Draco Malfoy

[Ithinkrabis2people]

Honestly, I think that by the time all war stuff is over the Order would be no more. It would just dissapate into the wind...But anyway...

Voldemort won and the Order is in hiding. Not the best time to be raising a child ...

Ol' Draco has converted, eh? How long? I have some severe suspisions about Draco and if he'd ever switch over. There are too many people who hate him. Besides, he always prided himself with being amoung the 'powerful' followers of Voldie. He killed for Voldie. No doubt in the coming books he'll kill again. Things like that you can't just forget. A few people would have a major beef with Draco for suddenly acting all good.

Since September of 1997, along with Narcissa. It's a long story and they didn't really enter the Order's protection by choice, it was more that they didn't have another choice. Eventually, they learned to fit in (after a vast culture shock).

A 'good dad' is a very loose term. Any man can be a 'good dad'. All it takes is a bit of nice talk, show up when you are supposed to, a few hugs and you're suddenly a 'good dad'.

He's a good listener, a good teacher and he genuinely cares. I don't class anyone who doesn't care as a good dad. I didn't really make that care, my fault!

Why is he distant? Does he realize that he is? Does he regret it? Remember, not every dad is a 'good dad'.

He realises it when Cho points it out to him! I've always imagined him having quite a "distant" relationship with his own father and that affects the way he is with Sumiko (his daughter).

The 'high expectations' is also very Draco-like. Like Starmaiden said, he wants to be the best so it makes perfect sense that he'd want his daughter to be the same.

That's what I thought! Thank-you!

she is really needy. She wants to know that she is the most beautiful person on the planet and if Draco was distant than most likely she would not tolerate it. He doesn't have to pour out his soul to her on a regular basis but openness and trust is key in a relationship.

Yeah, I see what you mean ... But I think after knowing each other for twenty-four years, going out for seventeen years and being married for twelve, they've probably accepted a lot of each other's quirks. Maybe that's just me thinking that ... I'm not saying he doesn't ever speak in more than a grunt. I just mean that he's sometimes a bit "zoned-out". Not all the time ...

Unless you plan on having him have a mental breakdown because of this and this is what caused the distance between him and his daughter, I don't see how this is relevent.

It was just back-story really ...

Well, hopefully that helped! And whenever I have trouble with Draco's characterization, all I do is go back and re-read the chapter where Harry walks in on Draco crying in Myrtle's bathroom. The way Jo described it makes my character problems dissapear...

Very helpful, thank-you! And, yes, that chapter is a good one!

I don't think Cho would marry a distant man. From what we saw of her (brief) relationship with Harry, she's fairly needy. I don't think she handle a guy she couldn't connect with. This is, of course, assuming they are happily married.

They are happily married ... Or as happy as a couple can be in their circumstances.

High expectations, yes. He's an achiever, even if he doesn't display it like Hermione. He's touchy (CoS) when his dad twits him about having lower grades than Hermione, and fires back a nasty retort -- he doesn't like being second best. Stands to reason he'd want his daughter to be tops in a lot of things.

Yeah, that was my reasoning, too.

I think, though, that a Draco who's on the Light side and married to Cho will be a lot more mature. He's got to be loving (again, think about Cho) and having kids matures people anyway (though I'm not the one to really ask about having children, ha).

Yes, I kind of assumed that about having kids. And he is lving, just in his own way. He's not the big-guesture type, he'd show it in little ways ... Or so I think.

[Bea]

Ol' Draco has converted, eh? How long? I have some severe suspisions about Draco and if he'd ever switch over. There are too many people who hate him. Besides, he always prided himself with being amoung the 'powerful' followers of Voldie. He killed for Voldie. No doubt in the coming books he'll kill again. Things like that you can't just forget. A few people would have a major beef with Draco for suddenly acting all good.

Just being a bit curious! When has Draco ever killed? In this story you're talking about? Because I know it never happened in canon... Since Draco couldn't kill Dumbledore!

[FuzzyMuffins]

I am writing a Ginny/Draco fic and want to try to stay as close to canon as possable. (Of course it is nearly impossible to write a Ginny/Draco fic without being OOC.)

In my fic, Draco questions the importance of blood purity. My justification is that after his fathers arrest and his mission (takes place during HBP), he begins to wonder if he has pcked to right side. I believe we see a little bit of HBP. I want to build it up slowly to the pont where he starts to notice Ginny.

Is this too OOC? Is there anyway I can make it more in canon?

[FuzzyMuffins]

I am writing a Ginny/Draco fic and want to stay as close to canon as possible. In the beginning, he begins to question the importance of the purity of blood. This will lead slowly to his crush on Ginny. My reasoning is that with his fathers arrest and his mission (takes place in HBP), he is unsure if he has picked the right side. I just want to make sure this isn't too OOC. I somehow doubt he would question blood purity after his father beating it into his head for sixteen years, but maybe he will after seeing the horrors of war?

