They—that is, Lily, Potter, Black, and Piper—sat in Dumbledore's office, waiting for Dumbledore to reappear. He had disappeared into his quarters, likely in order to bang his head against the wall. He had been through this routine a frustrating number of times. Lily could sympathize, but she had no desire to change.
Piper was seated to her right. She didn't look any better than she had a few moments ago. Every time she blinked, tears would fall from her eyes. She was very quiet: it seemed that she had lost the ability to speak. Every once in a while, she would look around, as if to confirm that she was where she was. Each confirmation brought a fresh wave of tears and a small sniffle. Lily felt guilty—this was all her fault. Piper had been trying to stop her, and that had gotten her implicated.
Potter and Black weren't helping. Potter kept looking at Piper and rolling his eyes, and Black kept nodding in agreement with the silent judgment. Lily could see that Piper was aware of this, though she didn't acknowledge them. Lily got fed up and hissed, "Cut it out!"
Piper jumped and hurriedly brushed her tears away. "Sorry," she whispered.
"No, not you, Piper," Lily assured her in a soft voice. "Potter."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Evans," Potter pompously said. "And if you think that the snakeheads is all we have in store for you, you are sorely mistaken."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Good to know," she airily replied.
"Don't believe me?"
Lily locked eyes with Potter. "I believe that nothing you can do can be considered payback. You were naked in front of the whole school. What could possibly compare?"
Potter smirked. "Don't underestimate great minds, Evans."
"I don't. So I'm not worried about you."
Abruptly, Piper jumped out of her seat and spun around to face the three mischief-makers. "Just stop it!" she yelled. "You think it's really funny, but it's not! I was trying to stop you, and now I'm being dragged down by this madness!"
Black arched an eyebrow. "Well, well. Maybe she has some fire after all. And you're saying you tried to stop this? You're on her side," he said, nodding toward Lily.
Piper, fed up, froze Black's mouth. Lily began to laugh, but then Piper froze her mouth. Piper waited for Potter to say something. He was quiet a moment.
"Not so innocent now, are—"
His words were cut short, and his mouth froze forming the "we". Angrily, Piper plopped down and crossed her arms.
Her anger faded somewhat as Dumbledore entered the room. He still looked angry, but that didn't worry Lily. The fact that her mouth was frozen open, however, did. "What happened here?" the headmaster asked, gazing at the oddly positioned mouths.
"I didn't want to hear them," Piper said timidly.
"I see." Dumbledore's tone was solemn. "Please undo it."
Piper obliged, her hands trembling a little. Lily didn't feel quite as bad for her.
"I am displeased," began Dumbledore. "Very displeased. Your behavior today was beyond inappropriate. You are abusing a sacred art, and though karma may work for you now, it will eventually turn back on you." He gave Lily a long look. "You three have been training for a long time. You have known each other your entire lives. I do not understand why you must torture each other."
"Torture is a very harsh word," Potter interjected, adding, "sir," as an afterthought.
"It is the right word," Dumbledore replied. "You do all that you can to make each other miserable. Dark forces will take advantage of that."
Lily chose to speak up. "But sir, Hogwarts is completely safe. Dark forces can't get to us here."
"Where there is a will, Miss Evans, there is a way. Don't you see?" Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon glasses, his eyes tired.
"Not really."
"You, Mister Potter, Mister Black, and Mister Lupin. Four. There are four Charmed Ones, and they are here now. Four houses in Hogwarts. You must see." Dumbledore's words were urgent, but Lily still didn't see. "Four Charmed Ones, and they are in the four houses. They are—" Dumbledore canceled his words suddenly, disappointing Piper. "They are balanced."
"But we're not," Black said. "She's in Ravenclaw, and we're all in Gryffindor."
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "You don't understand. I suppose that can wait. Leo, you may come in now."
A whitelighter appeared in the room. He was a fairly handsome man, and Lily noted that Piper blushed when she saw him.
"Piper, meet your new whitelighter, Leo Wyatt. You were meant to meet him later, but…" Dumbledore trailed off.
