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Another day of harry simping over his dearest enemy

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JK Rowling: I hate drarry shippers

JK Rowling: I wanted Harry to end up in a relationship that paralleled jily

JK Rowling: anyway here’s the scene I wrote of lily meeting james for the first time which parallels harry meeting draco for the first time and during which James repeats some of draco's dialogue nearly verbatim in a presumably intentional callback

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More fem drarry ✨

I'll probably change Draco's design. I think he's (she's) a very difficult character to draw in general.

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I can't stop thinking about this idea my brain keeps throwing at me roughly every five minutes.

They meet at a gala and are bored out of their minds. Harry: "Hey, Malfoy, how about I introduce you to my worst bully?" Draco: *jealous* "Who?" Harry: "My cousin. He's getting married in August. Care to be my plus one?" Draco: "A summer wedding does sound lovely." Harry: "The invitation reads 'Don't embarass me in front of my family', all muggles, so you'd need to tone it down."

People around them hear only bits and pieces of their chat. The Prophet the next day: "SAVIOR OF THE WIZARDING WORLD HARRY POTTER DOMESTICATES FORMER DEATH EATER DRACO MALFOY - WEDDING IN AUGUST"

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Draco in the beginning of book 6: I have taken the Dark Mark. I'm finally living my dream of being a real Death Eater. I will regain my family's honor by being the best servant the Dark Lord ever had and I definitely won't ever regret this. Oh look. I have Harry Potter, who the Dark Lord wants dead, helpless and at my mercy. Time to...definitely not kill him or even capture him. For no particular reason. I am definitely very happy with the side I chose and also I have a normal amount of feelings about Harry Potter.

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You might not be interested in this ship, but I was wondering what are your thoughts on lucissa? It seems many people think that it was a marriage of convenience and that they didn’t really like each other.

It probably was a marriage of convenience to some extent - I mean, there are only so many eligible pureblood bachelors, especially if you're a Black and thus have very high standards in terms of who has an acceptable level of wealth and social standing and blood purity. Interestingly Lucius is the first Malfoy on the official Black family tree. I've always liked to headcanon that the Malfoys were a bit newer on the scene compared to the Blacks and thus slightly looked down on and that it was a big victory for Lucius to finally land a Black as a bride. I also like to imagine that maybe Abraxas had designs on Walburga but couldn't get it to work. It's a good match for Narcissa and for Lucius. Perhaps given Lucius's accepting attitudes towards Snape in the book 7 flashback as opposed to Bellatrix calling Harry a filthy half-blood, the Malfoys might be considered a bit too liberal for the tastes of some more conservative family members, but are able to make up for it with their tremendous wealth. That said, it's certainly a respectable, acceptable marriage by her family's standards, and probably a mark of how the Malfoys have come up in the world.

That doesn't mean that there wasn't also affection there too. They certainly don't seem to dislike each other - and are definitely seen together a lot more than Bellatrix and her husband for example. Narcissa certainly gets angry on several occasions when Lucius is insulted in her presence. I do think she is markedly more protective of Draco, much quicker to speak up in his defense no matter the circumstances, and more concerned with his safety and his interests. You could say that's just due to the different relationship that a parent and child have versus a wife and husband, and while that is undoubtedly part of it, I also tend to think that her love for Draco is perhaps a bit stronger and more uncomplicated than her feelings for Lucius. She likes Lucius, and she cares about him. But I'm not sure it's a great love for the ages.

Especially in the later books when she has to step out of her traditional pureblood wife role I think perhaps she starts to find him a bit lacking and her respect for him diminishes a bit. I think they are both changed by the war. She draws on skills and fortitude she never knew she had. And in contrast he becomes diminished, unable to navigate the complex and dire situation he has unintentionally condemned his family to, and too overwhelmed and afraid to truly try. For example in the beginning of book 7 it is she who is able to discern how they should react and who has to take charge of the situation. It is she who is looking out for her family, with little support from Lucius who seems mostly concerned with looking inwards. (Admittedly Lucius has the most to worry about since Voldemort's anger is especially focused on him.) This may leave Narcissa feeling isolated and frustrated and make her respect Lucius less than she once did.

