A/N: HEY I'M BACK. AGAIN. HUHU. It's been what, a year (give or take) since my last update? No, I haven't given up on this story, it's just life gets in the way sometimes and I'd get writer's block. Anyway, this chapter is the continuation of that cliffhanger I left you in Chapter 5! This one's the longest chapter I've written so far. Hope you enjoy it! Love love! 3
"We need to leave the flat. Now."
Hermione pushed Harry out of their daughter's room and began summoning things from both of their rooms.
"Hermione, wait. What's going on? We just got here," Harry said with worry in his expression while he sheltered the sleeping child in his arms from the objects flying through the hallway.
"I'll explain later. Right now we need to-," She wasn't able to finish as the front door to the flat was blasted open. Iris woke and screamed in fright as Harry and Hermione huddled over the child to protect her from the debris. After the initial shock of the attack wore off, Harry grabbed Hermione's arm, ran towards the sitting room and took shelter behind the couch. Curses were flying through the door, randomly hitting objects in the room. Hermione immediately casted a deep-sleep spell and silencing spell on a crying Iris. This was for Iris' sake as to avoid her from being traumatized by the chaos and ferocity of what she's sure was about to happen. After the spells were casted, Harry transferred the little girl into her mother's arms, waved his hand to place a very strong protective charm on them both before he summoned his wand unto his hand. Despite the commotion, Hermione took a moment to be amazed at his power. She had always known Harry was an extremely powerful wizard but as humble as he was, he rarely displayed it. They looked at each other's eyes before he gave her a nod and and sprung out from behind the shelter of the couch.
"Harry, no!" she called out but her voice was drowned out by the noise. She simply closed her eyes and held Iris tightly to her. She prayed to any and all powers that be that Harry would be safe.
As Harry left the cover of the couch, he rolled on the floor to avoid a curse. He used a spell to increase the density of the smoke to mask his movements. He wasn't sure how many attackers there were so he kept low and moved slowly towards the front door. He stopped his advance when he saw a vague silhouette moving towards him. Shifting his position, he flattened himself along the wall and waited as the silhouette moved closer and closer. As the silhouette passed him, he stealthily grabbed the person, and realized it was a man, in a rear-naked chokehold. He felt that the man was wearing a peculiar mask and made a mental note to study the mask after he was done dealing with the assailants. He felt the man began to lose consciousness and slowly felt the struggle ebb out of the assailant. When he was sure the attacker was out, Harry guided the unconscious man unto the floor silently. Through the smoky haze, he resumed his advance towards the front door slowly. When a green curse flew by his left shoulder, he ran at full speed and hit the attacker around his middle with his shoulder. The man stumbled back and they both fell on the floor. Harry rolled away as the man aimed his wand and fired another curse at him. As he righted his position, he faced the direction of the attacker and saw he was wearing another peculiar mask. Another curse flew towards him and he immediately rolled towards the masked man then swept the man's legs from under him. When the man fell on the floor, Harry instantaneously raised his wand and stunned the masked man.
Harry stood up slowly as he listened intently whether there were more attackers coming. When he didn't hear a single sound, he banished the smoke with a swish of his wand. Ropes flew from his wand and coiled themselves on the masked men's arms and legs. After he was sure that both men were secured and won't be able to escape, he moved to check the ruined door and the outside hallway leading to the flat. Neighbors began coming out of their respective flats to check what the noise was all about and where it was coming from. He simply smiled and waved at the other tenants before returning inside Hermione's flat. He would have to ask the aurors toobliviatethe other tenants so what happened tonight would be erased from their memories. He discreetly reassembled the ruined door then closed it, before going back to check on Hermione and their daughter.
He found them still hiding behind the couch. Hermione's eyes were closed as if she was praying while tightly holding a sleeping Iris in her arms. Harry crouched in front of her and lightly touched her cheek. Her eyes opened in surprise and widened even more as they focused on his face.
"Oh, Harry!" she breathed with relief in seeing he was all right.
Harry gave her a slight smile before he spoke. "Hey, I'm fine. I've secured the attackers and left them tied in the hallway. I just need to send mypatronusto the Auror Headquarters."