"Hi," Piper said, standing. She shook his hand, and Leo smiled—a bit grimly.
"I wish we could have met under different circumstances," Leo said.
This statement made Piper remember her imminent doom, and when she sat again, she had lost the brief happiness Leo's attractive presence had inspired.
"Let me guess," Potter said. "You're disappointed in us too. I'll bet everybody Up There is disappointed."
"Are we supposed to be proud?" Leo responded, challenging Potter's arrogance with a hard gaze. "Patty wanted to come, but the Elders decided to address her. They aren't pleased with the way her charges are acting. In fact, they've suggested that maybe Patty can't handle looking after all her daughters and you four. They might stop her from seeing her daughters ever again."
Lily heard Piper's small gasp. Okay, some of that guilt was returning.
"Do you want that?" Leo asked Potter.
"The Elders would never do that," Potter replied.
"Yes, they would," Piper said. "They did it after she died, and there was no reason for that. Now they have a reason."
"You know, you don't need to scare Piper," Lily said. "She had nothing to do with this. Don't punish her."
"I realize that she was trying to stop you," Dumbledore said, "but the fact is that she is getting involved. She will get caught in the crossfire, and I can guarantee that the other Charmed Ones will as well. You are a great source of power, and magic draws magic. It is a pull none of them will be able to resist."
Potter and Black read into that statement certain other meanings, and they looked pleased.
Dumbledore motioned for Leo to take over. "You already know that Voldemort is gaining power," Leo said. "His Death Eaters are becoming bolder. Their mark is being seen more, and the most important wizards and witches are being killed. Lily, you faced a Death Eater. You would have died if Phoebe hadn't had a vision."
Though Lily didn't notice, a shade of concern passed over Potter's face. It arose quickly and faded quickly, but anyone could have seen it.
"Do you know why he came to your house?" Leo asked Lily.
"To kill me?"
"Yes, but there's something else." Leo paused, and when Lily remained silent, he provided the answer. "You have a book of shadows."
"So? Every witch has a book of shadows," Lily said. "Mine isn't the Book of Shadows. It only has the spells I've made."
"You'd be amazed what a demon can do with a witch's book of shadows. He can read it backwards, and all your vanquishes would be undone. It would undo the good you've done."
"Oh," Lily muttered, now uncomfortable.
"Still," Black said, "Hogwarts is safe. We've never had a demon or Death Eater show up here. They can't get in."
"They can't get in while good magic rules," Leo said. "Your internal battles weaken you, and your magic does impact on the safety of Hogwarts. If you continue to fight each other, you may find yourself having to fight demons in class. And if the Charmed Ones become involved, nearly all the protection will be gone."
"Wait. You're predicting Armageddon based on Medusa spells and toad-breath curses?" Potter said. "They're harmless."
"No," Leo responded. "They're not. They can do an amazing amount of damage. You're starting to hate each other."
"I don't hate Evans," Potter said dismissively.
"Well, I hate you," Lily said.
"Lily, you're thinking of a petty kind of hate," Leo pointed out. "The kind of hate I'm talking about is deep. It's the kind of hate that turns good witches evil. You give each other no peace, and each spell gets a little more dangerous. Those snakes did have fangs, didn't they? You want to hurt each other."
Lily scoffed. "I don't want to hurt him. I just want to humiliate him. Is that so bad?"
"When's the last time you worked together without fighting?" Leo questioned.
"We've done that plenty of times," Black said.
"But when was the last time?"
"Well…" Black thought. "Didn't James give Lily the gift of silence last Christmas?"
"No," Potter said. "That was the curse of silence."
"Oh, yes. That was a fun Christmas."
"I liked the part where I shoved the mistletoe up your nose, Black," Lily added, smiling. "As I recall, you sneezed leaves for the rest of the week."
"What about that thing Remus did for Lily?" Black said.
"Yeah… Didn't he threaten us into silence?" Potter continued.
"And I believe he tied us up."
"That was me," Lily reminded them.
"Ah, now I remember," Potter said, smirking. "Kinky."
"Do you see?" Lily said to Leo. "Do you see why I have to curse him? He is a pervert."
