Emma Watson says she and 'Harry Potter' costar Tom Felton are 'soulmates': 'It's one of the purest loves I can think of'

• Emma Watson spoke about her friendship with Tom Felton in the foreword of his new memoir.
• Watson said that she and her "Harry Potter" costar have "one of the purest loves I can think of."

Emma Watson shared heartfelt words about her friendship with "Harry Potter" costar Tom Felton in the foreword of his new memoir, "Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard."

"You know that person in your life who makes you feel seen?" Watson wrote in the book, released on Tuesday. "That person who is somehow a witness to all that unfolds? That person who knows — really knows — what is happening to you and what you're going through, without anything having to be said? For me, that person is Tom Felton."

Watson and Felton met through their roles as Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, respectively, in the "Harry Potter" films, based on a fantasy-book series penned by J.K. Rowling.

Although the two actors are close friends now, that wasn't always the case.

"When we first met, I was a moony and probably rather annoying 9-year-old girl who followed him round like a puppy, desperate for his attention," she said.

Watson said that the overarching theme of the "Harry Potter" franchise is friendship, and she's "so thankful that at crucial turning points in my life, Tom has been there to reassure and understand me."

"The friendship we share has allowed me to move through some of the most challenging and soul-searching moments in my life," she wrote.

Watson said that Felton "has a heart the size of a planet" and said that he's completely authentic and far from his sneering "Harry Potter" character.

"He might have played a bully. He might even have sometimes felt like a bully. But take it from me: he couldn't be further from one," she said. "He is creative, sensitive, and whole-hearted. He is a person who wants to love everything and everyone."

Watson and Felton, who costarred in eight "Harry Potter" films released between 2001 and 2011, have been subject to romance rumors for years. On multiple occasions, the actors have spoken about their mutual adoration for each other but clarified that their relationship is platonic.

"Nothing has ever, ever, ever, ever happened romantically with us," Watson said in the "Harry Potter" 20th-anniversary reunion special released on HBO Max in January. "We just love each other. That's all I could say about that."

Watson shared similar comments in the foreword of Felton's book.

"Like Tom, I always struggle to explain to people the nature of our connection and relationship," she wrote. "For more than 20 years now we've loved each other in a special way, and I've lost count of the times that people have said to me, 'You must have drunkenly made out, just once!' 'You must have kissed!' 'There must be something!'"

"But what we have is far deeper than that," the "Little Women" star continued. "It's one of the purest loves I can think of. We're soulmates, and we've always had each other's backs. I know we always will. It makes me emotional to think about it."

Watson said that as a friend, Felton is non-judgmental and assumes the best intentions.

"Even when he doesn't have the whole picture, he'll never doubt that I'm coming from a good place and will have done my very best," she said. "That's true friendship, and to be seen and loved like that is one of the great gifts of my life."

"The world is lucky to have you, but I'm even luckier to have you as my friend," she concluded.

In the book, Felton recalled meeting a frizzy-haired Watson for the first time at the "HP" auditions. Once they landed their roles in the franchise, they didn't immediately get along, but that changed over time.

Felton was first informed of Watson's crush on him through "HP" hair designer Lisa Tomblin. Felton was 15 and Watson was 12 at the time and he "laughed it off."

"I've always had a secret love for Emma, though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear," Felton wrote. "That isn't to say there's never been a spark between us. There most definitely has, only at different times."

Felton recognized that Watson had a far different experience in the spotlight as a young woman and he "became very defensive of her, whenever she needed defending."

"Rumors started to abound that there was more to our relationship than we were letting on," he recalled. "I denied that I liked her in that way, but the truth was different. My girlfriend at the time knew straightaway that there was something unspoken between us."

"I remember using the familiar old line: 'I love her like a sister,'" Felton continued. "But there was more to it than that. 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."