Prue

"We should each train him in a different area. Phoebe, you'll train him in physical combat. Piper, you should teach him how to find his center. Paige, you'll teach him about dueling." I was absentmindedly twirling around my wand. Occlumency… It's been a while. I'll have to ask Piper to use the spell on me.

"And what will the great Prue be teaching him?" Phoebe asked. She was getting closer to who she used to be. She had times when she was happy. I knew that she could never get over it, though.

"I will be teaching him Occlumency."

"Ah. Why do you want me to teach him how to find his center?" Piper inquired.

"Because you're the only one who could destroy the Titans. You're more in touch with your center than the rest of us." The memory of the time when we were goddesses was very clear in my mind. Being the goddess of the hunt wasn't exactly something I could ever forget.

"So when is his first training session?"

"Wednesday."

"How are we going to train him? I don't know about you three, but I don't know where to start," Paige said.

"Just start where you started. Who taught you how to duel?"

"No one special." Paige looked down at her hands, fidgeting slightly.

"I see."

I didn't mean to, but I caught onto Paige's thoughts. Was Cole really that special?

Cole? Cole? I stared at Paige.

"Prue? Earth to Prue." She waved her hand in front of my face. I blinked.

"Yeah…"

My sisters exchanged looks.

I tried to ignore this new information. "Piper, I need you to perform the legilimens spell on me."

"Okay. Ready?"

"Yes."

"Legilimens!"

I felt the spell bounce off me. "Good. I still have my resistance. Hit me with that spell whenever I have my guard down." I turned and started to leave.

"Legilimens!" The spell again bounced off me.

"I didn't mean right now!"

"Her!" Phoebe and Piper both said, pointing at each other.

I smiled and shook my head. At heart, my sisters were still little girls.

I took a deep breath, my eyes closed. I finally had a moment for myself. I was using that time to cleanse my powers. Every once in a while, I liked to get rid of any negative energy that I had picked up. It was something Leo had taught us, though my sisters weren't as dedicated as I was. Release the negativity… I evened my breathing and felt my emotions drift away. I think I'll start with this with Harry.

"Legilimens!"

"Piper, I think I've got enough practice. You can't get me."

She sighed and left.

Meditation was something I enjoyed. It allowed me to disconnect from the world. Yet something nagged at my mind while I relaxed. If I read Voldemort's thoughts, I can find out exactly what he's up to. It couldn't hurt…I concentrated. The usual unintelligible whispers broke out. They cleared and I looked into Voldemort's thoughts.

The Charmed Ones…

I could barely hear him. I concentrated harder.

The child…He is the key. I will…

His thoughts faded out.

"No!" I cried angrily, my eyes snapping open. I had been so close to finding out his plans. Frustration blossomed within me. Then, very suddenly, it stopped. I couldn't feel anything. The room faded away and a new image appeared before my eyes. I was in the basement, yet I wasn't. My leg shot out in front of me and kicked a punching bag. But that wasn't my leg. That was Phoebe's leg. She was practicing in the basement. What was happening to me?

The atmosphere changed. There was someone with me. I was sure of it. "Who's there?" I asked in Phoebe's voice. Then I felt it. Someone was holding me. "No. You're not real." I knew that he couldn't be real. "Stop." I broke free and punched the punching bag.

My eyes snapped open. I was back in my room. I was myself again… Right? I grabbed a mirror. I indeed was myself. "But I have purple eyes!" I looked closely. As I watched, the purple drained out and my eyes became normal. "Okay, that was weird."

An angry screech broke the relative silence of the house. It was Phoebe. I groaned and got up. "What is it this time, Phoebe?" I called from the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing in my house?" she was yelling. "Get out!"

"Believe me, I would not be here if I had a choice," an all too familiar voice said.

I slowly walked into the room. "Severus Snape."

"The one and only," Phoebe said through clenched teeth. She was still in her work out outfit. She was glistening with sweat and exuding hatred. "He apparated here. Damn it, he's in our house!"

"Phoebe, breathe." I turned my gaze on Snape and coolly said, "Why are you here, Snape?"

"I'm simply here to give you instructions," he responded just as coolly.

"I'm sure," Phoebe said. "You're just here to get the Book for your old friend Voldemort."

Snape's expression did not change. "I have no interest in the Book. I only came here to tell you to pick up the Potter boy."

"He has a name, you know," Phoebe interjected.

"What happened?" I asked, ignoring Phoebe.

