Tom Felton Responds To Emma Watson Romance Rumors: 'I Adore Her'

Tom Felton gave a surprising response when asked about past speculation of a romance between him and "Harry Potter" co-star Emma Watson.

Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the movie series, spoke with Entertainment Tonight ahead of the Warner Bros.' launch of the first-ever "Harry Potter" flagship store in New York City. During the interview, the 33-year-old actor was asked if there was any truth to the past romance rumors involving him and Watson, who previously admitted that she had a crush on him in the early days of their friendship.

"We are something, if that makes any sense. We've been very close for a long time. I adore her," Felton told ET of Watson, 31. "I think she's fantastic. Hopefully, she returns the compliment."

When asked further if there was anything romantic between them, Felton shut down the rumors.

"As far as the romantic side of it, I think that's a Slytherin/Gryffindor thing rather than a Tom and Emma thing," he admitted.

"I absolutely think the world of her. I think to be a part of what we've all been a part of, but for her to be the only girl, certainly the youngest one on set, to grow up with what she had to grow up with was incredibly exciting. You're going to get me teary now, but no, I think she's a fantastic influence on the world," he added.

Watson and Felton have remained good friends since wrapping up the last "Harry Potter" movie over a decade ago. But the "Beauty and the Beast" star admitted in 2011 that she had a "huge crush" on him when they filmed the first two films.

“For the first two movies, I had a huge crush on Tom Felton. He was my first crush,” Watson told Seventeen. “He totally knows. We talked about it — we still laugh about it. We are really good friends now, and that’s cool.”

Their co-star Evanna Lynch was also asked about Watson and Felton's crushes when they were still filming "Harry Potter." However, the Irish actress said they had already outgrown them by the time she joined the cast for the fifth movie.

"Oh, it was so disappointing for me because I joined on the fifth one. I was on Order of the Phoenix and there was this sense that exciting things had happened in the last movie, and I just missed it," she told Us Weekly about the romance rumors involving the two.

"[I joined when] everyone had kind of grown out of their crushes and they were moving on to, like, people in the outside world. And I felt that like, damn, I missed all the drama! It was so fun the last film, according to some stories. But no, by the time I got there, they were all mature and those hormones were calming down."

Meanwhile, Watson was spotted last month packing on the PDA with her boyfriend, Leo Robinton. However, the actress denied the rumors that they are already engaged.