Tonks leaned against Hooch's side slightly, watching all of the fascinatingly exotic Fae dressed in a bewildering array of fancy dress. She had never seen such a wild variety of people in such a wild variety of clothing – or lack of clothing, in some cases. Even those who wore no clothing – pookhas, grims, even a centaur or two – had feathers or beads or glowing tattoos or body paint.
She couldn't suppress a tiny smile of satisfaction at her own clothing – she wore butter-soft teal-green leather trousers and tight embroidered bodice over a loose pale-gold silk blouse. A giggling sylph had put up her hair, turned a dark teal and long for the occasion, braiding dozens of small bells, charms and feathers into it.
She cast an admiring glance at Hooch, gorgeously severe in a much darker shade of teal, almost black with only a hint of gold edging at the sleeves showing under her long silk coat. They had deliberately chosen shades of the same colors to emphasize their relationship, and they stayed close together.
"Well, well. So, how the mighty have fallen…" Tonks started, turning her head to face the speaker with the light, smooth voice. A tall woman with long, loose silver hair and a wry smile stood in front of them, holding a wine goblet in one gloved hand.
"Ghost!" Hooch leaned forward to hug the taller woman, clasping her by the waist to smile up at her. The tall woman leaned forward to kiss her lightly, shooting Tonks a teasing glance as she did.
"Hooch!" She mocked gently. "And this must be your intended?" Ghost released Hooch to turn and offer her free hand to the Auror.
"A pleasure," said Tonks, slightly uncertainly. She wasn't quite sure if it was a pleasure.
"Yes," said Hooch firmly, sliding an arm around Tonks, smiling rather proudly at her. "This is Tonks – she's a colleague of yours, Ghost. An Auror with the British Ministry."
"Ah. I'm rather off my own Ministry just now. But it is a pleasure…" Ghost raised her eyebrows briefly, somehow implying that it truly was a pleasure.
Tonks blinked, startled, as Hooch snorted lightly, saying, "ignore her, love – she flirts with every pretty woman, but never follows through."
"Well, now, my dear, that's not very kind of you – I'm just waiting for the right girl." Clear grey eyes sparkled mischievously as the Necromancer added, "we can't all be as lucky as you apparently are." She smiled more kindly at Tonks.
Tonks relaxed and smiled back, responding, "I think I'm the lucky one. So, which Division are you with? I'm Investigations."
"I split between Crime Scene and Medical Examiner's office – same as your Magical Coroner, basically. We tend to be much more specialized over in the States – I think that the two divisions are merged here?" Ghost lilted her voice to make the statement a question, looking inquisitively at the other woman.
"Mmm, sort of. We handle a lot of what your Crime Scene units do in Investigative, and the Coroner basically does autopsies. We don't use Necromancy anymore, or any of the other forms of sorcery, although we do use forensic divination, some."
"Ah. I had heard as such. I had to sign a paper saying that I would not use my 'peculiar and malignant arts' to get permission to visit the country. Makes a change from local cop shops asking me to work for free, but not very welcoming, I have to say." Ghost was polite, but her opinion of the local rules was clear, and not very flattering.
"Meh," said Tonks, not wanting to say anything against her own Auror command, but rather agreeing with the Necromancer.
"Well," interrupted Hooch, slipping her arm into the crooks of Ghost's and Tonks's arms and pulling them forward, "let's leave that discussion for another day, and go investigate the food. Samael never skimps on the exotic for these things…"
Tonks leaned comfortably against Hooch, as they swayed slowly to music being played from a dais off to the side of the crowded room. Some folk were dancing, others were talking in small groups, their voices a constant low buzz and rumble, and more yet were sitting on silky moss tuffets that had drifted up out of the floor and walls an hour or so after dinner. She felt comfortably full, nearly relaxed after a long, active day – the party had been much more enjoyable than she had been afraid of, and nothing had yet gone wrong.
Boom, boom, boom! She jerked upright, feeling her arm twitch towards her wand holster before she caught site of the Herald ceremoniously thumping a bodhran drum standing near the primary stage area. 'Spoke too soon!' she thought with a mental groan – now something was going to go wrong. She could feel it.
The music had stopped, and most of the talking – she did hear someone behind them say, "what's that jumped-up hob want now?", quickly followed by a slapping sound and a grunt.
A small pyramid of shining gold and jewels stood grandly on the dais, beaming at the more-or-less patient crowd. Hooch's uncle Samael, as short as she was but much more round, was absurdly vain and in love with his own position – he rather reminded Tonks of Fudge in some ways – but unlike the Minister of Magic, he always seemed to mean well, and had a good sense of humor. Tonks rather liked him.
Hooch turned in Tonks's arms to face the dais, keeping the auror's arms wrapped around her. Tonks pulled her back against herself and watched over her shoulder as the Lord of the Mound began to speak.
