Author's Note: Alternate Universe: Paige has the ability to enter the mind of her charge and can only be seen by her charge unless they wish for others to see her. Both canon timelines are thrown out the window because I pretty much had to.
Story Dictionary Canon in Charmed
Whitelighter - A guardian Angel.
Charge - A person who is assigned a Whitelighter when in need of guidance and protection.
Calling - The charges ability to call or summon their Whitelighter usually by saying their name.
Orb - How a Whitelighter teleports. Their body dissolves into white and blue lights and reforms their body at their teleported destination.
Witch - The term is used to describe any good magic user. The Charmed Ones refer to Harry as a witch because he does not possess the characteristic of a warlock.
Warlock - An evil witch counterpart that can be mistaken as a demon based on the several variants one can appear as. Used to refer to Voldemort.
Other
In-Between - Limbo/Purgatory. Used to describe the place Harry speaks with Dumbledore after he dies.
Grey Witch - Used to refer someone who used to be evil or held evil-tendencies in a past life, but turned good in their present one. Paige describes Dumbledore as a grey witch.
Secret Angel
Paige Matthews was getting ready to turn in for the night when she first heard the calling. Emerging from the bathroom after finishing her bedtime routine, the sobs of a child crying for help echoed across her conscience. She closed her eyes and listened, focusing on the distant sound. It was quiet, muffled, and filled with a deep sadness. The undeniable urge to go to this child pulled heavily at her heart.
One of her sisters came up the stairs to claim the next bathroom slot. Her steps thudding heavily against the floor as she approached and noticed Paige's trance-like state.
"Hello? Paige?" Phoebe Halliwell asked, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder and waving the other in front of her face.
When Paige did not react or respond, Phoebe panicked. "Piper! Something's wrong with Paige!"
The eldest witch sprinted up the stairs and joined the two upon the concerned call. They watched Paige carefully, and listened intently when she spoke.
"He needs me."
"Who needs you?" Piper probed, hoping she could pull some information since Paige seemed to be aware they were present.
"My new charge. He's calling for me, but he's so far away and in distress. His need for me is so strong. I'm going to him," Paige muttered.
"Paige, wait!" Phoebe shouted, reaching for her arm just as she orbed away into blue and white bulbs of light.
.oOo.
Paige appeared by the front door inside a darkened house. The atmosphere was very quiet, but she could sense some incredibly powerful magic at work in the home. It put her somewhat on edge by what types they were and wondered why such magic was required and who exactly it was protecting. Could it be the little boy?
Looking around the dark space, Paige saw she was in a long, narrow hallway. A set of stairs were off to her left and three doors were lined up in front of her. One was a cupboard under the stairs, the others she assumed led to the kitchen and living room. Judging by how dark it was outside, it was quite late wherever she was, and she took extra care to not make her presence known.
Taking a step further into the hall, Paige stalled by the sound of soft sobs closeby. Quietly approaching the doors, she immediately turned to the cupboard. It had a copper plated slide lock on the outside and a vent-like window installed on it. The window was closed, and she reached for the small lever to open it before pausing. She didn't want to frighten the boy locked under there, so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally reaching for him.
"Hello? Are you alright?" Paige asked, making sure she sounded calm and soothing despite being inaudible.
The sobs ceased immediately, a shifting was heard before she sensed the boy hesitantly respond, "Wh-who are you?"
"I heard your cries for help," Paige explained. "So I came to your aid."
She could feel the boy relax at her comment, but he still hedged on uncertainty in his tone. "Are you an… an angel?"
Her heart warmed a little that he knew what she was. "Yes. Do not be alarmed. I am going to open the cupboard. Is that okay?"
"You-you're here right now? Not just in my head?" He sounded scared, but she could hear the gnawing pains of hunger rising up at the knowledge someone on the other side of the thin wooden door could give him food.
"Yes," she said soothingly. "Please don't be afraid."
"Okay."
Paige unlocked the cupboard and slowly opened the door, finding a raven-haired boy with circular glasses pressed against the back wall, knees to his chest, emerald eyes wide as he looked back at her. The sight alone twisted her heart into a knot. There were broken toys that laid on the crooked shelf on one side, he sat on a small mattress with an old lumpy pillow and blanket thrown over it, and a pile of oversized clothes that would never fit the boy shoved to the foot of the bed.
She knelt down in front of the boy immediately, wanting to be eye level with him. She offered a comforting smile and a hushed voice. "Hello, my name is Paige. What's yours?"
