The loud gong in the clocktower struck midnight, resounding throughout the large cold castle walls. Outside the sound was dampened by the much too early heavy snowfall. Elizabeth was lounging in the round Ravenclaw tower. Countless books open in front of her. She was not the only one. Her studious housemates still occupied all the studying tables while some sofas were occupied with several pupils quizzing each other. Her head was heavy, and her body felt already sluggish. How her grandfather could function with almost no sleep was a still mystery to her. A secret she planned to uncover as it could mean the difference between life and death. He drew on the Force that much she did know. She did as well, but after a week without sleep, it seemed to take its toll slowly. Her body was about to shut down. The first few weeks in this school had been mindlessly dull. She hated the classes. She hated that she had to attend them at all. Why could they not understand that she was faster on her own? She desperately missed her access to technology. No droid that she could dismantle during training.
"You should go to bed." A young male voice said next to her, and she jumped defensively. How had she not heard the prefect approaching her? Her grandfather would have her head for her carelessness! He could never find out.
Nevertheless, of course, he would she knew. He always had a knack of discovering the things she wanted to hide from him. But it also made her stronger.
John, Jeff, Joseph or whatever his insignificant name was, yelped as he was forcibly pushed away from her and hit the hard wall with his back. He groaned in pain, sliding down. The busy buzzing in the room stopped immediately only to replace it with tense silence. Elizabeth slowly turned in her seat to face the browned haired boy.
"I warned you not to sneak up to me." She snarled darkly.
He managed to get up again, groaning heavily. "Elizabeth. As a prefect, I'm responsible for your well-being, and you need to go to sleep."
"I am fine." She ground out crossly, but he shook his head.
"Your bed hasn't been used for over a week, and the lack of sleep is known to cause bodily harm."
"How do you know my bed has not been slept in? Boys are not allowed into the girl's dormitories." she scoffed and wanted to joke him when he dared to chuckle. "There are female prefects as well, Elizabeth. And if you keep up this behaviour, your chance of ever becoming one will be slim."
"I don't care. I have things to do!" she growled resisting the strong urge to squeeze his windpipe. People on this primitive planet were particularly annoying. They were always concerned about their well-being. Overly polite. She hated it. Why could they not say clearly what they wanted? Instead, they just beat about the bush.
"Yes, we all have things to do, but you won't do yourself any favour if you deny yourself sleep." He admonished her sternly, or at least he tried to sound stern. But it did not affect her. There was only one person who could get to her with a look like that, and this prefect was not one of them.
"I will manage it." She responded and turned back to her books but got annoyed when they shut themselves and flew directly into the prefect's hands. The gal of him. She could not let such humiliation go unpunished.
"Sirius tried to keep secrets from us," James told his wife, who was snoozing with her head on his chest. He brushed his hand through her fiery, beautiful hair.
"About what?" she murmured sleepily remembering that their friend hat lost quite a lot of weight lately, but he seemed much fitter.
He sighed heavily. "About Elizabeth." That seemed to attract her attention. She quickly opened her eyes and sat up.
"What secrets?" she narrowed her eyes. If their friends wanted to keep secrets about her daughter from her, then there would be hell to pay. For weeks she tried to engage her daughter into a conversation, and the young girl always had managed to evade her.
"Well, I noted that he missed a few shifts at the Auror office, then I saw him following our Elizabeth as Padfoot and wanted to know why. I mean, he was shadowing her. And I mean professionally. When I confronted him about it, he confessed that Dumbledore is worried about her and that he has ordered him to keep an eye on her to figure out if she's a danger to Harry or Hogwarts."
"That is ridiculous!" Lily ground out, kicking her foot. "She's eleven years old. There is not much that she can do yet."
James bit his cheek. It would not do him any good if he argued with her on this. Her love for their daughter blinded her. He knew that she wanted things to go back as they were, but they never would. Lily seemed to know him well enough that he disagreed. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and he gulped. "Spit it out, James. I can sense that you want to side with Dumbledore again. I mean are you still thinking for yourself?"
He sighed and countered. "Yes, Lily, I do think for myself, but let's face it. We do not know anything about where she's been. We do not know how her education looked or whom she shared tables. All that we know is that Elizabeth is a vastly different person than the bubbly little girl we knew. There is something dark lurking in her eyes. Like a barely contained viper ready to strike and poison everything around her. Can't you see that?"
Lily huffed in anger. "We know that she has been with my father."
"We don't know that for sure, love." James interrupted her. "We know that she seems to hold the man, that you believe to be your father, in high esteem. So much that she requested to be called Palatin as her last name."
"Palpatine." Lily corrected him. "She had heard about that odd request as well, and it had almost broken her heart. She had tried to corner her daughter to talk with her eye to eye, but it had not been fruitful. "Admittedly, Elizabeth is odd, but that might just be her upbringing."
