Romances that Bloomed During the Harry Potter Series

August 25, 2020—In Episode 6 of Season 2, Victoria and I considered Ginny Weasley’s character and her various romantic relationships. Let’s step back and take a broader look at the couples that got together and either blew up, fizzled, or stood strong throughout the course of the Harry Potter series.

Penelope Clearwater and Percy Weasley

The first hint of young love in the Harry Potter series involves, strangely, a very unlikeable character and one we barely even meet. Percy Weasley dates Penelope Clearwater throughout Book 2 and Book 3, though they’re very secretive about it at first. It’s a sweet aside, but it ends at an unspecified time thereafter with no explanation.

Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang

Harry’s crush Cho Chang first dates Cedric Diggory in her fifth year, his sixth. He’s the handsome Triwizard Champion/Hufflepuff Seeker; she’s the beautiful Ravenclaw Seeker. They were the It couple, a match made in boarding school heaven… until Lord Voldemort interferes (a bad habit of his). Their romance is tragically cut short when Voldemort orders Cedric’s death, and Cho is left with deep emotional scars.

Viktor Krum and Hermione Granger

But not all romances born in the adversity of the Triwizard Tournament are destined for violent ends. Hermione and Dumstrang champion Viktor Krum share a cute little love affair. He hangs out in the library to be near her, takes her to the Yule Ball, and asks her to visit him over the summer. While he seems more invested in the relationship than she does (not surprising given the 2-year age difference), Hermione does later admit that they share at least one kiss, and she is seen writing to him in Book 5. Exactly how things end is unclear, but Krum seems to still be holding a bit of a candle for her when he sees her again at a wedding in Book 7.

Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour

Speaking of which… When Bill Weasley returns to his homeland to lend his aid to the war effort in Book 5, he meets former Triwizard champion Fleur Delcaour. They are both working for the UK branch of Gringotts, and Bill tutors Fleur to help her “improve her English.” Things progress from there, and the afore-mentioned wedding in Book 7 is theirs.

Harry Potter and Cho Chang

Long before either of them has even remotely begun to recover from the trauma of Cedric’s death, Harry and Cho start dating each other in Book 5. She kisses him, he takes her on one botched date, and then her friend betrays the DA. It ends badly (to no one’s surprise), though Cho does seem a bit too eager to spend some time alone with Harry in Book 7 when he needs someone to take him to Ravenclaw Tower.

Ginny Weasley and Michael Corner

We know very little about Ginny’s first boyfriend except that he’s a Ravenclaw in Harry’s year, they date during Book 5, and she dumps him because he’s a bad loser. He’s in her rear-view mirror by the time Book 6 begins.

Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas

In fact, by the time Book 6 begins, Ginny is already dating Dean Thomas, one of Harry’s roommates in Gryffindor. Their relationship seems a bit more serious (a bit too serious for Ron’s taste) and stretches several months into the school year before things turn sour between them. They eventually break up when Ginny (over?)reacts to his helping her through the portrait hole. Whether Harry’s dose of Luck Potion has anything to do with that is up for general debate.

Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin

We canvassed this relationship in Episode 18 of Season 1, so here’s the short version: Tonks falls for Remus, Remus falls for Tonks, Remus keeps Tonks at arm’s length, Tonks harasses Remus into accepting the relationship, they almost immediately get married and pregnant, Remus leaves Tonks, Harry harasses Remus into returning to Tonks, the baby is born, and they both die in the Battle of Hogwarts. That was depressing.

Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown

This is the quintessential hormone-fueled teenage romance of the series. Ron barely even likes Lavender, but she has a huge crush on him and makes out with him, so he goes along with it. Not surprisingly for a coupling built on such a rock-solid foundation, things go south fairly quickly. Lavender becomes insecure and jealous of Hermione’s place in Ron’s life, Ron realizes that he’s no longer interested in the relationship, and Ron breaks it off.

Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley

Again, this one was evaluated pretty thoroughly in our most recent episode, so I’ll just summarize how the story ends: They get married and have three children, whom they name after his parents and other influential adults in their lives (and Luna).

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger

This is the quintessential will-they, won’t-they romance of the series. We never actually see them as a couple, though we see the multi-book prelude to their relationship. Starting in Book 4, Ron and Hermione begin showing awkward attraction, jealousy toward the other’s partners, and a cyclical progress-conflict-reconciliation pattern that continues until late in Book 7. It culminates in a dramatic first kiss during the Battle of Hogwarts with a seeming mutual understanding that they are, to quote Ross from Friends, “done being stupid.” Like Harry and Ginny, they get married, have kids, and live happily ever after, never experiencing the train wreck that is Cursed Child.