Here's the next chapter :) I hope you're all enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it :)

The pair of them sat down on the couch where Ella had been sitting earlier with the ghosts of her mother and grandmother. Aria stayed silent, although she was looking at Ella expectantly, as if to say that it was up to her to make the next move. She got the hint as soon as she'd seen the look on her daughter's face. It was the same look Grams gave them when they were growing up whenever she wanted an explanation about what had happened. She remembered how it was directed at her younger sister more often than either of the others; she was definitely the troublemaker of the family.

Taking a deep breath, Ella started to talk. "Aria, you've got to understand that what I'm about to tell you is very serious. You can't tell anyone else about it or we could all get in a lot of trouble." Aria nodded. "Sweetie, I'm a witch."

"A what? How?"

"It's passed down through the family, specifically the women in the family. We come from a line of some of the most powerful witches in history, power that has been growing with each generation dating back to our ancestor Melinda Warren in the seventeenth century."

"You said 'we'. Does that mean I'm a witch too?" Aria asked, half jokingly. Witches weren't real, were they?

"Technically, yes. I bound your powers when you were a baby to keep you safe. As my daughter there would have been a lot of people after you and your magic and I couldn't let that happen."

Aria took a second to process what she'd just been told. "That's insane." She concluded. "Why would anyone be after me?"

"It's a very long story." Ella started. "But basically the birth of three sisters in the Halliwell line forms the power of three. We're also sometimes known as the Charmed ones. It had never happened before us and made us the most powerful witches alive. Everyone wanted our power, from demons and warlocks to the Source of all evil. I knew that if they were after us they'd go after you too and I didn't want you to have that life. You shouldn't have to be looking over your shoulder all the time worried that someone is watching you and waiting to attack."

It's a bit late for that, Aria mused, thinking about the text she received from 'A' yesterday.

"If I do have these powers, is there any way of getting them back?"

"I can undo the spell, but I wouldn't want to put you in the danger it would bring. We'd have to talk about it properly if I was ever to do it. The only other way to get them back is if I die." Ella explained.

"Have you had your powers all your life?"

"No, Grams bound them when Phoebe was born for our safety, knowing that there was a warlock after the power of three. She never undid the spell so I didn't get them until I was 25."

Aria didn't have time to respond before she was interrupted by her phone vibrating in her pocket. Thinking it could be Emily or someone else from school worried about where she was, she opened the message to read it.

So all I have to do is kill Mommy and I'll have a little liar witch to play with. I can't wait. Kisses. –A

"Who is it?" Ella asked, seeing the scared look on her daughter's face.

"No one."

"I know you better than that, Aria. Don't lie to me." She scolded gently, not wanting to push her too far after what she'd just learnt.

Reluctantly, Aria showed Ella the text on her phone, tears starting to form in her eyes as she re-read the message.

"Who's 'A'?" Ella asked, hoping that her daughter knew something about this person who seemed o know that she was a witch.

"I don't know. I got a text from them yesterday at school as well. It's like someone's watching me."

"Not just you." Ella admitted. "This 'A' knows I'm a witch and is threatening to expose me. That's who the text was from yesterday when you came in to my room."

"I thought you said it was from your ex-husband."

"No, he orbed in to tell me something. I think that's how 'A' found out."

"Orbed?"

"It's like travelling or teleporting or... it's hard to explain." Ella said. "Leo!" She shouted, looking up at the ceiling out of habit considering she'd always imagined him coming from 'up there'.

Seconds later white lights appeared in front of her and Leo orbed into the attic. If there was any doubt left in Aria's mind that magic existed it was definitely gone now. She just still couldn't believe that she herself was a witch. That was just too weird.

"Piper, what is it?" He asked, before his eyes fell on the teenager sitting next to her. "Aria?" He questioned. Ella nodded. "You finally told her?"

"Not you as well." Ella moaned under her breath. Why was everyone so keen for her to tell her family that she was a witch? "And I kind of had to. She walked in on me talking to mom and Grams this morning."

Aria was still staring at Leo in shock. Not only had he appeared from nowhere but he looked to be a lot younger than her mom. They must've married when he was really young, she reasoned.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Aria." Leo said kindly, extending a hand for her to shake. "I'm your mom's Whitelighter."

"Whitelighter?" Aria questioned.

"Think of me as a guardian angel." He supplied. "I protect witches and future Whitelighters from evil when they need me."

Leo glanced up at the ceiling, as if listening for something.

"Another charge?" Ella asked.

"No, it's the Elders. I should go and see what they want." Leo replied.

"Ok but once you're free we need to talk about Paige." Leo nodded and orbed out of the room.

"Who's Paige?" Aria asked her mother once Leo was gone.

"She's my half-sister." Ella said. "I only found out about her yesterday but Leo said she's a witch and with her we could get the power of three back."

"What happened to it? The power of three, I mean?"

"It didn't exist after your Aunt Prue died."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's ok sweetie. This is all new to you. You're allowed to ask questions." Ella assured her. She paused for a moment before continuing. "Do you want me to show you some magic?" She asked.

Aria considered it for a moment before nodding cautiously. She was still a little scared of her mom's magic after seeing her blow up the coffee mugs.

"Come with me to the window." Ella instructed.

Outside the house they could see a few cars driving through the street and a person walking a dog just past their front lawn. Ella raised her hands and the scene before them froze. The cars came to an instant stop and even the trees weren't moving in the wind.

"Was that you?" Aria asked. Ella nodded.

"I can freeze things and, like you saw earlier, blow them up." She explained before raising her hands once again and unfreezing everything. Aria watched in awe as everything continued to move on like nothing had even happened.

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"I can cast spells and make potions. You saw earlier that I can summon the dead with a spell."

"So you don't fly around on a broomstick or anything?" Aria teased.