"Except that it isn't. 500 Republica Top Penthouse Suite, Ambassadorial Sector, Senate District, Galactic City, Coruscant" James cited snorting. "That address is bogus."
"It isn't." his wife told him, remembering her mother's stories. "Coruscant is the capital of the Republic. This address suggests that my father is a senator. It might imply why Elizabeth is so tightly wound. According to Petunia, my mother was from Naboo, where it is custom in the upper classes to show a stiff upper lip. Especially those from Theed."
"Right, because your sister is such a reliable narrator." James scoffed. "Our British Upper classes also show a stiff upper lip, but our daughter is a different case." he groaned. "And Sirius told me that she is running a challenging training course early in the morning, before dawn," he explained.
"So, she is training. What's the matter with that?" she shrugged her shoulders.
"No, you don't understand. Sirius said that what she does isn't possible for any human. Your father or the man masquerading as your father must have done something to her. Wait? Was that a knock on the door?"
Another hesitant knock could be heard against the wooden door, and Lilly was already answering it only wearing her pyjama. James shook his head. Yes, she was fast, but at this hour it better be important. When he joined his wife a moment later, he spotted a distressed Ravenclaw prefect, who squirmed apologizing for the lateness of the hour a couple of times, before he came to the point.
"I'm sorry for bothering you," the unsettled prefect said. "But I need your help with Elisabeth. Something has happened, and I'm technically obliged to inform Prof. Flitwick, but as you are here in the castle, I assumed that perhaps you could intervene."
"We can't intervene if you don't tell us what she has done." James reminded him. "And I'm not sure if she will even listen to us."
"But we will do our best. What has happened?" Lilly told him calmly, but James could see that she was holding her breath. Worry etched into her face.
The prefect sighed heavily. "Well, first of all. She hasn't slept at all last week. At least her bed hasn't been slept in. And I could see that she became more exhausted with each day. So, I tried to urge her to go to bed."
"A week? Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Lily admonished him, and he shuddered. "Your daughter is scary, Mrs Potter. I tried to convince her, but she didn't take it so well…and…"
"And what?" James urged him, clasping his hands. "What did she do?"
"She…she…well, she used wandless magic against me… and when I thought that she would attack me, she just stormed out of the common room. I have no idea where she is, but if she is caught, then she will lose us house points."
"And you rather care about your house points than the safety of our daughter?" Lily asked with rising ire in her voice. James put his arm on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.
"No, no of course not." the prefect shook his head. "but I don't know what she can do. So, I came to you."
Lily sighed, taking a deep breath. "Alright. 10 points to Ravenclaw. Go to your tower. We'll find her."
With that, she quickly closed the door and summoned her dressing gown. "You can't go out in just that," James told her. "Not in your…" but Lily stopped him with a kiss.
"I can, and I will. Now let's find our daughter," she told him. "Perhaps this is the opportunity to finally talk with her." But her husband just snorted. "Hardly. So, where should we start the search? And don't get any ideas about splitting up to cover more ground."
Lily stopped squaring her shoulders. James observed her as she closed her eyes for some reason and took a few deep breaths. "If you do not feel well, I can search for her." but Lily just raised her hand to silence him. "I think I know where she is," she told him ominously.
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me."
She mentally recited kneeling in the middle of the Astronomy Tower gazing up to the sky. She could not see the stars through the dense dark clouds, the howling of the cold wind, that was kept away by some protective charms, no doubt, but she could picture the stars ideally in her mind. Elizabeth wanted to be anywhere else, but here on this rotten planet. Serving her grandfather. Helping him to finally advance to the Rank of Sith master. Getting rid of that Mu'un, that she could not stand.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion
Her grandfather had taught her the code with great care. He had told her that conflict was the source of progress for both the single beings and civilizations. He also had stated that the necessity of battle was a law of the universe. With peace, the galaxy would remain stagnant. Passion was the driving force that made progress possible. She did not doubt his words. As a senator, he had more than enough experience.
Through passion, I gain strength.
"It is our goal to be stronger, to achieve our potential and not rest upon our laurels. We are the seekers, not the shepherds." he had instructed her. So, they were challengers of old and stagnant ways, in touch with the laws of nature and the universe. The Jedi, he had told her denied their natures and afraid of the truth around them. She would not stoop as low as them.
Through strength, I gain power
That part was not hard to explain. Those with strength gained power. The weak would perish, and she was not nervous. She would gain control herself to help her grandfather as best as she could. Without strife, victory had no meaning. Without strife, she would not advance. Without strife, there would only be stagnation.
Through power, I gain victory
Victory, by any means, was not desirable. Unless victory proved one's superiority, it was an illusion and temporary. Her grandfather would need to kill his master to advance, but he could not fail. The stronger a Sith became in the Force, the more power she could achieve, but she always had to fight for that power. Her grandfather would give no quarter. As she had to fight for her strength.
