"Father," came Draco's voice.
Lucius looked up from where he was sitting behind the desk in his study at Malfoy Manor, and he saw that his seven-year-old son was standing in the doorway.
Lucius frowned slightly. Draco was slowly beginning to speak more formally to his parents. Lucius and Narcissa, after all, always referred to each other as "Father" and "Mother" whenever they were talking to Draco (it just was the way that they had been raised). Despite this, though, Draco still usually referred to his parents as "Daddy" and "Mommy." Draco usually only referred to his parents as "Father" and "Mother" whenever something was bothering him.
"What's wrong, Draco?" Lucius asked, motioning for his son to enter the room.
"It's about something that happened when I was out shopping with Mother in Diagon Alley today," Draco replied as he approached his father.
Whatever it was, it definitely was something serious. Draco was using both "Father" and "Mother." But Narcissa had not mentioned anything to Lucius over dinner, and the blond-haired wizard knew that his wife would have said something if something serious had happened to Draco.
"Your mother has not said anything to me about this," Lucius remarked, motioning for Draco to take a seat in the chair across the desk from him.
"I kind of wondered off from Mother for a moment," Draco admitted as he sat down, a sheepish expression on his face.
"You know you shouldn't do that, Draco," Lucius lectured. "Something could have happened to you, and your mother would have blamed herself."
"I know," Draco responded. "That's why I didn't tell her what happened. I didn't want to upset her any further."
"Well, what happened?" Lucius pressed.
"Some boys were saying mean things about you," Draco answered. "They were saying that you were a very evil man that deserves to be in Azkaban."
"How old were these boys?"
"About my age."
So, these boys had probably heard their parents or whatever family they were living with say such things about the Malfoy patriarch.
"Did you recognize any of these boys?" Lucius asked.
Draco shook his head.
So, the boys had not been from proper, respectable Pureblood families. Draco had already been socialized with every child that was worthy to be in his company. Besides, Lucius had helped many of the Purebloods to stay out of Azkaban after the Dark Lord's fall. No, none of them would ever speak ill of Lucius Malfoy, not even behind his back.
And the boys couldn't have been Mudbloods, as Mudbloods typically did not know about the Wizarding World until they received their Hogwarts letters.
So, the boys had to either be Half-Bloods or the children of Blood-Traitors.
Lucius was not surprised that some Blood-Traitors would tell their children about how "evil" he was. People had the tendency to be bold about expressing their opinions when you were not around. Of course, when you were around, they always had nothing but good things to say about you.
"Do not concern yourself with anything they might have said," Lucius spoke. "I have no doubt that those boys you encountered today are the children of Blood-Traitors, and their opinions do not matter."
"But if they were Blood-Traitors, why would they say such mean things about you, Father?" Draco asked. "Don't they know that you're better than them?"
"Oh, they know," Lucius replied, "but they don't like to admit it. You see, Draco, Blood-Traitors have a tendency to be jealous of us. They despise us for having more money than they do. They despise us for having this manor to live in, which they have to live in their little cabins. To put it simply, they despise us for having a better life than they do."
"Well, it's not my fault that I'm a Pureblood and they're not," Draco returned.
"They know this as well," Lucius responded, "but instead of admitting it, they rather try to bring us down instead. Power and money grants us many privileges in life, Draco, but these things also make others jealous of us because we have it and they don't. And they don't want to admit to their own failures. It's easier for them to call us 'evil' than it is for them to admit that their poverty and all their misfortunes in life are their own fault. It's easier for them to call us 'evil' than it is for them to admit that they don't have the talent and the motivation to better themselves."
"So, I'm probably going to come in contact with more children like these boys," Draco reasoned.
"Oh, most definitely," Lucius replied. "It is, I'm afraid, one of the downsides of being a proper, respectable Pureblood."
"How should I deal with it?" Draco asked. "How do I keep it from bothering me?"
"By never allowing yourself to be the victim," Lucius answered. "Bring them down before they get the chance to bring you down. If they say something mean to you, then say something worse back to them. Remind them that you're better than they are. And whatever you do, Draco, never let them see how much their words affect you. You have to be stronger than that. You have to be better than that. They may be weak enough to be brought down by their emotions, but not you. You must always channel your emotions into putting them back in their proper place."
"I don't know if I can do this, Father," Draco spoke.
"You're still young," Lucius returned in a reassuring voice. "You still have time to learn how to properly conduct yourself in public, especially when you are around those that are inferior to you. And I will teach you everything that you need to know. Just always remember, Draco, you are better than they are. There is no reason for you to be the victim, for you to be the one who is brought down. Your blood is much too pure for that."
Draco nodded his head.
"Do you feel better now?" Lucius asked.
"Yes, I do," Draco answered. "Thank you for explaining these things to me."
"Anytime, Draco," Lucius smiled. "You are more than just my heir. You are also my son. And I want you to have the best life possible. It won't always be easy, I'm afraid, but it will never be anything you can't overcome. As long as you believe in yourself, you can overcome anything. Always remember that."
"I will," Draco promised.