Hermione simply nodded and watched Harry as he said, "Expecto Patronum!" A silvery form of a stag emerged from the tip of his wand and galloped around them before standing still in front of Harry.
"Hey Prongs," he said as he gently stroked thepatronus' neck, "Go to Neville and deliver this message, 'Hermione's flat was attacked. We are fine; I was able to subdue the attackers. Please come.'" The stag simply nodded before turning towards the window and dashed into the night. After watching thepatronusfade, he turned around and took the sleeping child from Hermione. Once he secured his daughter in his arm, he pulled Hermione towards him and wrapped his other arm around her.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he leant his cheek on her hair.
She burrowed her face on his neck and nodded, "A little shaken but alright."
The little family stood there for quite some time before they heard a popping sound of apparation. Neville was one of the few able to apparate directly into the flat's sitting room.
"Harry! Hermione!" Neville approached them and quickly scanned them for any visible injuries.
"We're fine, Neville. We're not hurt," Harry answered his probing eyes. Neville simple nodded then proceeded to look around the flat. His expression of concern quickly changed into surprise as he saw the damage and devastation that littered the flat. He followed the trail of debris from the sitting room entryway to the hallway that led to the front door. As he turned in the hallway, he saw two masked men bound and unconscious on the floor. He promptly did a physical scan on both men to make sure both were still alive. When he was sure that they weren't injured extensively, he crouched to exam them closely. He noticed one had a wand in his hand, Neville took the wand and castedPriori Incantatoto find out what spells were used. Green light came out of the wand, revealing theAvada Kedavracurse. His eyes search the other for his wand and saw it lying a few feet away. He stood to pick up the wand and perform anotherPriori Incantato. This wand emitted the red light that came with the Cruciatus curse. He did not see any other spells casted by the wand, same as the previous one he examined. Two knocks on the front door suddenly rang and he knew his aurors have arrived. His men had to apparate to an alley close to the flat and walk the rest of the way, as the wards of the flat are strong, courtesy of Harry, and would not allow them entry. Wands in his hand, Neville left the suspects and went to open the front door. Three men stood outside in full auror uniform. He nodded, opened the door wider and stood aside to let the men enter the flat.
"Jenkins, Lee, we got two suspects unconscious inside. Secure them and set a guard while Monroe and I secure the premises and check for other clues as to who they are. Keep your guard up, we're not sure if this is over yet."
They broke into two groups as two of his men approached the suspects and stood guard, while Neville and the other auror went about to investigate the scene of the crime. Neville gave Monroe a nod and pointed at the doors leading to the bedrooms. Monroe understood and went towards the other direction, which led to the kitchen and sitting room.
He went to the furthest door first. As he opened the door to the room, he realized it was Hermione's room. He went towards the bookshelves while doing a scan for bugs and charms that could have been planted in her room. He scanned every inch of the room and when he found nothing, he left the room and went to the next door. He knew before opening the door that it was their daughter's room. As he opened the door, his eyes fell on the bed that was at the center of the room. A black, shiny figurine of a three-headed dog was perched on top of the pillow on the bed. His blood immediately ran cold as he recognized it. He levitated the figurine and placed it inside an evidence bag he kept in his coat. He studied the figurine up close and saw the engraving on the side,Κέρβερος.He hurriedly turned around and went straight to Harry and Hermione who sat on the couch, holding each other and the still sleeping child.
"Hermione," he said, calling for their attention. Both looked up to him at the sound of his voice.
"Why do you have this?" he asked as he raised his hand to show the figurine in the transparent bag, "Do you know what this is?"
Harry's brow creased as he looked at what was inside the bag in Neville's hand then turned to look at Hermione and saw her expression changed from surprise to fear. She looked away and he saw her close her eyes with what seemed like pain on her face.
When she didn't answer, Neville turned to him.
"Harry," he began, "for the past two years, I have been investigating a group that deals with weapons smuggling, illegal drug distribution, illegal magic and potions application, illegal muggle experimentation and slavery, and many other heinous crimes. They are known to kill whoever stood in their way; they do not have qualms in killing muggles or wizards. And this figurine," he shook the bag in his hand, "means you're a target. They often leave this on their victims as a warning, that they will beÉ dealt with."
