Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Great Hall doing one of their favorite pastimes: discussing how horrid Draco was and his all-around badness.
'You know what I think? Hermione said 'I think I know why he's so mean, his mother dropped him on his head as a baby' she said. 'Yeah, on purpose!' Ron added, and the trio erupted in laughs.
Harry stopped laughing and motioned slightly to somewhere behind Ron and Hermione. When they turned they saw a strange Slytherin girl whom they knew only by her nickname: Spell. She was named as such because she was known to be a quite skilled witch already. They had only seen her occasionally, and even then hadn't really noticed her. The only other thing they knew about her was that she was Malfoy's newest girlfriend, and had been for about a year, which was exceedingly strange because they usually didn't last more than a week. She was walking past them. Harry had an idea.
'Spell, would you come here for a second?' he said. Ron and Hermione, having known him for so long, already had a vague idea of what he was going to do. The girl stopped and looked confused for half a second before she came closer to the table.
'Do you know why Malfoy's so mean? He asked, just kidding around. She sighed, and even looked a bit sad. The trio noticed this. "I was only playing, I swear' Harry said.
She spoke. "Oh I know, it just gets a little tiring after a while, you know, hearing the same thing over and over' she said with a tired-looking smile. 'I was hoping at least someone had noticed, though' she said.
'Noticed what?' Hermione asked, and Spell giggled slightly at the irony.
'That over the past year he's been exceedingly less mean, and less of all he used to be in general' You see, he's not actually like that, he's just a product of his environment' she said.
'What do you mean by that? Ron asked, puzzled.
'Well, imagine if you had Lucius Malfoy as a father' she said, and they shuddered. 'You'd be mean too'. 'It's not easy, being Draco, always having to live up to the highest and most absurd expectations possible, and being punished and frowned upon if you don't'.
Harry frowned. 'Well that doesn't excuse all he's done to….'
'And I'm not trying to, I'm simply trying to get you to see him in the same light as I do, and I tell you, if you knew the real Draco, not just the image he's made for self preservation, then you'd see why I say these things' she said, all sincerity ablaze in her eyes.
They nodded. They'd think on this. This time Ron frowned. 'I still can't believe you actually love him, like, love love him' he said, and gagged slightly.
She looked down, and suddenly became intensely aware of a stray hair in front of her face. 'I should like to say so, yes'