Go Draco, it's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday-

Right. SO COOL that he stood up to his father like that (and yes, Lucius was very well written, right down to him being a sadistic asshole).
While I was fervently wishing that Dumbledore would stride in all of a sudden and save Draco from having to face his father, I'm actually glad that he didn't- the scene, while very heartbreaking, sort of gets the confrontation out of the way all in one go, if you get what I'm not-so-eloquently trying to say: Draco faces his father, faces the consequences, and gets strong arms to hold him afterwards (fangirl scream).

Anyway, it was very, very good.