A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter. And wow - sorry for the delay in getting this one out. The holidays hit a bit harder than I was expecting haha. Barely had any time to myself for the last two weeks! Huge thank you to lanamarymack and Angela 007 for alpha/beta reading this chapter! They are amazing! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter sixteen and be on the lookout for chapter seventeen soon!


On the short walk back to the grand feasting table, Hermione could not believe how brazen she'd been agreeing to Tom's request. She'd felt almost like she was possessed when the question left his lips and she knew that she couldn't imagine saying anything other than yes. There was something that inexplicably drew her into him more than she could imagine, like magnets that were each too strong to break the field between them.

Now, with the mind clear and her legs somewhat wobbly, she felt an odd combination of empowered and embarrassed. Her cheeks burned hot when she wondered if it might be obvious to his friends what they had been up to, no matter how quiet she'd tried to be, with her hand pressed tightly over her mouth.

She did not have to wonder for long.

Some of the wizards were already seated at the table, while the rest were milling about. A small, nervous looking house elf was carving a large turkey in the middle of the table, while Mulciber heckled its work. Their host was quick to notice when Hermione and Tom rejoined the group. Walking around the table, he guided Hermione to seat, pulling out the chair for her.

"Well, if it isn't our Queen of the Underworld, returned," Edmond quipped, teasing.

Hermione's mind was whirring, wondering just what he was trying to get at. Did he imagine her as some maiden that was stolen away by Tom? And really, wasn't that she was after all.

Still, she didn't like the feeling of not being in on the joke. Her stomach twisted with nerves and she was unable to stop herself from snapping back at him. "Do you imagine Tom as Hades, then?" she demanded.

Underneath the table, Tom gave her knee a quick squeeze, obviously not bothered one bit by the insinuation. He didn't need her to fight his battles for him, but she sensed that he appreciated the effort nonetheless.

Edmond laughed again, obviously amused by her fierce response. "It's not a comparison that he would shy away from," he told her, unwavering in his eye contact and trying to convey something that she couldn't quite glean.

"Tom as a god of death?" Evan said with a smirk. "Why have I never thought of that?"

The discussion made Hermione nervous. Were they trying to suggest that Tom had some sort of power over death that she did not know? Or that he had killed people before? Both suggestions seemed completely ludicrous. And yet...when she looked at him, Tom did not look at all bothered by the quips. Instead, his blue eyes seemed to fall a shade darker and he wore something of a smirk on his lips, as though he was amused.

Edmond cleared his throat, gaining her attention. "In any case, Hermione, I must thank you," he said with a lascivious grin.

"What for?" she asked, feeling breathless.

"For making an offering to my trees," he said, garnering chuckles from the other wizards who were paying attention. "I'm sure that my land will be quite blessed in the coming year."

Merlin, Hermione felt her heart stop at the words. Immediately, her head snapped to Tom for any hint that Edmond was telling the truth. His face was impassive, as if he truly didn't see anything wrong with it. Hermione supposed she had told him that she wanted to participate in the rituals, but she had hoped he would have told her ahead of time.

Or maybe he'd assumed that she'd know what it was.

Unwilling to think about it any longer at the moment, Hermione focused on the feast at hand, mechanically eating the perfectly roasted turkey and variety of squashes, washing it down with her share of the dark red wine that Lestrange had provided for everyone. The wizards spent most of their time joking around, gossiping like a bunch of school girls, but conversation soon turned to the new spate of laws that were being argued in the Wizengamot.

Unable to help herself, Hermione felt her ears perk up, knowing that most of the debate happened behind closed doors. Most people were completely unaware of the minute details that she was privy to now, and Hermione was soaking up everything that she could possibly learn about, including a law that sought to ban the import of historical magical artefacts for sale from other countries.

She couldn't help but speak up. "Isn't that something that you'd want?" Hermione asked, extremely curious. "Then people like Borgin - no offense, Tom - couldn't profit off of your traditional cultures."