Harry's eyes widened at the realization of what Neville had been saying. His head twisted toward Hermione so fast, he felt as if he almost broke his neck.
"Hermione?" he said her name tentatively. She looked up to face him and he saw unshed tears in her eyes. He also saw her fear, clear as day. His every instinct reacted to that look in her eyes, every protective fibre in his being shook with what he saw.
"Who is this group, Nev?" he asked without looking away from Hermione. He heard Neville release a long breath before speaking.
"In the black market and underground world, they are known as theKeroberos. But you might know them better as Cerberus International Industries," came the answer.
"What?!" he almost shouted, his frown deepened, eyes disbelieving as they continue to look at Hermione.
The tears that filled her eyes fell unwittingly. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"You must realize, Harry, that Hermione is in grave danger, in more danger now than during the war. These people are not only deadly but also very powerful," Neville continued, "We have had numerous raids on their warehouses and docks but we never found enough evidence to make them go away. It's as if they're always a step ahead."
One of the aurors went to Neville's side and whispered something to him. He nodded in response and faced Harry and Hermione again.
"I'd like for both of you to come to my office tomorrow morning, first thing," he looked to Harry then turned his gaze to Hermione, his eyes softening, "Harry, take Hermione and your daughter back to your flat. They'll be safer there. I'll send someone to keep a close eye on you. Hermione, I need to know what happened in the years you were gone. I need to know why theKeroberosis after you. Please, Hermione. We need everything we can get to nail these bastards."
Without looking at him, she simply nodded her head. With a curt nod at Harry, he signaled his men and went in front of the fireplace to floo. Harry watched as the aurors levitated the unconscious masked men toward the fireplace as well, opting to floo rather than apparate. Neville gave him a last look before he vanished into the flames, followed by his subordinates.
He continued to watch until the flames died down and all that was left were charred wood at the bottom of the fireplace. He was broken out of his thoughts when Iris suddenly moved in his arms. He didn't know how long they sat there, each lost in their thoughts about what happened that night and what would happen in the coming days. He reached out to touch Hermione's twisting hands in front of her. She stopped and didn't move for a minute before she looked at him.
"Let's get out of here," he said, his voice soft. She nodded, still not wanting to speak. They stood up; he shifted Iris in one of his arms and wrapped the other Hermione's shoulders. She moved to hug him and buried her face in his shoulder while keeping their daughter between them.
The familiar sensation of apparating took them both till their feet hit solid ground. They stood unmoving in the middle of the room for a few minutes before Hermione broke the hug then looked at Harry. He raised his hand to gently caress her cheek, wanting to erase the fear that clouded her eyes. Her eyes momentarily closed at his touch and she slowly let out a shaky breath. When she opened her eyes again, she looked at her surroundings to distract herself from that night's events, realizing that this was the first time she had visited Harry's flat since he found her a month an a half ago. Hermione moved out of Harry's arms to walk around the flat. She was surprised to see that the flat had a huge open space. Tall glass windows lined the side of the flat. She looked out of one of the windows to see where they could be in London. The flat was probably on the highest floor of the building, in the heart of muggle London, as she can see the city's wide skyline. She turned her back at the windows to continue studying the flat. On her right side was the sitting area; dark yet comfortable-looking leather couches formed a U shape, with a thick wool rug underneath, in front of a fireplace. Pictures littered the top of the mantle, Hermione moved closer to look at them. There were magical and muggle photos, quite similar what she had on her own fireplace. A photo of the Trio while in Hogwarts, probably in their third year; a laughing Harry and her, arms around each other after he graduated from law school; another was a photo of Harry and Hermione with the Weasleys at Molly's birthday a few years before she left; Lily and James dancing under falling leaves, the only photo Harry had of his parents; a photo of their daughter on a swing, laughing; and photo of Harry, herself and Iris, taken a week ago in her flat. She was genuinely surprised to see a muggle photo of her and their daughter, one that she had in a frame in her own flat, beside the other photos. Harry must've copied it when she wasn't looking. On the other side of the flat was a modern dining table that could fit six people. To the right was a counter that separated the kitchen from the dining area. By the kitchen was a set of stairs leading upstairs where the bedrooms must be, she assumed. Beside the stairs was a slightly opened door, probably Harry's office.
