Hermione Granger is one of the most popular characters in all of Harry Potter. She is the most prominently featured female character and undergoes tremendous character development from a “bossy know-it-all” to a strong and intelligent young woman who is confident in herself.
By the series’ end, she marries her best friend Ron Weasley and has two children with him. This has caused some division between the fandom, many of whom shipped her with people other than Ron. Even J.K. Rowling herself has expressed regret about the pairing! So, here are ten of the people Hermione could have, and perhaps should have, been with other than Ron.
Draco Malfoy
A Draco-Hermione pairing is probably the most toxic pairing on this list. Draco treated Hermione very poorly throughout the series purely because she was Muggle-born and likely a little bit because he wanted to hurt the people Harry cares about.
In spite of the obvious incompatibility between the two, fans still ship Draco and Hermione. It is possible that she could have fallen for Draco after the Second Wizarding War, in which he showed tremendous character growth having let go of the pure-blood ideals with which he grew up. If this pairing had happened, it would likely have been Rowling catering to her fans.
Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas is a fellow Gryffindor student in Hermione’s year at Hogwarts. He comes from a primarily muggle family, but it is revealed that his biological father was in fact a wizard. Even so, Dean was not raised in the wizarding world. He is a talented artist and is implied to be a talented wizard as well.
He and Hermione would have made a great pair because of their similar, non-magical backgrounds growing up as well as the fact that they are likely close to being equally matched as wizards, meaning that they have multiple areas over which to connect with each other.
Luna Lovegood
Luna Lovegood and Hermione are both incredibly intelligent and talented witches. However, Luna is a lot quirkier than Hermione, who has a more straight-laced personality. Luna’s wardrobe consists of wild accessories and trinkets with which to adorn herself in addition to her muggle clothes, which also can get crazy, and her school robes.
Luna also believes in “conspiracies” and wizard-world equivalents to cryptids such as the Crumple Horned Snorkack. In contrast, Hermione is more conservative in dress and takes a more fact-based approach to things. Hermione and Luna’s differences would compliment each other rather than drive them apart as shown by the fact that they are good friends throughout Hermione’s later school years. They easily could have become a power couple.
Fleur Delacour
Fleur Delacour is yet another powerful witch who matches Hermione in skill and intelligence. Fleur represented the Beauxbatons school in the Triwizard Tournament, a testament to her prowess as a witch. Because of Hermione’s knowledge and talents, she would likely have been selected for the Tournament as well if she had been of age and had chosen to participate.
For a time, Fleur and Hermione do not get along when the former first started dating Bill Weasley because Hermione views her as stuck up, likely just because she was pretty. In spite of this initial setback, the two witches should have gotten along pretty well and would have made yet another powerful couple together.
Percy Weasley
Percy Weasley and Hermione actually got along very well together in the books, though their friendship was not addressed in the movies. Both Percy and Hermione are intelligent and studious, and they both believe in following the rules and doing things by the book.
The two were sometimes shown in the book as having discussions about different spells and their studies, showing that they enjoyed each other’s company. Furthermore, both were ambitious in terms of their careers which likely would have meant that they could have lived a comfortable, and happy life together.
Neville Longbottom
Hermione seemed to truly care about Neville Longbottom, from helping him find his perpetually lost toad Trevor on their first train ride to Hogwarts, to begging Mad-Eye Moody, who was actually Barty Crouch Jr., to stop using the Cruciatus Curse on a spider in front of Neville.
Neville is equally caring toward all of his friends, which includes Hermione. Neville also grew into his strengths (and looks) as a wizard and his knowledge of herbology rivals Hermione’s, meaning that they could potentially have very intellectually stimulating conversations about the subject and others together.
Ginny Weasley
Ginny Weasley and Hermione would be yet another power couple to make this list. Both Hermione and Ginny grow up to be confident, strong, and talented in their respective magical interests. Ginny is a master of jinxes, and therefore instills fear in her older brothers as only the youngest child can, and she is a powerhouse on the Quidditch field.
Hermione excels at charms and the factual side of magic from history to arithmancy. Both women would support each other in their respective endeavors, even if they may not share the interest for themselves.
Viktor Krum
Viktor Krum and Hermione are implied to have a brief romantic relationship during the events of Goblet of Fire. Hermione was his date to the Yule Ball, and around that same time, they spent a lot of time together, even if it was just Viktor sitting with Hermione while she studied.
The two maintained contact through the rest of her Hogwarts years following the Triwizard Tournament as revealed in Deathly Hallows. Viktor is shown to still have feelings for Hermione and had she still reciprocated, they would have made a great couple together.
Harry Potter
Like Draco and Hermione, Harry Potter and Hermione is another major ship, with J.K. Rowling herself retrospectively expressing her support for the pairing. In some ways, the pairing would have made sense. Both Harry and Hermione are powerful wizards who come from muggle backgrounds.
Unlike Hermione, Harry is not a fan of school, homework, or studying, meaning that the two may potentially balance each other out in ways different from Luna and Hermione or Neville and Hermione would. Harry and Hermione are also incredibly close just by being friends, so becoming romantic partners would not be too big of a jump for them.
Herself
In November 2019, Emma Watson, the actress who portrayed Hermione in the films, labeled herself as “self-partnered” in an interview with British Vogue after expressing her satisfaction in being single. Fans consider Watson and Hermione to be similar in terms of personality, so it is possible that Hermione also could have remained single and labeled herself as self-partnered.
Hermione is one of the strongest women depicted in the Harry Potter series. If any character, not just the women, was going to remain single and enjoy it, it would have been Hermione Granger.
Next: Harry Potter: Dumbledore’s 10 Biggest Mistakes (That We Can Learn From)
