"Things have been so normal lately," I commented to Piper. It was early December. Phoebe was away on a mission. She and Sirius had gotten married in September. Phoebe had told Piper that she could not show up to get back at her. Piper had refused.
"Are you complaining?" Piper was now showing somewhat.
"No, not at all. It's just seems like the calm before the storm, you know?"
"You're going to jinx it."
"I am not. You're so superstitious."
"Only when it comes to a lull in the action." The phone rang. "Hello? Hi, Pheebs. Wait, slow down. What? Really? Oh my God! That's so wonderful! You're that far gone? Didn't you even pay attention? Right. As usual. You're coming home next week, right? Good. Well, hurry home. Bye." She hung up.
"What's so great?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.
"She's pregnant! Three and a half months, actually."
"Three and a half months? Jeez. I can't believe she didn't notice."
"Well, this is Phoebe," Piper said. "She has been rather distracted with all these missions."
"Yeah. She's going to go nuts when they make her stay home."
"I'd hate to be them," she agreed.
"Well I'm sorry," Paige said to Grams as they orbed in. "I just wasn't sure if you would have the ability to orb. After all, you're not actually a whitelighter."
"Of course I can orb. It's the only thing different about me. Other than that, I'm just like I was when I was alive."
Yeah, and just as grouchy.
I fought to keep a straight face.
"Hey you two," Piper said. "Phoebe's got some news."
"Good or bad?" Grams questioned.
"Wonderful. She's pregnant!"
"She shouldn't be out on a mission," Grams said.
"Try telling her that. You know that she's going to try to work into her ninth month, Grams."
"I definitely won't let her do that."
"No one will. They'll make her take maternity leave. Sit. How are things at Hogwarts?" Grams had accepted the position of teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Very well." She paused. I could tell that she wanted to tell us something.
"What?"
"I've been discussing things with the Elders."
"Crazy secret stuff?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Stuff that you can't discuss, right?"
"Actually, I have to discuss this 'stuff' with you."
"Finally, we're in the loop," Paige said, voicing what we were all thinking.
"So what's the scoop?"
"Voldemort is waiting for something. He won't attack until that something happens."
"And what is that something?" Piper asked.
"We're not sure. It could be the birth of the third child. That's our leading theory."
"So we're safe until Phoebe has her child?" Paige said.
"Not necessarily safe," said Grams. "He'll still try to kill you three, but he won't dare to touch Phoebe."
"I see. Will he try to get Harry and Wyatt?"
Grams nodded. "Yes. You have to be especially careful with them."
"We always are," Piper said.
"I—demon!" Grams and I sent the demon into the wall. Piper blew it up. "And that's just a taster. He's going to keep sending more demons. I expect we'll get some more powerful demons soon."
"Joy," I muttered. "Should we try to put some stronger spells on the house?"
"That would be a good idea."
"I know the perfect spell," Chris said as he entered.
Grams stiffened. She really didn't like or approve of Chris. "What would that be?"
"It's a spell that hasn't been created yet," said Chris.
"Wait. We're supposed to trust your spell?" Grams didn't make any effort to hide the fact that she didn't trust him. He tried to show his dislike for her, but we all knew that he didn't particularly like her.
"It's not my spell. Prue wrote, well, will write it in the future. I know you don't trust my word, but you have to."
"No, I don't," Grams said. "Why haven't the Elders sent you back to the future? The girls don't need you. They have Sirius."
"Grams, we're going to need his help with the Voldemort issue," I said. Chris gave me an appreciative look. "Let's see this spell." He handed it to me. I read it. "It does seem like something I would write. We'll probably need the Power of Four for it to work. We'll have to wait until Phoebe gets back."
"Shouldn't you have her come back?" Grams questioned.
"No, this can wait." Grams still stressed the importance of our closeness. "We have spells on the house, and they'll be fine until next week. Let Phoebe enjoy her missions while she still can."
They're going to drift apart; I just know it.
"We're not going to drift apart," I said.
"Well, you're all getting married."
"Don't get into that, please. Sirius and Remus are good men."
"How do you know?" Grams sharply asked.
"Would Piper really marry someone who would cause us trouble?"
"She did date a warlock," Grams said.
"And you dated a demon," Piper pointed out. "Remus is wonderful. Our child is going to be wonderful."
"And hopefully a girl."
"Girl or boy, the baby will be loved no matter what."
"A girl will cause less trouble. You know what's going to happen to Wyatt."
"That can be prevented." Grams had found out from the Elders about Wyatt's future. It wasn't a very pretty thing. I knew that Piper could hardly believe that her son would do that. Piper didn't need Grams reminding her.
