-8-

When she had used the Room of Requirement, Lesha had been so fascinated by the properties of the magical chamber; so much so, that she had immediately gone out of her way to try to recreate a smaller, simpler version of it. While the exact means and techniques and the knowledge of how to create a Room of Requirement, especially in a galaxy far from the Milky Way, were lost, she had had the knowledge downloaded before she'd left Hogwarts and her world.

The new Room of Requirement wasn't even a room, it was essentially a tiny marble or a jewel, invisible to everyone but herself, and it was warded to prevent others from actually using it. Even a fully-fledged Jedi Master or Knight couldn't make use of it. Lesha often used it to help her plan and predict some of her burglaries, but in the time of the Clone Wars, it had given her a new resource.

She was using the jewel to help her gather intelligence, and she looked forward into time every few months before she secretly handed either the Separatists or the Republic small tidbits of information. Lesha wasn't particularly interested in who was going to win the war, and she didn't care for the two respective governments or their armed forces; the Republic was ancient, its senate was corrupt and so many senators were merely concerned with just lining their own pockets.

The Separatists were no better, especially with the leaders of the commerce guild, the Trade Federation, and the other guilds there, too. The fact they didn't care for the galaxy was obvious. But Lesha was worried, and it was one of those reasons why she had decided to interfere even if it went against her original plans to just live in this new galaxy, and have a quieter life with only a touch of adventure.

As she investigated the Clone Wars, she learnt of the existence of the Sith, an ancient order of evil. The idea of an evil comparable to the likes of Lord Voldemort was a worry. She remembered what the evil had brought out; while Voldemort had been truly evil, even he had scruples that the so-called Light in her world lacked. And she learnt who the Sith Lord was.

It was Palpatine.

Somehow the revelation the Supreme Chancellor, the Leader of the Republic, was a Sith Lord, was not a surprise for Lesha since it made perfect sense and as the Chancellor, Palpatine would have the means and the power to execute the changes to the galaxy he wanted for the Sith to retake control over everything.

But the more she saw of Palpatine's activities, she found that he was interested in a lot more than that. Palpatine's Sith order had lasted for a thousand years because they had always kept their membership to two members at a time - a master and an apprentice. But the apprentice gained power by murdering their master. That made sense since the Sith didn't like losing their power, from what Lesha had discovered of them, and they wouldn't give up their power for anyone, so how else would they get it?

Palpatine had decided to keep all of the power for himself, and so he had decided to train apprentices and replace them whenever someone new came along. Currently, Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master, was Palpatine's Sith apprentice, but he wouldn't stay that way for long. He was merely there for several reasons; first, to control the Separatists, second to ensure the Sith had two members in case anything happened to Palpatine, and lastly, he was a placeholder for Palpatine's current target for an apprentice.

Anakin Skywalker.

Lesha's sexual preferences had changed since her reincarnation, and she found the Jedi Knight dishy, but practically she could see why he was considered by Palpatine to be the best choice to become a Sith. He was powerful, and he had a personal history where he was troubled.

And Palpatine was trying to twist him.

Lesha had spent a few months following Palpatine's manipulations and secret actions. A part of her was seriously tempted to just hand the Chancellor soon-to-be Emperor over to the Jedi Council, but she didn't trust them to do the right thing. They had proven their complacency a while back, and she was unsure of what they would do next if she revealed the truth.

In any case, she had seen a way to potentially end the war and to expose Palpatine. But first, she had to compel Anakin Skywalker to come to her in a club after he'd beaten Rush Clovis to a slimy fucking pulp.

It wasn't hard; all she had to do was simply slip in through his turmoil, implant a command for him to go back to the Jedi Temple and tell his master about what he had stupidly done, and then come to the club.

While there, she could make sure Anakin was put on a better path. Sure, okay, granted, a part of her was disgusted she was doing the same sort of thing Dumbledore was famous for, but after learning Anakin Skywalker was an apparent chosen one who'd bring balance to the Force, and that Darth Sidious wanted him as an apprentice, Lesha wanted to stop such a future from happening.

Seeing anyone becoming…that…

Lesha was only delighted the past and future were not set in stone; stopping a future where Anakin Skywalker was condemned to become Darth Vader was going to be hard enough, but she was sure she could do it. She only hoped she wasn't arrogant enough to think she could handle all of it.

-8-

Once she decided to have some fun to go with the mission ahead, Lesha walked through into the club, lekku gently swinging. High heels clicking as she walked into the club, she looked around for some fun without any problems. Lesha had spent enough time in this reality to know who to trust and who to avoid. It wasn't long before the list of people she knew to steer clear of.

It was an old habit she had, of her time when she was Harry Potter. She had hated the Dursleys and her new childhood, but if there was one thing she had learnt from them, it was how to look for danger. And with the galaxy currently locked in a galactic war against the Separatists, there was danger everywhere.

Thinking of the Clone Wars made Lesha grimace; compared to the Voldemort and Grindelwald war, this war was larger, bigger and far more complicated. The war was being fought across numerous battlefields, with the Jedi leading legions and legions of clone soldiers against the mindless droids of the Trade Federation, and other Separatist powers.

