*~*~*



WOOSH!



Ginny came tumbling out of one of the fireplaces in the Ministry of Magic Atrium. Hermione, who had been staying with the Weasleys, had Flooed there ahead of Ginny and was glaring at the repaired Fountain of Magical Brethren. What bothered her most was the graven image of the sappily happy house-elf.



"Hermione, the world isn't going to change in a day," Ginny said sympathetically as she joined her.



"I know, it's just that no one wants it to change," Hermione replied. "I feel like I'm beating my head against a stone wall. Everyone thinks it's okay to enslave a race of beings."



"Hermione they ..."



"... like it, I know. But look at Dobby. Now that Dobby knows what freedom is, he enjoys it. And Kreacher was trapped with someone he neither loved nor respected."



"Kreacher was --"



"I know what he was," Hermione said. "He was no more or less than a product of his environment. And his situation was made worse by the fact that he had no choice about where he was employed."



"Maybe you're right, but right now we have to see Tonks," Ginny said. The girls had been invited to spend the weekend and see a Quidditch game. Since Tonks was an Auror, Mrs. Weasley was okay with letting the girls go. Tonks figured any relief from the pressure of worrying about the war was a good thing.



Ginny tossed a bit of change from her pocket into the fountain, and Hermione did the same. Then Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her to the security desk to get their wands checked. Ginny, still dragging Hermione, then made a dash for the lifts. They knocked into a witch carrying an armful of parchment and sent a paper airplane memo off course.



"Sorry," Ginny said as she, Hermione, the witch, and the memo arranged themselves in the lift.



"Kids," the grumpy witch muttered.



Embarrassed about upsetting the witch, the red-haired teenager was silent and still in the lift. Her brown-haired companion held in a laugh. The old witch got off at the level for the Department of International Magical Cooperation. The girls broke into a fit of laughter when she got off. A wizard got on just before the lift doors closed. They'd never met him before, but his young face seemed to indicate he was fresh out of Hogwarts.



"Are you girls here for Auror training?" he asked.



Both teenagers blushed. They were flattered he thought they were ready for post-Hogwarts training.



"Actually, we're just visiting a friend," Hermione replied. "Tonks."



"Nymph?" the young man asked. "Don't tell her I called her that," he added in a whisper and grinned. "We were in the same year at Hogwarts. When did you girls finish?"



"We haven't yet," Ginny admitted. "I'm in fifth year."



"Sixth," Hermione added.



"Really? You girls don't look that young ..."



"Charlie!" Tonks exclaimed as the lift doors opened. Her long hair was a bright ketchup color -- the exact opposite of Ginny's natural red.



"Charlie?" the girls questioned.



"Parks, not Weasley," Tonks replied as all three stepped off the lift.



"They know Charlie Weasley?" Charlie questioned.



"This is his baby sister, Ginny," Tonks said, gripping Ginny by the shoulder.



Ginny was warmed by her touch, but she attempted to shift away from it. She hated feeling guarded like a little girl. She got enough of it from Ron; she didn't need it from Tonks.



"Little Ginny?" Charlie questioned. "When she came to Hogwarts with her mum she was just ..." He gestured smallness with his hands. "This is a young woman," he said, touching her cheek. Ginny was suddenly quite uncomfortable.



"Not quite a woman," Tonks said, steering both girls away.



"Git," Tonks mumbled when they were a good distance away. "He has a thing for young girls."



"What?" Hermione questioned.



"Well, I don't want to be crass, but he likes them ... unspoiled."



"In other words, he likes virgins," Hermione said.



"Yeah," Tonks replied.



Tonks still had a protective arm around Ginny as she wove them through the Auror cubicles. Neither girl had visited Tonks at work before, so they didn't know what to expect. The main portion of Tonks' cubicle wasn't too surprising. There were a few clippings here and there of dark wizards and witches. Central among these were the escaped Death Eaters. But they noticed the right wall of her cubicle was quite different. It was filled exclusively with pictures of one woman.



Ginny, who was free from Tonks' grip now and looking slightly relieved for it, examined the pictures closely.