"Welcome, welcome all ye Fair Folk to this grand feast of Lughnasah, and take joy in the many weddings among our folk this year! And a special welcome to my dear niece Hooch, who has brought her chosen home – maybe next year at this time we'll celebrate a wedding in our family. Heh, heh, heh!" The mound of gold that was Samael shimmered in the light as he chuckled happily.
Tonks's face felt hot, as Hooch grumbled a little and pushed back into her – the Hyter sprite hated this sort of attention. A tangle-headed Brownie caught her eye and winked at her, an indulgent smile on his face – she blushed harder.
"My niece has made request of me for her allies among the human Magicals – I cannot give her anything of our making, for that would violate the pact, and I must then also aid her enemies. But!" Samael paused dramatically, pulling himself up straight and tall.
"The item she has requested is not of our making, but was put into our care. Though long have we held it safe, it has been decided that she and her companion may win it free through brave deeds, as has always been the tradition. There shall be a trial of three!" Samael beamed majestically at the startled folk.
Tonks looked around in dismay as the people around her nodded agreement, their appreciation growing for Samael's grand pronouncement. This was an exciting event – a trial of three in addition to the usual weddings and sacrifices would make this Lughnasah feast one to remember.
Hooch bumped her head back against Tonks's shoulder lightly with a barely audible groan – she'd told Tonks that something like this might happen, but she was clearly unpleased.
She pulled gently loose from her partner and strode grandly up to the stage, pulling Tonks with her.
"We are honored, my Lord Uncle, to serve the will of this great court!" she bowed deeply to the dais, and then turned and did the same to the watching crowd, Tonks copying her movements.
"What is to be the first task, my Lord Uncle?" Hooch stood proudly before her uncle's whispering court, every inch the Elven noble. Tonks stood beside her, drawing on every ounce of command presence that she had learned and developed as an Auror.
"You must travel to the Ruined Henge far south of here, and request that the Holly Woman still remaining give you a cutting of her tree to bring back here, that she might return from her long exile. Too long has she stayed in that polluted place without recourse or respite!" Samael nodded grandly, obviously proud of his grand idea. "Do you accept this task, the both of ye?"
"I do accept."
"I do accept," Tonks followed Hooch with her own acceptance, hoping that the Sprite knew what she was doing. 'Polluted' didn't sound good.
"So mote it be!" said Samael, the Herald behind him beginning to drum him off the stage.
An excited buzz sprang up in the room, as Hooch caught Tonks's hand and drew her towards the stage, a dangerous glitter in her golden green eyes.
"Tomorrow we'll talk about the details, niece!" said Samael quickly, looking a bit shifty as he darted off after a smirking Banshee with a come-hither look as fast as his gold vestments would allow.
Hooch growled a little, standing stiffly watching him leave.
She sighed, dropping her head forward a little, then lifted it with a fixed smile.
"Well! Won't this just be fun!" she drew Tonks with her towards an isolated tuffet, smiling and responding meaninglessly to the many folk who congratulated them as they went.
Tonks didn't speak until they reached a dim range of tuffets near a wall. She dropped down on a tuffet that Hooch had led her to, facing away from the fairy folk, now dancing to wild skirls of pipe music. Sighing enormously, she said, "shouldn't we go back to our room to discuss this?"
"No. It's bad luck to leave Lughnasa before moonset, unless you're new married. Nobody will bother us here – take a look at what the others off to the side are doing. Lughnasa is associated with fertility…"
Tonks looked at her for a second, then looked slowly off in the direction Hooch had indicated, yipping a bit. She watched with wide eyes as a pair made up of a young male Hyter Sprite and an alarmingly sharp-toothed Shee woman thrust against each other obscenely in a dark fold of the room off to their left.
She turned her head quickly away to look to their right. Tonks had seen and done a fair number of things in the years since she'd left Hogwarts, but she'd been so busy with Auror studies and duties that she'd paid very little attention to sex after her relationship with Hestia had ended three years earlier, other than to make jokes. She counted at least three pairs doing things that she'd never even heard of, let alone wanted to do.
She scowled at Hooch's amused smile. "What exactly is that?" she asked quietly, snuggling down behind the tuffet, tucking her legs beneath herself.
Hooch looked in the direction that Tonks had nodded, considering. "A feather, I believe. Interesting use. Never thought of that." She moved again, reaching to wrap herself around the younger woman, cuddling her close to lean against her chest.
"And I hope you continue not to," muttered Tonks, looking askance at the two Hyter Sprites across the room. That did not look comfortable, and that was not a place to lose little feather tendrils…
She took a deep breath, resolutely bringing her mind back to the first shock of the evening. Tonks snuggled into Hooch and asked about the trial that they'd been assigned.
