Author's Note—

Long explanation: Several years ago (well, more like more than half a dozen, but saying it like that just makes me feel old), I wrote a story called The Parent Trap. In the naivety of youth, after I finished it I thought I should write a prequel, wherein Harry Potter would basically have to be written into the entire series of Charmed. Clearly that lofty venture never took off. However, I was recently going through files on my computer and ended up in the folder I lovingly labeled "Will Most Likely Never Finish." And sitting there was the prologue to the prequel-that-never-was. I knew turning it into a full-length story was never going to happen, but I thought what I did have written already was substantial enough for a short one-shot. So here it is, in the off-chance there's still anyone out their waiting for the prequel I once promised all of you, only 7 years late. But, alas, when I posted it I was totally prepared to stick to my original plan to make this a one-off story. One-shot. One chapter. Singular. NO more after this chapter. And then all of the reviewers wanted more. And people kept putting it on alert, even though it was clearly labelled as COMPLETE. And then I had a few vague ideas for random scenes that could happen in this story-verse. And so now this story is no longer complete. Rather, I am turning it into a collection of one-shots. For sure, there will be 2 more chapters after this one, unless there are any requests for specific things people want to see happen. So, there we go. This story is no longer a complete one-shot because peer pressure works.

Short explanation: This is a collection of one-shots, all of which occur prior to my story The Parent Trap.

Disclaimer—I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed. Also, the title of this story is taken from the lyrics of 'San Francisco' by The Mowgli's.

Something Binding Us Together

It was a beautiful spring day in San Francisco. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the air rang with the laughter of happy children ready for school to get out and summer vacation to begin.

A black haired man walked down Prescott Street. When the occasional car passed by, he didn't look up; the green eyes behind his glasses were intent upon the piece of parchment in his hands. It was after he passed a house with a for-sale sign in its yard that he finally looked up.

Harry Potter stood in front of a red Victorian manor, number 1329 located in the middle of the street, unsure of how to proceed. According to the papers he'd managed to recover from the ruins of his parents' cottage in Godric's Hollow, this was the house he was looking for. But what would he find here? More importantly: who would he find here? He stood looking at the manor for a good five minutes, before he took a deep breath, nodded his head slightly as if agreeing with something someone had said, and walked up the front steps. With another deep, calming breath, Harry reached his hand out slowly and rang the bell next to the front door.

The bell rang out inside of the house, and all was silent for a moment after that, before Harry heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door. A young woman with brown hair pulled the door open a second later.

"Hello," She said, smiling pleasantly at Harry, "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a Penny…Halliwell?" Harry replied slowly, trying to conceal the hopefulness in his voice.

"Just a moment," the girl replied, turning around, one hand still resting on the doorknob, "Grams! There's someone here to see you!"

Harry swallowed nervously. He hadn't even taken the time to think that maybe Penny had a family of her own; he'd been more worried about whether or not he would actually find her here. But before he could take any more time to worry about this unforeseen development, he once again heard the patter of footsteps approaching the front of the house.

"Who is it, Piper, dear?" The voice of an older woman asked from within the house, where Harry couldn't see her. He could, however, see the young woman before him—Piper, apparently—shrug in response. "Why don't you go back to the kitchen, then, dear; we wouldn't want anything on the stove to burn," The older woman said in response, and Harry noticed her voice had changed. Clearly there was a pleasant tone to her voice as she spoke to Piper, but there was a hint of something else there now…it became more guarded, almost a combination of suspicious and hostile. Because of a stranger at the door? "I'm sure I'll just be a moment."

With another shrug and a friendly smile back in Harry's direction, Piper stepped away from the door and walked off into the house. Harry didn't watch her leave, however—his gaze now focused on the older woman standing before him. She looked friendly enough, he supposed. But underneath her somewhat welcoming look, there was something else…something that Harry recognized but couldn't quite name.

"How can I help you, Mr…?" The woman trailed off.

"Potter," Harry answered immediately, "Harry Potter."

The woman nodded and, although logically it was an irrational response, Harry felt his spirits soar at her obvious lack of recognition. It had been so long since he could remember meeting someone new who didn't know his name before he had the chance to give it. And then, when he did give it, not automatically glance up to his forehead, to see the scar that was partially concealed by his hair. Anonymity was rare in his life; it was nice.

"Well then, Mr. Potter, what can I do for you?" The woman asked. And suddenly Harry recognized what he was seeing and hearing in her posture and tone. This woman was battle-hardened, ready for a fight and to defend those she cared about, no matter what. It was exactly what everyone around him had morphed into during the war. It was also unexpected here, on this nice, unassuming street halfway around the world.

"I suppose this is going to sound a bit strange to you," Harry began, and immediately a look of suspicion appeared in Penny's eyes, but she thankfully didn't interrupt as he continued, "But I came here about your brother."

