The Silver Millennium

-|- Chapter Three -|-

In Kira's Time...

Knowing that there was no point in keeping up this charade any longer, Harry let out a heavy sigh. He scratched the back of his head, thinking of a possible way to explain everything without Hermione getting upset at his sham.

"Kira is from the future," Harry began, "2020 to be exact. She accidentally traveled into my dormitory last night, and I lied about it. She was the one I was talking to, and she was the one that broke the soap dish."

Hermione didn't seem angry at all; in fact she looked relieved that she finally knew the truth. She crushed her arms as her eyebrows pushed together in now complete deep thought on her part. "Why, Harry, why did you lie to me? To Ron?"

"I dunno," he answered, "I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't want to lie, but I just did."

Hermione gave him a disappointed gaze before she looked over at Kira, who had been silent for quite some time now. "Can't you just use your Time Turner to travel back to...2020?"

"I don't know how to use it. The majority of us aren't allowed to use Time Turners in the Silver Millennium Kingdom. I've never used one in my life," Kira answered truthfully, "and I do know time is probably the worst thing you could ever mess with."

"Okay. I'm also thinking that's what you meant by the comment of me looking familiar. You've seen me in the future, right?" Hermione asked, now looking forward to what Kira had to say about her future life.

"Oh, yes...everyone knows you," Kira said as if this were a bad thing.

"So, Hermione lives," Harry concluded, remembering his grave news from yesterday; the fear of him losing to Voldemort seemed to come back in full emotion. He almost turned a shade paler out of fear of just the thought.

"Yes, she's alive," Kira said, giving Hermione a crude glare.

"Well, erm...what am I doing in the future?" Hermione asked, "What's happened to me? I know I shouldn't be asking, and it's always possible that the future can be altered with any change of the present, or past in your time, but curiosity is eating away at me now. I need to know."

"Maybe it's best if you don't," Kira told her. She looked away from a now flabbergasted looking Hermione, and looked at Harry. "Well, what now? What should I do? Your Harry Potter, you can help anyone."

"What do you mean? Why is it best if I don't know?" Hermione asked Kira desperately.

"Yeah, what happens to Hermione?" Harry wondered aloud, too.

"Well, your married," Kira said, "that's a good thing...sort of."

"Okay," Hermione remarked very slowly, "who am I married to?"

"Uh...." Kira trailed off, "um..."

Hermione's facial expression looked almost exactly the same as Harry's did the day before when Kira had told him exactly what had happened to him. Harry watched silently, looking from Kira to Hermione.

"It's a long story," Kira said finally, "I don't want to ruin anything, or make you paranoid. Just...just forget about what I said. Hopefully your right, and the future I live in isn't the future that will actually happen."

"Fine," Hermione said unpleasantly, "Harry, what are you planning on doing with her? You can't keep saying she's in Gryffindor. The people in Gryffindor will notice. And we can't just go playing around with that Time Turner. Not even I would probably know how to work it. Let's go to Dumbledore."

"No," came Ron's voice from the top of the boys spiraling staircase. The three of them looked up at him as he descended the stairs, and walked over to them, joining them; it appeared that he had been standing on the balcony of the staircase for the whole confession of Kira and Harry, and no one had even noticed. "Don't tell Dumbledore, " he said when he reached them.

"Then what are we going to do?" Hermione asked.

"Well, Kira, you can hide out in the...the Shrieking Shack until we figure out how to work that Time Turner," Harry suggested, "I'll test the Time Turner since I'm going to end up dead anyway, and Voldemort's going to win."

"Harry, no, it's dangerous," Hermione said instantly at his comment, "Dumbledore would know what to do. Why is it we always learn lessons the hard way, and yet always remember to forget that our problems would be solved a whole lot easier if we consult someone that actually would know what to do?"

"Because, we're teenagers," Ron replied, "and we like to do things our way...the hard way. Besides that, what if Dumbledore doesn't know what to do? Then what? Go and eat some cake? No, we'll still be screwed."

