Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 12:

Walking past Phoebe's bedroom, Piper doubled back at the sound of tinkling, mischievous laughter emanating from inside and she couldn't help but roll her eyes fondly as she knocked on the door, many thoughts swimming past her mind over whatever mischief and mayhem were plotting or whispering about this time. Instead of Phoebe beckoning her inside, the door sprung open and the cheerful faces of the two youngest Halliwells beamed back at her.

"Should I be scared?" was all Piper asked, the teasing quality in her tone and the twitching of her lips a big giveaway to her merely jesting. Giggling good-naturedly, Pandora skipped over to her side and linked their arms together and in an imitation of Dracula, said, "Be afraid, be verrrry, verrry afraid."

Beaming brightly at the platinum blonde's infectious cheerful disposition, Phoebe joined the fray and put Piper's curiosity to rest, "I got a call from Clay a few hours ago. He's in San Francisco and he wants to see me!" Pandora continued to grin from ear to ear, sharing Phoebe's enthusiasm. Taking their leisure time in descending the staircase together, Piper mulled over the new shared information, "Wait-, New York Clay? That Clay?" the name stirring in the recess of her mind from the night of Phoebe's arrival before the whole Wicca-jig came to light.

"That's the one," Phoebe chirped. Piper gaped incredulously, not comprehending why her two youngest sisters were so exuberant over Clay's sudden arrival, "But… you said you never wanted to see him again." And in perfect unison, Phoebe and Pandora scoffed out with a wave of dismissal, "Ancient history."

Totally flabbergasted, Piper couldn't help but point out, "Six months?"

"Okay, first of all, five, not six," Phoebe clarified as they reached the bottom of the stairs, "He's just stopping by on his way home. It's not a big deal. He was traveling or something." Pandora nodded vigorously, "Besides, I've met the guy when I visited New York for a modeling shoot, and he's too freaking hot to blow off." Her words were met with a high-five from Phoebe, coupled with a suggestive wink, and a gobsmacked appearance from Piper who was gaping at her sisters as though they had lost their marbles.

Too engrossed in their conversation, Prue's presence went completely unnoticed by the three Halliwells, as she stood in front of the stairs staring at them in a mixture of amusement and confusion. "Who's Clay?" she inquired, letting them know they weren't alone. Phoebe's eyes widened, adopting the expression of a deer caught in the headlights and she frantically blurted out, "Nobody!"

Shaking her head, Pandora nudged the aforementioned sister, not comprehending why exactly Phoebe allowed herself to get so intimidated by their eldest sister. Smirking at Prue, Pandora revealed, "He's not 'nobody'. Clay, is her sexyass ex-boyfriend from New York; a musician." When Prue still looked confused, she huffed out and simplified her explanation, "She met him when she was working in the Rainbow Room… does that ring any bells for ya?"

Shrugging in perplexity, Prue narrowed her eyes in on a sheepish Phoebe who was looking at anything and anyone but those judging jade orbs. "No, I don't. Nobody told me," Prue's lips suddenly twitched, "They hired you at the Rainbow Room?"

Distributing more info to the sister that had been left out of the loop, Piper disclosed, "Yeah, she was the hostess until she started working at the Chelsea Pier-"

"Okay, can we talk about this later, please? A lot later," Phoebe chuckled nervously, interjecting her two traitorous sisters from spilling more of her past in New York. She didn't want to alienate Prue, but damn, Prue Halliwell sure can judge fiercely when it came to Phoebe, and Prue already looked upon her as the Black Sheep of the Halliwell Family whose only goal in life was to maintain chaos and disrupt their perfect lives, despite their new-found intimacy and their fresh bond after receiving their powers.

Before Prue could open her mouth with a rebuttal, the doorbell rang and Phoebe's entire disposition struggled between remaining a nervous wreck and elation at seeing Clay after five months. She quickly muttered to her three amused sisters, "We're just friends, that's all. Do I have lipstick on my teeth?"

"Yes," Piper lied, surprising Pandora with maintaining a straight face. Prue and Pandora bit their lower lips to suppress their laughter as Phoebe frantically rubbed her teeth with her index finger and bounced towards the front door. Grinning at Piper, Prue stated, "That was mean."

"That was not mean," Piper batted the statement away, a smile playing on her lips. Pandora chuckled, "Atta girl, Pipes. Didn't know you had it in you. Ahh, my big sister is growing up so quickly," she faked wiping away a few stray tears, prompting said sister to glare without heat while Prue burst out laughing.

Before any more words could be traded, Pandora's cell began ringing and her already radiant face brightened up tenfold as she squealed in joy, "That's Aaron. Ciao sisters, I'll be in my room speaking to my new beau if you need anything. Holler loudly though, we might be ugh, preoccupied," and she winked lewdly before running upstairs, taking two steps at a time.

"Ugh, I didn't want to know that," Piper grimaced, heading over to the kitchen and rubbing her eardrums. Prue scoffed and shook her head in amusement, "This family needs a shrink."

***P4***

Choking violently on his tea, Lucius Malfoy tossed the drink aside and stormed out of the terrace, deciding that a hefty amount of Firewhiskey was more appropriate at this current moment. Suppressing her amusement, Narcissa abandoned her customary seat and shadowed her outraged husband, stroking his back softly and watching with twinkling cornflower blue orbs as he knocked back a glass filled to the brim before adding a generous refill.

"Luciu-"

"Don't," he snarled, not wanting to hear a word about Pandora and that new muggle, Aaron. He inwardly sneered in distaste at the mere thought of his daughter entertaining such intimate acts of carnal pleasure with that- that muggle!

Two weeks ago, Pandora arrived after a long day of rehearsal for her new film Cassandra, over the moon due to meeting the younger brother of that Mallory director, Aaron, both of whom hit it off instantly and entered a courtship. Although Lucius had yet to see the muggle man, he instantly took a vicious dislike to him, to which Narcissa and Severus found palpably amusing, claiming that the only reason he abhorred the muggle was due to the fact that he was dating his daughter, despite his adamant denials.

