Drarry

Drarry,^[1] also known as H/D, Guns 'n' Handcuffs,^[2] Harco, Draco x Harry, and Harry x Draco^[3] is a popular^[4] pair in slash fiction between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter from Harry Potter franchise.^[1] The pairing is a form of shipping, support or have a particular interest in a romantic pairing between two characters in a fictional series, often when this relationship is one portrayed by fans rather than depicted in the series itself.^[5] Fanfictions about the pairing has over 3,000 pages of works featured on the fanfic site Archive of Our Own.^[6]

Background

Harry Potter franchise

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy first appeared in the first book in the Harry Potter book series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.^[7]^[8]^[9] Harry Potter is the main protagonist of the series and Draco Malfoy is a major antagonist in the series. Both characters appear in all seven of the books and all eight of the films. Harry is a boy wizard who survived the killing curse from Lord Voldemort and Draco is the son of Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy. In the books, Harry first encounters Draco at Madam Malkin's. In the films, Harry first meets Draco in Hogwarts on their first day of school. Harry Potter was portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe and Draco Malfoy was portrayed by Tom Felton in the film adaptations.

History

The first Drarry story posted online is thought to be The Kiss of Life by Jack F., posted to HpSlash on June 18, 2000.^[10] An online Drarry shipping thread was started on FictionAlley's SCUSA forum in December 2001, where the alternative name for the shipping "Guns 'n' Handcuffs" was popularized. The ship has been the most popular slash pairing and second most popular pairing overall at that forum.^[2]

Analysis

Many fans of the franchise have written several fanfictions where Draco and Harry are in a same-sex relationship and experience same-sex attraction for another. In various fan fanfictions, Draco's emotional journey and transformation are depicted through his relationship with Harry.^[4] These fan fictions often stay faithful to the original characters and storylines from the franchise, while adding new elements and romantic moments between Harry and Draco. Some of the Drarry fan fiction on the fanfiction platform, Archive of Our Own, getting well over two million hits. According to ScreenRant, the most popular Drarry fanfiction on Archive of Our Own is Survival Is A Talent By ShanaStoryteller, which has 2,188,737 hits.^[4] Shippers have indicated subtext promoting this pairing although very few have trusted that it could ever become canon.

Response

During an exclusive interview with AOL during their 'In The Know’ segment, Tom Felton, who portrayed Draco Malfoy in the film series, stated that he shipped Drarry stating, "I think it was clearly a fact. Harry was constantly crushing on Draco. He just couldn’t hide it.”^[6]^[11] According to Elite Daily, Daniel Radcliffe stated that he read some Drarry fanfictions stating, “I’m obviously aware there’s a lot of shipping of Harry and Draco as characters together, so I’ve read some of that.”^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Underhill, Fiona (17 August 2023). "Harry Potter ships are still popular as ever, but Drarry isn't first". The Digital Fix. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Guns 'n' Handcuffs". scarlet-serpent.net. 4 March 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
^ Khan, Fawzia; Rai, Ashvaria; Sandoval, Andrea (8 April 2023). "15 Most Popular Harry Potter Ships, According To AO3". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Rai, Ashvaria (10 November 2022). "Harry Potter: 10 Most Popular Harry & Draco Fanfics On AO3". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ "Definition of shipping". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dylan, Kickham (18 October 2023). "Daniel Radcliffe Has Read Your Harry/Draco Fanfics". Elite Daily. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ "Draco Malfoy | Origin and History". Dictionary.com. 1 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ "Harry Potter". Britannica. 4 February 2024. Archived from the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ "Harry Potter". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
^ phoenixacid (11 October 2010). "Harry/Draco history". LiveJournal. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
^ "Tom Felton SHIPS 'Drarry' And REJECTS 'Dramione'". Exclusive Hollywood. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.