Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Well, I wasn't going to do this, but here it is. Yes, that's right, the fourth in what was a three part trilogy. A New Power is back for one final run in this sequel… except for that prequel I keep telling myself to write. I'll say that this sequel will not be very long. I have very specific plans for this part will end now that I've elected to do it. Anyway, enjoy!
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Chapter 1
Still Charmed After All These Years
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Thursday morning dawned like every other day in the coastal city of San Francisco. The city was still wet from a solid week of heavy rain, but at last, the sun had returned to hover in the sky. In a quiet neighborhood, withdrawn from the hustle and bustle of downtown area, a large, pink manor house sat in darkness. There was nothing extraordinary about the house. It looked similar to the other houses around it and seemed perfectly normal. No one looking at it would know that interesting and unusual things happened there. No one would know that a family of witches, wizards, guardian angels, and even the occasional half demon lived there. The house was dark and quiet, that was, until a light snapped on in an upstairs window.
Harry Potter sat up in bed and turned on the light with a wave of his hand. It was seven o'clock and Harry had to get to Hogwarts, where his first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the day was set to begin in three hours. He looked to his right and smiled at the still-sleeping form of Hermione, his wife of eight years. Had it really been that long? Harry asked himself as he climbed quietly out of bed, as to not wake Hermione, and ambled into the bathroom. In truth, it seemed like only yesterday that Dumbledore had confirmed that the war was over. The Underworld, having been completely destroyed when Harry had vanquished the dark wizard, Grindelwald, had still not recovered. Demon attacks were now all but unheard of. Harry found a towel in the closet and placed in at the side of the walk-in shower. He then proceeded to turn on the water, carefully adjusted the temperature, and stepped in. He showered quickly, wanting to get to Hogwarts on time for once, and dressed just as fast. He gathered his books and bag and gently shook Hermione awake.
"Hey," he said softly, as her eyes fluttered open. "I'm off to work."
"Have a good day, honey." Hermione said. Harry kissed her on the cheek and orbed out. Hermione had almost fallen asleep again when a wavy haired girl crept into the room.
"Mum?" The girl asked, softly. Hermione looked up into the girl's hazel eyes.
"Miley?" she asked. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Could… could I sleep in here?" the sixteen year old asked quietly. Hermione smiled and pulled back the covers. Miley slid into the bed and Hermione wrapped her arms tightly around her.
"You haven't done this in years, Miles." Hermione whispered.
"I… I had that dream again." Miley said "I… I was back in the Underworld… back with the demons. They said… they said I belonged with them, and that they were coming for me."
"Honey, the demons are gone. No one is going to hurt you, and you're certainly not going back to the Underworld again." Comforted, perhaps, because she was now in the presence of someone who could freeze everything within a three mile radius and blow up a demon with nothing but a mere thought, Miley quickly fell asleep. Hermione found herself unable to go back to sleep. Instead, her mind focused on her, Harry, and Ginny's powers… powers they rarely used. In the eight years since the war ended their individual powers had grown tremendously, and they had even received a few they had never known about before. No longer were hand motions required to use a power, but simply think about it and it happened. Piper had long ago told them that this was likely to happen and that they should prepare for it. It had been quite a shock when Harry had been thinking about how much he would like a slice of pie and a piece had magically flown from the kitchen and splattered all over Phoebe on its way to the conservatory where Harry had been sitting. Hermione had caused a bit of a stir with her expanded freezing power when she accidentally froze a passing 747 in mid-flight. Worst of all was Ginny, who had lost control of her empathic abilities while at P3 with Phoebe and Paige. A handsome man had wandered over to Phoebe and was trying to get her to dance with him. Before Ginny knew what had happened, she had thrown herself at Phoebe. It had taken quite some time for everyone in the club to stop looking at the pair of them when they entered the building. Many weeks of constant practice had passed before they had regained some form of control over their respective powers. It was especially good for Harry, who now had the ability to conjure entire lightening storms instead of shooting bolts of electricity from his hands. Luckily, Hermione had not yet gained her most recent power, control over the elements, when their powers had switched from motion to thought control.
Once certain that Miley was indeed in a deep sleep, Hermione climbed carefully out of bed, wrapped a bathrobe around herself, and snuck from the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Hermione went downstairs, which nowadays took a great deal of time as the interior of the old manor had been magically expanded to almost three times the size it had been eight years ago before they had needed the extra space for all the people living there, and entered the kitchen. Phoebe, Piper, Paige, Ron, and Ginny all sat around the table, helping themselves to Piper's excellent cooking.
"'Morning, Mione." Phoebe said, looking up from her plate of eggs. Hermione returned the greeting and sat down across the table.
"So, how's life at the lovely Magic School?" Piper asked Hermione. Hermione rolled her eyes at Piper, who grinned.
"Actually, it's not so bad at the moment." Hermione admitted. "I've got most of the teaching positions refilled, though I would have one more post filled if somebody would make up there mind." She cast a glowering look across the table at Paige.
"What?!" she said, shrugging. "I told you I'd think about it."
"That was six months ago, sweetie." Hermione responded.
"I just don't want to commit to the job and then not really want to do it." Paige explained. Hermione sighed.
"You've got to be one of the most indecisive people to ever walk the Earth." Hermione told her. Phoebe and Piper giggled.
"I'm not indecisive, I'm just… Alright, fine, I'm indecisive…" Paige finished, somewhat lamely. Phoebe checked her watch and groaned.
"Egh… I've got to get to work. Elise will have my ass if my column is late again." She looked across the table at Hermione.
"Could you give me a lift?" Hermione waved her hand and said,
"Bay Mirror." Phoebe dissolved into blue-white orbs and vanished.
"We'd better get going, too." Ron said, slapping Ginny gently on the shoulder. "Dad may be Minister of Magic, but he still doesn't like us being late." They both bade the others goodbye and Disapparated. Hermione, Paige, and Piper ate and chatted idly for several minutes until Paige looked skyward.
"Damn!" She exclaimed. "Charges this early in the morning?" She sighed orbed out, leaving Hermione and Piper alone. Piper cleared away the dishes and sat back down with Hermione until it was time for her to head off to the restaurant she had dubbed 'That 'Charming' Little Place'. Hermione stood from the table, intending to go upstairs and get Elizabeth, Catherine, and Hope ready for their classes at Magic School. Before she could leave the kitchen, however, an owl flew through the open window and deposited a letter on the floor at her feet. By the time Hermione had picked up the letter, the owl was already gone. Hermione opened the letter, which was addressed to 'The Charmed Ones, The Kitchen, 1329 Prescott Street, and peeled off the official Hogwarts seal. Luna entered the kitchen as she began to read, along with Danielle and Miley.
"Who's that from?" Danielle asked, watching her mother's expression grow darker the farther she read.
"Dumbledore…" Hermione said distractedly. She finished reading and handed the letter to Luna to read.
"My god…" Luna said, passing the letter to the twins to peruse. "Is this true?"
"Dumbledore sent it so it must be." Hermione said, her eyes watching her daughters read the letter. "The Third War has begun."