But Lesha had long since been suspicious of the Clones. She had seen the Senate meeting of the Separatists' intentions and their declarations of war, and Palpatine's pledge to

As Lesha walked through the club, swinging her hips in time with the music, she was a bit surprised to find Anakin already there. He was drowning his sorrows.

Lesha smiled and wondered just how much of her manipulations had worked, but she would find out in a moment. "Hey, handsome," she said, "you look down."

Anakin turned. "You could say that."

"Mind if I join you, I could use the company?" Lesha smiled back.

It was obvious that was the last thing Anakin wanted, but he let her. He was clearly the antisocial type, but he clearly had his limits. "Sure," he said simply.

"Thanks," Lesha sat down and after ordering two large Corellian whiskeys to a passing waiting droid, she smiled at him, "the names Lesha."

"Anakin Skywalker," Anakin said; he did his best to smile but she didn't condemn him for it.

"I know," Lesha smiled back, waving a hand carelessly. "Like, half of the girls in this club would like nothing more than to be where I am, its probably 'cause of the dark cloud hanging over your head they're keeping away. That or I got here first," she added absently.

Anakin chuckled. It wasn't really funny, but it helped cheer him up. "Thanks," he said sincerely with that famous smile that made many swoon and fall in love with him. "I needed that."

"You're welcome," Lesha smiled. "So what's wrong? What's made the Jedi general, the Hero with No Fear, come here looking like his world has collapsed?"

"Maybe it has," Anakin remarked.

Lesha pouted at him, studying him intently. "Lemme guess? Troubles with the Jedi?"

"You could say that," Anakin looked away for a moment before confessing; Lesha could almost read the disbelief in him, that he was being so unguarded in talking to a stranger. "I've left the Jedi Order?"

"Was it because of the fact your apprentice, Ahsoka Tano was kicked out of the Order, and you decided you couldn't cope anymore? Don't look surprised, Skywalker, I followed the news. Some of it was whitewashed of course, but if you have the connections then you can discover wonders," Lesha clarified after seeing his looks of disbelief. "

Anakin sighed and he took a swig. "Partly," he said at last, "I mean, I know the Jedi never liked or trusted me; they only took me on because a dying Jedi Master who liberated me from slavery died, but they have done nothing about slavery and only care about the senate's whims and orders, and it wasn't just about my apprentice, it's so much."

Lesha tilted her head, ignoring one of her head tentacles falling away. "And?"

"And….I nearly killed a man because he was kissing my wife, and I reacted badly," Anakin said quietly.

"Ah, so you told the Jedi about your marriage, and they expelled you?" Lesha said.

"No. I only told my Master, and you are extremely understanding."

Lesha shrugged. "I'm not a Jedi; I don't see anything wrong with marriage, sex, relationships, and having fun. And besides, there's bound to be more than a few Jedi in the past who've seen that rule as dodgy and married, and since the Clone Wars began, that number has likely doubled, regardless of that stupid code."

Anakin stared back at her in surprise. "I never figured so many people would reason it out like that," he commented.

"It's bound to happen," Lesha shrugged her shoulders, taking a sip of her whiskey before she grinned. "The Jedi can say whatever they like, it's inevitable. Let me give you a thought experiment; I've often thought about it with the Jedi Code. You've got a group of kids, who've been taken from their parents and have no memory of them. They give the kids whatever they want, more or less, when they want them. They give the kids good food, toys, and clothes. But when that group grows up, they discover the world will not treat them the same way. Other people will say the one word those kids have never heard until then. For the first time, they hear the word, no. That group…they don't know how to handle it, and they throw a temper tantrum and they have a breakdown over it.

"You have a second group of kids, they have known their parents. They have given their kids some of what they want, but they've kept it in moderation. The first group of children were never exposed to the outside world, the real world. They never saw the pain and death that's a part of natural galactic life. Do you see where I'm going with this?" Lesha asked Anakin.

"I think I have a good idea," Anakin replied. "You're comparing the Jedi Younglings with the kids in the rest of the galaxy."

"Yes. The Jedi younglings in that cold marble palace of yours have been kept away from experiencing negative emotions, right?"

"Yeah, they're taught to let go of their negativity, to release it into the Force, and to rejoice whenever someone dies, especially if they're a friend or a loved one," Anakin said, and Lesha could see the suppressed heart break and anger, which the alcohol in his system had already made unstable.

"Yeah, one of their problems is they don't have any true exposure to what anger is, and that's one of the reasons why they fail. With love, it's a different story. Love isn't a dangerous thing to experience. It can be uplifting, but even if it hurts, you can rise against it."

Anakin understood what she was saying. "So I should just move on from Padme?"

Lesha raised a brow. "Yes," she said simply. "I take it you barely see her since you're always being sent on missions?"

"No," Anakin said sadly.

"That means you barely know her, and if she let another man get too close to her, then maybe your marriage isn't the bliss you think. And," Lesha narrowed her eyes at him, "if you barely know her, do you really think you have a future with her, of any kind?"