Piper blushed. "Lily, I really don't want to freeze your mouth again, but this is getting very uncomfortable."
"Sorry, Piper."
"You know that what you're doing is pointless," Leo said. "You think it's funny, but they don't. The Elders control your powers, and they might take them away. Sirius, you've been abusing your power for quite some time. It's not a way to find the right things to say to girls. James, you aren't a conjurer because it impresses people. And Lily, though you've used your remote viewing in a pure way, you take advantage of your talent for potion making. This can't go on."
"We need you to realize the severity of this situation," Dumbledore told them. "You are not as safe as you once were. This year is going to be very different. Your training will continue throughout the year."
"What?" Lily exclaimed. "We're taking classes. We don't need extra training."
"Yes, you do," Dumbledore said. "This won't be the training you're used to. The Charmed Ones will be joining you."
"Well. Now things are getting interesting," Potter commented. "When will this be happening?"
"Wednesdays," Dumbledore answered. "You will be told the time and place later."
Lily found the secrecy strange, but she didn't question it. "Shouldn't Lupin be here? Where is Lupin, anyway?"
"He wasn't feeling well," Potter said easily. "He's in the hospital wing."
"He certainly does get sick a lot," Lily said. "The way he's going, he won't have to worry about Death Eaters or demons."
"He just doesn't eat right," Black said. "All that chocolate."
"Remus, you know, is the least troublesome of your four," Leo said. "He can actually control himself. You should try to be like him."
"Remus," Potter declared, "does not know how to have fun."
Leo gave up on that point. "One more thing."
"Two, actually," Dumbledore said.
"The Elders don't trust you with your magic." Leo opened his hand, and a swirl of blue orbs appeared. They became a pile of odd necklaces. "These are sensing crystals. They will sense when and why you use your magic. You are required to wear them."
"Excuse me?" Black said. "You're tracking us?"
"We're not going to wear those," Potter said.
"You don't have a choice," Leo replied. With that, the four necklaces flew out of Leo's hand. One, surprisingly, slipped down over Piper's head. Leo noticed her surprise and explained, "The Elders fear that the Charmed Ones will be influenced by this fight. It's a precaution."
Piper accepted this in silence.
Lily wasn't as ready to accept this. "So the Elders don't trust us at all? They won't even give us a warning?"
"This is your warning. In the next step, they'll take your powers."
Potter and Black were struggling to remove the necklaces. "You can't do this!" Potter growled, getting out his wand to zap the necklace.
"Yes, they can," Dumbledore said. "Detention, by the way, is with Mister Filch tonight. I believe the trophies need to be cleaned."
"Cleaning?" Piper squeaked.
"Your detention is canceled, Miss Halliwell. I reacted a bit hastily."
Relief washed the anxiety off Piper's pale face, and she actually smiled as she looked at the necklace. "Now Phoebe won't be able to send Paige flying through the air."
"My God. She's happy to have these things," Potter muttered. He looked positively revolted.
Despite Piper's earlier show of courage, the bespectacled girl turned her eyes down. Lily knew the comment stung.
Purposefully, Lily looked at Leo. "And you want me to let him go on his merry way. I hope you like seeing people get hurt, Mister Wyatt, because that's all Potter does." Ignoring the fact that she had not been dismissed, Lily got up and left. The Elders didn't understand human life, and that Leo Wyatt wasn't much better.
"You can't do this!" Phoebe yelled, tearing at the necklace. It refused to come off. Phoebe glared at Leo and continued her assault on the sensing crystal.
"I've been hearing that all day, Phoebe," Leo calmly responded. "And yet, all eight of you are still wearing them."
"This is complete bullshit," Phoebe spat.
"Phoebe! Watch your language," Prue said.
Phoebe scowled at her. "How many times do we have to go through this? You're not my mother, Prue!"
Paige was standing back, trying to avoid all the action. She did not want Phoebe to turn her wrath on her. Piper seemed to be taking a similar route.
"Phoebe, Prue may not be your mother, but she does care about you," Leo said. "And please, stop yelling."