Snape's dark eyes flickered with mild glee. "He was kicked out of his house. He's at Figg's house." He glanced at Phoebe. "He's a very disturbed youth. I believe you would be able to relate to him."

Phoebe raised her wand. "Got anything more to say?"

I quickly confiscated her wand. She threw me a look. "Both of you cut this out."

But Snape wasn't going to back down. "Of course, you'll also be able to share memories about the dearly departed mutt. His days of crime, his—"

His words were cut short as she attacked him.

I raised her up. "Stop acting like children," I hissed. "Snape, do not talk about Sirius in that manner. Phoebe, get control of yourself or I will take off that empathy blocking spell." Suppressing the urge to flinch, I helped Snape up. "Yes, I knew about that."

"Just wanted to concentrate on my own emotions," she muttered. "I don't trust you, Snape. As far as I'm concerned, we're working on opposite sides."

"Phoebe," I said severely. I took off the spell on her and lowered her to the ground.

Snape smoothed out his robes. "The boy will be in your charge for the rest of the summer."

"But what about his blood protection?"

"Dumbledore says that there is no need to worry about that." He disapparated.

"Why did Dumbledore have to send him?" I sighed. "Well, we'd better get Paige. What's the matter with you?" Phoebe looked completely horrified.

"He thinks that I'm sexy! Ew, ew, ew!"

I rolled my eyes. "Phoebe, how old are you? Let's just go. Paige, where—"

"Right here," Paige said as she came in. "Where are we headed?"

"We're going to pick up Harry. He's been kicked out."

She nodded and we disapparated.

"Prue! Phoebe! Paige! It's been too long," Figg cried and hugged us.

"Hey, Figgy," Paige said, smiling. "Where's Harry?"

"In there. He's a bit shocked, I think."

"What happened?" I asked.

"He beat up his cousin. I don't really blame him, but Dumbledore isn't too pleased."

"I see. Thanks, Figg."

We walked cautiously into the room. "Harry?"

He looked up. Not more lectures.

"We're not going to lecture you," I assured him. "Actually, you're going to be living with us. You have all your stuff, correct?"

Harry seemed understandably surprised. "You're taking me in? But you don't even—"

"Know you?" Phoebe finished. "We know a lot about you and we knew your parents. Come on, we've got much to discuss."

Paige orbed him and all his stuff to the Manor. "I'll show you around. Then we'll have a chat," she said and led him out of the room.

I sighed and sat down. A long silence passed between Phoebe and I before I spoke. "This is the craziest summer ever. First we find out that our closest friends are dead. Then we find out that Voldemort is after Wyatt. Then to top it all off, Petunia and what's-his-name kick Harry out. And it's only July. Lord knows what's in store."

"Do you think we'll become his legal guardians? It just seems so weird, you know? We've only met Harry once before."

"Dumbledore probably just wants him to be safe."

I frowned, picking at my cuticles. "Something just doesn't add up, though."

"Don't go digging for trouble," Phoebe said. "We always end up finding it."

A few minutes later, Harry and Paige came back in.

"Sit," I said. "There's no point making small talk at this time. What happened?"

"I… I got in a fight with my cousin."

Paige squinted, thinking. "Isn't he a squat, fat thing?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I lost my temper after he said some things about my parents."

"Who won?" was what Phoebe wanted to know.

"I did. When my aunt found him, she freaked out and then my uncle kicked me out."

"Ah. Well, welcome to the manor. We'll let you get settled and we'll talk more in the morning."

"I'm home!" Piper called as she apparated in. Her lipstick was smeared. Her hair was messed up. Her shirt was on backwards. A smile was plastered on her face.

"My, my," Phoebe said, grinning. "Miss Piper, where have you been?"

"A little spin on the Remus ride?" Paige giggled.

"From what we've heard, it's a big spin," Phoebe said with a wink.

Lupin? Harry incredulously thought.

"Yeah, they're engaged," I said.

"Hi, Harry," Piper said, then looked to me. "Why's he here so late?"

"He got kicked out. I'll explain tomorrow."

"And you will too," Paige said.

Piper

"In order to defeat Voldemort, you have to build your skills. We will teach you how. I will be teaching you Occlumency. I know Snape," Prue flinched, "started to teach you, though incorrectly. Occlumency isn't very difficult. It all depends on how you approach it."

"Oh, that's boring, Prue," Paige said. "Now dueling, that's interesting. That fool, Lockhart, didn't know anything. I'll be teaching you the proper way to duel."

