A/N: Thanks again to my reviews and you cool English people who answered my last author's note. I am proud to say that this story is 150 pages and still going pretty strong. I heart you reviewers! I don't have much to say, so on with the longer-than-last-chappy chapter!

Chapter Twenty-One

When Pepper and Leo arrived back at the Manor Pepper made a mad dash to get to her room before Leo could stop her. Unluckily for Pepper, her uncle grabbed her arm as she was at the foot of the stairs.

"Pepper, don't try to run away, I know there's something up," Leo said, pulling Pepper into the living room. "Piper said that you could bring Sirius back to life."

"I don't want any more questions! I'm tired of questions!" Pepper said, plopping herself heavily onto the couch.

"Pepper, what are you talking about?" Leo asked kindly, sitting on the couch across from Pepper.

"Arghhh," Pepper said, exasperated. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and both hands clutched tightly in her hair. "Why does everyone have to ask Pepper questions? I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there in the world with problems that you could help and question but no, everyone has to question what's with me!"

"Pepper, I can tell something's wrong, will you just tell me what it is?" Leo asked, more tenderly this time as Pepper was obviously upset.

Pepper clutched her hair more tightly, as if she was trying to rip out her hair. "I'm sorry, Uncle Leo, it's not your fault," she sighed. "It's just that questions about my life and well-being are being thrown at me left and right. If I wanted everyone to know my deep, dark secrets then I'd post them on a bloody billboard or something...I mean, first Harry, then Hermione...Ginny did it...Aunt Piper....Aunt Paige is mad at me and now you're wondering about my dad. I want life to be simple again. Back before mom went off to fight and I went to Hogwarts." She sighed again.

Leo furrowed his brow in confusion. He hadn't known Pepper was this stressed. "I'm your Whitelighter, Pepper. If you don't want me to tell someone something I'm sworn to secrecy. So go ahead, vent on me, tell me anything and everything you want to let out."

Pepper dislodged her hands from her hair and looked up at Leo. "That's right..." she recalled, "So you won't even tell Aunt Piper, then?"

"Not if you don't want me two," Leo replied.

"Even if she badgers you?"

"Right," said Leo.

"Alright..." Pepper said hesitantly before she launched into telling Leo what he wanted to hear.

For the next quarter of an hour that's what she did, though she conveniently left out what she had told Hermione and Harry. She also left out the fact that she and Harry were planning on performing the Féminin Vivreencore Curse. She just told her uncle that they had found a curse but it was far too dangerous to even think about doing, so she and Harry had dropped the subject in an instant.

Lying wasn't her greatest talent, so while she told her uncle all of this her face was in her hands. "There, I've told you why I've been such a bitch lately," she finished, looking up into her Uncle Leo's face.

"I can see why you didn't tell me that in your letters," Leo said, cracking a slight smile. The look on his face was that of concern and slight amusement, as if Pepper's teenage trials were too lowly for his attention. But Pepper knew he was just trying to lighten the mood like he always did when she had problems in her life.

"Yeah, I just don't want to tell my aunts all of that, and they'll beat it out of me if it's the last thing they do...especially Aunt Piper. They were so interested when I said Harry was my soul mate and we could bring my dad back. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. But I was just so riled up I didn't think about what I was saying."

Pepper returned her face to her hands, dreading the moment when Paige, Piper and Phoebe showed up. She knew her Uncle Leo wouldn't tell them anything, but they could punish her so she'd tell them. Pepper wished she was back at Hogwarts where no one was mad at her anymore, where her aunts weren't and where she could spend the rest of Christmas break with Harry and Ron.

In her mind's eye she pictured the Gryffindor common room. The squashy scarlet furniture, the immense fireplace with a warming fire in the grate, the wooden tables covered in parchment and books, the bulletin board covered in notices...

Suddenly Pepper experienced a sensation like on a roller coaster – it felt like the bottom of her stomach was falling out – and the couch she was sitting on grew softer. Puzzled, she opened her eyes, expecting to see her Uncle Leo sitting across from her. Instead her eyes rested upon the fireplace that she had just pictured.

She lifted her head up and glanced around. She was in the Gryffindor common room...but hadn't she just been in her own living room?

"Pepper?" Harry said as he descended the spiral staircase from the boys' dormitories. "What are you doing here?"

Pepper spun around to face Harry. He was looking as puzzled as she felt. "Hold on, Harry, I've got to try something," she said in a rush, putting her face in her hands once more.

She pictured the living room at the Manor with her Uncle Leo sitting in front of her. She felt the same sensation of the bottom of her stomach dropping out and seconds later she opened her eyes to see a very shocked Leo sitting across from her.

"What the hell?" he muttered.

"So I wasn't here for a minute?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, where did you go?" Leo wondered.

"I think I was in the Gryffindor common room," Pepper supplied.

"At Hogwarts?" said a skeptical Leo.

"Yes. I'm not really sure how but I pictured it in my mind and I had a desire to go there and...wham...I was there. Harry saw me and talked to me a bit, but I pictured being back here in my mind and – " Pepper shrugged innocently, "– I just appeared back here, I guess. Do you think it's another power? Because if it is, I am definitely not ready for it right now. I know that the Elders only hand out powers if they think someone's ready to have them but they are wrong on this one. With all the crap going on I am so not ready to deal with a new power."

"It probably is another power, Pepper," Leo told her. "You know the Elders have reasons for doing things like this, so they must think you're ready. It seems as if you already have this power figured out, anyway."

"If it puts me in every situation I imagine, then I so do not have control over it! Do you know how many things I picture a day?!" Pepper paused, staring at her uncle as if it was his fault. "Wait," she gasped suddenly, "does this mean that if I picture Malfoy falling off a cliff, he will?"

"Pepper," Leo said warningly. "I'm not sure if it will do that. I'm thinking it's similar to orbing, but I can't be sure. I'll go check with the Elders. You wait here while I'm gone," he said.

Pepper opened her mouth to protest but Leo was gone before any words came from her mouth. "But I don't want to wait here," she whined to the empty room. "I'm going back to Hogwarts, where there are no aunts who can question me." She stood up and raced up the staircase.

Upon entering her room, Pepper grabbed her trunk and backpack. She closed her eyes and pictured the living room once more. The now-familiar sensation of riding a roller coaster overcame her and soon she was opening her eyes, finding herself back downstairs. "Cool," she said, grinning.

Pepper went into the kitchen and jotted down a note to her aunts and uncle, telling them that she was leaving early as she didn't want to get interrogated and that she loved them. She left a post script to her Uncle Leo, telling him she left Cashlinn at home and for him to owl her at Hogwarts telling her about her new power.

With that Pepper entered the living room again. She picked up her bags, squinted her eyes and a minute later she was standing in the middle of the Gryffindor common room facing a baffled Ron and Harry.

"Bloody hell, where'd you come from?" Ron said.

Pepper smiled. "Nice to see you too, Ron." She then turned to Harry. "I disappeared didn't I?" she asked him.

Harry nodded dumbly. "Where were you? How did you get here?" he wondered in a rush.

"I think it's a new power..." Pepper said, looking thoughtful. "See, I was at my house and I was in a tight spot so I pictured the common room in my head and BAM! I was here. Then I imagined my living room and I was back there. Since I wanted to come back here and avoid the wrath of my aunts I grabbed my bags and here I am!" She smiled brightly at the two boys, a little disappointed that they weren't happier to see you. "Aren't you glad to see me? Harry?"

The two seemed to come out of thought and Harry smiled at her. "Sorry, just a bit of a shock to see you appear out of nowhere," Harry apologized. "Actually you sort of materialized...Oh, hey thanks for the broom."

"Yeah, it's wicked!" Ron said. "And thanks for my chess set."

"Oh, no problem," Pepper shrugged.

"Pepper, I don't think you should be spending that much money on me. I mean, that broom is a lot of gold..." Harry said hesitantly.

"Harry Potter, do not tell me what I can and cannot spend me money on. I have so much of it that – wait, I didn't tell you did I...you've got to hear the story of my vault full of jewels." Pepper suddenly remembered something and she reached in her pocket to grab it. She held the up the parchment that she pulled out of her vault. "I'll be back later," she said, racing up the stairs to her dormitory to read the paper.

"Wonder what that's about," Ron said, raising his eyebrows.

"Dunno, but I want to hear about this vault full of jewels," said Harry.

Pepper unfolded the square of parchment carefully, not wanting to rip it in her excitement. It was a letter. Recognizing the handwriting, she pulled her mother's dairy from her pocket and opened it. She compared the handwriting and found that it matched. What was it with her finding things of her parents these days?

Pepper read the letter and blinked in disbelief. She had had a hard time believing her father's explanation for her mother's death but she'd known this far in advance? Pepper felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Not again, she though bitterly.

Getting up from her four-poster she went downstairs, still holding the parchment in front of her face. "Har-ry," she said shakily. "Read this."

Harry took the letter from her and he read it, his eyes narrowing. "She knew she was going to die?" he said.

"Apparently," said Pepper, breathing deeply as she tried to gain control of her emotions. "She could've warned me."

"Hey," Harry said, putting a comforting arm around his girlfriend. He handed the letter to Ron to read.

"Bloody hell," Ron cursed. "Talk about unfair."

"Hey Harry, could you take me on your Moonbeam? I want to see how it rides," Pepper said even more shakily than before.

"Sure, Pep," Harry said comfortingly. He left Pepper and Ron to go upstairs and get his new broomstick.

"Erm, Pepper, if there's anything I can do, just let me know," Ron said uncomfortably.

"Thanks Ron, that's sweet, but it's not like I can fix what I read. So my mom knew when and where she was going to die and she didn't try to prevent it...the damage is done," said Pepper, her bottom lip quivering.

Harry arrived back in the common room and smiled warmly at Pepper before dragging her out of the portrait hole.

"This broom is brilliant Pepper, thanks again," he said as they walked quickly down the seven flights of stairs to the entrance hall.

"Welcome," she said, not wanting to talk much as she was afraid that tears would spill out with her words.

Harry had been hoping he could change the subject from Prue's letter without a struggle, but it appeared this wouldn't be happening. "Pepper, I know you're probably really tired of talking and explaining things, but if you want to talk you know I'm here for you," Harry told her.

Pepper swallowed. "Thanks Harry, that means a lot to me. Next time I talk to you I'll try not to yell," she said, letting herself smile a little.

Harry grabbed Pepper's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I know you're going through a lot now Pepper. I know the exact feeling, too." (A/N: This is getting way too corny and boring for me, so now for some snogging!)

The pair reached the empty Quidditch field and mounted Harry's Moonbeam Five Hundred. The broom rose steadily into the air, even though the wind was whipping fiercely around them. Harry barely had to touch it to get it to move, and Pepper was having a lot more fun on it than she had been having on Harry's Firebolt. Flying was exactly the thing to take her mind from the letter in the Gringotts vault.

She wrapped her arms tightly around Harry's waist, sighing and leaning her chin on his shoulder. "It's cold!" she said loudly into his ear.

His answer was leaning on the broom handle to make it accelerate. Pepper shivered. Perhaps flying in December might not be such a good idea...

"Have you let Ron have a go yet?" Pepper asked Harry.

He nodded. "I had to now, wait till the rest of the school gets here, they'll all want a go."

"Good thing it was a Christmas gift, then," Pepper said.

"Thanks again, Pepper, this was loads better than the gift I got you."

"I don't know that, you didn't give it to me yet. Can you when we get back to the common room?" Pepper wondered.

"Sure," said Harry.

Pepper's smile was more defined this time. She was glad she was back at Hogwarts and away from her angry aunts. Though she wished she had never read that letter from the vault in Gringotts and had just forgotten about it entirely. But she decided that she wouldn't let it get to her, she'd just forget about it and move on. Like she had said to Ron, the damage was done and there's nothing she could do about it.

"So, you've got to tell me about these jewels you have," Harry yelled through the din the wind was making. "Sounds interesting."

"You have no idea how interesting my break's been," Pepper said somewhat sarcastically. "But I missed you." She kissed his jaw.

"I'm glad you came back early, so we could spend the rest of vacation together; even if you did do it in the strangest way possible," Harry chuckled.

Harry and Pepper entered the common room with cold, red faces and wind whipped clothes to find Ron and Pepper's Uncle Leo sitting by the fireplace. Ron looked confused and Leo looked irked.

"Pepper, I can't believe you just left like that!" Leo said loudly, standing from his armchair.

"Oh dear," Pepper said. "I'm sorry Uncle Leo, I didn't want to face the hormonal wrath of Aunt Piper and Aunt Paige is pissed at me for not believing her...so I thought it would be easier just to come back here." She offered her uncle a weak smile.

"They're worried sick, Pep. Come on, I've got to take you home," Leo said and Pepper sensed some sympathy in his voice.

"Gaah," Pepper groaned. "I don't want to go."

Leo didn't seem to care as he walked over and grabbed Pepper hand. Pepper shrugged and looked helplessly at Harry as Leo orbed her back to the Manor.

"Pepper Halliwell, do you know how much trouble you are in!" Piper fumed as soon as she saw Pepper and Leo arrive in the room. "Running away like that TWICE! We were so worried!"

"This is why I ran away before," Pepper said exasperatedly. "I'm so sick of the yelling, can I just get in a word before you blow up at me?"

Piper and Phoebe looked at her expectantly while Paige seemed to still be miffed at her niece. "Go on," Piper said.

"First off, Uncle Leo, I'd like to know what you found out from the Elders about my new power," said Pepper, turning to face her uncle. From the unchanging expressions of her aunts, Pepper figured her uncle had filled them in on what had happened.

"Your power is called Mirroring," Leo informed her. "When you imagine yourself in a place you are transported there, though it takes almost a minute to get you there. Apparently there are many ways of setting it off and many hidden catches, which you'll have to find out for yourself, of course."

"Of course," Pepper mumbled, slightly dejected. "Well thanks for finding that out, I'm sorry to run away but can I go now?" she asked suddenly, hoping she could catch her family off their guard so they would let her go.

Phoebe raised her eyebrow at her niece and Piper commanded Pepper to sit down. "Please explain why Paige is pissed at you, Pep, as she isn't exactly willing to share..." Phoebe requested. "She said something happened when she went to get you at the house, but she won't tell us anything else."

Pepper looked somewhat perplexedly at her Aunt Paige, who had her arms crossed and wasn't meeting the eyes of anyone. Pepper wondered why Paige wouldn't tell her sisters anything about what had happened at her father's house. She raised an eyebrow in Paige's direction but her aunt didn't catch it, as she was currently staring at her shoes with great interest.

Pepper recalled what had happened for her other two aunts, who were beginning to look at her with shock. Pepper lowered her head in embarrassment – she hadn't realized she had sounded so cocky and unforgiving when she was having her conversation with her Aunt Paige.

"Pepper, I'm surprised at you! You know Paige isn't trying to take the place of Prue," Phoebe said.

"I know. I'm sorry Aunt Paige," Pepper mumbled, trying to make eye contact with her aunt. Paige looked at her and smiled, coming over to give Pepper a hug.

"Now can I go? Please?" Pepper asked. "I really have enjoyed my time with you guys, but I want to spend some of my vacation with Harry since we don't get alone time or anything..." She felt a little embarrassed saying this because if her aunts took it the wrong way it could turn into a situation short of humiliating.

Leo raised an eyebrow at his niece. Phoebe had a smirk on her face and Piper looked a bit surprised. Paige smiled. "Want to show him some of your gifts, do you?" Paige asked.

Pepper felt her cheeks grow hot. "Nooo," she said.

"Pepper, you're only sixteen, that's too young to have sex, especially with someone you haven't known for very long," Leo said.

Pepper couldn't tell if they were joking or not. "Erm, I'm going now, so thanks for the lovely Christmas and I'll see you all in six months..." Pepper said, closing her eyes and imagining the Gryffindor common room once again.

She sighed in relief when she opened her eyes and found herself in the place she pictured. "Hey," she greeted Harry and Ron again. "Now that I've got that sorted out, what shall we do?"

"Your presents," Harry remembered, and he and Ron went up to their dorm to grab their Christmas gifts for Pepper.