I don't think the books ever state that Draco is directly behind Hermione in classes or that he does amazingly well in any other subjects than Potions.

I'm not saying he's dumb, I doubt he is. It's just why has his being right after Hermione in terms of rank been made official in fanfiction.

I always figured it be a Ravenclaw or something.

The fact that Draco is right 'behind' Hermione in fanfiction is used so that Draco is simply in all their classes.

Providing Harry and the rest of the trio with a lot of apprehension, lots of angst to the classes to add realism in the story because it already lacks a great deal.

There is no real reason to add Draco as smart guy, that is just the way fanfiction is written, nothing more.

Yours Truly,
-Field

Field is right. The Draco-is-runner-up-to-Hermione thing is just a plot-ish excuse to have more Draco, reasonably in fanfiction, IMHO.

They probably took the comment Malfoy Senior said in COS, and twisted it with their artistic license that a lot of people have adapted to using.

MOD NOTE: You know this has nothing to do with H/H vs. R/H & H/G so I'm moving it to the general HP section.

Eric