Community service.
Community service indeed.
Draco groaned inwardly as he made his way down the pristine white hallway to the reception desk. Of all the places to be working off the Ministry verdict, it had to be here.
A Muggle children's hospital.
"May I help you?"
Draco snapped back to the present. The receptionist eyed him oddly. "May I help you, sir?"
"I'm a volunteer," Draco explained through a hard-put smile. "I'll be coming all week. I was sent by-"
He named a fictitious organization that the receptionist seemed to swallow. Her eyes lit up with pleasure.
"That's wonderful! We don't usually get volunteers. These poor little mites don't get visitors often, you know..."
She pulled a small card from her desk. Draco noticed it was similar to the one she wore, with a blank space by the name. She looked up at him. "Your name, please?"
"Jake." It was close enough to his own name that he wouldn't forget it, and seemed non-descript enough. "Jake Malloy."
"All right." She wrote the name down. "Follow me, please, Jake."
She clicked out from behind her desk and led him into a maze of white hallways. "Have you ever volunteered before, Jake?"
"Uh- no."
"Hmmm." She paused before a doorway marked Post-Op. "Maybe you could start off with another volunteer. Let her show you the ropes, you know."
Draco sighed as she pushed open the door.
The sigh turned into a gasp as he saw who the other volunteer was.