Chapter two

Reunion

Callie Baisley was wiping a table at the Waffle House. She glanced up at the clock. Please let this day go slow. Her parents had said her grandma from England was coming to visit. She knew all about her. How she disliked Dad, disapproved of Ma's marriage. She knew she really was a witch, and so were her parents, but she refused to use her powers. She knew how, of course, but she preferred not to use them. Back to Grandma, what's worse is when her sister, Morgan, died, she didn't even bother coming to her funeral. You'd think a grandmother would put aside everything to attend her granddaughter's funeral, but no. After that, Callie hated her with a passion. Someone interrupted her train of thought by patting her on the back.

"Hey." It was Chris, the cook at the Waffle House. He was always trying to get a date with Callie. Callie liked him, but only as a friend. "Whatcha doin' tonight? 'Cause maybe you and I could go out on the town to Hooters or somethin.'"

"Ah, you have no idea how much I'd like to," Callie said. "But Grandma's comin' to visit."

"You don't like her?"

"Chris, she don't care about us. Now she wants to come out here and pretend like she does? Don't you remember last year?"

"Mmm, well, good luck." Heidi, the night waitress came up to them.

"Shift's over," she said. "I'll take care of these tables." Callie and Chris headed out to their cars. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then," Chris said. "Good luck tonight."

"Yeah," Callie said. "I'll definitely need it."

She hopped into her truck, a red, Chevy pickup, and turned on the radio. On the radio, the song "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" played. Even though her grandma was coming, she still felt a little happy about something, like she always did and sang along:

And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?

As she listened to the song, she looked around. The sun was shining, Tennessee's summer heat was beating down, and life was great. She wouldn't be anywhere else. As she pulled in, her yellow labs, Benny and Dan came running up to her.

"Hey boys," she said petting them. When she went into the house, her mother said, "Oh good, you're home. How's work?"

"Like the usual," Callie said.

"Well, that's good, I guess. Listen, would you mind going up on your truck and waiting for Grandma?"

"I guess," Callie said, a bit reluctantly.

It was about an hour until she finally came.

"Hi, Grandma," Callie said, trying not to express any hatred.

"Hello, Callie," McGonagall said. "So… how's the family?"

"Well, your granddaughter died 'bout a year ago, but 'cept for that, not much, really."

"Oh." McGonagall felt bad. She didn't show it, but she did. She knew that Callie must hate her, and figured she hated her back, but that wasn't the truth. She was angry at her daughter, and cut off all ties with the family when she married Richard Baisley.

"Alrighty then," Callie said. "Let's go." They got in the car and headed down to the house. As soon as she went in, Benny and Dan attacked her.

"Good heavens!" McGonagall exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Callie said. But deep down, she found the whole thing amusing. "Benny, Dan, get down!"

Dinner was mostly quiet, but when McGonagall did speak, Callie couldn't help thinking how funny her British accent sounded. Finally, McGonagall said, "I have something to tell you from the Ministry." Rick and Hannah (Callie's mother) looked interested.

"What's the message?" Hannah asked.

"You-Know-Who, he's…" she never got to finish. Just then, two men came bursting through the door.

"Hey!" Richard shouted. "You're breaking and entering! Don't make me call the sheriff!"

"Richard Baisley," the one man said. "How nice it is to see you. After all these years." Before Richard could speak, Voldemort raised his wand. "Avada Kadavra!" He shouted. Richard fell dead. Hannah rose in defense, but Voldemort pulled the wand on her too. Dead. Voldemort aimed for McGonagall as well, but Callie pushed her out of the way and under the table, not realizing she got hit by part of the curse.

"Let's go," Voldemort said. "We did what we came for."

"My Lord, what about the others?"

"Do you see where we are Lucius?" Voldemort said. "Normally, I'd kill witnesses, but WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! Who can they possibly tell?" Lucius shrugged. "I guess you're right," he sighed. They left, leaving McGonagall and Callie alone with Richard and Hannah, who were dead.