The Boy who Lived

By Jerle Shannara

Author's Note

Here's another in a somewhat long string of Charmed/Harry Potter crossovers. It just might include a romantic relationship between Harry and one of our favorite sisters (he's old enough in this story so don't worry), but that's not entirely certain. Hope ya like it!

Chapter 1: The Boy who Lived

The two men wore identical white suits. Both appeared to be of early middle age judging by their hairlines. They also had quite dispassionate faces, though not without a kind of cold arrogance about them. Harry Potter gazed indifferently at them.

"You're too unpredictable to be allowed to exist." One of them said. "Your latest performance has already exposed magic to this entire neighborhood. We can't risk such things happening again."

"If there's one consolation," the second man remarked, "it's that you won't be depressed anymore."

"If you're going to kill me then get it over with." Harry muttered. The two men exchanged startled looks.

"Most of our clients resist." One remarked. "It's as though he wants us to erase him."

"Whether he wants it or not isn't the issue." The one who was seemingly the leader snapped. "We were ordered to remove Harry Potter! He does not forgive failure easily."

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Harry asked.

"We are known as the Cleaners." Replied the leader. "When magic is exposed to ordinary mortals, it's our job to cover it up. Most of the time we can just erase the effects of the magic itself, but there are occasionally times where that isn't enough and we're forced to erase the one who performed the magic. Since you can't guarantee that you won't have another outburst like that last one, we have no choice but to eliminate you."

"Like I said," remarked the second Cleaner, "at least you won't have all these bothersome emotions to deal with."

Harry didn't know or care what happened to him at this point. He'd lost Sirius, the only man who had ever come even close to being a father figure in Harry's life---except of course for Arthur Weasley, but it wasn't the same. Before that, Cedric Diggory had died just when he and Harry could have become friends. There was nothing left in this world for him, so maybe these Cleaners would be doing him a favor. They each extended a hand. Then a voice rang out from the doorway of Harry's bedroom, a voice Harry had never expected to hear again.

"Ultima Protego!" Harry looked up in shock at hearing the voice. He found himself surrounded by a golden barrier that he could see through. He blinked several times to try to dispel the illusion before him, but it was not his imagination. Cedric Diggory stood in the doorway, and his gray eyes glinted with fury.

"What is this?" demanded the lead Cleaner. "You can't interfere!"

"I can when you're on the verge of upsetting the balance!" Cedric snapped. "You know your purpose, now fulfill it!"

"We will as soon as you lower your shield." Said the Cleaner coldly.

"This boy is my charge!" Cedric snapped. "It's my responsibility to see to his training."

"Then perhaps you should have been with your charge a little while ago?" suggested the first Cleaner even more coldly.

"He was only just assigned to me." Cedric said. "Erase his latest magic and I'll see to it that he learns to harness his powers. That's final!" The Cleaners exchanged a long look. Then they nodded.

Very well." The leader said to Cedric. He turned to Harry. "This is not over between us. We will do what we set out to do." They raised their hands again and vanished. Harry sat gaping at Cedric.

"But you're---" Harry began.

"There's no time to explain." Cedric said. "There will be in a bit, but right now we're leaving."

"But Dumbledore said I have to stay here." Harry said.

"Dumbledore's been temporarily relieved of that responsibility. The Elders finally figured out where he'd sent you. Let's just say they weren't happy about it at all. Let's get your stuff together and get you out of here."

"You most certainly will not!" roared a voice.

"Those Cleaners would sure be nice about now." Cedric remarked. "We could get rid of that overgrown pig." He turned to Uncle Vernon and said, "I'll be taking Harry off your hands, so if you'll just get the hell out of our way, we can be off without any---unpleasantness."

"Now see here---" Vernon began.

"Trunk!" Cedric called. Harry's trunk flew into his arms, where it promptly became small enough to fit into his pocket. He did the same to Harry's empty owl cage. He even, Harry noticed, magicked up all the loose parchments, books and things that Harry had been using to study.

"There we are." Cedric said brightly. "Now we can get out of here. We'll be Orbing to your new home, so you'll probably be a lot more comfortable than you were---" he suddenly stiffened as though he were in pain. He looked at Harry for a long moment, then quite suddenly drew back and slugged Uncle Vernon with unbelievable force.

"You son of a bitch!" he swore. Pausing to control himself he continued, "You're just lucky I've got more important things to do right now. I don't stand by when Muggles abuse my charges." With that he took hold of Harry and was gone before Vernon could act to prevent it.

"He's real." Leo said. "JKR doesn't realize it of course, but Harry Potter is real. Moreover, he's coming to stay here until further notice." Phoebe, Piper and Paige all gaped at him.

"We've got two kids already." Piper said. "Wyatt's quite enough of a handful all by himself, and I'm quite sure Chris will go through his own phase. We don't need another little kid running around."

"He's not a kid." Leo replied. "He's in his twenties, I'm not sure how old exactly, probably a little younger than Page. The reason he's coming to stay here is because he's part of the reason Wyatt turned evil in Chris' time. Harry wasn't there in that time because his uncle killed him. Now we have a chance to set that right. Harry's here to help us protect Wyatt. Besides, we Wiccans don't stand by when an ordinary mortal persecutes our fellows." His lips twitched as though he was trying not to laugh as he continued. "Something else might also happen, but I'm not about to spoil that. Suffice it to say you've got a new charge."