"There's no harm in asking him," Hermione disagreed.

"No," Harry said, disagreeing with them both, "we should test the Time Turner until we learn to use it. And then we can use it to go into the future, and kill Voldemort before he kills me, and takes over the Silver Millennium Kingdom, and everything else he controls!"

"Are you mad?" Hermione asked, "we can't just go into the future, and change such drastic events like that. Have you not forgotten the rules of Time Traveling from our third year? We're going to get ourselves into a problem we can't get ourselves out of."

"Hermione," Ron said, "stop being so rational."

"My rationality could have saved Sirius last year, remember?" Hermione reminded.

Suddenly Harry was feeling angry; he didn't exactly know why he was so angry suddenly, but at the mention of Sirius' death, and at the possibility of him being saved, he seemed to have snapped into rage. He looked over at Hermione, and said harshly, "shut up, Hermione. Yes, I have realized it's my fault Sirius is dead, and he probably wouldn't be now if I had listened to you...care to rub it in any more? And besides if you don't want to come help us destroy Voldemort so that I can live, and so that many others can live in peace and happiness, then don't come. No one's asking or begging you to."

Hermione had tears in her eyes. She wiped away some of them, and said tremblingly, "bu-but, Harry, I wasn't trying to rub it in. I'm sorry it sounded that way. I didn't mean for it to...don't be angry, Harry. A-and I wasn't disagreeing, because I don't want you to save your future self, and to save thousands of others from oppression from Voldemort. I was disagreeing, because it's dangerous, Harry and...and you could end up getting killed as your present self."

Somehow she always made him feel guilty. He let a sigh flee through his lips as he bowed his head a bit. "Don't cry," he muttered, "I guess I'm still a bit sensitive to the mention of Sirius' death. I understand what your saying, Hermione, but it's a risk I think I need to take."

"Excuse me," Kira interrupted, "but it is my Time Turner more than it's you lots, and I think it should be my decision what happens."

The three of them stared at her blankly.

"Don't look at me like that," she snarled, "it's true."

"Look we can't talk about this anymore here...the Hogsmeade trip is probably over, and people are probably heading back. Kira, you're staying in the Shrieking Shack. We'll come visit you this evening to talk more about what we're going to do. Come on, I'll...I mean we'll show you where the Shrieking Shack is," Harry advised. He immediately started toward the Portrait Hole, expecting them to follow.

"The Shrieking Shack," Kira repeated in confusion.

"It's just an old believed to be haunted shack down on the grounds and across some hills and past some trees," Ron explained knowingly with a wave of a hand as if the idea of the shack being haunted was totally ludicrous.

The four of them left Gryffindor Tower and traveled down all the way to ground floor, mostly in silence and toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Kira was looking around her all the while in extreme interest at the scenery, and the students they passed every so often.

"This time period is interesting," she remarked interestedly.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione made sure that no one was looking as they crossed over a steep hill covered in mildly thin trees, and started down the grassy slope toward the ever so forbidden Shrieking Shack.

"I hope your right," Kira dreadfully told them as they came closer and closer to the Shrieking Shack, "in saying that this place isn't haunted, because if I didn't know any better, I would sure think it was."

-|-

The trio returned from the Shrieking Shack and leaving Kira there, about an hour later; she had been very reluctant just before they left about staying there. She kept mentioning how she was so petrified to stay somewhere alone, especially in a place that was rumored to be haunted.

When they returned to the common room, the three of them sat down in their usual corner of armchairs near the fireplace, although Hermione sat in Harry's usual armchair, the middle one. For the most part the common room was still abandoned.

"So, Harry, is there anything else you're keeping from us?" Hermione asked him as soon as they had settled down, "if you were willing to keep a time traveler from the future from us, it worries me to think of what else you could possibly be hiding."

"Nothing," Harry lied, immediately thinking of the Prophecy, "I'm not hiding anything. I wasn't going to lie to you lot about Kira, but it seemed to be the only thing I could think of doing at the moment. I couldn't really think of how exactly to explain what had happened to you both. I'm sorry about that...I don't like lying to you two."

