Truly, Madly, Deeply a Nuisance
Prologue
"Excuse me, sir!" A boy with round glasses pushed his trolley past the tall man sitting in the middle of the train station. The man furrowed his brow in confusion as he watched the boy run through the wall behind him. Shaking his head, he picked up the cello case next to him and ran a hand through his mousy brown hair. Adjusting his coat, he followed the boy through the wall.
"Interesting," he muttered, his voice deep and silky. "A ghost walking through a ghost wall. I wonder how it died? Chuckling, he emerged into a throng of people, all hugging various crying children. Shouts echoed throughout the place.
"Terribly sorry," a woman apologized, bumping into him.
"Professor!" She started. "Why aren't you at the school?"
"I beg your pardon?" He questioned over the noise. "You must have mistaken me for someone else."
"Jamie!" A man's voice suddenly called through the crowd. "Jamie! You're gonna miss the train."
The man with the cello turned, searching for the voice, "Well if you insist."
Chapter 1
Jamie looked around the train, confused at the large amount of children and lack of adults. He opened the door of an empty compartment and sat down, setting his cello case on the rack above. Propping his feet up on the seat in front of him, he noticed a woman pushing a trolley with food, "Anything off the trolley, dear?" She asked.
"What do you have?" Jamie asked, suddenly starving.
"Chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans-"
"Bert-what?" Jamie's confusion continued to grow by the second.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!" The woman seemed befuddled that this man didn't recognize the treat. "They're two galleons each."
"Galleons?" By now, the cellist was positive he was dreaming. Surely, no one born in London would claim the currency to be anything different. She had to be crazy. "Don't you mean pence and pounds?"
"No, no!" The woman laughed. "That's muggle currency! Here in the Wizarding World, we measure money with knuts, sickles, and galleons. You didn't go to Gringotts Bank before coming here?"
"Wizarding World?" Jamie shuffled nervously in his seat. "I came on this train to get my Spanish lessons, not to be taken to some sort of magical world."
"Then I'm afraid you've got the wrong train, dear. Don't worry, though. You'll surely love Hogwarts! It's the best school in the Wizarding World!" She turned and continued down the hall.
"Hogwarts? Wait, what?" Jamie called after the trolley woman. "I wanted to get off this train, not stay on and go to some school I wasn't even aware I was going to! Are you even listening?"
"Sir, could you please lower your voice?" The boy Jamie had seen run through the wall was speaking from the compartment across from him. "Some of us are trying to sleep." He gestured toward a man who was asleep at the right of the compartment.
"Harry, who are you talking to?" Another boy asked. Jamie noticed the red-haired boy look in his direction. The boy's eyes widened, and he said with hatred in his voice, "Snape? What are you doing here?"
Suddenly, a girl with bushy brown hair glanced at Jamie as well. "You idiot!" She gently slapped the red-haired boy on the arm. "When have you ever seen Snape play the cello?"
The boy looked back at the girl, "How would you know he plays the cello?" She pointed up at the cello case above Jamie.
"Have some respect, Ronald!" She said angrily to the ginger. Ronald looked in Jamie's direction.
"Sorry. She's mental."
Jamie chuckled, "No worries." He heard Ronald mutter that he sounds like Snape, too, and he still doesn't see how he isn't Snape. Suddenly, Jamie felt a tickle in his sinuses, telling him his small cold didn't want to stay quiet forever. His vision blurred as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
"Sir, are you alright?" The girl spoke up with concern.
"Just need...hheh...to sneeze," he rushed his speech through hitching breaths. "E-excuse-me-please." The girl watched as he pulled a white handkerchief out of his coat pocket and brought it to his twitching hooked nose. "ERshh! Ack, UHshoo! IHshoo!" Jamie sneezed into his handkerchief.
"Bless you," the three students said kindly as Jamie blew his nose.
"Sorry about that," he said with a sniff as he rubbed his nose. "Just got a...little bit of a cold."
"I'm sorry," the girl stated sympathetically. "I hope you feel better soon." At this, Jamie looked down at the floor. "What's wrong?" She asked him.
"It could last forever," he muttered.
"Why's that?" Harry wondered.
Jamie's brown eyes met the boy's brilliant green eyes. "I know this sounds ridiculous, but I'm a ghost. A ghost with a cold."
"That's not ridiculous at all!" The girl spoke up. "Hogwarts has many ghosts! One for each house, one that haunts the first-floor girls' bathroom, one that-"
"Wait," Jamie interrupted, "did you just say there's a ghost that haunts the girls' bathroom?"
"Yes! She's called Moaning Myrtle. She's a Ravenclaw. We met her last year."
"What's a Ravenclaw?"
"You're gonna have a lot of explaining to do, Hermione," Ronald said softly to the girl, who nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry. I can handle it," Hermione whispered back. She turned to Jamie, "Excuse me, sir, what did you say your name was?"
"I didn't," he said while rubbing his irritated nose. He sniffed again, cleared his throat, and replied, "It's Jamie."
"Do you have a last name?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Uuummm..." Jamie racked his brain. Did he have a last name? He honestly wasn't sure. "I don't know," he said finally.