Tom held up his hands to indicate that he wasn't offended at all.

Abraxas scoffed at her line of questioning. "Of course you'd think of something like that," he said, clearly unimpressed with her. "All this law seeks to accomplish is to determine which families still follow the old ritual, but requiring that they purchase necessary artefacts themselves rather than using a third party."

"I just thought that..." Hermione trailed off, biting her lower lip. She didn't want to offend, but then she knew that Abraxas just had something against her and nothing she said would offend him anymore. "I've been to Borgin and Burke's and some of the prices they charge are exorbitant compared to what you could get if you had contact with the seller yourself."

"It's still the Ministry sticking their noses where they aren't needed," Orion Black said, pressing his palm to the table firmly. "Without a doubt, they are trying to create a list of who still keeps the old ways so that we can later be punished. Most ritual has been outlawed for decades - they aren't doing this out of our interests."

"Ugh," Mulciber said, standing up from the table. "If you lot are going to debate the law, I'm going to leave you to it. Antonin, care to take a walk to the apiary?"

Antonin stood and Avery was quick to join them as well, leaving the rest of the wizards at the table.

"While Orion might be a little paranoid, the Ministry taking an interest only rings alarm bells," Alfie said, gently, trying to better educate her.

"Not to mention that many families do not have the necessary connections that a third party does," Edmond clarified. "In some cases, the Borgin and Burkes are a necessary evil."

Hearing their point of view certainly gave Hermione a new understanding of a law that she thought was going to be universally helpful for people she assumed were being taken advantage of. She turned to look at Tom once again where he sat at the head of the table with his fingers steepled in front of his face, carefully listening to everyone's insight. Like a King with his counselors.

"Well, there is one thing I do know," Hermione said, nervously. "If this law has any chance of being passed, then it is all the more reason for you to find something else to do with yourself than work at that shop."

They hadn't talked much about Tom's job, just his intentions to leave it. However, it had been weeks now and she'd seen absolutely no movement on that front.

Abraxas fought a smile. "That is the one thing that I will agree with her on," he said.

"Enough talk of laws. We should join the others. You know that Mulciber is enjoying himself too much," Alfie suggested.

Finished with their feast, everyone stood up from the table and began the short walk around the orchard to the apiary. Tom grabbed Hermione's hand in his own, a surprising act of affection that she did not expect in front of his friends. But, her mind was whirring, wondering what was next in store for their day and what Alfie meant about Mulciber enjoying himself.

When they joined the others, Hermione was horrified to realize what it was. It seemed that the larger man had pinned down some of the bees and was slowly killing them with the honey dripping from pieces of honeycomb. He laughed as they struggled to free themselves from the sticky substance, before their movements stilled.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hermione demanded of his cruelty, hating the look of delight on his face.

"Relax, Granger, it's all part of the ritual," he answered.

"The balancing potion requires it," Alfie said. "Both the producer and the product must be consumed. Bees are really the least offensive of the options. Unless you'd like us to drown a cow in milk or something like that?"

"Does the potion also require that you take so much joy in another's suffering?" she wondered out loud, absolutely disgusted by Mulciber's behavior.

"Well, no," Alfie agreed. "Tom usually just uses the imperius curse so that they will do it themselves. Mulciber obviously has his own proclivities."

"That's an Unforgivable Curse," Hermione said, scandalized.

"Yes, but, it's really not that terrible," he argued, unbothered.

She was overcome with the desire to show him just how terrible it was. She drew her wand before anyone could say anything and cast the spell at him. It was surprisingly easy to conjure for something she'd never tried before. "Imperius!"

A haze came over the face of the Nott heir, before she made him bow to her in submission. It was an act of ultimate deference and something that she was sure a pureblood would hate to do to any muggleborn. She saw the rest of the assembled wizards shift uncomfortably as she made no move to lift the curse, but obviously too fearful of Tom to do anything to stop her.

