A Whole New Game ( A Harry Potter Story )

Chapter 2

I woke up to the familiar strained feeling of my eyes still able to sense the light even from behind their lids. I stretched my arms and legs slowly and I recognised the rougher texture of my normal clothes scratching my skin. I must have just crashed on my bed and fallen asleep yesterday.

I sat up slowly and rubbed the stray bits of sleep from the corners of my eyes, waiting for my vision to focus. I could see from the light coming in through the window that it was early morning, so I got up and gave my body one final big stretch before heading down the stairs. Nana was surely back by now; considering how early I went to sleep yesterday I probably missed her return. I could already imagine her standing in the kitchen and cooking a hearty breakfast. So I ran down the stairs and burst through the kitchen doorway, a big grin ready on my face.

But the kitchen was empty. The dishes from yesterday were still there, the cupboard door was still open from when I had put the eggs away. It looked exactly the same as when I left it last night, it didn’t look like nana had even been in here yet. I could feel my eyebrows furrow in slight worry and I called out gently.

“Nana? Are you there? Look I’m sorry about yesterday, can we talk about it?”

My voice echoed slightly but that was the only response I got. My nerves were beginning to get the better of me. My grandmother’s trips sometimes took a little longer than expected but she was always in the kitchen the next morning waiting for me. I took a deep breath in to calm myself. I was getting a little ahead of myself here. Maybe she had come home really late and slept in, or maybe she was just out with the hens and hadn’t heard me.

I feel my heartbeat increase over the next 10 minutes as I ran up stairs, checking her bedroom and all the bathrooms and a sickening feeling began to build in my stomach when there was no sign of her outside. I knew I was probably overreacting but this had never happened before, she was always there. I fiddled with the tips of my hair nervously and pushed the frightened feelings to the back of my mind. Maybe her trip took a little longer then she thought and she couldn’t get back before nightfall so she decided to stay somewhere for the night. That piece of rational thinking lessened the clenching feeling in my chest and I let out a deep breath. She was probably on her way back right now and any minute now the front door would open and she would come waltzing in.

I decided it was best if I just started with the morning work. I looked down briefly wondering if I should bother changing. It was Wednesday and that meant I had to clean out the chicken coop. I decided against it and grabbed my gloves and wellies, heading out the door to start moving dirty straw and hay. I smiled at the probable fact that when I was finished I would go inside and she would be sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea and reading the newspaper.

As I shifted and stuffed pile after pile of dirty hay into black bags, being careful in case I accidentally hit a chicken or found a egg hidden somewhere, my attention was drawn back to our house. It was was a simple creamed coloured, 2 story house with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms completely surrounded by fields. And behind it was the garden, a pathway lead from the back door into a fenced off section filled with flowers of all different shapes, sizes and colours and next to that was where we kept the chicken coop.

I finally dragged the last pile of dirty hay into a black bag when I could have sworn I heard a bang. Like something metal hitting wood. I paused for a moment, so the sound of rustling hay wouldn’t cover any other noise. But nothing; I started tying the tops of the black bags when it happened again. I was almost certain I had heard something this time. I finished tying the last knot and cautiously walked back to the house. It was probably the breeze knocking some nick knacks into each other but with my grandmother still gone my paranoia was at a high level.