Anything But Ordinary (A Harry Potter Fanfiction) [PAUSED]

Chapter One

I tapped my foot to the sound of the beat. The ride home today was the same as usual. The same people getting off at the same spots at their usual times.

The older lady who is on the subway before me and gets off a stop some time after mine was sitting next to me as usual. She tried to talking to me a few times, not realizing that I had my headphone on, but after taking my phone out to change the song she now only gives me a smile and waves. Two older men sit across from us who get off at 12th street. They both have briefcases and smell like cigarets. There would be a lady with her child in the car every Friday night. The boy would be asleep almost the whole ride and my guess is that she was picking him up from his father's house.

I heard the announcement for my stop, 21st street, being called out. I grabbed the grocery bag I had and made my way towards the door. In the reflection, I noticed a person I didn't see before. It was an old man sitting in the very back of the car reading a newspaper.

Funny. I forget people still read those.

The sky was black and the air was cold. I wrapped my jacket tighter around me and stuck my hands in my pockets. I cursed myself for not bringing gloves.

The walk was never long to my apartment. It was always less than ten minutes, if I didn't stop at the corner store for a cheap cup of coffee. Even if it was in the city, it felt comfortable. Tonight was the first night that it didn't.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up and I glanced behind me. It was just an empty street. I took a deep breath and started walking faster.

When I got to my apartment, I locked all of the locks and checked every nook. The only thing out of place was a book that was lying on the counter that had fallen to the floor. The culprit wasn't hard to spot. A gray tail was twitching, poking outside of a blanket on the couch.

I picked up the book and made my way towards the couch.

"Ella," I called out.

The tail disappeared inside the blanket and I smiled to myself. I unwrapped the blanket and found a pair of green eyes. She meowed and turned to bury herself back in the blanket.

"I wonder what its like to have a pet that welcomes you home," I muttered and walked to the kitchen to put the groceries away.

Ella meowed in responce.

"Yes, I'm talking about you. Maybe I should get a dog."

She meowed again and tried unraveling herself from the blanket, but she just ended up falling on the floor. She ran over to me and then to the door. Ella paced and pawed at the door.

"Okay, just because I said I should get a dog doesn't mean I actually want one," I said and walked towards her.

The lights clicked off. I froze for a moment before running over the switch and flicking them on and off, but the lights stayed off. I grabbed my phone and tried other switches, but they didn't come on either.

"Ella?"

Ella stayed at the door pacing. I peeked around the living room curtains to see if anyone else's power was out in the building. Everyone seemed to have power.

Knock. Kock.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up again.

This isn't the manager or maintenance.

I looked through the peephole, but the hallway was dark too. I started to walk away, but it came again. I placed my leg in front of the door so Ella wouldn't get out and kept the top lock in place.