"It doesn't matter now," Ron interrupted Hermione just as she opened her mouth to speak, "what matters is that we use this to our advantage. I say we go to the future, and get rid of You-Know-Who. It can't fail if it's a surprise attack."

"Ron, that's so incredibly stupid," Hermione disagreed directly, "I don't want to bring up the past again, but have you forgotten where our past spontaneous actions have gotten us? You can't just travel to the future with absolutely no plan at all, and expect to overcome something like that. You can't do it. For things like this you need to plan out your actions. And besides, that's only if you were actually going to do it, which your not. It's crazy. Messing with time is one of the stupidest things we could do."

"Anyway, Harry, I vote we go stop You-Know-Who by using Kira's Time Turner. What do you say?" Ron asked, ignoring Hermione totally, not even looking at her anymore. His tone seemed more mature somehow than one he would have used in the past.

"That's mature, ignore me," Hermione mumbled furiously.

"Look, Hermione, I don't want to disagree, but I agree with Ron. We need to destroy Voldemort before the future becomes true. The future, from what I hear from Kira, is bad. We need to do something and the only thing I can think of doing is stopping Voldemort now while we can get him when he's not expecting it," Harry reasoned.

Hermione tutted with her tongue and rolled her eyes in infuriation towards both of the boys' failure to recognize another future disaster when it was right in front of their face. She stood up from her armchair, obviously raged about what they were thinking about doing. She started stomping off toward the girl's spiral staircase, only stopping at the foot of the staircase to turn around to look at them.

"Fine," she said coolly, even though it looked liked it took ever ounce of restraint she had to act so calmly, "go and get yourselves into another predicament, but don't cry and brood about it later if someone ends up dead. You both really don't realize what a stupid plan you've come up with. You don't understand the effects messing with time can have. I don't know if your too naïve to see it, or if it's just your desperation that's blinding you, but I really hope you can see the truth soon, or else I'm terrified at the thought of what will happen. I can't talk you out of doing this, because you both don't listen to me, but I can finally put my foot down and refuse to go with it; and I'm not. I just hope you both can see reason before it's too late."

By the time she was finished speaking, she almost had tears in her eyes. She looked away from them, and hurried up the staircase until she reached her dormitory. Ron waited until she was gone from view before he spoke.

"Don't listen to her," Ron advocated, annoyed with Hermione's sensitivity, "it's a great plan."

Harry didn't say anything; he knew if he could travel to the future and destroy Voldemort while managing to stay out of any danger, his plan would work perfectly in ridding the world of the danger, but after listening to Hermione, he wasn't as sure as before.

-|-

Towards sundown, Ron and Harry had decided they were going to go visit Kira at the Shrieking Shack to make sure everything was okay. Harry brought the Invisibility cloak with him this time just in case Filch or Ms. Norris spotted them heading out to that side of the grounds, which was always restricted.

Harry and Ron exited the castle through the great oak doors, and started down the front stone steps of Hogwarts castle, about to throw the cloak over themselves, when they heard someone's footsteps head toward them. Harry instantaneously turned around to see who it was.

"Hermione," he gasped in surprise, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm coming with you," she said plainly.

"Oh, no you don't! You just want to come so that you can spoil everything, don't you?" Ron asked her angrily.

"No, I'm not!" Hermione replied defensively, involuntarily getting emotional, "I can't stay behind. I'm coming with you two stupid idiots. I promise I'm not going to ruin anything."

"Stupid idiots, are we?" Ron growled.

Harry held up his hand to silence Ron, signaling for him to shut up for a moment; he didn't want to waste any time arguing over stupid stuff. "Are you sure your coming? Make sure your positive, because we can't go back once you decide."

"I'm sure," Hermione said quickly, "like I said, I can't let you two stupid idiots go by yourselves."

Surprisingly, Ron blushed as he grinned. "Good then," he commented, "we could always use a clever witch helping us out."

