Just Another Book About Harry Potter Ships

Drinny (Draco/Ginny)

SHIP NAMES: Drinny, Draco/Ginny, D/G, DM/GW, S.S. Fire & Ice

THOUGHTS: Honestly, this ship intrigues me quite a bit. Obviously, it's an Enemies to Lovers ship, with added Gryffindor vs Slytherin rivalry, opposing families/families with bad blood, and being on opposite sides of the war. Drinny feels more authentically like a potential star-crossed lovers ship than Dramione does, because Draco and Ginny are both pure-bloods, so Draco doesn't hate Ginny because of her blood. Instead, their animosity is because they're from rival families, Hogwarts houses, and sides of the war, not because of something about one of them that is impossible to change. Draco is also bigoted against pure-blood "traitors," of course, but the prejudice against "traitors" has a different flavor to it than the hatred of and oppression aimed at Muggle-borns (just as prejudice in real-life white supremacist circles against "race traitors" is of a different nature than the hatred, oppression, and violence aimed at people of other races). That's one of the major reasons why Drinny is a lot more palatable to me than Dramione: it has a closer aura to Drarry, where the animosity is mutual (in this case, due to family rivalry), rather than one-sided and fueled almost solely by hatred and bigotry.

Beyond that, there's also the fact that Ginny has always been able to stand up to Draco's bullshit, even during her first year when she was usually too shy to talk around Harry, and her fiery, stubborn nature is more than a match for anything Draco could dish out. Can you imagine their banter? They both love Quidditch; they both have a rather mean, biting sense of humor; and they both know what it's like to feel like they have no one to confide in (Ginny poured her heart into Tom Riddle's diary during her first year, and Draco poured his heart out to Moaning Myrtle during his sixth — to some extent, at least, they must not have had anybody else to turn to during those times).

They also both, one way or another, trusted Tom Riddle at some point in their lives and had that trust shattered into oblivion. Draco believed what his parents told him about Voldemort and blood purity, but then his world fell apart, his family fell into disarray, and he took on the role of man of the family as a newly-recruited Death Eater, where he realized that he didn't have the stomach to kill anyone. And then he had to deal with Voldemort staying permanently in his house after failing at his mission. He had to be pretty good at Occlumency if he had to hide all of this turmoil from Voldemort 24/7. Not to mention, having your entire worldview destroyed and upended is super traumatic, even if it's ultimately for the better. Meanwhile, Ginny confided all her hopes and fears to Tom Riddle, trusting his every word and reassurance, and in return, he leeched off her body and soul and forced her to commit atrocities. (It makes me wonder if later on, Ginny also became good at Occlumency so that she would never have to experience such total violation ever again.)

So, there are some genuinely compelling reasons to ship them, even if some might think it's weird or unrealistic. I find it very intriguing!

Also, I should add that I see this working mostly in post-war situations, in the same way that I ship Drarry mostly in post-war situations where they can work through their problems as adults and move forward. I can't see Draco and Ginny getting together (or even getting along) while at Hogwarts without quite a lot of non-canonical development. Just as with Drarry, the exceptions to my post-war-only rule are: a.) AUs where Draco took Dumbledore up on his offer to protect him and Narcissa at the end of book six; b.) AUs where Draco defects from the Death Eaters sometime in book seven; and c.) other types of AUs that give Draco a redemption arc while also acknowledging how fucked up his canonical behavior is. (I've also seen them paired together in dark Voldemort Wins AUs and/or Marriage Law fics, which often fall into the categories of either a.) an interesting exploration of dark themes, slow-burn romance, and character development, or b.) a distasteful romanticization of abuse and blatant pure-blood apologist rhetoric, so those are very hit or miss. Needless to say, I would be interested in a.) but not b.) in that case.)

RATING: 6/10: This ship really intrigues me, and I could find myself shipping it more strongly in the future, depending on what fanfiction is available.

FANDOM RANK (AS OF JUNE 2022): #15

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments!

UP NEXT: Linny (Luna/Ginny)...