Sighing softly, Narcissa occupied the armchair facing her aggravated husband and calmly uttered, "Lucius darling, whatever you are feeling is quite normal. Deny it all you want, argue with me to your heart's content. Deep inside, you already see and accepted the fact that Pandora is your daughter and you feel a paternal overprotectiveness towards her. But the girl will continue to date and see muggle men until she meets the right one and get married. You must start accepting that."

"It has been a month since that duplicitous healer broke her heart," Lucius snarled, silver-grey orbs staring immensely at the amber liquid in the crystal tumbler, "Why must she continue to jump from muggle to muggle? And, Cissy-"his face adopted a look of utmost horror and revulsion, "She is actually entertaining phone… phone sex! It is disgraceful, vulgar, and unladylike!"

Living in Muggle San Francisco and blatantly eavesdropping on the Halliwell sisters' everyday lives had the two proud purebloods accustomed to the many muggle jargons, plethora of confounding and remarkable technologies, and different perspectives on life what with them currently living in the twentieth century, unlike the British Wizarding Community that was still comfortably outdated and stuck in medieval times. But regardless, that didn't mean Lucius respected or took comfort in them, either.

"Aaron has been in Spain for business a week now. From what we have heard, it is quite usual for couples to regale themselves in many different sexual foreplay despite their geographical distance," Narcissa smiled softly, placing a chaste kiss on his forehead, "I am not telling you to personally adapt their ways, merely to understand and not become temperamental every time you discover your daughter performing an act you despise."

And she left the Malfoy Lord to drown his anger in a decanter of Firewhiskey, hoping that he would finally accept the world they are currently living in.

***P4***

The day after Prue was introduced to the existence of Clay, and Phoebe's sundry of professions during her stint in New York, Pandora and Prue decided to travel the distance from their respective work location and have a light lunch at Quake with Piper. Unfortunately, Prue was still unable to stomach the fact that she had purposely been kept ignorant about their middle sister's past and decided to grill the other two for more information.

"What else don't I know?"

Sharing identical grimaces, Pandora inclined her head, subtly hinting for Piper to relay the ugly truth to their stubborn and condemnatory older sister. "Prue, don't take this personally but sometimes you can be a bit… judgmental," Piper winced the second the words tumbled out of her mouth, both she and Pandora awaiting the fireworks and the slew of denials to come forth from Prue; they weren't disappointed and frankly, they didn't wait long.

"That is so not true," a defiant Prue snapped out. Pandora gave her a look that spoke volumes of her opposing opinion, making Prue backtrack and weakly utter, "Alright, so maybe it's sometimes true," she grudgingly admitted, "I just don't understand why Phoebe never even told me about this guy."

Clasping Prue's hand in hers, Pandora smiled sweetly, "Oh, sweetie, don't think Phoebe purposely left you out for some malicious intent. You two weren't talking at the time because of the whole slime-ball, Chardonnay-slugging bastard, Roger, and when she returned to San Francisco they were already broken up. I mean, the only reason I knew about him was because I actually met him while I was at New York," she shrugged, returning to her Chicken Caesar Salad.

Grateful for the platinum blonde's success in calming Prue down, Piper added, "Besides, people don't like to dwell on things that end badly." Her statement only managed to elicit a derisive snort from Prue who rotating her disbelieving jade eyes from Piper to Pandora, "Yeah, well, I wish my relationships ended that badly. Did you hear them last night? There was music, there was wine, there was-"

"Talking," Piper blurted out, cutting Prue's overactive imagination from spouting out more accusations. Pandora nodded, attacking her chicken with gusto as she matter-of-factly stated without even a hint of a blush, "If you're referring to the sex noises, that was all me. I take full responsibility for it," she winked seductively, "Aaron really tired me out last night."

Piper wrinkled her nose at the bold and brazen and completely shameless blonde, "Okay. Eww!"

Pandora stuck her tongue out at her modest sister, "Hey, just because you're lacking in your sex life, don't take it out on me. Don't think I forgot the front clasp bra incident from when you were playing hooky with Leo," she grinned, taking immense amusement out of the red-faced and mortified Piper before whipping her head to face a smirking Prue, "And how do you know there was wine? Did you spy on them!" she gaped in a mixture of horror and defeat.

Sheepishly grimacing at the conjoined stares of her sisters, Prue meekly murmured, "Okay, so I peeked. Well, you know," she huffed and adopted a stubborn posture, "If nobody tells me anything, I have to get creative."

Pandora raised her hands and muttered, "I give up. You take this, Piper."

"Stop worrying, she'll be fine," Piper calmly soothed Prue's nerves just as the beautiful waitress, Shelley pranced past them, ensued by the nervous geeky yet adorable bartender – in a baby face sort of way, dropping a tray of glasses from his hand and onto the floor; however, before the deafening noise could resonate in Quake, Piper froze the entire restaurant in an almost rehearsed demeanor and carried on with her pep talk to a dumfounded Prue, "She knows what she's doing." Addressing both sisters now, she said, "Watch that entrance, make sure nobody comes in."

Shell-shocked and purely bewildered, Pandora and Prue observed as Piper approached Doug, picked up the glasses out of mid-air, straightened the tray and promptly arranged the glasses back to their previous state before unfreezing the room. "Whoa, Doug, easy," Piper smiled benignly at the abashed bartender. Blushing profusely, he ducked his head, "Thanks, Piper. I hope Shelley didn't see that."

"Oh don't worry about that, you just hang in there," Piper beamed, returning to her seat and facing the twin perplexed expressions of her sisters. Prue immediately inquired, "What was that?"

"Yeah! I mean, from what I have deduced from this mind-boggling scene and your interaction… this seems to be a recurring incidence and you're getting better at the whole freezing the room thing without wetting your pants in fear of getting exposed," Pandora blatantly pointed out, garnering a mute nod from Prue and a sigh of defeat from Piper, who raised both hands upward to the heavens and exclaimed, "Yeah, I'm finally getting control of the unfreezing. The poor guy he just keeps dropping everything!"

