A/N: Thank you muchly to my three, faithful reviewers, you have made my heart soar in its great time of woe.

And why is it a great time of woe, you ask. Well, I shall tell you, interested persons. It is, in fact, a great time of woe because today was my first day of high school! And I'm not too fond of it, I can tell you that. Out of 9 periods I only have one class with a single friend. Well, I have lunch with a friend and a semi-friend, and we sat next to two random guys (who thought we liked them) just because we didn't want to look like dorks and sit alone.

But! Enough of my ranting! On with the story!

Oh, by the way, since I've started school of highness I won't be able to write as much, so I won't have another chappy up for a while, but please bear with me, I am continuing with the story.

Chapter Nineteen

It was Christmas Eve and the Manor was bustling with movement. Decorations were being put up, the tree was erected in the living room, baked goods were being made and demons were being fought. Pepper was glad to be home again, she was glad to be falling back into the old routine of the Halliwells. She had almost forgotten how hectic life could be here.

That night, as was tradition, each family member opened one gift. Pepper opened one from her Aunt Paige and, not surprisingly, was given a gift of a kinky nature. Pepper thanked her aunt for the present. Piper, seeing Pepper's gift, told Paige rather loudly that she would NOT under any circumstances be giving her daughter gifts like that.

Pepper smiled. Yep, life was definitely right here. Once again, she had thoughts of staying here and not returning to Hogwarts.

Pepper and her aunts sat by the fireplace, a blazing fire in the grate, (which reminded Pepper of the Gryffindor common room), sipping hot chocolate and sharing stories. Pepper was telling her aunts the things about Hogwarts she could not tell them in a letter, and her aunts were telling her of what they had been doing for the past few months.

"He kissed you back right there? In front of the whole class? When he calls you bad names and says he hates you?" Paige exclaimed, confused, when Pepper told them about making her clones appear in Potions class.

"Yes, and then he kissed me later in the hallways after my detention," Pepper said.

"I think you should stay away from Malfoy, Pepper," Piper told her. "He sounds suspicious, and your father told us the Malfoy's aren't a well-liked family. Highly respected and rich, but not well-liked."

"I think so too, Pep," Phoebe said. "Even if you do have feelings for him, I think you should ignore them. I know that may be hard to do, but I think it's best. It sounds as if he's playing with your mind – or your heart. Just focus all your affection on Harry, I think one guy is enough." She smiled at her niece.

"Yeah, I suppose your right. I don't want anyone else to be mad at me, anyway," Pepper sighed. "He's just so good-looking," she whined. Her aunts laughed. "He is!"

Harry awoke Christmas morning with no thoughts of the dream he had last night, as he didn't remember it at all.

Ron was already opening his gifts when Harry emerged from the bathroom, and he glanced at his pile, too. "Thanks Harry!" Ron exclaimed, pulling the Chudley Cannons robes from their wrapping.

"You're welcome," Harry said, stuffing a Chocolate Frog from Ron into his mouth. "Thanks," he said thickly to Ron.

"Welcome," Ron replied. He picked a card from his next package and read it aloud. "Thought your old set was too well used...Merry Christmas, Love, Pepper." Upon opening the gift he found that it was a new wizard's chess set, the pieces all lined in gold. "Cool," he said.

"What is it?" Harry asked Ron, opening the package that contained his usual sweater from Mrs. Weasley.

"Pepper sent me a new chess set," Ron told him, reaching for another gift from his pile.

"Oh, I haven't gotten to her present yet," Harry said.

He and Ron continued opening package after package until their piles were almost gone. When Harry thought he'd gotten something from everyone he knew he lifted a gift and his eyes fell on a very long, rectangular box. "What's this?" he wondered aloud, pulling it towards himself.

He unfolded the card that was attached to it and read it. Harry, Thanks for everything you've done for me these past few months, I don't know how I would've made it at Hogwarts without you. Merry Christmas...Love, Pepper.

He opened the box and stared at the gift in disbelief. "Bloody hell," he murmured.

Pepper's Christmas was the best she'd had in a long time. She received most everything she'd asked for and she was having a great time with her family, not to mention the fact that she was glad she didn't have any homework to do.

A few days before Pepper was due to return to Hogwarts, and owl flew in through the open kitchen window, landing on the counter with a small hoot. Piper entered the kitchen and found the owl. Untying the letter from its leg, she opened it.

Miss Halliwell and family,

I wish to give you the opportunity to visit the house of Sirius Black, as I've heard Pepper has wanted to see it. If you do wish to see it, please send me an owl back as soon as possible, I may be at your house at eleven o' clock in the morning on the twenty-seventh of December.

