A/N: I'm back, and I hope that I can do some major work on this story in the next few weeks. I'm going to try; just have patience.

charmedgirl-alyssaphoebe: Thanks for the review.

Poseidon's Chickadee: Thank you many times over for reviewing. As for P/L… well, I have a special twist on that. You'll see.

He was waiting for her when she entered the Forbidden Forest. The Seer had never seen him happy, but tonight, he looked particularly annoyed.

Her assessment of his mood was proven true when he spoke. "You're late, Seer." It was impressive how he managed to express such displeasure in a mere four syllables.

"Relax, Sullivan," the Seer said. "The whitelighter showed up. He wanted to check in with me." She frowned as she thought of the encounter. "It wasn't supposed to be this complicated, you know. The Dark Lord made it seem like Rhiannon came from nowhere. She wasn't supposed to have a whitelighter and a famous dead mother."

"It was fully necessary, I am sure. There's only so much background that can be forged." With an impatient wave of his hand, Sullivan dismissed her concerns. "What have you learned?"

The Seer shrugged. "They're teenagers. They like to fight with each other, and they like to abuse magic."

"Who shows the greatest potential?"

The Seer gazed off into the darkness of the forest. "Phoebe, I suppose," she said after a moment's contemplation. "She's an angry girl, and she's not keen on the Power of Four. Although…" She stopped, recalling something that she had picked up from Phoebe. "Prue may also be easy to get to. She's a Slytherin, and apparently she's a little paranoid about being evil."

Sullivan contemplated this silently, then nodded to show his approval. "Do you have anything more?"

"Not right now."

After warning her to remain vigilant, Sullivan disapparated with a crack. The Seer was left alone in the rapidly fading daylight. "You're welcome," she muttered to the air as she turned and started to trudge out of the forest. The journey out seemed more difficult than the journey in had been; she found herself struggling more with the overgrown grass and the impeding branches. Was it her imagination, or was the foliage more unruly than it ought to have been?

She thought of a few demons who had power over nature. Were they having some fun at her expense? She looked around quickly but could see nothing unusual. Then she tripped and fell into a bush, and any concern about demons left her. "Bloody bushes," she growled, pulling her robe out of a branch's grip. Wait—bloody? The Seer blinked, stuck in a half-standing, half-sitting position. She had never used such terminology.

The witches must be getting to me, she concluded and fully extricated herself from the bush.

Indeed, it was true that the witches were getting to her—and not just in the words she used. They were awakening all sorts of… feelings in her. The trust that Phoebe was starting to share with her was… The Seer struggled to find the right word for it, but she was helpless to describe the emotion she felt. Whatever it was, it felt good.

But Phoebe was someone she was going to destroy. Phoebe, Luke, the sisters… they would all have to be destroyed. Trying to deny the feeling that thought awakened in her, the Seer started toward the castle. Her progress, though, was soon to be arrested by one of the objects of her thoughts.

"Just try again, Paige."

Paige looked dubiously at her mother. "Impedimenta," she said, pointing at one of the various blue lights that were darting around the unused classroom. Unlike the lights near Remus, James, Lily, Piper, Prue, Phoebe, and Sirius, the light before Paige remained mobile.

"Do we really need to draw this out more?" Phoebe asked, swishing her wand absently. "Some of us have things to do."

Patty answered her with a stern glance, then turned back to Paige. "Relax. Feel the magic gathering in you. Believe that the spell will work. When you're ready, say the word."

Paige followed her instructions, trying to ignore all the other people in the room. When she raised her wand, she knew that it would work. "Impedimenta." The light stopped moving immediately, and a grin broke out on Paige's face.

"Finally." Phoebe slid off the desk she had been perched on and headed for the exit.

"Wait," Leo said. "You've only done two spells. We really should—"

Patty put her hand up to stop him. "Leo, take a look at them." She gestured toward the boys, who were quietly discussing something devious, and then toward her daughters, who simply looked bored. "We're not getting any more out of them."

Leo wasn't happy, but he acquiesced with a small nod. "They are expected to practice on their own as well, you know."

"I know." Patty suppressed a small smile as he orbed out. Leo was a good man and a good whitelighter, but he still had a lot to learn about teenagers. "You are all free to go," she announced. There was an exodus—Phoebe in the lead, Prue bringing up the rear. "Prue, wait."

Prue stopped and turned around.

"We need to talk." Patty sat down in one of the desks and invited her daughter to sit in an adjacent desk. "Not the most comfortable quarters, but I think it's time we sat down together."

Prue lowered herself into the desk. Dread made her limbs feel heavy and cumbersome; it was an effort just for her to place her hands in her lap. She knew exactly what words would tumble from her mother's mouth next.

"Leo spoke to me about what happened."

She knew they were coming, yet she still felt a measure of shock go through her body as she heard the words. What should she say? I'm sorry, I can't I believe I did that, I didn't mean to do it, I just saw her eyes and… Words ran through her mind, but none moved her mouth to speak. She just stared dumbly at her mother.

Patty sighed and took her daughter's limp hand. "Prue, I am sorry."

"What?" Prue drew her hand back, feeling unworthy of her mother's touch. "I'm the one who's sorry. I just—I…" She placed the heels of her hands against her eyes and picked through the jumble of words in her mind. "I'm so sorry for what I did to Phoebe." When she dropped her hands and connected with her mother's eyes, she found remorse.

"For all these years, I've been telling mom that you girls just needed more time," Patty began, "and she agreed with me. 'They'll be able to handle it better when they're older,' I said. 'They're too young for so much magic and responsibility.' But Prue, I was wrong. The older you girls got, the more dangerous the wizarding world became, and the more used to a normal life you became. I knew that we couldn't keep you girls in the dark much longer. But I kept hanging on.

"If Paige hadn't read the incantation, I don't know when we would have told you. I admit, I was hoping that Voldemort would be defeated before you became witches. But it's clear to me that the Power of Four will be needed—if not to defeat him, then to restore order after he's gone."

Prue waited for a pause, then said, "But what does this have to do with what I did?"

"There is so much pressure on you now," Patty explained. "You're barely used to the idea of magic, yet you have to get ready to take on powers and defeat evils that most witches and wizards will never have to deal with. And you had plans. You had a life; you were going to a great college." Pausing, she smiled. "I'm so proud of all that you did, Prue. You did so wonderfully in school, and you have always been there for your sisters." Her smile slowly faded. "You've been through every Phoebe explosion; you've been through Piper's frequent bouts of self-doubt; you've been through Paige's troubles with Phoebe. And after all that, you're being tested in every way possible. I've seen other witches lose it under less pressure."

"But I did lose it," Prue insisted. "I almost hurt Phoebe, and all she did was tell me that I was—" She stopped, unable to say the word that she feared was true.

"You are not evil. Prue, listen to me." Patty placed her hand on Prue's cheek, wiping away a stray tear with her thumb. "Your powers are tied to your emotions, and Phoebe pushed you to the limit. You've always held in your anger, but your magic doesn't obey the same self-control that your emotions do."

Prue shook her head. "I was put in Slytherin for a reason."

"The houses are neither good nor evil," Patty said. "The houses are neutral, and they have no bearing on whether a student is good or evil. Perhaps if you actually spoke to your fellow Slytherins, you might find that they're not so bad."

"How did you know…" Prue stopped. "Grams noticed that, eh?"

"Of course." Patty smiled again and rose. "Now, I'm sure that you have a life to get back to. Good night, dear." She dropped a kiss on the top of Prue's head.

"Good night, mom."

The night sky was gorgeous. Phoebe gazed at it as she sailed through the air on a broom she had borrowed from the school. True, they didn't know that she had borrowed it from them, but what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

She breathed in deeply, and the vigor of the air spread through her entire body. Feeling the need to make contact with another element, she glided over the lake and skimmed her fingers along the surface. She didn't linger over the lake, though; she had heard that a giant squid inhabited these waters.

On previous nights, she had spent her flying time practicing Quidditch moves, which she had picked up from a library book. Tonight, she simply floated lazily through the air, once or twice giving in to the impulse to do a loop. The Hufflepuff tryouts were tomorrow, and she did not want to encourage her nerves by overpracticing. She had to believe that she was ready.

Still, her faith in herself was not unshakable. Doubt surfaced infrequently, rousing her nerves to full revolt. Yet each time they revolted, Phoebe managed to suppress them, distracting herself with some aspect of the stars, the moon, or the treetops.

"Hey!"

Phoebe whipped her broom around and looked down. "Ray, you scared me," she said as she landed next to her friend.

Rhiannon was smirking. "So this is where you've been going every night." She tapped the handle of the broomstick. "I was hoping it would be a little more scandalous," she said, shaking her finger disapprovingly.

Phoebe smiled back at her. "Sorry to disappoint."

Rhiannon considered her briefly; then, she walked a circle around her. "You," she declared, "are getting a little too good at blocking me out. You're a quick learner."

"Well, knowing that I had a mind-reader and a seer near me motivated me to keep certain things to myself," Phoebe replied.

"Probably a good idea." She paused, and there was a subtle shift in her expression. "Speaking of the mind-reader, what do you know about Sirius Black?"

Phoebe's brow went up. "You want to talk about him here?" she asked, gesturing at their surroundings.

"You're right," Rhiannon quickly said. She seemed uncomfortable; her fingers were curled around the ends of her sleeves, and she kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Phoebe noted these things and debated what she was going to do with the theory she had just produced. She decided to be blunt; it was a style that both she and Rhiannon respected. "Do you like him?"

"Who?"

It was strange how sincerely blank Rhiannon's look was. For a moment, Phoebe thought she might be wrong. "Sirius, of course."

"Oh." Rhiannon's right hand found a new occupation—rubbing the back of her neck. "No. No way." Yet again, Rhiannon changed positions, this time crossing her arms. "What would make you think something so ridiculous?"

"Well, for starters, you haven't stopped moving since we started talking about him," Phoebe said. "And you wanted to have a chat about him out here on the lawn, at night."

"If that's the problem, then let's go inside. And we won't discuss Sirius, okay?" Rhiannon began to move toward the castle.

Phoebe caught up to her with relative ease. "I have to go return this," she told Rhiannon, indicating the broom.

Rhiannon huffed and got out her wand. Phoebe didn't catch the spell, but the next thing she knew, the broom had vanished. "There. No need to thank me." And she continued her determined journey back to the castle.

When they reached the hall where they were to separate, Rhiannon offered one last comment: "I don't get crushes, Phoebe. It just doesn't happen." Her tone was difficult to read, but Phoebe could sense a least a little insecurity.

"Okay. Good night."

Rhiannon disappeared around the corner, then reappeared. "I mean, desire, yes. Not crushes." She withdrew, then returned. "It's not a crush."

"Maybe you should get some rest, Ray," Phoebe suggested.

When she was sure that Rhiannon was actually gone, Phoebe found her way to her bedroom. Prue and Piper were still up, working on some homework. Paige was asleep.

"Where have you been?" Prue asked, her eyes directed toward her work.

"Out."

Prue didn't pursue the topic any further; she didn't even bother to look at Phoebe until she sat down with Prue and Piper and took out some work. "What are you doing?"

"Homework." Phoebe felt the shock coming from her sisters. She, too, was a bit surprised that she was doing work. Oddly enough, she wanted to do homework. She didn't know why—maybe it was the fresh air, or the realization that she was going to have to do well in school and in their extra lessons if she expected to play Quidditch.

All right, so the answer was pretty obvious. Phoebe didn't ponder it for long, though. She had a history essay to finish, and she needed all her brainpower to make up some facts.

Thursday's classes were hell for Phoebe. She couldn't concentrate—not that she usually concentrated in class—because she couldn't stop thinking of the Quidditch tryouts. She had her eye on a Chaser position, but she was starting to think that she had no chance at it. She had never even been to a Quidditch game, and she had been flying for what, a week? No, this was definitely not going to go well.

Her distraction did not serve her well in Potions, when she added something to her potion that caused it to blow up in her face. Grams was on her in an instant.

"Phoebe, haven't you been paying attention? You added ashwaganda; you were supposed to add costmary."

"Sorry," Phoebe murmured.

"Luckily, it can be saved." Grams turned to the class. "Can anyone tell me how?"

For a moment, no one moved. Then, Paige timidly raised her hand. "Wouldn't pyrethrum neutralize it?"

"Very good. And then what would be added?"

Paige thought. "Allium?"

"Exactly." Grams smiled proudly. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

Normally, this would have annoyed Phoebe. Today was different, though. Phoebe only obeyed Paige's instructions and pretended that she didn't see failure in her future.

"Okay, Phoebe, just breathe. Just breeeathe." Phoebe sucked in a deep breath. "I'm going to be fine," she said to herself. "I can do this. I can…" The Quidditch pitch came into view, and her legs suddenly locked up. "Move, Phoebe. You have to—"

"You're going to be fine, you know," a smooth voice announced from next to her.

Phoebe jumped. "Ray, you got to stop doing that." She fixed her sight on the pitch, willing her legs to move.

"Sorry. But really, you have no reason to worry. You'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Phoebe blurted. Then she remembered. "Oh, duh. But don't say that. If you say it, it might not happen." Her legs were still not cooperating with her. They had always worked with her before, whether she was strutting or simply walking; they never caved under pressure.

"Well, it's never going to happen unless you try out." Rhiannon put her arm around Phoebe and gently guided her toward the pitch. "I'll be here the whole time," she assured her friend as she pushed her onto the field.

Phoebe uttered a whimper/squeak. She was again immobilized—until the Hufflepuff captain, Bryan Holzer, appeared. The sight of him restored her focus, and she walked over to him with ease.

The tryout itself was not easy. The veteran Keeper was very good at what she did, but Phoebe rose to the challenge. She didn't need to think of the techniques she had learned. She felt no self-doubt as she went for a goal. She knew how to move and what to do, and she did very well. True, her nerves returned when she landed, but the look on Bryan's face reassured her.

"Welcome to the team."

It had been some time since Phoebe had smiled so widely.