Prue couldn't help but state the obvious, "Well, then maybe you should just fire him."

"Mmm, the owner wants me to," Piper grumbled out, "Actually threatened to fire me if I don't but Doug's just going through a hard time right now. Shelley the waitress just dumped him after six years of dating."

"So what? You're playing Cupid at the risk of your own job?" Prue demanded in disbelief. Pandora scoffed loudly, dropping her fork in the process, "Of course she is, Prue. Hell-llooo. This is Piper we're talking about. Ever the romantic matchmaker and defender of San Francisco's broken-hearted. What part of this is supposed to be surprising?" she asked rhetorically, her gorgeous visage lightening up in unadulterated amusement.

Piper threw Pandora a deadpanned glare, "Ha, ha, ha. Not! Look, Doug loves her. He even bought an engagement ring and everything! He just waited too long to ask, so now he's a wreck."

"Poor sod," Pandora absently and apathetically asserted as she reclaimed her fork and focused on skewering her salad. Smiling slightly at Pandora, Prue addressed an irritated Piper who was not as amused with their youngest sister's commentary, "Still, you can't keep, you know, freezing in order to protect him."

"I know," Piper sighed despondently, "So, are you still going to Buckland's?" her question managed to capture Pandora's attention as she too glanced at Prue inquisitively. Adopting a 'duh' expression, Prue mentioned, "Yeah, that's where I work."

Arching both eyebrows in response, Pandora butted in, "Well, I just figured with the whole Rex-Hannah framing you for theft and murder, not to forget the whole warlock cluster-fuck, you'd be hitting the classifieds."

"Well, if we don't save the auction house I might have to. Rex…"Prue trailed off as Piper pivoted around to freeze Doug who had just departed the kitchen holding a mountain of plates and tripped over practically nothing, but basically thin air. Pandora clucked loudly in disapproval; ignoring the blonde, Piper smiled nonchalantly at Prue, "What were you saying?"

Shaking her head in exasperation, Prue threw her napkin onto the table and picked up her handbag, "Never mind, I gotta go." Almost immediately, Piper's chocolate orbs flickered towards Pandora, "Do you have to go, too?"

Shrugging and plastering a smile on her face, Pandora jumped out of her seat and approached the frozen Doug, "Ehh, I have time to help you with this certain conundrum before I return to the trailer for the movie shoot."

***P4***

"You say you love me, William, but actions speak louder than words," Pandora uttered in a heartbreaking, sorrowful nuance, pearly tears cascading like rivulets down her olive complexion. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed an accusing finger at the petite redhead with a short bob and contemptuously sneered, "I SAW you. The both of you! I watched you cozy up to her, heard you proclaim your love to her, and you dare have the audacity to simply state that what I have seen with my own two eyes was a mere misunderstanding!"

Sean Peterson, the leading actor playing the main role of William Caterby, Cassandra Lovheim's love interest ignored the redhead's beseeching onyx orbs and focused on the entrancing silver-greys of his lover he scorned, "My beloved. Cassie, darling. I swear to you-"

"Don't!" Pandora hissed out with vitriol, "Spare me more ridicules. Spare me anymore litanies of misplaced affections and a sundry of lies. Spare me the shame! Leave me be, William Caterby, I want nothing more to do with you. Return to your harlot. Begone!"

"Aaaaaaanndd CUT!" Director Christopher Mallory announced in a cheerful tone before exuberantly clapping his hands together twice, "Already ladies, gents, that's a wrap for today. Filming will resume in two days." Jumping off of his high-seat, Christopher approached a beaming Pandora with an adoring smile, "You, my darling, were simply fantastique!"

Smirking cheekily at her favorite director, Pandora lightly smacked her hand against his beer belly, "Oh you charmer you. You're too late, Chris, I'm already taken." Mockingly, Christopher adopted a wounded visage and placed both hands over his chest, "I noticed. You have been besotted by my charlatan of a brother. Away with you. I cannot even look at you, right now." Unable to hold on with the façade, the two friends burst out into laughter and participated in inane chattering before the platinum blonde's attention was diverted to the sound of Phoebe's distinctive voice.

"Pheebs? Clay? Hi!" Pandora embraced Clay lightly before staring inquisitively at her sister, "Not that I'm not happy to see you two, but what gives?" Of course, Clay needed a favor, a favor that unfortunately included Prue's help and therefore, Phoebe needed a buffer… particularly, her.

Rushing over and disappearing into her customized trailer, Pandora neatly hung up her costume and donned on her low-waist jeans and a ruby-red tube top with matching purse and platform heels before clambering into her car with Clay and Phoebe, who had no choice but to squeeze in tightly by sitting on Clay's lap. She made it to Buckland's in record time, and for once, received compliments in regards to her speeding as opposed to Prue and Piper, both of whom incessantly informed her was reckless driving and downright suicidal.

Preparing herself for the obvious backlash, Pandora confidently knocked on the door to Prue's office only for it to wildly open and come face-to-face with a stern looking, no nonsense redheaded woman in her mid-forties who barely glanced at them. Frowning in dislike, Pandora pointed her thumb at the woman's retreating back and addressed Prue, "Who that?"

"That, was the new sheriff," Prue replied, her face set in a deep scowl, obviously not having gotten a good impression of the woman either. Jade orbs flickered over in confusion from Pandora, to Phoebe before finally settling on Clay in surprise and after the introductions took place, she inquired, "What's up?"

Sauntering over to a chair, Pandora made herself comfortable just as Phoebe nervously piped up, "Uh, favor. Clay was hoping that maybe you would sell this for him," she released the urn from his possession and handed it over to an interested Prue who immediately scrutinized its intricate designs and set it on her table. Clearing his throat, Clay added, "Yeah, I picked it up at a market overseas."

"Picked it up?" Prue frowned at the odd terming, "Does that mean you bought it?"

