In my opinion, a ship that should definitely be better explored would be Harry / Susan.

There are few well-developed stories of this ship. And I would love to see this ship being further explored. (I have a side project involving Harry and Susan, I am still at the very beginning of the project, still taking notes and some scribbles from the story.)

Another ship that I find interesting but there is almost no fanfic about, but I only read one fanfic with him, is Harry / Hannah Abbott. If you are interested, here, take the link to the story: ( https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4348627/1/ )

Harry / Tracey: It's interesting, I've read a lot of stories with this ship, and I liked the result.

Harry / Pansy, I've read two that I liked, but I don't remember the damn name, one of them has about 500k words

Harry / Katie Bell, I already read about this ship and found it interesting.

Well, these are the ships that came to mind now, and you, which ship would you like to see more on the fandom? Tell me, let's discuss!

 

Harry / Fat Lady OTP.

 

I'll answer seriously and say Harry/Katie. Sporty older girl that Harry gets along with, what else is there to say?

 

You guys are preaching directly into my ears right now. I love it. I've always had a bit of a hate-on for romance fics.

But, to answer OP's question seriously: I'd like to see more relationships that pull characters in interesting directions. Hermione/Krum was my favourite relationship in the books because it just came so left of field and forced us all to re-evaluate who Hermione was and what she wanted from life.

I was trying to think of other interesting / unexpected pairings between characters that usually don't get any character development in fics and, err, now I think about it... aren't most of the adults in the books related? Wow. Dating prospects in the wizarding world are grim.

Hagrid / Dobby OTP

 

Agreed on the Harry/Katie.

She's perfect for angsty, brooding Harry in a lot of ways. She's sporty, laid back, and isn't a pureblood. (I think?) Plus, imagine what would happen in sixth year when Malfoy nearly kills her. Hoo boy. Talk about a jumping off point for a fic that could go any number of ways, including some very dark ones.

 

Harry/Hermione

This pairing has huge potential, but most HHr stories tend to be... overindulgent? The HHr romance fics I've read felt more like a backlash against Hermione/Ron than their own independent stories.

 

Fleur.

Aside from her being the single certified babe of canon, she brings the potential to explore and deepen the world around Harry. She's French and went to a different school, both links to different cultures that we can learn about. She's also part Veela which gives us yet another angle and culture to explore (admittedly, this is usually done horrendously).

Most importantly, by being both older and talented (Triwizard champion on her own merits), she is positioned to push Harry to new heights in his Hero's Journey by giving him someone to admire and seek to emulate that isn't Dumbledore. Also could go a long way to push him out of his 'just Harry' shell, as, while Fleur is canonically quite down-to-earth, he could assume that she wouldn't be interested in someone decidedly average.

It brings with it all the issues of what exactly does Fleur get out of being involved with someone who, when they meet, is very much beneath her notice, but a good author can handle that. My ideal Harry/Fleur has them growing together as friends for a while before Fleur is in any way remotely attracted to Harry, and them growing together as equals.

Sixth year AU that makes them friends and extends into seventh year as they grow together is the dream. It'd be perfect.

And now I miss The Halfblood Romantic. Oh well.

 

Political romance stories.

A lot of people find her bossy and annoying (not wrong) but she's also very ambitious. What if in Hermione's desire to become Minister for Magic, she reaches too high too fast and gets burned? Harry has a lot to offer her here, having fame, wealth, clout, etc. You could write a great story about them revenging/politicking/whatever to get Hermione back on the throne. Next... what if Hermione is Minister, but she's implementing laws Harry doesn't agree with? There's lots of room for conflict without falling back on the "why are you eating with your mouth open!!" clichés. Conversely, what if a naïve Indy!Harry just received his seventeen lordship rings and now needs help navigating the evil!aristocratic!wizengamot? Assuming Harry doesn't turn into a blood purist overnight, Hermione is a decent choice of love interest here: she has similar values to Harry, she's a muggleborn (opposite of the evil wizengamot members), she into activism, and, most importantly, she does the things she says she's gonna do. Daphne the Ice Queen would probably just tell Harry everything he needs to know. With Hermione, they could figure it out together. Hermione also doesn't have the network that Daphne the Ice Queen theoretically has, so there might be more struggle involved for Harry to find his footing. It's a different flavor of story.

Would I want to read a fic about Harry warping to the founders era with [insert love interest] and have that love interest be Hermione? Not really. I don't think she brings a lot there. I'd rather Harry get with Helena Ravenclaw.

Anyway that's my take

 

Harry/OC. All the ones with substantial basis in the source material have been explored plenty.

 

I mean, why does any story need a romance, right? I'm not an HHr fan, but I think I'd like it if given this particular window dressing. That's all I can say until someone writes it.

Shoehorning romance in every story is unnecessary. But I do like reading the romance genre. On top of that, I like reading romances with more substance than "he liked her, she liked him, they get married, the end."

Edit: The fandom should explore HHr more until it creates something I like.

 

Hunky older sports jocks?

 

Harry/Romilda for the win.

 

I will never stop shipping Ron/Fleur. Greyback should have killed Bill, paving the way for Ron to swoop in and pick up the pieces.