Draco's redemption---one point not yet made

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 32020

One thing that may well be a factor in Draco's behavior is that he honestly
_fears_ not seeming to be sufficiently loyal to his daddy's warped views.
If, forex, he decided that Death-Eater-ism was not for him, and publicly
renounced it---what do you people think his daddy would do to him?  Even if
he just made friends with Harry Potter, the Death Eater's Enemy Number One,
and didn't otherwise rebel, do you think that his two goons, CrabbenGoyle,
wouldn't shop him either to his daddy or to theirs?

We don't know much about life _chez_ Malfoy---but I wouldn't give much for
the chances of a Malfoy scion who went against Malfoy _pere's_ notions about
the Right Way To Be.  Malfoy Senior is not somebody that I'd see saying to
his son and heir: "Okay, I'm a devoted Death Eater, but you want to side
with Dumbledore.  Fine with me---what's important is you doing what you
think is right."

There was a fanfic once about what happened to Draco's little sister, who
was a Squib...the scary thing was that I could easily see this happening.
Nothing in the fic was OOC.