"Please," said Phoebe loftily. "Physical combat is way better. It's a little challenging, but it's fun, and you seem to have a head start on it."

My sisters looked to me expectantly. "Well, my subject is hardly interesting. I'll just be teaching you how to reach your center. Of course, you'll be able to tap into powers you never knew you had."

"But I get to demonstrate first," Phoebe said and jumped up. "Paige, come on. Combat time."

"I don't want to fight you. You used to train with Cole," Paige complained.

"Suck it up. Let's begin. Now, you must always very carefully watch the enemy. In doing so, you will be able to anticipate their next move. We'll begin with a simple frontal attack."

Paige hesitated.

"Attack me!"

"Fine."

"This," Phoebe said as she flipped Paige over, "is one way to defend yourself. Another way… is like this. If you want to perform the first move, you have to—"

Wyatt's cry interrupted her.

"That's my call." I hopped up the stairs to my room where I found a demon. "Hey!" I flicked my fingers and the demon exploded. I checked Wyatt over. He was okay. "Oh, you poor thing. Don't worry. The demon's gone now." I was so sick of demons trying to steal Wyatt. I was so scared that one of them was going to succeed. I couldn't lose my son.

Another demon appeared. "That's it! Atrenus!" The demon was thrown against the wall. He tried to move, but the spell kept him in place. "Now that you're not busy trying to steal my son, how about you tell this: who sent you?"

"I won't betray my master."

"I could just blow off a few body parts to loosen your tongue."

"The Dark Lord."

"Why does he want Wyatt?" I asked.

"He wants his power and the sword," the demon said.

"How far is he going to go to get it?"

"As far as he has to."

I flicked my fingers. "I need a spell."

I stopped at the door to the attic, listening carefully. Someone was going through the Book. I opened the door quietly. It was probably just one of my sisters, but just to be safe…

It was actually Chris. "Oh my God." Chris was indeed going through the book, but he was moving the pages telekinetically. "Chris? What the hell? Since when are you telekinetic?"

Chris hurriedly put his arms at his sides. "What? I don't know what you talking about."

"I saw you using telekinetic powers."

"I don't have time for this." He orbed out.

Call it coincidence, but the Book was open to the exact page that I needed.

"All this is really confusing. I don't get why Dumbledore turned Harry over to us, or why Chris has telekinetic powers. It could all be meaningless, but I think there is something going on," I told my sisters early the next morning.

"Chris's powers probably just come from his witchcraft. Speaking of that, why doesn't he ever carry around his wand?" Prue brought up a good point.

"Maybe he couldn't take it back with him," Phoebe suggested.

"But that doesn't make any sense," I said. "I mean, he's here to protect Wyatt against a demon."

"That's what he says," Paige said. "And he could just be hiding his wand. After all, he didn't exactly want us to know that he's only half whitelighter. Well, I have to get to my new job."

"You got a job already?" I hadn't even sold the club yet. "Where?"

"Uh, well, muggle relations," she said. "Back at my old job. They were quite pleased."

"That's great. I'm probably going to get back into the Department of Mysteries," I said.

Paige nodded and orbed out.

"We're all going to pick up our lives where we left them?" Prue said. I couldn't help but feel guilty. The tone of her voice told me volumes about what she and Paige had gone through… because of Phoebe and me.

"Yes. It seems logical." I looked to Phoebe. "Are you going to start up your auror training again?"

"Ask Phoebe is doing very well. I could just apparate from England."

"Every day?"

"I'll apparate to any job that I get," Phoebe pointed out.

"It would be easier, though, to get a magical job," Prue said. "Then you wouldn't have to pretend to be a muggle."

"I'm going to work now."

Shedisappeared from the room. Prue started to disapparate.

"Hold it," I said. "Where are you going?"

"Job interview. I'll be home before you know it."

I smiled. "I don't even have ask, do I?"

"Nope. Bye, Piper. Wait."

"What?"

"Epiphany," she said. "I think I know why Dumbledore left Harry in our charge."

We locked our gazes. "Why?"

"The Blood Bond."

"The Blood Bond? How could Dumbledore know about that?"

"Dumbledore just knows these things. He even knows," she gave me the classic big sister look, "that you are an animagus."

"He told you that? How did he know?"

"I'm not sure. I must say, I never expected that you'd become an animagus."

"I believe the Blood Bond is a little more pressing," I said, deftly getting off the subject.

"Right. We'll investigate that when I get back." Then she was gone.