Draco Malfoy and the Rejected Hand
Summary: Draco always got what he wanted. Well, except one thing that would in turn cause him a lot of future disappointment. This is a Draco Malfoy rendition of the Harry Potter series. Unrequited HPDM in a way since Draco can't read Harry's mind, can he?
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me; it all belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 1—The Malfoy Heir
Born to two loving parents with as much money and status as the Royal Family in the muggle world (maybe more so even), Draco Malfoy never wanted for anything. Well, nothing materialistic anyway. His parents liked to spoil him with whatever suited his desire and it took not more than a "I want that—" from him. Of course there were some things that Draco could not receive but he thought that was reasonable. An example would be siblings. His mother could not conceive another and thus he would be a single child.
But that did not matter. After all, a proper pureblood family should only have one heir and one heir only. That was the reason that the public embraced anyway. Draco knew his parents wanted another child to spoil, to cuddle, and to love. He was young but at least understood it. It was something akin to how he felt when he knew he would not have much companionship from children his age, not 'til Father deemed him ready to represent the family without being an embarrassment (oh the perils of being too young—making a fool out of yourself was always a danger).
In the end these things did not matter to Draco. It's okay; there are upsides to these. I wouldn't have to share the family fortune when I come of age. Father and Mother can only shower their love on me. There would be no little one to steal attention away so this is perfectly reasonable… These were excuses nonetheless, even if it soothed the young Malfoy heir on a particularly boring day.
There were of course many other things that young Draco could not have or do. One of them, which Draco found was definitely viable, was to stay away, stay clear of all muggles.
Remember Draco, this is all for your own good. Muggles are dangerous; they are ignorant and jealous of people like us, people with magic. They call us freaks, unnatural, and they will end our way of life if we allowed them to like what that dense fool Dumbledore is doing. He thinks we can live in harmony. Ha! Muggles want nothing more than to tear our civilization down brick by brick. The same with Mudbloods. They think they are special, they think that they have the best of both worlds, they think they are above us. No, they are vermin, not much better than the muggles they spawn from. Pushing their way into our society thinking they have a right to be there as well as shove their ideals down our throats. They try to change us. Disgusting. His father would always say, this is a constant lesson; one that Draco took to heart. He was superior, his blood purer and it was his duty to uphold these values, these morals.
Once, when his parents brought him out to Diagon Alley to celebrate his 7th Birthday, Draco spotted a family of redheads; a ragtag bunch really. However, there was a child that looked his age there and he truly was starved of companionship. That was the only reason he could give when he dashed away from his parents (ignoring their calls of "Draco!") towards this family. When he reached them (and they were all staring at him now; all nine pairs of eyes), he immediately introduced himself to the smallest male. "Good afternoon, my name is—" But before he could continue, his parents were behind him and both had an arm on one of his shoulders, a scowl on his father's face, a look of arrogance on his mother's.
"Good day, Arthur. I see you are buying school things for your… children." Lucius sneered at one of the cauldrons that were in one of the older children's hand. "Or rather picking them out from the trash," he muttered, though loud enough for the oldest male redhead to hear. The man—Arthur—gritted his teeth at his father's statement but did not say a word, instead taking the option of veering his family away and continued shopping.
After they were out of hearing distance, Lucius squatted down to reach his son's height (which was tall for his age), all the while grimacing at the thought of dirt on his fine silk robes. "Draco," Lucius started, staring straight into young Draco's eyes, "I know you did not understand that what you did was wrong so you would not be punished. However, you are to remember to never associate yourself with the likes of them. The Weasleys, that family we just met, never go to them. They are below you even though their blood is a little purer than that of Mudbloods. They are perhaps even worse. They betray us; they betray their blood, as they encourage the integration of Mudbloods into our society. They are blood traitors, filthy and dirty, and they pay for it with their lack of wealth. Remember this Draco, for I would not let it go if you pull a stunt like this again. What if we had lost you?" Now Lucius' voice was softer, warmer. " Don't scare us like that again."
They walked away then, the three Malfoys, ignoring the people going about around them, with an air of superiority. As they continued celebrating his birthday, Draco couldn't help but reflect on the lesson he just learnt as well as the number of children the family had. How can they have so many while I'm stuck with none?
The year Draco was seen as ready to build friendships (or create connections) was when he was 10. That year, he was introduced to the other children from pureblood families that were his age. Pansy Parkinson the young mistress of the Prestigious House of Parkinson, Gregory Goyle of the Great House of Goyle, Vincent Crabbe of the Crafty house of Crabbe… and the list went on and on. Draco had been looking forward to this day only to find that it was completely dull! This was not how he pictured it. He expected laughter, jokes, a brief reprieve from having to wear his icy Malfoy mask but no. It was another occasion that the mask was required. They were all formal, they had to be lest they be an embarrassment and Draco found himself disliking it immensely. However, Draco did what he came here to do and managed to get some standard allies for the coming school year. Crabbe and Goyle though, they were burly and would be useful for the young Malfoy heir's protection, Draco was important after all. Very much so in fact. Thus, they were to be his bodyguards.
And so, this was young Draco Malfoy's life before the owl landed on top of his bowl of cereal, a letter with a purple wax seal clasped in its leg.