Why Bella Swan and Draco Malfoy are perfect for each other
Of the many teenage-oriented fandoms of the 2000’s, the big ones towards the end were Twilight and Harry Potter. The authors condescend towards each other, the films compete at the box office (even main Twilight star Robert Pattinson thinks the books, author, and fans are ridiculous) and the fans hate each other. However, there is overlap in a portion of the fans. You see, before they became Twilight fans, the shrieking fangirls were Harry Potter fans. The best evidence is fan author Cassandra Claire, who wrote three overlong, meandering, over-described Harry Potter fanfiction novels starring a horrifically out of character Draco Malfoy in a love triangle with Hermione Granger and Harry Potter (both also horrifically out of character and nearly impossible to connect to their canon personalities). Claire is a Stephanie Meyer fan, and vice-versa, and they have the same subconscious goal-not to tell a story, but to fantasize about truly repulsive characters using a bland, unlikeable standin.
That’s why I ship Draco Malfoy/Bella Swan. Every time I think of them, I think of Claire and Meyer. Claire loves Malfoy and puts him on a pedestal while Meyer uses Bella for her own fantasies. While canon!Draco is of course fundamentally different from the Malfoy of his own series, I will make a case that Bella would love even the canonical Draco in the same way she loves Edward.
You could also pair Edward Cullen with Hermione Granger, but the situation only works with Claire’s cardboard cutout rendition instead of Rowling’s spirited, intelligent, and stubborn character who would resist him at every opportunity (I made a fanfic based on the two characters, and needless to say things don’t go well for Mr. Cullen).
Why would Bella like Draco? We know that she likes her men aloof, dominating, pale, aristocratic, rich, and dangerous. He’s part of a probably incestuous, aloof family. She’d want to know all about him and his family, and he’d be happy to tell her. She gets a lot of attention, but doesn’t like attention. She can attract people to Draco without threatening his need for attention. Bella always wants to be possessed by dangerous, powerful men. While a small fry wizard, Draco fits the bill with his shady ties and dark magic.
We also know that Draco doesn’t want friends. He wants fans and henchmen. Harry didn’t fawn over him, and their enmity was born. Draco is closest to Crabbe and Goyle, who are basically thugs he can use to get his way, and Pansy, who is a horrid little fangirl. While Bella is not as wicked as Pansy, she is certainly a bitch with no empathy or regard to human beings she considers unimportant. She’s selfish, but she’s weak-willed enough for Draco to control her. It’s a perfect match.
Bella loved the Cullen house, and would certainly love Malfoy Manor. She’s pale and spends most of her time indoors, and Draco fits the same mold. She has an obsession with things that can harm her, and the dark magic of the Malfoys is more than a little dangerous. Malfoy himself can be single-minded and obsessive, so it’s a symmetrical unhealthy obsession.
Furthermore, Bella is superficial, as is Draco. Draco is not conventionally handsome, but again, neither is Edward to the discerning girl. Bella is described as pretty, and that would also attract other shallow people. The main obstacle would be that she’s a muggle. However, Draco has shown more contempt for wizards with muggle parents or muggle sympathies, and would probably view her as a pet like an elf. Bella wouldn’t have a problem with this considering how dependent she is on more powerful people and how she is perfectly willing to let them use their power to control her.
Finally, they’re both nominally intelligent, but are extremely stupid, rude, rash, and petty. It would be a true meeting of the minds here. Malfoy has everything but the physical attractiveness of Edward, and Bella has everything but magic blood. They both want everything nice and easy and served up on a platter. She’s clumsy, but if Draco calls her so she’ll be used to it and won’t fight back. They’re both self-absorbed, which can lead to a conflict of interests, but Bella has shown herself to be perfectly willing to put her own concerns and sense of self-worth aside.
Would they cheat on each other? Only if Draco finds a more faithful fangirl and Bella finds someone even “hotter”. They’ve both shown themselves to be habitual and adept liars, but usually there’s a motivation for it. They’re both total cowards, so any real confrontation would probably never occur. They can also comfort each other in their constant moody periods when things don’t go their way.
