Chapter 1

"Meredith..."

A young girl with medium brown hair groaned into her pillow.

"Meredith! Wake up!"

Closing her eyes tightly, she rolled away from the hands that were gently shaking her.

"For Pete's sake, Meredith! Wake up already. We're at your grandfather's house and you have to get out of the taxi."

Meredith, as this is the name of the girl in question, sat up properly on the car seat, clutching her pillow to her chest as she looked outside the car window with bleary eyes. She saw a normal suburban house with cream, almost white, walls and a reddish brown roof. It looked exactly like all the houses on the street. The only difference with this house, noted Meredith, was that it had a man in front of it, leaning against the fence in a casual way that seemed to say that it was normal for him to be outside at three o'clock in the morning.

Meredith's mother, Judy, clutched her daughter's hand painfully tight as she pulled her out of the taxi. She then stuck her head back into the car and said, "Don't drive off just yet. I'll just get the bags out and then you can take me back to the station."

Judy turned her frosty gaze to the man leaning against the picket fence. Now that Meredith was closer and much more awake, she could tell that the gentleman was rather old. If she were to guess his age, she would say he was around the age of fifty. This must be my grandfather, she thought.

"Are you just going to stand there, Christopher, or do you plan on helping me with Meredith's bags?"

"All you had to do was ask." His voice was rough, as if he spent many hours of his day pulling on a pipe or a cigar. His hair was a grey so light that it appeared to be almost white. He had little hair on the top his head but the sides were almost comically fluffy. He kept his beard short, just an inch of growth. Christopher Riverton wasn't a tall man. He had a bulging stomach that suggested he had indulged in many pints of beer in his day. Despite his friendly Santa Claus appearance, Meredith found herself rather skeptical of the man. He had a strict air about him, as if he was used to people doing what he told them to. Which was a right assumption. Christopher never repeated himself and he never expected anything but the best of the people he put his faith into.

"Aren't you staying, mum?" Meredith folded her arms in discomfort and scowled at her mother's back as she got the luggage out of the boot of the taxi.

"Staying? No Meredith, I certainly am not. I can't be surrounded by witchcraft. It's not good for my immortal soul."

Mr. Riverton's laugh erupted in a harsh bark, "You can't be serious, Judith? Surely my son didn't marry such a stupid muggle?"

Meredith had never quite seen her mother this angry. She watched as her mother's face went a brilliant red that clashed with her usually beautiful blonde hair. Meredith picked up her things that her mother had carelessly tossed on the floor. As she got her last bag, Judy Knowles (she had returned to using her maiden name) slammed the boot of the car so hard that the taxi driver yelled out an irritated reprimand.

Finally, as if realizing this was the last time she would see her daughter, she went on her knees in front of Meredith, who was barely holding back her tears. "Meredith," her mother said, "I wouldn't leave you if I didn't think it was the right thing to do. I don't have the abilities to take care of a child like you. If your father was still alive I would never have thought of leaving you with this horrid man." She cast an angry look at the man who was once again leaning on the fence. "I never knew you were a witch until we received your letter from that school. I had hoped that your father's genes had skipped you, but clearly the magic runs too strongly in your blood-"

"As it should!" bellowed Christopher Riverton proudly.

Meredith wiped the tears off her cheeks and with a small sniff said, "I didn't ask for this, mum. This isn't my fault."

Having said all she could, Judy kissed her daughter's forehead and gave her one last hug before getting back into the taxi and driving off.

Meredith entered her new home with the thought of how it was her fault that her mother had left her behind. The only reassurance she had was her grandfather's gentle hand on her shoulder as he led her into the house, carrying all of her belongings in the air behind them.

Meredith, crying as heavily as an abandoned child does, didn't even notice the magic that would soon be the biggest part of her life.