Sugar and Spice, It's Not Always Nice

A/N: This is the updated prologue, though my author's note at the end is still the same…

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Prologue

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"Pepper! You have a visitor!" Phoebe Halliwell yelled into the house. She smiled at the man in the doorway and invited him in. He stepped into the entryway as they both waited for Pepper's appearance. They watched as she poked her head out into the room from the staircase, beaming as she saw the weary middle aged man standing in the doorway.

"Dad!" she shouted, running down the stairs into the arms of her father. He laughed and ruffled his daughter's hair. "I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been? Aunt Piper, come see who's here!" Pepper shouted in the direction of the kitchen.

Piper appeared in the kitchen doorway, grinned, and walked toward the front door, hugging the man. "Sirius, it's so good to see you, how have you been?" she asked him. "You look awful," she added. He laughed.

"I know," he answered. "I have so much to tell you all."

"Why don't we go into the living room; I'll make some coffee," Piper said as she returned to the kitchen.

"So dad what have you been up to lately?" Pepper asked. "Still on the run?" she half-joked.

"Yes," he answered.

"Are you still in touch with your godson and all those people in that thing of that bird, too?"

Sirius and Phoebe chuckled. "The Order of the Phoenix, yes. We're working on a plan to defeat Voldemort at the moment." Piper returned with the coffee and passed a mug to each person.

"Four sugars and cream, Aunt Piper?" Pepper asked.

"Yes," Piper answered, smiling a bit.

"Thanks," Pepper said and blew on the liquid to cool it down. Piper sat down next to Phoebe and sipped at her coffee.

"If you're here, where's Prue? She was helping, wasn't she?" Phoebe asked.

Sirius' face fell and he looked down at his mug. "That's why I came," he said solemnly.

"Dad? What's wrong with mom?" Pepper asked, concerned.

When Sirius looked up, tears were running down his face. Pepper set her mug down on the coffee table and placed her hand on her father's knee. "Dad?" she said again.

"She…" he began, "Prue's…dead."

"What?" Piper hissed. Phoebe dropped her coffee and the mug shattered as it hit the hardwood floor, the brownish liquid spilling on the area rug, but no one seemed to notice. Pepper tensed instantly, tears welling in her eyes.

"Prue…she's…dead…" Sirius repeated.

"No," Pepper said quietly. Sirius nodded grimly. The three Halliwells began to cry, Pepper jumping to her feet. "And you were there, right? That's how you know she's DEAD!" she screamed at her father.

"Yes," he said, "I was there. I-I watched it happen."

"You watched it happen!" she shrieked. "And you didn't do anything about it?!"

"Pepper," Phoebe warned weakly.

"No! He watched it happen and he didn't save her! How dare you! Did you WANT her dead?!" she continued to shout at her father.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something but he suddenly stopped. Pepper whirled around to face her aunt. "Unfreeze him!" she yelled at Piper. "I want to yell at him some more!"

"Pepper!" Piper yelled back at her niece. "Let him explain!"

"Don't you get it?!" Pepper yelled desperately. "Don't you understand? My mom is dead!" A new wave of tears hit her forcefully and Phoebe wrapped her arms around the younger girl.

"Pepper," Phoebe said softly into Pepper's ebony hair. "We do understand. Our mom died, too, remember. And Prue was our sister. At least you'll have memories of your mother, honey, it'll be all right."

"Oh, Aunt Phoebe, I'm so sorry," Pepper apologized, hugging her aunt back. "I'm sorry, Aunt Piper," she said, looking at Piper. Piper stood up, joining the hug between her sister and her niece.

"It's alright, Pepper, I understand," she said, and sniffled. "I'm going to have to unfreeze your dad, please let him explain."

"A-alright," Pepper agreed, drying her eyes unsuccessfully, as the tears kept falling. Phoebe sat Pepper down next to her and put her arm around her niece.

Piper unfroze Sirius and said, "Darling, let me explain…" he stopped, seeing that the three witches had moved. His brow wrinkled in confusion, before what happened dawned on him.

"Then explain it to me, dad," Pepper said angrily.

"I know this might not sound right…but it was her time. She…she told me it was."

"Well what the hell happened?!" his daughter screamed at him.

"We were both in our Animigus forms, I've told you about them, right … well … we were trying to throw some Death Eaters off track, and … as Prue was a … a cat … one of them … they kicked her in this river … after she'd attacked the lot of 'em … she turned human again and tried to fight it … but the-the current, it was too strong and, and then she just … stopped fighting it. I tried to get her out but … she told me it wouldn't help…that the river wanted her, help would do no good … it was her time. I kept t-trying to help her…but it…it seemed she was right…the river seemed to knock me back. She just got swept away by the current. Prue said that if anything ever happened to her I should tell Pepper that she loved her s-so much and that … that she'd always be with her…that she was so proud of her little girl … and she loved her sisters…and she didn't want you to mourn her death too much … there were still innocents to save…she didn't want to leave you, any of you," Sirius explained shakily, tears forming in his eyes again.