"Cynthia Wholey?" Ginny questioned. "She's one of the top ten Chasers in the world."



"Yeah, she's my special Holyhead Harpie," Tonks said with a wide grin.



"You know her?"



"Yeah, really well," Tonks said, staring dreamily at the pictures. Cynthia was a short, black woman with close-cropped, curly hair. She had a round face with dimples on each cheek, and she was winking at Tonks from the picture. "I met her at Hogwarts," she told them. "She was two years above me. I can't wait for you two to meet her."



"Meet her? Really!" Ginny exclaimed.



"She got us tickets to the game," Tonks told Ginny. "I've told her all about you, so she's already quite keen on you."



"Tonks!" All three young women turned to see Cynthia standing in the doorway.



"Cyn," Tonks said, getting up and running to throw her arms around her neck. Cynthia seemed much shorter in person, no taller than Ginny. Tonks, who wasn't really all that tall, still stood a head above her. For some reason (maybe because of Viktor), Hermione had always thought that Quidditch players were tall and overpowering. Viktor hadn't exactly been burly, but he'd had a nice size to him. When she read about the Holyhead Harpies in Quidditch through the Ages, she had imagined the entire team as tall and scary Amazons.



"Cyn," said Tonks," this is Hermione."



"Hermione, that's a mouthful," Cynthia said. "You got a nickname?"



"Nothing I like," Hermione replied. Ginny, who had often heard Hermione complain about the whole ‘Hermy' thing, giggled slightly at this comment.



"And this is Ginny Weasley," Tonks said. "She's the little Weasley on the school Quidditch team."



"Just like your brother Charlie, eh?" Cynthia questioned, shaking her hand.



"Not exactly," the young girl replied



"What position do you play?"



"Seeker in fourth year, but hopefully Chaser this year," Ginny replied. "I fancy being a Chaser more than a Seeker."



"Why?" Cyn questioned.



"Constant action. Seeker's only exciting at the last minute."



"I know what you mean. It's basically ‘stay out the way until you see the snitch.'"



"Yeah," Ginny replied with a grin. It was nice to connect with a real Quidditch star.



Ginny hadn't even bothered to glance at something that had Hermione raising an eyebrow: The two women had been holding hands ever since they broke their hug.



"We better get going if we plan on getting there in time," Cyn said.



"One moment," Tonks replied. She grabbed a quill on her desk and quickly scratched something on a bit of memo paper. She flicked her wand at it, and it folded itself, zoomed off the desk, and headed down the corridor.



"Let's go," Tonks said.



Everyone headed for the lifts and climbed inside. The lift rattled down to the Atrium where the women discovered that all the Floo fires had long lines.



"You're going to be late if you wait with us," Tonks said to her friend.



"Yeah, I suppose I'll have to Apparate," Cyn said. "See you and the girls there. And --" she pulled Tonks close and whispered something in her ear that caused her to giggle.



"Later," Tonks said, pushing her away. And with a pop, Cyn was gone.



Hermione and Ginny exchanged curious looks as Tonks shoved the girls into a Floo line. The line moved pretty quickly, and the next thing they knew they were at the English Quidditch Stadium. The stadium wasn't as large as the Quidditch World Cup one. It was about the size of the pitch at Hogwarts, but it had more room for spectators.



After they'd settled in their seats, Hermione looked around at the crowd and magical vendors as Ginny chatted about Quidditch stats with Tonks. The crowd was about a fourth the size of the World Cup audience, and most of them were wearing Tornados badges.



"I don't think this group will be friendly if your friend's team wins," Hermione stated.



"Who cares," Tonks said, changing her facial complexion to the teams' trademark dark green and adding a white double H on each cheek. She made her hair short and spiky and as green as her face.



"Hermione?" a soft voice behind them questioned. "Ginny?"



They turned to see Cho Chang standing in the aisle near their seats. Knowing what happened with Cho and Harry that past year, Ginny wasn't sure how to react to her.



"Hi, Cho," Hermione said with a bit too much cheer.



"This is our friend Tonks," Hermione said to Cho. "Tonks, this is Cho Chang, a friend from school."