Immediately going on the defense, Phoebe snapped, "What else could it mean?" Pandora facepalmed herself, and inwardly groaned at the approaching argument. Seriously, one would think that Prue being the eldest and Phoebe being the middle child, that those two wouldn't constantly provoke each other and play the mediators between the four Halliwell sisters; unfortunately not.

Ignoring Phoebe's snappish remark and enraged facial expression, Prue returned to examining the urn, preferring to avoid a full-blown argument with her sister, "Well, it's really beautiful. Gold inlay, twenty-four carat, a lot of lapis. Looks to be from Egypt."

"Exactly," Clay blurted out, "That's where I was traveling."

Prue hummed, nodding in acknowledgement to Clay's words as her jade orbs took in the urn's inscriptions, "This etching's quite interesting, very unusual," she murmured, prompting a snigger from Pandora who deemed it safe enough to elicit some humor into the tense atmosphere, "Okay, Prue. Now we know you're talking to yourself."

Glaring in amusement at the platinum blonde, Prue ignored her barb as Clay inquired over its worth. "Oh well, I would have to determine the urn's origins, its previous owners."

"Oh, couldn't you just skip a step or two," Phoebe cajoled in a baby voice. In an action too quick for anyone to decipher, a pair of jades connected with pools of silver-grey in suspicion before returning to the old flames in front of them. Shaking her head, Prue gave Phoebe a stern stare, "Phoebe, I cannot risk this auction house's reputation with something like this without checking on it first."

Mulling over a way to convince Prue, Phoebe wildly threw out, "Come on, come on. I will, uh, what will I do?" she looked at Pandora for help, but the platinum blonde merely shrugged, not liking the sudden turn in events, "I will cook you dinner!" she squealed off in victory; never mind the fact that Phoebe is incapable of boiling water correctly. Heck, she burns water!

Deciding to placate her, Prue grinned, "Oh don't threaten me. Fine, I'll see what I can do." Once they happily departed, she whirled around to face an uncertain Pandora who was sucking her lower lip in worry, "Am I the only one who finds something not right with this whole thing?"

"No," Pandora regretfully imparted. When Phoebe and Clay begged for her help in being their buffer in case Prue stubbornly denied them whatever favor they had in mind, the youngest Halliwell hypothesized correctly that it was a matter concerning the appraising of an artifact, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine it to come off as fishy. Standing up, she brushed off imaginary lint from her jeans and stared solemnly at Prue, "Word of advice, I'd try and get a background check on that urn ASAP before you start selling it off to buyers. I love Pheebs, but she's too trusting sometimes. And reckless."

Prue nodded, the name Aviva startlingly coming to mind at the particular moment as Pandora too, departed her office, leaving her alone to scrutinize the archaic urn in suspicion.

***P4***

Lucius and Narcissa were surprisingly visited by Severus for a cup of tea at the terrace, glad for an escape from the castle, seeing that it was a weekend at Hogwarts and the pink amphibian was busy hounding the Minister regarding some new, atrocious educational degree.

"I don't know how much longer Hogwarts would allow Umbridge to continue spouting off her nonsense. Minerva is already fingering her wand in a menacing manner whenever that ludicrous amphibian approaches her classroom," Severus sneered, relishing in the calming jasmine tea Narcissa had the elves serve specifically to calm down his high blood pressure.

Lucius grimaced in distaste, "I will never comprehend why that bumbling fool Fudge ever agreed to initially hire her. It takes a lot to merely stomach her grating presence. I simply wonder how in Merlin's name she never became a Death Eater. Honestly."

Before any more crude remarks could be traded regarding Dolores Jane Umbridge, Piper's distant voice echoed around them, a telltale sound – according to Severus – that she was currently on loudspeaker on the telyphone or whatever that damn contraption is called. "Prue, you wonder why you're outta the loop. You worry too much about Phoebe."

Surprising the Malfoys, Prue's distant voice joined the fray, "No, I don't, I just don't want to see her get hurt, that's all … Look, I just get this really bad feeling about Clay, I can't explain it. Ask Pan!"

Frowning in puzzlement, Narcissa studied the surroundings of Halliwell Manor, "But-, Prudence's car isn't in the driveway. Only Pandora's." Severus' onyx orbs lit up in cognition, "Ah. I understand. You see, when conversing on the telephone, a three-way conversation could be instigated. Currently, Pandora dialed both sisters and all three of them are conversing with one another."

Nodding in comprehension, the Malfoys listened in as, on cue, Pandora's sweet melodic voice resounded in the terrace, "I like the guy, okay? I met Clay and I can tell, he genuinely likes and cares for Pheebs. But I gotta tell you, Piper, today at the auction house, he seemed a bit… sketchy, that's all."

A long sigh belonging to Piper emanated around them, followed by, "Okay, in Pan's case, I've no comment, but Prue… you don't think he's good enough for her. Just like you didn't think Jeremy was good for me-"

"Uh, hello. That's like, the worst form of defense I ever heard. I didn't like that asshole either, and for good reason. Warlock, remember?" Pandora harshly interrupted. There was a beat of silence between the three sisters; Lucius and Severus rolled their eyes, not the least bit interested with the Halliwells' boy problems, unlike Narcissa. Ignoring the Listening Charm, Severus drawled, "I'm assuming there has been a lack of warlocks?"

Lucius nodded vigorously, inwardly relieved with the uneventful fortnight ever since Rex and Hanna's vanquish, "Yes, absolutely no problems whatsoever. Not since the eldest's unlawful incarceration-"his words were drowned out by Prue's distant nuance, "How's Doug?"

"The same, unfortunately. Except I'm getting a little freeze frazzled, it's draining," Piper sighed glumly. Pandora snorted loudly, captivating Lucius's attention, "I say you either fire the dude since it's your ass on the line, orr, just barricade him and that Shelley gal in a broom cupboard and let them hash things out, saving both your jobs. Whatever you pick, it's a win-win situation for you."

