TRIGGER WARNING: Eating disorder, suicide, anxiety, and depression. Please read on with caution. National suicide prevention line: 1-800-273-8255 US. If needing someone to talk to, I am here. You are loved and wanted.
Hi guys, this is an AU fic that takes place in a muggle mental hospital (psych ward). I actually just got out of one and this idea came to mind. Hope you enjoy! As always, I don't own Harry Potter.
Hogwarts, hospital for the mentally ill, was the finest institution in England. The most troubled youth resided there. The richest families would send hefty donations to the hospital in order to turn around their son or daughter. With these hefty donations the hospital was able to afford for its patients to have the highest of comforts. Vast libraries, high end food and the finest doctors and nurses available. Albus Dumbledore, was the head of Hogwarts and was shown to be a gentle soul. He truly wanted the best for his patients.
Albus Dumbledore was sitting in a large, plush chair in his office. He was currently reading the file for the newest patient, Harry Potter. Mr. Potter had had a troubled life, adopted by the Dursleys after his parents died, and had terrible depression and anxiety. The newest patient was brought here after a recent stunt with trying to kill himself. After meeting the Dursleys, Albus could see why. The Dursleys had gone on and on about how expensive the institution is and how Mr. Potter was a freak of nature and a waste of space. Albus considered himself to be a very friendly man, but to the Dursleys he found it hard to be amicable.
Suddenly a loud banging noise came from behind the door. Albus sighed, sitting down the files with a frown.
"Come in," Albus said gravely.
A brunette, brown eyed man comes through the door, looking enraged.
"Albus, Harry Potter is the new patient? I will not have anything to do with James's spawn. Damned brat, probably did it for attention." The man said, eyes glaring at the head of Hogwarts. Albus said nothing for awhile, remembering the infatuation Severus had had with Lily Potter, a nurse that used to work here. How devastated he was when Lily had married James, a police officer. That devastation had clearly changed Severus. Once was a kind hearted man who worked to save lives, and now was a man who worked to earn a paycheck. Truly was sad.
Severus Snape watched Albus while fuming inside. How dare Albus allow such filth to come here, who cares if the boy had tried to kill himself, Severus would not treat the brat. Severus had worked at the institution for many years as a psychiatrist and had seen the worst of the worst. True, he used to love his job, but that had changed after years of working at the institution. He had changed into a bitter man. Having to deal with brats that just wanted attention. Severus was the best psychiatrist that England had to offer. The pay was great, which was why Severus stayed.
"Severus, you must treat Harry Potter. He is a patient, just like anyone else that resides here. He must be taken care of. You must let this childish feud between you and James Potter go. Young Harry is not his father." Albus finally said, after a period of silence.
Putting his head in his hands, Severus whispered, "how am I supposed to treat the boy when everytime I look at him I'll be reminded of Lily." Severus knew he sounded like a broken man, but that was preposterous, he wasn't broken. He's seen broken and broken is what his patients are. Broken is when you binge on vodka while taking a cocktail of pills. Broken is when you scream into the night with insanity, because you just can't take the pain anymore. While James Potter always wanted to be a police officer, Severus had once not known what to do with his life. The only reason he studied psychiatry was in fact Lily's doing. Lily had told him to do something great in his life. And sure, Potter put people behind bars. But, Severus? He saved those who didn't have anyone to turn to. He saved the unwanted. And even though, he had grew into a bitter man. He knew Lily would be proud of him and in that moment Severus had a revelation. He had to treat the Potter brat- no, Harry. That wasn't just James's spawn, that was Lily's child. And Severus promised himself that he would never turn a patient away, and turning Harry away made Severus disgusted of himself. He was a doctor, for Salazar's sake. And a doctor he would be.
"I'm sorry Severus, but we must treat the boy. And as the headmaster, I have already decided that the boy will be attending this institution. It is final." Albus replied with a frown. Now while Severus had came to his revelation, he was not ready to admit to Albus that he was right. No, he wasn't letting him know his words actually got through to Severus. So he did what he did best, he turned around and stalked out the door in a fury. It was a pride thing, you know.
Madame Pomfrey had seen it all, the bad and the worst. So she wasn't surprised when she saw the newest patient screaming while being brought into the building on a gurnee with straps. She had been a nurse here for a long time and knew just what to do to calm a patient down. She always kept calm in situations like this and kept sedatives with her to aid her in making the transition to the patient's room easier. Quietly and quickly, she uncapted the shot and injected it into new newest patients arm. She used to feel bad about sedating a patient, when all they were doing was reacting to someone actually caring for them. And not mistreating them like they are used to. But alas, the days of feeling bad about injecting patients with sedatives were over. She had learned her lesson, unfortunately. She got too close to a patient and nearly lost her life, no she didn't blame the patient. She blamed the illness.
She motioned to the nurses to bring, young Harry into his room. He would be sharing a room with their toughest ward, Mr. Malfoy. 'Good luck, Harry,' she thought.
The room was white, and tan. The room gave off a stench of cleaning supplies, the smell Pomfrey had grown to love while the patients hated. Two cots were in the room followed by a curtain in the middle, in order for each patient to have their own "privacy." Though they were routinely monitored by cameras. Mr. Malfoy had sat up from his cot, looking annoyed.
"Oh come on. Pomfrey. Not another one, I just got rid of the last one. I thought I finally got my own room." Draco was beyond irritated. His parents donated thousands of dollars to Hogwarts and he couldn't get his own room. 'Ridiculous,' Draco thought. Of course, his parents only donated to the institution so no word would get out that their only son lived with a eating disorder. What could he say, being a Malfoy was hard work. Having to be perfect all the time really messed with his self esteem. He had been in the ward for almost a year already and he honestly wished he never would leave. Here, people cared no matter how many insults he threw. His parents never cared like that, He had only seen his parents a total of two times since coming to Hogwarts. And of course, they brought a fat check with them each time to keep the staff quiet.
"Be quiet, Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Potter is sleeping and we don't want to wake him. You remember your first day here don't you?" Madam Pomfrey said in a caring, but sterned voice. Pomfrey was the grandmother that Draco had always wanted. Of course, she would never know he kept her in such high esteem.
Oh yes, Draco did remember his first day. He was brought by ambulance in the middle of the night to the institution. The arrival didn't go well, and he was injected with those damned sedatives. His newest roommate looked bad, and he wasn't talking about his unruly black hair. No, it looked like the boy hadn't slept in weeks from the dark circles underneath his eyes. 'Wonder what kept him up,' Draco thought curiosiously.
Draco watched them unstrap the sleeping boy and put him in his cot and hooked him up with the bed straps.
"We won't be having any problems will we, Mr. Malfoy?" Madame Pomfrey questioned. Draco shook his head strongly.
"Good, now get some sleep Mr. Malfoy. You will need it, you have a weigh in in a couple of hours." Pomfrey announced before exiting the room and turning the lights off. Draco took his bony knees to his chest and rocked, trying to soothe his own anxieties. He knew he had lost weight, and though he knew he should be happy about that, he was only numb. Maybe it was the medicine or maybe it was the thought that he just didn't care anymore if he shriveled up and died. At least, he would be thin and perfect if he died. He just wanted to be perfect and with that he quietly fell back and fell in the sweet abyss of dreamless sleep.
== Hey guys, let me know how I did and if I should continue. I'm really excited about this fic and hopefully you guys like it. :) By the way, this fic will be slash. So if it's not what you're into, then I wish you a good life and a great day! :) Also, this is an abnormal psych ward, so things are different. Please don't respond with, "they don't really do that." I know, this is au. Thanks for reading, just letting my imagination soar!