Title: A Dragon's Fire

Chapter One: Night of Sorrow

Dedicated to Will Grason 2001-2010

Chapters have been edited so please re-read!

It was a rainy night in the small neighborhood of Spinners End. It was almost midnight and most of the residents had turned in for the night, leaving the dark, dirty and gloomy neighborhood in total darkness. All except for one house that had the drapes tightly drawn and had a faint glow coming from the bottom floor.

Inside, twenty one year old Severus Snape sat in the black armchair that rested in front of his fireplace. All was quiet except the soft ticking of the clock and the occasional crack of the fire. The dim glow of the fire reflected off of the wine glass he held in his hand.

It was over.

The war. The fighting. It was all over.

Voldemort was finally dead.

But so was the only person that had ever mattered to him…

Lily.

The only friend he had ever had was truly gone. And he had never even gotten to chance to apologize, to say he was sorry for all the pain he had caused her, or to even tell her how he had truly felt about her.

She was gone.

Wiping a falling tear from his red eyes he lightly sipped at the strong liquor the glass contained. This had become a routine for him lately, sitting in front of the fire at night trying to drink away the memories that plagued his mind and left him feeling like the empty mess he was. It had been nearly a month since that terrible Halloween night. But he still felt as if it had been only yesterday, only yesterday that he had held her lifeless body in his arms.

He felt his insides shake at the memory. He took another gulp.

He had been arrested three days later for being a Death Eater. Luckily Dumbledore had been able to prove his innocence and have him released two weeks later.

But to be honest, he couldn't have cared less. He didn't care if he was free, sent to Azkaban, or even kissed.

Because Lily was dead, and nothing mattered to him any more.

He allowed his eyes to stray around the messy room until they resting on the old clock that sat on the mantle.

Eleven fifty-six. He needed to go to bed. A quick Dreamless sleep drought would be able to temporarily escape his sorrow as it had many nights before.

He pushed himself out of his chair and got to his feet. The half bottle of liquor he'd been drinking didn't seem to be having as big an effect as it had two weeks before. More than likely he was getting used to it. He would be a drunk like his father in no time. The thought only increased his inner turmoil.

He began slowly walking towards the stairs when suddenly he heard a rapid knocking on the front door.

He let out a low growl. Who in Merlin's name wanted to see him at this bloody hour!

He stormed over to the door and yanked it open prepared to give the person on the other side the most brutal tongue lashing he could manage. But all hate filled words died on his lips when he saw who it was.

Narcissa Malfoy. Clutching what looked like a bundle of blankets in her arms and shaking like a leaf from the cold. She had flipped off the black hood of her robe reviling her pale, pointed face. And to Severus, she was hardly recognizable. Her normally tidy blonde hair was now tangled and messy. Her blue eyes where red and filled with both tears and pain. Instead of make up her face was covered in scratches and dirt. And from what he could tell, she was much thinner than he remembered her being.

"Narcissa?" he asked.

"H-hello Severus I-"

She was cut off by a sudden and brief whining sound coming from the blanket bundle she was holding. It was then Severus realized what she was truly carrying. It was she and her husband Lucius Malfoy's child, Draco wasn't it? The small baby had woken from his slumber and was now gazing at his mother with sleepy gray eyes. Narcissa gently stroked his tiny forehead before looking back at Severus.

"I- I'm sorry Severus, I-I was going to just leave him on the step but i-its cold and raining and I was s-scared that he would wake u-u-up and no one w-would be there and he w-would think h-he was all a-alone and, h-he really hates t-to b-be alone." she sniffed in between tears.

Severus suddenly confused. Narcissa was looking at him with an extremely serious look on her face.

"Pardon?" he asked.

Narcissa let out a small sob.

"I n-need you to k-keep D-Draco." she said simply.

Severus felt his heart skip a beat. Had he heard correctly? He must be more drunk than he thought. Why on earth had this high class women come running to him only to tell him she was dumping her child on him!

"Narcissa why on earth-"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE!" the women wailed loudly which was rewarded by the baby beginning to cry loudly.

"I can't do it any more Severus! I tried and tried but I simply can't! Lucius was arrested! He was put in Azkaban for life! The ministry came and took everything! They seized the house; they froze our money, THEY TOOK EVERYTHING! I've got no where to go and no one will help me! Draco and I have been wondering the streets for days! I can hardly feed him and I'm just a HORRIBLE MOTHER! I didn't know who else to turn to, he can't live like this!"

"Narcissa you can't just-!" but he was cut off as the distraught women shoved the wailing baby into his arms.

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered before turning to run away.

Severus grabbed her in an effort to stop her but she yanked away causing him to fall and almost drop the child.

Sobbing, she looked down at him.

"Tell Draco I love him." she said.

Then she turned and bolted down the long dark ally and disappeared from view.

Severus sat frozen on the spot where he had fallen for a brief moment before the baby's loud crying brought him back to his senses. He quickly got up and carried the baby inside. Closing the door behind him, he tried to process what had just happened.

Just a note i've changed a few things in the story but I am continuing it. I got the idea for this story after watching Un-wed Father. Tell me what you think.

-JellyBean404 :)