Author's Note: Wow. It's been way too long without an update, but nxkris's polite nudge got me going on the chapter I'd been rolling around. (thanks!) So here it is. A little lengthy, and a lot of it is AotC recap. (You won't hurt my feelings if you skip to the end.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Star Wars, nor do I make any money pretending that I do.

Chapter 14: Revelations

For several hours after Voldemort released his servants, he remained seated on his throne, unmoving. The Dark Lord Voldemort felt…a disturbance. Something important had gone awry. Not according to plan. His plan of course. It was an unnerving feeling, one of many that the Dark Lord had experienced lately. His visage took on a blank, distracted look as he searched within himself for the cause of the aberration. His expression grew progressively darker as his feeling defined itself. A gale force wind swept through his throne room, whipping his black robes about his face and threatening to peel off the floorboards. His dark red eyes sparked and glowed maniacally and a grotesque sneer split his face as an inner force told him what was and what would be.

*

After a too-short shuttle ride, Anakin found himself following Obi-wan's boots through 500 Republica to Padme's senatorial suite. He boarded a lift along with his Master, Harry, and of course Sirius. They were a pair, it seemed. One was never too far from the other. As the doors slid shut, Anakin had to resist a conscious urge to stop the doors with his hand, sprint out into the hall and postpone meeting Padme, at least until he caught his breath and stopped sweating. No more than a few minutes. Hours. Days. But the compulsion passed and the doors closed. Anakin gulped.

Obi-wan chuckled. "Anakin, you're sweating! Relax. Take a deep breath."

"I haven't seen her in ten years, Master." Anakin gritted out. He was too stressed to notice Obi-wan's smile falter. "So this Senator Ami…" Harry trailed off.

"Amidala," Anakin provided tersely. "Right. She's a bird?" Harry asked. "A what?"

"A woman," Harry clarified. "Yes. Is there a problem with that?" Anakin replied, more than happy to vent some of his nervous energy on Harry. Frustratingly, Harry kept his calm and only said, "Of course not. I was just curious." Anakin glared straight ahead, thinking angrily that Harry acted more like a Jedi than Anakin ever could, a thought which only further upset him. Then, the lift doors whooshed open and he was glaring at Jar-Jar Binks. His expression quickly softened in the Gungan's presence; it was hard to be angry around Jar-Jar. It was hard to keep a straight face at all.

Jar-Jar's deep blue, flowing formal robes were in stark contrast to his casual greeting. "Obi?! Ani! Meesa so smilin to see yousa!" Jar-Jar squealed. His eyes widened upon their stalks and his large, flat ears flapped as he enthusiastically pumped first Obi-wan's hand then Anakin's. Then he saw Harry and Sirius. "Whoosa deese be den?" Jar-Jar inquired. For a moment, Harry and Sirius stared back at Jar-Jar with comically similar expressions of wide-eyed, open-mouthed shock. Sirius was the first to collect himself. He stepped forward and shook Jar-Jar's hand clearing his throat before introducing himself and saying, "Pleased to meet you, Senator Amidala."

The Gungan's brow furrowed in confusion and his webbed hand paused mid-shake. There was moment of silence while Obi-wan, Anakin and Jar-Jar realized the misunderstanding. Then the three of them burst into gut-busting laughter. Jar-Jar attempted to explain the situation to Harry and Sirius between bursts of laugher. Obi-wan and Anakin gave into their respective giggle-fits, the Master bent almost double, tears running down his eyes, the padawan leaning against a wall to stay on his feet. Jar-Jar finally managed to say, "No, no, no. Meesa not da Senator."

"I am."

All the laughter cut out immediately. Senator Amidala's petite but commanding form occupied the hallway, flanked by her security leader, Captain Typho and a handmaiden, Dorme. She was dressed simply, but beautifully, in a high-collared blue gown and her brown hair was piled up in one of her signature headdresses. Her poised, powerful aura was tempered slightly by the small smile tugging at her lips. Obi-wan quickly composed himself, his smile remained firmly in place as he strode down the hall inclining his head to Typho and Dorme before warmly shaking Padme's hand. "It is a great pleasure to see you again, my lady," he said.

