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Fans have been shipping Draco and Hermione for ages.
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Jun 07, 2021
Harry Potter fans, rejoice... maybe. Tom Felton may have confirmed rumors that he's dating Emma Watson.
Rumors (and fan dreams) of these two becoming an item have been circulating since their early days of filming together, and some believe there's now reason to believe a romantic relationship between the two might be true.
Are Emma Watson and Tom Felton dating?
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Felton was asked about the rumors regarding their relationship, specifically if they are "something."
He did an eyebrow-shrug thing that could launch a thousand ships. Obviously, however, the people crave more.
"I thought my silence would speak volumes!" Tom continued. "We are something, if that makes any sense, as far as we've been very close for a long time. I adore her. Hopefully she returns the compliment."
Here's where it gets confusing though.
"As far as the romantic side of it, I think that's a Slytherin/Gryffindor thing rather than a Tom and Emma thing," Felton continued.
This is why I'm a Ravenclaw.
Luckily, he gave us real Hufflepuff feels when he got into his love for his friend (and maybe more?)
"I absolutely think the world of her. I think to be a part of what we've all been a part of, but for her to be the only girl, certainly the youngest one on set, to grow up with what she had to grow up with was incredibly exciting. You're going to get me teary now, but no, I think she's a fantastic influence on the world."
What is Dramione?
There's a whole subset of Harry Potter fans that seems to like the idea of an Emma Watson and Tom Felton pairing — at least, in avatar form.
The Dramione "ship" — a fan fantasy that hopes that Draco (Felton's character) and Hermione (Watson's character) get together in a romantic way — is one of the most popular ships in the Harry Potter fandom, the second-most common ship for both, and the sixth-most written about ship in the subset of the Harry Potter fandom that likes to write fan fiction.
Back here in the real world, however, many hope there's a chance that Emma Watson may have ended her self-partnered exile.
How did Felton and Watson meet?
All the way back in 2011, Tom Felton and Emma Watson first met, and the Dramione ship began. That's when Emma Watson confessed to Seventeen Magazine that she "had a crush" on her co-star, Tom Felton.
And who didn't, really? The kid was adorable.
The Dramione ship went into overdrive, and fans of Harry Potter really started hoping that Emma Watson was dating Tom Felton.
Although let's be fair, they were also really young at the time.
Emma Watson was spotted kissing a mystery man.
There's no shortage of rumors about who Emma Watson could be dating. For a time, she was even rumored to be hooking up with Alicia Keys's brother, Cole Cook!
In 2019, Emma was spotted smooching a mystery man (whose identity was never really confirmed) outside of Gail's Bakery in London.
And the paparazzi cameras happened to be there, which of course is just a wild coincidence.
Just one week after the mystery man spotting, Watson stated she was "self-partnered."
As we get older, we all become more accepting of our fates in life.
As Emma Watson approached her 30th birthday, she said that she made peace with being single, then coined a rather modern phrase to denote that she was happy with her new single state.
"It took me a long time, but I'm very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered," she said, and needless to say, the comment went viral.
Psychologists say "self-partnered" is actually a healthy way of looking at one's self.
By taking ownership for herself and her happiness, psychologists say that Emma Watson is actually demonstrating that she's healthy, mentally, not that she's 'weird.'
"A self-partnered person would feel whole and fulfilled within the self and does not feel compelled to seek fulfillment through having another person as a partner. That doesn't necessarily mean a self-partnered person doesn't date or never hopes to get married someday," said Carla Manly, a clinical psychologist based in California.
Interestingly, Tom Felton has said that he, too, is "self-partnered."
Are Tom and Emma engaged?
Despite not even confirming their romantic relationship, Watson recently had to call off the rumorhounds and tell them she's neither engaged nor retired.
“Dear Fans," the actress tweeted. "Rumours about whether I’m engaged or not, or whether my career is ‘dormant or not’ are ways to create clicks each time they are revealed to be true or untrue. If I have news — I promise I’ll share it with you.”
Nevertheless, these "dear friends" are certainly close.
If they are dating, Rupert Grint approves!
Rupert Grint was asked about the Watson/Felton (or Hermione/Draco) rumors after the photo above of the former co-stars hanging out on the beach was posted.
He replied, "Yeah, I could [see them together]. There was always something. There was a little bit of a spark. I don’t want to start anything. No, not really [no one dated on set]. There were some sparks, but we were kids. It was like any kind of playground romance, yeah. I didn't have any sparks. I was spark-free."
Well, that's cute!
Tom Felton responded to Rupert Grint's comments.
After Felton heard Rupert Grint's comments about a spark between Hermione and Draco, he really didn't directly deny the rumor, but he definitely didn't say anything that would lead one to believe he's anything other than Watson's dear friend (you know, like what she actually said).
"Emma’s got a place around the corner from me in LA," Felton stated. "Emma’s Emma, she’s a unique, beautiful soul. It’s always nice to bump into one another."
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.