Normally, he had a hard enough time with just Wyatt and Sabrina. Now his mother and aunts were around. And Leo. It was amazing how Leo could be so close, yet never be around. Of course, that wasn't the case when it came to other people. He was always ready to help anyone except Chris. There just never seemed to be enough time for him. Leo may have been Chris's father, but only genetically. He was more a father to Sabrina than he was to Chris.
Letters. Those damn letters. The ones that Leo wrote to try to make it seem like he cared about Chris. He didn't, and it showed in his letters. Chris always wanted to tear them up, but he never did. He kept them for reasons unknown to even him. It certainly wasn't because he liked Leo at all. He hated Leo.
Was it wrong to hate his own father? He had given him life, but that was about all. Chris just couldn't see him as anything other than some whitelighter who just happened to be related to him. He was bitter when it came to Leo, but he knew that he had every right to hate Leo. He had no obligations when it came to Leo. That sort of thing was a two way street, and Leo sure as hell wasn't walking that street.
It was interesting how different they were. Leo was so open, yet double faced. Leo was a paradox. He was so kind, but so cruel. He never forgot a thing, but he always forgot Chris. He was a loving father, but he had abandoned Chris without ever leaving. Chris was closed to outside world. No force could open him up. He embittered, spiteful, and dismal. That was how Leo had made him. Perhaps Leo was more of a father to him than he realized. Through his actions, he had shaped Chris. And then he had broken him. Without even trying, he had broken Chris and he had no guilt, no regrets. And people praised him for his kindness. They adored him for his unending compassion. How compassionate had he been when he allowed Chris to get in harm's way while he protected Wyatt? How kind had he been when he had taken Wyatt on a father/son outing and had left Chris behind? At least Leo acted like Chris could take care of himself.
Once again, he was allowing his mother to pick out the good things about a situation. She didn't even have to be there for that to happen. He was so used to it that he suddenly found himself doing it for her. That would have seemed like success to Piper. To him, it was failure. He wanted to see Leo in the worst possible light because no one else would. No, to them he was a top whitelighter. He had to be wonderful. He had to be so nice. People were easily deceived by a few kind gestures. Chris knew that deep down, Leo was a heartless man. He had seen the true Leo, and God help him, he wished that he could believe what everyone else believed. But he couldn't because Leo kept showing him the truth. The truth hurt, but Leo hurt more.
Piper had always been there for him. She had attempted to make up for Leo's failures, but it wasn't the same. Chris had wanted both his parents. He had known that Wyatt got to have both of them, so why couldn't he? That was back when he didn't understand the situation. He had bought what Leo had told him. He had been foolish enough to believe his lies. Piper had supported Leo's deceit by making excuses. She would tell Chris that Leo was busy helping the Order. He was off helping everyone else. Answering machine kind of stuff: hello, I'm not here. I'm off saving the world. Please leave a message.
And he had. He had written back to Leo. He had the delusion then that Leo actually cared about him and that someday, there would be time for him. But as someday never came, Chris started to see the truth. As he became a stranger to his father, he began to realize that it had all been a glaring lie. Leo didn't give a damn. That was a hell of a realization for a nine-year-old.
Now, he hated Leo and loved his mother. At least she had tried. Leo had just given up. Leo, the one who had fought to be with Piper and to have Wyatt, threw in the towel and killed all of Chris's hopes. Hope was a wasted emotion. It never got anyone anything. It most certainly never got Chris anything, other than harsh disappointment, that is. Disappoint, though, now that was something. It made Chris stronger. It made him feel the pain less. It shielded him from his father, and it kept him from falling victim to false hope.
But what about the other people in his life? Wyatt was the one who always came to mind right after Leo. He and Leo were quite alike. Wyatt was kind, but he didn't have the double side that came along with Leo. His traits were genuine and pure. If he had a dark part of himself, Chris never saw it. Wyatt protected Chris when Leo didn't. He helped him while Leo was off somewhere else. Wyatt was so perfect. He was powerful, he was handsome, and he was good at Quidditch. There was nothing that Wyatt couldn't do. Chris tried so hard not to hate him for that, but the hatred crept up on him and wouldn't let him go. He didn't show his hatred for Wyatt. He channeled it through his hatred for Leo. That's how he got his release. It was okay to hate Leo. It wasn't okay to hate Wyatt.
