DISCLAIMER: JKR owns all the awesome people. Yes, even Sirius Black :( Lucky her. I own a toothbrush, socks, and the people I have created for "Teen Witch". AH. Oh, I also own Johnny Depp and gummi apple loops.

A/N:

Here's the new chapter! I apologize I took so long to update, but life happened xD Anyways. This hasn't been proof-read. But, yeah. I hope you enjoy it! This chapter isn't veryvery exciting but it had to be written.

THREE: LOVE AND FIRE WHISKEY

Ginny ran down the carpeted hall and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her, locking it before anybody could even reach the door. Leaning against it, she slid down, ending up sitting on the cold marble floor, as she started crying. She couldn't help it, that bitter disappointment that Tonks was in love with her former teacher. The fact that she'd never get to feel Tonks oh so close to her, or sit on a broom with her staring at the night sky and drinking fire whiskey to keep warm.

The young girl kept crying, each time she thought she could stop, something would come to mind and she'd cry even harder. How she wished to go back to a few days before, when she was still calm. Finally, Ginny closed her eyes and laid there for what seemed like hours, feeling exhausted from crying. It was so unfair.

She'd never be the "grown up" girl she wished to be. No matter how many boys she made out with, no matter how many tubes of Magical Eyeliner she left behind for her brothers to find – everybody would only see her as Ginny-cuddles. Her brothers had never let her play Quidditch, because she was a girl – and because she was younger. Ron was dumbfounded every time he found out about one of her "friends" and although Fred and George were the only ones who still respected her, she still had a fair amount of fighting to do to keep up.

It was so unfair! Why would nobody ever acknowledge she had grown? And now this! She thought Tonks saw her as an equal, at least like a cool younger sister – not a kid! Enraged, Ginny picked up a rubber duck someone had left lying around and threw it at the wall with a loud "squeak".

On that exact moment, she started hearing footsteps on the hall… the unmistakable sound of Tonk's sneakers followed by someone tripping over a small snake statue. Panicking, Ginny silently made sure the door was closed and got into the tub, opening the water tap and making sure it was loud enough so she could alledge it had muffled the now strong knocks on the door.

After a while, whoever was outside started talking, but Ginny simply dove into the water (she had set the tub to be in "pool mode" as Hermione called it) and remained there, the water muffling everything and making the world seem distorted.

Eventually, whoever was outside the door said something and walked away. Those steps, had Ginny bothered to listen, of someone hurt and crushed, and contrary to Ginny's thought, not of someone patronizing and sympathetic.

"Oh, snap." Tonks muttered, kicking the door one last time. Upon arriving to her bedroom, she threw herself onto the Chudley Cannons comforter and lazily pointed her wand at the door, saying "Colloportus!". The door was sealed with a squelching noise, and everything was awfully quiet except for a wristwatch on her bedside table.

Tonks just laid there, staring at the stone white ceiling and sighing. The strange shadows cast by the extremely dark and twisted trees that grew in a sort of back garden seemed to dance upon the cobwebs above her head. How could she have been so stupid to not notice Ginny's feelings? And it wasn't that she didn't love Ginny. She did only… oh come on, Tonks. Who the hell are you kiddin'?... she'd have to admit she had thought of Ginny in that way once or twice. And did it increasingly. But she just couldn't! What about Lupin? If Lupin was too old for her, she was too old for Ginny. Besides, Ginny was a girl.

Although Tonks openly (at least to herself) liked girls – and had had a few adventures in Hogwarts as a younger witch – Ginny was living there. In that same house. Dammit, Ginny was the girl she had counted on as a best friend. They should be best friends, in a sisterly way. Not Ginny hitting on Tonks and vice-versa. She had indeed blushed whenever she thought of Ginny like that, but had never really given any thought to it until she felt Ginny's escape like a punch in the guts.

"Damn." Tonks said, realizing what she was thinking. "Let's recap. I'm in love with Lupin, who is potentially too old for me, and there's this girl who should be just my best friend, yet she has a thing for me and I was too blind to notice although it all makes sense now. And whenever I'm distracted I start thinking about her, my hair changes colour and I blush for reasons other than the fact that I stole my best friend's hair colour. No."

It was far too much for her to take in. Where did Lupin stand, then? True, she could be in love with two different people and in different ways. But that still didn't make things any easier. What about Ginny's family, as well? Tonks stomach twisted just to imagine Molly's face when Tonks and Ginny came out – the face of pure horror. Molly had been so nice to her, like an elderly aunt, and now she was repaying her by sleeping with Ginny.

With a long sigh, Tonks shook her head and flicked her wand towards the stereo, making it start playing "Jeepster" by a band called T.Rex., and started making plans. She would pack her bags the next day – that was the 'right' thing to do, and the wisest one too, and although Tonks often disregarded such things, she had to do this.

Ginny was feeling much calmer with the hot water washing her face wet and salty with tears. Her head was starting to ache, but certainly Hermione could find something to make her feel better. What would Tonks do? No, Ginny shook her head, it wasn't right to think of Tonks in that way. Tonks, her best friend. Tonks, who was in love with Lupin.

How could Ginny ever rival a werewolf? Having had a crush on Harry, she knew how attractive men with fascinating and potentially life stories could be. Or something.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Ginny dove into the water again, the emerged and climbed out of the tub. She then quickly got dressed and ran out of the door, sneaking past Tonk's door. Much to her relief, the door was closed. Which was good, because hopefully that way Tonks couldn't hear her and decide to talk to her.