I think Draco takes after his mother a lot more than his father - especially in terms of his magical skill, his aptitude for occlumency, his resourcefulness and creativity. And I think he's more appreciated by his mother. Lucius always struck me as a bit colder towards Draco - willing to send him far away to Durmstrang till Narcissa intervened and publicly humiliating him in book 2 etc. I think perhaps part of Lucius's affection for Draco is more for the idea of him as the Malfoy heir than as an actual person. And I'm sure Lucius is disgusted by Draco's lack of stomach for true violence or cruelty. After all, Lucius's idea of a good time is getting drunk and engaging in a bit of muggle torture with his mates. This too probably proves a source of tension, especially in the later books.

However, I really can't imagine them with anyone else. I think they are both generally aligned in their world views and attitudes. While the marriage may well have been semi-arranged I think both believed in the process and probably went into the marriage with enthusiasm. And I think they're happy to continue the relationship after the war though I'm not sure either would contemplate dying for the other or anything like that. I also don't think interpretations where Lucius is going around terrorizing his family or beating/torturing/abusing Draco fit with canon. I don't think he would do that. Nor do I think that Narcissa would allow it if he tried.

I think their relationship is flawed - but so are they. A nice little, 'awful people being awful together' ship. And I think iterations of them where they are a bit more lovey dovey with each other than I see them are also a valid reading that has a good basis in canon too.

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Hiii and first of all thank you for your service to thoughtful analysis of the HP books!

I was curious on your take as to the canon evidence of what sort of parents Lucius and Narcissa are? I think it’s relatively common fanon practice to make Lucius outright abusive - and hey, whatever floats your boat when writing/reading fanfic, but to me there’s no way at all to make that align with the way Draco and Lucius actually interact in the books (I’m thinking of the scene in B&B in CoS in particular). And it’s relatively common also to make Narcissa out to be very loving, devoted, unproblematic etc. I reckon they’re both probably a bit more complicated than that and would love to know your thoughts!

You are very welcome! xD I personally disagree with the abusive Lucius interpretation (at least in the books) - in the movies he's a bit harsher and also Narcissa is basically a nonentity. In the books though, Draco shows no signs that his father abuses him to the extent common in those interpretations. Lucius certainly can be cold or demanding, and doesn't hesitate to publicly humiliate him in front of Borgin in book 2. So I'm not saying he's a model parent. I think he views Draco more as an extension of himself than as his own person and cares about how Draco's actions reflect on/impact him. But I don't think he's terrorizing him or anything like that. Draco looks up to his father and doesn't seem fearful of, or around him. And in fact usually goes running to Lucius to fix any problem he might have. Plus, if Lucius hurt Draco pretty sure Narcissa would put him in the ground the same day.

I think Narcissa was kind of content to be a traditional pureblood wife, and then. had to step into her own starting in book 6, because she had no one else to rely on. I think Narcissa is a stronger, cleverer person than Lucius and also a more selfless and devoted parent. And I think part of Draco's arc in the end of the series is realizing this - seeing how his father collapses under pressure and learning to look to his mother for leadership and protection. She's also a raging bigot who was a-ok with Lucius running around in a hood and mask and committing acts of muggle torture in book 4 - and may have even been under there with him. She turned on Voldemort because he was bad for her son and her family, not because she disagreed with blood purity politics. I think she remains very devoted to Draco post-war, but that she is also unhappy to see him embracing a new worldview that she doesn't agree with.

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Hi! I’ve been following you for a while, so it’s exciting to finally have an ask for you! This might be a long one, so feel free to split it up if you need to 😅.

For the headcanon game, I’m interested in your thoughts on 15,16,17, and 20. For Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Ron.

Ah! Welcome to my ask box. And thank you for your patience.

