Summary

• Harry Potter ships on AO3 showcase fans' desired love lives for the wizards, even if they differ from the canon pairings.
• Strong friendships like Harry and Ron's provide a popular foundation for non-canon Harry Potter ships.
• Fans explore alternative romantic pairings that could have happened in the Harry Potter series, such as Neville and Luna or Fleur and Cedric.

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 Harry Potter ships (relationships) around their favorite connections from the series. Sites like AO3 (Archive of Our Own) are home to tales for everyone from Harry and Ron to Crookshanks and Hedwig. With The Fantastic Beasts movies, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play, a television series revival, and more on the way from the franchise, there will be plenty of more content for fans to craft tales about.

While the movies and books were never about love stories, although a few did pop up here and there, the Harry Potter ships written about on AO3 have given fans everything they could want in the love lives of these wizards. Some Harry Potter ships 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.

Harry Potter & Cho Chang

Harry Potter ended up with Ginny Weasley in the end, and that was how it was meant to be. Despite this, there were plenty of people who shipped Harry with Hermione, although she ended up with Ron in a satisfactory matchup. However, looking at AO3, there are also many ship stories involving Harry and another girl.

In the story, Harry had a romantic relationship with Cho Chang at one point. This was not meant to be, as the two ended up drifting apart thanks to Harry obviously needing to focus his attention on the threat of Lord Voldemort. However, look around and there are a lot of Harry Potter ships that hint at what could have happened if this relationship had lasted.

Harry Potter & Ron Weasley

Though each of these best friends ends up with different people, they do spend most of their formative years by one another’s side, and they’re the most hurt when the other lies to them or walks away from them. It makes sense that this would be one of the popular non-canon Harry Potter ships for fans of the franchise.

Some of the best relationships - fictional or otherwise - are built on friendship. Harry and Ron have seen one another at their lowest and their highest points in their lives during the novels. They would have nothing to hide from one another, and that would make for a strong foundation for fanfiction fans to build upon.

Neville Longbottom & Luna Lovegood

The main story of Harry Potter was about the three primary Hogwarts students setting out to stop Lord Voldemort. However, the book hinted at times that Harry might not have been the Chosen One and that Neville Longbottom could have been the key. Instead, Neville was just a weird kid who helped in the final battle.

That made the Harry Potter ship between Neville and another weird kid, the aptly named Luna Lovegood, too good to up for fans. What would have happened if these two outcasts had found more than just friendship at Hogwarts?

Fleur Delacour & Cedric Diggory

When the Tri-Wizard Games began, fans of Harry Potter got to see what wizards from other countries looked like and how the way the groups lived was different. It also opened the chance for some new romances, which happened when Fleur ended up with Bill Weasley and Hermione hooked up with Viktor.

However, there are some Harry Potter ships that look at what could have happened if Fleur went with a very different wizard - Cedric Diggory. The future Twilight vampire didn't get a lot of time to make his mark in Goblet of Fire, but fans have created their own stories with him hooking up with his rival Fleur. It almost happened too since she wanted to ask him to the Yule Ball, but Cedric had already asked Cho Chang.

Remis Lupin & Nymphadora Tonks

When the Harry Potter franchise showed that werewolf Remus Lupin had a romantic relationship with Nymphadora Tonks, it came from out of nowhere. This wasn't touched upon before the relationship was mentioned as Order of the Phoenix , and that sadly made their fate less tragic than it could have been.

When fans took to AO3 with their Harry Potter ships, a lot of them tried to solve this problem by showing what this relationship could have looked like, with two warriors loving hard while trying to stay down low. Their dead bodies, with hands almost touching, would have meant so much more if their stories had been told.

Albus Dumbledore & Gellert Grindelwald

It’s very likely that this pairing wouldn’t exist in fanfiction if the idea that Dumbledore had been in love with Grindelwald before they became enemies hadn’t been brought up in an interview with author Rowling. The two are at odds during the Fantastic Beasts movies and are the leaders of opposing forces, but Dumbledore calls them “closer than brothers” and never elaborates to anyone about his romantic feelings for Grindelwald.

Grindelwald is revealed to be the person responsible, ultimately, for the death of Dumbledore’s sister and his long-standing feud with his brother. The two don’t end up together in canon because of the destruction Grindelwald causes, not just in Dumbledore’s family, but in the wizarding world as a whole. Since Dumbledore is the one responsible for stopping him, it makes perfect sense that fanfiction writers would like to explore other avenues for the characters.

Ginny Weasley & Luna Lovegood

Ginny Weasley is the one responsible for introducing Luna Lovegood to the rest of the main characters in the Harry Potter franchise. She is really Luna’s only friend to start, someone who doesn’t care that other people describe Luna as “Loony Lovegood” instead.

Ginny introducing her to her brothers, Hermione, Harry, and Neville, as well as, presumably, being the person to get Luna’s family invited to Bill and Fleur’s wedding, shows how close their friendship is. Ginny never really brings any of her other friends into her extended family’s group of friends. That closeness has prompted speculation, especially from fans who don’t necessarily love the canon pairing of Harry and Ginny together to explore Ginny’s growth with Luna instead.

Tina Goldstein & Newt Scamander

While not technically part of the main Harry Potter stories, Newt Scamander is now an integral part of the entire mythos in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. He helped Dumbledore during an important time and even wrote a textbook that Harry and his friends had to study. He also had a girlfriend - Tina Goldstein.

While the two played important roles in the first movie in the series, she disappeared from the second one. She was back in the third movie, but by this time the franchise was focusing on Dumbledore more than Newt. However, fans on AO3 have created lots of stories involving Newt and Tina, which is a big deal since, in lore, the two eventually married, and their grandson married Luna Lovegood.

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 so many of these Harry Potter ships so compelling.

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.