When the portkey was activated, an alarm sounded from the headmaster’s office. He stood up from his desk and turned off the shrieking alarm. He checked the device that alerted him of the portkey to see where the incident occurred and noted that it was in the Hospital Wing. He left his office and walked quickly to the Hospital Wing.

When he arrived, everything appeared to be normal. Upon closer inspection, he discovered Severus’ wand on the ground along with a note on the bed. The Headmaster strode into the Healer’s office and noted that she had fallen asleep at her desk.

“Poppy.” She didn’t even stir. “Poppy!” His loud exclamation caused her to jump awake.

“What is it Albus?” She blinked groggily.  “I haven’t slept well all week and now you wake me up.” She was slightly grumpy from her awakening.

He handed her the note. “Severus and Alec are gone.”

.............................................

Alec landed with a thump and surveyed his surroundings with disgust. The room they landed in was dark and horribly dusty. Everything looked as if it had not been touched for many years. Alec was roughly yanked to his feet and pulled into a nearby room. His father was also levitated there and dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. The room was extremely plain and had nothing more than a few chairs and rugs scattered about it. The walls were bare and there wasn’t a window in sight. Black slammed the door and Alec heard him cast a locking charm.

Alec scooted towards his father and wished he would wake up soon. Severus regained consciousness approximately a half hour after they were shoved into the room. His onyx eyes opened slowly and he sat up quickly. He belatedly noticed that Alec was sitting to the side of him.

“That bastard!” Severus exclaimed furiously. “He hasn’t harmed you has he?” Severus briefly examined his son and Alec shook his head negatively. Severus pulled the young boy close and held him.  Alec fell asleep in his father’s arms while the man pondered over several ways to try to get out of this situation.

.............................................

“What are we going to do Albus?” Poppy asked worriedly as she skimmed over the note. “It says he wants a trail and custody of Harry once he is freed. How are we going to tell him that Harry is Alec?”

“I do not know Poppy. I will alert the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the situation and see about getting him a trial. Once that is arranged, we will attempt to contact him.” Albus took a deep breath. “I just hope that Severus and Alec will be okay until we can get things straightened out.”

.............................................

Alec opened his eyes and gave a quiet yawn that alerted his father that he was awake. “How are we going to get out of here?” Alec quietly asked.

“I do not know,” Severus admitted. “I am sure that the Headmaster will be able to find us. Until then-” Severus stopped speaking and abruptly stood up and pulled Alec behind himself just as the door rattled and opened.

Sirius Black entered the room with his wand already out and pointed at them. “I need a Restorative Draught to get over the effects of the Dementors. You are going to brew it for me.”

“What if I make you a poison instead?” Severus sneered. “Your potion skills were dismal therefore how will you know what it is?”

“You’d poison your son? After all, he will be testing it first.” Black retorted.

“Fine,” Severus hissed. “Where is the lab?” The potions master began to pull Alec with him towards the door but stopped when Black spoke.

“Leave the boy here.” Black ordered.

Severus scowled deeply at the other man. “If you harm one hair on his head-”

“Shut up Snivellus and get moving.” Severus reluctantly let go of his son who moved to the corner of the room. Both men exited the room and Alec was left to wait for his father’s return. A short while later, the door opened but it wasn’t his father.

“Come with me,” the escaped convict commanded. Alec warily got to his feet and followed the man into a kitchen. “Sit.” Black pointed to the large dining table with many chairs. “Are you hungry?” Alec shook his head negatively. Sirius Black flopped down across from Alec and studied the young boy. “You look familiar…” He commented but shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“You’re a first year right?” Alec lightly nodded. “Are you in Slytherin like Snape?” Negative shake of the head. “What house then?” Black questioned.

“Ravenclaw,” the young boy said.

“Better than Slytherin,” Black commented. “Have you ever played Quidditch?”

“I’m Seeker for Ravenclaw,” Alec informed him.

“Not even James made it his first year.” Black’s eyes glazed over slightly while lost in old memories but he just shook his head again to concentrate.

“Where is your mother?” Black was full of questions for the son of his enemy.

“She died when I was young,” Alec muttered.

“Oh. Where’d you get these scars?” Sirius Black leaned towards the young boy to get a closer look. Alec leaned back all the way in his chair as the man neared him

“Potions accident,” the young boy mumbled nervously as the man examined his small collection of scars surrounding the infamous lightning bolt. If one looked close enough, the lightning bolt could be spotted and apparently Sirius Black recognized it because he gasped lightly and backed away from the boy. He vigorously examined the boy sitting across from him before staring intently at the green eyes.

 “Harry?” Alec winced at the name. That was confirmation enough for Sirius because the man rushed to him and pulled the young boy into a hug. Alec tried to pull away from the man and was finally released after a moment. Alec backed away while trying to get his breathing under control and slid to the floor in the corner of the room. Sirius walked towards him with concern written on his face and went to pull the boy up from the dirty floor. Alec raised an arm to shield himself as if expecting to be hit. Sirius visibly scowled at this reaction.