Hermione grinned, too, as well as Harry. This was probably the most close friendship moment they had shared since last June. It was almost as if things were back to before, and their friendship was still as strong.

Harry covered the three of them in the Invisibility Cloak and they started toward the Shrieking Shack. Harry was praying that Kira was still there, and hadn't suddenly disappeared like before without any trace.

Luckily, Kira indeed was there. When they finally made it to the Shrieking Shack, she was sitting in a corner on a very dusty chair, with her face in her hands; it reminded Harry of all the times he had sat like this in a chair with his face in his hands.

Ron tapped his knuckled on the door to alert her that they were there. She looked up from her hands, shining her emerald eye gaze on them. Something about the expression on her face told Harry that she was not happy about something. He walked over to her as Ron and Hermione decided to follow.

"Thought we'd visit," he said after the long muteness.

Kira gave a short, low cackle. She sat up straighter and breathed out some air. "That's good for you," she said, "great to know I haven't been forgotten about."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.

"Nothing. I was just saying it's good you three haven't forgotten about me," she rephrased, "with all your bickering, that is, one can assume that that's all you three do. Maybe you should reconsider that for future events."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"Again...nothing," Kira said, "it doesn't seem like any of you are the type of friends in the myths I've always heard."

"Myths?" Ron repeated.

"Look, I need to be straightforward with you all," Kira said, ignoring Ron's mutter, "I've just been sent a message by someone from the year 2020...someone that I've never had the pleasure to meet, because I'm simply not important enough."

"Sent a message? What did it say?" Hermione asked.

"I'll get to that," she said a bit rudely to Hermione, "I just want to say that I'm afraid right now. Of course everyone from my time is afraid, but I'm afraid of what I've gotten myself into. I'm afraid that I've gotten myself into quite a dilemma."

"What are you talking about?" Harry interjected.

"Time travel is something that's very complicated," she began, "and...apparently...me coming here was no accident. I was supposed to come here from the future. Why? I don't know...I was not told. But, what's going on here is something that doesn't seem to be what's going on."

"Okay, I'm confused," Ron confessed.

"I'm here, because I have a mission I'm supposed to complete. Again, why? I don't know why I'm supposedly supposed to do this. I'm here to save the future," she explained, "I'm here to save the future by making sure the Lord doesn't get what he needs to destroy you."

"What?" Harry whispered.

"And what is that?" Hermione asked.

Kira looked at Hermione and Ron with distrusting eyes. "I can't tell you that," Kira told the three of them, "for protection of the future and of the present."

"We're not going to run to You-Know-Who and tell him what your up to," Ron said with a laugh at how funny the idea was, "I'm planning on joining the Order of the Phoenix as soon as I'm old enough to."

"Trust is a very special thing. Very few actually are trustworthy whether one may think they are or not. Friendship or claim of loyalty means nothing until it's proven," Kira stated, still giving them odd glances.

"Ron and Hermione are trustworthy. I know they are and they have proven it. What are you trying to say?" Harry asked Kira curtly.

"The future is very different, okay. You three are known," Kira started to explain again, "Harry Potter is of course known, because of the Prophecy and what he was supposed to..."

"Erm..." Harry interrupted desperately, "can you just skip over that part please?"

"Why?" Hermione asked instantly, "what did the Prophecy say? I never found out."

"And you two, the best friends of Harry Potter, " Kira continued as if Harry and Hermione hadn't said anything, "are known, because of your friendship with him and your outcomes. Like I said, I already know somewhat about each of you."

"What outcomes?" Hermione asked her urgently, "you've never explained anything dealing with that. I have a right to know. It is my own future."

"Yes, do tell," Ron agreed, though his voice sounded more on the skeptic side.

Kira gave them long, hard looks before she let out a sigh. "What I'm about to tell you isn't to upset any of you. It's just what's happened in the time I live in. Before I begin, learn this: it is not your future...it is the Lord's future for you. Accept that. The Lord knows, controls, and is everything. With that said, I guess I'll tell you what I know, which isn't grandly detailed."

