As a film franchise based on a long-standing YA series, the Harry Potter movies have no shortage of romances to go around. But these romances extend beyond teenage drama and out-of-control hormones— the Harry Potter films also present adults with long-standing romances that even carry on after their deaths.
But not all romances are created equal. We root for some, we cringe at some. Here’s a ranking of some of the original eight-film saga’s romances.
10. Harry and Ginny
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has a number of potential romances throughout the series. But Harry and Ginny Weasley’s (Bonnie Wright) happy ending at the end of the franchise leaves a lot to be desired. For the most part, this is due to Ginny’s absence for a majority of the franchise. From the earliest films, we know that Ginny has a crush on Harry. However, rather than teasing this out, she comes in and out of the franchise as one of Ron’s interchangeable siblings.
It is only in the later films, such as The Half-Blood Prince when they share their first kiss in the Room of Requirement, that this relationship gets into the nitty-gritty feelings they have for each other. Unlike other couples, like Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) whom we see develop consistently throughout the franchise, Harry and Ginny’s relationship is a bit lackluster. Still, it’s nice to know they stayed together all those years after Hogwarts, and even had three children.
9. Ron and Lavender
Ron and Lavender's relationship in Half-Blood Prince might have been brief, but at least compared to Harry and Ginny, it's lively. Ron Weasley has always been the bumbling comedic relief between the franchise’s trio; if he isn’t making a fool out of himself, his older brothers will. But when Ron becomes a star athlete during a significant Quidditch match, Ron receives a victory kiss from Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave), which leads to their overt romance and obnoxious PDA.
Of course, their brief stint doesn’t last that long. When Ron is incapacitated after eating chocolates spiked with a love potion, he is visited in the infirmary by Harry, Hermione, and Lavender. But when Lavender calls out to him, he doesn’t say her name back. Instead, he says another name altogether — Hermione. And with that, the Ron and Lavender romance ends.
8. Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour
Before reuniting with her Potter-alum Robert Pattinson in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Clémence Poésy played Fleur Delacour, who made a splash with her first appearance in Goblet of Fire as one of the witches representing the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in the Triwizard Tournament. On the other hand, before he was Kylo Ren’s right-hand general in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Domhnall Gleeson was part of the Wizarding World as one of Ron’s older brothers, Bill Weasley. While the two were mostly side characters throughout the franchise, their off-screen romance came to the forefront at the start of Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Even in the midst of being hunted under Voldemort’s new regime, Bill and Fleur go through their wedding at the Weasleys’ farmhouse. Who could fault them? In such dark and dire times, Bill and Fleur’s romance gave Part 1 of the franchise’s finale a sense of hope and light, a place where many of our major characters could experience love and joy. Even as their celebration was abruptly ended by the arrival of Voldemort’s Death Eaters, Bill and Fleur’s romance served as one of the reminders of what Harry and his friends were fighting for.
7. Molly and Arthur Weasley
Ron’s parents, Molly (Julie Walters) and Arthur (Mark Williams), have been in the franchise since the very first film. With seven children between them, Molly and Arthur clearly have a romance that has endured throughout the years. They even served as pseudo-parental figures for Harry, often inviting him to their farmhouse at the start of the school year or for Christmas.
Sure, their marriage may not have the flare of teen angst and love triangles, but their love and care for each other, and their children, demonstrates the franchise's thematic importance of family — and not necessarily by blood, as Harry becomes an honorary member of the Weasley household. In fact, it is because of Harry that Arthur Weasly is found alive after an attack by Voldemort’s snake Nagini in Order of the Phoenix. Molly and Arthur aren’t the only adult couple on this list, as we’ll see other parental couples whose love and romance prove fruitful and influential over the younger protagonists.
6. Hermione and Viktor Krum
From even the earlier films, we all knew Hermione Granger was meant for Ron Weasley. But before their ultimate expression of love in the final film, Hermione went to the Yule Ball with one of the Triwizard Tournament's champions, Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski), in Goblet of Fire. Their appearance as a couple leads to Hermione becoming one of the captured hostages in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. With the advantage of turning his head into a shark, Viktor rescues Hermione from her underwater death.
Of course, part of Hermione’s interactions with Viktor is so she can get Ron to finally express his feelings for her. Toward the end of the Yule Ball, Hermione reveals her frustration with Ron’s lack of confidence. “Next time there’s a ball,” she tells Ron, “pluck up the courage and ask me before somebody else does!” But it’ll take a few more films for Hemione and Ron to commit to each other’s feelings.