[Dumbledore Prince]

FuzzyMuffins, that is something that you will have to present to the reader as the story progresses.

In order to make that to sound more IC (and less OOC), a post-HBP scenario would be the most viable. Remember, Draco did show regret when trying to kill Dumbledore and thus, he failed in his mission.

War can change people's personalities, sometimes in a drastic manner. Whatever you do, try to make the change in Draco step by step, and not all of a sudden. Also remember that he's not likely to give up his mean nature completely. You can make him stop using the word "Mudblood" (after a reasonable amount of introspection to convince the reader and mod), but you can't have him being extremely nice, wearing leather pants, etc.

[Scarlet Fever]

ahaaa wearing leather pants...

Now onto the question. I think it can definatly work out for Draco to be in character. After all we see a completely different side of him in HBP, he was weak and vulnarable and not all that confident in himself. He was scared of voldemort, which I'm sure many death eaters are, although I'm pretty sure none of them have complete turn arounds on blood purity. So the thing you have to incorporate is Ginny's attitude too, she needs to be around Draco and with Draco questioning his values he can be pushed in the right direction by Ginny (although not dirctly but b/c he "cares" for her or what not).

I agree with Dumbledore Prince, the change can't be a 180 in half a chapter. It's gonna take a long time, and even in the end he has to retain the qualities that made him Draco Malfoy in the first place, or some of them at least.

[crazy_purple_hp_freak]

I agree with Dumbledore Prince and Scarlet Fever, that this change in Draco, though probable, is something that would have to be steadily worked on throughout the fic; the change being almost too gradual to be noticed, though definitely there.

Although Draco has been brought up to believe that purebloods are the end all be all, like all teenagers to some extent, Draco may begin to question this view. Especially after Lucius’ capture, he may start to question whether this view is the best line to take. If the rest of the wizarding population can live alongside Muggleborns and Muggles, then so can he.

I’ve seen ideas where Draco, up to this age, and due to his upbringing, has never really been exposed to Muggles before, and never really understood them. He has only ever seen them as “subhuman”, not really understanding that they are the same. To break this down a bit, you could start exposing Draco to more of these kinds of situations, which could slowly change his character.

Draco knows that Hermione, though a “Mudblood” is one of the cleverest witches there are. Though he is pureblood and quite bright as well, he must know that being a pureblood does not mean that one is clever by nature. (E.g. look at Neville, Crabbe, Goyle etc…) From this, and his failure to kill Dumbledore in HBP, Draco may grow to realise that blood purity does not necessarily determine one’s qualities. Voldemort is pureblood, but look how evil he is! Lucius was pureblood, but he too made some mistakes, which landed him in Azkaban. Ultimately Draco may realise that it is the choices that he chooses to make (i.e. loving Ginny) that determine his future.

Hope this helps

[FuzzyMuffins]

Thanks for all the responses.

Dumbledore Prince- I agree that this will have to be presented slowly. I also see the benefit in post-HBP. I think that Draco was too determined in HBP to be concerned with changing his values. The only problem is a way to see Ginny when they are out of school, but I will work something out. And I don't plan on having any leather pants in my story.

Scarlet Fever- I am planning to have it be gradual, starting with him regretting killing Dumbledore, then onto wondering if he chose the right side, and then onto blood purity. This will take place over a long perod of time. I will also break down the blood purity into him ignoring muggle-borns, him standing up to Mud-Blood comments, and finally acceptance.

crazy_purple_hp_freak- Very good point about rebellious teenagers. I am aiming to get across that Draco will eventually realize that his family was torn apart by being on the Dark Side, which is a bit rebellious. I suppose I could have him more aware of "good" Muggle-Borns as time progresses.

Also, I double-posted accidently. How do I delete one of my posts?

[mugglemathdork]

I'm writing a "humor" fic with Draco as the main character (Hermione is also a main character to some degree - but it's not a romance) and I was just wondering what type of humor would be come across as the most believeable from him?

He obviously has a snarky sarcastic side, but I'm thinking that situations that he can't control would be hilarious (part of my plot - he doesn't have a wand and is forced to do a lot of things the muggle way)

I love Draco and just want him to suffer - the story is post HBP, and he's "escaped" from Voldemort.

[anAnachronism]

I love Draco and just want him to suffer

I pity those you love. And I think you're spot on with Draco being sarcastic. A lot of his amusement is gained at the expense of others. He loves torturing the Weasleys and Potty-er, Harry... To have a believable, yet funny Draco, would be for him to grossly misinterpret a situation, think he has found some 'dirt' on one of the characters and try to tease them about it.

Like, say he sensed [mistakenly] chemistry between Harry and Hermione. He might start making snide comments about 'bush-whacking' to Harry. Harry wouldn't understand a word of what Draco was saying and...you get the picture.