Ginny thought it was a bit rich of Hermione to call Cho a friend. After all, Hermione had been quite conflicted about Harry and Cho's up-and-down relationship last year.



"Hello, Tonks," Cho said, looking a bit put off by her green, emblazoned face.



"Hi Cho," Tonks replied.



They all stared at each other awkwardly for a while before Cho broke the silence.



"Well, I have to catch up with my dad," Cho said, walking off.



"Wait!" Hermione shouted at her. She ran up to her and said something Ginny and Tonks couldn't hear through the crowd.



"What's with them?" Tonks asked.



"Cho and Harry dated last year," Ginny explained. "She thought Hermione and Harry secretly fancied each other, which couldn't be further from the truth. But it caused enough problems to break them up."



"Are you sure they didn't secretly fancy each other?" Tonks asked.



"I used to fancy Harry. I think I'd know if Hermione was feeling that way about him," Ginny stated defensively.



"If you used to fancy him, maybe you don't want to see it."



"I'm totally over Harry."



"Oh yeah? Got your eyes on someone else?"



"Sort of," Ginny said blushing.



"The game's about to start," Tonks said. "Oi! Hermione."



Hermione turned and saw Tonks waving her over. She said good-bye to Cho and joined them. Ginny was half frowning as she sat down.



"I can't believe you wasted time talking to her," Ginny said, crossing her arms.



"Don't be mad at Cho. It just wasn't meant to be for her and Harry," Hermione said. "Cho's ... sweet." There was a glow in Hermione's gaze that disturbed Ginny.



"Anyone who gets as pouty as she got about a Quidditch game is a twit. Good lord, you win some and you lose some. You don't cry about it," Ginny said.



"You don't understand. It was bigger than a game, Ginny," Hermione stated.



"Was it?"



"Yes, she's deeper than you think. Sometimes a Quidditch game isn't just a Quidditch game. Sometimes it's just one bad thing on top of another. Last year was hardly heaven for her. She'd been in a bad emotional state since Cedric died."



"Why do you care so much about it? Her stupid friend is the one that got us all in trouble!"



"That's her friend, not her," Hermione replied softly.



"And what about the way she bad-talked you to Harry?"



"She was just trying to figure out where she stood with him."



"I can't believe you --" Ginny sputtered.



The two girls continued to argue until Tonks interrupted to tell them that the game had started.





It was an exciting game, and Cynthia played brilliantly. Unfortunately for her side, so did the Tutshill Tornados. There was a lot of cheering as the Tornados' Chasers brilliantly passed the Quaffle. Despite the brilliant passing, they failed to score more often than not thanks to the Harpies' talented Keeper. The Seekers searched for the Snitch, which might have scored them an early victory, but the little golden ball seemed to be playing a good game of hide without the seek. Even though Cynthia brought her top game, the other Harpy Chasers didn't seem to fly as smoothly. The Tornados eventually pulled 100 points ahead. Forty minutes later, they were 150 points ahead, so the only hope for the Harpies was the Snitch. But it was the Tornados' Seeker who saw the snitch and pursued it. The Harpies' Seeker managed to knock her off course. The Harpies managed to gain 20 more points, so once again winning the game depended on the Seeker. Just as the Harpies scored another goal, the Snitch was spotted again. The Seekers shot after it like twin bullets, and both sides shouted for their team's Seeker. The Harpies' Seeker barely managed to grab the Snitch, causing a wave of disappointment from the Tornados' supporters.



"Best snitch race ever," Tonks declared. "Come on, let's go to the team tents."



Tonks led the girls out of the stands and down to the Harpies tents. By the time they got down there, the members of the all-female team were in various stages of undress as they shed the robes they wore for the game and put on their casual wear. Even though they had seen other women in their knickers before, there was something about the sight of a room full of athletically toned bodies that had both girls a bit hot under the collar and perhaps blushing a little more than they intended. None of the women on the team seemed to care that two unfamiliar teenage girls and a woman with a green face had entered. Cyn appeared out of nowhere and ran up to Tonks; she was clad only in her underwear, which made Hermione and Ginny look away the second they saw her.