There is a potential for conflict as Bella is anti-social and Draco is a loudmouth who craves attention. However, this difference could also lead to Bella being attracted to Draco (while the Cullens didn’t talk to her, they certainly were talked about). The greatest obstacle to this pairing is that both characters are very dismissive of others and might just pass each other by. What would overcome that is Bella’s attraction to self-proclaimed “bad boys” and her superficiality and Draco’s love of attention and his own superficiality.
Here's yet another why Rowling is the better writer; Meyer would have made Draco Malfoy the hero in Harry Potter, and Rowling would have made Mike or Eric the hero in Twilight
That’s why I ship Draco Malfoy/Bella Swan. Every time I think of them, I think of Claire and Meyer. Claire loves Malfoy and puts him on a pedestal while Meyer uses Bella for her own fantasies. While canon!Draco is of course fundamentally different from the Malfoy of his own series, I will make a case that Bella would love even the canonical Draco in the same way she loves Edward.
You could also pair Edward Cullen with Hermione Granger, but the situation only works with Claire’s cardboard cutout rendition instead of Rowling’s spirited, intelligent, and stubborn character who would resist him at every opportunity (I made a fanfic based on the two characters, and needless to say things don’t go well for Mr. Cullen).
Why would Bella like Draco? We know that she likes her men aloof, dominating, pale, aristocratic, rich, and dangerous. He’s part of a probably incestuous, aloof family. She’d want to know all about him and his family, and he’d be happy to tell her. She gets a lot of attention, but doesn’t like attention. She can attract people to Draco without threatening his need for attention. Bella always wants to be possessed by dangerous, powerful men. While a small fry wizard, Draco fits the bill with his shady ties and dark magic.
We also know that Draco doesn’t want friends. He wants fans and henchmen. Harry didn’t fawn over him, and their enmity was born. Draco is closest to Crabbe and Goyle, who are basically thugs he can use to get his way, and Pansy, who is a horrid little fangirl. While Bella is not as wicked as Pansy, she is certainly a bitch with no empathy or regard to human beings she considers unimportant. She’s selfish, but she’s weak-willed enough for Draco to control her. It’s a perfect match.
Bella loved the Cullen house, and would certainly love Malfoy Manor. She’s pale and spends most of her time indoors, and Draco fits the same mold. She has an obsession with things that can harm her, and the dark magic of the Malfoys is more than a little dangerous. Malfoy himself can be single-minded and obsessive, so it’s a symmetrical unhealthy obsession.
Furthermore, Bella is superficial, as is Draco. Draco is not conventionally handsome, but again, neither is Edward to the discerning girl. Bella is described as pretty, and that would also attract other shallow people. The main obstacle would be that she’s a muggle. However, Draco has shown more contempt for wizards with muggle parents or muggle sympathies, and would probably view her as a pet like an elf. Bella wouldn’t have a problem with this considering how dependent she is on more powerful people and how she is perfectly willing to let them use their power to control her.
Finally, they’re both nominally intelligent, but are extremely stupid, rude, rash, and petty. It would be a true meeting of the minds here. Malfoy has everything but the physical attractiveness of Edward, and Bella has everything but magic blood. They both want everything nice and easy and served up on a platter. She’s clumsy, but if Draco calls her so she’ll be used to it and won’t fight back. They’re both self-absorbed, which can lead to a conflict of interests, but Bella has shown herself to be perfectly willing to put her own concerns and sense of self-worth aside.
Would they cheat on each other? Only if Draco finds a more faithful fangirl and Bella finds someone even “hotter”. They’ve both shown themselves to be habitual and adept liars, but usually there’s a motivation for it. They’re both total cowards, so any real confrontation would probably never occur. They can also comfort each other in their constant moody periods when things don’t go their way.
There is a potential for conflict as Bella is anti-social and Draco is a loudmouth who craves attention. However, this difference could also lead to Bella being attracted to Draco (while the Cullens didn’t talk to her, they certainly were talked about). The greatest obstacle to this pairing is that both characters are very dismissive of others and might just pass each other by. What would overcome that is Bella’s attraction to self-proclaimed “bad boys” and her superficiality and Draco’s love of attention and his own superficiality.
Here's yet another why Rowling is the better writer; Meyer would have made Draco Malfoy the hero in Harry Potter, and Rowling would have made Mike or Eric the hero in Twilight