"Grams, don't do this," I sighed. "We don't even know how he turned evil."
"Perhaps not, but he does." She turned her eyes on Chris.
"I can't tell you about that," Chris said. He seemed as sick of saying that as we were of hearing it.
"How will we be able to prevent it, then?"
"We know now, and we'll make sure that he doesn't become evil," I said.
"Well, I'll see you later." She orbed out.
"I see that I really get on her nerves," Chris commented.
"Eh, she's not very fond of men," Paige said. "It's nothing personal."
"She seems to try to make it personal."
"That's just Grams. She'll warm up to you eventually," Piper said.
I highly doubt that, Chris thought.
I kind of did too. What was it that made Grams act like this? I didn't know, and I didn't want to try to find out. I had enough to deal with.
"Time to brew some potions," Paige said as she dragged Piper and I up to the attic. "Those dang demons keep popping in uninvited. We need to make some more potions for them."
"Humph," I replied.
"What's up with you today? You seem distant."
"I keep thinking about all the things that just don't add up."
"Are you looking for trouble again?" Paige asked.
"No, I'm just trying to figure everything out."
"You can't figure out everything," Piper said.
"I can try," I responded.
"So what particular things don't add up?"
"The final battle with Voldemort is one thing. Now Chris has reluctantly revealed that he was defeated, but how could he have been defeated if Wyatt was evil and likely on his side?"
"Maybe we were able to overcome him."
"The Power of Three wouldn't have been enough. In Chris's future, Paige is dead. Without Paige, we would have been weakened."
"Well, Harry and Phoebe's son fit in with that," Paige said.
"Harry would have been trying to fight Voldemort," I pointed out. "Voldemort is almost as powerful as Wyatt."
"Then Phoebe's son was taking care of Wyatt with our help."
"Maybe. It just doesn't feel right."
"What other things don't add up?"
"Chris. If his father really is that whitelighter, then his mother would be our kind of witch. Yet he seems so comfortable with muggle things."
"He could be like us," Piper said. "We were raised mostly in a muggle environment."
"True, but there are other things about him that I don't understand. The thoughts I was able to get from him at the beginning are strange."
"What do you mean?"
"He kept thinking about the third child and how he had to find him. He knew that he had to protect him," I said.
"Well, that's not very unusual," Piper said. "The third child has to be protected."
"Yeah. It still feels strange."
"Everything will be revealed soon, I'm sure."
CRACK. Phoebe appeared.
"Pheebs, you're back! We—"
She ran out of the room. Not again!
"What was that?"
"I think it's nausea," I said.
"Oh."
Phoebe rejoined us a few minutes later. "Sorry about that. I'm really starting to understand the trouble you had, Piper. It's good to be home." She hugged us. "So where is my charming husband?"
"I'm right here," Sirius said as he orbed in. "How's my baby doing?"
"You'd better be talking about me, buddy," Phoebe said, "because I am not just a mother. I'm your wife and you're going to see me like that."
"Okay." He looked to us.
"Leo didn't see Piper as a sexual being when she got pregnant," I explained.
"And you are not going to do that to me," Phoebe said.
"Of course not."
"Oh, I have great news," Piper said. "Phoebe, I've found a wonderful magical maternity ward. We'll both be able to go there to have our children. We won't have to worry about erasing people's memories. I've also found a magical birthing class."
"That's great! I won't have to worry about the baby's first orb."
"Yeah, and I won't have to go through a sisterly delivery," Piper said. Seeing our looks, she quickly added, "Not that guys didn't do a good job, of course, but this is going to be easier."
"Plus, we won't lose magic."
"That caused a lot of trouble in the wizarding world, you know," Sirius said.
"I'd assume so," Phoebe said. "No one really told us what happened. Must have been a mess, though."
"The Ministry declared a state of emergency."
We all laughed. "Running around like a chicken without a head."
"What's up with that amulet?" I asked Phoebe. She had a large, green amulet hanging from her neck.
"It's for the protection of children. I got it after we captured Lucius Malfoy."
"You got him?"
"We most certainly did. He's now at Azkaban, which is no longer run by the dementors."
"That's wonderful. You catch anyone else?"
"Yes. I had the pleasure of capturing Bellatrix. I gave her nice ass-kicking. That's what she gets for killing my man. She has joined most of the Death Eaters behind bars."
"That's great," I said. "How many Death Eaters are left?"
"Not many. I think that we have maybe four more. However, he'll probably gather more close followers. They'll probably be demons. Demons are usually more loyal and more powerful."
"We've got enough vanquishing potions for them," Piper said. "That's one disadvantage about demons. They're so easily killed."
