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

113. Respect

If people thought that Sloane and Draco were sickeningly sweet before, that was nothing to how they acted now. Sloane had to admit that she got ten times better after getting everything off her chest and finally allowing Draco to see her grief. And for Draco, it was cathartic that Sloane allowed herself to be so vulnerable with him. It meant the absolute world to him that she trusted him enough to share that side with her. He one hundred percent believed that it made their relationship stronger. Everyone noticed it too. Their friends could see the way that they looked at each other. Especially when they thought no one was looking. Teachers could see the love burning between the two and noticed how they were stronger when they were together. That's not to say that by themselves they weren't pretty great, straight-E students, but when they were together they were unstoppable. Joanna and Narcissa would visit the school often having both volunteered to help chaperone the students between classes and at the weekends. They could see how the couple interacted, not as mere boyfriend and girlfriend but like a married couple who had been together fifty-plus years.

It had now been several weeks since Jack passed and so far nothing had happened with Euan. Security was still keeping a close eye on him and it was obvious that he was up to something but for now, as they tried to formulate a plan, the best thing to do was watch and wait.

It took well over a week to get everyone on board with the "healing" plan. The Aurors were furious at first, calling Draco and Sloane...well, a lot of names. Actually, it had caused quite a fight. Bill, ever the calming voice had tried to play referee. He could see both sides and while he didn't think it would actually work, he could see why Sloane and Draco wanted to try. He suspected that Sloane was more like her uncle than anyone suspected. He had to literally hold one of the more senior Aurors back. Stephen, he didn't exactly have the highest opinion of Blaise, Draco, or their mothers and refused to discuss plans when they were in the room. That was until Sloane got wind of what he was doing.

They were discussing how to lure Euan out of the foyer and maybe to somewhere outside, so the students would be safe when Blaise and Draco arrived after lunch one Saturday afternoon with Harry after a Quidditch game. "Keep going Steven," Kingsley encouraged. 

"Why don't we pick this conversation back up at another time?" he offered standing up and moving so he was blocking as many of the screens as he could. 

"Because we need to get this nailed down," Bill ran a hand through his hair. "And I want these guys to hear about the idea for -"

"Well they won't hear about it from me," Steven said through his teeth. Draco and Blaise both rolled their eyes. Draco could sense the man's disgust and hatred as soon as they entered the room. Blaise may not have shared empath powers with his girlfriend, but he wasn't stupid. 

"Do you have a problem with Harry?" Sloane asked knowing full well he didn't but wanting to address the issue. 

"Other than the company he seems to keep - no," Steven said not even ashamed to speak his mind.

"So it's my boyfriend and one of my best friends you have an issue with?" Sloane asked gesturing towards the boys. 

"You mean the two Death Eaters who should be locked up and have no business being in this school, let alone working on a safety issue like this? Yeah, I have an issue or two." Steven snapped. He was getting fed up with Sloane too. 

"Please share," she smiled. 

He rolled his eyes and hesitated. He could get into trouble for this, but he refused to believe that he was the only one who felt this way. Surely his teammates would have his back and believe that these boys deserved nothing more than a tiny cell in Azkaban. "I would be willing to bet that the only reason that your little boyfriend is not rotting in a cell is in fact because he spends his nights between the legs of the Minister's niece." There were gasps as Sloane raised an eyebrow.