Please read and review! Thank you!
Also big shout out to the folks who found it necessary to tell me how utterly turned off they were by my decision to give Tonks armpit hair; my honest response is that if out of everything in this story, that is the ONE thing that you find disgusting enough to need to inform me of it, then I kindly invite you not to read my work. I have no idea of your identities, but I definitely do not write for a classic american audience (you wont find much "male gaze" in these parts) so if that's your thing, then please go elsewhere for your entertainment.
Now please enjoy.
Hermione stomped out into the garden, her hair wild, burst from the bonds of the anti-frizz charm she kept clipped in her hair even though it never worked. Chickens scattered into the bushes as she worked her way to the stream, finally collapsing onto the grass in the shade of a tree. She heard the back door slam shut, but didn't raise her eyes until Tonks' socked feet slid into view.
"Wotcher, 'mione."
Hermione grunted, scraping the bark off a stick with fingers still dusted in flour. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, the sudden ferocity of it startling her. There had been a tightness in her belly slowly growing for days, burgeoning by increments like a malignant tumor until the moment when the cooker door slammed shut, sudden fear coursing through her veins like a flood until she thought she was going to vomit; she hadn't realized that the knot was strangling her, until she hadn't been able to breathe. With chagrin she realized that she had desperately been trying to distract herself from it, Ginny's love-sick maudlin a pleasant diversion. It was summer in the countryside after all and by all accounts they should be enjoying it to the fullest, but with the Order gathering every few days at the kitchen table and whispered conversations coming to abrupt halts every time one rounded a corner, she didn't know what she should be feeling. Were they on a summer holiday, or preparing for invasion? The dissonance rang for her like a train whistle.
And then there was the Remus issue. The conversation with Ginny flitted through her brain,
Tonks sat down on the grass and lay a hand on her thigh, fingers tracing a tentative pattern on her jeans. "What's wrong?" Tonks' voice was low and gentle, like a hum.
Hermione sighed and rubbed her face vigorously, unfortunately only succeeding in smearing the flour across her face, tiny specks sticking to her eyelashes until she looked gilded in the afternoon light, "I just...I…" she stuttered, eyes searching the far bank for something to focus on; "I feel like a thunder cloud."
Tonks nodded slowly, attempting to understand, but the motion pettered to a halt; "Can you explain a little...more?" Both witches were gazing off across the stream, tracking the flight of a starling flock.
Hermione cleared her throat, "I feel...I feel like there's this enormous undercurrent that's trying to pull me off my feet, and yet the surface is -utterly- still. It's - it's vexing. You and the rest keep letting us hear little bits of what's going on, just enough to let us know that it's bad, might I add." Hermione grumbled, finding a small satisfaction in throwing her macerated stick into the river with a grunt. "I don't know whether I should be gearing up, or trying to relax" She muttered, sounding petulant even to her own ears.
Tonks' brows drew together, unsure; her hair had turned a dusky pinky/purple. Finally, she seemed to find traction and opened her mouth to respond-
"And then there's Remus." Hermione interjected, seeming as surprised as Tonks to find the words tumbling from her mouth.
"What do you…?" Tonks stuttered.
Hermione groaned, wiping at her face again, "I mean that he's -always- around. You KNOW what I mean, Tonks" Hermione said, seeing Tonks' eyebrows rise. "And - And I know that I'm sounding like a whiny child" She added, seeing Tonks' shoulders tense, trying to backpedal, "I can't relax with you knowing that PROFESSOR LUPIN is right next door, and he's been lurking-"
Tonks suddenly put a finger to Hermione's lips, instantly quieting her. "I'm just gonna stop you right there, love." Her hair had shifted to a hot magenta, bordering on red; Hermione's eyes had gone wide, the whites showing all the way around. Tonks muttered a little under her breath, running her free hand through her hair, the other was still occupied against the younger witches lips. "Okay, it's like this; I know we have been dancing around and generally making everyone more nervous than a goblin with his knickers in a twist, but honestly, we don't really know anything definitive either" She huffed, tapping Hermione's lips harder when she opened them in protest. "Uh uh, love, this you need to hear, I promise. We aren't going to tell you guys anything until we know things for sure, but all we know is what you know, that folks have been disappearing, shops have been getting ransacked, and everyone is scared." Tonks shifted on the grass, her limbs going stiff after the hours spent on her broom; Hermione was glad to see her hair relaxing back to a more normal pinkish-brown. "Merlin knows I am" Tonks paused and removed the finger from Hermione's mouth, scratching her nose distractedly, her hair fading further to mouse brown; "And so is Remus."
"But he sleeps…" Hermione murmured, feeling a bit abashed at the rebuttal.
"I know, I know what it might look like," Tonks interrupted, fiddling with a hole in her sock to avoid Hermione's eye brow, "But it's really not like that."
Hermione chewed on her lip, "Honestly, that thought hadn't crossed my mind."
Tonks looked up, surprised; to Hermione the metamorphmagus once again looked like she had when they first arrived, worn thin and exhausted; she watched silently as Tonks patted her pockets, looking for her tobacco pouch.
"It's not jealousy, exactly; you haven't given me any reason to doubt you." Hermione murmured, letting warmth flow back into her voice.
