Back in the Day

Chapter 1 – Mixing Potions

A/N: I want to thank Carmen A.K.A anime-obssesed:p for typing this for me. I only write this in history/French class, and I was way too lazy. I've got it written up to Chapter 3, and planned out till chapter 5. Enjoy!

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", said Melinda from the couch.

As usual, I ignored her. Melinda is my cousin, and she never, ever does anything that can be considered wrong. Behind her back I called her Ms. Perfect. Sometimes, I called her that to her face. I didn't see what I was doing that I should stop. All I was doing was mixing potions. It wasn't really a big deal. I was trying to make a stress-free potion, there's nothing too hard about that. Of course, I didn't know what I was doing, but I'd figure it out.

Melinda got up from the couch and said, "I'm warning you patience, if you put one more herb in that pot I'll…"

"What? You'll tell my mommy?" I asked sarcastically. My mom, Phoebe Halliwell, wouldn't care that I'd been mixing potions. She'd actually be proud that I've been developing my skills in witchcraft. I'm 13 years old, and so is Melinda, but she'd be considered the mature one. I picked up some mandrake root and threw it dramatically into the pot.

"See", I said mockingly, "Nothing horrible happened." Melinda just rolled her eyes and went back to reading the Book of Shadows, which was what she was doing before she had scolded.

Melinda was only a month older then me, but she acted like she was ten years older than me. We were actually pretty similar, yet we couldn't be more different. I have an older sister named Prudence who'd 18 and Melinda's older brothers Wyatt and Chris are 22 and 23. That's where are similarities end. Melinda loves school and gets good grades and I…well I don't. I had brown hair and brown eyes while Melinda had blonde hair and blue eyes, just like her father Leo. Despite all our differences, we really were best of friends.

Melinda looked up from the Book of Shadows and gave me a very disapproving look. Currently I was stirring my stress-free potion which was lime green, although it should have been dark purple. I just shrugged off the strange color and continued stirring.

"That doesn't look right", Melinda said reprimanding.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "What do you know?" I asked teasingly. "It just needs some…" I paused rummaging around the herb cupboard for the exact thing my potion needed. "Oleander!" I said confidently. I took it out of the cupboard and threw it in the pot.

"Patience, don't!" Melinda called. It was too little, too late.

There was a lout explosion, and we were thrown backwards. Thick smog obscured out visions. We couldn't see a thing. When the smoke cleared they were still in the attic. It was the same attic, only it was different. Gone were the bags of their baby clothes and the boxes labeled old toys. Instead, there was a record player, posters of bands I had never heard of, and no book of Shadows in the podium where it always was.

"Where are we?" I asked in a daze.

Suddenly we heard someone yell, "When will you be home, Piper dear?" The voice was very familiar. We recognized it from the few times we had summoned her. "Grams?" I whispered. If that was really Grams, then what the hell had I done?

"I think the better question, Patience dead," Melinda said angrily. Great she was still mad at me. "Is, where are we?" We both froze in fear as we hear footsteps come up the stairs. A much younger, much more alive, Penny Halliwell, came into the attic. She nearly jumped when she saw us. She pointed an accusing finger at us and glared at us just as strictly as the last time we summoned her, and I accidentally turned my best friend into a cat. That is another story.

"What do you demons want? If you do not answer me, I will vanquish you," she said commandingly.

"B…but, wait…w…we", I stammered. Great, my great-grandmother was threatening to vanquish me, and all I could do was stammer. I looked to Melinda for help. For once, my cousin was quiet. She had that look in her face like she had an idea. What that idea was, I couldn't for the life of me figure out.

Grams waved her arm and sent a heavy vase flying, straight for Melinda's head. Instinctively, Melinda orbed out and orbed back in. Gram's arms dropped lamely to her sides. Her mouth formed a surprised O. "You orbed." Our great-grandmother said softly, "You must be a whitelighter."

Melinda flashed a cocky smile and I realized what her plan must have been. No witch in their right mind would try and vanquish a whitelighter.

"Not quite a whitelighter", Melinda said with a confident smile. "Let's sit down, and we can explain."

Grams obliged, and sunk down into the antique sofa that was always in the attic, Melinda and I found two chairs, and sat down across from her. For some reason, Melinda felt like she had to be the one in charge.

"Well, first, we should tell you out names. My name in Melinda and this is my cousin Patience. We're from the…the future." She said this all rather diplomatically. I tired to sense Grams' emotions to this. Mostly they were negative ones ranging from distrust to blind rage. However, using my unusual advance powers of empathy, I could sense a bit of curiosity, and a desire to trust us as well.

"Melinda," I said, turning to my cousin, "maybe we should tell her that other thing.. Melinda just looked at my blankly.

'You know', I said into Melinda's head, 'The whole we're family thing might make her trust us,' Melinda and I both have the power of telepathy, which came in handy to have conversations no one else could hear.

'Fine', she answered telepathically, 'but you have to tell her,'

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. I knew that I had to tell her but u really didn't want to face what I called the Wrath of Grams.

"This may seem hard to believe but we're your great-granddaughters."

Grams handled it as well as either of us could have hoped. We could both tell, even Melinda who wasn't empathic, that Grams didn't fully trust us. At least she didn't treat us with open hostility any more. I sensed that she wanted to believe us, although her better judgment told her not to. I could also tell that she was curious.

"If you really are my great-granddaughters, then who are your mothers and why can Melinda orb?" she asked rather vehemently.

I was at a loss. I had no idea what to tell her, miraculously, Melinda knew exactly what to say. She said exactly what Grams needed to hear.

Gently, Melinda said, "You know we can't tell you our mother's names. You can't have any future knowledge, you know that. As foe the reason I can orb, its same reason grandma Patty and Sam's daughter can. My father is a whitelighter."

Grams gapped at us. At that moment I experienced her thought and feelings. She was shocked that I knew about Aunt Paige. Although I thought reading people's minds, beside Melinda of course, was rude just this once I couldn't help myself. 'One of them must have died', Grams thought, 'there's no other way they could have known.'

I almost slapped Melinda for explaining it that way. There was no way Grams could find out about Prue dying. She would try to prevent a death that was meant to be. If she did that, there would be grave consequences. Its luck that Grams wasn't a telepath, or she could have heard what I just thought. I knew that Melinda heard, judging be how fast she tried to change the subject. I knew she realized her stupidity because of the pink flush that appeared on her cheeks.

"So…umm…" Melinda stammered, "What year is it?"

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. After a moment Grams seemed to pull herself together. "It's 1987 girls, and you've come a long way. We need to get you home right away", said Grams regaining her usual brisk manner. She immediately went to the Book of Shadows, opened it, and she immediately began taking out potion bottles and candles. Melinda and I sat there as Grams was hard at work. I heard the key in the lock, and then head a very familiar voice. I would recognize my mother's voice mo matter how young it sounded.

"Grams, I'm home!" yelled a 12 year old Phoebe Halliwell.