A/N: I'm so so so so so sorry it takes me so long to update! My muse keeps on eluding me! Anyway, here's the latest chapter! You'll get to know the elusive Blackwatch aaaaaand there will be a bit of surprise here somewhere. Well then, here you go!

"Harry, Hermione—meet the Blackwatch."

"Have either of you heard of the Blackwatch?" Neville asked Harry and Hermione. Hermione, he belatedly cottoned on, had summoned her wand in her hand, while hidden in view of the three new arrivals as she stared warily. Harry, on the other hand, looked calm, but Neville knew him for too long to know he was anything but calm. Hermione realized that they were being spoken to; she faced Neville and shook her head in answer.

Harry kept his gaze on the three figures and with a quiet voice, answered. "I know of them, yes," he moved his gaze to Neville, "Shacklebolt tried to recruit me after finishing Hogwarts," Hermione whipped her head towards Harry, as this was the first time she had heard of this. Harry ignored her as he continued, "Since I didn't want to chase after dark wizards anymore, I refused the offer. Then proceeded to go to law school. But I have heard stories these past few years of their activities."

"Activities?" Hermione inquired.

"The Blackwatch is a secret group created as ordered by the International Confederation of Wizards," Neville explained, "Not many people know about the group, not even within the ministries around the world or the ICW, just mostly rumors but no concrete evidence had been found to confirm its existence. Only the most elite aurors from all around the world are recruited join the group. When I said the most elite, I mean not just the cream of the crop, but the very top of the cream. And even after recruitment, they undergo trainings that are harder and more extensive than normal auror trainings.

"And the group only takes orders and directly answers to the Ministers of Magic and the leaders of the ICW. The ICW themselves appoint the leader of the group that also becomes their liaison between the Blackwatch, the confederation and the ministries," Neville further explained.

Harry nodded, "I think the ICW wanted to prevent another Grindelwald or Voldemort from rising into power. The Blackwatch was created to deal with different international issues that the local government wouldn't be able to handle."

Hermione tilted her head to side. "Quite similar to James Bond and the MI6."

Harry and Neville chuckled at the reference to the muggle spy novels and movies. "Yes," Neville nodded, "kinda like that but Blackwatch doesn't just rely on one agent and we like to keep our agents as anonymous as possible."

"And you're the current appointed leader, am I correct?" Hermione inquired, her curiosity emerging.

Harry gave Hermione a fond look. Even after five years, her curiosity and thirst for knowledge haven't diminished even for a little bit.

Neville nodded, "I was appointed as leader two years ago. The ICW bases their appointees on the performances of the heads of the auror departments from all the ministries. Leadership changes every few years or so depending, again, on the performance of the appointee."

"Must be hard leading two organizations at the same time. You'd have to deal with both local and international affairs," Harry said.

"It is hard work but it's something we must do. Voldemort isn't the last of the dangers that threat this world."

"Yet the Blackwatch was established here, in Britain? Why here?" Hermione asked.

Neville gave out a long sigh and brought his attention back to the three figures at the corner of the room.

"You three know Harry and Hermione are trust-worthy," he addressed them, "Best to further explain the situation to them so that everyone's not too tensed as if a bomb might go off anytime."

The tallest of the cloaked men gave Neville a slight nod and signaled the other two. As if it was a practiced move, all three reached for their masks and removed them at the same time. Hermione couldn't hold back her surprise as she stared at three very familiar faces under the hoods. Harry felt as though he'd been punched in the gut and the air left his lungs as he also recognized the faces behind the masks.

"Draco, Seamus and Ginny…" Hermione breathed, her eyes wide.

"Hey, you two," standing on the left and the smallest of the three, Ginny Weasley chuckled, "Shocked, huh?"

"That would be an understatement, Red," Draco Malfoy, who stood in the middle, snorted. Then he nodded at the couple across the room, "Hello Granger, Potter."

"What? No Mudblood and Scarhead? Hell must have frozen over," Seamus Finnegan, at Malfoy's right side, teased. When Draco turned his steel gray eyes on the Irish, the latter put his hands up and gave him a grin, "I was just kidding, c'mon."

Neville, clearly aware of Harry and Hermione's shock, cleared his throat to get their attention. He waved his wand to move Harry and Hermione's chairs to the right then on his left, he conjured three additional seats and motioned for the others to sit down. Ginny, Draco and Seamus followed, with Draco sitting near Neville's desk, Ginny on his left then Seamus sitting across the couple.

