More Than My Experiment

Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1: Subject

Harry had been volunteered for an experiment. Hermione had signed him up, thinking it might help him make some friends. He was now resignedly waiting in the lounge of a psychiatric hospital. Supposedly this experiment had something to do with mental capabilities and other things, and this hospital had everything the leader of the project could need.

Harry had been feeling down, and quite frankly, very lonely. His ex-wife, Ginny, who was also his best friend's sister, had divorced him, claiming that she couldn't manage a relationship and play quidditch internationally at the same time. Harry let her go, hoping that it was for the best. When clearly it wasn't. He drowned himself with liquor for the first couple of months, trying his hardest just to forget her.

Ginny had been the love of his life. They were the perfect love-story. They had known each other since second year, and he had saved her life. She was his best mate's little sister. When Harry first met her, she wasn't like everybody else, who loved him because he was The Boy-Who-Lived. She seemed to actually like him for him, just like Ron had. The Weasleys, Ginny's family, had accepted Harry into their home, and he spent almost all of his time either there or at school, anywhere that was away from his abusive relatives. Harry's parents were murdered by Voldemort, and his Aunt and Uncle were forced into taking him. The Weasleys had been the family that he never had. And marrying into them only seemed right. But of course, "perfect" never lasts. And now here he was, sitting in a psychiatric hospital, waiting to be used in an experiment.

"Isn't it enough to be used so much already? And here I am again, another pawn in someone else's world." He thought.

He heard a calm voice telling a patient that they needed to take their medicine.

"Alright, Bill, it's that time of day again." The nurse said.

"Nope. Not today Marlene. I'm all better, and nothing you can say will stop me. I'm walking out that door a free man!" The elderly patient, Bill, said.

The corner of Harry's mouth pulled up when the nurse, who obviously dealt with this daily, tapped her name tag and said, "Oh dear Bill, it seems I got confused. My name tag says my name is Penny. I must have written it wrong this morning." She said with a confused expression on her face. "Could you stay here for just one more day to help me fix it?"

"Well," the man said grudgingly, "I suppose that would be the nice thing to do, wouldn't it?"

'Marlene' nodded her head with a smile, "But you know, to stay here and help me, you have to take this medicine." She whispered as if telling a secret.

The old man nodded grimly, and took his pills. "You know Marlene, even though I know you're the brains of this here operation, sometimes I think you're just as crazy as I am."

'Marlene' giggled and shook her head, pushing Bill's wheelchair back to his room.

Harry smiled, maybe coming here wasn't such a bad idea. That nurse seemed nice, and maybe she would be interested in going on a date? He chided himself, "Harry James Potter, slow down, you only just met her, you haven't even said a word to the girl yet."

As if he would. Ginny had been the only person he was able to talk to other than Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys, and a few of his friends, like Neville and Luna. He was trying to pull himself together, he really was. The only problem was that it didn't seem to be working. Most of the time, if he saw someone who he might be able to talk to, his mind would shut down and he would be forced to walk away. And in the rare scenario where he was able to approach them successfully, they would, "Be a huge fan of Mr. Harry Potter! And I can't believe I'm actually talking to Harry Potter! Can I get your autograph? Please? I love you!!"