She hated to admit it, but she felt powerful with them helpless to stop her.

"Should I make you kiss my feet, too?" she asked, with a sneer. "Or perhaps have you dunk your head in the cider we made before, until your lungs scream for air? It's really not so terrible."

And then she let him go.

Alfie looked sheepish when he was back in control of his own faculties. "Point taken," he said. "But I still think that this is the best option given the choices. I know the power that the balancing ritual holds."

Hermione watched as they gathered up the honey that had been used, removing the remnants of the bees, before bringing it to the copper cauldron that hung over a small fire. They poured it in and golden coloured smoke began to roil off of the top.

She looked at Tom, feeling more unbalanced than ever.

"You don't have to drink it, if you don't want to," he said, giving her the choice.

The liquid was ladled out of the cauldron and put in a chalice and was once again passed around the circle. Hermione didn't know what she was going to do until it came to her own hands. She bit her lip, feeling completely unsure of herself. She had decided that she was going to participate as much as she could. Closing her eyes tightly, she pressed the chalice to her lips and took a drink of the surprisingly thick liquid and passed it on, pushing it out of her mind.

She thought that the balancing potion might choke her, stuck in her throat, but instead, it slithered down into her belly, leaving behind a perfectly pleasant sensation that she was completely at peace, steady and in balance. She opened her eyes, unwilling to admit that she was glad she'd taken it.

Tom looked pleased that she had indulged and leaned in to whisper into her ear. "You've really impressed some of them today, showing what you are truly capable of," he said. "I am sure none of them expected you to use such a curse or to take the potion."

"I'm not sure if I want to impress them," Hermione said, although she knew that was a lie. She always enjoyed surprising people.

"There isn't anything left to do except drink too much," Tom explained. "I can take you home whenever you'd like."

She thought about it for a moment, before deciding that she was ready to leave. "I'm ready," she told him.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders before guiding her over to where Edmond was standing chatting with Orion. They gave their host their thanks for the day. Edmond wished them well and barely hid a smirk behind his rust coloured mustache when he thanked Hermione for all her contributions once again.

They took a portkey back to her flat, landing into the still of her living room. Tom looked around, eager to glean anything extra he could about her. "I sense that you are a bit cross with me," he said, when his eyes returned to her.

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes," she agreed. "You should have told me that what we were doing was...just part of the ritual. It wasn't right not to tell me first."

"And here I thought I was going to have to defend myself for killing bees," he quipped.

"I'm serious," she said, left feeling confused about their encounter. "Now I don't know if what we did was because...because you wanted to or if it was just part of the ritual," she said in a moment of honesty.

"I wanted to do it," he told her, stepping so that he could stand closer to her. He used his hand to cup her cheek, tipping her head up to look at him. "And it just so happened to fulfill a required offering. It seemed natural. Ask yourself this - if I'd told you, would you still have done it?"

She thought about it, looking him over. Finally, she was forced to admit to herself that she probably would have, if only to fulfill an academic curiosity about the ritual. It wasn't the act that had her bristling, but rather the fact that everyone except her had had some inside knowledge. She always enjoyed testing the limits of the practical. "Yes," she said with a whisper. "But I'd prefer you ask me next time."

"I will," he promised. He leaned forward until their noses were touching.

Her lips parted reflexively, wanting to kiss him once again.

"I must confess that I rather liked hearing you being called my Queen," he whispered conspiratorially, as though it was blasphemous to speak the words.

"I'd rather not have my domain be the Underworld," Hermione answered, though the thought of being linked to Tom in a deeper way was unexpectedly welcome.

"Semantics," he said, before finally kissing her. He immediately deepened the kiss, possessive and needy, as though he never wished to let her go. When they broke apart, he was just as breathless as she was. "When can I see you again?"

"As soon as you are able," Hermione replied, unwilling to be parted from him for long.