Albus Dumbledore

Piper reread the letter, not fully believing Pepper had the opportunity she had been waiting for for almost a year now. "Pepper!" she called loudly, hoping her voice would carry upstairs to Pepper's room. She read the letter once more as Pepper came bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What?" she asked, coming up beside her aunt.

"Read this," Piper ordered, handing the letter from Dumbledore to Pepper.

Pepper's eyes scanned it and then she smiled happily. "Is this for real?" she asked, not believing that Dumbledore was giving her this chance. "I can't believe it...I'll actually get to see my dad's house. Have you written Dumbledore back yet?"

"No, I was thinking you should," Piper said.

"Alright." Pepper flipped the parchment over, picked up a pen from the kitchen counter and began writing an answer to Dumbledore. When she was finished, she tied it to the leg of the owl that was waiting patiently on the counter, fed it a Cheese Nip and it flew out the open window. "Hey, that's in two days, isn't it?" Pepper said. "Awesome, I get to see my dad's house in two days." And with that, she ran upstairs to write a letter to Hermione telling her about Dumbledore's news.

At eleven o' clock on the dot on the twenty-seventh of December a small pop was heard in the living room of the Manor. Pepper, who had been lounging on the couch and reading a magazine, was startled to see Albus Dumbledore standing in her living room. She hurriedly pulled down her shirt to cover her midriff.

"Hello, Miss Halliwell," Dumbledore said with a smile, his cool blue eyes twinkling.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore," Pepper replied, standing up. "I'll go get my aunts then...it is alright if they come, isn't it?"

"Of course," Dumbledore said.

"Thanks...oh, where are my manners; would you like something to drink?" Pepper asked, a bit stunned by the fact that Hogwarts' headmaster was standing in her living room.

"No thank you, Miss Halliwell," Dumbledore said, looking slightly amused.

"Ok, well, I'll go get my aunts. Have a seat," said Pepper, exiting the room to find Piper, Phoebe and Paige.

She found all three of them upstairs. "Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Piper, Aunt Paige, come on, Dumbledore's here," she told them.

The four witches went downstairs and entered the living room, where Dumbledore was still standing, holding a picture in his hand. When he saw the women enter the room he placed it back on the mantelpiece and smiled at them. "Hello," he greeted. "Miss Matthews," – he shook Paige's hand – "Miss Halliwell," – he shook Phoebe's hand – "Miss Wyatt," – he shook Piper's hand – "It's so nice to see you all again."

Pepper was puzzled, when had Dumbledore met her aunts?, but no one saw it as Dumbledore was talking to Paige about where to orb. "Is everyone ready?" Paige asked, grabbing Pepper's hand.

Seconds later they were standing on a wooden floor in what appeared to be a dining room. There were candles lighting the room and a table running almost the length of it. Off to the right there was a door that led into the kitchen, and another door led into the sitting room.

"Welcome to number twelve, Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore said. "You may look around as much as you please, except for one room, where there is a meeting for the Order of the Phoenix currently taking place."

Suddenly, the sitting room door burst open and in sped young woman with short, spiky green hair, holding a shovel for the fireplace above her head. "Oh, Professor, it's you," she panted, lowering the shovel. "We knew someone had entered the house but we weren't sure who it was."

"Hello, Tonks. I have brought the Halliwells here to have a look around, as young Miss Halliwell has desired to see her father's house," Dumbledore explained.

"Oh, yes, of course," the woman said. "OOH! We haven't met, I'm Nymphadora Tonks, but I prefer just Tonks," she explained to Pepper and her aunts, holding out the hand that wasn't grasping the shovel for them to shake.

Pepper took her hand and shook it. "I'm Pepper Halliwell and these are my aunts, Piper, Paige and Phoebe."

"Hello again," Tonks said, nodding at Pepper's aunts. She looked at Pepper thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side. "You do look like Sirius," she mused. "He was my cousin, you know. Well," she added more briskly, "I'll just get back to the meeting, then. Nice to see you all again, nice to meet you Pepper, good day." She exited the room, leaving Dumbledore and the Halliwells once again.

"I, too, must get to the meeting. You may search as much as you please, and when you are done and ready to move on, come knock at the drawing room door," Dumbledore said, and with a nod he left the room as well.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," Pepper called after him. "Well," she said, turning to her aunts, "let's get to searching then, shall we?"

They spent the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon looking through the house, and Pepper felt tears streaming down her face more than once, as she found things that reminded her of her father. She had a vague recollection of being in one of the bedrooms and Piper told her that she had slept in here for a time when she was an infant. Pepper couldn't believe she remembered being here.

In one room Pepper spotted a tapestry hanging on the wall. It was a family tree – Pepper's father's family tree. At the top it read The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

Pepper looked at the family tree, wanting to find her father, but to her surprise, he wasn't there. Instead, at the bottom of the tapestry where Sirius should have been there was a burn mark. Pepper found another burn mark between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa. Both of those names struck a bell and she wondered where she'd heard them before.

She followed the gold thread leading from Narcissa Black and found that it was connected to Lucius Malfoy, from there it led to Draco Malfoy. Pepper shuddered. So Harry hadn't been lying, she really was related to Malfoy.

Wanting to know about Bellatrix Black, she followed that line to Rodolphus Lestrange. Bellatrix Lestrange...Harry had mentioned her before, he said she was a Death Eater, the Death Eater who had...done something important...

Then it hit Pepper, Lestrange was the Death Eater who had murdered her father! Pepper's fists clenched in anger as she stared murderously at the tapestry.

"Let's go, I'm done looking around," Pepper said to her aunts, spinning on her heel and walking out of the room. She trudged downstairs and knocked solidly on the door to the one room they hadn't been allowed to enter: the drawing room.

Dumbledore opened the door and stepped from the room, smiling down at Pepper. "Find anything of interest?" he asked kindly.

"Sort of," Pepper hissed through clenched teeth. She couldn't believe Sirius' own cousin had murdered him...

"Well, let's go to our next destination," Dumbledore offered.

Pepper didn't know they were going somewhere else, but she grabbed the hand Paige offered and they orbed from the house.

The five of them were now standing on a grassy lawn, looking up at a beautiful white house.

"Why are we here?" Pepper asked. She'd already seen her father's house...

"This, Miss Halliwell, is your father's house, the one he purchased himself when you were born," Dumbledore told her. "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place belonged to Sirius' parents."

Pepper turned from Dumbledore to stare once again at the house. It was beautiful: a white mansion with a wrap around porch, picture windows, and balconies coming from the two front second floor windows. Vines covered the walls of the house – it looked like nothing had been cared for in sixteen years. "You mean he bought this house for me to live in?" Pepper asked.

"For you, him and Prue to live in," Phoebe answered, her eyes scanning the house. "Prue and Sirius went to the countryside two months before Prue was due to have the baby...they said they searched everywhere until they found the perfect place..." It sounded as if Phoebe was talking to her memories and not to the people around her.

"And this is the perfect place, I can tell you that, Pep," Piper said, gazing at the house as well.

"Let's go in then, shall we?" Dumbledore suggested, looking around at the family with a smile. "I'm sure Pepper's anxious to see the inside."

Dumbledore led them across the untailored lawn and up to the ornately carved front door. "This is where I leave you," he said. "You will find the door unlocked. I trust you don't need me to find your way back to your home. Good day to you all." That said, Dumbledore disappeared before their eyes.

"Are you ready, honey?" Phoebe asked Pepper.

Pepper pushed the door open and as it squeaked back on its hinges an old, dusty room was revealed. The room appeared to be an entrance hall, since there were doors leading to and from the room around the room and there was a staircase leading to upper floors. When they stepped inside candles held in brackets lining the walls sprung to life, lighting themselves and casting light on the dark room.

"Handy," Pepper commented, walking across the dust coated floor, her shoes leaving prints in the dirt.

She stepped on the first stair of the staircase and looked back at her aunts expectantly, wanting them to follow her. They complied, pursuing Pepper up the stairs to the first floor.

The first door they entered appeared to be an office, so they didn't do much searching. In fact, the whole first floor was pretty uninteresting, just boxes, dust and rats, so they proceeded to floor number two.

The first door on that floor was opened and Pepper gazed around, interested. In the room was a crib, Pepper written on the side in bold silver lettering. Pepper ran her hand over the dusty crib, tears springing to her eyes as she looked on the table next to the crib – there was a picture of her parents, her father was picking up her pregnant mother and they were both laughing.

On the other side of the sizeable room there was a white and pink wooden dresser, a mobile placed on top of it. A rocking chair was placed beside the dresser and it had pictures scattered on it and a tissue box placed on top.

"Why didn't I ever live here?" Pepper asked hoarsely, going carefully through some of the photographs on the rocking chair.

Piper, Paige and Phoebe were also looking around at the room's items and Phoebe came over and put her hand on her niece's shoulder.

"Prue was putting the finishing touches on this house when she got the news that Sirius was put in Azkaban. She just dropped the project then and there and never came back to this house. That news devastated her; she figured he was as good as dead since people died in that prison every day. She thought that it was just a matter of time before he was dead...that's why you grew up no knowing your father."

"Until he escaped," Pepper said.

"Right. Prue never dreamed that could happen, but it did," Phoebe said with a smile.

"Why didn't we come to live here, then?" Pepper asked.

"Prue had to be a part of the Power of Three," Piper explained, stepping up beside Pepper and going through some of the pictures as Pepper was doing. "At that point she didn't want to move from America to England, especially because you were used to living at the Manor."

"So this place is in England?" Pepper asked, looking at the window out onto the massive grounds, as if there was a sign that told her they were, in fact, in England. She didn't find one so she walked back over to her aunts. Paige was looking in the crib but Piper and Phoebe were still standing by the rocking chair.

"Yeah, it's England. Prue figured you'd be going to Hogwarts so she wanted the transition to be easier, I suppose," Phoebe said. "But then everything changed..."

"Why didn't I go to Hogwarts when I was eleven?" Pepper wondered. "Did I get a letter?"

"Yes, you got a letter, but we didn't show it to you," Piper said. "Prue wanted to teach you our witchcraft, not the stuff at Hogwarts. I'm not sure if she was planning on sending you for the sixth and seventh years or not..."

"She wasn't going to send me to Hogwarts?" Pepper said sharply. "At all? Even when I got a LETTER! Why couldn't I have just gone my first year? I mean, I learned a lot about our craft before I was eleven! And I could've learned more in the summer vacations!"

"Prue had her reasons, I'm sure, Pepper," Piper told her niece, trying to calm the girl down.

"But wouldn't my dad have wanted me to go?"

"I'm sure Prue talked to Sirius, Pep, I'm sure they came to a decision together," Piper said.

"Well, we'll never know now, will we, because they're dead and they've left me with all this shit to deal with," Pepper hissed, her temper rising fast. "They could have at least told me about Hogwarts and I'd be going there after they died, or they could have told me about this gigantic house they've suddenly left to me or the vault full of jewels in a wizarding bank in another country that I had no idea about!"

"Pepper, honey, take a deep breath, you know you're not mad at your parents, you know they must've had good reasons for everything," Phoebe soothed.

"No, actually, I don't know that," Pepper said. "And like I said, I never will! Hey, they also could have told me that I was a really powerful witch that has to help Harry defeat Voldemort, even though Harry's in the Prophecy that says either he or Voldemort has to DIE but it rests on MY SHOULDERS! OR that I'd have to make friends and have feelings for boys and I'd like my second cousin! OR that my god brother is my SOUL MATE and we could perform a curse that could bring my dad back to life! They could have fucking WARNED me of SOMETHING!"

Pepper stopped yelling, (instead she stood there, breathing heavily), as she watched her aunts shocked faces. Paige had turned from the crib and was looking directly at Pepper.

"What?" Pepper asked softly, not understanding why they were so shocked.

"You can bring Sirius back to life?" Phoebe breathed.

Pepper gulped. "Yes," she said meekly.

"For good?" Phoebe wondered.

"Not exactly," Pepper said warily, not wanting to continue the conversation. She wasn't supposed to tell her aunts that...she needed an excuse to get them off of the subject.

"But it's too dangerous, so Harry and I aren't going to do it," she lied quickly, "Plus, it involves a very complicated potion and some spell in Latin or something...it is way to complicated and advanced for us so we aren't even going to attempt it. We don't even know the ingredients, and even if we did there's no way we could get them – they wouldn't be in the students' stores."

"Oh...hold on, back up, hon...did you say you were Harry's soul mate?" Paige asked confusedly.

"Yes...Hermione figured it out somehow, it's very hard to explain," Pepper said, really not wanting to talk to her aunts about this, especially because it involved a very heated kiss between her and Harry.

"Well I'd like to know about this," Piper ordered, "Paige, orb us back, please."

Pepper had the feeling that she was in trouble as she held on to her Aunt Paige's arm while her other two aunts did the same. As Paige was orbing away something driving Pepper told her to let go of Paige's arm, so she did.

She watched her three aunts orb away without her, disappearing in blue and white crystals.

"Great Pepper, look what you've done; now you're stuck in a dark, dank mansion all by your little self. Great work," she said to the emptiness, wondering how long it would take her aunts to realize what had happened. In that time she decided to run.