Chapter 10: White Snow, Troubling Thoughts

As December rolled into Hogwarts, the grounds were covered a thick layer of snow and the once beautiful blue lake was now iced all over the top, as students trudged through the snow to get to their classes,

The interesting class was seeing how they would fly broomsticks with all the snow, something that excited the first years because they would be attending their third class today, chatting excitedly as they made their way towards the class.

Luke hung back with Hermione, allowing Leia to walk ahead with Ron this time, he didn't know how to ask the question,

"Uh, Hermione, I had a question I needed to ask" he spoke,

"What's wrong, Luke?" she asked,

"I needed to know, did you know or read any thing about dark magic?" he asked seeing her gasp,

"Why did you want to know that?" she asked, a look of horror across her face,

"I didn't want to talk about it, but I kind of had a nightmare about my parents being tortured and this figure kept saying crucio at them" he recounted as Hermione stared in disbelief,

"We haven't learnt them as we're too young but there are curses that are used in horrible situations" she replied.

"Do you know them?" he asked, eager to know,

"I can find that out at the library later on" she assured him as he smiled,

"Thanks, I just needed to know. I hate to see parents getting hurt" he told her,

"Your parents look so nice, why would anyone want to hurt them?" she asked as Luke sighed,

"Before I was born, they were always targeted because of who they were, my mother even had attempts on her life before my father and his master was sent to protect her" he informed her,

"I'm sorry. I didn't know" Hermione whispered,

"It's okay" he told her, still thinking if these dreams were connected with what Leia said about them and the prophecy-would their parents be hurt because of them?

As Luke and Hermione arrived to the broomstick course, there was no sign of their teacher but all their friends and of course, Draco Malfoy, who was recounting his "near death" experience last night outside the forest.

Luke just rolled his eyes as he moved over to where Leia and Ron stood,

"He's really thick, isn't he?" Ron asked as Leia laughed,

"That's for sure" as Malfoy's voice became louder when he saw Luke and his friends,

"I thought I was about to died when this figure stood over me" he informed the group as Luke laughed,

"Oh yeah, that's what happen" he spoke up, as Draco looked coldly at him,

"And I suppose you remember, since you ran away" he laughed as Luke gave a fake laugh,

"No, that was you. I was left with him and saw him knock out Professor Quinn. Besides, if you were there, what did the figure say?" he asked as Draco froze, all eyes on him,

"That I was to die" he quickly replied as Luke laughed again,

"No he didn't. He said it to me and it was about Leia and me" he told him as Draco smirked,

"Then I hope he does get rid of you two as well as your fifthly mudblood parents" he shot back as Luke felt his fist tightened but before he could snap back, it was Leia to act, storming right up to Draco, grabbing him by his robes,

"How dare you say that!? Our parents are not mudbloods; they are decent people and are even better than your shallow father! My father could finish your father off easily" she snapped

She felt Draco trembled in her gasp as other students began to snigger at this amusing sight, watching Leia release her grip on Draco, kicking cold, fresh snow right in front of him,

"You'll get more than that, if I hear another word about our parents" turning sharply on her heel back towards a stunned Hermione and Ron and Luke, who wasn't surprised at Leia's actions-most of their parent's friends said that Leia had picked up their father's anger while he picked up their's mother's gentleness as they saw their professor strolling towards them.

Security had tightened around Hogwarts and rumours were starting to circulate, although no one knew the real reason except for Dumbledore, Padme, Anakin, Severus, Minerva and Luke who had told Leia, Hermione and Ron which shocked all of them-

If Death Eaters cold get onto the grounds of the school, they could strike during outdoor classes, a concern Padme had decided to bring up with Dumbledore that morning in his office while the students were in classes.

"It just concerns me that's all. I mean, Luke and Leia could be attacked on their way to classes and I think that Snape's assistant knows about us being here because in his recent interaction with me, I sort of got the impression he knew about us" Padme explained,

She paced anxiously up and down the office as Dumbledore quietly sat back in his chair, taking in her considerations and worries,

"I understand your concerns and I am suspicious of him. Professor Snape did inform me that during his first class with the first years, his assistant was hovering around Luke and Leia for the duration of the class" he replied as Padme spun round to face him,

"You see, this is serious, what if he turns out to trick us. I mean in a few days the castle will have only a handful of students because of the holidays. What if he tries something then?" she asked, as he slowly raised a hand,

"I can assure you that with security tightened, nothing should happen. Hogwarts walls are perfectly safe, they may enter the grounds but not the castle" he assured her as she sank back down into her seat, flicking her long, blond locks behind her ears,

"I hope so. I just hope so" she replied, before opening up her rolls of parchment, "Now, we should resume our work" she informed him, before she started jotting down notes onto the parchment.