"Who do you think you are? I don't even know you, and you're telling me what to do." Phoebe stared at Leo distastefully. "No one tells me what to do."
"I am your whitelighter. I'm here to guide you, whether you want me to or not."
Phoebe turned toward the door. "I am out of here."
"No, you're not." Prue held up her hand, holding the door closed. "You can't keep running."
"Says the girl who can't even face the fact that she's a Slytherin." Phoebe looked back at Prue, her eyes filled with anger. "I've seen you, Prue. I've seen the way you walk through this school. Everything you see makes you sick. You can't touch your wand without flinching. Magic has made you into a Slytherin, and you can't stand it, because it means that something inside you isn't perfect. Well I'm sorry, Prue, but you're not perfect. Does that make you sick? Do you think you're going to end up like mom?"
Prue's breathing had grown shallow. She was lowering her hand, and this scared Paige. She had never seen Prue like this before. She wasn't strong. Phoebe was making her weak.
"Maybe you will end up like mom, Prue," Phoebe went on. "Maybe you're going to try to prove that you're stronger than she was, and maybe you'll end up leaving us. Maybe…" Phoebe's breaths were short and painful. "You'll abandon us like she did."
Paige pressed her hands over her ears. But Phoebe's words wouldn't leave her head.
Paige saw Prue start to wave her hand, and she heard Leo's muffled "No!" She saw as Leo caught Prue before she could do whatever harm she had intended to do. Slowly, Paige uncovered her ears.
Phoebe had a twisted smile on her face. "You were going to use your power against me. I think the sorting hat was right. You are evil."
"I am not evil," Prue choked out.
Phoebe just shrugged and left the room.
Leo did not let go of Prue's hand. "Never," he said in an unsteady voice, "use your powers against each other. Ever." He then released Prue, who did not move. "I didn't realize that your troubles ran so deep. I have to consult the Elders." He orbed out.
Prue sank to her knees, shaking. Paige and Piper could both feel the energy loss. They knew that something was wrong.
"What's happening to us?" Piper said, speaking the question they all had inside.
"The Power of Four is breaking," Prue murmured.
"Leo was right," Piper said. "As soon as I interfered in Lily's feud, we weakened."
"How can we fix this?" Paige asked. Her big sisters had no answer to offer her. Once again, Paige felt afraid.
"Idiot," Phoebe hissed as she walked down the hall. She was referring to Leo. "He actually thinks he can help us?" She enjoyed a bitter laugh and yanked at the unmoving necklace. "They think they can stop me from doing what I want?" One crystal couldn't stop her from using her power. They had forced magic on her, and now they wanted to control it? No. That was not going to happen.
Phoebe turned down another hallway, not even paying attention to where she was going. This hall had a surprising number of portraits, and most of them were too cheery for Phoebe's taste.
"I say," a little girl in a yellow dress called. "Where do you think you're going? You can't be here."
"Shove it," Phoebe replied.
Phoebe didn't stop for her reaction, but she did hear the sound of crying echo down the hall.
"You're a very rude girl," a woman with a wooden spoon said. "If you were my child, I'd give you a sound beating."
"You're made of paint. With a few chemicals, I could erase you," Phoebe informed her.
"Well! I never!"
"No wonder," Phoebe said, looking the woman up and down.
"See here, young lady," a wizened old man said. "You can't come down this hall. It's forbidden."
"Turn back!" howled a man who looked like he had just stepped out of a Shakespearian play. "Nothing but misery awaits you!"
"Please, please do not continue on," three women pleaded in sync. "You do not understand what is ahead."
"I'll find out what's awaiting when I bloody get there!" Phoebe screamed, about ready to blast all these paintings to smithereens.
At this point, all the animals in all the paintings began to bark and yowl and squawk. The noise was unbearable. Phoebe began to run down the hall, her fingers shoved in her ears. "La la la la la la! I can't hear you!"
Finally, Phoebe reached the end of the hall. It was a dead-end. Phoebe stopped, blinking. "It's a dead-end?" She turned to face the portraits, which were still shouting warnings. "There's nothing but a painting here!" It wasn't even a very good painting. It was a clumsy image of a sunrise. That was all.