"Yeah, I actually agree with Pan, Piper. You have to find a better way to deal before you get fired," Prue hastily uttered. Narcissa cocked her head to the side, eyes brightening with interest, "I wonder what they are referring to. I wonder. Hmm."

Rolling his eyes, Severus retreated with Lucius toward the living room, "You really must curb Narcissa's little hobby. Frankly, it's unhealthy."

Lucius merely grimaced in return, "You try telling her that. Personally, I do not believe it's worth the argument. She may be skinny, but she's terrifying, Severus and you know that better than anyone, after all, you both were in the same year during Hogwarts." The impassive Potions Master flinched at the reminder of Narcissa Black's infamous temper and decided to follow Lucius' lead and keep his opinions to himself.

***P4***

Hearing an explosion shake the foundation, Pandora hastened to end the phone conversation with Aaron, donned on her silky black robe and rapidly ascended the stairs, Prue and Phoebe close behind her as all three of them made their way up to the attic. Barging inside, they were met with a violently coughing Piper waving off wafts of greyish fumes from her surroundings.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Pandora shrieked, concern consuming her and a tad bit annoyed at the interruption that caused her to hang up on Aaron who she sorely missed. Taking a softer approach, Prue hesitantly walked toward Piper, "Are you okay?"

Letting out one more racked cough, Piper cried out, "Nothing to see here, move along."

"Yeah, right," Pandora scoffed, eyebrows rising cynically as she scrutinized the wreckage, "Because explosions in the attic are an everyday occurrence. Spill, Piper!" Simultaneously, Phoebe murmured to herself, "Welcome to London."

When Piper chose to remain suspiciously silent, Prue slowly enunciated, "What did you do?"

"More like who did you do it too?" Phoebe placed both hands on her hips in an intimidating gesture and unblinkingly stared the guilty sister down; not even a few seconds passed when Piper grumpily confessed, her eyes staring anywhere but her three inquiring sisters. "I put a charm on Doug but I doubled the recipe. Just something to boost his confidence so he can give love a shot and give me a break," she concluded with a hint of exhaustion. A split second later, Phoebe whipped around to face Prue while pointing an accusing finger at Piper, "Go ahead, Prue. Yell at her."

Prue was rendered speechless while Pandora's jaw had dropped to the ground in palpable shock, however before they could process the astounding occurrence of Piper using magic as a solution to her problems – a feat that was a miracle in itself, the aforementioned sister abruptly defended herself, "It's not for personal gain and it fits into the whole harm none thing we have to live by. Besides," she rounded up on Phoebe, whose eyebrows were practically disappearing underneath her hairline, "Prue's the one who told me to do something."

"Did not!" Prue finally found her voice and the ability to string two measly words into a coherent sentence. Pandora snorted loudly, silver-grey eyes piercing into Piper's warm brown ones, "What happened to my quite ingenious idea of locking Doug and Shelley in a closet together to hash things out?!" Phoebe blatantly chuckled at that, and Piper glared at her half-heartedly, "Don't be ridiculous, Pandora! Look, I just need Dough to stop dropping things so I can stop freezing things. I'm just exhausted!"

"AHA!" Pandora boomed out, prompting her three sisters to jump, "That right there, that's personal gain!" when Piper parted her lips to rebut the accusation, the platinum-blonde raised a hand in the air, demanding silence, "Okay, to be fair, fifty percent, personal gain, but still… who's to say your little boost spell won't have any major repercussions?"

An uncomfortable silence shrouded the room, all four sisters instigating nervous eye-contact with each other. Sighing loudly, Prue shot Piper a comforting smile, "You know, maybe he and Shelley aren't meant to be together. Not everybody's supposed to be." Okay, Pandora was not imagining the double-meaning in Prue's words, and neither did Phoebe, who scoffed aloud and glared at the eldest Halliwell, "Oh, that was, that was real subtle, Prue!"

Pandora groaned and without another word departed the room, not in the mood for another argument to occur between the eldest and the middle sister; forget Doug and Shelley – those two needed to be locked up in a closet to finally settle their major issues.

***P4***

The whole morning was spent pampering herself to a full body scrub, a wonderful massage, and topped it off with beautifying herself with a mani-pedi. Pandora felt refreshed and invigorated as she tossed over her car keys to the cute valet attendant and strode into Quake. Making the usual beeline to the bar, Pandora abruptly halted and stared at the flock of estrogen clamoring for – holy fuck!

"Hello Casanova," she muttered to herself, gaping at the newly modified Doug who no longer resembled the clumsy, stuttering, bashful man she had seen yesterday as he smirked seductively at the women and parted a few of them with orgasmic winks. All of a sudden, without warning, Doug energetically shook the cocktail shaker and did a little spin on the spot, his hazel eyes meeting hers, eliciting a blatant wink at her direction; god, Pandora always had an attraction to confident men. So absorbed with the seductive show, Pandora failed to notice Piper and Phoebe amble toward her, both of them sporting identical gobsmacked expressions.

Nudging Pandora to return back to the present, the platinum blonde pouted at Piper and reluctantly diverted her complete attention to her sisters. Recovering from the shocking display, Phoebe's lips twitched into a smirk, "I thought your charm was to boost his confidence, not turn him into Tom Cruise."

"Oi! Tom Cruise reeks of natural confidence and sex, you can't compare Tommy to Doug," Pandora looked offended; Phoebe narrowed her eyes in an accusatory manner, "Oh, hold on. Tommy? You personally know Tom Cruise?! I so hate you right now," she huffed, stamping her foot like a petulant teenager who had just finished a teenage tantrum.

Making herself heard over the youngest Halliwells, Piper sheepishly admitted, "Maybe I shouldn't have doubled the recipe." In perfect unison, Pandora and Phoebe arched an eyebrow at her and intoned, "Uh, ya think!?"

