First Rant- Libertine's "Father and Son"--

Libertine-

Father and Son - Breif Lucius Rant:
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In the past I`ve always been able to see that Draco could be twisted to being 'good' fairly easily (in fact, if Lucius were to say, Okay, I`m going to side with Dumbledore today, I doubt Draco would put up much of a fight - what father says, goes, after all..), but never Lucius - unless it took some high degree manipulation. But Lucius is all passionate and stuff.. and.. well.

You can just -see- Lucius getting intensely bound up in some high school fling because he`s

a) too strong minded and selfish to pay particular attention to which rules he happens to break in his personal quest for self fulfillment and

b) because he can handle looking like a complete fool if it means all will come good in the end (or bad, as the case may be) and

c) because he`s still as naive as Draco is, despite being (in my humble opinion) about a thousand times more intelligent.

The Chamber of Secrets contains evidence enough of a) b) and c).

Re. a) Oops, did I drop this book of Voldemort`s? Silly old me.

Re. b) C`mon, Weasley, you red-haired bumboy, let`s fight so I can accidentally on purpose fall all over the place like a drunk, effecively losing several points in ettiquette and grace, but racking up a veritable motherload of a score when it comes to conniving bastardism.

Re. c) Well, doh. I forgot Harry Potter was the hero, and he always wins. Stoopid me.

Come to think of it, Lucius is better material for a sadistic school love affair than Draco - Draco is far more likely to pout off and get over it by showing how much he loves someone else, wheras Lucius would sit in his room day by day, carving voodoo dolls and growling, "My day will come.. yessssssshh.. <gibber>."

Lucius is committed (see his relationship with Voldemort in the canon, for one thing; and his apparently decent relationship with Mrs. Malfoy - whether he loves her or no, for appearances sake he`s -committed- to not getting a divorce). Draco is committed, too - but he`d put just as much energy into un-committing himself if something were to change that would adversely affect his position in a particular situation or relationship.

Refer to the Rememberal affair: Draco goes for a fly with intent to prove himself the nastiest little mofo on the block, and suddenly discovers that he ain`t.

"Eek," thinks Draco, and tosses the Remembral away; he`d prefer to save his own skin than risk sticking to his guns and a messy conclusion.

I have the idea that if Lucius was placed in the position Draco was, with Harry on the train (the ever-so important handshake affair), Lucius would have gotten Crabbe and Goyle to hold Ron out the train door until Harry promised to swear undying loyalty to Lucius. "Okay, you twisted little bastard, I`ll be your bloody best friend," Harry`d be forced into pleading.

Conclusions (per canon) - Draco`s a spoilt bastard who`s had everything thus far handed to him on a plate, and a silver plate at that. This doesn`t necessarily mean that Draco hasn`t been abused in some fashion (I realise) - because Draco`s constant references to his father do have a slightly desperate ring (when viewed in a sufficiently slashskewed light). And Draco`s bullying might also be seen as a repercussion of his father`s treatment - monkey see, monkey do, as they say.

I`d almost certainly attribute Draco`s sadism to his mimicry of Lucius` actions in the home - Draco arrives at Hogwarts as morally vacant as a politian overstepping the porch of the House of Lords.

Whether this sadism is directed at Draco or not is uncertain. Would he be so damn chipper about daddy if daddy spanked him every night? I`d hazard a personal opinion here, and say I`d doubt it. Draco`s used to being spoiled, and if daddy demeans him every night of the week with such embarrassing punishments, Draco is far more likely to spit words of hate for Lucius, instead of unashamed, adoring praise.

Then again, Draco could be hiding his embarrassment by covering it with praise - but, to be honest, I find Draco`s far too ebuliant on the matter for it to be faked. However - Draco resents (in a quiet way) the fact his father hasn`t told him everything about who the parsel-tongue is at Hogwarts. (CoS)

So, is this suggestive that

a) Draco respects his father, and is wary of his father`s punishments if he dares to disrespect him?

b) Draco got great sex from his daddy, and figures that he better toe the line in order to keep daddy in his back pocket,

c) Draco accepts his father`s judgement because he knows it`s utterly futile to try and reason with him or that d) Draco respects his father, simply becausehe understands instinctively (without having to be punished) that his father is top shit.

All are ostensibly plausible. I like c) and d) best, myself, because I like Lucius a hell of a lot more than I like Draco. With regard to c), I can see that Draco - used to the fact he can`t do shit to change his father`s mind - would try to bully his way to the top of the Hogwarts food chain in order to assert some control over his life.

However, that doesn`t quite fit with Draco`s misconception that he -will- be worshiped by just about everyone, when he first meets Harry in PS. It`d be expected that if Draco at home was an ineffectual little creature, he`d test the waters first before jumping in (with Crabbe and Goyle bobbing behind him, like twin ugly bouys).