"You played brilliantly," Tonks said.



The two women stared at each other, and Ginny felt a weird vibe. She almost expected them to kiss (though they didn't), and the thought caused an unexpected lurch in her stomach. She'd felt there was something a little beyond "friendly" between them earlier, but she'd dismissed it. But now she wondered ... Ginny glanced at Hermione, wondering if she felt it, too.

Hermione and Ginny arrived at Tonks' flat soon after the game. It was a small two-bedroom and as disorganized as her desk at work. It wasn't a total mess; it just could have done with a little more attention to daily cleaning. Parchments were scattered on the floor, and there was an unwashed cup here and a pile of clothing there.

"You two can stay in my office. It's the spare bedroom and hardly ever used as an office," Tonks told them.

She pulled open the door, and they saw a desk stuffed with disorganized parchments. Quills and news clippings littered the top. There was also a bed with rather dingy sheets. The girls were glad to be spending a weekend with Tonks, but neither was keen on sleeping on dirty sheets.

"Uh...Tonks. Do you have some clean sheets?" Ginny questioned as kindly as possible.

"Those are …" Tonks began, but paused when she took a good look at them, "pretty clean."

Tonks pointed her wand at the sheets and said, "Scourgify."

While the sheets did look a bit cleaner, they were still quite dingy. Hermione and Ginny shrugged. It was the best they were going to get.

The girls got cleaned up for dinner, and by the time they joined their friend in her small kitchen, Cyn was there. This didn't bother them so much as play on their curiosity about their relationship.

That night, Hermione and Ginny sat up in their temporary room laughing at a comic they found called ‘The Wizarding Dunce'. It was about a Wizard whose spells never went right, but he always managed to solve whatever problem he was getting at in the end.

"I need some water," Hermione said after a while.

She climbed out of bed and walked out into the living room where she heard the unexpected sound of moaning. And then she realized, even before seeing her, that Tonks was the source of the moaning.

"Stop, the girls are here," said Tonks, pushing Cyn away.

"So what," Cyn replied, pulling the other woman under her. "They're old enough to handle it."

"I'd rather explain first, and I haven't," Tonks replied.

"So, explain in the morning," Cyn said, capturing Tonks in a kiss as they fell back on the couch.

Cyn's hands were all over Tonks, and Tonks seem to be lost in her touch-- too lost to notice the teenage girl watching from a few feet away. It suddenly occurred to Hermione that she could be spotted, so she fled the scene as noiselessly as possible.

Hermione couldn't speak at first. Sure, she had her suspicions, but seeing it...When she walked back into the guest room, Ginny looked up from the comic and caught the stunned look on her friend's face.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ginny questioned.

"Um, Ginny, did you get a weird feeling about Cynthia and Tonks? Well, not really weird, but maybe a little different than you may have expected."

"Like what?"

"Like...like maybe they enjoy a little more than a good Quidditch game together."

"Huh?"

"I saw them kissing," Hermione admitted.

Now it was Ginny's turn to look shocked. She'd had her suspicions, but to have them confirmed …

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, now appearing a little heart broken.

"Very sure," Hermione said. "You can't mistake snogging like that."

"I want to see for myself," said Ginny.

She cautiously entered the living room, but it was empty. She heard laughter in Tonks' bedroom, so she went toward the door. Luckily she had one of her brother's Extendable Ears handy. She took it out of her pocket and tipped it to her ear as the other end rolled under the door.

"You don't know how many times I wanted to grab you today," she heard Cyn say. Then she heard a few sounds that were most likely lips on skin. Her stomach got a bit queasy imagining which bits of skin were getting the kisses.

"Ginny!" Hermione said sharply, shocking her so badly that the Extendable Ear popped free of her ear.

"What, Hermione?" Ginny snapped.

"What are you doing?"

"You know what I'm doing," Ginny said, walking toward her.

"Why are you being so snippy?"

"I'm not being snippy!"

"You are, too, and I don't know why. Do you have a problem with Tonks having a girlfriend?"