5. Harry and Cho
The romance between Harry and Cho Chang (Katie Leung) was sowed in Goblet of Fire, as Harry wanted to ask Cho to the Yule Ball before Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) got to her first. But in Order of the Phoenix, Harry and Cho’s blossoming feelings for each other grow into something more. Cho, wanting to find out more about Cedric’s death, is recruited into Harry’s unofficial task force — “Dumbledore’s Army” — to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry, taking up a more authorial confidence as the group’s leader, evokes a newfound swagger when approaching Cho. In one of the most beautiful scenes of the franchise, Harry and Cho share a kiss under some mistletoe. This romance is unfortunately betrayed when Cho snitches on Harry and the rest of Dumbledore’s Army (her loyalty to Harry and her house, Slytherin, don’t necessarily match). But in their brief intimacy, Harry and Cho made for a cute couple.
4. Lupin and Tonks
While Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) had a prominent role in the franchise since Prisoner of Azkaban, Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena) was introduced in the fifth film as one of the members of the titular Order of the Phoenix. The books delve deeper into the Lupin and Tonks relationship, but the films manage to visibly communicate their love for each other in one of the franchise’s most striking images. In Deathly Hallows: Part 2, during the battle of Hogwarts, we watch Lupin and Tonks stretch out their arms towards each other, side by side, as the castle’s magical shield crumbles. After the battle, we see Lupin and Tonks’ dead bodies on the floor, their hands still stretching towards each other.
3. Cho and Cedric
While Cho and Harry’s romance was cute while it lasted, Cho Chang would have never been with Harry if not for Cedric Diggory. In Goblet of Fire, Harry develops a crush on Cho and even asks her to go to the Yule Ball, but she had already said yes to Cedric. Even if she had feelings for Harry, which clearly carry over into Order of the Phoenix, her relationship with Cedric was quite adorable, but brief. In the same way the Yule Ball accentuated couples like Hermione and Viktor Krum, Cho and Cedric made for an endearing couple.
Their romance is made tragic, however, by the end of the Triwizard Tournament. In the midst of dances and games, the resurrection of the Dark Lord looms in the background of Goblet. When Harry and Cedric make it to the end of a maze, they are transported somewhere else and meet Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall), who is commanded by Voldemort to kill Cedric. When Harry returns to Hogwarts with Cedric’s dead body, everyone is shocked, and Cho is visibly devastated.
2. James and Lily Potter
Like Molly and Arthur Weasly, James (Adrian Rawlins) and Lily’s (Geraldine Somerville) love for each other and their son Harry, even after death, is another enduring romance of the franchise. Throughout the series, we see how James and Lily’s love is embodied in Harry. In Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) — upon his death — tells Harry, “You have your mother’s eyes.”
In this relationship, we see just how James and Lily went through the same experiences of love and jealousy as the young protagonists. When we see Snape’s memories after his death, we find out how Lily and Snape had first been friends before she ever met James Potter. Lily then grows to love James, while Snape continues to love her from afar “always.”
Even as Snape’s perspective throws a wrinkle into James and Lily’s romance, it doesn’t change how their parental love has defined Harry. Their love has been a cornerstone of the franchise, from Harry’s envisioning of them in the Mirror of Erised that shows his true desires, to his final moments before sacrificing himself in the woods. “Stay close to me,” he asks his parental phantasms. Lily replies, “Always.”
1. Ron and Hermione
Ron and Hermione have been friends since the Sorcerer’s Stone, fighting alongside all of Harry’s battles. By the time we get to Deathly Hallows: Part 1, it seems like the romance between them will finally pay off, but not without some turbulence. Influenced by one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, Ron becomes disgruntled and even jealous of Hermione being with Harry, envisioning them naked and intertwined. But by Deathly Hallows: Part 2, while the battle at Hogwarts rages and the threat of death looms over them, Ron and Hermione finally admit their feelings for each other head-on. After destroying another Horcrux, Ron and Hermione full-on kiss each other as they are drenched in water.
For fans who’ve rooted for this couple since the beginning, from their childhood teasing and crushing through their teenage love triangles and angst, this kiss was long-awaited. Ron and Hermione have the best romance because it’s been there since the beginning. Even if we’ve known all the while that they were endgame, watching them develop their feelings and grow alongside each other makes for the most satisfying romance of the franchise.