A/N: Have tissues ready, it's the funeral. Thank you to all of you for all your encouragement. It always helps and inspires. I know it took me a while, but I was writing Perfect Lie, a vignette set in the future of this fic. It ought to give people a feeling as to where I'm going with this. Thank you for being patient.

ChRsTiNe17 - Thank you. I like them to get along sometimes too.

Chub – thank you. Even a little sadness is good sometimes.

Black Ice – Thank you. I did want to do Wyatt a little differently, because I don't believe a child can be evil from birth.

Taynna – Thank you again. I do seem him trying to make up for not being there before. I tried to parallel it with Piper and Phoebe after Prue died. But as for Leo? That's not coming out anytime soon. Sorry. Lol.

Willows2 – You and me both.

Chrisoreinted – Thanks, and there it is.

Sbender333 – Wow, coming from you that's quite a compliment.

Aldrea7 - Thank you so much. I will indeed.

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Chapter 4: Feels Like Letting Go

"Tragedy is always hard, especially when they are as young and in such a quantity as these. Beloved mothers and wives, Piper, Paige and Phoebe Halliwell were and will always live on in the hearts of those that knew them..."

Prue tuned out the sound of the man preaching about women he hardly knew. She leaned a little more heavily on her Fathers arm and glanced to her right. Her Uncle sat next to her, blindly listening to the service. He was sitting next to her eldest cousin, and had one hand encased in his Fathers, who now and then would squeeze it.

"...they will be sorely missed by those around them..."

Glancing further down, the ten year old could see the middle cousin – or brother, depending on who you were – leaning on their Grandfather, silent tears trickling down his cheeks and too immersed in his own grief to even wipe them. She could understand that: She wanted to cry too. But she felt all cried out at the moment.

She hadn't really spoken to her cousins these last few days; hadn't really spoken to anyone. A part of her wanted to climb between in her cousins and just scream. But another part was too numb to move.

She didn't really know what to think. One minute her Mother was fussing about her hair and next poof! She's gone forever and never coming back.

It just wasn't fair.

All this, just because she protected people. Made people safe.

All this because she was a witch.

---

It was almost dark and the funeral had been over for more than an hour.

But still a solitary figure sat at the recently closed grave had been sitting there staring mindlessly for too long alone.

At least, he thought he was.

"Chris?" he didn't answer. He felt Wyatt puling much more gently than usually at his arm, "You can't stay here forever."

"I can try." The words sound wrong somehow, tearful but hardened.

He sat down beside him and simply said, "I can wait."

Chris looked at him, "For forever?"

"Forever is just a day." He said, trying to catch his attention. But all he got in return was a sad smile.

"Your spouting clich's now?"

"Tell me what I need to say." he asked.

"There nothing you can say."

Wyatt just nodded, and cuddled a little closer before orbing them both back into the manor, into their Mothers room.

He turned for a moment, leaving Chris to cuddle himself in the covers. It was the only comforting place he could think of, but regretted it the moment the ache set in that she would never stay here again, even though everything felt like her.

Turning back, Chris' breathing had become slow and regular. He was sleeping. Wyatt just got on top of the bed clothes and shut his eyes, going to place where the last three days hadn't happened and he still had his Mom.

---

The first thing Chris noticed was that he was cold.

He could feel a duvet but it was a shiver that had woken him, like there was something missing. He opened his eyes and for just a moment he though he seen something in the door way, but upon the next blink, it was gone. He moved himself up, moving along the corridor. If there was something in the house, chances are, it's the attic and the book its going for.

But all he seen was Wyatt on the floor with the Book of Shadows, flipping it and writing in a notebook. He looked up as Chris came in.

"Hey."

"Hey," he said sitting opposite the elder brother, "What are you doing?"

"Checking to see who could have..." he trailed off, just lifting the paper titled 'Demons with Powers Greater than Power of Three:' and handing it to Chris.

Chris just nodded, but before he had time to scan the names, white orbs filled the attic. His first instinct was that it was Aunt Paige. It was a bittersweet second before he realised that it couldn't possibly be.

Instead, his Father formed in the attic, and just shot them a small smile, "Find anything?"

Wyatt shook his head, "None that aren't dead already. So unless it can copy powers, I don't know."

Chris spoke up, "Don't you have any idea at all?"

"If I did, I'd tell you." He said a little sharply, then sighed and sat down. "You're Mother and her sisters were just the first."

"So it's just random?" Wyatt interjected. "No pattern?"

"Power." He said, bluntly. "They're going after the witches with most power."

"Meaning we're probably on the hit list." Wyatt finished.

Leo just nodded, "Pack just what you need and orb over to magic school. Mrs Winterbourne has kindly agreed to set up some rooms for you till the dangers over."

"No."

Shocked by the severity of the tone, Wyatt stared at his little brother. Leo just took the reasoning side of it, "Chris, listen-"

"No, you listen, Leo." Chris was gaining confident with every word and didn't stop to notice the flinch when he's addressed his Father as Leo. "You can't just walk in here and tell us what to do because it doesn't work like that!"

"Magic school is safe," Leo reasoned gently.

"So just uproot my whole life because you suddenly realise you have a family?" he said, angrily. "I didn't want to go to magic school before and I won't now."

"And that stubbornness will get both of you killed." He said, "Whoever they are, they know to come here. You can't just disappear from it, Chris, even if you're hurting."

Wyatt just looked at him, unsure of what to do, feeling entirely helpless and hating it.

Chris just looked past his Father, and said, "Maybe I can," before orbing out.

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Chapter Five - coming soon.