Sugar and Spice, It's Not Always Nice
A/N: Updated 15 years later! Enjoy.
Prologue
"Pepper! You have a visitor!" Phoebe Halliwell yelled over her shoulder into the house. She smiled at the man in the doorway and invited him in. He stepped into the entryway as they both waited for Pepper's appearance. Her head poked out into the room from the top of the staircase, beaming as she saw the weary middle aged man standing in the doorway.
"Dad!" she shouted, running down the stairs into the arms of her father. He laughed and ruffled his daughter's long hair. "I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been? Aunt Piper, come see who's here!" Pepper shouted towards the kitchen.
Piper appeared in the kitchen doorway, grinned, and walked toward the front door, hugging the man. "Sirius, it's so good to see you, how have you been?" she asked him. She studied him for a moment; his skin had a grey pallor, his hair was unkempt, and the bags under his eyes were threatening to take over the rest of his face. "You look awful," she added.
He laughed, to her surprise. "I know," he said. "I have so much to tell you all."
"Why don't we go into the living room. I'll make some coffee," Piper said as she returned to the kitchen.
Pepper sat next to her father on the couch near the fireplace, turning her body to face him. She couldn't help the smile on her face at the sight of her father next to her. It had been so long since she'd seen him. "Dad, where have you been? Have you been with Mom?" Pepper asked. "Are you still on the run?" she half-joked.
"Yes, I am," he answered. "Your mother and I have been working as a part of the Order of the Phoenix. We've been incredibly busy." His eyes shifted away from his daughter as Piper returned with the coffee and passed the mugs around.
"Four sugars and cream, Aunt Piper?" Pepper confirmed before taking her mug.
"Yes," Piper answered, smiling.
"Thanks," Pepper said and blew on the liquid to cool it down. Piper sat down next to Phoebe and sipped at her coffee.
"If you're here, where's Prue? Were you two not together?" Phoebe asked.
Sirius' face fell and he looked down at his mug. "That's why I came," he said solemnly.
Reading the sombre tone of his voice and the sudden way his body posture sagged, Pepper asked breathlessly, "Dad? What's wrong with mom?"
When Sirius looked up, silent tears were running down his face. Alarmed now, Pepper set her mug down on the coffee table and placed her hand on her father's knee. "Dad?" she said again. She didn't want to think the worst.
"She…" he began, "Prue's…dead."
"What?" Piper hissed. Phoebe dropped her coffee and the mug shattered as it hit the hardwood floor, the brown liquid spilling across the area rug, but no one seemed to notice. Pepper tensed instantly, tears welling in her eyes, snatching her hand back from her father's knee.
"Prue…she's…dead…" Sirius repeated.
"No," Pepper said quietly. She waved her hands in front of her as if trying to erase what he'd just said. Sirius nodded grimly and reached his hand out towards his daughter in comfort.
The three Halliwell women were crying. Pepper jumped to her feet, ignoring the proffered hand. "And you were there, right? That's how you know?" she hissed angrily, clenching her fists at her sides.
"Yes," he said, his voice thick with emotion.
"And you didn't do anything about it?!" Pepper's voice was becoming frenetic, and her aunt felt the need to cut in.
"Pepper," Phoebe warned calmly through her own tears. She stepped forwards towards her niece and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"No!" Pepper cried, throwing Phoebe off. "He watched it happen and he didn't save her! How dare you!" she continued to shout at her father.
Sirius's face was pained. He opened his mouth to say something but he suddenly stopped. Pepper whirled around to face her Aunt Piper. "Unfreeze him!" she yelled. "I want to yell at him some more!"
"Pepper!" Piper yelled back at her niece. "Let him explain! We all want to know what happened!" She was on her feet now, too, her dark eyes wide and red-rimmed.
"Don't you get it?!" Pepper yelled desperately. "Don't you understand? My mom is dead!" A new wave of tears hit her forcefully and Phoebe manged to wrap Pepper in a tight embrace against her chest.
"Pepper," Phoebe said softly into Pepper's ebony hair. "We do understand. Our mom died, too, remember. Prue was our sister. At least you'll have memories of your mother, honey, it'll be all right."
"Oh, Aunt Phoebe, I'm so sorry," Pepper apologized between sobs, hugging her aunt back tightly. "I'm sorry, Aunt Piper." Piper came to join the hug between her sister and her niece.
"It's alright, Pepper, I understand," Piper said, and kissed the crown of Pepper's head as she had when she was a child. "I'm going to have to unfreeze your dad, please let him explain."
"Alright," Pepper agreed, sniffing loudly and drying her eyes unsuccessfully, as the tears kept falling. Phoebe sat Pepper down next to her on the sofa across from Sirius and collected Pepper's hands into her lap.
Piper unfroze Sirius and said, "Darling, let me explain…" he stopped in surprise at his new surroundings. His brow wrinkled in confusion before it dawned on him that Piper had frozen him.
"Then explain it to me, dad," Pepper said angrily.
"The Order received intel that there would be a Death Eater attack on a bridge in the city centre. Prue and I were sent because we could scout in our Animagus forms as lookouts. But the attack happened much earlier than we thought it would, and she got caught up in the explosion of the bridge. She…" He took a deep, shuddering breath to compose himself before he finished. "...it was quick, at least." He ran a weary hand down his face before looking up at his daughter, meeting her anguished gaze. "Pepper, darling, I know that your mother loved you so much and she was so proud of you. Phoebe, Piper, too...she wouldn't want you to mourn her death for too long... there are still innocents to save, after all," he offered them a half smile at his repeating of Prue's favourite mantra.
"Oh god," Phoebe said, tears streaming anew. Pepper was hysterical and ran up to her room. Piper tried to stop her but Phoebe shook her head, so they turned their attention to Sirius.
Piper sighed thickly, sitting heavily on the sofa and putting her elbows on her knees, forehead resting on her hands. A thought came to her: "With Prue out of the war, that means you…" Piper began.
Sirius nodded. "There's only a few more months in the year so Dumbledore suggested the start of next term."
"Oh god," Phoebe said again, twisting the hem of her shirt between her fingers in nervous grief. "We'd better contact Paige then, right?"
Piper raised her head to nod grimly at her sister. "Best to do what Prue said and not…mourn her death for long, there are still people out there that need help." She batted ferociously at her tears.
Sirius smiled weakly. "Now there's the Halliwells I know. I have to get back, there's still a lot of work I have to do for the Order."
Upstairs, Pepper slammed her door and slid down to the floor, hitting her tailbone abruptly on the wooden floor. Tears streamed heavily down her cheeks, completely obstructing her vision. Looking skyward, she yelled: "Leo! Uncle Leo!", and then put her head in her hands and let the sobs overtake her. Half a minute later, blue lights shone into the bedroom and a tall, brunette man appeared. Leo quickly took in the situation and knelt to wrap Pepper in his arms.
"Shhh," he whispered tenderly. "What's wrong?"
"My-my mom," she wailed. "She...she died!"
Leo looked down at her, wide-eyed. Pepper nodded fervently then collapsed into tears again. "Let's go down and see your aunts, sweetie, I wanna talk to them, ok?"
"N-no, you go. I'll stay here," Pepper managed to say. Leo picked her up and placed her on her bed. She was pliant in his arms, eager for comfort, and he tucked her under her bedspread before leaving. "I'm so scared, Uncle Leo," he heard her say softly. He walked back over to the bed and kissed the top of her head, gently brushing the hair out of her tear-stained face.
"It'll be alright, Pepper. It really will," he assured her. "Get some sleep, now, we'll deal with everything tomorrow." He kissed her again and exited the room towards the stairs. "What happened to Prue?" he asked the three in the living room brashly.
"Oh, Leo," Piper said, rushing to him and curling up in his embrace. "She's dead, she really is." Leo's breath hitched in his throat, tears immediately pressing at his eyelids with Piper's confirmation.
"L-Leo," Phoebe began through her tears, "this is Sirius Black, Pepper's father. He can explain what happened, he-he was there." Leo guided Piper and Phoebe to sit on either side of him. He soothed them both as Sirius told him the story. By the end, Leo was crying too.
"I'd better go," Sirius said with a regretful sigh. "I've already been here longer than I should have. Do you know what has to happen now, Leo?" he asked the other man.
"Yes, I do," Leo said. "Piper's filled me in on what would happen if Prue was unable to participate in the war any longer." He paused, as if worried to say the next words out loud. "You know, she's the most powerful witch - potentially in the world. A witch in the Charmed family, with a foot in both magical worlds."
The other three adults nodded. None of them looked happy about it. "We all know that, but she doesn't," Phoebe said, her eyes anxiously darting to the staircase as if Pepper had overheard.
"And I think it might be better if it stayed that way, at least for now. She doesn't need to be aware of the immense power she has; she already has a few things on her plate," Piper added. "Though she might already suspect she's something special because she has three natural powers already, and we only have two."
"She'll probably stand out at school, since she already knows and can do so much," Sirius said. "Though, some things will be new to her, I suspect. I've taught her as much about the school as I could in the time we had together to prepare her for this. I hope she's ready. I'm sure she'll catch on quickly to everything, she always does."
"She doesn't know what she's in for, does she?" Leo asked his wife and her sister. They shook their heads.
"We didn't see the need to tell her until she had to go. No need to worry her unless absolutely necessary," Piper explained. "And I think I'd like to wait a few days to tell her...I know what it's like to lose a mother young." She wiped her eyes with the back of her shirt sleeve.
"I bet it's harder for her, too, at almost sixteen instead of two or even seven," Phoebe pointed out. "Poor kid."
"Why don't you two go to bed, I'll stay as long as I can," the Whitelighter said.
"And I'll get going, I just want to say goodbye to Pepper." Sirius went over to the couch, hugged Piper and Phoebe, and shook Leo's hand. "I'll keep in touch with you two," he said to the Halliwells. He went upstairs and knocked on Pepper's door. Receiving no answer he walked in to find his daughter sleeping, curled tightly into a ball, a troubled look on her furrowed brow. Sirius leaned down and kissed his daughter's forehead. "Good luck, darling," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. I love you. I can't imagine the power you'll have with a wand in your hand."