"Harry, Hermione, I am quite sure there is no need for introductions," Neville began again, as the three Blackwatch members took their seats, "But I will tell you why these three are here. Lieutenant Draco Malfoy is one of my top squad leaders. He has led numerous successful missions throughout his four years with the Blackwatch. 2nd Lieutenant Ginevra Weasley is one of our resident weapons and tech specialist. We at Blackwatch decided that using simply magic may prove fatal so we have incorporated the use of muggle weapons and technology. And lastly, 2nd Lieutenant Seamus Finnegan, our biochemical and explosives specialist. I don't think I need to explain that one." Everyone laughed at Neville's last words.

"I was actually surprised when you entered the Auror Training course. Everyone thought you were going to pursue a quidditch career, what with all those talent scouts sending you owls everyday. And now you're one of the top elite agents of Blackwatch," Hermione told Ginny, her voice filled with awe.

Ginny laughed, "I know. Mum was more surprised than Dad was when I told them my plans. I just felt like I should do something more meaningful with my life than just fly and shoot a ball through three rings. Not that there's anything wrong with that career."

Hermione and Harry both had soft smiles on their faces directed at the only Weasley daughter. They believed she has done more with her life than anyone had expected of her and they felt proud of their friend.

Draco decided to take up the discussion regarding the establishment of Blackwatch.

"Granger asked why the ICW decided to establish the Blackwatch here in Britain, correct?" he asked, turning to the couple. The couple nodded, then he continued, "It is because we have the biggest magical community in the world. They felt that a group such as ours, with its international jurisdiction, would be best placed here. With Amelia Bones on the helm, in the past seven years since the end of the Second Wizarding War, our community has progressed and advanced in so many ways in such a short time, and we have become one of the top magical communities in the world. With the British magical community becoming a powerful body, the ICW saw fit that this is the place where the muggle Interpol's magical counterpart should be established."

"We get all sorts of people and beings in the Blackwatch," Ginny added, "The ICW and our ministry decided that the Blackwatch should not just be an elite group, but also a group where any and all beings can work together for the safety and betterment of the whole world, muggle or wizard."

Hermione's eyes visibly widened due to this information. She realized that she hadn't kept tabs on what was going on in the British magical community because she was too busy with her daughter and her investigation of Cerberus. It seemed that a lot has happened in the years she's been away, and she was completely unaware how truly transformed the government and the society were today.

Harry's face regained a serious expression and turned his gaze at his long-time friend. The moment these three appeared in Neville's office, he realized that the Blackwatch was somewhat involved in the Cerberus case, not just the aurors.

"Nev," Harry began as silence had filled the room, "when you said that you've been trying to nail the bastards from Cerberus, did you mean you and the Blackwatch?"

"Yes. You are correct. When the Italian and Australian aurors weren't enough anymore and too many have been killed or have gone missing, their Ministers decided to pass the case over to the ICW."

"And they recognized that Cerberus was a threat," Draco said.

"While they saw that Cerberus was pro-active with their philanthropic work, their breakthroughs in pharmaceuticals and technology advancement that benefitted both muggle and magical worlds, there was also overwhelming evidence of their shady dealings and crimes behind the scenes," Seamus spoke this time.

"And it was only through Hermione that we are now able to confirm our evidences of their activities," Neville voiced, "I will place our earlier conversation in my pensieve for you to watch and listen to, just so Hermione won't need to repeat her whole story. If that's okay with you, Hermione?"

The three agents turned their attention towards Hermione who blushed; regardless that she knew these people for half of her life. She nodded and said to Neville, "Of course. It's not a problem, Nev."

Neville nodded then again, wave his wand to summon his pensieve from a cabinet at the far right side of his office. The doors opened and a pensieve came floating towards the group. It was made of metal, and was smaller than the standard size, with runes all around the mouth of the basin. As the pensieve stopped in between Harry and Hermione and the Blackwatch agents, Neville touched his temple with his wand and began pulling out several silver threads of his memories. He reached out and dropped the threads onto the pensieve. The runes around lit up before the contents began to swirl around.

He turned to his agents and gestured towards the basin.