Ginny simply shrugged and started going upstairs, to the room she shared with Hermione, walking past the twins who were playing with their extedable ears and who decided, upon seeing the look on their sister's face, not to mess with her – they loved to joke, but they also valued their lives.

Had Ginny noticed this, she would have seen how much they respected her. Fred actually opened his mouth to call her, but George nudged him then shook his head, mouthing "Not a good time". They both just watched Ginny go upstairs, until they heard something interesting.

"Guh." Ginny made, pushing the door of the bedroom open. "I'm so sleepy." She explained after she noticed Hermione's curious look, to avoid any further questions. In response, Hermione (who was laying on her bed, reading "Hogwarts: A History" and painting her nails in a strange orange colour for some unphantomable reason) simply shrugged – this made Ginny oddly satisfied. Finally, someone who didn't seem to think of her as a kid.

Suddenly, she felt fear. What if Hermione thought she was a kid, and simply had her around out of pity?

"Hey, Hermione?" She called, hesitantly, sitting down on her own bed, leaning against the wall. "Can I ask you a question?"

Hermione was now attentively staring at her. "Yeah, sure."

"Do you see me as "just" a kid? Like, do you hang out with me just because I'm like everybody's younger sister?" She asked, looking down and picking at the seams of her black and grey fingerless gloves. "Please be honest with me."

"Mmmm… I don't see you as a kid, Ginny! You're only a year younger than I am… I mean, why would I see you as a child? You're like a sister, younger or not. I don't look down on you or anything, you're an amazing friend… maybe your brother sees you as a bit younger, but that's just the way guys are, y'know?"

"What about the others?"

"You mean… Harry and everybody? I think Harry doesn't see you as a child, especially now that things between you aren't as awkward—"

Ginny cut her off. "No, no! I meant, the people in the order."

"The Order?" Hermione frowned. "I think they see all of us as children, that's why they don't let us in their meetings, of course. I mean, they hardly let the twins in and they're older than we are! But that's because they want to protect us."

"What about Tonks? I mean she hangs out with us. And she's only 21." A bit of hope came across in Ginny's words, like she was trying to hang onto a last hope. Hermione frowned and thought for a bit. "Do you think she looks down on us, or just me, or what?"

"To be honest…" Hermione started, and Ginny felt a sharp pain somewhere in her abdomen, like she didn't want to guess the rest. "… I don't think she looks down on any of us, but especially you. I mean she hangs out with us because she wants to. She could easily hang out with her friends, she's not the only young girl Auror around. No, she doesn't think we're kids… she respects us a lot. And the other day she was helping me practice a few defense spells and she told me how she considers you to be her best friend… a bit like a sister in the sense that she loves you a lot. And might be protective of you because you're younger, yes, but that doesn't mean she thinks you're a baby."

With a deep breath, Hermione made silence for Ginny's reply as she analysed carefully the chapter "About The Kitchens Of Hogwarts Or: Why Hogwarts Students Will Always Munch On Pumpkin Juice And Kidney Pies", yet the red-haired girl said nothing. She just stared at Hermione, completely dumbfounded. Pondering if she should tell Hermione she had overheard Tonks considering her a baby, she decided against it and nodded, muttering a thanks and hugging Hermione clumsily before settling down and picking up an issue of "Teen Witch" that featured a boy on the cover, with the caption "Jack Shalow, The New Gilderoy Lockhart"?

After reading the feature about her favourite actor (Jack Shalow) and putting up a poster of him as Macbeth, Ginny took a deep breath and flipped through the "advice" column. It wasn't interesting, but it gave her an idea.

"Oh, aha! There's a girl here asking if she can safely undo the engorgio charm after her and her boyfriend bang a gong!" Ginny chuckled, and Hermione laughed along. "Oh, look at this one! "I love my roommate at Hogwarts, and we're both girls. Am I normal?"… dude. Do you think it is? Like do Muggles also do this stuff?"

"Well… I suppose it is, yes. And yes, Muggles do that… in fact in some places it can be pretty taboo." Hermione shrugged. "I don't think it's a big deal, each to their own. Who are we to judge? Honestly… poor girl."

Ginny felt a pang of hope, but said nothing and just nodded in response. "I suppose so, yes…" She then decided to change the subject. "Oh, did you hear that Lucretia VonDukay is engaged? Very, very interesting…"

Hermione did not know, and for the rest of the evening they just gossiped about Lucretia, both absent mindedly. Ginny had her mind set on Tonks, and Hermione was pondering about how Ginny seemed worried about lesbianism and the pink-haired girl – if there was a thing the brown-haired girl wasn't that would be stupid: she knew the signs of someone in love, and there was definitely something suspicious going on, to which Ginny's questions were only adding, and although Hermione was a bookworm, she knew a fair deal about dating. After all, she had dated a world-famous Quidditch player, hadn't she? Hermione immediately tried to conceal any further thoughts about a certain red-haired person that was not the girl in front of her, by discussing how Lucretia had been spotted drinking a bit too much fire whiskey the day before.

The things fire whisky could do to people. Fire whiskey, and, judging by the atmosphere in that house, love, too.

Thanks for the reviews everybody:)