Harry Potter and the Dark Lord of the Sith

Chapter 12.

Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, Harry, Ron and Hermione were still with the Rebel Alliance. To say that they tried to get back home and failed would be an overstatement, since they knew nothing that would enable them to make such an attempt. They knew nothing about the phenomenon that brought them here. They didn't know if it was natural or artificial, magical or technological, whether they were brought here on purpose or by accident, whether the purpose, if it existed, was for good or evil. They didn't know if the phenomenon was still where they came out, or if it moved, or if it vanished, nor whether it would appear again. They didn't like to think they were giving up, but the sparseness of knowledge made even thinking about it a waste of time.

The galaxy was a big place, yet the eyes and ears of the Empire were everywhere. In the past three years, the location of Rebel headquarters had to be changed five times. Now, they had a base on an almost completely uninhabitable planet, one completely covered with snow and ice. This world was called Hoth, and until they came here, none of them could imagine that a place so cold could exist.

Hermione was sitting in her quarters, reading about the history of the Jedi Knights (the information, thanks to the Empire, was woefully incomplete), when someone knocked on her door.

"Come in," she said, expecting Ron or Harry. But instead, Princess Leia walked in and sat down with a sign of frustration.

"Hello, Leia," she welcomed the other woman. "What's the matter?"

"It's Han," Leia complained. "I tried to persuade him to stay."

"And?"

"And he suggested that I wanted him to stay because I liked him... That made me angry, so I told him to shove it. That probably made him more likely to leave than before. And you know what, Hermione? Can you keep a secret?"

Hermione remembered the Time-Turner she had used in her third year. "Yes, I think I can," she said.

"I'm not so sure he was wrong--otherwise, why does it bother me so much that he's leaving?"

"Wait a minute, Leia." Hermione stared at her. "You do like Han?"

"No! Well... a little. I don't know." Leia fell back in her chair and closed her eyes. "There's another secret for you. The image I project--that I always know exactly what to do in every situation--is just that: an image."

Hermione struggled to think of an answer when another knock came. "Come in," she invited the guest.

Harry walked in. "Oh, hi, Leia," he said. "I didn't know you were here. Have either of you seen Luke?"

"What, he isn't back yet?" Leia asked, worried.

"I don't know... but if he isn't, we'd better find him. The sun's setting already."

"Maybe Han knows," Leia suggested. She took out a comlink and punched in the code. The response was static.

"Damn," she swore. "I'll send Threepio for him. Try to find if Luke came in," she told the wizards before leaving.

"Let's find Ron," Harry told Hermione. "He may have seen Luke."

XXX

Ron was in the auxiliary hangar working on a snowspeeder. "Stupid thing," he was saying when his friends approached.

"What's wrong?" Harry took interest.

"It's this speeder," he answered, "You know how they can't work in this cold without protection? Well, I tried to shield it from the cold by magic. It worked... for about three minutes. Then the engine shut down and I fell from fifty feet. Now I have double the work of others--I have to install protection and repair the damage from that crash."

"Have you seen Luke?" Harry asked.

"No," Ron stood up. "Has he returned?"

"We don't know, but it doesn't look like it." Hermione sounded troubled. "It's already night."

Chewbacca ran up to them and growled something at Ron.

"What?" he cried. "Alone? Is he crazy?" Then he looked at his friends. "Come on," he urged them.

"Ron, what happened?" Harry yelled as they ran after their friend.

"Han rode out on a tauntaun to look for Luke," Ron replied. "I'm going to help him. Are you coming?"

"Of course," Hermione assured him. "Let me get my wand."

After they got dressed and equipped to go out into the Hoth night, Harry began to saddle his snow-lizard.

"What're you doing?" Ron asked.

"How do you think we'll get there?" Harry was surprised at the question.

"I thought we could fly on our broomsticks," Ron proposed.

"Are you kidding?" The suggestion struck Harry as the stupidest thing ever said. "At night, in the snow, with hundred-mile-an-hour winds? We'll forget which direction the base is in a minute out. No way."

"Oh," Ron realized and began saddling his own tauntaun. When Hermione returned, they were ready.

Without saying anything, they approached the front gate, which still wasn't closed for the night. Leia was standing there, as was Chewbacca and Luke's two droids.

"What're you doing?" the princess asked.

"Helping Han and Luke," Hermione replied. "What else?"

"Let's go," Harry motioned to his friends.

"May the Force be with you," they heard Leia say before the sounds of the snow storm masked everything else.