Ah, and then there was Sabrina. Sabrina was born flawed. Her father was evil. Cole had given up a life with Phoebe and Sabrina in order to pursue power. Chris sometimes understood his desire for power. Chris didn't want to be evil, but he could relate. Still, Sabrina had overcome that. She was smart, good at Quidditch; she had nice friends, a boyfriend. Yeah, she had it all worked out. The fact that she was able to overcome so much was what turned Chris against her. Plus there was the fact that she was constantly trying to reach out to him. Who did she think she was? He didn't need her help and he most certainly did not want it. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? Why they all just leave him alone?
'They' incorporated his aunts as well. Aunt Phoebe was the one who fought Leo whenever he ran off. She did that for two reasons: she loved Chris and she wanted to make sure that he had a father. She knew how difficult it was to not have a father. All the sisters did. Aunt Paige didn't fight with Leo because he was too dear to her. The sisters respected Leo. They tried so hard to change him. Even Aunt Prue tried to do that. But Leo wasn't going to change. He was the way he was, and that was that. The Power of Four couldn't change his ways, but they tried.
Chris had been so enwrapped in his thoughts that he hadn't been aware of the fact that he getting ready. He found that he was on his way to the Great Hall. He often started off his day by thinking about his family, especially Leo. No matter how much he hated him, Chris still wanted to bring some closure to the situation. It didn't make him hate any less. That he was grateful for. He could make up for that weakness.
He reached the Great Hall and faced another pointless day.
* * * *
Meowing. Someone was meowing in Sabrina's ear. Meow. Was that Salem? Meow. No, he didn't like to meow. Meow. But then again, he was becoming more like a cat. There was only one way to know for sure. She opened her eyes, which perhaps was a mistake, for the sight that she saw surprised her greatly. She clutched her chest and tried to control her breathing. In front of her, there was a Hello Kitty clock.
Hello Kitty? (A/N: I don't know if Hello Kitty clocks meow, but they do here.)
She blinked a few times, and then hit the snooze button. The incessant meowing stopped, but it was replaced by a more annoying voice.
"Oh, good morning, good morning! It's time to start the day! Oh, good morning, good morning to you!" Salem's voice sang. He had didn't have a singing voice at all. Sabrina reached out to rip the clock out of the wall, but she remembered that it wouldn't be working if it weren't magically charged.
So she instead tried to zap it.
"I don't think so!" the clock cackled. "I'm impervious to your hocus pocus!"
"Then try a freeze," she muttered and flicked her fingers. It stopped at last. "He is so dead."
Salem shivered suddenly on Paige's bed. "I think Sabrina just found my surprise."
"How do you know?" Paige asked.
"Because it feels like someone just set up my grave."
"I believe the phrase is 'someone walked over my grave'."
"No, she's skipping that step. I gave her a Hello Kitty alarm clock so that I could bother you and her at the same time."
"That's very efficient."
"Yeah, but she won't appreciate it. No one understands my work," he said dramatically.
"They don't understand your work? I'm appalled. They can't see your greatness."
"Aw, thanks, Paige." He thought about it. "Are you being sarcastic?"
"No. Of course not."
"Good. Then you'll carry the greatness to your class. Yours is going to be the most exciting."
"Was that sincere?"
"Of course it was."
"Then I will carry you. But you are not to butt in with your own crazy tales, okay?"
"I promise." Under his breath he said, "I'll just tell the true ones."
Paige pretended that she hadn't heard and orbed to the Great Hall. She was rather far from there, so it was okay to cheat.
"Where were you?" Piper asked.
"Salem held me up. He stole my robes. That's quite an accomplishment for someone who had to drag them away with his mouth."
"Couldn't you just summon them?"
"I did. But his teeth caused a few holes that I first had to find, then fix."
Salem was too busy wolfing down his food to notice that they were talking about him.
"You know, Salem, that food isn't going to run away," Prue said bemusedly.
"It's transported here magically. You never know how magic is going to affect food."
"So why do you eat it?" Phoebe asked.