In fact, my favourite is d) - by a long shot, simply because it establishes Lucius as.. well. Top shit. It makes sense, too - Lucius would probably leave disciplinary measures in other`s hands, after all - woe betide a Malfoy break a nail - and thus Draco would come to hate the physical bestower of the punishment, and yet aspire to become like the orderer of it. So, his father walks about commanding, but never actually inflicting pain on him.

In true Slytherian style, Lucius could go so far as to use an au pair to decide Draco`s punishments, and let Draco come and complain to Lucius about them - establishing Lucius in Draco`s mind as a benevolent, santa-clausish figure, with the ability to lessen (and justify) all punishments.

"Did you do something bad, Draco?"

"Well, kinda." Shiftily.

"I see. But you don`t think the punishment fits the crime."

"No. I want to have my cake and eat it too."

"But you did do something bad. So how about you have half your cake, and we`ll consider that sufficient punishment."

"Three quarters?"

"No, Draco."

"..Mm. Okay." Sighing. "I guess I`ll do that. Thanks, father."

"Any time, son."

..and Draco pads off to eat his cake, and Lucius proves himself once again a godly, just benefactor. A delightfully redoubtable parent!

And this of course would teach Draco those remarkable skills he shows in all the books - quick wit, and the ability to work his way out of most trouble without getting himself expelled (yet). I`m -really- liking this theory.

Moving the hell on.. [no self-references here, by jove].. and Lucius` homelife. From his actions in the fic, his 'commitment', his willingness to sacrifice dignity in the face of duty, and his preference for pre-planning all situations so as to render them almost completely fool-proof, it seems that Lucius has had a far harder life, in comparison, and come to independance at a far earlier age than Draco.

Suggesting that possibly

a) Lucius`s father died early, making Lucius the man of the house,

b) Lucius had brothers and sisters he was forced to battle against in order to make his own name - ammend that, if you like, to a brother or sister, otherwise the 'your family breeds like rabbits' comments directed at Ron are rather like the kettle calling the pot black -

c) Lucius had a shit time at school, whether on account of falling in love or simply because he was a pretentious little prick who discovered that he had no friends and weak wrists. Or

d) Draco was a rather.. early conception for Lucius and Narcissa, and the two were forced to grow up rather more quickly than either anticipated.

Lucius` close relationship with Draco (whether it`s abusive or not) does suggest a passionate relationship with his own father, of a similar kind. Or, conversely, no relationship at all, and so Lucius is trying his best to be the father he never had. Either way fits pretty neatly, and Draco never mentions his grandparents (since wizards and witches appear to settle down as soon as they graduate, if James and Lily are anything to go by, Lucius and Narcissa would probably be fairly young, too).

I don`t like b) because Lucius is too much of a selfish prick to be anything but an only child. Unless of course you have a sordid past, in which Lucius` sibling is a squib, or gives birth to a squib, etc, etc - which means that Lucius is forced to make up for the worthless child, etc, etc.. which makes for a fun fanfic. And then again, I`m an eldest child, with a younger sibling - and I`m a selfish prick, often mistaken for an only child.. and so on, and so forth.

c) is just as feasible. Unlike Draco, Lucius` background is easy to fuck with because he`s a peripheral character. Is there any mention of Lucius at school? I can`t recall, and I don`t have the books of it. If there was, I`d be fairly sure he`d be lumped in with Serverus in the Marauders taunting. Rowling likes the idea of history repeating itself, and the past coming back to haunt people.. so c)`s good. But then - Draco has a lot of friends, (read allies, ye of jaundiced eye) and I`d bet Lucius, like Draco, walked into Hogwarts with a crowd of fanboys/girls behind him.

Lucius isn`t as blunt as Draco, however. Point of interest: like Draco, Lucius always has backup, whether it`s in the form of Fudge or a houseelf, or even his son. Unlike Draco, Lucius prefers to manipulate things backstage, after getting the initial ball rolling. I can`t imagine even a young Lucius dressing up like a Dementor to scare the bejesus out of a little James Potter. Lucius is reticent, quiet, and likes to divert the blame.

"Voldemort? What Voldemort?" says Lucius. "Oh.. that Voldemort. Oh, no, I never met the man, but I heard he had a weak chin."

I doubt Lucius would chip in on any glory to be had until he was absolutely sure that he was on the side of the victor, and there was no chance that there was, say, a young wizard with a scar on his forehead still around to screw things up.

I dig d), too, but only because it fits in nicely with my fics (hee hee) and because it would just about blow Draco`s precocious little world to find out he was a bastard.

Mrr. I started this as a sentence saying something to do with Lucius being like, 'way cool' and Draco being 'cool, but not that cool', and it all seems to have changed into something else. Eh well.

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