Penny's breath seemed to catch momentarily in her throat. "Gordon," She said softly, her defenses suddenly falling. "What about him? Has something happened to him?"

"Well…" Harry faltered, unsure as to how he should answer. The idea that she might not know about the fate of her own brother had never crossed his mind while making his plans to come look for her. And so he made the best of the situation that he could, telling her, "He…well, he passed away. But that was quite a few years ago. I'm sorry; I didn't realize you didn't know."

"Poor little Gordon," Penny said softly, her gaze faraway. She shook her head to clear her vision and refocused on Harry with a hardened expression. "But if that's not what you came to tell me, why are you here now, Mr. Potter?"

"I…" Harry trailed off. This woman was not at all what he expected; she was rather unnerving, to tell the truth. "I…knew his daughter."

"I never got the chance," Penny said, once again lost in her memories. "Such promise and potential that girl showed." Again her gaze refocused on him. "But she's years older than you, how do you know Lily?"

Harry took a deep breath. All of his searching led him to the right place, then. This really was the person he was looking for…One of the last people on Earth alive with some sort of tie to his parents…and his family.

"She's my mum." Harry said simply.

At this, Penny immediately narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Harry—not exactly the reaction he had been hoping for when he revealed their familial connection.

"Prove it," Penny said shortly.

Harry just looked at her incredulously. "How am I supposed to prove to you who my mother was?"

Penny was silent in thought for a moment. And from the expressions that flitted across her face, Harry could tell she was waging a silent war with herself inside of her head. She glanced back over her shoulder, presumably to make sure there was no one there to overheard what she was about to say, before turning back to face Harry.

"What's the family secret?" Penny finally asked.

"How should I know?" He said with a sigh of defeat.

"If Lily really is your mother, then you should know what the family secret is." Penny paused. "Of course," She added softly, more to herself than to Harry, "My girls…" She trailed off here though and looked at Harry expectantly.

"Mum died when I was a year old," Harry said shortly, his expression blank, "Her and my dad. And both of her parents were also dead by the time I was born. How do you really expect me to know what the 'family secret' is?"

"Lily died, too…" Penny's face collapsed. She gave a small sigh. "So young…But at least Gordon didn't have to live through it…not like I had to with Patty." Then, something Harry said seemed to register with her and she looked at him sharply. "If they all died so long ago, without even telling you about…well, anyway, how did you find us-me?"

"Luck," Harry said with a shrug. "I found this…record-book of sorts, and it listed mum's family members in it. And then I happened across this address while I was going through some of my parents' things recently."

"A record-book?" Penny repeated and Harry nodded. "Where did you find this record-book?"

"My…school," He replied carefully, unwilling to mention it by name to a muggle.

"Your school…" Penny said, again repeating Harry's words. "And your school wouldn't, by any chance, happen to be Hogwarts, would it?"

"What's it to you if it is?" Harry questioned, suddenly on red-alert. How could she know about Hogwarts? Unless…

Penny shrugged. "I just know that's where Lily went to school. But not Petunia, you know."

"I know," Harry said shortly, his thoughts briefly turning to his narrow-minded aunt.

"Of course you do," Penny said absentmindedly. "So then, if you went to Hogwarts, what's the family secret?"

"I just told you—" Harry suddenly broke off, realization dawning, "Oh…"

Penny just looked back at him expectantly. She may be from the Evans side of his family, but maybe this woman wasn't a muggle.

"Magic," Harry said simply. "We have magic."

Now, finally, Penny's shoulder's sagged fully in defeat. "Gordon died," She said softly, "How?"

"I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth," Harry said slowly. "It happened before I was born. You see, there was a war going on, the First War. I think maybe they went after mum's parents when she was in school…because mum was a muggleborn."

"What's a muggleborn?" Penny interrupted.

"Someone who's magical but doesn't have magical parents," he replied, "Their parents would be muggles; people without magic." Harry shook his head slightly here. "That's the whole reason that stupid war was even being fought: prejudice and blood purity."

Penny glanced uneasily in the direction her granddaughter had disappeared in now, for some reason.

"How long will you be staying here, Mr. Potter?" Now it was Penny's turn to shake her head. "Forgive me, I'm always so on-edge thinking a demon is going to attack. What did you say your name is, dear—your first name?"

"Harry," He replied. "I don't really know how long I plan on staying. I mean, what with the end of the war, there's really no place I have to be…no one who needs me…"

Penny frowned at the mention of the word 'war' and by the time Harry finished speaking she had made up her mind. She did store his last few words away in her mind to be brought up again later, though.

"Why don't you come in, Harry," Penny said, stepping aside and giving Harry room to walk into the manor. "After all, who am I to refuse family?"