The three of them seemed to step closer in interest at her agreement to finally tell them some of what happened in the future. By the sounds of it, Harry was in a way glad that he was evidently dead, and unable to live in the dark future Voldemort had enforced on everyone.

"First I think I'll start off telling a bit about me," Kira said, looking up at the three of them, "I was born on January 1^st in the year 2000, just when the Silver Millennium Kingdom began. It started towards the end of 1999 as a place for peace and justice and a place that was supposedly to be sealed by ancient magic's that the Lord knew not, so that he or no other darkness could ever enter. Well, halfway through the formation of the Silver Millennium Kingdom the Lord finally defeated the Defender, Harry Potter, because he had retrieved what he needed. Anyhow, I was born into a small, and poor orphanage in a small community inside the now troubled Silver Millennium Kingdom. I never knew my parents. I was told they were warriors and had died...nothing more...not even their names or a single picture. I was eventually, forcefully adopted into a family by the last name of Riley...the Lord had destroyed the orphanage, and killed most of the children living in it, except a few that were luckily spared...I was one of those."

All the while as Kira talked, the three of them listened carefully and intently; especially Hermione, who was hardly even blinking as if she were memorizing exactly everything Kira was saying.

"The Lord over the year of 2000 decided to begin an even stronger regime for control over not just England, but all of Europe, Asia, and eventually the whole world. He gathered support from other conspiring evil dark wizards from different countries and with them they formed the Dark Imperial Forces, the Dark Magical World Army. The Lord is the head of everything, while he appointed the other dark wizards to be nobles, as well as his few favorite Death Eaters. The Lord has final say in everything, but his nobles are his right hand people, who control the other countries while he is not able to. In the Silver Millennium Kingdom, which happens to have the biggest Dark Imperial Forces base, there are three smaller nobles besides the Lord. Everyone just like the Lord respects these three main nobles; if you do not respect them then you die once you've been put through some painful torture. The nobles are Lady Lestrange, Sir Malfoy, and Baron Napoleon. They control different parts of the Kingdom, " Kira explained, "I think that's enough background information."

"It sounds horrible," Ron murmured, "living then...it sounds absolutely dreadful. I'd rather be dead."

At that moment there was a sudden gust of wind bursting through into the Shack. It was coming from outside. Harry dashed over to the entrance of the Shack and peered outside at the little part of it he could see; the trees were thrashing backward and forward, the leaves were crackling and crunching and there was loud whistling all coming from the sudden bursts of wind. As Harry peered out, another gust blew inside, catching him in the face, blowing back some of his hair.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked from where she remained.

"I don't know...the wind's behaving really weird. It looks like it's going to rain," Harry predicted, staring up at the little of the sky he could see. He suddenly noticed that he had goose bumps and an odd icy feeling spreading down his spine. He could sense something was happening, something important.

The weather seemed to know, too. It was as if the weather was battling against itself almost. Harry turned away from the entrance of the Shrieking Shack, and looked at the other three. They were staring at him expectantly.

"It's not safe here...it looks like it's going to start storming hard. Do you think this building can hold up?" Harry asked the three of them.

"Well, I certainly don't want to be here if there's a possibility for this place to cave in," Kira said bluntly. She stood up from the chair in the corner, and walked over to the entrance of the Shack where Harry was standing.

Harry nodded his consent. "C'mon, let's all get out of here," he commanded. He let Kira pass first, and waited for Ron and Hermione, so that he would be last to leave.

"Where are you planning on keeping Kira?" Hermione asked him as she left the Shrieking Shack just after Ron. "We can't expect no one to notice that she's not a Gryffindor in Gryffindor Tower. What are you going to do? Make her board with one of us wearing the invisibility cloak so that no one will notice her. This is totally absurd."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Harry said as he left just after her. He made sure that the Shrieking Shack was closed up securely before he turned to follow the others. That was when he remembered he left the invisibility cloak inside the Shack. "Oh no," he said, stopping in his tracks, "I left the invisibility cloak inside. I have to go get it."

