Draco's Daily Affirmation (HP - Drarry)

Draco's Daily Affirmation

Before he turned eleven, and actually met Harry Potter, Draco's morning pep talks centered on how awesome his hair was, and how much he loved his life, and how he and Potter would be best friends because they had so much in common, and were both so awesome.

At first, they drove Lucius nearly to distraction. Three (and four, and five)-year-old Draco's exuberant voice carried remarkably well from his bathroom into the parlor where Lucius and Narcissa had morning tea. Lucius would do everything he could to block out the cheerful exclamations. He was, like Draco, prone to dramatics in private, and spent many a morning pulling on his hair, rolling his eyes, even sticking his fingers in his ears and humming the latest Celestina Warbeck single.

Narcissa would calmly continue eating her scone and sipping at her tea. The moment Lucius' fingers cautiously lowered from his ears, she would say, "this is all your fault, you know. Putting those silly notions in his head."

Lucius would bluster and huff. "I have no idea what - "

Narcissa would raise a hand to stop him. "Lucius. Darling. This is precisely what I warned you would happen, when you started filling his head with your Noble Malfoy nonsense. And all those stories of the Potter boy..."

Lucius would sink lower in his chair. "I wasn't... they weren't..."

Narcissa would raise an elegant brow. "Precisely. You've brought it on yourself."

Lucius would drop his head into his hands, massaging his temples, and wonder if it was too late to go back to bed and start the day over.

By the time Draco headed off to Hogwarts, Lucius had learned to let Draco's morning pep talks wash over him without penetrating the fog he nursed until Draco breezed in for tea, pep talk finally complete. Only then would Lucius signal the house-elves to bring him his tea, and let the caffeine jolt his brain into full awareness.

---

And then came the first morning Draco was home after Potter refused Draco's hand in friendship. That morning Lucius learned to dread Draco's pep talks even more. Because now they began with the usual emphatic affirmations of Draco's awesome qualities, followed by lengthy descriptions of Potter's shortcomings and Draco's luck at not befriending him, and ended with all the ways Draco would finally show Potter up, thus winning his envy and admiration.

That first morning, the unexpected words jarred Lucius into awareness too early. He dropped his head to the table surface and banged it repeatedly during Draco's speech. Narcissa pursed her lips and held her teacup out of harms way, lest the tea slosh over the brim and stain the immaculate snow-white table linens.

After that morning, Lucius took tea alone in his study at the opposite end of the Manor whenever Draco was home. He also put up silencing spells and didn't take them down until the House-elves reported that Draco had joined Narcissa in the parlor.

---

Pansy Parkinson stood in the Slytherin common room, bag slung over one arm, hands planted firmly on her hips, exasperated scowl on her face as she watched Blaise thump down the stairs from the boys' dormitory. "Finally!" she huffed. "I've been ready for ages. Where's Draco? We're going to miss breakfast!"

Blaise rolled his eyes and jabbed his thumb back over his shoulder, indicating the vague direction of the dormitory he'd just left. "In the bathroom. Giving himself his daily pep talk."

Pansy stared at him. "What, still? For the love of – Whatever. I don't have time for this. I need to eat before class. Tell Draco – "

Blaise slipped his arm through hers, steering her toward the door. "Tell him yourself, later. If I hear another word about how much he loves his hair, or how much better he is than Potter..."