Shaking her head at their antics, Piper stormed over to the bar and called for Doug's attention. Pandora snickered as a few women at the bar glared at Piper with outright animosity and envy, an action that Phoebe didn't fail to notice as well. "Doug. Hi, what's going on?" Piper demanded, inwardly rolling her eyes at her sisters' inability to take anything seriously. Smirking widely, Doug shrugged, "Not sure, but whatever it is, I feel great."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure you do," Pandora murmured, scowling at Piper and rubbing her arm where the aforementioned pinched her. Before the platinum-blonde could snap out a vicious retort, Shelley approached the bar to retrieve the ordered drinks, a heart-achingly sad expression on her face when her presence went completely ignored. Once the dejected blonde was out of hearing range, Piper hissed, "Doug! What about Shelley?!"

Frowning at his ex's retreating back, Doug casually leaned his elbows on the bar top and met Piper's disapproving stare head on, "Who cares about Shelley when I've got Thursday, Friday and Saturday all lined up and waiting." Pandora's hand instinctively covered her mouth in an effort to mute her bubble of laughter, especially at the sight of Piper's comical expression. Doug then smoothly smiled at Phoebe, "I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

Phoebe's eyebrows rose on their own accord, but before she could get a word in, Piper interrupted with a snappish retort and a back-off glare, "I don't believe you will. Off limits!" Like a champ, Doug batted the rejection with casual ease and his twinkling eyes traveled to an immensely amused Pandora, "What about you, gorgeous? You interested?"

Ignoring Phoebe's chuckle and Piper's sharp intake of breath, Pandora leaned forward with a seductive smile, prompting a nervous gleam to subtly pass by Doug's eyes, and she whispered, "You're two weeks, too late, handsome," and she parted him off with a wink, just as Piper dug her claws into her wrist and violently yanked her away from the bar and towards a quiet corner. Pandora huffed good-naturedly, "Oh, you need to loosen up, Pipes. Even if I wasn't currently in a relationship, I wouldn't have accepted his offer. I'm just having a little fun."

Piper grunted her annoyance at Pandora, and to alleviate the tension, Phoebe pointed out, "Your charm worked. You turned Dough into a …"

"A monster!" Piper spat out at the same time Pandora uttered, "A total babe!" prompting another incensed glare from her irritable sister. Shaking her head in amusement, Phoebe turned to leave Quake, "Okaay, I gotta go. I told Clay I'd meet him over at the house," she planted a kiss on Piper and Pandora's cheek and departed. Letting loose a few chuckles, Pandora hugged her pissed off sister, "And I'm going for some retail therapy. I guess I'll be seeing you tonight in the attic, undoing the little boost spell due to the… ah, repercussions," she smugly concluded.

"I hate you!" an irritated Piper called after her retreating back, to which Pandora simply threw a hand in the air in response, the smug smile never wavering from her flawless features.

***P4***

Lucius parked the car in front of Malfoy Manor and shadowed Narcissa toward the front door and into the house; no doubt she would be running over to the terrace to eavesdrop on the Halliwells since they hadn't been in the Manor all day. True to his previous words of acclimatizing to Muggle San Francisco, the two proud purebloods spent the entire day impersonating a couple moving in from England as they familiarized themselves to all the hottest spots and educated themselves in the muggle way of life – much to Lucius' disdain. Unfortunately, they needed to fit in, and they couldn't spend most of their days ensconced by the terrace and away from the outside world.

Much to his surprise – a pleasant surprise – Severus seemed to have been waiting for them by the terrace, sipping on a tumbler of Firewhiskey. "Another reprieve from the castle?" Lucius smirked, pouring himself a drink and trying not to roll his eyes at Narcissa who was unashamedly listening in on the Halliwells and catching up on what she had missed.

"Mmmhmm. A desperately needed one," Severus suddenly pinned him with a knowing look, "How was the Muggle world?"

Not missing a beat, Lucius groaned, "Dreadful. Positively dreadful. … Narcissa however, enjoyed herself." Narcissa interrupted their conversation with a loud gasp, cornflower blue eyes tracking Phoebe's muggle, as he exited the Halliwell Manor and left the premises. Rubbing a hand over his face, Lucius grudgingly addressed his wife, "Whatever happened now, Cissy?"

And on cue, Prue's furious voice boomed around the terrace, "My new boss handed this to me, thankfully just before the urn could be sold," there was the distinctive sound of rustling paper, "Clay didn't buy it at some outdoor bazaar, Phoebe, he stole it!"

"How surprising," Lucius quipped in dry sarcasm, "The muggle ended up being a thief." Narcissa glared at him and promptly smacked him atop the head, rotating her glare to Severus when he let out a few chuckles, effectively silencing both wizards and returning her full attention to her Listening Charm.

"Seasons change, people don't!" Prue snapped, cutting Phoebe off from her profuse denials. Narcissa frowned in disapproval while Lucius squirmed uncomfortably; deep down, Lucius knew that despite his outlandish transformation from Death Eater to neutrality, he was still and would always be, a murderer and the Dark Lord's previous second-hand man. Phoebe's angry retort snapped him out of his morose thoughts, "I changed! Do you remember what you thought of me before I walked back through that door?"

Severus sighed, the deafening sister squabbling irritating him, and just as he was about to announce his leave, his interest was sufficiently waxed at the end of Prudence's following statement. "It gets worse. If the background information is accurate, there's a curse attached to the urn. Anyone who steals it ends up dead. A victim of the guardian who protects it and she feeds off their greed."

"How preposterous," Lucius scoffed, unable to mask his palpable disbelief. Simultaneously, Pandora's mellifluous voice rang out, "Oh, come on! What utter bull!" In unison, Narcissa and Severus chuckled, thinking just how alike father and daughter really were. Lucius once again, shifted uncomfortably and took a huge gulp from his drink, not wanting to entertain such thoughts in regards to the similarities they shared.

Drowning out Phoebe's unwavering defense of her muggle, Severus addressed the sudden enigma, "A curse attached to an artifact? While that hits closer to home, I believe a guardian protecting an antique sounds to me as hogwash."