"Yes, I see you've been busy with the potions." Phoebe eyed all the potions. "We seem well protected."
"That reminds me. We have to cast another protection spell on the house. Chris gave us a new spell."
"He wrote a protection spell?"
"No, Prue did," Piper said. "Well, she will someday."
"We should cast it now."
We gathered around the sheet of paper and recited the spell. "This our power, this is our need, give to us protection, for us intercede."
Music floated through the attic. It was beautiful. A ghostly form rose up from the floor. It looked like a phoenix, yet it wasn't. It sang its song, then disappeared.
"Nice spell, Prue," Piper commented.
"I can't believe I wrote that."
"Will write," Paige corrected.
"Right. Looks like this house is protected."
"And then some."
Piper
"What do you want for breakfast, Pheebs?" I asked.
"Saltines," Phoebe said miserably.
"Still feeling sick?"
"Yes. This is horrible. How could you survive this?"
"I think I have something for you."
"An antacid?"
"No, it's a special food additive. It's made especially for pregnant women. It should help with the nausea."
"Magical?"
"Yes."
"Good."
I sprinkled some on her eggs. "Try it."
"Mm… These eggs are good."
"What would you expect from a gourmet chef?" I said.
She waited a few seconds. "Hey, I don't feel like throwing up! Thanks so much, Piper." She continued eating.
"Morning, my love," Remus said and kissed me.
"Looks like we won't have to worry about Piper's dreams coming to life," Phoebe murmured.
"No, we won't," I said with a smile.
"Well, I'd better get to work," Phoebe said, standing up.
"You're still going to work?" Remus asked.
"Of course. I'm only three months pregnant. Three months is nothing."
"But your job is physical," Remus said. "Every other day, you're off kicking butt and taking numbers. That's not good for a pregnant woman."
Phoebe waved her hand dismissively. "I'll take maternity leave when they tell me to. For now, I'm still going in. Bye." She disapparated.
"Do you think that she's going to willingly take maternity leave?"
"No way," I said.
"How are you doing?"
"Great. I've got control over my emotions again. I don't have any nausea. This is good. Oh, the baby's moving." I placed his hand on my stomach. "I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. I'll bring Phoebe too. Did you know that she actually used a spell to suppress her period during missions?"
"Seems like her."
"Yeah. I hope didn't have any affect on the baby," I said. "I guess she didn't want any distractions."
"She's dedicated to her job."
"She'll be dedicated to her baby when he comes. What do you think of my maternity clothes?" I had found a wonderful place in Diagon Alley that catered to pregnant women. It actually had nice clothes.
"You look great, as usual."
"You're good for my ego," I said.
"Of course. Why else would you keep me around?"
I giggled and kissed him. "I love you."
"I hate you, Sirius!" Phoebe yelled.
"What?" Sirius said, bewildered. "Why? What did I do?"
"Like you have to ask." She crossed her arms and stared down at him from the top of the stairs. "Just look at me."
"You look great," Sirius said.
"Lies!" She walked down the stairs. "Prue, don't I look horrible?"
"No, you don't," she told her. "Calm down."
"Calm down? This is going to be the worst time of my life. It's like nine months chock full of PMS. This is all your fault." She rounded on Sirius. "You did this to me!"
"I thought you wanted children," Sirius said.
"I do, but I didn't want this!" Phoebe huffed. "This is partly your fault, yet nothing happens to you! You won't have to give birth! You won't get fat! You don't have to wake up every morning with unbearable nausea! I do!"
"Phoebe—" Sirius started.
"I don't want to hear it!" She seized a picture and threw it at him. I froze it. "Piper! You traitor! Argh!" She stomped off.
"What just happened?" Sirius asked me.
"A mix of hormones and worry. Phoebe has a lot to handle right now," I explained.
"That was worry?"
"Yes. Soon she'll be a mother and that's a daunting responsibility. Hormones make it worse."
"I have a lot to learn about pregnant women."
"Yes, you do. First of all, you never argue with a pregnant woman. Never."
"Even when she's being ridiculous?"
"Especially then," I said. "She is always right. If she says it's your fault, it is your fault. A pregnant woman refuses to be proven wrong, so don't even try it."
"What about you?" Sirius said. "You seem fairly reasonable."
"This is my second pregnancy. I have a better handle on things this time."
"These next months are going to be interesting."
"Oh, it gets more fun."
"Oh no. What's going to happen?" Sirius asked, dread in his voice.
"Well, you're going to have to go to birthing lessons," I said. "That's going to be quite an adventure. Plus she's going to give everyone hell when they force her to go on maternity leave. She loves being an auror, and she'll probably try to keep fighting."