Deeply insulted, Phoebe invented some new swear words specifically for the painting. To finish it off, Phoebe stuck out her tongue out at it.
Out of nowhere, a gray mist appeared. It surrounded Phoebe, blocking out the castle hall. Before Phoebe could do anything, something grabbed her arm. She struggled to free herself, crying, "What's going on?"
"You knew this day would come."
That voice… It was a man's voice, and it was so familiar. "Who are you?" Phoebe whispered. Dread was crushing her, for she knew that she was in great danger.
"How could you?" a woman's voice sobbed. "I trusted you."
The invisible hand forced Phoebe to the ground. "I trusted you!" the man roared. "I devoted myself to you, and you—"
Phoebe doubled over as a searing pain pierced her stomach. It felt like she had been stabbed, but she wasn't bleeding.
"No!" the man yelled.
Then, the mist was gone. Phoebe stayed still, not daring to move. The pain was gone. It was over. Phoebe held on to the wall and pulled herself up. Her legs were weak and her knees were shaking, but she had no stab wound. Sucking in deep breaths, Phoebe looked up at the paintings. The nearest one was of an old woman using a loom.
"What happened?" Phoebe asked her. "What was that?"
The old woman barely glanced at Phoebe. "We warned you about that."
"But what was that?"
"That," the woman said matter-of-factly, "was a bad reaction to a dark secret." The woman paused. "Never touch that painting, child. Your hands tell the secrets, don't they?"
Phoebe was confused. It took her a moment to understand what the crone meant. "You mean my premonitions?"
The woman nodded. "This is a secret that is dead, and the dead must not talk."
Phoebe didn't look back at the painting. She walked as quickly as her weak legs would allow. She was far past the crone's painting when she heard the crone add, "But sometimes they do, don't they?"
Shivering, Phoebe pretended she hadn't heard anything and found her way back to the room she had run from. When she opened the door, she found that her sisters had left. She tried to think of where they could be, but it was like the mist was still in her, surrounding her mind. "Prue," she whispered. "Piper. Paige. I need you."
"Phoebe?"
Phoebe whirled around. Piper was standing in the doorway. "What's wrong?" Piper asked.
"I just saw—something. I don't know what it was."
Piper didn't look like she had heard Phoebe. "We're going to be roommates."
"Piper, listen to me. I—what?"
"Leo has decided that we should stay together as much as possible," Piper explained. "We're going to be sharing a room. All four of us."
Phoebe barely recognized that there was meaning behind Piper's words. "That has to wait. There was a gray mist, Piper, and these voices. I felt trapped. And the pain. It hurt so much. I've never felt so afraid."
This brought Piper down to Earth. "You saw a gray mist?"
"Yeah. I was in a forbidden hallway, and it appeared out of nowhere."
"Phoebe," Piper said slowly, "Prue and I have also seen a gray mist. We heard a voice. The voice I heard sounded like me."
Phoebe was stunned. "I heard two voices. The first voice was a man's voice. The second voice…" Phoebe stopped. "Piper, the second voice was my voice."
"The painting is dangerous," Piper muttered.
Phoebe's heart jumped into her throat. "How did you know that?"
"That's what the voice said to me."
"I just saw a painting," Phoebe said. "The painting set this off. Do you know what this is?"
"No, but I think Dumbledore and mom do. You need to tell them."
With unusual sobriety, Phoebe corrected her: "We all need to talk to them."
Piper didn't seem thrilled about the prospect. "Maybe we should only talk to mom."
"No," Phoebe said. "Dumbledore needs to know."
"Well, we're going to have a hard time finding Prue. She's gone, and I don't know where she's gone."
"We'll find her." Phoebe was starting to get impatient: Piper still wasn't moving.
But Piper's eyes held a strange light. "We don't need Dumbledore. We need the Book of Shadows."
A/N: now that you're over the shock, how about you click that little review button? I swear it doesn't hurt. In fact, it feels great. So what are you waiting for? Review!