Snake Intwined Lion

Every tall, handsome, well-dressed man looks better in a babywrap 👀

@lazywonderlvnd omg imagine himbo!Harry seeing this and going all

Get a ‘Found Family’ in 10 years or your money Hogwarts letter back!

And yet Rowling somehow sees him as belonging in a separate category. To the point where she says that fans who want to see his redemption arc acknowledged are harboring “unhealthy fantasies.” 

Even tho Draco, like Snape and Regulus ultimately rejected the ideologies he was raised to believe in and turned against them at great risk to himself. I just ??? Was she that threatened by the concept of drarry? Is that why she couldn’t bear to admit that Draco might actually have grown and changed??? 

It is extremely weird to me that she put such an emphasis on redemption, such an emphasis in fact that one of the most important side character’s story was based around this theme, but would go so valiantly against the mere idea of a redemption for a borderline comic relief character that is a teenager that already showed signs of changing his mind. I did fucking stupid things when I was teenager, and I wasn’t hounded by a literal psychopat with magical powers which my parents adored (or were afraid of, not that I would be able to know the difference at the ripe old age of fifteen).

Now that I think of it, we didn’t really get a good redemption ark for one of the “younger people” (you know what I mean) (and no Percy does not fucking count), and I think that’s a bloody shame. Also, it makes me wonder why. It’s not like there were no other “young” characters that were shown to be irredeemable (Crabbe - he literally tried to kill people!) or so brutally unlikeable they might as well be irredeemable (Pansy). We have got a person on the “dark side” that refused to be affiliated with it (Victor, and what a shame we didn’t get more of him), but not a follower who followed at first and then changed his mind for whatever reason.

I remember that Rowling called Draco a coward (can’t find the source) and I actually agree; however, that doesn’t mean that he can’t grow and mature, and he actually showed signs of this growth in canon, when he didn’t identify Harry in the Manor. Like, that was huge. And I would love to see such a character mature and grow into a healthy adult, because fuck it, I was a massive coward too.

Oh yeah, and about that whole:

fuck you. That’s all I have to say. It makes me so angry. So what if they like an “evil” character? Does she think that their whole outlook on life will change because of one character? And does she think that all they (well, we, I guess) see in Draco is the “dark glamour of an anti-hero”? Fucking disappointing. Disappointing and infuriating.

Btw, the article I pulled the excerpt from is named “JK Rowling: I can’t see why girls fall for Draco Malfoy”. Well, first of all, fall as in ‘fall in love’? Like genuine love, not the fandom-y “this character is my baby and I love them and nobody dare hurt them”? Please. And second, for the same reason people like Snape; because she managed to write an interesting character to which we can relate to on some level (cowardice, prejudices, blind following of traditions, thinking that he is better than others because of arbitrary reasons to name a few) and didn’t give him the luxury of showing that he can do better (like most of the readers did; that’s why so many redemption stories). People “fall in love” with well written characters, that’s what happens, that’s why people love Snape.

And are you ready for the funniest part that I just remembered? You know who was canonically given a chance to redeem themselves, by the main character nonetheless?

Voldemort

Take a look at those two excerpts from Deathly Hallows:

So Harry is giving Voldemort a cue to put his soul back together, but why? Not why does he even offer such a thing to Voldemort (Harry is a good person), but what does it do for Voldemort?

This is what jumped on me when I looked up ‘soul’ on Harry Potter Wiki (yeah, not the best source but still):

Harry essentially offered Voldemort a way to achieve afterlife.

Theres no such thing as a Good Person and a Bad Person, so the fact that JK Rowling doesn’t believe Draco deserves a fully canon redemption (in the original 7 books) shows poor character writing at it’s best.

She wrote so many amazing character moments that can be used to explore them deeper but then she seems so just completely ignore it??

Draco is clearly just a product of his home life. He comes from a family of high achieving Slytherins with a backwards belief that purebloods are superior. He’s under so much pressure to meet their impossibly high expectations that he sees any conflict or differences as an insult to himself and thus his family.

Example from Philosophers Stone chapter 5:

“I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?”

Furthermore, its completely unrealistic that Draco wouldn’t mature and explore his identity outside of his family’s expectations.

You could make the arguement that it’s a fantasy series so it’s not going to be like real life. This is completely invalid because just because it’s fantasy doesn’t mean the characters shouldn’t be believable.

We all can agree that Draco has done some terrible things in the books but @dewitty1 made a good point hes literally a child for most of it??

Even as he gets older its clear that he’s not the man he wants people to think he is and that he’s only acting out of fear of because his family’s reputation. For example, when Hermione hits him and he doesn’t fight back.

You see it all the time in real life, people grow up surrounded by a negative influence and act on the pressure (to be like the negative influence) but then they mature and live through their own beliefs.