"Why us specifically?" Phoebe asked. "I mean apart from Wyatt---"

"The Cleaners have been acting odd lately." Leo admitted. "They went after Harry earlier today. He had a fight with his aunt and uncle. Some blows were exchanged and there was a little magic performed. The Cleaners are under strict orders not to erase Harry whatever he does. His power will be crucial in preserving the cosmic balance. The Cleaners know that, but for some reason they still went after him. I want him someplace where he can be protected in case they show up again. We're just lucky his Whitelighter got there to straighten things out."

A little while later, a tall, handsome young man Orbed into the kitchen. He was carrying a skinny young boy in his arms. This boy had green eyes, untidy black hair and a lightning scar on his forehead.

"Oh my god." Breathed Phoebe, as the full weight of Harry's emotions hit her Empathic sense.

"Put him in the living room." Said Piper, her tone uncharacteristically gentle. She too could sense the pain emanating from the young man.

"You can go let the Elders know that Harry's safe." Leo said.

"No," said Harry's companion. "I think I'll stay with him. He's my responsibility now."

"All right." Leo said. "Relax a bit though, Ced. He's not a baby. Right now he needs friends, not mothers---except maybe Piper." Grinning briefly, Leo Orbed out.

When Harry came to, he was lying on an old but comfortable couch. Pillows were wedged beneath his back and neck, making him feel almost as if he were in an ambulance, strapped to one of those boards they put you on to keep you from moving around too much. There was a sharp pain in his rib cage that he hadn't noticed before. Cedric was sitting in a chair nearby.

"Where am I?" Harry asked.

"America." Cedric said. "I suppose you'll be wanting answers now?"

"I'll want them sooner or later, but right now I think I broke something."

"That'd be your uncle's work." Cedric said. "He broke a few ribs when he was beating the hell out of you last time. Don't worry though, that'll just take a second to clear up." He leaned close to Harry. "Don't move." He said. He placed both hands on Harry's rib cage. A strange but soothing warmth seemed to spread through him. A moment later Harry felt refreshed.

"All done." Cedric said. "Now it's time to eat." Harry was about to say, "I'm not hungry," but even as the thought entered his mind he knew it was a lie. He was ravenous.

"What's a Whitelighter?" Harry asked a few minutes later as he worked his way through a large plate of eggs, bacon and French toast.

"Whitelighters are sort of like the guardian angels of witches and wizards." Cedric explained. "I've been in training ever since I died. You're my first charge and probably my most important. I'd have come for you sooner, but Dumbledore was never very keen on discussing where you went during the summer. It took the Elders twenty-some years to learn where you were. It was only because of my ability to sense when a charge is suffering that I managed to pinpoint you. Then of course there was that business with the Cleaners."

"What exactly are they?" Harry asked.

"They're basically the janitors of the magical world. They clean up after us when our carelessness exposes magic. British wizards have drifted so far away from the true nature of magic that most of the Elders don't even bother. You were a special case because your destiny is tied in with these three young ladies."

"Could I ask you something?" Harry asked.

"You just did," Cedric said, "but I suppose I could let you ask me something else."

"Did Sirius become a Whitelighter?"

"No," Cedric said, "he didn't. He could have though. In fact, he was offered the chance, but he declined. Don't worry though, there are ways you can talk to him. You'll learn all that eventually. Now though, let's focus on getting you settled in."

A few hours later, Harry had a chance to be formally introduced to his new guardians. Piper Halliwell, the eldest of the three sisters, was the one who had prepared Harry's breakfast. She was in her early thirties with long dark hair and brown eyes. Next in line was Phoebe. Phoebe was in her late twenties or early thirties. She too had dark hair and dark eyes, but her hair wasn't as long as Piper's. The youngest was Paige Matthews, who was actually Phoebe and Piper's half-sister. She had hazel eyes that sparkled with merriment and mischief. Harry could tell he was going to like her most out of all three of them.

Later, Harry was introduced to Piper's two sons. The older one, Wyatt, was about two years old. He was at that age where he was just learning to talk. Harry liked the boy. Wyatt's brother Chris couldn't have been more than a few months old, so Piper was a bit leery about letting Harry hold him at first. This uneasiness was soon banished when she saw how well Wyatt seemed to get along with Harry. At one point, Harry even called his owl Hedwig over to meet the two children. Admittedly, he did this with a slight feeling of unease, but Hedwig didn't seem to mind being petted by a pair of young boys, particularly in view of the fact that, unlike most boys their age, these two seemed already to understand that this creature could hurt them if she felt threatened. Though they both did at one point rub their faces against Hedwig's soft feathers as though they were fur, she merely hooted softly but made no other reaction.

"That's amazing." Phoebe remarked. "If anybody else tried that they'd probably wind up without a face."

"What's going on?" asked a mild voice. A young man had Orbed into the living room. He saw what Wyatt and Chris were doing, started to run over and pull them away, but then saw how well Hedwig was taking the situation and began to laugh.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Piper remarked.

"She must really trust them if she's that patient." The newcomer commented.

"She's usually like this." Harry replied. "She's usually pretty patient. Granted I'm a little surprised she's this way around younger kids, but the fact that she is is a good sign." The man, who had to be the boys' father judging by the resemblance between them, came over to shake Harry's hand.

"I'm Leo Wyatt." He said. "You won't remember me because you were unconscious, so I thought I'd get the introduction out of the way. You'll probably be staying here for a while." Harry grinned. He could already tell he was going to like his new home.