"How many rooms does this flat have?" she asked as turned to look at Harry.
Harry simply watched Hermione when she started looking around his flat. For a bachelor like Harry, it had been a wonder for many friends why he had bought a huge flat for himself. What they didn't know was that he bought the flat with Hermione in mind. He had bought this flat a year after Hermione's departure, with hopes that when he found her, they would live and build their family here. And he had yet to bring her to the flat after finding her weeks ago. He couldn't understand it fully himself but he had felt that he wasn't ready to show her the flat. Now that Hermione, and possibly their daughter, was in danger. There was no question and doubt that they will stay with him from now on. He slightly shook his head to come back to the present to answer her question.
"Uhm. Four, I believe," he answered.
"This is a huge flat for a bachelor, Harry," she said, looking around again, "I doubt you bought it just because you can, but because you need it."
He chuckled, as he was thinking about the same sentiments his friends have said. He shook his head.
"I didn't buy the flat just because I was being vain, no." He turned slightly and started for the stairs. Hermione immediately followed him.
"Then why did you buy this place? I know you can afford it but I'm sure it didn't come cheap," she wondered.
Harry took his time in answering the question. As they reached the second floor landing, he faced Hermione and answered.
"I bought this flat because I thought that once I found you and was able to convince you to come back to London with me, we could live here together and start a family."
He tried to seem nonchalant with his answer and began walking towards the bedrooms. He stopped at the first door on the left and when he realized that Hermione didn't follow him, he looked back to where she was. Hermione stood dumbstruck, looking like a statue with her mouth covered by her hand. Tears began to form in her eyes and she tried and failed to will them to stop. Two tears fell from her eyes that she hastily wiped with her hand that previously covered her mouth.
"I'm so sorry," she said softly. Harry simply nodded then opened the door to the room. He understood what she meant. She was sorry, again, for leaving; sorry that she kept away for years; sorry that she caused him pain the past five years; sorry for not telling him about Iris; sorry for the problems and trouble she had brought him now. As she entered the room Harry and Iris were in, she was surprised to see that the room had matched their daughter's bedroom in her flat. She slowly moved to the bed where Harry had already tucked the sleeping child in, making sure that the cover was snug enough so Iris wouldn't feel cold. He kissed her on the forehead and on the cheek then moved back to the door and waited for Hermione to kiss Iris goodnight, as well. After she was done, she walked back and with one last look at Iris, she gently closed the door behind her. She looked up to see Harry staring at her intently before moving to the door across their daughter's room. Harry opened the door and stood to the side to let her in. Her hand moved to her chest when she saw, like the other room, this room was an exact replica of her room. She turned to look at Harry, wonder clear in her eyes. "H-howÉ W-whyÉ?"
Harry simply shrugged one shoulder and faced the room. "Iris showed me around your flat once when you were out to get groceries. The next day, I converted these room to match your bedrooms back at your flat," again, he shrugged one shoulder before continuing, "I kind of had this idea that someday, you and Iris would stay here with me."
Hermione nodded even if he couldn't see her. She moved into the room and stood beside the bed that was slightly bigger than the one she had in her flat. She deposited her beaded bag and her wand on the bed then stood there, unmoving. Deciding to give her time and space, Harry started to move out of the room when she called out to him.
"Harry?"
He immediately turned to face her.
"Yes?"
She was still for a few moments before she looked at Harry with a pleading expression on her face.
"Stay with me a while. Please?" she whispered. Her voice was so soft and low that Harry thought he had only imagined it. But looking at her face, he realized it was real. His feet began moving even before his mind made his decision. He stopped at Hermione's side and reach out to her shoulders, turning her to face him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him.
"Of course," he said, his right hand moved to caress her hair while the other held her tightly to him, "I'll stay for as long as you need me to."
