The hard edges of the world soften

[deirdre_ivy]

Date: Monday, June the fifth
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Character(s) Involved: Deirdre Burke and N. Tonks
Location: Office of D. Burke, Ministry of Magic
Complete or Incomplete: Incomplete
Rating: PG-13 (estimate--all depends on what Tonks needs to get off her chest)

Comments

[deirdre_ivy]

If Deirdre was being honest with herself, brutally so, she would have admitted that she hardly expected this session to reveal anything of psychological weight or importance. Referrals from superiors usually indicated a problem between the two individuals on the job; a personality-clash turned to a potential grudge. An authority issue.

She would have to reassess her paradigm.

"Everything is relative. Do you really think you should beat yourself up merely because you were focusing on your personal troubles? In extraordinary circumstances such as this, it is common to ask yourself 'what if?'"

"However. This was not your fault. Your personal difficulties might seem selfish, but when taken out of the context of tragic circumstances, they are perfectly normal."

She attempted to be soft. Deirdre, as was required of all psychiatric students, had been through this experience several times in Tonks' position. This, perhaps, accounted for her uncanny ability for kindness within a therapeutic situation. She could recall, as if it were yesterday, the pressure of water behind her eyes and the torturous squirming of her insides as she tried desperately to defend herself against a finger pointing and declaring discovered insanity. Deirdre remembered the brutal fear that there was something wrong with her; she would rather hide everything true about herself than discover as much.

In this way, Nymphadora Tonks was a stronger woman than Deirdre Burke. She was fully willing to push through the grief, guilt, and shame to healing. There were those that preferred to bury.

"Do you think this dream might be giving voice to this guilt? Perhaps you are questioning yourself through the image of Miss Cain."