"Problem? You're the one who came into the room like you were reporting a national incident. Maybe it's you who's got the 'problem.'"

"I was just shocked! I'm over it now, and I'm fine with Tonks being who she is. Are you?"

"Of course I--"

"Girls? Why are you up?" Tonks' asked. "Is everything alright?"

Tonks was now peaking out of her room wearing a baggy t-shirt that fit her like a nightgown. Hermione noticed that Ginny was averting her eyes and refusing to look at her. Hermione felt slightly embarrassed, too. She didn't realize that they had raised their voices, and she wondered if Tonks had heard any of their argument.

"Are you two having a row?" Tonks asked, approaching the teenagers.

"No," they answered together. They were far too nervous for their own good at this point.

"We were just...ummm...getting some water. Right, Hermione?" Ginny prompted.

"Right."

Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her to the kitchen. They each fetched a glass of water and were headed back to bed when Tonks stopped them.

"Can you sit down a minute, girls? I need to talk to you."

"Sure," they chorused and sat down at the table with Tonks.

"You know, I really love you girls," Tonks began. "You're like the little sisters I never had."

Hermione saw Ginny frown and wondered why. Maybe she'd had enough of being a 'little' sister.

"We adore you, too," Hermione said to smooth over any negative vibes Tonks might get from Ginny's reaction.

"That's good. I feel like we should be able to be honest with each other, but I haven't been. Not entirely," Tonks admitted. "See, Cyn, she's more than a friend. She's my girlfriend. I love her."

"It's serious then?" Ginny said so softly that Tonks and Hermione barely heard her.

"Well, she's living here with me."

"Do you only date girls?" Hermione asked tentatively. She wasn't exactly sure how she wanted to present her question, but Tonks took it well.

"I've dated men, but it isn't about that with me. I like who I like, and I love who I love. It's just me."

"How long have you known?" Ginny asked, her eyes glued to the table.

"Known what?" Tonks replied, trying to catch her eye in the hopes she might look up.

"That...you know...you fancied...well," Ginny sighed. "Were you ever...confused about it?"

"I suppose, but I realized people fall in love with people. Besides, I was already a weird kid. I could randomly change almost anything about myself, but when I was little I couldn't really control it. Every time I got nervous or scared, a feature would randomly change. Before he knew, my dad considered sending me to Muggle primary school. But it became obvious that it couldn't happen. So, I was educated by my mum and kept away from most kids. Muggle kids would have been scared, and wizard kids used to laugh at me. I thought Hogwarts would be different, but it wasn't, not really. Every time I got upset, my nose got longer or my hair would disappear or grow long or turn bright colors. On rare occasions, I even sprouted horns or a tail. I was upset to find that even among this lot of wizard kids there wasn't one like me. I knew my gift was rare, but not that rare. Cyn was a few years ahead of me, and she was the first person who told me my gift was cool. There I was, looking like a bloody idiot with a snout in the middle of my face, everyone in the Great Hall was laughing, and she stood up, two tables away, this star Quidditch player from a completely different house, and said, ‘I'd like to see any of you lot pull off changing your nose like that. When you can do better, then you can laugh.' The laughing stopped that day and our friendship began."

"She helped me learn to calm down and control my transformations. By the time I was your age, Ginny, I was unfortunately enamored of her, hopelessly addicted to spending time with her, and probably worse than a lovesick puppy. But at the time, she only saw me as a little sister. To get over her, I managed a few Hogsmeade dates...with guys, if you're curious. But she remained in my heart, and it hurt a bit to see her walk into Hogsmeade with her girlfriend. Cyn was pretty bold, and she refused to date anyone who didn't have the courage to hold her hand in public. There are plenty of gay kids at Hogwarts, but most insist upon hiding it. I loved that she wasn't afraid to challenge it. I think that's why I decided to make my move. We were sitting together studying one night in the corner of the library. I was studying for my OWLs and she for her NEWTs. The place was nearly abandoned, so I took a chance and stole a kiss. Then I confessed my feelings. I know that was the wrong order..."

"It was sweet," Cyn said, entering the room. "It was really brave. Better than I did with my first crush."

