Wolfstar and Remadora: Can These Two Ships Coexist?
Remus Lupin has two great relationships in the Harry Potter books. One is his romantic relationship with Nymphadora Tonks, the woman who becomes his wife in Deathly Hallows. The other is his relationship with his childhood friend Sirius Black. His relationship with Nymphadora Tonks is set in stone and cemented by their marriage. There is no changing the fact that Remadora is canon and will always be canon. However, his other relationship can be interpreted in a different way. Many fans ship Sirius Black and Remus Lupin together. Shipping is a very common fandom practice and is not normally presented as a canon relationship, but Wolfstar is seen by many as canon. Why is that? Can these two ships exist together peacefully? Can both be canon at the same time? That’s what I’m here to find out.
Let’s talk about Remus Lupin first. He is a fantastic character, and one of my favorites. His past is so open for discussion and interpretation. Where was he for those twelve years? How did he hide his lycanthropy for so long? I’ve spent hours discussing these things with friends and at conventions. When I first read the books, I did not really pay that much attention to his character. I first read them when I was seven, and I had no interest in the adult characters in the series. Then I got older and realised what an amazing queer character he was. I got very excited and began to analyze everything that he did in the first few books. Up until the release of the sixth book, I was convinced that he was gay. It made so much sense at the time. The Harry Potter fandom spent so much time discussing the potential relationship between Remus and Sirius between the release of the fifth and sixth books. Why did we all think that he was gay? His characterization and the way that the witches and wizards acted about his lycanthropy seemed to be an allegory for AIDS. He was an unmarried loner, and his interaction with everyone around him just screamed “I’m different.” It made sense for J.K. Rowling to diversify her characters by including a queer character, and Remus Lupin seemed like he would be the perfect choice.
How does Sirius Black fit into this? Why do people think that a romantic relationship between Remus and Sirius is canon? Sirius Black, a childhood friend of Remus, came back into his life in the third book after Sirius escaped from Azkaban. Once Remus finds out that Sirius is innocent, he “embraced Black like a brother.” That isn’t enough to prove that they were in a relationship, though. Friends hug all the time, especially after being apart for years. In the fourth book, Dumbledore sends Sirius to go off and let the “old crowd” know that Voldemort is back. Then he commands him to “lie low at Lupin’s for a while.” Dumbledore must know that the two would have no problem living together for an unknown amount of time. Many Wolfstar shippers believe that this period of laying low at Lupin’s is when they rekindled their relationship. Friends live with each other a lot, so I wouldn’t use that as evidence, but Dumbledore wouldn’t have them live together if he thought that they would have a problem sharing a small space with each other.
In the fifth book, we find out that Remus and Sirius moved into Grimmauld Place along with the Weasleys and Hermione Granger. This book holds the biggest piece of evidence that there was something more than friendship between them, the forty-line stare. In my American edition, it is on pages 88-89. It starts with “Lupin’s eyes were fixed on Sirius” and ends exactly forty lines later with “…Lupin quietly looking away from Sirius at last.” This means that Remus was staring at Sirius for at least a minute or two. That isn’t something that friends do. Separately, all of these things mean nothing other than the two were close friends, but all of these things together points at them maybe being something more. If they were in a relationship, it would not have been commonly known. They would not have told the children about it. J.K. Rowling would have never openly stated it in the books. I’m not saying that it is definitely canon, but the evidence is in the books, and I can completely understand why people interpret it as a canon relationship.
Now, let’s talk about Remadora. This pairing is most definitely canon. Remus and Tonks get married in the seventh book. There is no avoiding or overlooking that. How does this relationship affect the possible relationship between Remus and Sirius? It doesn’t. These two pairings have no influence over the other. Why? Sirius died, so the relationship between Sirius and Remus was over when Remus and Tonks got together. Remus could have been bisexual, and really with everything that he had gone through in his life, I can’t really see gender being an issue for him. All of the canon evidence points to both relationships being possible and to them being able to coexist. You can be in more than one relationship in your life. You can love more than one person. There is nothing preventing these two pairings from coexisting.
What are your thoughts on these two ships? Do you think they can coexist? Let us know in the comments.