The Colour of Magic

Chapter 5

After Harry told Minerva and the other teachers about Valentine being in the castle they immediately searched for him. Thankfully it was a Sunday so they didn't need to worry about cancelling classes and could focus on the search. They searched all day but couldn't find Valentine. Harry even tried the Room of Requirement but there was no one there. 

Harry was angry and even more scared for his son. Harry had come to the same conclusion as Alec. Valentine could have easily kidnapped Alec during the night. The fact that he hadn't meant that he was planning something bad. Something that would really hurt Alec and that scared him even more. Harry was tempted to take Alec out of Hogwarts and to a safe house. 

But he knew that it would make Alec miserable if he missed out on sixth year. And though Harry hated to admit it, Alec wouldn't be safe anywhere. Valentine was as dangerous as Voldemort and would just be able to find Alec anywhere. Harry hadn't told many people only Draco, Ron and Hermione knew that Voldemort had been obsessed with him the same way Valentine was with Alec, though Voldemort had wanted to kill Harry initially. Over time he fell in love with Harry and it had terrified him. So Harry knew what Alec was going through. 

Harry would do everything in his power to protect Alec. Harry wasn't looking forward to telling Alec that they hadn't found Valentine but he deserved to know the truth. Draco let Harry in when he sent a patronus to let them know it was him and it was safe to open the door. 

Draco hugged Harry in relief when he came in. Draco knew how dangerous Valentine was and he had been frightened for his husband. He didn't like not being at Harry's side, but Ron had a talk with him about being too possessive of Harry. Draco realized after that talk that he had to step aside and let Harry do these things and to control his jealousy when others tried to flirt with Harry. Draco was glad though that he could at least protect Alec. 

Alec also hugged Harry, as he had been afraid for him too. "Did you find him?" Alec said anxiously though he already knew the answer when he saw sadness in his father's eyes. 

"I'm so sorry Alec, we searched everywhere but we couldn't find him. Either Valentine has an extremely good hiding place or he has already left the castle". 

"What if it is an inside job and someone in the castle is protecting Valentine?" Neville said.

"If that is true I'm going to kill them!" Draco said getting angry. 

Magnus didn't blame him, he was furious too. He protectively put his arm around Alec's waist and pulled him close. Alec smiled gratefully at Magnus. He was so glad that Magnus knew the truth and still wanted to be with him. Alec would have been devastated if Magnus had rejected him. 

Harry shared a look with Draco showing he agreed with him. "We'll investigate that, for Alec's sake we won't tell everyone why Valentine is here but I think they do need to know that Valentine is most likely here for their safety. Also we won't be able to hide it from them as we will need to interrogate everyone", Harry said. 

"Magnus, please don't tell anyone that Valentine is after Alec", Horace said. 

"Don't worry professor, I would never do that", Magnus said. 

"Thank you Magnus, I don't want people blaming my son for this when it isn't his fault at all", Harry said as he gave Alec's arm a comforting squeeze and Draco gave Alec a reassuring look. 

Alec was relieved his fathers didn't blame him for this. A part of him had been afraid of telling them what Valentine had done in case they wouldn't want him anymore. Alec was so glad nothing had changed and that he hadn't lost them.  

During the next few weeks Alec had to have lessons either in the Gryffindor common room or in the Room of Requirement with aurors to protect him. Minerva had asked the Ministry of Magic for some aurors to protect Alec though they would do it discreetly so that no one would find out he needed protection. Harry, Draco worked with the aurors to try and find out if there was a traitor in the castle. 

Unfortunately they hadn't found anything, including Valentine. Alec knew he had chosen to stay at Hogwarts but he found he was always on edge and couldn't enjoy it as much as he would normally have done. He was scared that Valentine would try to take him at any moment. It was worse not knowing what Valentine was planning, he wished Valentine had told him in the letter. 

Alec had wanted to burn the letter, but it was needed as evidence that he was in danger. Many people in the Ministry of Magic hated muggle borns and it was hard for Minerva to make them give Alec protection. But Minerva wouldn't give up and had successfully made them give them aurors to protect Alec. 

Alec was so grateful to Professor McGonagall. He tried to thank her and say she didn't need to put herself through the trouble, but she just smiled and said she took his safety very seriously. And she would never forgive herself if he had been hurt because she didn't even try to get the aurors. She had even confessed she thought of him a son, she had always been impressed with his transfiguration skills and she often saw him outside of school like Neville did as she was also close with his fathers. 

Magnus also wanted to contribute to Alec's protection and was always on high alert when he was with Alec. It made Alec start to fall in love with Magnus. Alec had a crush on Magnus for years, but that felt like nothing compared to what he felt for Magnus now. Like his fathers, Magnus had stood by him despite him being in danger from Valentine because of him. 

Alec knew Valentine wouldn't hesitate to hurt Magnus if he was in the way of Valentine getting to him. It scared Alec but he knew that Magnus could take care of himself. Alec's friends were worried about him more than usual. They could tell that something was going on and Alec felt guilty for not telling them. But it was safer for them if they didn't know.        

More weeks past turning into months. Making Alec wonder if Valentine really was still in the castle. But Alec knew he shouldn't let this make him put his guard down. Valentine was probably doing this deliberately to mess with him and torment him. On top of this, Alec had to deal with Jonathan, Raj and his obsessed fans. It left Alec feeling exhausted and again questioning his decision to stay at Hogwarts. 

It was getting hard to have dates with Magnus, because for his protection there always had to be at least one auror with them. One time both of his dads had been present at their dates making Alec feel mortified. He knew his fathers were overprotective but they should know by now that Magnus wouldn't hurt him. Thankfully this hadn't put Magnus off and they still managed to enjoy the date. 

Alec was still struggling with what Valentine had done to him during the night he had broken into his room. Neville had taken training in counselling so he could help students who were going through things like this. Neville had wished his grandmother had sent him to a counselor to help him get through bullying and the pain he went through when his parents couldn't recognize him.   

But Neville's grandmother had not wanted to admit that Neville was suffering and refused to help him with it. Neville vowed he would not be like that and wanted to help Alec. It took time for Alec to feel comfortable confiding in him, but Neville was happy and proud of Alec when he was able to. Alec had even been able to tell him about what Raj had done to him too and it made him very angry that he had gotten away with what he had done to  Alec. 

After a counselling session with Neville, Alec made his way to lunch with Neville by his side for protection. While an auror followed them secretly to help Alec keep his protection a secret from the students. After saying goodbye Alec joined his friends at the Gryffindor table. Alec suddenly realized that everyone was staring at him, some were giving him sympathetic looks while others were giving him death glares. 

"What's going on?" 

"How could you not tell us Alec?" Jace said angrily as he thrust the Daily Prophet newspaper at Alec. 

Alec stared in shock at the newspaper. He was on the front cover. The story about him detailed everything about what Valentine had done to him and that he was after him. The story also detailed the abuse Alec suffered at his parents hands. Alec felt sick to his stomach, he got up and ran out of the hall.