15- pets or feelings about animals

Harry: Harry's not super demonstrative with Hedwig (or in general when it comes to showing affection), probably due to his traumatic upbringing, but he clearly really likes her and feels a close bond. I think after the war he'd be resistant to getting a new owl because it wouldn't feel the same and he wouldn't want to replace her. I'd love to see him get a pet snake because he could talk to it, but I don't actually see him wanting to do that, which hurts me on a deep level because if *I* had a superpower that let me talk to an animal species I would run out SO FAST to get a pet of that species and yet every indication points to Harry denying my the opportunity to vicariously live my dream

Draco: He has an eagle owl - which we know thanks to Harry's obsession with him. I think he acts indifferent but is secretly extremely fond of it. I always imagine they actually had seven owls at the Manor but that they did not survive the war because after the Malfoys fell out of favor the Carrows ended up using them for target practice. Draco is especially fond of animals after the war as they do not shun or fear him.

Hermione: She's ride or die for Crookshanks and maintains that he has done nothing wrong ever in his life. She is right. I think after the war she accumulates a number of pets that are unusual/unwanted in some way. Ron rolls his eyes but is secretly fond of them too.

Ron: He likes pets though he's always vaguely suspicious that they might be humans in disguise after the whole Scabbers debacle and surreptitiously mutters a few spells to check every time he meets a new one.

16- home/place that they live -

Harry: He and Draco end up with a nice house in Muggle London (protected with all sorts of spells). it looks like a regular flat from the outside but once you walk in it turns into a little house with a yard.

Draco: See above.

Hermione: She and Ron build their own home not that far from the Burrow. (Well, Hermione does most of the actual building because she's good at magic. Ron helps out with the design.)

Ron: See above.

17- personal sense of style and decor

Harry: MIA. Harry's like 'style? decor? in this economy?' He just throws some stuff he likes around the room and calls it a day. And then Molly comes over and is horrified and tries to subtly fix things a little at a time....The problem is Narcissa does the same thing and has a very different aesthetic so the result is a house that is more chaotic looking than ever and has several enchanted pieces of furniture that are in a perpetual state of war with each other...After the third time Harry and Draco come home to find the set of mahogany chairs with snakes carved on them engaged in a mortal battle for control of the dining with the cozy but worn table (casualties include most of the china) they put their foot down.

Draco: He doesn't care that much though he defaults to things that feel familiar (i.e. that match the Manor's aesthetic).

Hermione: She's pretty practical. When it comes to clothing or furniture she wants it to be comfortable (and in the latter case, conducive to reading). She does love a beautiful library...Though she often ends up neglecting the artful reading nooks for just plopping down on the floor wherever she happens to be standing when she finds something interesting. Ron is always finding her asleep in uncomfortable looking positions with a precariously balanced massive tomb open in front of her. He finds it endearing.

Ron: He actually has a proper sense of decor and is responsible for the house he and Hermione share looking put together. He doesn't care about clothes that much.

20- love language/way they show affection

Harry: Harry's not that good at verbalizing his feelings. Though sometimes he'll try - which for him is a huge gesture in and of itself. But a lot of it is subtler things. He's not generally a very physical or touchy person, except with the people he's really close to and trusts absolutely. And you can tell by the way he lets them in his space. Plus he's really observant when he cares about someone and always gets them AMAZING gifts.

Draco: Draco is cuddly with the people he likes. Like Harry, he's also ride or die for the people he loves. And he WILL brag about all their accomplishments and talk to them up to anyone who will listen.

Hermione: Physical touch obviously. And being protective. But also if Hermione cares about you she WILL try to solve all your problems. Regardless of whether you asked. And she will also give you advice - including tell you difficult things you might not want to hear.

Ron: Ron's always down to be a shoulder to cry on and he gives GREAT hugs (one of the things Hermione loves about him). Also when he cares about someone he is 100% going to take their side in an argument no matter what. Ron's friend is totally in the wrong in this instance? Nope. No they aren't. Those were their emotional support crimes.

Ask game here

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Can we talk about the scene where Draco gets dragged into Slughorn's party by Filch? Because that whole sequence is honestly wild from a drarry pov.

Draco of course was lurking around doing stuff for his mission - presumably he was on his way to the Room of Requirement. (Or else he wanted to steal supplies from Slughorn's office and forgot about the party).

