#draco is failing to quash

[omniluci-estumbra]

Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love cover art for a bind exchange with boundbyepplaud on Instagram

This fic is everything to me - I would design a million covers for it if I could. This time around though I wanted to do more of a general vibe piece for the fic rather than any specific scene so this is Draco wandering the rose gardens of Malfoy Manor and failing to quash 😂🥰🥀

This is also a small homage to the Pride and Prejudice statue scene iykyk

Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by @isthisselfcare is on AO3!

[oliivverwood]

forgive me not, forget me not

draco/harry + eighth year shenanigans for @assassinsdragons

-

The year after the war was one of forgiveness.

It was one of empathy.

It was one of healing.

The Eighth years had been taken out of their houses, a group of neutrality.

Harry had doubted they were now all from the same house they started off in anyways.

This year, he'd ended up rooming with Ron, Neville, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini- a recipe for disaster, or so he thought.

'I'll do it for unity.' Harry thought to himself, quashing all the discomfort at being in the same room as Draco Malfoy, his rival, his enemy, in the same room as him. Hermione had chided him, about prejudices--Harry knew from experience not to question Hermione. So he didn't.

It's not as if it mattered. Neither of the two slept the nights without waking up screaming, anyways.

A shaky truce formed two weeks into the term, when Harry had sleepily trotted down to the common room, blanket wrapped around him to try and stop the shivers he'd had from his nightmares, and saw Draco in the exact same predicament, sitting on the couch in front of the hearth .

His platinum hair took on a more golden tint in the orange firelight that lit the room, and he looked tired, just as tired as Harry felt, with dark sagging underneath his eyes, prominent on his pale skin. His duvet was wrapped around him snugly, covering everything but his head and hands. He did nothing but drink his tea silently, staring into the fire.

"Can I sit here?" Harry asked softly, feeling a bit silly. After all, he was wearing his blanket like a cloak at one in the morning, and there were plenty of other seats around.

He didn't want to feel alone.

And neither did Draco.

"That's fine, Potter."

They sat together in silence that night, but the quiet was comfortable, the crackling of the fire and distant hooting of owls filling the gap instead.

Harry fell into a dreamless sleep, next to the fire, next to Draco, that night, for the first time in a long time. Nobody spoke about finding the two curled up on opposite ends of the loveseat in the morning, sound asleep.

The nights following, however, they talked. At first, it was awkward small talk, about quidditch, the weather, initiated by Harry, welcomed by Draco. It filled the silences, which was good, because sometimes if they left themselves alone with their thoughts for too long, old memories resurfaced. Memories that they wanted to forget.

Four weeks into term, their conversations had become deep. Harry had felt guarded, at first, telling his once nemesis all his horrible history and his innermost regrets, but it evened out. Draco did not hold back, whispering to Harry about life in the Manor with him there, not looking Harry in the eyes as he spoke.

Eventually, around halfway through term, they were considered friends.

Nobody was too shocked, after seeing them together on that same sofa in front of the fire, almost every morning without fail. Hermione and McGonagall smiled at the two encouragingly. Ron had made his own Slytherin buddy in Blaise, who was much better at chess than Harry and was therefore a more appropriate opponent.

When they were closing in on NEWTs, Harry didn't want to talk about the war anymore.

He wanted to move on. He wanted new memories. He wanted to have fun.

Ron had lost his mind at the idea of planning a party.

"Wonderful." Ron had mumbled the entire way through the planning process. "Truly, magnificent."

And so it was settled--Hermione (with a hefty amount of convincing) was to make sure no professors bothered them, Ron and Blaise would set up entertainment, Neville and the Hufflepuffs got ahold of some gillyweed to smoke, Blaise took care of drinks, and Draco and Harry would do food. It would start late, at 11, and it would go on a night, seventh years welcome, eighth years invited.

It was a perfect plan- Invisibility cloak, a quick dash to the kitchens, and they were party heroes.

What they hadn't predicted, was the two of them would have done some pre party drinking and smoking.

"Why the fuck are you so tall?" Harry grumbled, unsuccessfully trying to maneuver the cloak so it covered them both evenly. It was 10:30 at night--but suddenly going to the kitchens and back in half an hour was feeling like a difficult task.

"Not my fault you're part dwarf, Potter." Draco slurred. Harry, instead of biting back like he would've used to, grinned. This was the Draco Harry was familiar with. It made him a bit nostalgic- for Rememberall chasing, for on-pitch taunting, for hallways jibes and shoves.

They made their way out of the common room, sent off with cheers from the rest of the eighth years. Harry was pressed up against Draco, the warmth of a body next to his leaking through his clothes and heating him.

"You're comfortable." Harry murmured, alcohol taking control of his mouth.

Oh, fuck, that was mortifying.

Instead of an awkward reaction, an uncomfortable reaction, Draco chuckled. His eyes, though bloodshot red from the gillyweed, were the most alive Harry had seen him in a while.

"Good to know, Harry."

One for one. It was always even. Harry let one slip, Draco blurts out Harry's first name.

It sounds normal, rolling off Draco's tongue, the first time Harry's ever heard it from him. His heart beat uncomfortably against his chest.

They attempted to make their was surely and slowly towards the kitchens, giggling and stumbling all the way.

Until Harry tripped for real and brought Draco down with him.

It was loud, the thump of hitting the floor, and Harry would definitely feel that in the morning, but right then he was only painfully aware of the fact that he had one Draco Malfoy sprawled on top of him.

And he liked it.

"Sorry." Harry breathed. Draco's eyes, he learned, had flecks of blue in them, contrasting against the slate gray.

