Harry had a small stack of books in his hand and turned around and accidentally ran into someone. He looked up to see the person he ran into and stared up at a familiar blond man…

“Sorry about that kid.” The man picked up the books that Alec dropped and handed them back to the boy, who was staring at him. The man stared back at the boy and at his green eyes. A spark of a memory started to rise forward but it quickly disappeared. “Have we met before?” The man asked.

“No, sir,” Alec lied to the man as he clutched the books. A young blond girl appeared behind the blond man and spoke to him.

“Who is this daddy?” She asked as she looked over at the young dark haired boy.

“Just a kid that I bumped into,” her father replied absentmindedly. He was still trying to figure out where he had seen this kid.

“Oh.” She replied. “Well then, my name is Lisa and this is my father Alexander.”

“Alec,” the kid replied simply.

“Are you starting at Hogwarts this year?” Lisa asked excitedly. “What house do you think you will be in? I have read all about Hogwarts and it sounds great! Where are your parents? Are they muggles or a witch and wizard?” She was bursting with questions but Alec never had a chance to answer any of them because a hand was calmly placed on his shoulder. Alec glanced up and smiled at his new father who was standing behind him with a closed off expression.

“Oh-Is this your father?” Lisa asked yet another question.

“Lisa, this is my father Severus. Dad, this is Lisa and her father Alexander.” Alec replied, slightly amused by the constant questions coming out of the young girl.

“We really must be going. It was nice to meet you,” Severus said as he pulled Alec away from the pair before either could say anything else. The potions master took the books from Alec’s arms and paid for them. They left and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. As they entered, a man held up a paper and announced to the pub that the mass murderer Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban. Severus paled a bit and pulled Alec closer to him. As they neared the fireplace, they caught a glimpse of the man on the cover of the paper, Sirius Black, who was laughing maniacally. After a successful floo trip back to Hogsmeade, they quickly trekked back to Hogwarts. Severus kept looking around him and was becoming extremely paranoid that Black was about to pop out of nowhere. They reached Hogwarts fairly quickly and Severus led Alec down to their rooms.

“Stay here while I go talk with the headmaster. DO NOT leave the rooms.” Severus said in a dangerous tone, daring Alec to disagree. Alec nodded his head and went to put away his belongings. Alec looked at the calendar and realized that there was only three more days until school started. He pulled out a book and began to read.

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

“Headmaster,” Severus said curtly as he entered the office after leaving Alec down in their rooms.

“Severus, what can I do for you?” Albus replied as he sucked on another lemon drop.

“Black has escaped from Azkaban.”

“I heard about that. What is your concern? Do you believe he would come here?” Albus asked the younger man before him.

“Perhaps he would come here looking for Harry.” Severus suggested as he massaged his temples.

“I will talk with Filius tomorrow and we can see about adding some additional wards around the castle. I do not believe he will be well enough to apparate here or get remotely close enough to the castle before tomorrow.” Albus explained thoughtfully.

Severus gave a sharp nod in confirmation and swept out of the office and back down to their rooms. When he arrived, he saw Alec curled up on the couch reading one of his schoolbooks.

“Alec,” Severus said and Alec looked up at him. “Today will be the last day that you can wander on your own. Since Black is out, he could come here and I do not want you getting hurt. The headmaster will put up additional wards to protect the castle from the murderer in the event that he comes here. I will also be creating a pendant that will give me your relative location if I need to find you.”

“Okay. May I go to the library?” Alec asked. “I was going to return the books that I finished reading.”

“You may go. We will be eating in 30 minutes. Be in the Great Hall by then.” Alec nodded his head in agreement, gathered up his library books and headed down to the library.

Alec made it to the library, returned the books and began his walk back to the rooms. He made a pit stop at the bathrooms and was just exiting when someone grabbed his arms and slammed him against the nearest wall, back inside the bathroom. Alec’s nose hit the wall and blood began seeping out of it.

“You look just like Snivellus.” A raspy voice whispered in his ear. “Tell the headmaster that I was not the Potter’s secret keeper and that I never received a trial. Peter…It was Peter…” He mumbled to himself and had a slight crazed look in his eyes. Obviously the Dementors had affected him and his sanity was a little questionable. For the most part, he was coherent and understandable yet there was also an air of insanity lurking about.