"You can proceed. Then after you view this, we shall discuss further," Neville said, in what Hermione would describe as an authoritative voice. A voice she was sure would not have believed it came from her friend if she didn't see him actually say the words. The agents then gave him a nod then went to dip their heads into the pensieve. Time flow within a memory was different than time in the real world. The conversation between Neville, Hermione and Harry that occurred earlier lasted an hour and a half, but fifteen minutes later, the Blackwatch agents finally emerged from the pensieve with astonished expressions on their faces, except for Draco, who had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I can't believe you endured all that, Hermione," Ginny said, her turn to be awed by her friend.

"Well, she ain't the Brightest Witch of our Age for nothin'. So that's their plan, huh? Very Agamemnon of them," stated Seamus.

"It's a surprise you know Greek history and mythology, Seamus," Hermione teased then nodded, "But yes. They intend to use the magic-imbued weapons of Achilles to rule all of wizardkind and mugglekind. Basically, the whole world."

"Well, they certainly know how to dream big," Ginny quipped, "Voldemort was all about blood purity and ruling the wizarding world while killing muggles and the non-purebloods."

"That's what I said to Harry last night. Voldermort was simply a terrorist. But this group, Cerberus, are on a whole different level," Hermione said.

"And they have done their work well, spreading their reach and influence in the world. Voldemort may seem like a walk in the park compared to this. It might be a tad difficult for us to bring them down," Neville said.

"Difficult, but not impossible," Draco cited, finally speaking after witnessing the memory.

Everyone in the room silently agreed. They knew that they have a difficult task ahead of them but if they worked together, they just might save the world from evil, once again.

"What are you planning to do?" Ginny asked the couple after a few moments of silence.

Harry and Hermione turned to each other, a silent conversation between their eyes, before they turned to the youngest Weasley, who was also one of their dearest friends. It was Harry, who answered, "We plan to look for Achilles's weapons and the people who protect them."

"And when you find them?" Seamus queried.

"We will tell them of Marius and his gang's plans and we will help protect the weapons if they were discovered by Cerberus," Hermione answered.

Draco's face turned into a frown as he heard this. "It's not your task anymore to save the world, Hermione. You have already done that years ago. You are now simple citizens, in other words, ordinary civilians. That's why Blackwatch was created, to deal with such threats and dangers in the world."

"I know it's no more my task as it is Harry's, but I have already placed myself and my daughter in danger when I began my investigations of Cerberus two years ago. I won't rest easily unless I do something to help end it," she responded, "And I will not stop until I know that my family is safe from Italian maniacs who think they should be kings of the world."

"I would have to agree with Hermione. The more help we can get in stopping these bastards faster, the better. Now that we know what their end goal is, we will know how to act accordingly. With our resources, we just might be able to deal with this a lot quicker," Neville said.

"Very well. It would also be better is she and Potter would be the ones to look for the remaining weapons as they have more knowledge of this than us," Draco said before he turned towards the couple again, "If you will, we would like a copy of all your notes on Cerberus before you leave, so we can add them to our data files. Also, we can have some of our agents accompany you on your quest."

Another silent conversation occurred between the two. "They still do that telepathy thing, huh? It's quite amazing to see that again after all these years," Seamus whispered to Ginny while watching their friends. She simply nodded with a smile. Regardless of what their current situation was, she was happy that her friends were finally back together. She knew when the war ended that she and Harry weren't getting back together anymore. They were simply two different people that had nothing in common except for Quidditch and their mutual fondness of Ron and Hermione. When she learned that something finally happened between the two, she was sincerely happy for them because she could see that Hermione was always going to be be Harry's top priority and the most important person in his life. And when she witnessed what Hermione's departure did to Harry, she wanted to hate the other girl for hurting him like that. But her anger didn't last long because she knew Hermione. She wouldn't have left without any valid reason. When Hermione did come back and they finally found out the reason for her self-imposed exile, she simply embraced her best friend and long-lost sister.

"Thank you for the offer, Draco, but we would prefer to travel by ourselves. A larger number of people travelling together might attract some unwanted attention," Hermione said, "Besides, we'll be under the glamour charm most of the time, also to avoid detection."

"Hmm. What do you think, Lieutenant Colonel Longbottom?" Draco asked his superior, his voice filled with respect that it surprised Hermione and Harry. They never would have thought that the great Slytherin prince, Draco Malfoy, would show respect to his superiors, especially to Neville Longbottom who he used to bully in school yet now severely outranked him at work.