Hermione's answer was just a nod as she buried her face into Harry's neck, savoring the feeling of warmth and safety his arms and body provided her. After a long while, which felt like forever for both of them, she slowly broke the hug and sat on the bed. She grasped Harry's hand and pulled, telling him without words to sit beside her. He sat down then shifted so that his body faced her side. She kept her eyes straight at the wall, unseeing. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and released it, before she opened her eyes as determination seeped into her expression.
"When IÉ abruptly left five years ago, I went to Australia," she began, "I don't know what prompted me to go there but I guess it's because it was where I sent my parents years ago, before the Final BattleÉ"
"I went there three years ago, you know, for two weeks. I looked for you there," he interrupted.
She nodded, "I know. Amanda, my roommate, heard from one of her friends in the Ministry in Magical Sydney that you were there looking for me. She told her friend not to disclose that I was indeed in Australia. And I've hidden my magical signature so you couldn't trace me while you were there. I barely left the flat, I went straight to work then back home right after. Which was fine as Iris was in her terrible two's so I needed to be home as often as I could," she sighed, "Anyway, I stayed in a hotel for a while. Luckily, I could access my vault here in Gringotts London thru Gringotts Sydney so I had money but I knew I needed to find work.
"As I wasn't able to finish my healer training and I didn't want to work at a hospital, knowing that you can be easily find me in one, I tried to look for other jobs. I couldn't understand it but for two weeks, I couldn't get a job, even as a clerk for a bookshop. Whenever they see my resume, they would tell me they didn't have a vacancy or I'm over-qualified. One day, as I was having coffee in a cafŽ while looking at classified ads in both muggle and magical newspapers, a woman approached me. 'Are you looking for a job?' she asked me. I told her that I was and that I've been having a hard time getting one. She told me that she could refer me to the company she worked forÉ"
"Cerberus International Industries," Harry guessed.
"Yes. Amanda Sinclair told me to go to Cerberus the next day for an interview. I did and was outrageously surprised that Marius Ambrose, president of the company himself, interviewed me. I was hired immediately and started working a week later. I had loved my job there. I was surrounded by books and people who loved learning as much as I do. We would talk about theories and studies for hours. It was a good distraction for me, so I could stop thinking of you so much," she smiled sadly, "I was assigned to Magical Research and Development where we study how to do spells, charms and potions-work and try to recreate them into different forms and/or improve their effects. When researching a spell, I had to go back to its origins, the beginning of magic as it were. So I've learned quite a lot about our magic's history and origin than in Binns' History of Magic class," she chuckled.
"At first, the spells I studied were small ones,accioand such. Then came the complicated spells and potions. I was working hard so that they would not find reason to remove me from my job. Two months after I started working there, I found out I was pregnant. I didn't know what to do. Should I have called you and told you about the pregnancy? Should I go back to London? It wasn't a matter of whether I was going to keep the baby or not. I knew I was going to have her, no matter what," she sighed.
"You should have told me about her. I could have been there for you both," Harry tried his best to keep the anger and pain out of his voice but he knew he failed. Hermione finally looked at his eyes, regret and sorrow clear in those cinnamon colored eyes. Seeing them in her eyes ebbed his anger away.
"I know," she whispered, "Amanda told me to tell you, that you had every right to know but I was stubborn."
She faced the wall in front of her again, "At the same time, Marius had been giving me special attention. I knew what his intentions were and I tried dismissing him without compromising my job, but he was persistent. Nothing happened, really. I didn't want to get involved with anyone, especially with my boss, and I was still in love with you."
He already knew that she dated a few times while she was gone but he still couldn't help the jealousy he felt whenever he was reminded of it. Of course men would notice her, she was an intelligent and beautiful woman, inside and out. He was shaken out of his musings when she began to speak again, her voice laced with fear.
"Three years into working for Cerberus, that's when I began to feel that something wasn't right. Talks have been going around that employees have been vanishing one by one. Two or three missing employees in a year wouldn't have raised any alarm but two or three employees vanishing in a month is a different matter altogether. They didn't necessarily belong in the same departments, and our department wasn't spared. Two had already gone missing weeks before, then another analyst vanished and no one still knew why. I felt terrible because I was the last one to see her the night before, when we had to stay a bit late in the lab to finish one of our experiments. She was a brilliant researcher, French, and so young. I went to her desk to clear out her things when I stumbled upon a journal and several parchments that seemed out of place in the lab.