"You two have been together since your fifth year?" Hermione asked, shocked by the length of their relationship.

"No," Cyn said, sitting beside Tonks and staring deeply into her eyes. "I still had a girlfriend back then, a Beater on my Quidditch team."

"And I was so embarrassed, upset, and jealous, that I didn't speak to her after she left Hogwarts," Tonks admitted sadly. "I had my first real girlfriend in my final year, not that I forgot about Cyn."

"Then we just ran into each other in Diagon Alley."

"I was halfway through my Auror training. First we stopped in a pub and reconnected."

"Then we went somewhere else," Cyn said, running a finger over the other woman's lips, "and really reconnected."

Then they kissed, and Hermione blushed and looked away. She noticed Ginny looked upset. Hermione nudged her and gave her a questioning look. How could she resent their friend for her honesty? But Ginny refused to look at her. She just crossed her arms and kept her expression unpleasant.

"We've been together ever since," Tonks said. The two women were staring at the girls.

"That's a really beautiful story," Hermione said.

"Glad you think so," Tonks said.

"What else would I think?" Hermione replied.

To emphasize her point Hermione got up from the table and gave Tonks the biggest hug she could manage. When Hermione's embrace broke, her eyes fell on Ginny. Ginny's face had turned from sour to just plain uncomfortable.

"Ginny, are you alright with all this?"

"Sure, I'm off to bed," Ginny said sharply. And with hardly a look at anyone in the room, she rushed off to bed.

"Is she really okay, Hermione?" Tonks asked.

"I'm sure she is. It's been a long night, and this was a lot to absorb." Hermione paused. "Yeah, I'm sure she's just tired. Goodnight." And with another hug as double reassurance, Hermione went to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione tried to talk to Ginny, but she refused. So, Hermione climbed in bed, and they slept with their backs to each other, with Ginny putting as much distance as possible between their bodies. Hermione hoped her friend would be more willing to talk in the morning. And more important, she really hoped Ginny didn't hate Tonks for who she was. Surely Ginny couldn't be that closed-minded. If she was, she would certainly hate Hermione for ... well something she hadn't told anyone about. She always thought if she could tell anyone, she could tell Ginny — that if anyone would understand, it would be Ginny. But now she wasn't sure.

Morning was rather quiet. Cyn and Tonks didn't rush out of bed, and neither girl was going to stir them. The two girls prepared breakfast, ate breakfast, and cleared the table in silence. Finally, as they were washing dishes, Hermione couldn't take it anymore.

"Ginny," Hermione said and waited a few moments for a response.

"Yeah," Ginny said, clicking her breakfast plate into place next to Hermione's.

"How do you really feel about it?"

"About what?"

"Tonks and Cynthia."

"I'm fine with it," Ginny replied, but she seemed to struggle with the words.

"Then why are you acting like this? "Hermione snapped, sick of Ginny's attitude. Surely Ginny understood that you couldn't choose who your heart wanted the way you choose shoes. "If it bothers you, just be honest so we can talk about it."

"It doesn't bother me that she's apparently in love with that ... that," Ginny grunted in frustration and slumped in a chair. "I'm not bothered by her perfectly suitable Quidditch-playing girlfriend. What's bothering me is that I want, well, I want her ... to like ... me."

Hermione looked confused. "She likes you. She said we were like her sisters."

Ginny rolled her eyes, annoyed that Hermione could be so daft at a time like this. It had been hard enough to admit, and now she had to clarify it. Her head dropped into her hands.

"Hermione, I don't want her to think of me as a sister."

"Oh," Hermione said, realizing that she'd missed the point.

"It's crazy. I know," Ginny said.

"No," Hermione said, sitting beside her and putting an arm around her. "She's really attractive and smart, and she can be anyone you want ... even Harry Potter. I mean if you can't have the original —"

Ginny was ready to snap; it wasn't about Harry. Then she realized Hermione was joking.

"When did this happen?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. It was gradual, I suppose. One day I was just enjoying her company, and the next day, every time I looked at her lips, I wanted to kiss them."

