2015

"No." Parker stomped her foot angrily and Wyatt had to hold back a laugh. Watching his six-year-old cousin get angry was kind of adorable. She looked a lot like her father except for her chocolate brown hair and these pudgy little cheeks that were so cute. She was glaring at her teacher backstage at the school play. Wyatt had left elementary school but Chris and the rest of the cousins, with the exception of Posey who had only just turned one, were attending still. He ended up sneaking backstage, having attended the same school previously and knowing the way, when he got bored sitting with the adults in the second row.

He looked over at Chris who looked more concerned than Wyatt did. The teacher was trying to get Parker into a dress for the play. She was supposed to be Gretal in a fairy tale play and her costume included a chequered dress. But there was a problem with that. "I don't wear dresses." Parker said, throwing her nose up into the air.

Chris rushed forward, always the worrier and put his hand on his cousin's shoulders when it looked like she was about to chuck a fit. "Sorry Miss K, but Parker really doesn't like dresses. Couldn't she wear something else?"

"We don't really have anything else, Christopher. She didn't say anything earlier."

"I can turn them into pants." Wyatt offered. He could simply magic them into pants. It was easy enough. Wyatt's magic worked in a way none of the other cousins did. He could simply think of something and it happened. If he concentrated on the skirt for just a second, they would turn into a pair of pants.

"How do you suppose to do that, Mr Halliwell?"

"Magic." he said, eyes twinkling.

Chris's eyes bugged out of his head and he turned to Miss K and said, "He's joking. Of course. What he means is he's good at… sewing. Really good at it. Parker, can you please just wait here while I go and talk to my brother? I mean really. He shouldn't even be back here." Chris pushed Wyatt away from all the drama and he went willingly but he was a little annoyed.

"I was just sticking up for Parker." Wyatt defended.

"Not in the right way. Look Wy, you can't solve everything with magic. You know that."

Wyatt let out a dramatic sigh and carded a hand through his curls. They were getting longer and a little unruly. He would have to cut them soon, though he really didn't mind them. He looked at Chris and saw the insistence on his little brothers face and knew that he was waiting for some sort of response from him. "What? I was dong the right thing by Parker. She hates dresses. Dunno why, but she does. So if I just magic them into pants, she'll be happy."

"Personal gain." Chris scolded.

"Apart from seeing my little cousin happy, where's the selfishness?"

"Think about how upset Mom and Dad would be if they heard what you just said." Chris argued, crossing his arms over his chest.

That made Wyatt freeze. Watching his mom upset was possibly the worst thing imaginable. He hated when Piper was disappointed in him and she had been disappointed so many times. When he abused his magic, when he hurt Chris and Melinda whether it was by accident or not and sometimes when he just refused to believe in their mantra of Good magic versus Bad magic. He didn't get it. He knew there was good and bad things but he didn't know how magic affected it or why personal gain was even a factor. Everyone else used their magic to get what they wanted and the only thing Wyatt could see stopping them were the limits to their power.

Wyatt had no limits. He didn't even have to try to be more powerful than his siblings and cousins. He just was. It wasn't a gloating thing either. It was a fact and Wyatt didn't understand why saying it aloud made him seem obnoxious or why he should play it 'weak' so they didn't feel inferior. It wasn't his fault they felt that way and he felt stupid pretending he was anything but powerful. It's just the way things were.

"Mom and Dad would be upset with me." he muttered when Chris gave him the puppy dog stare. They would be upset with Wyatt if they knew the way he thought about his powers in relation to his cousins too, which was why he never said anything. "Don't worry, Chris. I won't go off the deep end. Not on your big night."

Relief crashed over his little brother and he sagged down, looking so much older than eleven. Wyatt saw something in his eyes and it was a flicker of fear. He frowned and took a step towards him. "What's wrong, little brother? Look, I swear. I'm not going to lose it tonight."

Chris glanced at Wyatt with a frown and shook his head. "No. That's not it. I'm just…" he drifted off and looked behind Wyatt where the stage was, the curtains still closed as parents entered. He wrung his hands together. "I want tonight to be perfect. I've never… this is the first…"

Wyatt realised what his brother was afraid of and laid his hands over his shoulders, squeezing them. He was just a little bit taller than Chris, not by much but he bent forward anyway so they were eye to eye. "Hey. Tonight is going to be great. You're going to be great. I've been listening to you practice like crazy every morning and every night. And if you don't get the biggest applause of the evening, I'll get mom to freeze the whole room and then go around and steal everyone's wallets because I'm know that they should be paying a lot more than a small donation to watch you perform. If they don't give you the respect you deserve, I'll make them compensate in cash."

Chris laughed and beamed up at Wyatt, the grin making it all worth it. "Thanks Wy. Is… Is Dad here?"

"Yeah. Got the camera out and everything."

"Awesome." Chris bounced on the balls of his feet and the lights backstage dimmed. "You better go to your seat."