"I always thought flying a broomstick was hard, but I found it to be rather easy" Luke boasted as they trudged across the snow towards the greenhouses for Herbology as Hermione laughed,

"I knew you wouldn't have a problem, especially if you like flying high and fast in speeders" she replied as Luke looked over at her curiously,

"What? How did you know that?" he asked,

"Leia told me during class. She said Luke will love this" she answered him as Luke looked a little embarrassed, as Leia gave him a playful shrug, "Don't look too embarrassed Luke, remember dad was a skilled pilot and loved racing around. He won that race when he was nine years old" she reminded him as Ron couldn't believe it,

"What! Your dad won a race when he was nine!" he yelled as Luke smirked

"Yeah, he did. Long story and not a good time to recount it" he replied, entering the greenhouse as Ron laughed,

"Still I reckon he would have to be pretty skilled at nine, when I was nine, I was trying to learn spells off my brothers not doing high speed races" he laughed, taking their seats as Professor Sprout emerged into the classroom,

"Good afternoon, first years" smiling cheerful as she greeted them who echoed back their greeting as Leia's eyes moved over to the long, deep brown table, lined with a variety of strange, assorted plants, leaning over to Hermione, she whispered,

"Do you think that we'll be studying those today?" she asked as Hermione followed her gaze over to the table,

"I hope so, we're ready to start on those types" she told her, trying to conceal the excitement in her voice as Leia laughed, maybe it would be a fun lesson today, she thought.

The old, hardly lit manor just outside the village, was filled with dark, cloaked figures entering the large, opened brass doors, the dark lord had called them all here for a special meeting and brushing the snow off their cloaks

They felt the warmness of the orange bright well lit fire warm them as a voice filled the air,

"Welcome, once again. So glad to see that you have all come as we have exciting news to report" the voice informed them, "As you know, the children of the prophecy are here, at Hogwarts, along with their parents, meaning our time is close" they went on,

"Our plan will strike on Christmas night, with the capture of Anakin and Padme Skywalker" he explained to them as the room gasped,

"Hogwarts is tightening their security, it will impossible" one spoke up as the dark lord raised a bony, pale finger,

"Ah, but because it will on Christmas evening, they will not expect the attack. Hoping to have some time alone together, they will retreat out to the grounds where we will ambush and capture them" he snapped back, silencing the person,

"My lord, if we are to attack them at Christmas, why not just go after the children" came the cold, creepy voice of Lucious Malfoy, as the dark figure spun around,

"Because Lucious, the prophecy says that to turn them over to us, we must target the ones they love and their parents are loving and protecting of them and we must destroy them for Luke and Leia to turn" he sneered before going on,

"Lucious, you will lead the death eaters onto the grounds and meet up with our spy on the inside and capture Anakin and Padme, Christmas Eve night. Be sure that they are in the grounds and no one else is in sight. Do not fail" he hissed as Lucious nodded slowly,

"I will not disappoint you" he replied, before everyone adjourned from the living quarters.

By the time, Luke, Leia, Hermione and Ron were allowed some time off, all Luke and Ron wanted to do was catch some rest, confused at why Leia and Hermione decided to head off to the library to do more work, turning the corner to their common room, Luke spoke first,

"Leia reminds me of mum sometimes" as Ron climbed into the portrait hole first,

"Why do you say that?" he asked, over his shoulder,

"Because when we were little, dad would always tell us how mum's working and we can't disturb her even at home" he replied, continuing to the spiral staircase as Ron took his place by the fire,

"Where are you going?" he asked,

"I didn't have much sleep last night and I figured I would get some sleep before dinner" Luke told him as Ron pointed out,

"I'll come up before I leave for dinner" as Luke ascended the stairs, "Thanks!" he yelled back before entering their quarters.

Dumping his books and bag in front of his bed, he slowly moved over to his bed, sitting down, he glanced over at the moving holo projector on his side table-his parents had recently sent them one each, with more images that changed,

He smiled at the current image, Anakin was holding Leia while Padme was holding him, pointing at something and smiling at them, Luke didn't realise how hard this was, being away from them, but he was too tired and allowed his tired eyes to rest.

