Response to the Weekly Family Challenge by halffictionalprincess.
Prompt: "Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them."
Character: Cygnus Black
Word count: 316
It never would have crossed Cygnus's mind that one could live a life without problems. Cygnus was the youngest in his family, and always had to contend with being picked on. At home as a child, it was for his age. At school, he was barraged by self-righteous Gryffindors, who just wanted to get their hands (and hexes) on a member of a well-known Pureblood house. Later in life, he would be mocked by his compatriots for not having produced a male heir.
Cygnus never showed the strain, that weakness would have been just another sign, "Hey, dog-pile on Cygnus!" flashing over his head. Over the years, he developed an apathy for ridicule, dealing with his problems by simply shrugging and walking away.
Druella, his wife, after having witnessed one of these encounters, confronted him, aghast.
"Cygnus, how could just walk away! That was Abraxus Malfoy, you know, who just said that having no sons is a sure sign of a feeble man. He's an important Lord! That could make a real problem for you, disrespecting him like that."
"Druella," Cygnus said, passively, falling back on his routine of fading away, "Abraxus Malfoy will only be a problem if I let him be. As it stands, he'll be begging me for a marriage contract between Narcissa and his son, Lucius, before the month is over. That'll make you happy, right? Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them. I've had a lifetime of dealing with problems, trust me on this one."
Cygnus was right, Abraxus did ask for the union of Lucius and Narcissa. Looking back, Cygnus saw that as just one of many instances when he'd gotten what he wanted, despite the ever-present problems. Lying on his deathbed, Cygnus was happy, knowing that he had successfully dealt with every problem that had come his way.