“I’m not going to hit you. Why would you--” He trailed off momentarily before a murderous expression crossed his face. “He hits you?! I’m going to kill the bastard for that!” He pulled out his wand and ran towards the door. Alec jumped up and rushed after the convict.

“No! Don’t hurt him!” The man would not listen and picked up the pace to the potions lab. When Black arrived, he slammed the door open and pushed the potions master into the wall with the wand pointed at his throat.

“What do you want Black?” Snape growled from against the wall. “I just finished your potion.”

“I’m going to kill you for hitting Harry!” Snape’s eyes widened when the convict called Alec Harry.

“I have never hit-” Black slammed a fist into the professor’s already crooked nose.

“Don’t lie to me! He was flinching away as if he was expecting to get hurt! Why is he even in your custody? Why does he look like you?” Black pressed the wand into his neck demanding an answer.

“I took him away from his abusive uncle and adopted him.” Severus replied as he held onto his bleeding nose.

Alec finally found the right room after getting lost in the large house. “Please! Don’t hurt him!” Alec cried breathlessly as he spotted the escapee holding a wand to his father.

Just then an owl flew through an open window and dropped a letter in front on Black. He released his hold on the potions master and preformed several spells to check the letter for tracking charms and any other spells. Once he deemed it safe, he opened it and quickly skimmed through its content.

“Dumbledore arranged for me to have a trial.” Black smiled slightly. “He didn’t mention anything about custody of Harry. Probably didn’t want me to find out but I know now.” He scowled darkly at Severus who was still holding his bleeding nose.

“Can we go back to Hogwarts now?” Alec asked quietly from the doorway.

“Huh? Oh yeah. I guess I will make you a portkey to Hogsmeade and you’ll have to walk the rest of the way to Hogwarts.” Sirius picked up a random piece of paper and turned it into a portkey. “It will activate in about two minutes.” He handed the paper to Snape who then stalked over to his adopted son.

“I’d like to keep in contact with you once I am cleared,” Sirius said to the young boy. “Even if you look like a Snape,” He added. “I doubt Snape has said anything good about James but I can surely tell you some interesting stories from our youth.” Alec nodded unsurely since he had not heard much about his real father.

“Touch the portkey before it goes off.” Severus instructed his adopted son. Alec placed his hand on it right before the portkey deposited them in an alley in Hogsmeade. Severus and Alec briskly walked the rest of the way to Hogwarts. Neither felt like talking for the journey so they traveled in silence all the way up the Headmaster’s office.

“Lemon Drops,” Severus muttered out the password that admitted them into the office. Severus opened the door and saw that the Headmaster was currently talking with someone through the floo. The older man finished his conversation and turned towards them.

“Are you both alright?” Albus questioned the two who took seats in front of his desk.

“We will be fine. I would like to get this discussion over as soon as possible.” Severus rubbed his eyes tiredly.

“Of course,” The older man said. “Would you like to place your memories of the event into the pensieve?” Severus nodded.

“What is a pensieve?” Alec asked curiously.

“A pensieve stores memories for others to view. You have to concentrate hard on the memory before it can be properly removed. I am sure Severus can show how to use it some other time. For now, I would appreciate it if you would allow me to remove the memory for you.” Alec concentrated on the memories from the hospital wing to the house as he felt the headmaster’s wand at his temple. A silvery strand came out and was placed into the pensieve.

“Could we also get your memories from the attack that led up to your stay in the hospital wing?” Albus Dumbledore once again removed the memories from the young boy. The headmaster reached into his desk and pulled out two familiar wands and handed them to each owner. Severus used his wand to add his own memories to the pensieve.

“Severus, would you like to view the memories with me?” Severus nodded. “This will not take very long. Once we are done, you both can rest.” Both older men disappeared into the pensieve as Alec remained in the office. After a few minutes a soft trill caught his attention and he noticed the beautiful bird that was perched on a stand. The young boy went over to the bird and petted its soft feathers.

“Fawkes is a phoenix, in case you did not know.” The Headmaster’s sudden voice startled Alec. “I am sorry my boy. I did not mean to startle you.” Alec returned to his seat next to his scowling father.

“He will be removed from the team and receive detention every other night for the rest of the year.” The potions master growled.

“Who?” Alec asked.

“Terence Higgs. He was the once who attacked you.” Severus replied as he took several deep breaths to calm down.

“Oh. He was the Slytherin seeker right?” Severus nodded and stood up.

“Come. We are going to get some rest. Thank you Albus.” Severus said.

“Good bye Headmaster,” Alec said as he followed his father out of the office to their rooms to get some sleep.