"No! Harry, we have to hurry...the Whomping Willow will only stay still for so long...soon she'll be thrashing again," Hermione screamed loudly, because her voice was being muffled by the harsh blowing wind.

Everyone's clothes were rippling greatly through the blustery weather and Hermione and Kira's hair was blowing so hard, it was flowing out behind them like a curtain would in the wind. Harry was having a difficult time seeing as well, because his unruly hair was lashing down in front of his glasses. Ron only seemed bothered at the wind smacking against his face, because his face was scrunched up as if he had a lemon in his mouth.

Harry was glad in a sense that they hadn't gotten a chance to use the Time Turner to go into the future, because he had clandestinely been regretting taking Ron and Hermione with him; he didn't want to put them in danger for his decision and his mission. He felt that killing Voldemort was his problem and his mission only, not theirs.

"I have to go," Harry said to Hermione, though his voice was muffled, too, "we need the invisibility cloak. I can't just leave it there."

Hermione, who obviously refused to move while Harry was still there, grabbed his arm forcefully and started walking the opposite way. "Come on, Harry, it's not the time to talk about this now. Safety is more important than the cloak!"

"No!" he argued, wrenching his arm out of her reach, "we need the cloak for Kira!"

There was a flash of lightening across the stormy grayish purple sky and a smack of thunder roaring all around, even drowning out the sound of wind. Harry looked above him and could see angry rain clouds forming, desperate to leak their water on everyone below. His eyesight was now completely terrible; because the wind had gotten so bad dirt from all around was swirling in great clods, getting into your eyes and blocking your view.

After that no one really knew what was happening. Everyone stumbled around confusedly, trying to gain sight again and find one another. Harry walked into something hard, and fell down, later realizing it was the Whomping Willow. The Willow was now upset and started thrashing her branches all around at anything within reach. Harry knew his only option now was to run, while keeping a close sense out for his friends. He began to run, barely dodging the grasps of the Whomping Willow.

He heard a female scream from not too far away. It sounded like Kira. Harry opened his eyes despite all the sand, trying to see why she had screamed. He then discovered that he had been running in the wrong direction. He turned around and spotting Kira, ran toward her. She too couldn't see and had been hit by the Whomping Willow. Harry helped her onto her feet, and the both of them started running.

Harry could see Ron and Hermione not too far ahead of him, running as they looked around them for Harry and Kira. Another bark of thunder sounded, and the scenery was lit by the next burst of lightening. From ahead, Harry saw both Ron and Hermione accidentally slip on some mud and fall quite harshly to the grass. Not really paying attention to where he was going, the same exact thing happened to he and Kira. Harry looked up from the grass, and sat up from his lolling position. He turned to help those around him up, until he noticed something.

The futuristic Time Turner that had been attached to a dirty silver chain around Kira's neck, had snapped and fallen off from around her neck; it was now laying right next to Harry, it's fantastic jewels on it sparkling even in this weather and it's advanced buttons across it gleaming shiny silver. Harry picked it up into his hands, realizing that this was the perfect time.

He stood up wobbly to his feet and looked down with the little of his sight that he could see. With his thumb he looked at the switches; there were small numbers that indicated which year you were in. With the upward switch arrow, reminding him that of a channel arrow on a remote, he pushed it until the year read 1999. He was about to push the final affirmation button, when he was pushed off his feet by the wind. He landed backwards onto the grass, accidentally pushing the upward switch arrow to make the year change to 2005. He struggled to his feet just as he pushed the affirmation button without acknowledgement.

The sand inside the Time Turner began swirling slow at first until it began a faster and faster rhythm. Harry looked down at the Time Turner in horror as the scenery around him began to swirl into mixtures of colors as well. Soon he couldn't see anything around him minus a rainbow of blurred colors. His feet left the grassy floor, and everything was silent as he began traveling through time to the year of 2005.

-|-