Defense Against the Dark Arts Brief Lesson: By now I've taught you to defend yourself, fight with typical jinxes and some peculiar ones. We've defended the mind and the body and we've even covered Unforgivables, though it be only for a moment. What we haven't spoken about is coping. With all this knowledge, many of you aren't going to really need or use it in everyday life whereas some will need it for things that will literally be life or death. You'll see and do things that will give you nightmares and though it isn't a commonly considered thing in the Wizarding world (the muggles have it right here), talking about your experiences can help.
Task: The war was horrendous and traumatic for many people. Do we think that they all came out of it unscathed? No, they didn't. I want you to write about someone with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Just because we're magical, doesn't mean we can't get it. I want you to write about them experiencing it, coping with it or overcoming it. It has to be about your main character. Note: I don't want you to write about the Golden Trio since they would be the most obvious choice. Do try to use someone who had an active participation in the Battle of Hogwarts, though.
Wilted
(Part of the "Dealing" AU)
1)
She feels it when Draco flinches, hears when the Weasley boy say how ferrets frighten easily when he notices it. Narcissa's face doesn't betray the disdain she feels for the red-head boy. Although he's part of the Order and therefore, (in their eyes) on the side of right, that is not the reason why she holds nothing but contempt for the boy.
'He knows nothing of sacrifice, of suffering, of pain,' Narcissa thinks as she firmly holds her son's hand as her husband's sentence is pronounced for all to hear.
"It is the decision of this court that the accused, Lucius A. Malfoy, will be sentenced to no more than twenty-five and no less than ten years in Azkaban. Court is adjourned!"
A part of Narcissa is elated when the sentence is handed down but like every properly brought up pure-blood daughter before her, her face betrays nothing except for a cool, unconcerned expression, one that is echoed on her son's face.
Her back is straight, her demeanor proud as Draco escorts her from the Ministry's courtroom to the Floo Network in the atrium. The headline of the special edition of Witches' Weekly will later proclaim, "Slytherin's Ice Queen Still Reigns!"
'What am I a queen of,' she silently questions herself as she places passive wards on the corridor leading to her wing of the manor and more aggressive ones to her bedroom door.
2)
She wakes up hyperventilating and sweating and she soon finds herself engulfed in a firm hug by her son, hears him asking her to wake up, that she's just having a dream, that she's safe. As the storm slowly passes, she almost believes that her dreams are just dreams and that she is safe. The truth of the matter is that she hasn't felt safe in a long time.
'Safety is an illusion,' she reflects, 'an illusion that I have lost long ago.' As she drinks her Irish Breakfast tea and nibbles on one of the many finger sandwiches Lolly has provided them, she remembers feeling safe and actually being safe when she was a child - when her sisters were still her sisters before love, one obsessive and one true, took them both away from her. She remembers trying to convince herself that she was safe as her parents entertained marriage requests from the likes of Mulciber and Avery and Rabastan before they accepted Lucius suit.
Narcissa remembers feeling safe once more as Lucius made promises that she thought he would keep. She remembers losing that sense of safeness as he broke those promises and how she promised herself how no child of hers would ever feel unsafe. She remembers the self-loathing she felt (and still feels) when it became obvious she couldn't keep that promise.
Narcissa shakes her head in an attempt to dislodge such maudlin thoughts and pretends to be okay, pretends to put herself back together and feigns sleep so her son can seek the comfort of his own bed.
It is only when the first rays of daylight caresses her face she allows herself to cry.
3)
She didn't want Draco to know.
The incident happens after the DMLE modifies the Malfoys house-arrest agreement so Narcissa and Draco can have visitors. She is told that Blaise and Theo is coming over to visit and she is so very pleased that her son has friends that he can count on, but knowing that they will be in her home is different from seeing them in her home.
When she enters the living room, the two boys (no, the young men) backs are facing the entrance and when the two of them turn around to greet her, she surprises them all by screaming.
The look on Theo's and Blaise's faces is tragic and Lolly quickly leads them to one of the game rooms as Draco comforts his hysterical mother.
Narcissa feels ashamed, so ashamed and weak as she haltingly tells Draco what occurred when the Death Eaters occupied Malfoy Manor while he was away at Hogwarts. With Lucius demoted in the ranks and wandless, the other Death Eaters made all kinds of threats against Narcissa. Theo's father (who he greatly favored except for his eyes and his smile) was one of them and Blaise had the misfortune to vaguely resemble one of the others.
However, Narcissa pulls herself together and seeks out Theo and Blaise. Both of them had spent a significant amount of time at her home and she fostered both boys when they were growing up – Theo because his mother had died in childbirth and Blaise because his mother was more interested in marrying rich and collecting galleons when her latest husband mysteriously died.