"It has been far too long Master Kenobi," she replied. Then, she looked over his shoulder and caught sight of Anakin. "Ani? Is that you? My goodness, you've grown."

Anakin's face paled, save for two twin splashes of color on his cheeks. He screamed at his feet to move forward, but it seemed an eternity before he stood before her. "So have you." Realizing how lame he sounded, he added. "Grown more beautiful, I mean." Then he groaned mentally. Yeah, much better.

He was only slightly mollified by the smile she gave him, a feeling that was wiped away by her next words: "Ani, you'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine."

Little boy?!

Then Padme turned to face Harry and Sirius. "And who we have here?" she asked kindly. Harry and Sirius shook her hand and said their names. "Those are strange names," Padme said. "Where are they from?"

"Same place as us," said Sirius, "A little place called England." When Padme predictably showed no sign of recognition, Sirius tried, "Earth?" Nothing. "The Milky Way?"

Padme finally responded, "I'm sorry, I haven't heard of that system. Is it in the Republic? Outer Rim maybe?"

"Farther than that I think," Harry replied, half-smiling.

"You must have come a long way." Harry had to resist a laugh at that. You have no idea, he thought. What brings you here?" she inquired.

"Well, we're, uhm…we're here to protect you," Harry said after a moment. Anakin swiftly cut in. "They're here to help us protect you," he said, gesturing between himself and Obi-wan.

"Well, I'm still not convinced I need protecting," Padme said lightly, but your presence gives me peace of mind. Even so, it would be nice to know who is trying to kill me."

"We will find out, Padme. I promise you," Anakin said promptly, only to be undercut by his Master. They had a brief, muted argument over the extent of their orders. Anakin of the opinion that investigation was implied in their mandate and Obi-wan claiming they were only there for security and protection. Obi-wan won of course. Padme and Dorme retired to their quarters and Captain Typho outlined the current security measures. He was human, and fairly tall. His formidable, dark-skinned figure was completed by a futuristic eye-patch. His low, gravelly voice was solemn as he reported, "We have an officer stationed on every floor. The situation is more serious than the Senator believes."

Obi-wan nodded saying, "We will do what we can to help." Captain Typho left to make his rounds, and the four of them were left alone. Sirius was gazing out a plastisteel window. Speeders and air-taxis zoomed by forming layer upon layer of unbelievable traffic but he didn't seem to notice. Obi-wan was examining a bank of security monitors. Harry engaged Anakin in conversation. "So, that's the Senator, eh?"

"Yes." Anakin responded dreamily, still staring at the door she'd disappeared behind.

"She's not like any politicians I've met," Harry said, thinking distastefully of Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge, the greedy incompetent Minister of Magic and his sadistic Under-secretary.

"I bet. She's really something else," Anakin said, coming back to his senses slightly."

Harry laughed and elbowed Anakin in the side jokingly. "Is there a Mr. Amidala?"

"Oh yeah," Anakin replied. "She's with someone; tough guy. I wouldn't mess with him." Yes, she's with someone, he thought. Me.

"Oh. Too bad," Harry said. Correctly guessing that the conversation was over, he crossed the room to join Sirius at the window.

"Have you given any more thought to how we're getting back home?" Sirius asked without looking away from the window.

Harry studied his godfather's face warily. There were pronounced dark circles under Sirius' eyes and he looked older than ever. "Not particularly," Harry replied. "Have you?"

A ghost of a smile flitted across Sirius' face. "A little."

Worried, Harry asked Sirius what he was thinking about.

Sirius responded by saying, "The senator had never heard of Earth."

"And?"

"Where do you think we are? How did we get here? What are we doing here?"

Harry was taken aback. "Those are some big questions, Sirius." His godfather grimaced bitterly and turned back to the window. "It seems like we're going to have a lot of time to figure them out though."

"At least, you will," Sirius murmured to himself.

"What?" Harry asked, though he had a dark suspicion.

"I just have this feeling," Sirius said, addressing the Coruscant traffic, "that I'm not going to be here for long."

"What, like going home?" Harry didn't know how that thought made him feel. His ambiguity worried him.

"Yeah," Sirius replied breathily. "Something a lot like that."

Author's Note: So...whaddaya think? The Review Button calls!!!