Draco and Thoughts, 5+1 (Harry Potter)
Draco liked rain.
He was..well, he had a very stoic face ; they can admit - but really, he was an emotional boy on the inside, they were sure.
The reason they were sure of this was the rain.
Draco really liked rain.
Every single time it rained he'd beg and plead until he could go out and play in it. He'd always look so happy dancing in it.
His parents - they liked spoiling him. Lady Malfoy was unable to have children after Draco - because of the Malfoy family curse. Something something generations ago a Malfoy angered a particularly powerful witch, who responded by cursing him so badly he never would be able to have children. The Malfoy's were able to counter the curse partly - but not fully. Any Malfoy would only be able to have one child per generation ; a male is common, but there's a rare chance for a female Malfoy too.
Lady Malfoy always wanted to spoil her child - but Draco was frankly far too apathetic for that. No matter what she got him, he got bored with it after minutes.
The exception was the rain.
No matter how much it rained, he never got tired of it.
She once asked what his favourite colour was - and he said simply "I like grey! Like the sky, when it rains."
So for the Malfoy heir's fifth birthday, Lord Malfoy got him one present.
Complex wards were put upon the estate to make it so it always rained. Lord Malfoy had several preparations put in place to make sure it wouldn't over effect the ecosystem around the estate and so that the risk of flooding was negated ; but it was worth it when the Malfoy Heir lit up in a way never seen before and thanked his father over and over again profusely.
The groundskeepers ; for as little as they spoke to the boy, knew one thing with certainty.
Draco Malfoy, really, quite adored the rain.
Draco Malfoy was strange in the fact he seemed to be overjoyed with confusing people.
It was a tamer kind of joy - not the unguarded kind one may expect after seeing him around rain. A quirk of a lip, the slight crinkle in the eye, the twitch of an eyebrow ; it displayed clear amusement for those who knew where to look for it. It seemed to pop up more often when someone was confused with him - even for the most mundane reasons.
Narcissa knew this clearly, so it really shouldn't have been that big of a shock when after an etiquette lesson one day, he came up to her and asked for extra lessons in etiquette, but for ladies.
Of course - she still pretended to not know why he asked, even if only to tease.
"This isn't your way of telling me something, is it? It's terribly vague, if so."
Her son, instead of the flustered denials one may expect of a little boy his age - simply shook his head. "No, Mother, I just thought it'd be fun."
If Narcissa was any less of a mother, she may have really believed this to be the only reason - but ah, the twitch in the eyebrow, the brief quirking of a lip, the small crinkle of an eye - her son seems to think it'll be more useful in confusing his peers.
Well, who is Narcissa to deny her son his fun? It builds character to give your children treats every once in a while.
Draco Malfoy was quiet.
Not to say he didn't talk a lot - not at all, in fact talking seemed to be one of his favourite pastimes. No, Draco Malfoy simply was very...muted, emotionally.
Severus could tell his godson found potions simply fascinating but his face never seemed to display this accurately. Any other man may have thought him to simply not care very much, but it was all too obvious to the potions master.
The leaning into the cauldron just a little too close to be entirely safe, the caution with ingredients ; as if he expected it them to break if he held onto them too hard, constantly double-checking his potions instructions but not letting it effect his performance ; yes, Severus could tell he was simply enamored with the art.
Severus may have thought him to be a budding potions master, if not for the fact that Draco seemed to have this utter fascination for everything he studied. His calligraphy was always a little too erratic to seem composed, his words so close together that it was if he wanted to fit as many words on his parchment as possible. His etiquette was fluid, but not in the way of an undisturbed lake ; but more fluid in the way of rapids in a riverbed may be. Math, English, History, Arithmancy - all of it was simply fascinating to him ; and it was clear to those who looked.
Despite this, Lucius still came to Severus one night and confided that his son's tutors seem to think he was utterly bored in every class. Nothing they could do could possibly engage his attention. He went through every class methodically and apathetically. Lucius asked miserably what he was meant to do, when his son seemed to be bored with the world already.
Severus simply sat him down and said ; "Lucius, have you started him on his occlumency training yet?"
Occlumency was a bit of a lost art ; but it lived on in select lines. Lucius was the one to teach Severus his occlumency - despite the fact Severus' natural talent eventually surpassed even Lucius' own barriers. The Malfoys were the only purebloods to still practice occlumency actively, though the Greengrass' and Parkinsons and a couple other pureblood families knew what it was, and how to theoretically preform it ; they simply didn't have the talent for it like the Malfoy's did.
Lucius looked up, disheveled - and said that no, he had not.
Severus just sipped his tea calmly and said "I advise you try it soon, I think you'll find his mind a fascinating insight for this issue."
A few days later Lucius sent Severus a letter thanking him for the advice, as it quelled his worries so thoroughly it seemed ridiculous in foresight. Severus nodded mostly to himself - really, showing was sometimes just better than any telling could be.
Draco was an alarming child.
Lucius knows it to be, well, unseemly to say such things about his own son. However it was true - Draco was simply an alarming child.
For years Lucius thought his son only thought in extremes. If he liked something, he would make it clear to the world. If he didn't adore it to an unnatural degree ; it simply did not matter to him even in the slightest.
Over the years he reevaluated his opinion ; but it still rang true, even in a more mild form.
Draco put almost all of his soul into everything he did. He was something of a prodigy - he perfected everything he did with extreme vigour ; to the point that his repeated efforts may have been seen as extreme natural talent to the untrained eye.
Draco had been that way since his very birth - he spoke his first word at seven months, he starting crawling at eight months, he started pulling himself onto surfaces at eleven months, and eventually walking at fourteen months.