"The Ruined Henge is in Sussex – the Muggles and Magicals call it Chanctonbury Ring. The Muggles think that it's infested with UFOs, and not even those religious wanna-be witches will use it for ceremonies. The Magicals think that some Muggle-baiter in the Grindlewald war cursed it and won't use it, either. It was in truth some Unseleighe who got in a fight with some Muggleborn wizards who were in a group called the Hellfire club in the 1700's. It was made up of squibs, Magicals, and Muggles who went around causing trouble, ravishing women and wasting money. They tried to summon the Muggle devil and instead brought up an Earth elemental – another instance of misdone sorcery for the Ministry to fuss over."
Tonks gasped, looking sharply up at Hooch.
"Oooh, yes. Luckily, all it did was kill most of them and knock over the henge stones – or so they thought. After that, anything that was worked there went wrong, and magical plants grown there… twisted. Rowans drew lightning instead of repelling it, marriages performed under any oaks within twenty miles failed within months, apple trees produced infertility instead of fertility, hazelnuts caused hours of drooling idiocy instead of brilliance, etc. Anyway, eventually, one of the surviving Magical Hellfire Club members repented. He sacrificed all of his winnings from his time with the Club to plant the entire hill and Henge with beeches."
"Nearly inert magically, but a stabilizing influence…" mused Tonks.
"Exactly so. Maybe it pacified the elemental's curse, or maybe it just contained it, but the plants became much more stable, although it still wasn't wise to use them in any potions or workings. People still saw strange lights and had strange accidents – the Ministry stationed a regular obliviator near it. The idea of UFO sightings was a huge boon to them when it came up – it's made things much easier, and the post usually is a bottom level one now. Anyway, that hurricane in '87 knocked most of them down. Ever since, the area's been… restless, although it's quieted as some of the trees grow back up."
She swallowed, taking a deep drink of some wine that had appeared on the tuffet for them, her usual equanimity restored by her beloved history and the wine.
"So, nobody goes there for years and years, but after the hurricane, a fairy steading in Sussex that looks to this one started checking on it once in a while. And eventually, they find that there are a few surviving tree folk there, but they aren't very sane, and two die when they try to move them. They managed to move the other four that they knew about, but it was difficult – they had to convince them to agree to go, and tree folk hate moving. Usually, they associate the idea with death. Anyway, they thought they'd gotten everyone, but about a year ago, a Halfling Sprite's child – my second cousin, actually – who was camping up there with some Muggle friends found that there was another one, a Holly woman. It was all anyone talked about for months, and everyone they sent to get her couldn't convince her to go, and no one wanted to go up there. Samael has apparently decided that it's time for another go at it."
"Oookay… so we have to convince a mad tree spirit that we want to help her, not kill her, in the middle of a cursed henge, and bring a plant back here safely. Do we know if the elemental is still there?"
"That's about the size of it. It's surely still there – but I don't know if it will actually be a problem – it let the others go without any issues. It's sort of like being sent to a haunted house to spend the night and bring back a token, I think."
"I never even liked going to the Shrieking Shack…" grumbled Tonks, "but oh, well, here we go. I doubt that this one contains anything as benign as a werewolf."
She sighed, snuggling back against Hooch to think, pulling her partner's wine goblet down to sip out of it. She gave up thoughts of their new quest as a bad job, willing to think about them tomorrow, but not tonight.
She was surprised to find that she really wasn't all that interested in what the 'celebrating' pairs were doing as her eyes roved around – seeing so much of it going on simply made it lose any real interest, especially as most of the other pairs included males. She paused on that thought, eyes fixed on one particular pair.
The two women were two of the minority going beyond heavy snogging and cuddling. Tonks watched, swallowing heavily. The reflected light from the main room was flickering off of a breast within an open shirt, making sweat shine as it beaded on the heaving tip, a gold ring gleaming. The woman's partner moved her, her mouth covering the taut nipple, clamping on the ring to draw it up and release it, her hand catching the other breast as her mouth left the first to move down her mate's body. The prone woman's body jerked, and she rolled slightly, taking herself back into the shadows. Maybe she was still interested, at least in the right sight…
"See something interesting, my dear?" she felt as much as heard as Hooch breathed the words into her ear, stroking her neck gently.
Tonks tilted her head back against Hooch's shoulder, murmuring quietly to her, "I've never seen a pierced nipple before… I thought it was only Muggles that did that."
Hooch chuckled, stroking her silk-clad sides with the tips of her fingers. "Some elves do, too. I wouldn't recommend it to you as a shape-shifter, though. I've heard that it feels… incredible, but the risk of tearing when you shift has never seemed worth it to me."
"Lord no," Tonks agreed with a slight shudder, her eyes going back to watch as the two women across the room moved in the shadows, almost but not quite hidden. The motions of their silhouettes made it obvious what they were doing. She swallowed heavily. This was going to be a long night, and Hooch's distracting hands running lightly over her body weren't helping…