Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2018 19:02:46 GMT
[trigger warnings: physical & verbal abuse of a child, ptsd, death (mother and child), anxiety disorder]
DAPHNE ELIZA GREENGRASS
** 24 -- SOCIAL WORKER -- BRITISH -- SINGLE **
"I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me"
an innocent childhood
Daphne was meant to be a boy. The son and heir of Sauron Greengrass and his wife Elizabeth - but she disappointed her father the moment she came screaming into the world. So did her sister Astoria, two years later. But she was never a disappointment to her mother - Eliza loved her two daughters fiercely, and would have given them the world, if she could.
Eliza was a sea of calm for Daphne in an otherwise tumultuous home. Her parents' marriage was volatile, arranged between their parents, and Sauron expected the free-spirited Eliza to bow to his rules. They would argue, and Astoria would climb into Daphne's bed, curled under the covers with her thumb in her mouth. Daphne doesn't remember it, but her first accidental magic was putting up silencing charms so that Tori could sleep. Sauron was a blood purist with strict expectations of his wife and chilren, and when he was home Daphne and Astoria was held to unbending rules.
More often than not, however, he wasn't home, and Eliza was the one who made the rules. On those days the girls would eat together in the kitchens, and Eliza would take them down to the beach Daphne could see from the nursery window, letting Daphne and her sister play int he surf with the Muggle children of the nearby village of Sennen Cove.
But when Daphne was seven, and her siter five, Eliza died in childbirth - giving birth to the son Sauron had always wanted, and would never have, for he lived merely hours.
Sauron took the death of his wife and child hard. He withdrew, and the girls hardly ever saw him. Daphne, so much like her mother in so many ways, grew out of her childhood far too quickly, stepping up to become as much of a mother figure as she could to her little sister.
But there was nobody to look after Daphne, and ultimately that was what she needed.
Daphne had been playing with her sister when her father flew into a rage. Tori was too loud, he said, and it was Daphne's fault - he pulled her away whilst her little sister cowered in fear, and left her locked in her room for a day until her Nanny came to find her, littered with bruises and welts from his hands and tear tracks down her cheeks, long since dry.
Her father was gone, but he soon came back - and Daphne suffered more of the same. She was only ten, but suffered more than many adults do in their lifetimes.
Hogwarts was Daphne's saving grace. Sorted into Slytherin, like every Greengrass before her, she was finally away from her father, surrounded by her childhood friends. She worried about her sister - but he had never laid a hand on Tori before, and she hoped that he wouldn't start now. She grows close to the girls, though stays wary of Pansy - until the other girl rolls her eyes and helps her with her hair, and then they settle into gentle, saracstic teasing. She fusses over the boys, helps Greg and Vince with their homework - and as the years pass, she takes the younger years under her wing, looking after them as best as she's able.
It isn't quite enough, though - she has to go home for Christmas and Easter and the summer, but she survives, because she must. When she can, she stays with friends, her and Astoria both, and she never lets anybody see the scars.
When her father's lord returns, Daphne draws the curtains shut around her bed and muffles her anguished screams in a pillow. She knows, she knows that this can only be bad for her - and she isn't wrong. The return of the Dark Lord emboldens Sauron, and his abuse of his daughter only grows worse. She finds it harder and harder to hide her injuries, and grows more and more adept at Healing magic, too scared of what might happen to ask for help. He uses curses, rather than his hands, and the marks are more and more permanent.
She seeks refuge in school, throws herself into her studies and tries to make every excuse she can not to return home for the holidays. She tries to tire herself out, taking up running, just so that she might sleep without nightmares, might be too tired to find her breath catching in her chest and her hands shaking with fear, but it's hardly ever enough.
Still, she tries.
She is sixteen when she falls in love for the first time. It's summer, and her father is nearly always gone, carrying out missions for his master. She's become something of an insomniac, but she grew up with salt on her lips and the sea breeze in her hair, and so she wanders the beach at night. It's there that she meets him - Thomas, a muggle with a smile that lights up his face and blue eyes that practically glow against his tanned skin. He's her first kiss, her first love - her first everything, and it's bright and happy and warm and full of races along the beach and greasy fish and chips and having ice cream swiped on her nose.
When the summer ends so must the relationship though, and she goes back to Hogwarts a little sadder, a little lonelier, but she treasures the memories always.