Of course, he can't admit that so he says he was trying to gatecrash and it backfires a bit because Slughorn invites him to stay, which is the opposite of what he wants. No one else notices this though, except for Harry who sees how he really feels despite the fact that the fleeting look on his face is just there for a fraction of a second. Look at this.

Harry immediately can tell exactly how Draco's feeling despite the fact that the look is gone so fast even he barely has time to register it. It must've literally been a millisecond that the look was on Draco's face. But that was enough for Harry.

And then of course this bit is immediately followed by Harry immediately noticing that's Draco's skin is a slightly different shade than usual - a fact that NO ONE else seems to pick up on, indicating it's a very subtle change. AND the lighting level is low.

AND THEN Harry is able to recognize the sound of Draco's footsteps in seconds.

Drarry is so accidentally canon. I love it. HBP is one of my favorite drarry fics.

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Why do you think Harry feels a connection to Draco and doesn't try to severe it? What I mean is if we compare it to people he dislike like Dudley, Smith and McLaggen and many others (he can simply ignore them and not given them the time of day)

Also why do you think he can never do something bad to Draco what I mean is unlike others Harry never calls him outright ugly like how he describes people he hates; Dudley a pig, Cormac a gorilla, Pansy a pug etc. or even try to think of physically get back on him, like he never thought of using the Sectumsempra on Draco (though he did actually use it) but his thoughts are never to hurt him.

Like, there could be subtle spells that could have Harry sneakily hurt Draco without others finding out, maybe a hex or even have water spill on his face as he drinks but never does he think of doing that to his 'archnemesis'

Because Harry is deeply fascinated by Draco, because he finds him attractive and thus doesn't describe him as ugly, because he can't look away, because he can't bring himself to hate Draco - even when they are enemies and even when everything about their situation sets them up to hate each other, because they're soulmates, because he loves him.

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Antis: harry would be disgusted if he realises people ship him with draco

harry:accepts internally that he's obsessed with draco and when ron says the same he doesn't deny, also stares at him and can't take his eyes off so much he gets hit by goyle's luggage and never really seems to be disgusted looking at him so....yes.(descriptions of shining, gleaming, glinting, sleek aside)

harry is the problematic draco apologist antis complain about

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When did Draco first fall in love with Harry at Hogwarts, whether he knew it or not?

I don’t think there was one defining moment. He’s been drawn to Harry literally from day 1 when he met him at Madam Malkin’s and tried to engage with him despite the fact that he probably looked a bit unkempt and the fact that he was unfamiliar to Draco meant he almost certainly wasn’t from one of the “great” pureblood Houses. And then he tried again on the train, this time presenting himself as impressively (from his perspective) as possible, with disastrous results that he took VERY personally. (Meanwhile Harry dreams of Draco his very first night at school so the fascination is very mutual). When did this inexorable draw become actual love? Who can say. It grows slowly for years, a part of each of their characters that they would be unrecognizable without.

All Draco knows is by 7th year when Harry is kneeling captured and helpless on his floor he can’t identify him, no matter that he is throwing away everything he always thought he wanted, no matter the likely consequences for himself and his family, no matter the fact that some small and shameful part of him wants to shout “it’s him.” And it doesn’t really matter whether Potter is the Chosen One who can defeat Him or not. This isn’t about the war. This is about Harry.

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I'm making a three-part podcast series on the phenomenon that is Drarry do you have any pointers on the top three things I should cover and could you give me a detailed account of how Drarry started in the first place?

Oooh nice! When you make it definitely come drop a link in my inbox because I want to listen to that! Of course, to some extent what you cover will depend on your audience and what kind of podcast you are making but I can certainly share my thoughts and I'm happy to answer specific questions if you have them.

I'm not the best person to give you a detailed history of the ship as it has been around for a WHILE and I got into it relatively recently given how long it's been a thing. (If others have thoughts on this please feel free to chime in). I think this Shipper's Guide to the Galaxy video gives a really good overview of the ship (including some history). Some information about the history of the ship can also be found here on the fanlore page.