The boy stared at her in disbelief, clearly not grasping the concept that someone really came to help. He swallowed heavily and released a whisper.
"Harry."
"You're injured," Paige noticed, instinctively reaching for his arm.
He jerked his injured arm back, reluctant for her to touch the scratches and bruises.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you I promise." Paige offered her hand out to him. "How did you injure yourself?"
"The rose bushes," Harry explained.
"You fell in them?"
He shook his head. "I was pruning them."
"Oh," she stated, finding it strange a child his age would be tasked with something like that. "Is it okay if I see your arm?"
Harry tentatively held out his forearm to her. Paige gently placed her hand over it; a white glow emitted and lit up the small cuts with ribbons of light. His eyes widened at the sight as she moved up his arm, leaving no scratches or bruises behind.
"Is that better?"
"Yes. Thank you." Harry examined his arm in amazement before curling it against his chest. Even the aching was gone.
Looking back at her, his small frame finally relaxed. The strange act of phenomenal kindness was all that was needed to instill his trust in her. He told her everything she asked of him and more. The tears welled up in his eyes as he explained some things, but he forced them away with a wipe of his oversized nightshirt. When Paige heard his stomach growl angrily during a bout of silence, she immediately retrieved something for him to eat and drink. He told her he hadn't properly eaten a meal in three days as a punishment for his act of freakish behavior in growing his hair back after a haircut. If anything said before didn't fill her up with anger, that one sentence certainly did.
Harry finally passed out from exhaustion, unafraid of being vulnerable in front of her. Paige's heart broke when he curled himself up on the tiny mattress under the threadbare blanket. She gently removed his glasses for him to avoid further damage to them and noticed the lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Wishing to rid the poor boy of all these physical wounds, she placed her hand over it and pulled her hand back just as fast, looking frightened at what she detected.
Unable to leave knowing there was an evil aura lingering inside this kid, she slowly reached her hand out again, releasing a slow breath while closing her eyes. Her hand was barely an inch from the scar, but she focused on the boy's mind and carefully delved into his subconscious. Paige could feel another presence lying deep within the child, and as she gently attempted to press further, a barrier seemed to be stopping her from moving on. Placing a hand on the invisible wall, she sensed that whatever this sinister presence was, it had been dormant for some time already. The evil it contained, however was nothing like she'd seen or felt yet.
Paige knew that this charge was undeniably going to be one of her more complicated ones to help. But after seeing the child and learning that he'd gone through more than a six year old ever should've been put through, she was determined to stay with him and help find his purpose.
.oOo.
Weeks, months, and even years trickled by. Paige worked tirelessly for Harry, even when she wasn't physically with him. Finding a new home for him with someone who would properly care and nurture him and not freak over his powers was a dead end, he simply had no other living family. The only lead she had was a godfather, but he was imprisoned for mass murder. She even highly considered taking him in, but the dangers she and her sisters were always put in had her decide it was not safe for him to be continuously exposed to.
In the end, her investigation was pointless after her sisters declared the magic placed on the boy could not be mimicked if he were to be moved to a new home. The sacrificial and blood magic kept the strange entity Paige felt bound to Harry sedated and harmless, and it was working effectively well. There was no way to remove the possession, either. The spirit had too much time to engrain itself into his own very soul, and removing the spiritual parasite had to many risks to achieve the reward.
Her sisters were concerned about it and always told her to be on the err side of caution whenever she was with him, so Paige kept close tabs on everything that happened through his childhood and school life. Paige quickly learned the boy was sometimes too brave for his own good. He asked her to stay with his friends when he faced his enemy alone at only eleven years old, and asked her again to stay with his best friend and the sorry excuse for a witch as he faced him yet again in the chamber. He was always concerned about his friends more than about himself, and she reluctantly accepted this about him.
When the discovery was made that Harry's godfather was far from a cold-blooded killer, Paige gained new hope to try and get him away from his cruel relatives. She'd use the best spells the Book of Shadows had to offer, Phoebe would be willing to assist as well, to keep the imminent danger the warlock placed over the boy at bay. If it meant he could be with someone who loved him the way he deserved to be loved and cared for, it would be worth it. And if it came to it, she'd combat the warlock with her sisters and conquer him like they had against many like him before. They were The Charmed Ones, they could do it, but this warlock was nothing she'd ever seen before.