"Is this your first crush on a girl?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, it's bloody confusing too. I mean I like guys, but I don't know. There's something about Tonks."

"You need to tell her."

"Are you mad?" Ginny exclaimed, jumping up.

"She'll understand this better than you hating her girlfriend for no apparent reason."

"How would you know?"

"You'd be surprised," Hermione said, playing with the hem of her skirt. "I know quite well where romantic misunderstandings get you."

"What romantic misunderstanding did you have?"

"One that was quite complicated." Hermione sighed. It was time to confess. "I have, or had, a crush of a sort, on a girl. Oddly enough it happened suddenly. I wasn't looking for it, and then we kissed, and ... I don't know, it was beautiful."

"Who was it?"

"You're going to hate this," Hermione said, knowing the reaction that would come with her revelation. "It was Cho."

"Chang!" Ginny said, horrified.

"After Ron insulted her team while she was trying to talk to Harry, I felt bad. So I tracked her down, and we chatted in an empty classroom. It got ... weird, if only because things went so well. The talk I mean. She's not in Ravenclaw for nothing. She's actually rather smart, and ..." Hermione paused when she noticed the disgusted look creeping onto Ginny's face. "Come on, Ginny, she's gorgeous. Even you, who hate her, can admit that. I'd like to see how you'd handle being alone in a room with her smelling the way she does." Hermione's insides were dancing with the memory, and she flushed.

"You're a nutter."

"I know you don't like her, but I do. I like her a lot. I don't love her. I'm not planning to date her, but she's attractive and for a moment, maybe longer than a moment, I wanted her. I mean she really is the sweetest girl I've ever met. I know Marietta is a twit, but Cho was just being a loyal friend when she defended her."

"Every time she went off to Harry though, it was about you, about not liking you."

"Cho was confused, too. Certain things are expected of the most popular girl in Ravenclaw. She wanted NOT to like me. I mean neither of us had ever kissed a girl before, and we hardly expected it to be so intense."

"Well," Ginny said, now more curious about the experience. "What was it like? Was it like ... well ... this?" Ginny leaned forward and gave her friend a quick peck on the lips. "Or more like what you saw Cynthia and Tonks up to last night."

"Somewhere in the middle. There were tongues involved." Hermione paused as Ginny took a hold of these new facts. "But, we never got to really talk about it. Marrietta interrupted us."

"And she didn't blab?"

"She was a bit horrified. Cho made up some excuse I can't remember, but at the time all three of us wanted it to be true. Anyway, her pursuit of Harry only increased after that. She was confused enough about the whole Cedric and Harry thing. I was a whole new level of confusion for her. She thought pursuing a male suitor would clear it up a bit. I was quite confused, too, and I didn't want to ruin Harry's chance, so I let it go. "

"Do you still fancy her at all?"

"A bit. I still think about the way she smells and the way she felt next to me, and I think, ‘what if.' But even though the kiss was good, really good, I don't honestly think I'm ready to give up on boys or anything." Hermione sighed. "Glad I got that out. Anyway, I felt a little better after I talked to Cho at the Quidditch game."

"What did you say?"

"That's private, but the point is you need to talk to Tonks."

"I can't."

"Listen, Cho pushed her confused feelings about me on Harry, and your confused feelings about Tonks are being pushed into this animosity against Cynthia. And it's going to make Tonks think you don't accept her. It's better for her know you have a crush on her than to think you hate her for being her."

"You're right," Ginny said. "Thanks, Hermione, you really are the best choice I ever made in a friend."

Just then Tonks walked in, once again wearing the long sweatshirt that looked like a nightgown.

"Morning, ladies," Tonks said.

Tonks was shocked when Ginny hugged her. She didn't know Ginny's pulse was quickening at the contact.

"I'm sorry for my bad mood last night," Ginny said.

"It's okay," Tonks, said stroking her hair. A tingle ran down the young girl's spine.

"I adore you, you know," Ginny said. Hermione smiled, knowing that this statement only scratched the surface.

"Me too," Tonks replied.

And it was enough for now. Ginny wasn't ready to speak up about more yet.