forever pushing my "draco malfoy has curly/wavy hair and he straightens it" agenda bc i love using appearance to fuel angst
it's the same thing w my "percy weasley has way curlier hair than his family" headcanon - it's something that makes him stand out. but unlike my percy who comes to embrace his differences, what about draco who tries to hide his?
draco, who has the malfoy hair color but whose hair curls like that of everyone else in the black family. draco, who sees lucius's distaste for his natural hair not looking "malfoy enough" and decides to do something about it. narcissa's hair still curls, but not as much as it did in old pictures of her, because narcissa doesn't do anything she doesn't want to unless she thinks it could benefit her. and distancing herself from her birth family is a benefit.
neither of draco's parents say anything about his hair, but draco sees the smile on his father's face when he straightens it the first time, and so he never stops. no wonder he's known for taking an hour to get ready every morning.
i could expand on this whole thing even more by adding my "draco and narcissa both have flecks of amber in their eyes bc narcissa is a rosier". imagine draco straightening the curls out of his hair and wearing contacts from a young age to keep anyone from seeing anything but malfoy in him. imagine him doing this for years and years, all the way until adulthood, when someone - astoria or blaise or whoever you ship with draco - finally comes along and appreciates how he looks without having to put all that effort in. imagine, over time, the hair-straightening charms and gels and potions and the colored contacts collecting dust in the bathroom cabinet as he finally finds confidence in his appearance.
and imagine narcissa finally taking the charms that turn her curls into waves. imagine her taking off the charms that make the amber flecks in her eyes invisible. imagine draco looking in the mirror and seeing someone who isn't just a malfoy, but a black and a rosier too. seeing someone who isn't just his father's son but his mother's.
and adding even more onto this, luna. luna, whose mother was a rosier and a cousin of naricssa. luna, who has blonde hair and amber-flecked blue eyes that are shaped just like narcissa and draco's, who smiles just like they do when they're alone and not performing for anyone. luna, who's had curly hair like her mum did her whole life. luna and draco, who have known of their relation since they were young, finally seeing their similarities and being unashamed of showing them off.
and to add one more thing, teddy. teddy, whose mother and grandmother didn't get the rosier traits like draco and narcissa did, but whose eyes naturally turn a little more amber when draco's around. whose hair curls just a little bit more whenever he's with the malfoys.
of course there's scorpius too. scorpius, whose hair is just wavy and whose eyes are mostly grey, but who never, ever feels the need to hide it. because even if it's not until scorpius is nearly out of hogwarts that draco is confident with how he looks, draco makes sure his son never feels the shame he did.
i really could go on forever about this, so i might as well end it here.