Now And Forever
Chapter 33
By Abraxan
Reviews
Prongs1977 posted a comment on Thursday 3rd July 2008 3:17pm for Chapter 33
I'm not sure if I reviewed this chapter before nor not, but I want to say WOW! I'm not now nor have I ever been a soldier, but I am a firefighter, and I've seen crap that no human should see. I have been slugged by my fire fighter brothers after 10 days of saying absolutely nothing, so I would rant, rave, scream, cry, curse, and so on. I know it may not have been your intention, but your depiction of PTSD is spot on and if it helps someone recognize it in a friend and help them, God bless you for it. I was so close to tears reading this, remembering fallen brothers, victims I couldn't save, and more, but like you said, it's time to forgive yourself and move on. Not forget, never that, but realize that stewing in the memories is not what those gone before you would want. Again, thank you and bravo on a great chapter!
Abraxan replied:
Oh wow. You got me all misty. Thank you so much for your comments, and for your service to your community! My father had PTSD after WWII, so I had some first-hand (second-hand?) knowledge of it and I researched it before writing this fic, as well. I don't honestly see how Harry could go through the war and the childhood he had without getting PTSD and I think JKR shortchanged both Harry and the readers by not dealing with it, which is one of the reasons I wrote "Now and Forever" the way I did. Thanks so much for "getting" what I was doing here!
Abraxan
Patches posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 6:18pm for Chapter 33
This is really good. What a wonderful but sad at times day. It is great Harry is enjoying driving the great little car. A beautiful winding road is fun to drive in a neat little sports car. The walk to the bridge was good. I loved the "natives" jumping off the bridge even though the park rangers won't let anyone else do it. The ghostly war was sad. I am so glad that Harry found a way to show them they could quit fighting and go on to their loved ones. What a great gift. Then for Harry to have such a bad flashback really put a damper on their day. I'm so glad Ginny found a way to bring him out of it in a positive manner. That was great. For "Uncle Rich" to be there with some really good advice for Harry was great. He really does need to forgive himself for things he had to do and he needs to share his worst memories. A bad memory shared is halved! I love the way you are using this to show reallity in someone's lift who has had a series of horrible experiences. You do suach a good job of it. It makes me think you must have first hand knowledge yourself or know someone who has. Thank for sharing these thoughts. I hope "Harry" takes "Uncle Rich" up on his suggestion to "forgive himself" as well as getting some professional help when they get home. I know the Auror Program professors offered to help him too. Thanks for writing. I am so glad you are adding to your already great story. pms
Abraxan replied:
Thanks so much for the wonderful review! Yes, I do have first-hand knowledge of PTSD - my father had it after WWII. Back then they called it "shell shocked" - my husband had an uncle who wound up in a mental institution for the rest of his life from shell shock. My father rode two B-17's to the ground the hard way (crashing behind enemy lines in one case) and managed to walk away from both crashes and yet had to keep flying. He flew 43 missions, which was a lot back then. When he got home, he had a bad thing about heights - he couldn't drive across a high bridge, for instance, nor go anywhere near a "scenic overlook" in the mountains. He'd stop the car and my mother would drive across the bridge. It took him years and a lot of "nerve pills" to get past it - and he owned a roofing company, so heights were part of his everyday life! He had to go up on the roofs to estimate the jobs. Can you imagine what torture that had to be???? Yikes.
As for Harry - since you've read ToD's epilogues, you know he gets past this stuff. The reason I wrote "Now and Forever" (other than to show Harry and Ginny's wedding) was to deal with Harry's post-war stress and how he managed to work his way into a normal life for the first time ever. I tried to show war as realistically as I could in RF and ToD, and I'm doing the same thing with the aftermath of war. Life goes on for those who survive, but things are different than they were before - and people need to understand that.
I also want people to understand that we're free because of people like Uncle Rich, Mike the Navy doc, and Harry Potter - people who are willing to sacrifice everything to protect the rest of us. If you see a military person, thank them for their service. If you care about them, send them care packages (go to AnySoldier.com or AnyMarine.com or any of the other similar sites where military personnel list their needs and wants while overseas), and contribute funds to the USO, too. We need to thank them every way we can for what they do for us.
Glad you liked the chapter! Thanks for writing - I'll get off my soapbox now! :D
Abraxan
DJ posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 3:04pm for Chapter 33
I'm sure there are families with sons and daughters in Iraq or Afghanistan who have lost more than one child England is the US's ally and has troops in those danger zones right now, and they have casualties just as we do.
Just for the record I do not mean to sound like I am mad or trying to be a jerk but know what it is to have more then one family member in Iraq or Afghanistan at a time and many friends to. Also I know UK forces are up to there necks there to as well as others.
The only reason I asked what I did was because the story is set in the mid 90’s and I was just wondering ware the Muggles thought the UK was that heavily engaged back then. Still Love the Ch and all your stuff I hope I do not sound like I am on my soup box thanks for writing and responding.