"What kind of a question is that?" What was he going to do, waste the food? He shook his head. Sometimes he couldn't figure those sisters out.
"Salem, how did you get a hold of a magical Hello Kitty clock?" Sabrina had found him, and she didn't look at all pleased.
"Magical Hello Kitty clock? They don't exist," he responded.
"Cool as cucumber, eh?" she said.
"Well, I do try."
"I can't believe that you could annoy me so much without even being there. You never cease to amaze me."
"Then I'm doing my job well. You know how boring it is to be a cat? You guys spice it up."
"Wow. I didn't realize that you could mix in seemingly genuine emotion. Don't get into that. The last time we got all lovey-dovey, we turned into a sitcom." That was an experience that she didn't wish to repeat. "Mom, are you going to tell me what happened to Snape?"
"Not here, while everyone can hear us."
She froze everyone. "Better? And why can't anyone else hear? Did you kill him?"
"No."
"Did you put him in Azkaban?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
"Sabs, that's not your business," Phoebe said. "That's between Snape and St. Mungo's."
"St. Mungo's? The hospital? What did you do to him?"
"We didn't do anything to him. Look, once Snape returns to his usual self, he won't eager to tell you anything."
"Usual self? Is this psychological?"
"You're never going to guess it."
"Then just tell me. I'm dying of curiosity."
"But I thought that Snape was your worst enemy."
"Know thy enemy."
"And his weaknesses too, right?"
"Tell me. Is it physical leading to psychological, psychological leading to physical, or both at the same time?"
"Both physical and psychological."
"Phoebe," Prue scolded.
"What? She's not going to stop until she has some clues."
"And all I ask for are clues. Short term or long term?"
"Shor-"
"He was attacked by a Death Eater. Some of the spells did physical damage, which has already been healed, and the other spells damaged his psyche, resulting in a complete change of personality," Paige interrupted.
"Paige!" the three other sisters chorused.
"You weren't supposed to tell her," Piper said.
"What's the harm?"
"Thank you, Aunt Paige. You're my favorite now."
"Let's see how long that lasts."
Sabrina went back to her seat feeling satisfied and unfroze the room.
* * * *
Defense Against the Dark Arts. This would be the third class that involved an aunt. Chris went into the room with his usual emotional shield up. He never let it down. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He let it down around Hagrid. Hagrid was the only one who he felt he could talk to. Hagrid listened to Chris. He didn't judge; he just listened. Chris actually trusted him.
"Chris, you're the first one here," said Paige.
He shrugged. He didn't talk much to anyone other than Hagrid.
There he goes again. She didn't understand Chris. That was because he didn't let her understand him. She often wondered if he hated her too. Phoebe's empathy didn't work very well on him. He had an intense block. He was pretty powerful when it came to that. She knew that until he opened up, they wouldn't be able to tell just how powerful he was.
The rest of class soon arrived.
"Good morning, class. Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm Professor Halliwell and I will be teaching you how to handle any threat, including demons."
"And I am Salem, her assistant."
"Ignore him." She stepped in front of him. "In light of the current situation with Voldemort-"
Most of the class flinched.
"I'll be focusing on demons and Death Eaters. Those are Voldemort's favorite followers."
They again flinched, which bothered Paige.
"But before that, we apparently have something else to deal with. I noticed that you all flinched when I said his name. That simply won't do. Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself. A very wise man once said that. You cannot face any dark threats until you can speak his name. I will not teach you until every single person can hear and say his name."
They were shocked. She wouldn't teach them until they could say his name? That was unheard of. What kind of teacher was she? She didn't seem very suitable.
One of the students raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"Well, no one else has ever required that we say You-Know-Who's name."
"I know who? I do?" She smiled. "Look, Voldemort has built his little empire on fear. Fear is the greatest dark force. There is no force more powerful than fear. But in order to face your problems, you have to get over your fear." She turned and wrote 'tromedlov' on the board. "Now, do you fear this?"
They shook their heads.
"And why not?"
"It's a nonsense word."
"Say it out loud."
They all did.
"Good. You just said Voldemort."
They were even more confused.
"It's Voldemort spelled backwards," Chris said.