"In the notes, she wrote about the Greeks, the Trojan War, the three founders of Cerberus and their ancestors, and their connection to numerous illegal activities and crimes for the past years.
"As I've said, my work had let me learn magic's origins that haven't been discussed extensively during History of Magic with Professor Binns. I've learned more about it the last five years than the seven years I've been in Hogwarts," she chuckled, "And I've learned that our magic came from the half-blooded children of the Greek gods and Titans. Half-human half-gods, these children had powers or magic in them but no one had the strength of mind and body to harness it until Achilles.
"It was indicated that Achilles began to develop his magic years before the beginning of the Trojan War. That was one of the reasons why Menelaus recruited him and made him one of his generals. He was strong physically, mentally and magically. Once he was able to harness his magic, along with his Myrmidon generals, after he'd trained them, began creating spells to be used mainly in warfare. They didn't use wands back then, they used their weapons to be their magical conductor," she took a deep breath and stayed silent for a while.
Harry patiently waited for her to continue. He wasn't sure why Hermione was telling him magic's history or Achilles' story but he knew that this played a big part on why she was so scared ofKeroberos.
"I began investigating her notes. Cerberus was an unending fountain of information and knowledge. You can learn a lot if you simply knew how to get them. At first I wasn't sure if I could trust Amanda with the information I had but I needed help and she was the closest person I had in Cerberus. That was when she broke down and told me the truthÉ"
Hermione's eyes filled with tears and Harry gave her a handkerchief that was in his pocket.
"What truth, Hermione?" he asked as she wiped her tears that kept on falling. It broke his heart to see her in this state but maybe, after she had told him everything, she would feel better.
"Cerberus is in the habit of tracking and recruiting great minds, both muggle and magical, to help the company stay ahead of everyone else. Amanda confessed to me that Cerberus had been trailing me for some time before I even set foot in Australia. I was shocked, to say the leastÉ"
"What?!" Harry exclaimed, "Wait, so does that mean when you met AmandaÉ"
She nodded, "It was planned. Everything was planned. When they discovered I was in Australia and looking for a job, they manipulated everyone not to hire me so that I had no choice but to apply at Cerberus. Amanda, being in the coffee shop at the same time I was, was also planned."
"Then why did she decide to tell you everything?" he asked, a frown formed on his brow.
"We've grown close, in the years we've shared a flat and worked together. Her job was to keep an eye on me, to keep me from leaving. Amanda was never evil; she was just a lost child that felt she owed Marius for giving her a place and a purpose. She loved Iris so much. After we've talked, we both realized that Cerberus wasn't all flowers and rainbows, we began to study and investigate the missing researcher's notes further. We would sneak around the Cerberus complex. It was difficult at first because our identification cards are only allowed in certain areas and the security system could detect if an intruder was trying to get into restricted areas. Amanda and I were able to bypass every security, muggle and magical, but it took us months. In one of our pursuits, we were in one of the lower basements. There was an ungodly scream and we rushed to see whom or what is was," she paused briefly and screwed her eyes shut as if trying to erase the image from her mind, "When we finally found the room and managed to sneak in and there we saw a man hanging upside down, in chains. Men in masks were standing around, as they watched the man get tortured. Dareia was the one casting theCruciatuson the man while Marius and Haemon stood and watched. They asked why he was contacting aurors and whether there were more of his friends were in Cerberus. That's when we figured that the missing employees could be spies or undercover aurors.
"We left even before the tortured man died. We had to get out of there before they could discover us. After that, we let a week pass before we resumed our investigation on Cerberus. We continued on looking for further connections between the Greeks and Cerberus. And it all comes back to one man: Achilles. We discovered that Achilles had three weapons that he imbued with his magic: his spear, his sword and his shield. In them is the most powerful magic, magic from the Greek gods themselves, in its purest form, and whoever wields and combines these weapons shall rule all that is on this earth. That kind of magic can be either used for good or evil. Achilles wasn't a saint, but he wasn't the devil either thus the light or the dark can exploit the power for their own purpose."
