Not sure I would say "just" stepped into a father's role; as Head of Slytherin House Snape has been in loco parentis to Draco for six years now, and is undoubtedly someone admired and looked up to by him. Draco may be projecting angst about Lucius' situation, but his emotional reaction to Snape suggests he feels far more comfortable being himself – saying what he thinks and feels – with Snape than he ever would with his actual father.
Hee-you're absolutely right. After I wrote that I realized it did sound wrong that way. I do think there's a lot of freedom in the way Draco speaks to Snape, and not in terms of Snape being an underling, I don't think. His relationship with his father was *so* controlled, from the little we saw. He was always controlling him, either by cutting him off, criticizing him or telling him what to do or think. Draco was always "my father says"-ing. I think Snape is a much better father figure in that he praises things Draco does well even while keeping him in line. Their interactions in HBP do very much seem like father and son, with Draco sometimes acting out and Snape having to just be there as the object.
If Draco is the Black who is going to come to a new understanding, it's probably a good thing that he doesn't see Snape through the lense of blood status--and I don't think he does. I don't want to play down Draco's bigotry or claim he just doesn't really believe it because it's not that simple. But I really do think that the groundwork is laid for Draco to have just never really *benefited* from blood prejudice the way others may have before him. He's seen Hermione beat him in everything, he sees Harry beat him at everything, he's the Malfoy who isn't liked by Slughorn, Voldemort gets his father thrown in jail. I think DD's telling him not to use the word Mudblood was important as well. Having to cut Snape off because he was a half-blood seems like the last thing Draco would want to do or could do. He really does respect the man, it seems, and I think he'd hate to lose that.
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Hee-you're absolutely right. After I wrote that I realized it did sound wrong that way. I do think there's a lot of freedom in the way Draco speaks to Snape, and not in terms of Snape being an underling, I don't think. His relationship with his father was *so* controlled, from the little we saw. He was always controlling him, either by cutting him off, criticizing him or telling him what to do or think. Draco was always "my father says"-ing. I think Snape is a much better father figure in that he praises things Draco does well even while keeping him in line. Their interactions in HBP do very much seem like father and son, with Draco sometimes acting out and Snape having to just be there as the object.
If Draco is the Black who is going to come to a new understanding, it's probably a good thing that he doesn't see Snape through the lense of blood status--and I don't think he does. I don't want to play down Draco's bigotry or claim he just doesn't really believe it because it's not that simple. But I really do think that the groundwork is laid for Draco to have just never really *benefited* from blood prejudice the way others may have before him. He's seen Hermione beat him in everything, he sees Harry beat him at everything, he's the Malfoy who isn't liked by Slughorn, Voldemort gets his father thrown in jail. I think DD's telling him not to use the word Mudblood was important as well. Having to cut Snape off because he was a half-blood seems like the last thing Draco would want to do or could do. He really does respect the man, it seems, and I think he'd hate to lose that.