Imagine That You Were Me.
By Dreamer
Imagine that you were a child, an only child. Imagine that you had parents who expected nothing less than perfection, their kind of perfection. Imagine that you were trapped by their expectations, hemmed in by their beliefs. Imagine that your parents didn't love you for you, but merely as an extension of themselves. Imagine that you grew up believing that that was the way that it should be, starved for love and affection, but never knowing that that was what you needed because you never got any. Imagine that you grew up knowing how to manipulate people, play upon their weak points and dangle them like puppets on a string. Imagine that you were freed partially, that you were placed in a different environment where they didn't have as much control over you. Imagine that you kept on acting cruel and callous, only because that was what you had been raised to regard as normal. Imagine that you flourished in this environment, following your parents order, retracing the paths that they took when they were there. Imagine that you were doing everything right, that you're friends and acquaintances adored you and that the ones that didn't, feared you.
Now imagine that you met somebody who was supposed to be your mortal enemy, someone who was anathema to you, someone who was the exact opposite of you. Imagine that this person had all the qualities that you been taught were despicable, that they were compassionate, sensitive, caring and a champion of the under-dog. Imagine that everybody liked this person, everybody including you. Imagine that you tried to make friends with them and that they rejected you. Imagine that this was the first time you had ever failed to succeed. Imagine that you spent the rest of the time you had left with this person making their lives miserable. Imagine that you hated them, not because your parents told you to hate them but because that could have been you.
Imagine that every single time you looked at them, you saw what could have been shining from their eyes. Imagine that they showed you your real self, buried under a mountain of lies. Imagine that they stripped away all your masks, all your protective layers and proved to you that you weren't your parents combined but a unique, irreplaceable person. Imagine that they freed you of everything, that they left you standing out in the cold, alone but free. Imagine all that and tell me whether I hate Harry or whether I'm only imagining it.
Authors Note: Kind of depressing but I was depressed when I wrote this. I know that the ending is strange but I was wondering about whether Draco actually meant all the stuff I made him say. Reviews are the perfect cure for depression! (hint, hint)
