[HPforGrownups] What's with all the Draco love in fanon?

[P. Alexis Nguyen]

No: HPFGUIDX 153172

On 5/30/06, John <clark.kentjr at gmail.com> wrote:
> For some reason a lot of people like to ship Draco with Harry, Ginny,
> or Hermione.  Maybe I'm missing something here, but Draco (in canon)
> is a pompous, gloating, racist nitwit (up until HBP anyway, when he
> finally does something without yapping about it) who has been nothing
> but horrible to the Trio and their friends.
<SNIPPED>
> Is there any reason besides the actor for the character being handsome
> (which Draco in the book WASN'T described as being).  Is it simply one
> of those "I can change him" situations that seems to happen with lots
> of girls/women?  Would replacing "mudblood" with "n****r", "death
> eater" with nazi and "pure blood" with "aryan" in the books yield the
> same amount of pro-Draco stories?

I'm not really a shipper, so perhaps I'm not quite part of the group
you're directing your question toward.  (I do, however, like the idea
of Draco-Ginny since I think the characters foil each other better
than Harry-Ginny, but that's a whole different story.)  I do like the
idea of redeemed!Draco (and am female), though, so I think I may be
able to shed a tiny little bit of light on the matter, though.

What you've described as how you see Draco ("pompous, gloating, racist
nitwit") is not necessarily different from how I, and some others, see
him.  However, in an adult set in his ways, those traits would be
viewed, rightly so, as repulsive.  However, in a child, it pulls on
the heartstrings a little and makes you root for him to be redeemed,
to be tossed out into the real world and learn better how to properly
act.  There has been arguments about how Draco is 15 yrs old and
should start to know better since 17 yrs is when wizards come of age.
However, being considered an adult and being an adult are two very
different things, and in my way of thinking, Draco is still a child,
having been sheltered by his parents and raised to see the world in
only one way without having had too much to challenge those beliefs.
Combine this with the fanfic-enabled ability to actually redeem Draco,
you get a lot of shippers/fans.  Then again, I don't doubt that the
facts that the actor is somewhat pleasing to the eye and that, as a
broad generalization, do like to redeem the "bad boy" do play roles in
fanon's love-affair with Draco Malfoy.

What it comes down to is context.  Do you see those repulsive traits
alone and judge him by such?  Or do you see it in the context of a
sheltered boy whose beliefs have never been truly challenged?

Those are my two bits, in any case.

~Ali