His opinions were..out there. He complied to impulse easily as well. Once, he got his hands on a quibbler - owned by one of the staff, though Lucius could never find who - and demanded to know if the Lovegoods had any children his age. After a quick thought Lucius determined that yes, they did have a daughter about a year younger than him. When he conveyed this to his son he begged to meet her quite thoroughly for days and days until he caved.
The Lovegoods, while suspicious of the request at first - seemed to relax when their daughter - Luna apparently - and Draco got on like a house fire.
They're still friends even now.
Lucius could admit, that while yes; his son was extremely alarming, he was still his son, and Lucius loved him dearly - so he supported his strange opinions and choices of friends, if only because it made his son happy so clearly.
Lucius always was a family man first, after all.
Draco Malfoy was the most helpful boy Harry had ever met.
Harry had been shopping for robes, when a boy came up to him and just started talking to him. He introduced himself, and hadn't stopped speaking since.
He rambled about everything and anything. Harry knew more strange trivia about the wizarding world now then he did the muggle world at this point. Harry always sarcastically mused that the best thing in the world would be if someone just walked up to him and explained every unwritten social rule ever to him ; and Draco Malfoy seemed to be that very thought incarnated into human form.
Every word he said was informative, even if it was a bit hard to follow - Harry thinks he's talking about newspapers now.
"-The quibbler is more reliable than the daily prophet personally, but most people may laugh at you if they catch you reading it. It has a reputation for being strange, yeah? The Lovegoods write the quibbler - the heir of their family is a year below us, a lovely girl named Luna - but they tend to use excessive metaphors for certain words. It's a bit hard to read the quibbler because of that, but it's the most honest newspaper you'll find that's still running. The prophet is mandated by the ministry of magic - sort of like the government, but more magical and more obviously corrupt - so it tends to push government opinions openly. It also has a habit of writing slander if they think they can get away with it - be careful there Harry ; what with you being an orphaned celebrity and all they may just write something about you. You may want to look into lawyers just in case-"
Harry interrupts Draco as he's about to go on another tangent. "You...know who I am?"
Draco blinks, clearly not expecting this question, "..Yeah? I mean everyone does, you have the 'infamous scar' and everything. Just one look at your forehead and bam! Harry potter, slayer of the dark lord. It's why I'm telling all of this to you in the first place, what; do you think I walk up to any person I can find and overexplain the entirety of the magical community to them for fun?"
Harry was embarrassed to admit that yes, he did think exactly that - but Draco interrupted him before he could even open his mouth. "No no dear Harry, you're just far too confused with everything for a half-blood, people are going to scrutinize you, you know? You're the boy who lived, and yet you don't even know how to put on wizarding robes! I felt that, as a good samaritan, I simply had to help you out."
Harry blinks, strangely hurt. "What, so- all of this was just because I'm- what, famous?"
Draco tilts his head in obvious confusion. "Hm? Harry did you even listen to what I said? No, it's because you're absolutely hopeless! I mean this in the kindest way possible, but you seem to be the type to not even know what a nimbus 2000 is! Know what, no you seem like the type to not even know what a broom is even used for! Honestly who was the hogwarts professor to visit you? They're the one meant to tell you all of this! You should have known this by now, really."
Draco's words alone, while obviously offensive in nature - felt strangely, well, polite. Like this was his honest opinion, nothing more or less. Maybe it's the face that does it - it's very stoic, his tone is very flat when not fluctuating in minor ways - it just gives off an earnest feel about it. Not specifically filtered for Harry's hearing.
He got the impression that Draco honestly was trying to be helpful by telling him this ; even if he heavily lacked tact.
Still - Harry felt the need to mention the elephant in the room at the very least. "Has...anyone ever told you that you're a bit blunt before? Anyone at all, actually?"
Draco's eyebrow may have twitched a little - but it was gone too quickly for Harry to tell. "Oh yeah, lots. Why do you mention it?"
Harry sighed, it probably would be best to let it go - he seems content to not answer this question. "No- no reason," he puts his hands through his hair and tries to change the topic. "What were you saying about the...what's it... prophet?"
Draco's eyes widened slightly as his movements became what Harry would call on any other person 'mechanically automated,' but in the case of Draco Malfoy Harry would suspect is just his very own version of joyfully animated once more. "Ah right! So because you're very popular it may be ideal to look into a lawyer in case the prophet writes a slander article on you-"
Draco talked a lot more - Harry probably doesn't remember it all, but he did absorb a lot of it ; at least subconsciously. He remembers a book talking about that, once. The subconscious processes more then the conscious, or something. He left the shop in a daze around thirty minutes later, his opinion reaffirmed.
Draco Malfoy had to be one of the most helpful people Harry had ever met - if not a bit overwhelmingly talkative.
Draco Malfoy was the most wasted potential she ever saw.
She had this opinion very firmly for years after reading the first book. Later on Draco gains a real personality - but frankly, it takes an entire war to get him on his feet. She was always of the opinion that Draco really had so much potential in the earlier books that was never touched upon, simply because of his personality.
So when she dies of a particularly bad flu one autumn, and wakes up 9 months later to being born as Draco Malfoy?
She's of the opinion this was a cosmic sign ; at least on some level a challenge, even.
"You don't like it? Why not give your hand a try then?" it seemed to taunt.
She accepted rather quickly - after all, she was never known for being all talk. She was going to save wizarding Britain, and she was going to do it by simply being herself in the process.
Draco Malfoy was on his way to end a war before it even started ; and that's a promise.
She was ready to take the world by storm.
She just...needed to learn how to walk first. Fun.