Abraxan replied:
This story takes place in 1999, not the mid-90's. There's ALWAYS conflict somewhere in the world, with either our troops and our allies' troops, UN or NATO troops having to deal with it. And if the Americans he met thought Harry was "special ops," they'd know special ops guys do a lot of "secret stuff" so they'd know they couldn't ask him much about what he did. Another thing is that British, American, Israeli and Canadian military personnel (and others of our allies - I'm just giving examples i know of here) often wind up serving with the services of each other's countries. When I worked for the Air Force, we had UK, Israeli and Canadian officers around all the time. Look at NCIS on TV - they have a Mossad agent working with them, which is something that could happen in real life. So there are all kinds of ways for Brits to be involved in military action the general public may not know about - if Harry were in the Muggle military, he might be a specialist in something that got him detailed to help in an American conflict or an Israeli one, who knows?? I didn't want to be specific, so I left it the way I did. Hope that explains it!
Abraxan
Evan Mayerle posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 1:11pm for Chapter 33
Well, the bit with resolving the ghostly battle was a very nice move on their part (as if Harry could do anything else). The second section bodes well to help Harry since he's dealing with someone experienced in dealing with PTSD and knowledgeable in how to help deal with it. It's one of those things where the wizarding world could quite definitely learn something from the non-magical world, though I doubt the arrogance of most of them will allow it. Still, I'm all in favor of Harry getting any help he can in putting his ghosts to rest. Just a thought, does he have enough cachet with the Minister of Magic for said Minister to contact the non-magical government for assitance from within Her Majesty's armed forces?
Abraxan replied:
Interesting question! Yes, Harry has enough cachet with the Minster to do pretty much anything (as you'll see in an upcoming chapter!). But yeah, the arrogance of most wizards will keep them from being interested in stuff Muggles have to offer. I'm glad you enjoyed the resolution of the ghostly battle and Harry's talk with Mike. Thanks for writing!
Abraxan
jilumasam posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 12:44pm for Chapter 33
That was a very interesting chapter...
Lizzy :)
Abraxan replied:
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
Abraxan
Carol Layland posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 12:33pm for Chapter 33
Hi, Another lovely chapter about a honeymoon in Hawaii but Harry in treatment with one of our hard boiled Navy Psychs? That could have some very interesting ramifications and cause some real problems for the magical world now couldn't it. I do love this story. Keep it comming, please.
Abraxan replied:
Navy psychs aren't necessarily hard-boiled. This one was most sympathetic, wasn't he? :) And Harry won't necessarily go into treatment with Mike - Mike just showed him a different way to deal with his PTSD. You'll just have to keep reading to see what happens! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Abraxan
Tabi posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 12:29pm for Chapter 33
And Mr. Potter resolves yet another tragedy! He saves again with a fellow veteran! And the honeymoon continues.
Abraxan replied:
:D
Abraxan
cheryse posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 11:24am for Chapter 33
Awesome - as always. I particularly enjoyed this chapter. I'm curious which path of therapy you choose.
Abraxan replied:
Glad you enjoyed it!
Abraxan
potterfrkintx posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 11:09am for Chapter 33
Wouldn't it be a hoot for those military gents to know about magic? LOL Anyways, nice chapter!! I look forward to more!
Abraxan replied:
It would indeed be a hoot for the military guys to find out about magic! But don't hold your breath - that would be a different story entirely!! Glad you're enjoying this one!
Abraxan
DJ posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 10:24am for Chapter 33
I wondor what war the muggles think they were in? Ginny lost two brothers they must think they missed a hell of a fight. Nice Ch as always see ya next time.
Abraxan replied:
I'm sure there are families with sons and daughters in Iraq or Afghanistan who have lost more than one child in the conflict. That was certainly true in Vietnam, WWII and all the other wars I know about. England is the US's ally and has troops in those danger zones right now, and they have casualties just as we do. Glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Abraxan
Wonderbee31 posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 9:34am for Chapter 33
Wonderful part here, and really liked how Harry is getting some help from others instead of just the usual gang, and maybe this will be a more positive influence on him in the future.
Abraxan replied:
Glad you enjoyed it! As someone else said in a review, wizards dont' seem to know much about psychology, so Harry getting help from this guy is a real blessing to Harry - and perhaps an eye-opener to wizard healers, who knows?
Abraxan
Wolfric posted a comment on Wednesday 25th June 2008 2:58am for Chapter 33
Great chapter. Maybe he should talk to Albus if he can't talk to Ginny. I suspect that getting Harry talking would be hard, after all our instincts are to avoid that which causes us pain. Thanks for writing. W.
Abraxan replied:
Yeah, his instincts might make him not want to talk, but he has a strong desire to get past his PTSD, so I think he will talk to Ginny, at least. Thanks for the review! Glad you liked the chapter!
Abraxan
ghostchicken posted a comment on Tuesday 10th February 2009 1:46pm for Chapter 33
Abraxan replied: