A/N: I've almost finished the next chapter, so another update will be coming very soon.

TwilightCharmedFaie: Thank you for the review.

So far, Piper was pleased with how things were going at Hogwarts. She was doing well in her lessons with Leo. There had been no attacks—not that there would be, while they were at the school. She'd picked up where she had left off with Dan. All things considered, this was looking like a good year.

She'd just come to this conclusion when everything went wrong.

They were working on potions with Leo when Phoebe's potion started bubbling over. "Piper, help!" Phoebe cried.

Piper waved her hands, expecting the potion to freeze. It did not. Instead, the cauldron exploded. Phoebe managed to dive out of the way in time, avoiding the cauldron shrapnel. "What the hell!" Phoebe said, staring at her older sister with wide eyes.

Piper looked down at her hands, then at the remains of the cauldron. "Leo?" she asked, shakily.

"It looks like your second power is manifesting itself," he said. "Molecular combustion. Are you all right, Phoebe?"

"Yeah, fine." Phoebe stood, still staring at her sister. "Wait, another power? Why's she getting another power?"

"You're the Charmed Ones," he said. It was response he'd given a hundred times. As if they could forget. "You're all going to develop more than one power."

Slowly, Piper lowered her hands. "But I wanted to freeze the potion. I've still got that power, right?"

"Yes, you do," Leo said. "You just have to work out how to control this new power. You'll have to be careful about your emotions right now. If you let them get out of control, you might find yourself blowing up everything around you."

Piper's heart beat faster. She really didn't like the sound of this new power. "And how do I control it?"

"The same way you learned to control your freezing power," Leo responded. "Concentrate."

Yeah, that was helpful. "I'm not sure I like this new power," she said.

Leo smiled at her, which always made her melt. "You'll get used to it. Now, we'd better clean up this potion before it eats through the floor."

Leo didn't seem worried about her new ability, but Piper was. She decided she would try to freeze anything else for a while.

But after a year of having her power, freezing had become second nature. So when Lily accidently knocked over her orange juice the next morning, Piper tried to freeze it and blew it up instead. Both she and Lily ended up in the hospital wing, having glass bits removed from the their hands after they automatically shielded their faces. Piper sobbed an apology to her friend, hating her magic. Lily, of course, forgave her immediately and tried to reassure her that it was fine. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it," she said, but Piper wasn't so sure.

Piper took to keeping her arms tight to her sides whenever possible. She hadn't tried to freeze anything for a week, and she felt proud that she hadn't had any accidents.

Then, they had their first lesson with Patty. Her mother had decided that it would be beneficial to continue the lessons they'd had last year with the sisters, Lily, Sirius, Remus, and James. Piper didn't mind the lessons—Phoebe grumbled about never getting to have a life—but she changed her mind quickly.

"You have to get control of your power, Piper," Patty said, holding up a pillow.

"But I'm afraid I'll hurt someone," Piper protested.

"If you practice, you'll learn how to use your power without getting anyone hurt. Now, everyone back up," Patty said.

The others in the room hurriedly stepped back. They're afraid of me, Piper thought, miserably.

"Ready? Go!" Patty threw the pillow up in the air, and Piper flicked her fingers. The chalkboard blew up instead. With James's quickly cast spell, the chalkboard shards disappeared before they could do any harm.

"You see?" Piper said. "I'm a total menace!"

"No, you're not," Patty said, but Piper could see the concern in her eyes. "Remus, could you cast a shielding spell on that side of the room?"

Remus obliged. Piper felt a little better, though she was still reluctant to use her power.

"Let's try again." Once more, Patty threw the pillow in the air, and Piper aimed for it.

Instead, her mother exploded into a thousand orbs. Piper screamed, convinced for a split second that she'd killed her mother. Then, Patty re-formed, unharmed. "I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine," she said.

Piper was shaking. She felt ill. "I'm not doing that again," she said.

"Piper," Patty started.

"No! I won't do it. I won't!" She crossed her arms tightly. "I should just bind my powers."

"Piper, please don't talk like that," Patty said, approaching her daughter. "You're going to get it, I swear. But it's going to take time. And practice."

Piper just shook her head.

It seemed like everyone in the room tried to convince Piper to try again, but she resolutely refused. Finally, they gave up and moved on to Sirius. He'd been working on planting thoughts, and they were all his guinea pigs.

"What?" Paige said. "What about Rhiannon?"

Sirius said nothing, but Piper could see him concentrating harder.

Rhiannon… most… beautiful… "No, I didn't catch that," Piper said.

"Oh for Circe's sake," James said, catching on. "Write love notes to your girlfriend some other time, Sirius."

"Shut it," Sirius responded.

"Rhiannon is the most beautiful psychic?" Phoebe said. "I'm offended, Sirius. What about me?" She winked at him. Piper knew she wasn't really flirting with him; she was loyal to Rhiannon, and had, for the most part, given up on her boy-chasing ways.

"Well done, Sirius," Patty said. "I think that's enough practice for today. You're all free to go."

Piper escaped before her mother could lecture her on the importance of gain control over her power. As far as she was concerned, this power was a curse, and she was going to avoid using it as much as she possibly could.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Who do they think they're fooling?" she muttered.

"What's that?" Lexa said. "You going to eat or not, Lily?"

Lily didn't respond. "Not me, that's for sure."

"You know, it's kind of unnerving when you talk to yourself," Mary said.

"Morning," Piper said as she sat with them. Lily glanced at her long enough to see that she was wearing mittens.

"New fashion statement?" Lily asked.

"Trying to keep my powers under control," Piper explained. The mittens were making it difficult for her to butter her toast. She frowned, but didn't remove them.

"Piper, you know you can't avoid using your powers forever," Lily said.

"We'll see about that."

Shrugging, Lily turned her attention back to the Gryffindor table, where James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat. Piper followed the line of her gaze.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Yes, there is," Lily said. "It's been two weeks, and they still haven't done anything. It's driving me crazy."

"You mean pranks? Maybe they've outgrown that nonsense," Mary suggested.

"Ha! Like Potter and his crew could ever grow up." Lily stabbed her eggs. "I'll bet they're cooking up something big. They're just trying to get me to relax, so they can catch me unaware. Well it's not going to happen."

Lexa, Mary, and Piper all stared at her. "Lily," Lexa said, "I'm a little concerned about you."

Lily waved her hand. "Don't be." Should she try remote viewing, try to pick up on their conversation? She didn't dare. James would probably sense her before she could get any information.

What was he waiting for? Did he think she'd strike first? Like she was that stupid. But, she had to admit, James and Sirius hadn't been up to their old tricks during the summer, either. She'd figured then that they were waiting for the school year to begin, but so far, they had done nothing.

Lily's left eye twitched. She was starting to get a little crazy from the anticipation. What was it going to be? They'd never really paid her back for making them lose their clothes in front of the whole school. Did she have some nudity of her own to look forward to? Or would it be one of their classics, like spiders in her underwear? Lily cringed at the memory. She'd nearly ended up naked that time, as she tore at her robes trying to get the spiders out. Toad breath hex? Too mild. Surely they'd go for something a little more interesting.

She was distracted in all her classes that day. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, which she shared with the Gryffindors, she kept casting glances at James. He didn't look like he was up to something, but he'd long ago mastered the look of innocence.

At the end of class, Lily could no longer stand it. "If you think I'm going to let my guard down, you are sorely mistaken," she said, cornering James by the door.

"What are you on about, Evans?" he said.

"I know you're up to something," she said.

"Er, no, not that I know of," James said. He looked to Sirius. "Are we up to anything, Padfoot?"

"Nothing lately."

Lily's nostrils flared. "I'm watching you, Potter." She turned on her heel and stomped away.

But nothing did happen that day, or the next.

"I think it's time to let this go," Lexa gently told her, as they sat in the Ravenclaw common room.

"But I don't get it," Lily said. "He's never waited this long before. It must be killing him."

"Lily, I think Lexa's right," Piper said. "You need to let go of this."

"I can't," she said. "Not until something happens."

"Why can't you?" Piper asked, writing down a sentence on a piece of parchment. Lily wondered how she managed such good penmanship with mittens on.

"Because he always does something. It's just how we are."

Lexa and Piper exchanged a look. "Maybe things have changed," Piper said. "Maybe he's changed."

"I seriously doubt it."

"Why?" Piper persisted. "Just look at Sirius. Now that he's with Rhiannon, he's different. Better. I know you've noticed."

"He's different. Potter… he just doesn't know when to stop."

Lexa and Piper gave up, returning to their homework.

They were wrong, of course. Potter was still trying to use his charms on her, so he hadn't changed. Maybe he was having trouble cooking up a proper prank without Sirius's support.

A week passed, and then another. October arrived without any incident. Lily was beginning to fear she would lose her mind if something didn't happen.

But if he wasn't up to something…

The thought was occurring to her more and more lately. Though Potter still tried to flirt with her every chance he got, he hadn't pulled a single prank, on her or anyone else. He and Sirius were even leaving Severus Snape alone, after years of fighting with him.

Of course he hadn't changed. There was no way.

But it was getting harder for her to believe that.

The black-edged letter arrived on a Tuesday morning, dropped carelessly into Sirius's lap by the family owl.

Your father has died.

His mother hadn't signed the note. There was no indication of when the funeral would be, though Sirius could be sure he wouldn't be invited. Sirius folded up the note and put it in his pocket, saying nothing to his friends.

He'd known, through Regulus, that father was ill. Now he was dead. Sirius had never gotten along with his father; indeed, he had always resented the man for trying to force his bigoted ideas on him. Sirius didn't feel sad, exactly, but he wasn't happy to know his father was gone. His first thought was of his mother, and how she'd do without him. No matter how much he'd resented his father, he'd always known that Orion had kept his mother calm and least somewhat sane. Without his father, what would become of his mother?

Another owl swooped by Sirius not long after the first note arrived.

Sirius,

I'm coming to Hogwarts this afternoon.

-Regulus

No doubt to discuss father's death. Though their father had been distant emotionally, Regulus had been closer to their father than Sirius. At least until Regulus had chosen to keep going out with Prue. For an insane moment, Sirius wondered if he had inherited instead of Regulus. But no, if his father had done something like that, his mother would've sent a Howler instead of a note.

"Sirius," James said, concern in his voice.

Sirius turned to his friend. James was smart enough to have guessed who had died, by the note and the recent information Sirius had given him about his father.

"All right, mate?"

"Yeah." Sirius nodded. "Fine."

His classes for that day were uneventful, not that Sirius paid much attention to them. His thoughts kept returning to his parents and how Regulus would deal with being the patriarch of the Black house. It was a role he'd been prepared for since boyhood; Sirius didn't doubt he could handle it. He did doubt, however, that Prue was prepared for the role that would be thrust on her.

Regulus was waiting for him in the dungeons when Sirius left Potions. "Sirius," he said with a nod. "You've heard about father?"

"Yes," he responded. He motioned for his friends to leave him with his brother.

"He passed in his sleep. He didn't suffer," Regulus said. "Shall we walk?"

They turned down the hall. Sirius stuffed his hands into the pockets of his robes. "What happens now?"

"I inherited everything," Regulus said.

"As expected."

Regulus shook his head. "I think father just didn't have the opportunity to rewrite the will." He paused. "Mother's half out of her mind."

"Over father or over the inheritance?" Sirius asked.

"A bit of both, I think," Regulus said. "She wouldn't stop raving about blood purity when I last saw her." He stopped and turned to Sirius. "I think it would be best if you didn't come to the funeral."

"Don't even know when it is, anyway. Maybe you shouldn't go to funeral either."

Regulus shook his head. "I know mother will make a scene, but it's my duty to be there. And it's father. I want to be there."

There was a long silence.

Regulus looked down. "Sirius," he said, in a soft voice, "I don't know what to do."

Sirius studied his brother. "What do you mean?" It wasn't like Regulus to show any kind of weakness.

"Prue and I are just starting a life together. A life that wasn't supposed to include me being the patriarch of the Black family," Regulus said, raising his gaze. "Now I have these obligations, and I just… I don't know what to do."

"You could just walk away," Sirius said. "I did."

"No," Regulus said. "It's not that simple, Sirius. Do you know who'd inherit if I gave it up?"

"Is Uncle Ignatius still alive?"

"He died last year." Regulus paused for effect. "Rodolphus Lestrange."

"Not Bella's husband, Merlin," Sirius said.

"Yes, Bella's husband. And you know what he's like, Sirius."

"You mean evil?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Regulus placed his hands on Sirius's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "He'd get everything. And you know exactly what kind of things father collected. Do you like the idea of Lestrange and Bella getting a hold of so many dark objects?"

Regulus had a point. "All right. I see your dilemma. But Prue—she'll understand."

Regulus dropped his hands. "There are too many things I'm going to have to ask of her. She doesn't deserve it."

"Probably not," Sirius said. "But she loves you, for some reason. She'll understand." He threw his arm across his brother's shoulders. "It'll all work out."

Regulus said nothing. Sirius didn't envy his brother his new position as patriarch. He had many responsibilities now, and many duties to carry out if he intended to shift the Black house away from centuries of bigotry and intolerance. Sirius was lucky to have gotten away; Regulus didn't have that luxury.

"I hope so," Regulus finally said.