made our stomachs turn, it was Lavender calling Ron ‘Won-Won’. Not only that, but the slobbery nature of their relationship, that giant gold necklace pendant and how much it upset poor Hermione took this relationship all the way down to the bottom of our list. Also, poor form to Ron for simply pretending to be asleep instead of properly breaking up with her.
‘Look, why don’t you go talk to Ron about all this?’ Harry asked, after a particularly long interrogation from Lavender that took in everything from precisely what Ron had said about her new dress robes to whether or not Harry thought that Ron considered his relationship with Lavender to be ‘serious’.
‘Well, I would, but he’s always asleep when I go and see him!’ said Lavender fretfully.
‘Is he?’ said Harry, surprised, for he had found Ron perfectly alert every time he had been up to the hospital wing.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
12. Ginny Weasley and Michael Corner
If there was one thing we could safely say about Ginny Weasley, it was that she could not and would not date a guy who wasn’t supportive of her Quidditch ambitions. As such, we all breathed a sigh of relief when she explained how she dumped the grouchy Michael after he went off in a huff because Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw.
11. Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas
Dean! How many times did she need to tell you she didn’t need your help climbing through the portrait hole? Clearly Dean was new to impressing the ladies, but that didn’t mean that the feisty, Bat-Bogey-Hexing legend that is Ginevra Weasley should have sat around and waited for him to get his act together. Besides, we all knew that she held a torch for Harry anyway, so this one simply would never have lasted the test of time!
10. Harry Potter and Cho Chang
This relationship was a little tough for both of them: Harry was having a hard time because the Ministry of Magic was out to get him and Cho was still grieving over the death of Cedric. Still, Harry could have been a better boyfriend, and Cho definitely jumped into a relationship too quickly after suffering a huge emotional loss.
One of the main reasons we kind of liked this couple was because Harry had a crush on Cho since Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, so it was a nice break from the Voldemort drama to see the pair stumble through a romance. Sure, it flopped like a Flobberworm, but at least Harry got his first kiss!
9. Petunia and Vernon Dursley
Yes, they were neglectful, rude and borderline cruel to poor old Harry, but the reason Petunia and Vernon were ranked so highly on this list, ahead of much nicer characters, was purely on their suitability factor. If this pair took a compatibility test, they would rate 100 per cent. Their shared disdain of magic, love of Dudley and sheer fury over the Weasleys made them perfect for one another. This was the most irritatingly ordinary relationship of the series, and we’re all going to have to make our peace with that.
8. Hermione Granger and Viktor Krum
He may have had trouble turning into a shark, but when it came to wooing the ladies, Krum was quite a catch. (Get it?) While the romance between Hermione and the Quidditch ace was fleeting, Krum was there for Hermione at a point where Ron was, frankly, too immature.
Despite the killer line ‘you’re a girl’, Hermione passed up Ron’s charming Yule Ball offer because she’d already got a better one – from a Triwizard champion and international heartthrob, no less. But Krum’s status didn’t really matter to Hermione at the end of the day: the important thing was that he was a guy emotionally mature enough to ask Hermione out forthright. In fact, Krum was incredibly respectful of Hermione, not to mention attentive: he even liked to dwell in the library, Hermione’s sanctuary. Meanwhile Ron preferred to mercilessly mock Hermione’s love of books on a regular basis.
The Krum relationship didn’t last, of course, but this didn’t stop Ron being jealous about it for years. Well, Ron, maybe if you’d treated Hermione with a bit of respect...
7. Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang
Poor Cedric and Cho. They never really had much of a chance, having only started dating in the same year as Cedric’s untimely death, and yet the fellow Quidditch players fell quickly for one another. Not only did Cho accept Cedric’s invitation to the Ball, she also became the thing he’d miss most and was taken as his hostage in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. She was heartbroken at his death, so much so that she desperately needed to talk about him in the months that followed, tainting a potential new relationship with Harry.
6. Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour
So Fleur’s lack of tact earnt her the nickname Phlegm, but her relationship with Bill brought out the good in her. Sure, she still spoke without thinking and could be a little insulting at times. She was even rude about Celestina Warbeck in front of Molly once. Sigh. You just don’t do that.
But the most important thing, when all is said and done, was how much she loved Bill. When he was scarred by Fenrir Greyback, it only strengthened her resolve to marry the eldest Weasley brother. Not to mention that she put up with Ollivander, a goblin and a few fugitives hiding in her lovely Shell Cottage. We have to hand it to Bill and Fleur: this was one pair who underwent trials and tribulations and came out on top.
‘You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per’aps, you ’oped?’ said Fleur, her nostrils flaring. ‘What do I care how ’e looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave!’
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
5. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks
We loved Lupin and Tonks, even though their relationship was probably one of the more troubled of the series. Unlike most, the pair came together in desperate circumstances, with Lupin feeling as though he couldn’t pass down his werewolf curse to a child, while both were fighting an enemy they weren’t sure they’d be able to defeat. The prospect of marrying and having a child in the middle of a war was more frightening than happy, because it meant having more to lose. That being said, it just shows the strength of Lupin and Tonks’s love for each other because despite it all, they remained together and found some happiness, if only for the briefest amount of time.
4. Lily and James Potter
Though James was a bit of a scamp in his early years at Hogwarts, we know from his doodles during exam season that he always had a bit of a crush on Lily and that she clearly felt the same way (but only after his head deflated, of course). Their relationship was a swift and loving one which ended in tragedy, but it was one of the most important of the series. Lily and James’s beliefs and what they fought for was passed on to Harry, who always admired them, thought of them as heroes and led by their example.
3. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley
Collecting the bronze is Harry and Ginny, Quidditch power couple and Dumbledore’s Army rebels. Harry’s epiphany that he had feelings for Ginny in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince after she had held a torch from him for years made it all the more perfect when they finally kissed, and during their brief time together it became all too easy to see just how much they suited one another:
‘You’d think people had better things to gossip about,’ said Ginny as she sat on the common-room floor, leaning against Harry’s legs and reading the Daily Prophet. ‘Three Dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it’s true you’ve got a Hippogriff tattooed across your chest.’
Ron and Hermione both roared with laughter. Harry ignored them.
‘What did you tell her?’
‘I told her it’s a Hungarian Horntail,’ said Ginny, turning a page of the newspaper idly. ‘Much more macho.’
‘Thanks,’ said Harry, grinning.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
2. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger
Ron and Hermione’s will-they-won’t-they romance warmed our hearts. Harry’s BFFs finally got it together during the Battle of Hogwarts, although every single reader knew they were meant to be together from around Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and only when Ron had bucked up his ideas. Their argumentative yet caring relationship is our runner-up because, despite their light bickering every now and then, Ron and Hermione ultimately made each other better people.
There was a clatter as the Basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
1. Arthur and Molly Weasley
Ah! The beautiful and everlasting love between Arthur Weasley and his dear wife, Mollywobbles. Arthur and Molly’s relationship was an inspiration, especially after bringing up seven amazing kids. (Yes, even Percy.) Both fiercely protective but possessing their own quirks, Molly and Arthur were the perfectly balanced couple (he put up with Celestina Warbeck and she put up with his obsession with Muggle plugs). It was a match made in heaven and the couple's endless positivity and strength was a beacon of light during the darker days of the wizarding world.
‘Your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting?’
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince