AN: I know I said this one was on hiatus for the time being, but I also discovered that the chapter was finished…so, um, here it is, for your reading pleasure…or not.

Also, those of you who are waiting for an MDAOA update, I don't feel loved! But I'm working on it, I swear. If I have to force it to write itself at swordpoint, I shall. I'll get Hiei to come from Makai and beat it into submission for me.

The Charmed Ones Meet the Boy Who Lived

Prue slowly counted her way up the stairs in front of the house; the Weasleys and Harry were slightly afraid to offer assistance, since she hadn't spoken a word since the comment that they needed to talk.

She felt for the doorknob and turned it. "Mom? Aunt Phoebe? Aunt Paige? Dad? Who's home?"

"We're in the conservatory, honey! You're home early. What happened?" Piper appeared with a small smile on her face, which died immediately when she saw the somber procession. "What's going on?"

"I'll let Chris and Wyatt tell you," Prue replied. "I have to take something for this headache." She counted her way to the stairs and just managed to dodge the hall table. "I'll be back in a minute." She used the rail to walk up to the room she shared with Chris. Her side was neat as a pin, his was a mess, and fortunately, the nightstand sat in the clear part between the two sides. She fished some Tylenol out of the top drawer and tossed it back dry.

"You should do that with water, you know," commented Chris from the doorway, making her jump and turn reflexively.

"I thought I left you downstairs to explain."

"Mom insisted on refreshments before anybody said anything, and I came up after you." He folded her hand around a glass of water then, and she took a gulp. "How bad is it?"

"You try hitting your head on a sharp shoulder-bone, and we'll see," she replied, rubbing the back of her hand across her mouth. "I'll be fine once the shock wears off. I knew he was out for us, I just didn't realize how much."

"He's hated me ever since I called to attention his unfortunate habit of cheating in Conjury class." Prue nodded and stood, draining the water, and handed it back to Chris. "Yes, but he's never come after us in a public place before. And he's never been anything but civil to me."

"He likes you, Prue. You're the sweet one. I'm the sarcastic one."

"I'm also the blind one," she pointed out. "Every rule of morality, ethics, and all that is that you don't pick on someone who's blind or deaf. Even in the magic world." She sighed and sat again. Then she shivered. "Having his hand there, next to my face, and not being able to see it, only to feel it…I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me."

"We'd never have let that happen, Prue. You know that."

She smiled gently. "Yes, I know. The knowledge didn't help a bit, though. I was still terrified." Chris sat down next to her and gently hugged her. She clung to his shoulders and bit her lip to keep from dissolving into hysterics while her whole body shook with repressed feelings. "I was so scared…" she whispered again. Chris smoothed her hair and just held her, like an older brother is supposed to. Her shaking lessened noticeably.

"There you two are."

"Hi, Mom," Chris said, not looking, only soothing Prue. Piper came to the bed and put a hand on each child's head. "We're coming. Prue just needed some time to think." Piper nodded, which only Chris saw.

"It was your father who told me to come up here and get you. He thought you might need me." She sat down and noticed tears dropping from Prue's cloudy eyes. "Honey?"

"I was just scared, Mom. It's over now, and I'm all right. I just needed a minute to collect myself." Chris handed Piper a tissue, which she used to wipe her daughter's face dry, as she had when Prue was five. "I think I'm ready to go downstairs now."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Prue. Your brothers can fill us all in."

"I know. But there are some things I'd like to ask our guests. And…I really don't want to be alone right now."

"Understandable," Chris mused. He pulled her up by her hands. "Let's get a move on, then." She tucked her hand into the crook of her mother's elbow and gripped her twin's hand as the three of them descended to the parlor. Chris smiled when he saw that their mother had provided not only beverages (lemonade and apple juice), but also healthy snacks like fruit (Prue favored raspberries, Chris's favorite strawberries, Leo and Wyatt's favorite oranges, and pineapple slices) and crackers. The room went silent when they entered.

Chris sat Prue in the armchair and carefully folded her hands around a glass of lemonade and a small dish of raspberries drizzled with chocolate. "Thanks," she said. She balanced the dish on one leg so she could eat its contents while he perched on the arm of the chair.

"Wyatt and Harry were just telling us what happened after you got to the club," Leo explained to the three new arrivals. Prue only nodded and continued to eat slowly, as if determined to calm herself completely. "Go on, boys."

"Well, I told you, Prue went and got the drinks, and we were just getting started on them. Then Chris and I noticed that there was no one in the club that wasn't from school, which was trouble."

"Then James showed up, almost blurting to the world about our magic. Prue stopped him from doing that. It was like something had finally driven him over the edge. He grabbed Prue and the room froze, and then…well, most of the room froze, anyway. He ignited his hand, taunting us."

Chris cleared his throat. "He threatened Prue, holding his hand next to her face, saying he was going to spend a little "quality time" with her. She disagreed, and then he said maybe he'd take Ginny too."

"That's when they noticed we hadn't frozen with the rest of the room," Harry put in quietly. "We tried to disarm him, and he flew backwards, taking Prue with him. It was strange."

"Who froze the room? And how, without saying an incantation or anything?" Ginny asked then.

Prue raised her head. "I'd like to answer this one, if no one minds." No one voiced an objection, so she continued. "Obviously, you now know about our magic. We're born with inherent so-called "active" powers. Those powers don't require any magic words or rituals to use. For example, Mom freezes time, Aunt Phoebe gets premonitions, and Aunt Paige moves things with her mind. They evolve, and grow in power, but those are our basic active gifts. As witches, however, we get more than just active powers. We have the ability to create potions, cast spells, create wards and other such things. The only person I know, besides my mother, who can freeze time, is Peter, a boy at our school who hero-worships James."

"Why weren't we frozen, then?" asked Ron.

"The answer is simple, but there are two possibilities. Either all five of you were wearing amulets that negate a witch's power, or you're witches yourselves."

"Not amulets," Ginny said with a giggle. "But I'm sure I'm the only one who likes being called a witch. The boys prefer wizard or warlock."

"We classify anyone with powers such as ours a witch," Piper interjected. "Evil witches are warlocks, and wizards are extinct. So just know that we're not insulting you by calling you boys witches." The four boys nodded.

"What power do you have, Prue?" George asked. "And Wyatt, and Chris, of course."

Prue smiled slightly. "Well, we're…special. We're not completely witches. We're half-bloods." She paused. "See, Mom's a witch, but Dad's not. He was the family whitelighter, but that's a long story. Anyway, we each have two sets of active powers. My witch half is premonition, like Aunt Phoebe. Evolved, however, I've progressed to a sort of battle-sense, I suppose you could say. Basically, I can almost see someone who is going to attack me, and defend myself accordingly. From Dad, however, I have the ability to generate electricity when I am especially angry or threatened, and now I can heal as well." She smiled in her father's direction. "I can't orb, unfortunately, because I'm blind and can't see where I'm going, but neither of my brothers, nor my aunt can heal, so it's an even trade. But three out of the seven people who live in this house can orb," she added.

Chris spoke up. "As for me, from Mom's side, I move things with my mind. Evolved, it's highly specialized enough to stop someone's heart beating. From Dad, I can orb and generate lightning, like Prue."

Wyatt grinned sheepishly. "I'm kinda…unique, moreso than these two. I have the same abilities from Dad as Chris, but from Mom's side, I can move things with my mind, conjure things from my imagination, blow things up…oh, and I have a protective bubble shield thing I can use to protect myself and those I want to."

"Heir of Excalibur," Prue added.

"Super-Witch," Chris teased. Wyatt glared at both of them.

"I am not listening to you. Do you notice that I am not listening to you? Mark it well, I ignore you, (1)" he said loftily, lifting his nose in the air.

Prue giggled. "I feel so ignored. So I guess it wouldn't make any difference if I call you super-witch, since you're ignoring me." All three siblings laughed, while their parents and aunts exchanged grins.

"Excalibur? Like King Arthur's Excalibur?" Ron asked, dumbfounded.

"So you've heard of it, huh?" Wyatt asked playfully. "Yes, that Excalibur."

"Like he said, Wyatt's a special baby. On the day he was born, magic everywhere stopped working."

"Eighteen years ago? The day they call The Great Panic in the wizarding world now?" Fred murmured to George.

"Has to be."

"So, there you go. Those are our powers."

(1) That was a Tamora Pierce quote, from Sandry in The Will of the Empress.

AN: So, hope that was an acceptable second chapter. Sorry it couldn't be longer, but I haven't watched Charmed in a while, and it seems to want to cut off there for a while. Read and Review!