"It's okay." Draco murmured, looking into Harry's eyes in the same mesmerised manner.

Harry, somewhere in his consciousness, knew that this was incredibly sappy. That he would never be able to tell his friends about this, because they'd take the piss and never let him forget it.

Harry craned his neck up and brushed his lips against Draco's, a split second of contact. Harry heard the other boy's breath catch.

"Really?" Draco asked, a question that couldn't quite be said aloud.

Do you like me?

Do you realise what you're doing?

Do you realise who I am? Who you are?

"Yes." Harry surprised the both of them with how firmly he said it. "Now, come on, you lazy arse, if we come back without food we'll face Hermione's wrath."

That casual. That easy.

He pulled Draco up until they were face to face again. Harry decided that he really was courageous, and pecked Draco on the mouth again.

When they returned to the common room, food floating behind them, the two of them hand in hand, Harry flushed with happiness at how his friends hooted and hollered.

Draco relaxed next to him, tension fading.

All was well.

[mayhemxmugglesxmagic]

Headcanon – The Malfoy Family (Pre- English History, Viking Lineage, etc.)

TL;DR The Malfoy’s have Viking heritage due to their connections to William the Conqueror and Rollo (The first Duke of Normandy), and as such Draco would find ancient runes easier than most, as well as certain forms of divination and wandless spell casting using the earth as conduit , which due to my past headcanons works out great as his birth chart is heavily influenced by the element of earth -- fight me

We know that the Malfoy’s came to the UK with William the Conqueror and were given land due to their actions during his campaign to conquer England. The idea that the Malfoy’s are French comes from this, and the fact the sir name is French -- translating to ‘Bad Faith’. However, due to their connections to William the Conqueror we know they weren’t any old kind of French, they were Norman. 

The Normans were an ethnic group that arose from contact between Norse Viking settlers and those already inhabiting a region of France that would become Normandy. This all happened over a long period of time but was set in stone when the Viking leader Rollo agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia in 911 AD. The intermingling of Norse settlers and native Franks in Normandy produced a cultural "Norman" identity in the first half of the 10th century, an identity which continued to evolve over the centuries into the culture William the Conqueror and Armand Malfoy would have known before leaving for England. 

Lets’s talk about William the Conqueror for a minute, also known as King William I, or William the Bastard. William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, by his mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father at the age of seven. Now we know young nobles tend to be pawns and William not only had to deal with those around him using him, but also many attempts on his life. It’s completely possible that it was during this time Armand Malfoy met and befriended the young Duke by helping him quash rebellions and establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060 due to infighting between the Norman aristocracy who wished to control William.

Through Marriage and consolidation of power over religious centers, and war he expanded his control, and to many seemed unstoppable -- a Viking in all but name. 

Now back to the Malfoy’s (who due to their coloring we can assume are very much likely descendant from this ethnic group and as such have Viking heritage ), and this idea of the Normans as an ethnic and cultural group descended from the Franks and Vikings -- specifically linked to the Viking leader Rollo. Rollo sometimes referred to as the First Duke of Normandy was an outstanding warrior among the Norsemen and secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine. This was then given to Rollo by King Charles III of West Francia in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage, and provide the Franks with protection against future Viking raids. 

Rollo’s place of birth is almost definitely located in the region of Scandinavia, although it is uncertain whether he is Danish or Norwegian (though many sources lean heavily on him being a misplaced Danish nobleman we fled to Norway with his family) and as such many of his followers and fellow Vikings were from the same area he was born. The first historical reference we have of Rollo is a failed siege of Paris in 885–886. Afterward he retreated and would return to raid and cause general chaos. 

I suggest that the Malfoy’s, at that time known by a different name were in league with Rollo. After retreating from Paris, Rollo returned to Norway to gather more support, supplies, and men. It was there he found a wizard -- dying to advance his position and family, to prove himself. This wizard would help Rollo and follow him through the next phases of his life and be rewarded. The family eventually gaining a low level place in what would become the Norman court. 

It’s important to note that in many Viking cultures the practice of magic was considered to be mostly feminine in nature, though men did practice it was well. However, when they did it was possible a social taboo, known as ergi ( denoting effeminacy or other unmanly behavior) would follow them, and they were sometimes persecuted as a result. As such this member of the family that would eventually become the Malfoy’s was either a respected witch (a religious leader in the community), or a Wizard with very little left to lose in the eyes of the other men around him. 

The family would eventually gain the name Malfoy -- or ‘bad faith’ after their part in a failed coup or plot involving one of Rollo’s descendants such as his son or grandson, William Longsword or Richard I. This would leave the Malfoy’s on the outskirts of the court and highly suspected if not outs completely. Leaving the duty of restoring the families good graces on the shoulders of Armand Malfoy in the 11th century who seeing a bastard boy (slightly younger than him) as the only heir to the Duchy took his chance. That chance secured the Malfoy fortune and place in society through successful conquest after successful conquest. 

In short -- the Malfoy’s descend from an opportunistic magic norseman and as such their magic would be much better suited to magic linked to viking or Normand heritage such as Runestones, or seiðr (a practice of believed to be a form of magic relating to both the telling and shaping of the future involving visionary journeys, chanting of spells, and hexing one’s enemies using the earth as a conduit. It was a practice believed to be able to be used for great good or evil, as well as for daily guidance).

It’s also interesting to note the Vikings practiced cultural assimilation within the areas they settled -- they adapted to survive and thrive, a trait the Malfoy family prides themselves on.