"Cerberus is after these weapons," Harry said, finally understanding why Hermione was telling him about Greek history.
"Yes," she answered softly, "They already got one, the spear. They are still looking for the others."
Hermione remained quiet and still. She looked as if she was lost in thought but Harry could see the fear, anger and resolve in her eyes. He felt dread creep up from his stomach to his heart.
"You took the spear, didn't you, Hermione?" he whispered. He didn't need to hear her answer to confirm his suspicions. Being who she was, Hermione couldn't just let evil succeed; she had to do something to stop it. And it seemed like this time, like she always did before, did what she knew was right.
"Yes," she answered after what seemed like forever, barely louder than a whisper. She turned her gaze towards Harry, her eyes blazed with determination. "I had to! When Amanda and I discovered what they wanted to do with the weapons, we had to act! I couldn't just let them use the weapons to rule over everyone, over the world!" The fire that ignited inside her was extinguished in an instant.
"Cerberus wants to rule over the world?"
"They believed that magical beings shouldn't be hiding from the world, whereas Voldermort was prejudiced against muggle-borns and half-bloods, Cerberus believe all magical beings are superior to non-magical beings, no matter your blood status is. They have it in their minds that we came from the gods, thus we were meant to rule, not hide away," Hermione explained.
They remained quiet for a long while, each lost in their own thoughts. Harry struggled to understand everything that has happened that night: the attack in Hermione's flat, what Hermione has revealed, the danger she and their daughter was in while they were in Australia. That last thought brought words to his mouth.
"Is that why you came back, because of Cerberus? Not because you wanted to come back to us?" Harry asked quietly. Hermione turned to him with wide eyes.
"I've always wanted to come back to you, Harry, always. I justÉ didn't know how," she answered just as quiet, "But when the opportunity rose, I took it. Iris needs her father to protect her while I go and look for the other weaponsÉ"
Harry grasped her shoulders and roughly turned her towards him, "Whilewelook for the other weapons, Hermione. I lost you for five years, I'm not going to lose you again!"
"I need you to protect Iris! You're the only one who can protect her!"
"And who's going to protect you, Hermione?!" he countered, "You didn't let me go alone for the Horcrux hunt years ago, I won't let you go on this dangerous hunt alone either. The Weasleys can protect Iris. They're more than capable of that."
Hermione was breathing heavy as she stared at Harry. She knew what he was saying was true but she wanted Harry to protect their daughter himself. No one is more capable of that than him but she also knew that he was right. As much as she hated to admit it, she also needed protecting. It's been years since she last dueled and the most magic she used in the past five years were household charms and spells at work. She was going to have to do a quick refresher on dueling with Harry. She sighed as she came to a decision.
"Alright. We'll leave Iris at the Burrow while we look for the other weapons," she said.
"Good. We'll talk more about the journey tomorrow after we talk to Neville," he rose from the bed, and then moved to stand in front of her. Taking her face in his hands, he continued, "Get some rest. Tonight has been rough and I'm tomorrow will be, as well. Goodnight, Mione," He kissed her forehead then proceeded to exit the room.
Hermione grabbed his hand, halting him. He looked back at her with a question in his expression.
"HarryÉ" she started, uncertainty clear in her voice.
Harry's expression softened after realizing what Hermione wanted to say but couldn't. He sat back down on the bed, removed his shoes. Hermione also removed her shoes and moved to the right side of the bed. As Harry laid down on the bed, she immediately moved closer to him, burrowing herself against him. He wrapped his arm around her and waited until he could hear her breathing evened out. He looked down at her sleeping face, only then he let himself feel every emotion battling inside of him. He was angry, worried, happy, frustrated and scared. He would have to sort through all this tomorrow, then he will do everything to protect Hermione and Iris from Cerberus and end all this. He tightened his arm around the sleeping woman against him then let himself drift off to sleep.
A/N 2: So what did you think of this chapter? I'm currently writing the next chapter. Hopefully it won't take me another year to finish it. LOL. Reviews please! And be kind. :)