Alec was struggling to loosen the grip that held him to the wall but to no avail. He tried to call out for help but he was simply slammed back into the wall. His nose began to ache a bit from being crushed in the wall twice but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Don’t forget to tell them what I said.” Suddenly everything went black for Alec.

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

Severus entered the Great Hall and was surprised to note that Alec was not there yet. He began to worry when Alec was fifteen minutes late. He was about to voice his concerns with the headmaster when one of the ghosts flew over to the table. All the teachers present turned to look at Moaning Myrtle, who rarely came out of her bathroom.

“I was just passing through and I saw a young boy lying still in the bathroom near the library.” Myrtle had barely finished that sentence when Severus jumped up and raced to the bathroom along with the headmaster and a few other professors in tow.

Severus arrived and saw that Alec was not moving, but he was breathing. Severus turned the young boy around and heard a gasp behind him from Minerva, who had seen the blood on his face running from his nose. Severus cradled Alec to his arms and swept off to the infirmary. Poppy was already waiting for them when they arrived and instructed Severus to place Alec on the bed. She waved her wand over him and muttered a few well chosen words. The nurse cleaned off the blood and turned to the others watching the proceedings.

“He will be fine. He should wake up in a few minutes.” Severus sat down and held onto Alec’s hand. Feeling a slight squeeze Severus looked up to see Alec’s eyes fluttering open. The boy looked around, noticed he was in the infirmary and sat up.

“What happened, Alec?” Headmaster Dumbledore questioned the young boy.

“I was leaving the library and stopped in a bathroom. On my way out someone grabbed me and slammed me into the wall.” Alec replied.

“Who was it?” Albus prompted.

The young boy looked up at him and replied, “Sirius Black.” Severus’ face had paled when he heard those words but then it quickly morphed into anger at the man who dared hurt his son.

“What else did he say?” Albus questioned again.

“He said that he was not the Potter’s secret keeper and that he never received a trial. He also muttered something about Peter. That’s all that I can remember.” Alec replied to the older wizard.

“Severus, why don’t you take Alec to your rooms and stay there for the evening? The rest of the teachers will help me search the castle for Sirius if he is still here.” Severus gave a curt nod and picked Alec up. Alec was slightly embarrassed about being carried since he was ten but ignored that since it felt somewhat nice. Once they reached their rooms, Severus gave Salazar, the painting guarding their door, a new password and ordered him not to let anyone in unless it was the Headmaster. Severus also added a few other wards around the entrance just to make the rooms feel more protected. After all, Black was not supposed to be able to get into Hogwarts, but he did it anyway.

“You should rest. I will be in the living room creating a pendant for you.” Alec nodded and went to his room for a short nap.

While Alec napped, Severus pulled out a family heirloom of a silver snake on a silver chain. The first thing he did to it was add a charm so that Severus could track Alec’s location when the boy was wearing it. He also added a spell that would only allow people to see the chain if they already knew of its existence. The only two people who would see it would be Severus and Alec, once Alec placed it around his neck.

A short while later, Alec came back in, looking rested but a bit pale over the whole ordeal.

“Wear this at all times. I will be able to find you as long as you have it on. No one else can see this chain unless you specifically tell them that you are wearing this pendant.” Severus informed the young boy. He assisted Alec in placing it around his neck.

“Since you did not get a chance to eat, would you like me to order something from the kitchens?” Alec nodded. “What would you like?”

“Soup sounds good right now.” Severus nodded and called a house elf to deliver the food.

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

The last few days of vacation passed really slowly. Severus was being very protective over Alec and would not let him wander out of his site, despite the fact that Alec was wearing that pendant with the locating charm on it. The other reason why Alec was never out of his site was because the search of the castle turned up empty. There was not a sign of Sirius Black anywhere in the castle and on the grounds.

Severus didn’t want to let Alec ride the train after the incident but Alec begged his father to let him go. It wasn’t like he was going to be alone so Severus finally relented and agreed to take Alec to Platform 9 ¾ so that the boy could ride the train with the other students. September first finally rolled around and Severus got a hold of a portkey to transport them to the platform. He made sure Alec was situated on the train before apparating just outside of Hogwarts. The train blew a whistle and left behind the platform full of families.