"I'd better go talk to her."
"That would be a good idea." I sat back. I liked this pregnancy.
"I hope I have a pregnancy like yours, Piper," Prue said.
"You want to have kids?" I had never talked about this with Prue. I really had never seen her as a mother. But now that I thought about it, she would make a good mom.
"Maybe someday. Right now, I think I'll concentrate on my career."
"Ah."
"So how was your doctor visit?" she asked.
"Good. The baby's perfectly healthy."
"And Phoebe?"
"Her baby's doing wonderfully. That string of missions didn't affect her at all. I'm still a little worried about her."
"She won't do anything that will hurt her baby," Prue said.
"But what does she think will hurt?"
"We'll keep an eye on her."
"I know."
When I woke up the next morning, Phoebe was already at work. I quickly went to work.
I was walking by Phoebe's office when I heard her scream, "Maternity leave? They're making me take maternity leave?"
"You're almost four months pregnant. This is a very physical job. We don't want anything to happen to you or your baby."
"No! I refuse to leave!"
Even though I didn't want to, I had to interfere. I knocked on the door. "Phoebe?"
"Go away, Piper!"
I went in anyways.
"Piper, thank God. She refuses to take time off," Tonks said.
"Why should I?" Phoebe said.
"Because you have to fight in this job. There are a lot of nasty spells out there. Nobody wants you to get hurt," I said.
"I have three healers."
"That's not the point. You should try to avoid danger." I took her arm and tried to lead her away. She wouldn't budge.
"No. I'm not leaving. You get to stay at your job."
"My job isn't physical. Yours is. I'll call Sirius if I have to."
"I can take him."
"Can you take Morrigan? Because I will call upon her."
"You have to call upon grief to get her. And you're making me angry. I can call upon her too."
"Come on," I said.
"Oh, fine."
"Don't give me any trouble. Just go home."
"I will." She disapparated.
I followed her.
"You didn't have to follow me," Phoebe said. "I know how to get home."
"I know, but I worry about you."
She was quiet for a few minutes. "I overreacted back there," she finally admitted. "I just love my job. I'll be more careful. No more demon fighting for either of us."
"Yeah. I'll tell you, I kind of miss that."
"Me too. But I'd rather keep my baby safe."
"That's what I want to hear. I'll be home soon." I disapparated.
"Is this handwriting?" I squinted at the letter.
"Yes," Paige said as she snatched the letter back. "And it's quite legible. It says: 'Dear Harry, we… uh…' Okay, maybe it's a little hard to read. I never said that my handwriting was perfect."
"I'll rewrite it," I said. "Maybe you should get those dictation quills."
"Bah!" she scoffed.
"I'm just saying…" I trailed off as Paige was shooting daggers at me. "Yeah." I whipped out a quill and quickly rewrote the letter. "I'll take it. You haven't seen my owl form yet, have you?"
"Actually, I have."
"When?"
"During that one summer, I saw you change without the aid of a spell for the first time," Paige said.
"You knew all along?"
"Yes."
"Well, thanks for keeping my secret."
"That's what sisters are for."
I changed and flew out the window. Eventually I reached the area outside of Hogwarts and flew onward towards the castle. My heart filled with joy as I saw it. The other owls were flying in. I followed.
Harry was sitting with a boy with fiery red hair and a brunette girl. Must be Ron and Hermione. I glided down to the table and held out the letter. He seemed slightly surprised. He didn't know that I was an animagus.
"Who's it from?" Hermione asked.
"The sisters. They want me to come to their home for Christmas."
"Are you going to?" Ron questioned.
"I don't know," Harry said. "It's weird living with people who like me."
Don't know? I should change.
"Oh, what a beautiful owl," Hermione said and petted my head. "A triquetra… How unique."
With my eyes half-closed, I let her pet me. So nice… Oh no… she's hypnotizing me… I shook my head, looked around, then jumped down and transformed. "How could you not know?"
They jumped back. "Who are you?"
"This is Piper," Harry said.
"You're an animagus?" Hermione asked.
"Yes." I looked at Harry. "I can't believe that you would consider saying no. Phoebe's having a lot of fun with her pregnancy. She's driving Sirius crazy. She's been throwing stuff at him."
"I don't want to impose," Harry uncomfortably said.
I held up my hand. "None of that. You're coming and that's final. Paige will come by when your vacation begins."
"A real half whitelighter? The four Charmed Ones? The second child?" Hermione said breathlessly, seeming to be fascinated by all this.
"Um… yeah."
"Don't mind her. She's a bookworm. She's probably read all about you," Ron explained.