"Break a hand out there." Wyatt said.

"It's break a leg, idiot." Chris rolled his eyes.

"Just break a lot of stuff." Wyatt ruffled his hair on purpose, knowing how much his brother valued his locks and then walked to the door that went off stage. He could hear the host for the evening talking to the parents about switching off phones already when he was stopped by someone tugging on his jacket.

He turned around and saw Parker standing there, her brown eyes red and her chubby cheeks streaked with tears. "Wyatt, please can you fix my dress?"

Wyatt looked over his shoulder to where Chris was nervously tearing a hole in the floorboards with his pacing and looked back at Parker. He knelt in front of her and grinned. "Of course." She held out the offending dress and Wyatt waved his hands over it, turning in from a dress into a pair of overalls. "You got a t-shirt to wear underneath?"

"At home I do." Parker admitted sheepishly.

Wyatt held out his hand and the t-shirt appeared in it. "There you go." he leant down and kissed her forehead. "Go and have fun, Gretal." Parker giggled and Wyatt stood up wondering why that was so bad. It wasn't personal gain if he did things for the ones he loved and to protect them. Even if it was just to protect them from a fashion choice.

He went back into the audience, shuffling between his aunts and uncles, Posey, Billie and Grandpa until he found his seat between his mom and dad. Piper sat on the end and Leo was next to Henry. The kindergarteners were out first and none of his family were in this particular performance. Piper leant closer to Wyatt. "How's your brother?"

"Freaking out." Wyatt laughed quietly. "But seriously, he's got this. I've been listening to him play all week. He never stops. I reckon I could do it if something went wrong."

They sat through a performance of an over done teapot and a hare and a tortoise then came on the mixed up fairy tales of the first graders, with Parker playing a tomboyish Gretal and Patty and Pipa play two of the three little pigs. When their performance began, Leo took out the video camera and held it up to record them. Melinda and Prue were in a choir of third graders a few performances after and then there was Junior playing a tree in a fourth grade performance about Cinderella. Junior was not much of a performer but Henry was beaming and giving him the thumbs up the entire time while Paige just tried not to laugh.

Chris was in sixth grade so the fifths played in between. Leo put away the camera for the moment and they all watched the other parent's children politely. The sixth grade performances had one big one and a few smaller ones to show off the kids with talent. Chris was the first to go on and Wyatt shook his leg in anticipation for his brother.

The host teacher came out to introduce Chris just as Wyatt felt something tingle in his brain. He frowned and looked up and his mom noticed beside him. "What is it?"

Wyatt looked at Leo who was staring up and frowning and even Paige looked annoyed. "I think we're being summoned." Wyatt said.

"I'll go see what's going on." Leo said, handing the camera to Henry. He stood up and started to shuffle away.

"Our next performer is one of our most talented young students and an amazing piano player. Please welcome, Chris Halliwell." The applause started and teacher went off the stage just as Chris hesitantly walked on and towards the piano. His eyes however didn't leave the audience.

Piper reached over and grabbed the back of Leo's shirt. "Leo. Your son is about to start playing."

"Henry will record it." Leo said, looking pointedly at his brother-in-law who nodded, lifting up the camera. Wyatt heard the jingling again and looked up again. Leo did too and Chris stopped mid stride and glanced at his family. "I need to go find out what's going on. I think you should all leave after this though. It sounds urgent." Leo moved down the row and Wyatt looked up just in time to see Chris's eyes following him out. Leo did manage to look up momentarily and shot an apologetic look to Chris before going to the doors.

An awkward silence had settled over the crowd and Chris stood in the middle of the stage, watching his father walk out. He didn't move and Wyatt could see the pain all over his face. He knew he needed to do something about it. He waved his hand and gave his brother a telekinetic shove and he staggered forward then turned his head straight to Wyatt. "Woo! Go Chris!" he shouted out and restarted the applause that was made especially loud by the Halliwell clan. They just thought Chris was nervous and Henry started the camera up as Chris walked over to piano, pushed on by the cheering crowd.

He sat down, wearing nothing special. Just a nice pair of jeans and a shirt Piper bought him. He held his hands up above the keys and paused before landing his fingers down on the keys and playing the first few notes of Fleur de Lise.

Wyatt wasn't a big music buff but he could tell Chris was just special and that he was an amazing player. The first few notes sounded so sad but beautiful and he wanted to go on stage and hug his brother then punch out all the Elders. But the more he played the more the piece started to change and he gained his confidence back. The music changed from sad to angry and then to resigned. Wyatt knew Chris was upset with their father and it poured out in the keys.

When he was done the crowd was amazed. Chris turned bright red and looked back at the applauding crowd but he no longer focused in on one face. He just beamed, living in his moment for the time and bowed before shuffling off stage. "Let's go." Piper said. "We'll collect your brother then get to the Manor and find out what's going on. He was amazing though. I just wish your father had stayed."