Through victory, my chains are broken
"One who has freed themselves from all restrictions has reached perfection… their potential fulfilled. Perfect strength, perfect power, perfect destiny." her grandfather's Sith Holocron had told her, and she would free herself from the yokes of her family, which had her discarded in favour of her weak brother. They were a weakness, and she would reach her full potential.
The Force shall free me
The Force was her servant and her master. Her teacher and her companion. A weapon and a tool and she would be forever in her grandfather's debt that he had shown her this power. Knowing it and she would know the universe. When she finally would master it, she would be unstoppable. She would master the universe as the right hand of her grandfather. She would strive for perfection as he expected her to do, and the Force would reward her. And most notably, her grandfather would.
She desperately missed his council. His kind face that he only showed her when they were in public or in their flat. He was harsh on her, she knew, but he had to be. This was his way of showing his love for her. She wanted to go back to Coruscant. Her heart clenched. Not stay in this shithole of an uncivilized planet. Something wet dropped into her hand, and she frowned. Was she crying? She could not cry. Crying was a sign of weakness. She had to stop. But another tear followed the next, and she hated herself for being so weak. Perhaps this was her test. She had to grow strong on her own. Crying was a weakness that was not acceptable. She could not show her weakness openly. How could she stop that deluge leaking from her eyes? How?! Perhaps, she was too exhausted and did need some sleep. She was not at that point of being able to skip it yet.
Then her annoyance grew as she sensed the two approaching presences. How easy would it be to throw them over the reeling? She did not want them to see her like this. Not with her showing weakness. They would only try to exploit it, and she had neither the patience nor the strength to deal with them right now. And the woman who had birthed her seemed to have inherited her father's gift, making her a dangerous foe. But she was untrained in the Force. So, Elizabeth still had the advantage.
She quickly scanned for a way out, but there was none. She had to get rid of them. Words could cut deeper than knives. She just had to find the right ones.
"Elizabeth!" she could hear the woman call out to her, but she only scowled. "You should not be up here alone at this hour and especially not in this weather." The woman actually dared to sound worried. Elizabeth hardened her heart. This woman did not really care about her.
"Why do you care, woman?" she growled in annoyance standing up from the cold ground.
"I do care. You are my daughter." Lily told her, but Elizabeth just laughed humourlessly. "You have a funny way of showing that, woman. So, don't lie. You only care about yourself. About your reputation and about your precious little Harry, who wouldn't stand any chance in the real world."
"That's no way to talk to your mother." James Potter admonished her harshly, but she remained unfazed and glanced at him with cold eyes. "This woman may have given birth to me, but she does not deserve to be called a mother or you a father," Elizabeth told them with blazing eyes. Remembering her torture at the Dursleys. Her fury rising again. But rage, that Palpatine had not let her kill them. Slowly and mercilessly. She wanted to return the favour. Had they kept her with them, she would not have gone through all the harm, the Muggles hat put her through.
"We may have overreacted when we brought you to your aunt." the woman told her, tears running down her cheeks, but Elizabeth forced herself to not feel anything. She did not want to explore the woman's feelings. They were a weakness. "We thought you had lost your powers in Voldemort's attack. All we wanted was to give you a good life without having to live with the burden that you have lost them."
Elizabeth grimaced holding back tears of her own. Seriously, what was wrong with her! She had to get some sleep. She was not functioning correctly and was currently a disgrace to her grandfather. She had to purge herself of these weak emotions. "No, don't lie to yourself, woman. You wanted to get rid of me. A squib daughter would have been a shame and severely hindered your advancement in wizarding society."
"Stop calling her woman! She is your mother." James Potter told her, defending his wife. She could sense he was angry at her. Anger she could work with. Perhaps she could give them something more to cut deeper.
Elizabeth grinned. "You want to know what those human excuses you call Dursleys did to me?" she teased. "They tortured me, hit me with whatever came handy for them, used my as their slave, tried to force 'this devilry out of me'" she mocked relishing in the growing horror she could sense in her parents. "I was on the brink of death, calling out to you to save me, but you never answered. Then grandfather found and rescued me. He was the one who showed me what true power is. Not this pitiful excuse of magic, Hogwarts is teaching. He showed me the power of the Force, and I will use it to never become weak again."
Lily Potter was now shaking with tears trying to hug her, but Elizabeth would have none of it. She quickly sidestepped them. Begging her for forgiveness. Her mother indeed was weak. Asking for forgiveness was a weakness. And she had no desire to grant that forgiveness.
"So, for the last time. Stop bothering me. After all, you should rejoice. You have another unfortunate daughter on the way, and there is a war coming. Will you discard of her as well in favour of your golden boy?"