"I can't wait to go home." Cantankerus sighed, relaxing back onto the grass.
"Why?" Dolohov smirked. "So your father will fawn all over our Queen?"
"Be nice." Hermione smiled from where she was leaning against Tom's chest, his arms wrapped around her wait and his chin on her shoulder.
Cantankerus sneered. "Because once we're home, we can practice."
"We're practicing here." Avery frowned in confusion.
"Yes, Clarence." Smiling condescendingly at him, Hermione leaned forward and patted his face. "But only spells I know I can heal."
Dolohov watched her lean back into Voldemort's chest. "Will we be practicing restraint?"
"Of course." Tom drawled.
"Why practice restraint?" Mulciber asked, he really like hurting people. He enjoyed the power he held over them as he took their lives.
"It's the right thing to do." Malfoy preened.
Rosier choked on his spit – Malfoy and restraint did not go together.
"Malfoy." Lestrange smirked. "You have no room to talk about restraint."
Abraxas looked offended. "I have restraint."
"Oh, Abraxas." Hermione chuckled. "How many girls have you slept with?"
Spluttering, Malfoy fumbled for a comeback.
"You cannot speak on restraint until you restrain yourself." Hermione smiled.
"We can't all be celibate like you!" Abraxas snapped.
Hermione smirked. "Perhaps I'm just waiting for the right time."
Tightening his arms around her waist, Tom nipped at her ear, he couldn't wait until they graduated from Hogwarts.
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"He's dying." Hermione whispered to Tom as they lay on a couch in the Nott library.
Sighing, Tom brought his attention from where he had been trying to tame her hair with spells. "Who?"
"Lord Nott."
"How can you tell?" Tom asked, still not really paying attention. "Mia?"
"His body is failing." Hermione frowned when he accidentally set her hair on fire. "Tom!"
"Sorry." The young Dark Lord quickly extinguished the fire.
"Lord Nott's magic is fading. He's not going to live for very long." Hermione leaned back onto her paramour.
Twining their fingers together, Tom pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead. He didn't see why she was so upset about it. With Lord Nott dead, everything passed to Cantankerus and the boy was completely loyal to them. Voldemort didn't know who The Nott patriarch was loyal to.
Hermione absentmindedly smacked his chest. "Stop thinking about how this will benefit you."
Tom merely chuckled and kissed behind her ear, knowing it was one of her sweet spots.
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"Voldemort." Mulciber scowled. "Why, in Merlin's name, did you summon us to the middle of a forest in the middle of the night?"
"Practice time." Tom grinned.
Dolohov shook his head. "What are we practicing on?"
"Ourselves." Hermione stepped into the circle, dressed in battle robes.
"Merlin." Malfoy breathed. "Where did you get this?"
"Romania." Hermione tossed a set at the blonde boy.
"Your Dark Queen got us all a set." Tom smiled fondly. "She thinks that we should practice dueling."
Avery paused as he was pulling on his robes. "Why?"
"Because we're not going to overthrow the Ministry without a fight." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Wait a second." Rosier realized that something else was going on. "What are you talking about?"
Hermione tilted her head to the side. "Did you really think that we want to practice Dark Art in secret? No. We're planning on restoring the so called banned magicks to their proper place in Wizarding society. And in order to do that, we have to overthrow the Ministry."
"That's not going to be easy." Lestrange muttered.
"You're right." Tom nodded. "I'm going to build an army. And it's going to be difficult. We're bringing in creatures and muggleborns."
"What?!" Abraxas exclaimed.
"I'm a muggleborn." Hermione sneered, she liked rubbing into their faces that blood purity was wrong. "And don't discriminate against the potential soldiers because they aren't wizards."
"You're not going to duel, are you?" Cantankerus warily asked.
Hermione smirked. "Of course, I need to keep my skills sharp."
The Death Eaters all shared a look, they were going to be hurting in the morning.
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A/N: Another interlude.