first fanfic and I am looking for constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything in the franchise is the property of J.K. Rowling, Dungeons & Dragons is a property of TSR. Rating is PG-13 for mild violence and swearing, may turn to R in later chapters.

Harry Potter & the Coming of the Dragon

Chapter 2

At the Slytherin table the meeting of the two groups was less than cordial. Even as the foreign students tried to introduce themselves, members of the house began to treat them with marked distain. "We know your kind." Blaise Zabini spoke up, "Your lot are nothing but thieves and spies, worse than filthy mud-bloods."

Brandon, one of the elder boys in the group was obviously losing his temper and got up to confront the rude wizard. "You really shouldn't be throwing stones, we all know you wizards are just lazy cowards that hide behind your magic." Blaise was quickly flanked by two gorillas named Crabbe and Goyle.

Across the hall , Harry and his friends noticed the confrontation escalating at the Slytherin table. "What are they up to now?" Harry groaned inwardly as he directed their guests attention to the group arguing across the room. They were not alone in spotting the trouble, throughout the hall, groups of students had ceased their conversations to watch . Even the at the head table, all eyes were drawn to the tableau. The three Slytherins had drawn their wands and pointed them at the new students and were waving them in a menacing manner. Harry turned to Alec and said, "We should go help them." The boy shook his head and gestured at a different part of the table, "I don't think that we'll have to."

Blaise and his goons had squared off against the boy, who had been joined by another of his friends to stand against them. The three wizards raised their wands to cast their first jinxes when a spell was suddenly cast from another quarter.

"Expelliarmus!" The wands flew from the three boys and into the waiting, out-stretched hand of Draco Malfoy.

Standing with his wand at the ready but not pointed, the Slytherin prefect spoke. "Back off you lot, you're looking more like a bunch of gorillas than sixth year Slytherins. Zabini," Draco's tone a good imitation of Professor Snapes, "I would expect this from those two, they haven't a brain between them. You are supposed to be a bit more intelligent than that.

Forgetting, for the moment, the original target of their attack the three boys turned on Draco. "You have no place ordering us around Malfoy," a sneer crossed Zabini's face. "A penniless son of a total disgrace. Why don't you just off yourself and save the Dark Lord the time and trouble."

Stung and angered by the snide comments from his former friend, the young man started to respond when a hand came to rest gently on his shoulder. "Mr. Malfoy is still a prefect for Slytherin, Mr. Zabini," Professor Snape glided past his young charge to face the three teens. "as a prefect it is his responsibility to ensure that none of my students embarrass this house, which you and your buffoonish companions have so oafishly done. I will see you in my office before first class tomorrow but I believe that in the mean time you young men need to burn off some of that excess energy. I think a week of detention with Mr. Filch would be... appropriate?" Turning away from the table and sweeping towards the entryway to the hall, the potions master spoke without looking back. "Mr. Malfoy, come with me and bring their wands with you."

Sweeping around, his robes billowing behind him, Snape exited the hall with Draco close on his heels. Harry had watched the entire confrontation in shock. Malfoy was being treated almost as badly by his own house-mates as Harry was himself. The boy had been an utter git to all of the Gryffindors since first year. He had countless times insulted, sabotaged, and tried to cause bodily harm to Harry and his friends but at this moment, remembering the almost dead look on the boys face after Snape had intervened, he felt truly sorry for the boy.

"that one has a lot of pain in him."

Turning to regard Alec he nodded "He did look kind of sad."

"Cor Harry, what you care about Malfoy?" said Ron, "He's nothing but a git anyway."

"I know Ron but I've never seen him like that before. He looked so... lost."

"He's had a lot happen to him in the past few months, he's got pain coming off him in waves." Alec asserted, "Most of it he's keeping bottled up, trying to act like nothings wrong like you do Harry but he doesn't have your strength. It'll break him eventually."

Sputtering the food from his mouth Ron looked at him with horror, "How do you know all that? Can you read our minds?"

With a startled and scandalized expression Alec exclaimed "No!... well not exactly. I couldn't go into your head without you knowing. It's just that most of you guys don't have any shields at all and you're projecting your emotions like a beacon. Its like trying not to listen in on somebody shouting at the top of their lungs."

With an uncomfortable look on his face Harry asked, "So how much do you hear?"

With a shrug the boy responded, "Not lots, I can hear whatever you're thinking at that second, and strong emotions like the kind you and that boy over there is putting out are like a flare in a dark room. Mostly we try to block that kind of thing out because maddening if you're in a crowded place too long unshielded."

As the boy finished his explanation, Lord Silverheart called for his students and lead them from the hall. The feast wound down and the prefects were called to lead the first years to their respective dorms. Harry walked along with Ron and Hermione as they led their charges to the fat lady and shared the password for the month "Exploding snaps."

Inside Professor Snapes office the man closed the door behind himself and Draco. After casting a few protective spells on the room and door he turned towards the boy, took the wands from his unresisting hand and placed them on his desk. Fully facing the boy again he studied him.

The summer had affected the boy greatly. Gone was the knowing sneer that had seemed painted on the boys face since that first day of school five years ago. The fire that smoldered in his eyes had almost been snuffed out. He looked drawn and shrunken, the skin so much paler than was his normal hue.

The Professor Placed his hands on the boys shoulders and gazed deeply into the tortured eyes of his charge. With a voice softer and more gentle than any of his students would believe capable, he attempted to draw the boy out of his shell. "Draco, talk to me. It's Severus,your godfather. You don't have to pretend with me." The blond Slytherin stood rigid for a moment before beginning to visibly tremble and tears began to leak from his eyes. All at once he became limp and collapsed against his mentor. Professor Snape said nothing, simply held the boy as his own tears began to flow.

The Gryffindor common room was quiet that night. The first years were all in their beds, almost everyone else had also called it a night leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting together in front of the fire pondering the days events. "what you think Harry?" said Ron, staring into the fire, "Silverheart's students are kind of creepy, being able to see in peoples heads I mean."

"It's more than that," Responded Hermione, "His name was familiar, I knew that I'd read it before, here in 'Hogwarts a History' there are entries of several defense teachers all with the name Silverheart going back almost six hundred years."

Harry thought for a moment and asked, "So what you're saying is that his family has been involved in the school that long?"

Pulling out the thick volume and opening it to a marked page she pointed to an illustration on it. "Not exactly."

Centered on the page was a sketch as clear as any modern photograph depicting the Hogwarts faculty of seventeen ninety. In the back row by the Headmaster was a picture of Lord Silverheart looking exactly as he did that night.

As his friends went to bed, Harry stayed by the fire assuring them that he would be up directly. He couldn't get Malfoy out of his head. By all rights he should feel nothing but hate for the blond Slytherin. His father had lead the death eater attack at the Department of Mysteries that had resulted in Sirius' death. Draco himself had spent the last five years trying to make his life hell

Tonight, however, all Harry could think of was how much Draco's pain was closer to his own. His father wasn't dead but he was imprisoned in Azkaban which was some ways was worse. The Ministry had stripped the Malfoy estate of all its monies and property, leaving them penniless. His family was also disgraced in the eyes of the wizarding world and apparently by Voldemort himself as all of his friends now shunned him, likely at their parents command. Remembering Alec's words at the feast, he decided that he would keep watch on the other boy, though not exactly sure why.

R&R