Callie and Charlotte Apparated in a field far from Hogwarts. Callie was still holding Charlotte's wrist, and began dragging her across the field to a house in the middle of nowhere.
"Callie, stop, where are we going?" she pulled her hand away from Callie's "I'm…scared."
Callie turned around and sighed. She licked her lips awkwardly.
"I know we haven't really gotten along all that well, me being your stepmum and your dad being…away all the time-"
Charlotte raised an eyebrow.
"Just listen, ok, we've never been close, you and me, but, well, you're all I've got. When I thought your father was gone, I had to look after you, teach you, and when he appeared two years ago and this-" she pointed to the mark on her left forearm "-started burning, I, erm, didn't go back to him."
"What? Wouldn't he hurt you?"
"Hell, no, he knows how much he needs me. I'm just as powerful as he is. The point is, he came to me and asked me to take care of you, and I feel I owe it to both of you, ok?"
Charlotte nodded, and followed in silence as they walked to the house ahead. They sat down in the living room. Charlotte saw a dull pain in Callie's eyes, a hole in her heart that hadn't been filled.
"My dad, he hurt you didn't he?"
"What? No, I told you he-"
"No, I mean, you know..." Charlie was trying to help Callie open up to her.
Callie frowned, then her eyes widened as she began to reminisce.
"He was such a romantic, he always showered me with presents from his wand, and he was so clever, he even wrote my name in the stars once." She smiled to herself. "Everyone thought we made the best couple, and our wedding, was, fantastic…" her face drooped. "And then, he changed. He became self-centered and just plain evil. He even made me have this" she showed her left forearm again.
"And then I found out he had you and nothing was the same. He hasn't cared for me in years. He killed your mother, lumbered you on me then went and got himself half killed six months later."
Charlotte listened intently, as Callie spilled her heart out, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly she composed herself.
"Well, none of that matters anymore. The point is, he's alive and he wants to see you. And, Charlotte," she paused "Charlie, you had better not mention you're a Ravenclaw. We don't want him angry."
Charlotte nodded anxiously. She was about to meet the most notoriously evil wizard of all time. But he was her dad! She looked around, and spotted a photo of a handsome young man on the mantlepiece next to a young Callie. She had never seen a picture of him before, Callie hadn't allowed it when she was growing up.
"Is that him, is that my dad?"
Callie looked at the photo and shook her head.
"No." she said quietly. "That's Tom. He's not your dad anymore."
And she left to make a cup of tea, leaving Charlie standing alone holding the picture.