Her sixth year is quiet, spent motly in the Slytherin dorms, away from the rest of the school - but her seventh year is a different story. When Voldemort takes over the Wizarding World, Daphne's sure she won't live to see her 21st birthday.
She cannot bring herself to curse her fellow students under the reing of the Carrows, and her friends step up and take her place. They know she's soft-hearted - but they're willing to do what needs must. She does her best to shield her sister, and when the war comes to Hogwarts, she nearlys says the same as Pansy - if only to keep Astoria safe.
She flees with her friends and with her housemates, casting layers and layers of shield charms behind her in the hopes it might buy them some time, if the fight comes down to the dungeons. Some of the others go off to fight, but she stays - stays with the children, to keep them safe, to keep them calm, to reassure them that it will be okay.
When it is over, she is free. She shares a look with her friends, knowing they'll have to protect each other, becaue nobody else will stand for them now - and she'll be damned if she allows the younger years to suffer for the crimes of their parents. Her father has died in the battle, struck down by some curse - she doesn't know who cast it, and she doesn't care. He is gone, and she is free.
She does not take the offer to go back and repeat her last year. Instead, she goes to her mother's ancestral home, with her sister, and she finally tells Tori everything. They fall into one another's arms, crying, and Daphne finally feels as though she might be able to heal.
Tori goes back to school, and Daphne goes to an island off the coast of Greece for six months by herself, taking the time to properly grieve for her mother and put her monsters to rest. When she returns to England, she files for guardianship of her sister, and begis the messy business of dealing with their inheritance. They ignore their parents wills and split everything fifty-fifty, and they keep the holiday homes but sell Greengrass Manor. It is no home of theirs.
She starts therapy, and studying independently. She takes her NEWTs at the same time as her sister, in the end, and passes with flying colours. After she turns 21, she approaches the ministry - there are so many orphans, and no real system for looking after them. So she sets up her own charity; the Eliza Greengrass Foundation for Magical Orphans, and she gets to work.
She finds foster placements for those in need, and job opportunities and apartments for those just finishing school. She works with the families who which to adopt their wards, and over time, builds up a steady relationship with her old teachers. They inform her of the students they believe to be in danger, and carefully, delicately, she starts making things right for them too. She reaches out to them, lets them know she understands, and she helps those who'll let her. She uses her inheritance to set up a group home for those she can't find families for, and then she turns her eye to the Muggleborns abandond by their parents, and finds homes for them too.
She will not let another child suffer like she has.
Eliza was a sea of calm for Daphne in an otherwise tumultuous home. Her parents' marriage was volatile, arranged between their parents, and Sauron expected the free-spirited Eliza to bow to his rules. They would argue, and Astoria would climb into Daphne's bed, curled under the covers with her thumb in her mouth. Daphne doesn't remember it, but her first accidental magic was putting up silencing charms so that Tori could sleep. Sauron was a blood purist with strict expectations of his wife and chilren, and when he was home Daphne and Astoria was held to unbending rules.
More often than not, however, he wasn't home, and Eliza was the one who made the rules. On those days the girls would eat together in the kitchens, and Eliza would take them down to the beach Daphne could see from the nursery window, letting Daphne and her sister play int he surf with the Muggle children of the nearby village of Sennen Cove.
But when Daphne was seven, and her siter five, Eliza died in childbirth - giving birth to the son Sauron had always wanted, and would never have, for he lived merely hours.
Sauron took the death of his wife and child hard. He withdrew, and the girls hardly ever saw him. Daphne, so much like her mother in so many ways, grew out of her childhood far too quickly, stepping up to become as much of a mother figure as she could to her little sister.
But there was nobody to look after Daphne, and ultimately that was what she needed.
a world turned upside down
Daphne had been playing with her sister when her father flew into a rage. Tori was too loud, he said, and it was Daphne's fault - he pulled her away whilst her little sister cowered in fear, and left her locked in her room for a day until her Nanny came to find her, littered with bruises and welts from his hands and tear tracks down her cheeks, long since dry.
Her father was gone, but he soon came back - and Daphne suffered more of the same. She was only ten, but suffered more than many adults do in their lifetimes.
a blessed escape
Hogwarts was Daphne's saving grace. Sorted into Slytherin, like every Greengrass before her, she was finally away from her father, surrounded by her childhood friends. She worried about her sister - but he had never laid a hand on Tori before, and she hoped that he wouldn't start now. She grows close to the girls, though stays wary of Pansy - until the other girl rolls her eyes and helps her with her hair, and then they settle into gentle, saracstic teasing. She fusses over the boys, helps Greg and Vince with their homework - and as the years pass, she takes the younger years under her wing, looking after them as best as she's able.
