Dreville

Dreville
GENERAL
Harry Potter
Character	Draco Malfoy
Character	Neville Longbottom
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Enemies; Neville was bullied by Draco
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Slash

2

Dreville is the slash ship between Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom from the Harry Potter fandom.

Canon

Draco and Neville were both students in the same year at Hogwarts. They did not get along — both from the rival houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin. Neville was often the butt of the jokes and pranks from Draco and his gang.

In their first year, Neville has an accident during Quidditch and breaks his wrist. Draco finds this funny and to his gang, calls him a great lump. He also steals Neville's Remembrall, but Harry retrieves it back. Another day, outside of the library, Malfoy targets Neville and practices the leg-locker curse on him. This causes Neville's legs to be bound together, and the spell is later undone by Hermione. Neville has trouble standing up to Draco's bullying. However, he is given more confidence by Harry. Draco once again insults Nevile in class, saying he has no brains. However, this time, Neville stands up for himself stammering that he's worth 'twelve of' Malfoy.

In their third year, they have Care of Magical Creatures together. They stand near each other, and Neville runs away, likely in fear. Draco rarely refers to him by his first name Neville, and instead just as Longbottom.

As Neville grows up, it becomes more difficult for Draco to bully him. He is more confident, resisting the bullying from not only the Slytherin students, but also Snape reign over Hogwarts. He even openly defies Voldemort and is responsible for beheading Nagini. Draco is present while this occurs. It can be assumed that Draco's bullying was less, or near none during Neville's final year at Hogwarts. After the war, Draco had a son, Scorpius. His son would attend Hogwarts and be taught herbology by noneother than Neville.

Quotes

Neville – “There’s no need to tell me I’m not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy’s already done that.”

Harry – “You’re worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn’t it? And where’s Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin”

— Harry and Neville, after Draco curses Neville with a leg-locker curse

Draco – “See, there’s Potter, who’s got no parents, then there’s the Weasleys, who’ve got no money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you’ve got no brains”

Neville – “I’m worth twelve of you, Malfoy”

— Draco and Neville

Fanon

Popularity and tropes

fanart by @captbexx

Dreville is a rare pair in the fandom and is not nearly as popular as other slash pairings like Drarry, or Wolfstar. Despite this, it does have some loyal supporters. It is more popular in the realm of fanfiction, wherein writers explore 'what if' possibilites with the pairing. There are over 800+ works for this pairing on AO3, just above the number for Nevarry (Neville/Harry).

It is considered a pairing based on the idea of healing. Neville is a more kind and softer personality, contrasted against Draco's more bitter and arrogant personality. It is this contrast that appeals to shippers. Many fanfictions often take place post-War, wherein Draco and Neville are now adults and heal after the tragedy of the war. Neville often helps Draco to become more vulnerable, and gain closure after the war. Hurt/comfort is, therefore, a popular trope in fanfictions. Some fanfictions are on the darker side, and some more wholesome.

On the other hand, it is also disliked by many fans. Draco is responsible for bullying Neville in the books, and some fans dislike the ship for that purpose. Some feel the ship is romanticising the bullying Neville received, and therefore cannot fathom how this pairing could exist, believing it would be a toxic relationship. It is likely a rarepair for these reasons.

History of Dreville

In the early 2000s, the ship gained some popularity due to a fanfiction called Lust Over Pendle by A.J. Hall. It is a detective thriller novel, with the central pairing of Draco/Neville. At the time, it became an almost fandom classic fic, and was responsible for popularising the pairing. It was published as a non-profit ebook.

In 2005, thermidor and laurakaye wrote a ship mainfesto on LiveJournal for the pairing, discussing the appeal of Dreville:

“Neville is just the right sort of person to take Draco in hand. The same qualities he brings to bear while cultivating magical plants-- patience, kindness, attention to detail, the ability to tolerate a facefull of stinksap from time to time-- make him eminently able to deal with a histrionic Slytherin. [...] Neville's experiences with being something of an outsider in Gryffindor at times have given him the distance and perspective he needs to see Draco as he is, not as other people think he is or how he tries to seem. In a relationship with Draco, Neville is no longer a lesser hero, but vital, irreplaceable, needed.”

— Style & Substance, the Neville/Draco manifesto

The ship also gained some recent popularity in the early 2020s due to series of fancomics written by herman_the_moth. These were created for the Chubby Neville Fest, and depict a chubby interpretation of Neville falling in love with Draco. Additionally, recent fanfiction that gained popularity includes All This and Heaven, Too by meansgirl, exploring post-war Dreville.

The ship was also discussed on the Care of Magical Shippers podcast in January 2022. This is a fan podcast dedicated to talking about different Harry Potter ships:

“And then when it came to Dreville. There are not a lot of works out there, which part of me is like it's a travesty, [..]..it's like Drevile has potential to be something really beautiful and wholesome. We talk about healing with James and Severus, and bring them [Draco and Neville] to be parallel to them.”

— Care of Magical Shippers podcast

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Neville/Draco tag on AO3

PODCAST

Dreville episode on Care of Magical Ships

TUMBLR

dreville posts on Tumblr

tumblr@dreville

FAN EDITS

moodboard by suspectedalways

edit by slytherdornet