Hermione jumped as she heard something crash downstairs. The fact that Tonks' name had already been spinning round her head was irrelevant – only Tonks could drop three plates in a row. Hermione sighed, her head in her hands.
She had known her little more than an hour, and already Hermione was quite comfortable in the fact that Tonks was exceptionally clumsy. Not to mention that she had sifted through all her clothes, books and the first three pages of her diary. There she stood, fingers brushing the edge of the page, wondering, should I?
'Hermione?' She withdrew her hand from the little purple book that rested on the side table, and looked round. Her eyes looked over-large as if they had been injected with guilt. Ron stared back at her, suspiciously.
'What are you doing?' he asked, eyes narrowed. Hermione blushed a little.
'Nothing. I was just thinking.'
'Oh. Well, Mum says dinner's ready.' He turned and left, leaving Hermione alone with the little book behind her, burning her back as if it were alight. She shot a fleeting look back at it before following.
She ended up a seat away from the violet-haired woman she so longed to talk to, separated from her only by Lupin, who, it seemed, was far more interested in Tonks than Hermione. Ron sat on her left, shovelling potatoes onto his plate with more enthusiasm than he had ever shown for spell-casting. Hermione pushed peas around her plate in a circle, her eyes on Ron but her ears on the conversation Tonks and Lupin were having beside her.
'No, the Goblin Rebellion led by Urdwin the Unexpected was in 1455!' Lupin exclaimed.
'It was not! The 1455 rebellion was where they kidnapped the minister's wife and tried to burn her, only she freed herself, killed off seven goblins before being imprisoned in Azkaban for the use of an Unforgivable curse!' Tonks retaliated.
'That was not 1455, that was 1467! Everyone knows that!' Lupin said, jokingly slapping her head.
They paused.
'Um, no, actually, Tonks is right, that was 1455. Urdwin the Unexpected led the 1628 rebellion.'
Silence followed Hermione's words. Colour flooded her cheeks as she turned back to her food. Suddenly the sound of conversation returned as Tonks laughed at Lupin's mistake, shooting Hermione a smile. Hermione searched for an adjective to put before 'smile' but couldn't put her finger on one. A friendly smile? Grateful? Surprised?
It was only later she got it.
Curious.
A/N – This is my attempt at both a long fanfiction and a totally new pairing. Please tell me what you think and whether I should bother continuing? Thank you!