Tonks grunted, still obviously a little ruffled, her search for her pouch apparently in vain.
"I know that you two are close, really close, especially after...you know"
Tonks grunted again, pulling her wand from it's holster and flicking it absently; her pouch appeared in her hand with a tiny pop.
"I guess I just need more privacy? With you?" The words came out more tenuous than Hermione had intended, but the mood had shifted and she was picking up that she may have pushed a little too hard in the wrong spot. Did she even had the right to ask for privacy, when the Order members were basically on the lam?
Tonks nodded, her attention on the cigarette she was rolling; the spicy scent rolled over Hermione on the breeze coming off the stream, it's perfume making the hairs on the backs of her arms stand up; her hindbrain mused on the familiar deliciousness of it, even as her forebrain scrambled to mend the rift between them.
She was just beginning to sweat a bit when Tonks met her eyes with an exhausted smile, though it didn't meet her eyes, "I hear you; Mad Eye started handing out new assignments last night, and it looks like Remus is going out in a few days-" She hesitated, swallowing hard, "So it won't be an issue for much longer."
Hermione blinked, the setting sun catching her hair and lighting it into a halo. Silently, she reached out and put a hand on Tonks' knee.
"Then I'm all yours." Tonks sighed and stuck the finished cigarette into her mouth, though she didn't light it, and cupped her hand over Hermione's, drawing it into her lap with a firmness that pulled the rest of Hermione up against her side. Hermione tucked her nose into Tonks' neck, inhaling the witches scent greedily as Tonks' arm came up around her shoulders, drawing her closer.
Gazing out across the fields, Hermione saw a dark spot in the sunset; she squinted as it grew, wings coming into focus as the owl banked on the breeze. The two witches followed its flight as it slowed and dropped into the garden.
"Oh my! OH MY!" Behind them, Molly threw her arms in the air, only her madly gesticulating hands visible to Tonks and Hermione over the garden hedge, "Ginny! Ron! Bill's coming home!" They could hear her yelling into the house, excited chatter carrying to them as if they were standing in the midst of it; "Oh! And his fiance is coming too! Happy DAY!"
The two witches grinned tiredly at each other, Molly's excitement catching across the distance; with a final glance at the setting sun, Hermione stretched and stood with a groan, Tonks following her up.
"You coming in?" Hermione murmured, reaching out and hooking her pinky finger around Tonks'.
Tonks shook her head, the cigarette between her lips smouldering, illuminating her amethyst eyes with a fire that made Hermione's chest tighten. Even spent and shaken, Tonks could steal her very breath. With a final squeeze of her hand, Hermione turned and walked towards the house, the night insects starting to sing in the hedges. From inside, Hermione could hear excited chatter, the faint smell of warm sponge cake carrying to her on the breeze. Hopefully Ginny had pulled the cake out at the right time…
With a start, Hermione paused, her bare toes sinking into the damp grass; Tonks had said something…
"Assignments!" She called, looking back at Tonks' figure in the shadow of the tree, "Do you have one yet?" Her heart skipped, the sinking in her gut like the fall of a autumn leaf.
The the darkness, she saw the witch's cigarette flare and recede, a faint plume of white smoke billowing into the leaves above her.
"Not yet." Her response was barely heard, husky and nearly carried away on the breeze.
Hermione swallowed and ran her suddenly sweaty hands down the front of her shirt; from the door, she heard Ginny calling them in for dinner. With a last glance back at Tonks, Hermione hurried towards the house, arriving in the hall just as Arthur stepped through the fireplace with a green swirl of Floo powder; his face was grim and tight-lipped.
Molly's expression instantly fell, and she hurried towards him, arms outstretched to receive his briefcase and coat, "What's happened dear?"
Arthur sat down heavily at the table, "Dumbledore…"
Molly gasped, her hand clapping to her chest.
Arthur patted Mollys arm, reassuring, "No, not that. He contacted me today, in a few days he's going to bring Harry here."
The entire Weasley clan stood in silence, waiting to see what could possibly be bad about that.
"Which, means that tomorrow a team of Ministry officials will swarm this place and make a safe house of it" Arthur muttered.
Fred and George looked at one another, "Then we're out!" They sang in unison and disapparated with a bang, the rest of the Weasleys starting to talk at once.
Arms slipped around Hermione's waist, startling her, but the grip was instantly familiar and she melted into the embrace, feeling Tonks' warmth enrobe her in rich assurance. The older witch placed a kiss on her neck, before resting her cheek on her shoulder, rocking the both of them lightly from side to side. The pair of them let the Weasleys flow around them, the chatter and movement comfortably in the background, their bubble undisturbed in the hallway entrance.
"I love you" Tonks whispered in her ear, the metamorphmagus' hands twining with hers around her belly, the words slipping over Hermione's skin like roughened silk, their depths speaking paragraphs of longing, of promises that would be made if everything was different, if their lives and movements were in their own hands, if there wasn't something much bigger than the two of them blocking their path; if, if, if...
Hermione squeezed Tonks hands as hard as she squeezed her eyes shut, her heart fluttering behind her ribs like a bird testing the confines of its cage, "I love you too."