The years that followed were the most difficult to endure, the warlock was back in a physical form, he was powerful and a force to be reckoned with. She had to interfere with the duel in the graveyard, having the spells that connected react in an opposite behavior to avoid Harry's premature death. The very old grey witch described it to be Priori Incantatem, a very rare phenomenon. What Paige found as a phenomenon was that she encountered a grey witch, thinking that such a thing could ever exist in their world, and one stood before her now.
Paige never thought that she would encounter a charge that she would have to help aid in his own death, but the day everything fell into place was when the prophecy was revealed. Her sisters could barely console her when she told them about it, she cried for what felt like weeks when she was in the safety of her own home, but kept a brave face when Harry sought for comfort at the loss of his godfather. A Whitelighter was supposed to protect others from harm, not allow it to happen, and death was the ultimate harm to come by. Harry didn't know it yet, she didn't have the heart to tell him, instead she did what she could to keep him alive, effectively stopping Harry's premature death once more when he was defenseless during his transport to a newer and safer home she definitely approved of. The time quietly crept upon him to learn of and accept his fate as the days dragged by during his search for the artifacts. The undeniable truth of his purpose couldn't be ignored or changed, and she had to accept that.
Her connection with this charge was one Paige never had before, and most likely would never have again. There was no denying that there was bound to be some kind of an emotional link made after being with someone for their entire young life, it had already been long sealed and stamped in both of their hearts. It was a big surprise to Paige when she felt deeply upset and angry at Harry's actions when he nearly killed the boy in the bathroom; he felt extremely guilty about the entire thing, and strived to try and make it up to Paige in any way he could.
It reminded her that even the kindest people can be pushed into doing reckless things like dark magic. Paige knew his remorse was genuine, but forgiveness had to be earned back. So when the opportunity arose to consciously save a life, he saved two of them from the wrath of the creature-shaped hellfires some time later. The act of setting aside his differences with another to rescue them from harm had Paige realize her ultimate mission when it came to protecting Harry, and it helped her come to terms with what loomed over him a little less frightening. He was always going to help and protect others, even sacrifice himself for them, if he knew it would shield them in the end.
.oOo.
Harry had dropped the Resurrection Stone to the ground, the natural debris swallowing the pebble up with ease. Closing his eyes, he quietly whispered a name. There was just one more person he wanted to see before the end.
Paige appeared at his side immediately upon her summoning, a sad smile reflected heavily in her watering eyes. She instinctively curled her hand into his and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"It is time," he uttered, looking to the forest ahead where his enemy awaited. "Will you stay with me until the end?"
"Until the very end," Paige replied.
"No one will see you?" It was a question Harry never thought to ask before, but he somehow always knew only he could see the guardian angel. The verbal verification was needed now, a soothing comfort to know a physical being will hold his hand upon his death but no one else would know.
"Only if you want them to see."
Without another word, the two walked on. Paige did not release her grip on his hand even when the spell struck him and his body crumpled to the ground. She let out a sob, seeing the sight of her charge being killed and she had no control over it, but it had to be done. His courage and bravery was undeniably strong and powerful, a special kind of magic very few naturally possessed. Yes, her choice was made up, he would make a divine Whitelighter. At this decision, she felt a strong pull from within, and she orbed away.
The In-Between always made her uneasy, but Paige knew why she was there. Her mission was almost completed, she just needed to find him.
Paige spotted Harry as another figure walked back into the blinding light just ahead. It was the grey witch, she deduced. She could see Harry was tempted to follow, but her presence had him turn away from the light.
"You did it," Paige said, a small smile forming. "You completed your life's purpose and fulfilled the prophecy bestowed upon you. You're free."
Harry said nothing, but the tight hug he pulled her into was unexpected. Wrapping her arms around him, she gave a gentle kiss on his temple. "I would've never been able to do it without you, Paige."
Pulling away, Paige brushed the fringe from his forehead, the scar no longer held any power over him, it was just a simple scar. "You have one more choice to make now, Harry.
"I would like to grant you the gift of guardianship so you may always be the protector of the innocent. Will you accept?"
Harry didn't miss a beat with his response. "If that means I will be like you, then of course I will."
Written for Round 3, Year 2 of The Houses Competitions
Written for the Bingo Challenge - Set 6 - Card 9 - Generic Mix C (Expired)
House: Hufflepuff
Category Assigned: Bonus (Prefect 2; 4th Story - 900-3000 words)
Prompt(s):
Crossover - Charmed
[Word] Undeniable
Bingo Prompt: A2 - Copper
Word count: (Per Google Docs) 2,680
Beta(s): Angel, Trish