It isn't quite enough, though - she has to go home for Christmas and Easter and the summer, but she survives, because she must. When she can, she stays with friends, her and Astoria both, and she never lets anybody see the scars.
a return of the monster
When her father's lord returns, Daphne draws the curtains shut around her bed and muffles her anguished screams in a pillow. She knows, she knows that this can only be bad for her - and she isn't wrong. The return of the Dark Lord emboldens Sauron, and his abuse of his daughter only grows worse. She finds it harder and harder to hide her injuries, and grows more and more adept at Healing magic, too scared of what might happen to ask for help. He uses curses, rather than his hands, and the marks are more and more permanent.
She seeks refuge in school, throws herself into her studies and tries to make every excuse she can not to return home for the holidays. She tries to tire herself out, taking up running, just so that she might sleep without nightmares, might be too tired to find her breath catching in her chest and her hands shaking with fear, but it's hardly ever enough.
Still, she tries.
a light in the dark
She is sixteen when she falls in love for the first time. It's summer, and her father is nearly always gone, carrying out missions for his master. She's become something of an insomniac, but she grew up with salt on her lips and the sea breeze in her hair, and so she wanders the beach at night. It's there that she meets him - Thomas, a muggle with a smile that lights up his face and blue eyes that practically glow against his tanned skin. He's her first kiss, her first love - her first everything, and it's bright and happy and warm and full of races along the beach and greasy fish and chips and having ice cream swiped on her nose.
When the summer ends so must the relationship though, and she goes back to Hogwarts a little sadder, a little lonelier, but she treasures the memories always.
an end to the darkness
Her sixth year is quiet, spent motly in the Slytherin dorms, away from the rest of the school - but her seventh year is a different story. When Voldemort takes over the Wizarding World, Daphne's sure she won't live to see her 21st birthday.
She cannot bring herself to curse her fellow students under the reing of the Carrows, and her friends step up and take her place. They know she's soft-hearted - but they're willing to do what needs must. She does her best to shield her sister, and when the war comes to Hogwarts, she nearlys says the same as Pansy - if only to keep Astoria safe.
She flees with her friends and with her housemates, casting layers and layers of shield charms behind her in the hopes it might buy them some time, if the fight comes down to the dungeons. Some of the others go off to fight, but she stays - stays with the children, to keep them safe, to keep them calm, to reassure them that it will be okay.
When it is over, she is free. She shares a look with her friends, knowing they'll have to protect each other, becaue nobody else will stand for them now - and she'll be damned if she allows the younger years to suffer for the crimes of their parents. Her father has died in the battle, struck down by some curse - she doesn't know who cast it, and she doesn't care. He is gone, and she is free.
a new beginning
She does not take the offer to go back and repeat her last year. Instead, she goes to her mother's ancestral home, with her sister, and she finally tells Tori everything. They fall into one another's arms, crying, and Daphne finally feels as though she might be able to heal.
Tori goes back to school, and Daphne goes to an island off the coast of Greece for six months by herself, taking the time to properly grieve for her mother and put her monsters to rest. When she returns to England, she files for guardianship of her sister, and begis the messy business of dealing with their inheritance. They ignore their parents wills and split everything fifty-fifty, and they keep the holiday homes but sell Greengrass Manor. It is no home of theirs.
She starts therapy, and studying independently. She takes her NEWTs at the same time as her sister, in the end, and passes with flying colours. After she turns 21, she approaches the ministry - there are so many orphans, and no real system for looking after them. So she sets up her own charity; the Eliza Greengrass Foundation for Magical Orphans, and she gets to work.
She finds foster placements for those in need, and job opportunities and apartments for those just finishing school. She works with the families who which to adopt their wards, and over time, builds up a steady relationship with her old teachers. They inform her of the students they believe to be in danger, and carefully, delicately, she starts making things right for them too. She reaches out to them, lets them know she understands, and she helps those who'll let her. She uses her inheritance to set up a group home for those she can't find families for, and then she turns her eye to the Muggleborns abandond by their parents, and finds homes for them too.
She will not let another child suffer like she has.
OOC NAME: bea