"Ah. Sounds like a younger me. I'll have Paige talk to you."
"Oh, thank you."
I smiled and transformed. I think I'll go watch Grams teach. I turned invisible and flew to her classroom. She was preparing her lesson, which happened to be a demon. She had it trapped by three crystals. It was not at all happy.
"Now, now. Don't be like that," Grams said. "I won't be killing you until the end of the day."
I had partly expected this from her. I wonder what the students think of her.
The class filed in. "Good morning. Today we will be looking at a regenerative demon." She took a knife and stabbed him. He instantly reappeared. "You can either use a vanquishing potion, or you can use a spell. Does anyone know what spell that would be?"
Hermione raised her hand, as did Harry. Good. He remembers what we've been teaching him.
"Harry?"
"The tolma spell."
"Yes."
Grams was an excellent teacher. I found myself wishing that I had had her for a DADA teacher. After class had ended, Grams said, "Hello, Piper. Did you enjoy the lesson?"
I transformed. "Yes. You're a very good teacher, Grams."
"Thanks. How's my great-grandchild doing?"
"Superbly. You seem a bit warmer towards this pregnancy."
"Well, I was a little stressed out."
"I understand. You'll be home for Christmas, right?"
"Yes. I'll see you then."
I awoke in the middle of night for some reason. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and wandered downstairs. The baby kicked. "Hey, you. Did you wake me up?"
The room started to swirl around me. Oh no. Now what? I closed my eyes, willing it to stop. I lifted up into the air a little, then landed delicately. I was still in the living room, but it looked different.
"Mom!"
I jumped and then quickly dimmed out.
A teenage girl walked into the room. She looked a lot like a younger Phoebe. "Mom?"
"I'm right here, Mel," the future me said as she walked into the room. "What is it?"
"Wyatt's being a jerk," Mel complained.
"Uh oh. What did he do this time?"
"He scared Jack away. Jack! Things were so great between us and then Wyatt had to use his telekinesis on him." She crossed her arms. "Plus, he keeps being mean to dad just because he isn't his dad. He's ruining my life!"
"I'll talk with him," future me said.
"You know that that won't do anything. He thinks he's so great just because he has that stupid sword."
Suddenly, there was a crash in the other room. I followed the future me and Mel and found that a young man had thrown Remus into the wall.
"Wyatt, NO!" The future me helped Remus up.
Mel changed into a wolf and attacked Wyatt. What the hell is this?
"Melinda, stop!" the future me cried and tore her off of Wyatt.
"I didn't hurt him," she sniffed. "Besides, he deserved it. He attacked dad!"
"That doesn't give you an excuse to attack him. Wyatt, explain yourself," future me commanded.
"He's not my father," Wyatt bitterly said. "I'm sick of him acting like he is."
"Leo is an Elder," future me said. "He can't be with us."
"Hey, y'all!" Phoebe and Prue walked in. "Oh Wyatt, what did you do now?" future Phoebe asked in an exasperated voice.
"Nothing." There was something strange in his eyes.
"Wyatt, I just don't know what to do with you anymore. This war is hard enough on us. We—" future me began.
"You can end the war," Wyatt said.
"We will not give into Voldemort," Prue harshly said.
"Why not?" Wyatt challenged. "The Power of Four was destroyed. The third child is dead."
"He's not dead!" Phoebe yelled. "I will find him."
"No, you won't. Not if I can help it."
"What…"
Voldemort appeared. "Now!"
Wyatt threw Melinda and my future self into the wall. I watched in horror as he clenched his fist, causing Remus, Phoebe, and Prue to fall to the ground. They were dying… and then they were dead.
"No!" future me howled.
The room began to spin and I was back. I couldn't move. I was too shocked. So that's what my son will do. He'll kill my sisters and my husband. What could I do? "Leo!" I called urgently.
"What is it?" Leo asked as he orbed in.
"I went to the future," I said.
"What? How?"
"The baby. She took me to the future. I saw what Wyatt did. He killed them and then he joined Voldemort." Tears welled up in my eyes.
"Whom did he kill?"
"Phoebe, Remus, and Prue. I think that was Chris's future. Oh, what are we going to do?"
"We're going to raise him in good," Leo said. "We're going to stop that from happening."
"Can we? Can we really stop it?" I said.
"Yes. We will. You're a good mother. We're going to make sure that he grows up and stays good."
"Thanks, Leo. So will my daughter be able to jump through time?"
"Yes, I guess so."
"Will I be kicked into the future every time she kicks?"
"Probably," Leo said. "You can freeze time to stop it."
"That's good to know," I murmured.
"Let me know if you go into the future again."
"I will."