InsaneJournal

He had his wand, and while he could  have fixed his clothes, he decided not to.  He didn't want to pretend he was anything that he was: a released prisoner absolutely down on his luck with not a galleon to his name, wearing the used clothes of his brothers, here to volunteer.  He was clean, and had found the little book,The Tales of Beedle the Bard, under a pile of other papers and things and as a second thought, Greg had grabbed it.  The advertisement had stated, "...read to patients for a period of thirty minutes a piece for no less than four hours a day....,." and Greg had been assigned to the position, sight unseen.

He was greeted by the head medi-witch with a raised eye-brow and a bit of sneer to her face; it hadn't phased him in the least.  Hadn't he lived with snooty Slytherin princesses for years at school?  What kind of mad dog stare from some bitch was going to phase him?  But he kept his tone polite, even if he used few words and she could only continue her degrading look.  She complete his paperwork, officially registering him as a volunteer at St. Mungo's.  He was given a badge that would allow him access to the floors, and then he noted some perverse look cross her face, something mixed with mean pleasure and glee.

"We are going to start you on the 4th Floor I believe, Mr. Goyle.  The mental ward will be your assignment for the present."

Greg could only gulp and nod; what choice did he really have?  And he followed her into the Janus Thickey Ward, more nervous than he had been in Azkaban.   She pointed to the first room and said, "You may start here," and turned and left.  Greg looked about, and moved inside to pull up a chair next to a person lying prostrate on the bed.  He cleared his throat, and with a nervous air, introduced himself and began reading from the book.

That had been three hours ago, and it hadn't been so hard as all that.  He had read to three patients, sort of getting lost in the story he was reading aloud and not realizing the time.   And the patients didn't say very much...well except for the second one who kept mumbling, "Green wands...green dragons...green pudding.....green fingers....green wands...," over and over.  Greg had just read louder, ignoring the man and checking frequently that his wand was well tucked away should the insane patient try to make a grab for it.

He rose to leave the room, and stretched, and wandered out of the hall for a moment to get a quick drink of water.  Slightly refreshed, he moved back into the ward and decided to head to the other side.  Passing one door and then the next, Greg stopped at the third and opened it without knocking, and started with his introduction speech (one that he was required to give), "Hello, I'm here as a volunteer to read to you....," he began, not really thinking the person in here would be listening.  The last three had been lying in their bed, almost comatose; this one was sitting at a small desk and when he turned his head, Greg's chest seized up and he couldn't breath for a moment.   All he could do was let out a hoarse whisper.

"Theo?"