A/N:
This scene is continued from chapters 36 and 37.
Harry Potter.
The Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One. The man who saved the wizarding world from the darkness, He Who Must Not Be Named.
Although Priya had detached from the universe of magic, she wasn't that disconnected.
"Ah," she replied.
Draco snorted. "You look like you don't believe the fact that Harry Potter is my enemy."
Priya hesitantly smiled. "It's just... How old were you when you first met with Harry Potter?"
"Around eleven, right before we were about to be Sorted."
Malfoy was so confident, so sure that Potter would step up and shake his hand, to be the best of friends. He had heard so much about the boy, after all. Weren't the best of the lot supposed to be allies?
But then, he stuck with the ginger and the Mudblood. He had scoffed at the time, but as of now, Draco didn't blame Harry. His eleven-year old self was a bit of a prat.
Priya considered his response. "Do you still feel hostility towards Mr. Potter?"
Draco paused. "No," he hesitantly responded.
She nodded. "Okay, so we've dealt with that." She glanced at her notes. "Now, about the fact that your son... Scorpius?"
"Yes."
"Well, as you stated, he likes this boy. What fault to do you see in that?" She leaned forward, caramel eyes shining with curiousity.
The Malfoy fiddled with a loose thread on the chair, and twiddled his thumbs, refusing to make eye contact. "I... I guess I've been raised in an environment to believe that was... Wrong."
"Did your father, Lucius, ever outrightly state that homosexuality was immoral?"
Draco hesitated. "No, but others did."
Priya's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "What others?"
"Some of the people my father... Associated with back when I was young, they held certain prejudices and dislike towards the community."
Priya gently tapped her pen on the desk, musing. "So, as a result of these people around you, you harbour contempt towards your son because of his feelings?"
Draco shrugged wordlessly. "I suppose so."
Suddenly, the conversation took a turn. "Because I'm yet to be married to a woman, do you view me as a second-class citizen?"
The man struggled for words, opening and closing his mouth. Rapping his fingers on the chair, he considered his response carefully. "Before this conversation, I would have looked down on you. But, as of now..."
Priya nodded in encouragement. "Yes?"
Draco pursed his lips. "I suppose I wouldn't."
"You would consider me an equal?"
"I-Yes."
Priya's expression had a hint of a smile, a gentle quirk of the mouth. "So, does that solve the problem about Scorpius?"
Suddenly, Draco Malfoy's mind seemed lighter, like an enormous weight had just been lifted. All that hate he had bore towards his son... It was gone, with a snap of his fingers.
He was wrong about Scorpius, he would admit that. He was wrong about a lot of things.
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Priya Rai had seen some very serious cases over the years as a therapist for both Muggles and wizards alike, but none as queer or complicated as Draco Malfoy's.
The man was a mix of immense anxiety and depression, a dangerous combination. His grief caused him to lash out, as he admitted to in later therapy sessions.
He has been surrounded by racist, homophobic Dark wizards as a child, influencing his beliefs and behaviour.
He had erratic moods, shifting from blatant violence, to terrible grief, to placid dullness.
The man was quite a severe case; a fragile object that needed to be handled with care.
He was like a gift in Pass-The-Parcel, a game where you sat in a circle and passed around a present with multiple layers of wrapping. Each person stripped a layer away, until the final person ripped away the last wrapping and discovered the gift inside.
In this case, the internal gift was Draco's humanity, emotions, and feelings.
All Priya Rai had to do to discover it was to keep stripping the layers away.
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It was quite difficult to write this, as mental illnesses is quite hard for me to depict. I hope it's okay :(
Also, listen to the album Blue Neighbourhood by Troye Sivan. Trust me, you won't regret it (Well, hopefully. It turned out great for me).
Chapter Question:
Childhood can be quite an influencing factor to the final product of being an adult. How has Draco's childhood influenced his personality, life, and choices?