Luke Nightmare's

"Crucio!" the cold, dark voice shouted once again as sparks flew out of his long, pointed wand as the sprawled worn figure of Anakin, who squirmed once more, like his body was on fire, and his arms and legs would fall off as the voice spoke,

"You are strong indeed but not strong in every area" he told him, and with a swish of his wand, Anakin painfully raised his head and saw Padme dragged in front of him, her clothes were ripped and her eyes were stained with tears as Anakin screamed out,

"Don't you hurt her!" he told him as the voice laughed,

"No, I won't but you will" he told him, pointing his word at Padme, thin, white straps quickly wrapped around her as the wand moved back to Anakin, "Imperio!" he shouted at Anakin and he felt himself rising up towards the dark figure, like he was a puppet,

"Now you will see how dangerous I can be" he whispered into his ear, "Alert your children to come here or suffer" he added as Anakin remained silent, "Fine, have it your way" he told him, handing him a wand to him while holding his's at Anakin, he ordered him,

"Crucio!" he told him and Anakin was powerless, to stop it coming out of his mouth and was forced to watch his beloved cry out as the same pain that ripped through Anakin's body ripped through her gentle body and he couldn't stop it.

Luke's bright blue eyes snapped open and he lurched upright on his bed, finding Ron staring at him in confusion as he watched him wipe sweat off his face,

"Bloody hell, mate, what happened?" he asked as Luke shook his head,

"I had a bad dream" he replied, with a voice that was shaking and almost a whisper, "What are doing up here?" he asked,

"I said I was going to get you before I left for dinner" he reminded him as Luke slowly came onto his feet,

"Thanks" he replied, as Ron looked at him,

"What happened in the dream?" he asked as Luke shook his head, "I saw my parents, in a dark room with several other cloaked figures, they were screaming in pain and one of the figures made my dad torture mum" he informed him as Ron gasped,

"Bilmey, that's awful" he replied, descending the stairs and towards the exit just as Hermione and Leia were re-entering, Leia sensed something wrong,

"What's wrong?" she asked, her deep brown eyes darting back and forth from Luke and Ron as Luke shrugged,

"Just a bad dream" he told them trying to get past as Ron spoke up,

"Tell them mate" as Luke, didn't bother to turn around but looked down,

"I had a bad dream, where someone was torturing dad then made dad torture mum" he recounted, brushing past and into the hallway as Leia ran after him,

"What! Luke! Wait!" she shouted, running after him, leaving Ron and Hermione.

Picking up Leia's and her's books up off the carpeted floor and onto the nearby table, Ron saw her shiver,

"Are you alright?" he asked as she shrugged,

"Just thinking about what Luke just said. He asked me something recently about curses" she replied as Ron's eyes nearly fell from his eyes,

"What? Why?" he asked as Hermione shook her head,

"I don't know, something about a dream he had" she answered, moving out of the common room as Ron shivered,

"You don't think this is a connected somehow?" he asked as Hermione continued down the hall,

"I hope not, but Luke need to speak to his parents about this. They might be able to help him" she called over her shoulder as Ron became silent and followed her into the Great hall.

Still in pain from his encounter with the dark figure, Anakin couldn't understand what had entirely happened that night but Padme had filled him in, and what Luke had recounted, and this troubled her deeply.

Had their friends being right about what lies ahead for their children? This couldn't be happening, they had come here to watch over their twins in secret and instead, they were the ones in need of protection.

If it wasn't for his secret communications with Obi Wan, he would never know anything, Luke had been sending messages to the home, of course, he didn't know anything but Anakin had being telling him what to say in the messages.

Now he strolled the castle towards the great hall for another delicious meal when he was joined by more voices,

"Jesse! There you are! How are you feeling since your encounter?" they asked and Anakin turned to see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagell and Administer Hearty walking towards him, he gave a small smile,

"Still some pain but getting better every day" he replied as Dumbledore gave a warm smile,

"It is good to see that. Security has been tightened and you'll be pleased to hear that since that night, no other dark disturbances have been reported" he informed as Anakin smiled,

"That's great. I hope that never happen again" he told him as they strolled past him and he saw Sarah remain behind.

He gently took her hand in his's, "What's wrong sweetie?" he asked as she looked up into his deep coloured eyes,

"Just concerned about what's being happening" she replied as Anakin smiled,

"You heard Dumbledore, no more reports, they have been quiet ever since" he smiled as she gave a smile,

"For now, but what if they return, Luke told us that the figure wanted Leia and him" she began to cry as Anakin pulled her in close,

"I will not allow that to happen, that is why I am here in the first place, to protect you and the children" he assured, lifting up her chin, he gave a cheeky grin and gave her a romantic kiss before adding,

"Come on, let's go get something to eat" he told her, continuing towards the great hall.