The girls sat up in the attic thinking of ideas for how to take on the demon. Well, Prue was looking in the book while Phoebe looked over her shoulder with her arms crossed not happy about the whole situation, and Piper and Paige were chattering amongst themselves about the demon. After what seemed like a little while, Prue finally looked up at the two girls, "Paige, what time did your parents want you home?" It wasn't that she didn't like Paige. It was just, the girl was a little young for all of this. After all, she couldn't have been older than ten.

Paige paused and blushed a little bit. "What time is it now?"

Phoebe looked at her watch before looking back at the younger girl, "My clock reads almost six o' clock."

"Oh, um, I guess I should be going then. I did tell them I would be home before dinner." She looked at Piper and smiled giving the girl a hug goodbye, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school. Bye." she said waving before orbing out.

Prue looked between Piper and the spot where the girl used to be with suspicion. "I didn't think that whielighters could be that young. She can't be older than ten."

Piper blushed slightly. She had forgotten that her sisters didn't know Paige was only half whitelighter. "Well, um, she's only half whitelighter, but that's all she told me." Piper shrugged looking down at her fiddling hands.

"I don't really care. I just think it's weird that you are hanging out with a girl that's like four or five years younger than you," Phoebe replied with a scowl on her face.

Prue gave Phoebe a pointed look in return and shook her head while Phoebe gave her a 'what' kind of look with a shoulder shrug. Piper, on the other hand, looked up at Phoebe with a hurt look in her eyes before looking back down at her hands. "I think I'm going to go do some of my homework in my room. Call me up if you need me for anything." With that, she left the attic leaving the youngest and oldest sisters together.

"Seriously Phoebe?!"

"What," Phoebe replied with an exasperated look. "You can't say that you weren't thinking the same thing!"

Prue shook her head and rolled her eyes. "That's beside the point. You know that most of Piper's classmates don't seem to want to make an effort to hang out with her. For some reason they've all seemed to make her some kind of pariah. It was just nice seeing her actually enjoy someone's company that wasn't me."

Phoebe scoffed at her sister and glared. "They're all scared of her, that's why. They know what she can do. Plus, look at her, Prue. If she weren't your sister, would you even think about talking to her? "

"You are unbelievable, Phoebe! Don't you care about anyone but yourself!"

"Oh, that's real rich coming from the person who decided to go to real school leaving her to the wolves! Were you thinking about Piper then, Prue? Because I guarantee you weren't! All you were thinking about is how you felt being stuck with magic after you watched Mom die!" Phoebe was giving Prue a death glare and breathing heavily. She may be eleven, but she wasn't stupid. She had heard the rumors, and she knew what went on even though everyone tried to protect her.

"Low blow, Phoebe," Prue said darkly as she shook her head and exited the attic.

Phoebe stood there with her arms crossed and shaking her head as tears threatened to fall. She swallowed back the lump in her throat she felt wanting to burst out. "Fine then, I'll figure out a way to deal with the demon by myself." She looked at the book and let out an angry huff before starting to flip through it. She was the best witch of the three anyway.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Prue made her way down the stairs holding back the tears that she knew were coming. She quickly went into her room and slammed the door as she collapsed onto her bed. Images flashed in her mind repeatedly of that stupid day. If she had just been smart enough to use her powers, then her mom would still be here. She remembers having begged her mother not to leave them that day and then later when she saw the demon attacking. She knew all she needed to do was just move her hand, but she didn't. She still doesn't know why she didn't do it to this day, but ever since, she had denied being a good enough witch. If she was a good witch, she should've been able to save her most important innocent: her mother. Why hadn't she at least tried?

She closed her eyes trying to block out the images and the day. She couldn't deal with it. She'd been having to fight herself ever since, and it wasn't fair to any of them. Phoebe always blamed her for not having done anything, and Piper always felt the need never to cause trouble because she didn't want to hurt Prue's feelings. She knew Phoebe even hated that she tried to be motherly to Piper and her, and she couldn't do anything about it. They all had to stay together for the Charmed Ones; yet, none of them seemed that willing to now-a-days.

The more Phoebe slung hateful words, the more she was starting to think that the Elders had gotten the wrong sisters. There's no way they would've picked three sisters who could barely stay in the same room together.

Hot tears began streaming down Prue's face as she shook her head. She shook her head. She felt like she was letting their mother down all over again, and she hated that feeling. In fact, she often hated their mother for having left her with this responsibility which was yet another thing that the two younger ones never understood. She looked up at the ceiling and wiped her face a bit. "Why Mom? Why couldn't you have just listened that day? Why did you have to leave me here?" She began feeling angry as she grabbed her pillow and threw it at the wall. Why couldn't something just work out in her favor for once?

