Date- August 8th, 2020
Location- Evelina Children's Hospital, London

In Sleep he sang to me...
In dreams, he came.
That voice which calls to me...
and speaks my name...

"So, you say that he has been exhibiting signs of paranoia, Miss..."

"Wendigo. Mathilda Wendigo. Perhaps not paranoia, but definitely signs of disassociation."

"I see. Piérre, do you have anything to add?"

Piérre was staring blankly at the empty guest seat on the opposite side of the examination table. A slight whisper was in his ear, to stay calm, not to worry, everything would be just fine. The faintest blur of movement flickered in the corner of his eye, almost like a shadow sitting beside him, sharing his concern, his worry. There wasn't anything wrong with him. True, he talked to himself a bit, he saw and heard things that didn't quite align with the current predicament... things that didn't really exist...

That doesn't make either of us mad. They won't do anything.

I know. I just hope you're right.

"Piérre?"

Piérre snapped out of his reverie, just as he glanced to his side to find that the shadow had vanished. "Hm?!" Piérre raised his eyebrows and flicked his gaze to the white-clad doctor. It had seemed like forever since Piérre had been to a Muggle doctor. Romeo had voted to stay at home, studying and practicing non-spells and magic theory. Piérre didn't blame him. After all, Romeo didn't choose to have a crazy brother.

The doctor smiled gently as he got onto the lad's level. "Have you had other experiences? I believe I have a few theories already, but I need more confirmation from you. Have you had any experiences of things that aren't there, perhaps thinking you see something that others don't spot?"

Piérre shrank as the doctor spoke. It sounded all insane. He sounded insane... "Oh, um... well, I have... I've thought I've heard a voice before... but it's not like a crazy or unhinged kind of thing... it's, well, it's helped me before. I don't think of something and then it kind of talks... talks me... through it..." Piérre stuttered a little as he saw the doctor nodding along with his words. All of this was only making him more and more nervous.

"I see. So, do you feel, Piérre, that this voice speaks many of your inner thoughts or seems to run a commentary on everything that you do at any point in time?"

Piérre's green eyes widened and his cheeks paled. "You too?!" He gasped, eyes glittering with pleasant surprise. Perhaps he wasn't as crazy as he thought.

The doctor chuckled good-naturedly. "No, Piérre, I'm afraid not. However, I can tell you with at least eighty percent certainty that I know what's going on here." Standing up to his full height again, the doctor rubbed his hands and turned to Mathilda. "I believe this to be an early onset of childhood Schizophrenia, specifically the subtype of Paranoid."

Paranoid... Schizophrenia? Piérre had certainly heard of the infliction, mostly its cliché impressions in pop culture of being the go-to affliction for madmen and those locked in asylums. Tipping his head to one side, Piérre looked the doctor with an overly inquisitive gaze. "So, am I... um... Am I... cra...zy...?" Piérre's voice petered off to the end, trying to pretend that the answer to his question wouldn't be all that negative.

"Absolutely not, Piérre. Childhood Schizophrenia is not all that uncommon, why in fact..."

Piérre listened as the doctor explained the mental illness that Piérre would end up possibly contending with, or at least dealing with until a later time. The doctor explained a good deal, negating common misconceptions, speaking about what the boy would experience from that point on, how it could contend or influence the boy's personality or life in multiple different ways. There could be medications to help deal with the issue, some of which could end up conflicting with some minor anxiety medications that the boy was already taking.

Don't be frightened. We'll work this out together Piérre, please just have faith that everything will be just fine.

I want to cry so badly... I've held it in all my life.

I know. I know it hurts, but that's why we have one another, and it won't always be this was. You have friends that I could never dream of you having. I have so much faith in you, and I have faith that everything will be just fine, even in the toughest of predicaments.

"Now, Piérre, we can do this one of two ways. We can have you put on medications for Paranoid Schizophrenia, or we could we try and modify your anxiety medications, or, perhaps, counselling can be put in order and we can circumvent the Schizophrenia medications altogether. Any way you choose, Piérre, it's completely your choice. I shall not force your hand in the matter."

"I... I'll do my best, doctor. I think I'll learn to work with these changes." Piérre smiled brightly, his hopes beginning to rise and lighten his once dark thoughts. "I understand. I'd like to do counselling, if that's alright."

When all the adult things were worked out, Mathilda and Piérre left the office, and Piérre was smiling the whole time, knowing that this would only be the beginning, that there was much still to do and experience...

And carrying with him the silent knowledge that there would always be an angel of music to guide him along the way, no matter how difficult the tale and the path would be.