It’s the confession Harry Potter fans have been waiting two decades to hear.
While Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were bitter rivals on screen, the real-life bond between Tom Felton and Emma Watson has always been much more magical—and a lot more complicated.
In his emotional new memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, the -year-old actor is finally addressing the “Dramione” rumors that have swirled since the pair first stepped onto the set of The Sorcerer’s Stone.
Felton admits that while Watson famously had a crush on him when she was just nine and he was , his own feelings for her were deep, though perhaps not in the way “shippers” might have expected.
“I’ve always had a secret love for Emma, though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear,” Felton writes in a passage that has quickly gone viral on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter).
He continues with a revelation that sent shockwaves through the fandom: “That isn’t to say that there’s never been a spark between us. There most definitely has, only at different times.”
Despite that undeniable spark, Felton clarifies the unique nature of their soulmate-level connection, describing something that goes beyond a typical romance.
“I don’t think I was ever in love with Emma, but I loved and admired her as a person in a way that I could never explain to anybody else… we were kindred spirits,” he explains.
However, the road to becoming “kindred spirits” wasn’t always smooth. Felton gets incredibly vulnerable about their rocky start, recalling a time when he and the other boys acted like “s— boys” by sniggering at a dance routine a young Watson had choreographed in her dressing room.
“I did feel like a bit of a d—, and rightly so,” Felton admits, noting that a hair and makeup artist eventually had to put him in his place.
Since those awkward early years, the duo has become each other’s biggest support system. Felton recently told The Independent that it was actually Watson who encouraged him to be “fearless” and speak openly about his mental health struggles in the book.
“Not just because it was cathartic for me,” he shared about her advice. “But also in the hope that sharing those parts of my story will help others.”
From their sweet, tear-filled reunion in the Harry Potter th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special to their frequent Instagram cameos together, it’s clear these two are in each other’s lives for good.
Whether they are skateboarding together in Venice Beach or supporting each other’s major career milestones—from Watson’s turn in Little Women to Felton’s role on The Flash—this “secret love” is the real deal.
As Felton beautifully puts it in his memoir, they are “soulmates” who will always have each other’s backs, proving that even a Malfoy and a Granger can find their own version of “Always.”
