A Chance Meeting

Ghost Friend

It's been three days since eleven-year-old Jemma Simmons had met Harry Potter, but since then she had seen neither tail nor hide of him anywhere. Maybe it was better this way. She didn't have to be on constant lookout for a person only she could see or hear, even if that person was actually quite nice.

Still, his absence begged the question in her mind whether what she witnessed and experienced was real or not. Even now she wasn't sure if that man actually existed seemingly out of phase with the reality, except for her of course. Or he could be a ghost, as he had suggested.

He could be, but very unlikely, Jemma thought. She was adamant about the fact that ghosts weren't real, and even if it were they wouldn't be able to interact with the physical world.

This is not some children's fairy tale where the ghost becomes friends with the child and goes on adventures, Jemma thought. One would think that an eleven-year-old would be more susceptible to a story like that, but Jemma wasn't like those children.

After all, she was all set to graduate from high school early and then pursue her Ph.D. Her reality was grounded on rational thoughts and scientific facts. That was one of the reasons she had for questioning her own state of mind, cooking up a story in her head and actually believing it was real. The longer Harry stayed out of sight, the stronger Jemma's suspicions became.

Thinking too hard on this would only muck up my head more, she thought.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and both her parents were home. This could well be the last few months she could spend with them on a regular basis. But instead of enjoying the time with her family, here she was cooped up in the study, contemplating her state of mind.

Her thoughts were so distracting that she didn't realize that the subject of her thoughts was standing right next to her. It took her a moment before she realized that she was not alone. She turned back around and the sight that welcomed her made her scream out of her lungs as she tried to jump out of her seat and fell to the floor.

There was Harry, standing on one of the tables. Well standing in would be a more appropriate expression as that's exactly what she was seeing. The top half of his body was floating over the table while the rest remained hidden underneath.

Hearing the commotion, her dad came rushing into the study and took the sight of Jemma sprawled on the floor. He helped her up to her feet and then asked, "What happened? I heard you scream."

Jemma quickly gained her composure back and replied, "It was nothing. A bee just flew in here and I got scared."

She was never a very good liar and the expression on her dad's face confirmed that he didn't believe her.

"A bee Jem, in here. Really?" her dad asked.

"Well, would you believe me if I said that I got startled by a ghost?" Jemma asked her dad.

Her dad just kept staring at her, the worry lines clear on his face as he tried to contemplate what was happening with his daughter.

"Jemma, you could talk to us. You know that, right," he said.

"I know dad, but nothing is happening to me. It's just that what happened really freaked me out, and I guess it made me a little jumpier" she said trying to placate her dad's worries.

"We love you little pumpkin," her dad told her as he held her in a loving embrace.

"I know you are really smart for your age, and growing up too fast for my liking. But you are still our little girl" her dad continued.

"If you got any problems, anything at all, you come to us."

"I know dad," Jemma said as she tried not to lose her composure.