Narcissa sighed, "We keep arguing back and forth over what seems believable and what doesn't. We keep forgetting that everything we have seen and heard since moving into this Manor, proves all we have ever known, to be false, and for the impossible to be quite possible."

Lucius grimaced and reached out for the bottle, he was in desperate need for a generous refill.

***P4***

"So… you reversed the spell?" Pandora inquired; she was currently on the phone with Piper while riding the elevator of Buckland's wanting to check up on Prue after the whole 'curse-mojo'. Piper sighed loudly from the other end, but before she could verbally reply, an ear-shattering CRASH infiltrated her hearing, prompting Pandora to wince, "Never mind, don't answer that."

Piper let out an exhausted groan, "I'll call you back, Pan. I have a mess to clean up." Pocketing her phone, Pandora smiled wistfully, "Too bad. Confidence suited the dude. …Heya, Prue!" she beamed at her disgruntled eldest sister and casually plopped into the empty seat in front of her.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" but Pandora's attention was suddenly diverted to the door she had just closed behind her, eyes widening at Phoebe and Clay. Prue abruptly stood up, her demeanor instantly turning hostile, "Phoebe. What is he doing here?"

"Save it till later," Phoebe looked terrified, her eyes not once detaching from the urn on Prue's desk, "I have seen the future and it's not bright. Good, you didn't give the urn to the police." Pandora joined Prue's side, her concern skyrocketing at the palpable fear she detected in Phoebe's tone. Prue rolled her eyes and briefly glanced at the offending urn, "Yeah, no, I thought that it might get you into trouble."

Having had enough with the suspense, Pandora burst out, "Spit it out, Pheebs. You and Clay didn't stop by after some leisure stroll in the park. What's going on?!"

"I was getting to that in a minute," Phoebe huffed, glaring at the platinum-blonde, "You know that little legend we were talking about?" upon receiving two affirmative nods, she nervously continued, "Well-"chocolate brown eyes widened, locked on to something behind her two sister, and she quickly blurted out, "I think it's true."

"Wha-, holy shit!" Pandora whipped around and was immediately yanked away from close proximity of the desk by Prue. Clay gaped at the mystical scene playing out before his very eyes, "What the hell is that?"

A woman just materialized out of thin air, from the urn! dressed from head to toe in Ancient Egyptian garments, unblinking cat-like green eyes never once detaching from Clay's shocked visage. Cocking her head to the side, Pandora couldn't muffle her mouth filter, "She kinda looks like Cleopatra."

"Now isn't the time, Pan!" Prue snapped loudly, her hand tightening on Pandora's wrist and without taking her eyes off of Cleopatra's twin, she bellowed at Phoebe to get Clay away from Buckland. The platinum-blonde chuckled nervously as the door slammed shut, signaling Phoebe's obedience, "And then there were two."

Prue volleyed Cleopatra's twin with her telekinesis powers, but unfortunately, there were no fruitful results, prompting the Halliwells to stop with their attacks and go on defense. Pandora successfully shielded herself and Prue with her deflection energy shield, breathing a sigh of relief now that they were safely ensconced in the literal bubble.

In a serene voice, Cleopatra's twin addressed them, "I don't want to harm you. I came for the thief."

"Listen up, Cleopatra! I don't know what century you came from, but in this era, we don't just donate people to somebody that wants to kill them," Pandora snarkily retorted; Clay may have stolen the urn, but that didn't mean he deserved to die – she still liked the guy, and Pandora knew without a doubt that Clay wouldn't wish harm upon anyone… if he knew of the curse, he wouldn't have stolen the stupid artifact!

"Pandora!" Prue hissed; leave it to Pandora to provoke a demon, or whatever the hell she is. However, Cleopatra's twin freaked them out with her eerie serene smile that hadn't faltered, "I'm the Guardian of the urn. You cannot destroy me." Not once to easily accept defeat, Prue stubbornly used her powers again, to no avail. Nodding her head, Prue dragged Pandora to the door, "Okay. Run!"

"You don't need to tell me twice," Pandora squeaked, clasping Prue's hand in a firm grip, not bothering to slam the door shut behind their rapidly retreating backs, and therefore, unable to hear the Guardian's parting words before disappearing.

"So now there are more who will die."

***P4***

Narcissa clutched her cup of tea, a fearful expression on her visage upon seeing Prue and Pandora dash into the Manor with pallid features and practically radiating fear. "Lucius! Come, quick!"

"What is it, Cissy? Whatever is the matter?" Lucius frowned, deeply concerned upon seeing the state his usually put together wife was currently in. Wordlessly, Narcissa pointed at the Halliwell Manor, and Lucius' eyes shuttered close at the foreboding sensation that never failed to consume him upon hearing the distinctive sounds of the pages ruffling from the attic. Without another word, Lucius took the seat beside his wife and focused on the Listening Charm.

Phoebe's voice permeated the air, "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing about Egyptian urns or greed demons. Zip!" Piper's voice sounded frustrated at the lack of answers, and the distinctive groan of Pandora infiltrated their hearing, "That's just perfect! So this Cleopatra lookalike or Guardian of the urn, or whatever the hell she is, is immune to our powers and non-existent in the Book of Shadows. I'd like to be the first one to say it, but we are majorly screwed!"

When Prue announced that they weren't supposed to save 'him', Lucius' confusion surmounted, meshing with his worriment over Pandora facing a … demon?

"All I'm saying is maybe there's a reason," Prue clarified her earlier statement, "Like Piper trying to force Doug and Shelley back together again. Maybe there are just some things that we're not supposed to save."

Narcissa gasped, "I don't believe that." Simultaneously, Phoebe defiantly shouted, "No, we're saving Clay, period. There's just gotta be something we're missing."

"Honey, we won't let anything happen to Clay. We just need to open our minds and think this through." Lucius's eyes automatically snapped shut at the tranquil sound of Pandora's voice that never failed to calm him, a feat he despised. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence that was only interrupted by the flicking of pages and the two Malfoys were becoming twitchy with anticipation and concern, when all of a sudden, Piper spoke up, "Maybe this is something. It doesn't talk about the urn but it talks about the seven deadly sins. Greed being one of them."