Ella laughed. "No, although Phoebe did that once when we travelled back to the past. She started off the whole witch cliché with that and was pretty damn proud of it too." Aria joined in with Ella's laughter. Despite everything she'd just found out, she felt as much at ease around her mother as she'd always done.

"So you can time travel as well?"

"Only in special circumstances. It's dangerous because you have no idea what you could be changing."

Out of nowhere Leo orbed back in to the attic.

"What did they want?" Ella asked.

"They told me that if you were to unbind Aria's powers they'd assign me to be her Whitelighter. They've also asked me to be Paige's, which makes sense as you'd be bringing back the power of three."

"Oh, ok. Well I need to discuss it properly with Aria before we do anything. Did they say what they thought we should do?"

"Since when did you listen to what the Elders thought anyway?" Leo teased and Ella laughed. "They're leaving it up to you, of course. It's not their place to say."

"Like that ever stopped them before."

"You're just as stubborn as they are." Leo pointed out before once again glancing upwards as heard the cry of one of his charges. "I have to go. Let me know when you reach a decision." He said before orbing out.

"Does he always do that?" Aria asked.

"What? Orb out in the middle of a conversation?" Aria nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. It put a big strain on our relationship after a while and it's not like I can even be mad at him for it when he's off being a force of good in the universe." Ella ranted.

Aria started to look a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry, I just can't imagine you being with anyone other than Dad. I mean, I know you were married to him but meeting him just made that seem real."

"This is all a lot to take in. I'm sorry I've had to spring it all on you at once but we'll have to do this sooner or later. The Elders aren't known for being patient with us - we didn't exactly see eye to eye a lot of the time. We need to talk about whether I'm going to unbind your powers."

Aria nodded. She wasn't sure yet if she even wanted to be a witch. With everything that she'd learnt about her mother in the past few minutes she hadn't even had the time to consider what it would be like if she got these powers back.

"You said if I had my powers people would come after me. Wouldn't it be safer for me to stay like this?" She asked.

"I would never want to put you in that sort of danger, you know that right?" Ella asked and Aria nodded instantly. Her mom had always been there for her and she knew that wouldn't change now. "The problem is if we get the power of three back we'll all be walking targets for demons. I wouldn't want to leave you defenceless if I can't help you. Plus I know you'd be a lot safer if I were to teach you how to use your powers properly, rather than having to learn it all yourself like I did."

"So you think I should do it?"

"If it's what you want. I won't make the decision for you though. It's something you have to do on your own." Ella said. "Oh God, now I'm starting to sound like Leo." She laughed. "My point is only you can decide if you're ready."

"What about 'A'? If they're already threatening to expose you it's only a matter of time until they do the same to me."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now my main focus is keeping you alive and safe from demons."

"Why would they even attack here?" Aria asked.

Ella got up from the couch and walked over to a shelf at the far side of the attic that held a single book. "Because of this." She said, picking it up and bringing it back to Aria. "If they aren't trying to kill us they want to steal this."

The way Ella had said it so calmly worried Aria. What must her mother's life have been like if she could talk reasonably about the fact that some crazy demon creatures had tried to kill her so many times? Was that what her life would become now? How could anyone be ready for that?

Instead of voicing these fears, however, Aria's interest soon became focussed on the old looking book in her mother's arms.

"What is it?"

"It's called a Book of Shadows. Written in it are spells and potions that our family have used in the past, as well as information on demons and anything else that we come across. It contains so much knowledge and power that almost every demon in the Underworld wants to get their hands on it. Fortunately for us it protects itself from Evil."

"Would I blow things up like you do if I got my powers back?" She asked curiously. It looked dangerous and she didn't know if she would be able to handle it.

"I don't think so. For a while when I was pregnant with you I had the power of telekinesis so I'm assuming that's what you'll get. It was Prue's power."

"I think I want to do it." Aria decided suddenly, although something in the back of her mind said she would regret the decision. "If there are going to be demon things after us I want to be able to protect myself and help you."

Ella hesitated for a minute before nodding her head in agreement. She didn't want to drag her daughter in to this part of her life but what she said was true. She'd probably end up being in more danger if she couldn't protect herself from the evil that was out there. Still reluctant, however, she decided to give Aria a little more time to be sure of her decision.

"Why don't you think about it over night and let me know tomorrow after school? This life isn't something you should rush in to, especially not when you have the luxury of being given a choice." She said. A voice in her head that sounded strangely like her Grams seemed to have a different opinion. Being a Halliwell witch was Aria's birth right, her destiny. It would be wrong to stifle her magic, especially now that she knew it was innately inside of her.

Aria nodded before it dawned on her that they were still in the middle of the school day. She'd been so caught up in her conversation with her mom that neither woman had noticed how lunch had finished and Aria's next lesson had already started.

"I should really get back. Can you give me a lift?" She asked.

"Sure. I'll write you a note saying you had a family emergency. Do you want to meet me at The Brew later to see Phoebe and Leo? We're hoping he can persuade Paige to meet with us as well."

"Your half-sister?" Aria clarified and Ella nodded. "I don't know. I'll text you." She decided, her mind still reeling from finding out she was a witch and so were her mom and her aunt. She wasn't sure if she could even begin to process all of that as well as the appearance of some long-lost family member. On the other hand, at least she wouldn't be the only one there who was new to all this magic stuff. It would be a good way for her to bond with her other aunt.

Grabbing a granola bar from the cupboard in the kitchen on her way out, having realised she hadn't had a chance to eat lunch, Aria got in to the car with Ella. The older woman stayed silent, figuring that her daughter needed some time to think about what she'd just learned, and for this Aria was grateful. They said goodbye and Aria got out of the car, waving to her mom as she walked back into the school, dreading having to sit through her last classes of the day after receiving this new knowledge.