"That's right. Even though it was backwards, it was still Voldemort. It's just a name. It's a few letters thrown together. Actually, it's part of an anagram. This isn't very well known, but it's true." She erased the word and wrote 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. "Say it."
They again obeyed her.
"You just said Voldemort again. Mind you, it's part of a whole sentence, but it's still there. Here, watch." She rearranged the letters. It now read 'I am Lord Voldemort'. "That's how he got his name. I guess that's what he does in his free time."
They were shocked again. She was making jokes about the Dark Lord.
"I don't think that's funny. He killed so many people."
"Yeah, he did. My grandmother, my mother, my father, my sister's best friend… He's an evil man. But it's easier to face fear with humor," Paige responded. "Since I can't whoop his ass, that is."
And she swore.
"Oh, sorry about that. Anyways, can anyone say it?"
"Voldemort," Chris said in an off-handed way.
"Good. Anyone else?"
No one else volunteered.
"Come on. It's just a word. You'll never get over your fear of him if you can't say his name. Anyone?"
"V-Voldemort," a Gryffindor girl said.
"Very good."
"Voldemort's a pushover. I could have ruled him," Salem declared.
"Like I said before, ignore Salem. He thinks that he could have taken over the world. He's a little crazy."
"I didn't come here to be offended," Salem said indignantly.
"Why did you come here?"
"To share my knowledge."
The class was rather interested in Salem. They had never seen a talking cat before.
"How can he talk?"
"He was a wizard, but he got turned into a cat because he tried to take over Earth. He wouldn't have succeeded, but better safe than sorry."
Salem pouted at that comment.
"Anyways, I want you to practice saying Voldemort. I won't be satisfied until every person in this room can say his name."
They were all strongly reminded of Mad-Eye.
"That's your homework tonight. Have a good day," she said as the bell rang. They filed out with mixed feelings. "How did I do, Salem?"
"You know they're not all going to be able to say it."
"Once I get through with them, they'll be singing his name."
"You have very high hopes."
"I know what I'm doing."
"You had better. Did you do that with all your classes?"
"Yes, I did. This class was particularly bad, though. Only two people. Next we're facing the sixth years."
"Oh good. You'll have three people."
"I hope more."
"What's the best so far?"
"Four."
"Yikes."
"I know. I'm going to get through to them, though."
"You've got high hopes, you've got high hopes, you've got high in the sky apple pie hopes," Salem sang. Paige clapped her hands over her ears.
"Ahhh! Make it stop!"
"You're all critics."
"Whom did you learn this stuff from?"
"It's a what. I listened to the muggle radio over the summer."
"Remind me to incinerate that thing."
The next class came in.
"Let's get this show on the road."
* * * *
"You know, I really like being a teacher," Paige commented that evening at dinner. "I don't know why I didn't do it before. It's like I was made for this job. It comes so easily."
"Yeah, I'm acting getting attached to my position, too," Prue admitted. "I can make history interesting. What about you two?"
"I don't like Divination, but teaching is okay."
"I actually enjoy teaching Potions. Even when things explode. That temporal stasis is pretty handy when that happens."
"And we haven't been attacked at all," Phoebe said. "Uh oh. I hope I haven't jinxed us."
"Superstitions? Bah. You would have to summon the demon for it to come," Piper said. But she knocked on wood anyways.
"What was that then?"
"You can never be too safe."
Suddenly, something broke through the window. Piper leapt up and froze it, but only the glass shards stayed put. The being came through the window. Paige orbed everyone else out of the room while Prue closed the door tightly with her telekinesis.
Sabrina was confused. What had happened? "She orbed me out." Everyone else was too involved to notice as she shimmered back into the room. Wyatt and Chris orbed in too.
"You three get-" Piper ducked as the Cian Master threw a nasty fireball at her. "Get out!"
They ignored her and attacked the Cian Master. Not even Wyatt's powers did any damage. Still, the Cian Master couldn't do anything if they kept attacking him. As he was retreating, he used one his more rare powers.
A jet of white light flew from his hand towards Chris. Sabrina recognized it immediately and knocked Chris down. The light got her instead. And then the Cian Master was gone.
So was Sabrina.
A/N: I love writing cliffhangers. Review and I will tell you exactly what happened.
