It's OK To Not Be Ok...Right?

37. Bad Blood

Sloane slammed her office door behind her as she left. She was furious! How could he preach about offering second chances when he himself didn't offer them? He was a hypocrite. She thought back to the fights they had during the summer. Sloane had applied to go to Hogwarts without telling her uncle. She thought he would be proud of her maturity and quick thinking. When she got her acceptance letter, she told Joanna straight away. Her aunt was thrilled for her and told her how proud she was of her insistence on finishing her education. When she told her uncle, however, he was furious. He called her naive and told her that he forbade her to go. He told her that she wasn't thinking clearly and was selfish in her decision. The worst part of their fight, which Sloane thought was pretty silly. The worst part was when he told her that her parents would be utterly ashamed of her for making such a decision. That was at the start of July. That was when she insisted on moving into her little cottage. She didn't want to live under the same roof as him.

Joanna had come to the compromise that she lived on their grounds but in her own house. She had made the two sit down and talk things through. Kingsley apologised for what he said, but he told her that her powers and her gifts would make her a target for evil. If people realised that she was special, they would want favours or want to experiment on her, turn her into a lab rat. They would want to see if somehow they could harness her powers for their own gain. He told her how he watched her mother struggle with the powers herself. How she became paranoid that she couldn't trust anyone and would never go outside. Until they moved to America. Sloane didn't want to tell him that her mother was just as paranoid overseas as she was at home. Growing up, Sloane just assumed that it was because of the war or that something bad had happened.

That was until Kingsley told her of the night his mother died. How his sister Kendall got her powers. One night, when Kendall was ten and Kingsley was eight, a group of men broke into their home. Kidnapped their mother and tied the children up, holding them hostage. It sounded horrific. Kingsley and Kendall had to watch as their mother was injected with serums and had blood samples taken, all trying to find the source of her power. This went on for hours. She obviously had no idea where her powers came from, but the men never believed her. They beat her and tortured her. It was only when Sloane's grandfather returned home that a fight broke out. Sloane's grandfather was an Auror and managed to take down all four men. But he could not save his wife, and she died in his arms with her children next to her. When they discovered that Kendall had the same powers, she was hidden from the world. She was the only student in Hogwarts History who did not live in the castle. She used the Floo in Dumbledore's office every evening. Her father would collect her and bring her to school every morning. 

Kendall never had any friends and never went out other than to school and back. She met Sloane's father in her sixth year, and he was patient with her. He knew that she was never around in the evenings and weekends, but he didn't care. He loved her. But he was a Slytherin, and Sloane's grandfather suspected him of being a Death Eater. His father and brothers were. Sloane's father had to prove himself to be with Kendall. He had to abandon his family and come and live with Kendall and her father after graduation. He was never allowed to go out or have friends, but he didn't care. He gave it all up happily for love. He would talk Kendall down from her paranoia or help her barricade the house when she couldn't be reasoned with and insisted that someone was going to break in. 

Kingsley had seen it all. He saw how her mother was afraid, all the time, and how much her father had to sacrifice for his wife. Like his father and brother-in-law, Sloane's father became an Auror, and years later, so did Kendall after her own father's insistence. He thought that them all working together would be beneficial as she would always be with them. She was a great Auror. It turned out, that she was still living in fear. It still consumed her. And she was right. Eventually, Voldemort found out about her and her powers, and she was captured. Sloane had no idea what happened to her. She only knew that she died not long after. It broke her father's heart to lose her. Broke Kingsley's heart. Broke Sloane and her brother's hearts. Sloane could see where Kingsley was coming from. He wanted her to be safe. He didn't want her to lead the life her mother did. But locking her away and keeping her from having a life was not the way to go about it.