Tom Felton has praised Emma Watson as “a fantastic influence on the world”

And after Emma previously admitted to having a crush on Tom when they were teenagers, Tom has now said he “adores” the actress.

He said: "We are something, if that makes any sense. We've been very close for a long time. I adore her. I think she's fantastic. Hopefully she returns the compliment."

However, Tom insisted there’s nothing romantic going on between the pair, as he believes fans are only invested in their bond because their ‘Harry Potter’ characters were in rival houses in the film franchise.

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

And Tom said he “absolutely thinks the world” of Emma, 31.

He said: “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."

It isn’t just Emma that Tom has stayed in touch with either, as he said he has a close friendship with several of his other co-stars, including leading star Daniel Radcliffe – who played Harry Potter – and Rupert Grint, who acted as Ron Weasley.

Speaking to ‘Entertainment Tonight’, he said: "We do stay in touch, quite frequently ... It is nice that we're in sort of four different corners of the earth and yet when we catch up, it feels like yesterday that this was all going on."

Meanwhile, Emma previously confessed she had a crush on Tom while filming the first two movies.

She said: “For the first two movies, I had a huge crush on Tom Felton.

He was my first crush. … He totally knows. We talked about it — we still laugh about it. We are really good friends now, and that’s cool.”