Re: 9:47 (lol didn't realize they were sitting, not standing! kk!)
Draco barely nodded to the house elf as he took his scotch. Smelling it briefly, closing his eyes, it softened the blow of her commentary. She was only a Weasley after all, and couldn't be expected to understand the subtleties of pureblood politics, of what it really meant to be a witch.
Then why was it so damned important to him that she understand?
He could admit, with great reluctance, that Granger had overcome the unfortunate nature of her birth. He would admit that his late uncle, while he'd never called him that in life, was a wizard, not a Muggle as he'd been taught. Why couldn't she understand there was a difference?
He took two sips, savouring them, not caring too much that she was watching him recompose himself.
"If you were in fact my superior in something by rights, then whyever should I whine about it? However, it would seem you are intent on saying that you are no different than the Muggles who are not allowed in this room. Still, if there was not a difference, we could not keep them out, nor allow ourselves in."
He allowed himself a smile, "Of course, if all were equal, then you would deny any inborn instinctive talent that sets anyone apart from anyone else. And yet, you say that some of our brightest and best are Muggleborns," he used the term deliberately, ensuring she knew he could in fact pronounce it. "Which immediately places them more than equal in certain circumstances. So what I want to know, Miss Weasley, is why you cannot accept you are special. Why you cannot accept that there are things that set you apart from your Muggleborn friends, from the Muggles who you most assuredly dined with this evening."
He spoke in silky tones, his logic clear and his voice soft. He wasn't his usual abrasive mocking self. He was calm now, the psychological comfort of the whisky aiding his control.
While Ginny hadn't necessarily had reason to question her beliefs, Draco had done little else other than survive for the past five years. He'd had more than enough time to begin delineating what did and did not belong in their world, the perceived dangers, the traps. And above all else, the one thing that set Muggles from Wizards. Magic. A matter of better or worse, greater or lesser, he did not expect for her to choose.
Though he wondered at these Integrationists; a natural-born Seeker was allowed to be praised for his inborn talent but wizards and witches were not? it was accepted that a child who had been around Quidditch all his life would have a much easier time understanding the game, playing it. Of course there were exceptions, but the rule went that immersion from infancy in something tended to make one understand it more. It was fine for Quidditch, but not for their own culture, and that irritated him.