As for what to cover, without knowing more about the podcast and your audiences interests and starting knowledge levels, it's hard for me to say. 3 things that I find interesting are (and again if you have other ideas please feel free to add onto this):

1) The strong canon basis for a drarry reading of the source material. Listen, ships don't have to be canon or based in canon to be fun or compelling or interesting. One of my all time favorite shipping fanfics is about two characters who never even met in canon. So it's not that I need my ships to be canon. But drarry...kinda is. It 100% was not JKR's intent but due to her own limitations as an author she accidentally kinda wrote them as a thing. I mean, there's a reason I have a whole "drarry in canon" tag on my blog. And that adds a really interesting dimension to the ship and also unintentionally adds a lot of depth and complexity to their canon characters and narratives and adds so much reread value to the books. There are soooo many interesting examples from the actual series to talk through. They are incredibly central to each other's arcs. They significantly impact each other's development and stories in innumerable ways.

2) The way this should be an enemies to lovers ship but it...kinda isn't. Listen, I got into fandom via kylux and lawlight. I love a "bitterest enemies to lovers" (or "bitterest enemies to bitterest enemies who are also lovers") ship dynamic. But imho that's not drarry. And that's FASCINATING to me. These characters have every reason to hate each other - first the are rivals at school and then they end up as soldiers on the opposite sides of a war. And yet, they can never bring themselves to. They are always strangely comfortable around each other, always hold back from doing each other serious harm (intentionally), and always, always save each other. When Draco has Harry incapacitated and at his mercy in book 6 Harry is not the least bit scared even though he (rightly) suspects Draco of being a Death Eater. I can't imagine him reacting the same way if he were in the same position around any other Death Eater. And yes, breaking Harry's nose was a very bad thing to do (though given the power of magical healing it's much less serious than in a muggle context) but it was quite mild given that Draco is a literal Death Eater by that point; he never even thinks of trying to kill Harry or deliver him to Voldemort. When Harry is in danger in book 7 Draco risks everything to save him, and similarly Harry always drops everything to save Draco - far beyond what he does for any other character who isn't a close friend, so no, it's not just his usual "saving people" thing. There are way to many examples of that to get into here. But it's something that I find particularly unique about the ship. They aren't friends. But they're never really enemies the way you'd expect. They are people who have every reason to hate and hurt each other, and yet can never bring themselves to.

3) The fascinating themes and world building concepts this fandom uses the ship as a jumping off point to explore. Listen, drarry is a huge fandom so there is no one typical drarry fic or interpretation. But something I really enjoy is seeing how a lot of drarry fics take time to really dive into Draco's redemption process and into the trauma that both he and Harry experienced in their youths and how that would affect them in the years after the war, and how they would both be impacted by, but also heal from it. In addition fics often tackle difficult issues with wizarding society - including the many pervasive forms of bigotry - that the books referenced but really didn't dive into. Plus so much world building happens - deep explorations of how magic works, wandlore, various creative ideas for post-war careers for both Harry and Draco etc. And I do love some of the commonly accepted fanon that totally should have happened - namely Harry giving Draco his wand back and also speaking at Draco's trial. It's just a great example of how fandom can really elevate the source material. It's especially nice with Draco because he has SO much potential as a character but for some reason JKR hates that and so it's nice to see people taking advantage of it.

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the amount of hate i would receive if i said out loud that drarry is the best ship in the harry potter universe. even better than wolfstar and dramione. but I won't say it out loud I don't have the courage

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I think people really downplay Draco's ability to survive in harsh environments. He went from being a pampered rich kid with all the protection in the world to being thrown into a warzone with no safety net. The fact that he didn't completely break under the pressure says a lot about his resilience.

Yes, his plan in HBP wasn’t foolproof, and Dumbledore mostly gave him a pass, but he still managed to get the job done without anyone’s help. Even after that sectusempra accident, instead of stopping out of fear, he kept going.

It truly annoys me when people act like he’s weak just because he’s not as bold as Harry. But in reality, his ability to adapt to changing environments and survive in a completely hostile situation is really impressive.