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Piper started trying to do her homework to no avail before deciding to head downstairs. Hanging out with Grams always made her feel better. Plus, it often kept her hands busy. She headed downstairs looking around the kitchen. There she found her Grams making dinner and smiled. "Can I help," she asked in a shy tone.

"Of course, dear! Come here." Penelope ushered her towards the stove where a pot sat with various ingredients. "Why don't you take over for a little bit. I've got to get my checkbook upstairs to pay Mr. Wyatt."

"Okay, Grams," she replied as she looked at the ingredients and instinctively began throwing stuff in. This was relaxing to her because it was something she didn't have to think about and was good at. If only her whole life were like this.

"Wow, that smells good," she heard behind her as she jumped and stuck up her hands exploding a lightbulb. "I didn't mean to scare you," Leo stated as he looked at the lightbulb suspiciously. "Why did that do that?"

"Oh, um, the wiring has been faulty for years. That lightbulb tends to do that sometimes which is why we tend to avoid the area." She smiled nervously hoping he bought the excuse.

Luckily, he seemed have as he shrugged and turned towards her. "Well, I'll have to take a look at that then, won't I?"

"I guess so." She took a deep breath and began throwing things into the pot again avoiding looking at the handyman in front of her. "Um, I think Grams went up to get the checkbook to pay you. She said she'd be right back down soon."

"Oh thanks." He looked at the pot then back at the teenage girl briefly remembering a time when she has pigtails strewn in her hair and refused to let him out of her sight. "So, what are you making?"

She looked back up at him then down again. "Oh, um, just some soup. It's really just a whole bunch of things thrown together. Grams says I have a knack for it or something." She blushed slightly still refusing to look at the man.

"Well, it smells good."

"Thanks."

Finally, Penelope came down the stairs with a piece of paper that Piper only assumed to be the check she went to get. "I assume we'll be seeing you tomorrow, Mr. Wyatt?"

"That you will, Miss Halliwell."

"Then I shall see you out," she finished as she escorted the man out of the kitchen before returning. "How's the soup coming, Piper?"

"I think it's just about done, Grams. I just need to add a few more things." She smiled as her grandmother looked over her shoulder and nodded satisfactorily.

"You have a gift, Piper. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise on the matter." She smiled down at the girl who reminded her of Patty. She had the biggest heart and never wanted to cause any trouble if she could help it. Penelope almost had to laugh because it seemed to be the complete opposite of what she was like. No, it was clear Phoebe had inherited all of her traits, and she wasn't sure if that was for the best at all. Then again, most the time she just blamed Victor for that since he left them all at such a young age, coward.

Piper blushed at her Gram's words and nodded her head. "If only everyone thought of me like you do." She slouched her shoulders at the depressing thought as the room became quiet with a comfortable pause. "I've been thinking of maybe asking to go to Prue's school next year," she finally mumbled out.

Penelope looked at her granddaughter with shock. "I thought you loved Magic School."

"I do. It's not that. It's just." She sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind, f-forget I said anything. It was a stupid idea."

"Sweetie," Penelope said coming up behind Piper. "If you want to transfer, that's alright with me. I just don't want you to do something because of someone else. I want you to make the decision because it's what you want to do."

Piper nodded her head solemnly. " It's just, I have no friends my own age, Grams." She paused a bit adding a few more things. "It's just discouraging, and the people there try to exclude me. Their scared of me. I can see it on their faces."

Penny laid a hand on her granddaughter's shoulder and shook her head. "They aren't scared, Piper. They're jealous because you can do something not very many other people can do. They're jealous because you're special."

"But-but what if I don't want to be special? What if I want to be normal?" She stopped stirring and looked at her Grams. "It's just a lot, Grams, and I'm only thirteen. I should be thinking about boys and pimples and my wardrobe not whether I'll be killed tomorrow by a vicious creature bent on killing me."

Leaning into her granddaughter, Penny gave her a big side hug. "I know, sweetheart, but some things are out of our control. You can't resent your abilities because they're a part of you. They help make Piper, Piper just like mine make me who I am. You'll understand one day just how important they are to you."

Piper's head dipped down in defeat. "I-I know. I-I," she paused knowing she wouldn't be able to persuade her Grams on binding their powers. "I understand. Maybe I just need to control this new power, and things will get better," she managed saying as she tried to conjure up a small smile.

"That's my girl! Now, why don't you call down your sisters for dinner, hmm? Then we can deal with this demon problem we're having."

"Okay Grams," Piper said as she bounded up the stairs. Maybe her Grams was right. Maybe things would get better, and she was just overreacting. She did tend to do that sometimes.

TBC...