Narcissa scowled in confusion, "I don't understand. The seven deadly sins? Lucius?" but the wizard in question merely shook his head in incomprehension, unable to fathom the aforementioned sins.

"Wait a minute," Prue's voice boomed in the terrace and the Malfoys awaited her next words with abated breaths, "The guardian punishes the greedy. So maybe if Clay does something selfless, it'll even the score."

"Good luck," both Piper and Pandora quipped at once, followed by a muttered apology. However, when the four sisters started yelling out the Muggle's name, Narcissa frowned in confusion, "But he left when Phoebe joined the other three in the attic."

"I agree with Pheebs. Clay wouldn't just bail like that," Pandora adamantly argued back. Phoebe's voice ensued, "He was worried about me, he was worried about us. I am telling you-"a loud gasp echoed and Phoebe's voice trembled with fear, "Wait, my vision. I think I know where he's gone. We've gotta stop him!"

As the four Halliwells clambered into Piper's car, Narcissa worriedly uttered, "Oh, I do hope they remain safe." Lucius scowled darkly and walked away without another word; he cared not for some blasted muggle, and wouldn't even bat an eyelash if he died. He was enraged over the fact that Pandora was willing to risk her life for some muggle thief! So unlike him… and Lucius hated that glaring fact most of all.

How could he? Lucius Malfoy, ruthless and one of the most feared and sinister Death Eaters, murderer of countless of innocents, procreate such a compassionate and beautiful girl with a benevolent persona and a pure heart, a girl willing to risk her life for that of a stranger without a moment's hesitation… and a thief to boot!

How?!

***P4***

Prue and Piper's theory ended up being dead on. Just as they barged into Prue's office at Buckland, Cleopatra's twin conjured a snake in an attempt to strike them, or to be more accurate, to strike Phoebe, but Clay unconsciously achieved a selfless act by pushing Phoebe aside and taking the hit. In conclusion, the snake disappeared, followed by a creepy smile of approval from the guardian before she promptly vanished with the urn – probably back to its rightful home in Egypt.

"I gotta say. We overworked ourselves for nothing," Pandora smirked as she took a sip from her vodka tonic, "The ending was so anticlimactic. It was the easiest demon or whatever kill we had since our powers were activated."

Piper turned around to face the platinum-blonde, so fast, she almost risked whiplash, "Don't jinx us, Pan! Let's just be thankful that we get to live another-"the rest of her words were drowned out by an almighty crash. Piper facepalmed herself, "Ugh, I forgot about Doug." And to make matters worse, Doug dropped the tray he was holding, joining the shards of glass on the floor.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Prue huffed as Piper wearily froze the room. Pandora raised a delicately plucked eyebrow and snorted, "Getting ridiculous. We passed ridiculous two frikin' days ago! Where've you been?!"

Piper's face looked to be a mixture of annoyance and pity, her eyes fixated on Doug's frozen form, "That engagement ring's probably still burning a hole in his apron." Standing up, Prue stormed over to Doug, prompting Piper, Phoebe and Pandora to simultaneously frown. "Where are you going?" Piper inquired. Pandora nearly choked on her drink upon seeing Prue feel Doug up, "Uh, sweetie… whatcha doin'?"

"Mind out of the gutter, Pan!" Prue called out, not bothering to turn around as she knew the youngest Halliwell by now. Grabbing the ring box from his pocket, Prue placed it on the floor next to the broken cutlery and returned to them with a smirk on her face, "There! I just solved your problem and kept you employed."

On cue, the scene unfroze and the four sisters blatantly watched with wide smiles as Shelley knelt down to help Doug clear the broken shards; her eyes zoomed in on the ring box and Doug finally admitted to the truth before proposing.

"And they lived happily ever after," Pandora's eyes softened at the romantic exchange; Doug and Shelley were in a tight embrace, all loving eyes and dopey smiles. Piper crossed her arms against her chest and pouted, finally detaching her orbs from the reunited, newly-engaged couple, "This would've happened sooner if I would've kept my little wicca nose out of their business."

Phoebe chuckled, "You can't change people, they have to change themselves." As if it had been rehearsed, Clay entered Quake. Prue nudged Phoebe, a cheeky smile on her face, "Speaking of which. Yum!"

Pandora winked, "Go get him baby!" the three of them watched Phoebe and Clay for a while and the platinum-blonde Halliwell sighed, "I miss Aaron! I cannot wait until he gets back from Spa… uh, hey?" she frowned as Phoebe returned to her previously vacant seat, "Um, why are you back so soon, and why is the edible Clay leaving without you attached to his arm?"

Trying to keep a strong front, Phoebe nonchalantly shrugged, "He was just stopping by on his way home. No big deal."

"Heard that before," Piper sympathetically embraced their desolate middle sister in a hug. A split second later, the four sisters were locked in a tight embrace, each of them hoping that they wouldn't end up being unlucky in love like their mother, grandmother and their many ancestors were before them.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! XD

Honestly, I grew a little bored while writing this chapter… in my opinion, this is the most uneventful episode in Charmed Season One, so I deeply apologize if this chapter wasn't as exciting in comparison to the previous chapters; the next chapters will be more exciting for sure as I have a lot of incidents planned and many plot-twists! ;)

Now, about the Poll for who Pandora would end up with:

Pandora/Cole Turner: 73.

Pandora/Sirius Black: 35.

Pandora/Bill Weasley: 23.

Pandora/Kyle Brody: 12.

Pandora/Andy Trudeau: 3.

Pandora/Gideon (The Elder): 3.

This Poll will be in effect until Season 3. Now, Dear Readers, if the person you want didn't gain much votes, don't worry there is still time; with your votes, it can change. And you never know maybe they will still have an active part since I am changing a lot of things. I already have a plot laid out for EACH of the names I posted up in the Poll.

R&R.