Draco Malfoy had often been called a monster. A Death Eater('s son), supporter of Voldemort, Slytherin, Pureblood. He also knew that they were right, every single one of them. He was a monster, he had been made a monster, he had let himself become one. The worst part though, was that he had known all long. It hadn't been that kind of change you didn't notice until you were standing in front of a mirror and sparkling silver eyes that would before light up whenever a warm smile spread across a soft face, had become grey, and hard, and cold, and the smile never quite reached the eyes, and so rarely ever the lips.
No, he had noted the change. He had seen the happiness leave his eyes and the warmth leave his smile, and he'd let it, he'd welcomed the change, because his father was so proud.
He remembered how he'd learned to call him father. It had always been daddy when he was little, but as he grew, and the monster began creeping into his body, daddy became father, and father soon only became a title for a figure he looked up to.
He didn't feel like a father. He didn't act like one either.
Draco of course knew he cared, but Lucius cared the way he lived, in a twisted and selfish kind of way.
Yes. Draco Malfoy was certainly a monster, and yes, someone had made him that monster, but he had helped them, he had wanted it, he had gotten it.
(It wasn't at all like expected though. He didn't feel powerful like his father did - sure, he could intimidate his peers, but whenever he was standing in front of a fellow Death Eater or an auror, he was just a boy.
He didn't feel honoured - the mark was a curse. It was a parasite living on his arm, feeding of his sanity.
Draco Malfoy had become the monster he thrived for, and he didn't like it one bit.)
Charlie Weasley knew of monsters. He knew how they behaved, he knew why, and he loved them.
He worked with monsters on a daily basis, but if anyone asked him, he'd say;
"I work with the most fascinating creatures in the world"
Because Charlie truly saw them as fascinating.
When he was younger, at Hogwarts, he had learned about monsters; Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons. They had tried to scare him with tales of dead and pain, but he hadn't listened. They were all blind. Where they saw monsters, he saw humans, misunderstood humans.
It was a werewolf who showed him the world of dragons. They were beautiful.
He lived with them for years, saw them as people.
They were fragile people who craved his care. He would give them just that. He would be with them as they grew older, and he would stick when them even when they got tired of them, because at some point, they wanted him to be there either way. They would accept him with all his mistakes, because he accepted them with all of theirs.
Yes. Charlie Weasley worked with monsters, and he couldn't bring himself to call them that, no matter what people thought of him because of that.
Draco Malfoy and Charlie Weasley were as different as night and day.
Draco was light - pale complexion, matched with grey eyes and hair whiter than either.
Charlie was dark - a tan which fitted the dark blue eyes and the flaming red hair.
Draco was bad - he didn't have morals, he had killed, he had tortured, took what he wanted and didn't look back.
Charlie was good - he helped people, he protected them and he cared about them.
Draco was a monster.
Charlie loved monsters.
Charlie let Draco be the monster he was. He didn't once try to change him, or judge him for past mistakes, he was just there.
Draco let Charlie study him like a monster, as Charlie had taken a fancy of doing. He never tried to pretend he wasn't him, he just lived.
That was how an unusual pair lived in perfect symbiosis outside of the human world. They lived in a little bubble where Draco was Charlie's dragon, and Charlie was Draco's caretaker (Charlie refused to be called a tamer, that would indicate that Draco (or dragons) needed taming, needed to change. No monster did).