"Oh god," Phoebe said, crying again also. Pepper was hysterical and ran up to her room. Piper tried to stop her but Phoebe shook her head at Piper so they turned their attention to Sirius.

"With Prue out of the war that means you…" Piper began.

Sirius nodded. "There's only a few more months in the year so Dumbledore suggested the start of next term."

"Oh god," Phoebe said again. "We'd better contact Paige then, right?"

Piper nodded at her sister. "Best to do what Prue said and not…mourn her death for long, there are still people out there that need help." She batted ferociously at her tears.

Sirius smiled weakly. "Now there's the Halliwells I know. I have to get back, there's still a lot of work I have to do for the Order."

Upstairs, Pepper slammed her door and slid down it, sitting on the floor. Tears streaming heavily down her cheeks she yelled: "Leo! Uncle Leo!" as loud as she could, and then put her head in her hands and wept. Half a minute later, Leo appeared in her bedroom, and, taking in the situation, wrapped Pepper in his arms.

"Shhh," he whispered. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"My-my mom," she wailed. "She's…dead!"

Leo looked down at her wide-eyed. "Prue? She's dead?" Pepper nodded fervently then collapsed into tears again. "Let's go down and see your aunts, sweetie, I wanna talk to them, ok?"

"N-no, you go. I'll stay up here," Pepper managed to squeak out. Leo picked her up and placed her on her bed before walking out. "I'm so scared, Uncle Leo," he heard her say softly. He walked back over to the bed and kissed the top of her head.

"It'll be alright, Pepper. It really will," he assured her. "Get some sleep, now, we'll deal with everything tomorrow." He kissed her again and exited the room and went downstairs. "What's this about Prue being dead?" he asked the three in the living room.

"Oh, Leo," Piper said rushing to him and embracing him tightly. "She's dead, she really is." Leo's breath hitched in his throat. He could feel tears coming on.

"L-Leo," Phoebe began through her tears, "this is Sirius Black, Pepper's f-father. He can explain what happened, he-he was there." Leo sat down with Piper on one side of him and Phoebe on the other. He soothed them both as Sirius told him the story and by the end, Leo was crying too.

"I'd better go," Sirius said. "I've already been here longer than I should have. Do you know what has to happen now, Leo?" he asked the other man.

"Yes, I do," Leo said. "Piper's filled me in on what would happen if Prue was unable to participate in the war any longer. You know she's the most powerful witch of her era, possibly in the world, at this point. A witch in the Charmed family, with a foot in both magical worlds."

The other three adults nodded. "We all know that, but she doesn't," Phoebe said.

"And I think it might be better if it stayed that way, at least for now. She doesn't need to be aware of the immense power she has," Piper put in. "Though she might already suspect because she has three natural powers already, and we only have two."

"She'll probably stand out at school, since she already knows and can do so much," Sirius said. "Though, some things will be new to her, I suspect. I've taught her as much about the school as I could in the few times I've been with her for long stretches of time, to prepare her for this. I hope she's ready. I'm sure she'll catch on quickly to everything, she always does."

"She doesn't know what she's in for, does she?" Leo asked his wife and her sister. They shook their heads.

"We didn't see the need to tell her until she had to go. No need to worry her unless absolutely necessary," Piper said. "And I think I'd like to wait a few days to tell her, I know what it's like to loose a mother young."

"I bet it's harder for her, too, at almost sixteen instead of two or even seven," Phoebe pointed out. "Poor kid."

"Why don't you two go to bed, I'll stay as long as I can," Leo said.

"And I'll get going, I just want to say goodbye to Pepper," Sirius said. He went over to the couch, hugged Piper and Phoebe, and shook Leo's hand. "I'll keep in touch with you two," he said to the Halliwells. He went upstairs and knocked on Pepper's door. Receiving no answer he walked in to find his daughter sleeping, her limbs sprawled out on the bed, a troubled look on her tear stained face. Sirius leaned down and kissed his daughter's forehead. "Good luck, darling," he whispered. "I love you. I can't imagine the power you'll have with a wand in your hand…" With that, he Apparated from the house.

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Okay, so that was the prologue. Don't make fun of me for the way Prue dies; it really seriously came to me in a dream like that. See there was this dog, who was Sirius Black, and he was sitting on this patch of grass right by a river and I was there as me and I watched Prue Halliwell get carried away by a current and I was shouting "MOM!" and then when she got swept away (after telling me to let go, it was her time), I was shouting at Sirius who was my father, why he didn't save her, and he also told me that it was her time to go. So there you go, it's all my dreams fault.

R&R please! Hope you enjoyed, look for the next chapter soon!

Flyaway Dove