Theo and Blaise refuse to hear any apologies and instead, cast glamours on themselves in order to make the mother of their heart more comfortable.
4)
Narcissa knows that the unannounced visits are mandatory, a condition of the deal she and Draco made with the Ministry and the DMLE, but she still hates them. Especially when the visits occur when Draco is at the DMLE with his probation officer.
The majority of the time the Aurors conducting the visits is professional and follows the guidelines to the letter. When Ronald Weasley is added to the equation, there is a noticeable change.
The Weasley boy is boorish, rude, and inconsiderate yet these traits are the least of his offenses. When he learns (from classified documents that are left on a random desk instead of being properly filed) that Narcissa is suffering from a severe case of Post-Wizarding War Syndrome (PWWS) and what triggers it, he does something that even the most fervent Malfoy detractors find deplorable.
When no one is looking, when Draco is not present, he glamours himself so he has dark hair.
Narcissa suffers in silence, not willing to draw attention to her plight, the memory of what happened to her even when she didn't draw attention to herself still fresh in her mind. Besides, she tells herself, what can she do? She's only the wife of a convicted Death Eater; the mother of a (reluctant) Death Eater and the Weasley boy is a third of the 'Golden Trio,' although all he did was basically ride the coattails of Potter's bravery and Granger's intelligence to fame, an Order of Merlin, First Class and a job in the DMLE without N.E.W.T.S. Who would believe her?
So she says nothing and plays the gracious hostess to the Aurors when they come into the home that doesn't feel like one anymore, smiling although the smile hasn't been reflected in her eyes in a long time. And Narcissa is able to keep the illusion until one day, it just becomes too much.
5)
The unannounced visits to the manor are becoming more frequent, Draco meeting his probation officer more and more. When Narcissa asks why the visits have increased, one of the Aurors informs her they are a result of various 'anonymous' concerns and instead of investigating the source of the 'tips,' they have to investigate her and Draco to disprove validity of these claims.
Because these visits are so frequent, Narcissa has start taking a small amount of the Draught of Peace in order to keep her composure. But soon, an accumulation of not sleeping well and not eating well simply crashes down on Narcissa.
It happens when she misses what has become her daily dose of Draught of Peace. Her nerves are frayed and frazzled and the customary frozen smile isn't present of her face. Lolly hovers in the background, worried, sensing the storm that is sure to come.
"No offer of tea and biscuits today, Mrs. Death Eater," Ronald Weasley sneers.
"I'm afraid you all caught me quite unprepared today," Narcissa answers quietly, ignoring (again) the blatant disrespect. A slight tightening of the Malfoy ring signals that her son is home and internally, she feels a sense of relief.
"Well, go and get me some," Weasley demands. "Not even you are stupid enough to poison an Auror while he's on duty in your home."
There's something about his tone Narcissa doesn't like and therefore, a glimmer of the woman Narcissa use to be before surviving two wizarding wars straightens her back.
"I don't think so, Mr. Weasley. A prisoner I may be in it, but this is still my home and I won't be commanded in it."
What happens next is all a blur to Narcissa. One moment, she's walking away from the red-haired man before she does something she regrets and in the next moment, she's being held by the wrists and being shaken by a man who she subconsciously knows is Ronald Weasley but her conscious only sees the dark-haired individual he has charmed himself to be.
The rest of the Aurors who was previously searching the manor comes rushing back to the receiving room, drawn their by Narcissa's screams. Pandemonium sets in as an Auror Stuns who they think is an intruder and Draco comes barging in, simultaneously demanding to know what is going on and attempting to comfort his mother.
When it is determined that the intruder is Ronald Weasley, Draco's wrath is so great that his magic breaks every bind the DMLE has placed on the manor, his mother and himself.
6)
Draco, along with Theo and Blaise who have charmed their hair a sandy blond and rich auburn respectively - visits their mother in a very exclusive, very private in-patient mental health facility in France.
They bring her flowers and a variety box of Honeydukes chocolates into the bright and airy room and only speak about safe topics, like Daphne's latest conquest and how Pansy's taking the fashion world by storm and the current condition of their various investments.
Not once do they bring up Weasley, the DMLE, or the current state of Wizarding Britain's political landscape.
Soon, one of the healers in facility signals that it is time for Draco, Theo and Blaise to leave. They reluctantly do so, but not before they carefully hug the Malfoy matriarch and bidding her good-bye.
The trio Floo back to Noir Rosa, one of the Black's family properties that Narcissa inherited and she bequeathed to Draco as a coming-of-age present. They make small talk and play a game of catch the snitch before they go their separate ways for the evening.
Draco stares into the fire, a tumbler of Firewhiskey in his hand as he wonders if his mother will ever regain her vibrancy.
He hates her looking so wilted.