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.