"It makes sense," he said then turned to Hermione, "We'd have to discuss this further a few times before you begin your journey. You mentioned that you wanted to leave as soon as possible, correct?"

"That's correct, Nev. The longer we wait, the closer they are to getting those legendary weapons, which we cannot afford at the moment," Hermione answered.

Neville nodded, "Agreed. We'll adjourn for now and meet again the day after tomorrow."

All of those present nodded their heads and stood up at the same time. Ginny approached Harry and Hermione and gave each a hug and a kiss before putting her mask back on. Draco simply looked at them and gave them a cursory nod before he put his mask on, as well. "Be seein' ya!" Seamus said as he gave them a mock salute and also put on his mask. The couple simply nodded and as one, the three Blackwatch agents disapparated on the spot without so much as a pop.

Neville came around his desk and gave Hermione a hug and shook Harry's hand. "Go home and get some rest. I know this was hard on both of you, especially you Hermione," he said, worry and sympathy clear in his eyes, "I'll see you both day after tomorrow, okay?"

Harry and Hermione both nodded and smiled at one of their longest friends. As they said their goodbyes, the couple left Neville's office as they have arrived, hand in hand.

Harry and Hermione realized that they had spent most of the day at the ministry that by the time they arrived at Ottery St. Catchpole, the sun was already beginning to set. They decided to walk a little ways from The Burrow to have a bit of time to recover from their experience at the ministry. Each was lost in their own thoughts that they failed to notice that they had crossed the fence and the protective wards that surrounded The Burrow.

"Mummy! Daddy! You're back!"

Their daughter's loud voice was heard from inside the house as Harry and Hermione walked on the path towards house. This drew their attention long enough to see a brown blur sped from the opened door and attached itself on Hermione's mid-section, the force of the impact made her take a step back.

"Iris, love. Be careful. You might hurt Mommy," Harry admonished gently, after he recovered from his surprise.

The little girl raised her face towards her father with an apologetic look. She gave him a nod then turned to her mother, "I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to hurt you," she said in a small voice.

"It's quite alright, pumpkin. I'm sure you missed us as much as we missed you," Hermione replied with a smile. Iris then left her mother's arm to give her father a hug. Harry knelt down and brought the child into his arms. He gave her a quick squeeze and kept her in his arms as he stood up. They engaged in small talk as the family of three walked up to the front door where Molly was waiting for them.

As they reached her, she gave them a fond smile, "Why don't you stay for dinner? I've also invited Ron and Luna over."

Harry and Hermione shared a look then nodded at the Weasley matron.

"Excellent! Go ahead and settle down in the sitting room. I'm sure little Iris has so much to tell her mum and dad." Molly gave them a wink then turned to walk towards the kitchen, probably to check on whatever she was making. Iris squirmed in his father's arms, letting her father know she wanted to get down. Her father obliged and put the little girl down. With a smile, she took each of her parents' hands and led them to the sitting room. Once inside the room, Iris let go of their hands and ran towards one of the corner tables of the couch in front of the fireplace. The adults simply followed at a sedate pace and stood behind their daughter, wondering what she was up to. When she turned to face her parents, she had a huge grin and proudly held a piece of paper in front of her. Both parents bent down to look at what their daughter was trying to show them. It was a drawing of a family, their family they assumed.

"What do you have there, pumpkin?" Harry asked his daughter.

"It's a picture I made before Nana Molly made me nap today," Iris answered excitedly.

Hermione smiled at her, "Is that us, baby?"

"Yes! Do you like it?"

Tears formed in Hermione's eye but she tried to will them away. She shared a smile with Harry and gave their daughter a nod. Harry took the picture in his hands with a smile, "We love it, pumpkin. We'll put this on the fridge so that people will see it, okay?"

"Yey!" Iris exclaimed then jumped into her father's arms. Harry and Hermione shared a sad look, as they knew they would be leaving their daughter soon. Their upcoming trip will be the first time they would be separated from their daughter for an indefinite time. They knew it was going to be dangerous and they cannot bring their daughter with them. It would be best if they were to finish this mission as quickly as they can so they can come home to their daughter as soon as possible.

A/N: Were you surprised? Lemme know what you think! Please leave a review! Much love! 3