Rowling didn’t have to make Harry and Draco good friends in order for him to have a well written development. Even if he didn’t make amends with Harry directly, it would’ve been so amazing to see how Draco deals with learning to grow from his childhood and finding his own identity.

Draco pining for Harry since sixth year

Like he just needs someone to save him, to care for him, who better than the savior of the entire wizarding world?

Three years after the war finally ends, and Harry’s Auror work leads him to St. Mungo’s where Draco is a healer

And when did Draco get so attractive ???

Harry finds himself going back several times a week with increasingly frail excuses to see him

“Er, I got a paper cut and I forgot the healing charm.”

“You do realize bandages exist, right Potter?”

Finally he goes “fuck it, I didn’t die to keep these feelings to myself” and asks him on a date

This goes on for a while, and things are super good for both of them

They finally begin to feel normal again

Harry eventually wants to come out to his family (the Weasleys, Andromeda, Teddy who’s far too young to understand but he’ll be damned if he keeps a single secret from that child)

Draco wants to come out too, but his family is so torn apart

So they do it together, hand-in-hand, at a Weasley family gathering and when they finally convince Andy and Narcissa to meet

They move in together a few months later and have a guest bedroom for Merlin-knows who will stay with them

The longer they stay together, the more time Andy leaves Teddy alone with them, secretly testing them as parents

That room eventually becomes Teddy’s room, full of warmth and color and so, so many pictures of Remus and Tonks

And they heal together, mending the scars they both hide beneath the surface

Draco eventually decides he wants his Dark Mark hidden, as instead of a reminder of his past mistakes, it becomes a trigger for horrible anxiety, so he goes and gets the constellations of his family tattooed over it

Harry gets a tattoo of Canis Major, complete with twinkling Sirius star on the same day

He would end up with a full moon, a rack of antlers, and a lily flower on his body as well

They take even bigger roles in Teddy’s life, as a cousin to Draco and godson to Harry

Teddy loves the zoo, and they have weekly trips there, but once its raining so they go to the animal shelter instead

Draco falls in love with every single cat, but they immediately make Harry sneeze

Teddy becomes attached to a large black dog, but to Harry it looks a bit too much like another one

Draco literally refuses to leave without rescuing at least one animal

They eventually decide to adopt two sphynx cats they find on the muggle internet because they’re hypoallergenic and many people consider them to be ugly, but they fit so well into their strange family

Draco thinks they look absolutely regal and wants to name them after constellations, but Harry’s having none of it

A few months later, Harry stops in the middle of a Quidditch game they’re playing with Teddy

“Draco, will you marry me?”

It’s so random that Draco nearly falls off his broom in shock, but he says yes an instant later, and the game continues

After the wedding, in which Teddy is the most adorable ring bearer to grace the earth, his hair matching their colors of emerald and gold, Andromeda approaches them with the idea of the two of them adopting Teddy as their own

It’d be so much easier for the two of them to keep up with him and raise him into modern society, and she just wants to step back and be a grandmother more than a parent

When Draco enthusiastically agrees to it, Harry can’t help but break down in tears

After living his whole life without a family, after everyone he’s lost, and after all he’s fought for, he can finally just live and be happy

Harry: baby

Draco: now is NOT the time for pet names

Harry: no I’m calling you a baby.

Draco: *walks by* Potter.

Harry: Malfoy. *watches as he walks away*

Ron: Bloody hell, what an ass.

Harry: I know right, just look how it moves when he walks.

Ron: …what?

Harry: *freezes* -What?

Ron: I said he was an ass…

and at first, draco is all like what the fuck? but breakfast slowly grows to be his favourite meal of the day. in the beginning, he would just furrow his brows and shoot harry a glare, but then he starts softening up. maybe after a few weeks, he’d even smile back? 

but then one day harry walks into the hall looking worn out, like he hasn’t slept at all. ron and hermione try to make him eat something, but he refuses, and draco doesn’t know why, but he’s concerned. 

so, mustering up all the courage he can, he makes a funny face at harry. 

harry looks surprised at first, but then his face lights up and he laughs, and after that day, it’s a competition to see who can make the silliest faces. after all, it’s draco and harry we’re talking about. you can’t name a more competitive pair. 

eventually draco admits defeat, because he’s never been particularly good at joking around. obviously, it comes out sounding like “I hope you enjoy this, because it’s the only thing you’ll ever beat me at” but it doesn’t have the usual menace, and they can both tell. 

before they know it, they’re joking, teasing, having actual conversations together. harry finds himself feeling the happiest he’s been since the war, around malfoy of all people.

at some point, the teasing turns to flirting, and they both don’t think anything is strange about it. but one day, when harry tells draco he looks hot in his new robes, ron spits out his pancakes and just blurts out “harry, do you… do you like malfoy or something?”