Chapter Text
Tick... tick... tick...
The clock ticked just above the door, seconds passing as the fluorescent lights flickered dimly in the small, stuffy room. My eyes drifted to the rain batting against the filthy window behind my new ‘doctor.’ Ridiculous the amount of money people pay for some lunatic to listen to their first-world issues.
I impatiently tapped my foot against the rugged floor. 45 minutes was all the time I needed to pass. With my sour mood it was clear I wouldn’t be speaking anytime soon. I just couldn’t believe my parents were so desperate, so confused with what to do with their trouble child that they sent me to a muggle doctor. Am I seriously that hopeless of a case? Why not just knock me with a spell or two and call it a day? Or just let me sulk in peace, maybe leave me in one of those padded cells? I know muggles use those too. That would probably be more efficient than some nosy prick with a-
“It’s raining cats and dogs, hm?” Dr. Chambers sighed, crossing her legs and laying her notepad on the slanted side-table beside her. My eyes remained glued to the windows, my foot tapping quicker against the floor. Seriously, could I get away with not saying anything?
Dr. Chambers, interestingly enough, wasn’t a muggle. She grew up going to Diagon Alley and graduated from Hogwarts with Ginny. She just decided afterwards that she would rather do this with her life, studying extra years just to work in a muggle clinic.
A few minutes passed. I felt her gaze burning into my skull and watched out of the corner of my eye as she picked up her legal pad and flipped through a dozen pages before clearing her throat.
“Albus Potter. Signed up for 3 sessions, each 45 minutes. Important to touch up on anger issues. Be sure to discuss what happened before the Christmas holiday.” Her sharp eyes pierced back into my own and I felt my face get hot with embarrassment. “Care to discuss with me what happened before the holiday?” She nagged, tapping her pen against the legal pad.
Silence. There’s no way I’m talking about this.
“Albus, I can’t let you go without at least knowing what happened.”
I crossed my arms across my chest. I couldn’t help the foul expression that grew on my face as I looked at her. I could tell she loved her job.
“There isn’t a brief summary on your paperwork?” I muttered, nodding towards the legal pad. Shame filled my stomach once more as she shook her head, pushing her glasses up her sharp, narrow nose and looking at me intently. “This is confidential. I’m not obligated to tell your parents anything,”
As if that made it any less embarrassing.
Tick... tick... tick...
“All right,” I mumbled, my arms tightening across my chest. “I beat up someone in the back of a dark alley and left him there."
“Right,” She began to scribble in her notepad, the scratching of the paper as loud as the annoying clock, or the pattering rain. I looked back at her skeptically. I told her what happened, aren’t I supposed to feel better? I thought that was the whole point.
“...so, how did it feel?” She asked, looking at me and chuckling amusedly. I stared at her with a glare worth a thousand slashes.
“Angry.”
Her gaze dropped back down to her paper. My eyes were trained on the rain. It had been raining all week. In fact, it was raining just like this when I lost it and beat Scorpius to a pulp.
“Was there a proper reason you would like to acknowledge?”
I chortled, but my expression remained the same as I sunk further into my seat. No, I just beat him up because I’m clinically insane!
“I was sick of his behavior.”
“Like he was a bully?”
My stomach dropped. He was exactly the opposite.
“No- I mean,” I huffed and felt my cheeks get hot again. “Sure. Yeah."
I sunk back into my chair and looked back at the window.
What had I gotten myself into?