Clemmie was really nice. Really, really nice. Yes, she had made friends with a girl called Clemmie. Well, Clementine but she went by Clemmie. She had told her that straight off the bat. She did not like her full name. That was definitely something that Tonks could understand so Clemmie it was. And Clemmie liked her hair. That's how she had introduced herself to Tonks two days ago, complimenting her currently turquoise hair (she felt like she should be matching the sea while on holiday, it just felt right). Tonks was pretty sure that anyone who liked her hair was a good person. At least, a good enough person to be friends with temporarily on holiday.

And Clemmie was good fun. She never stopped talking but she was good fun. In the span of the first two hours of being her friend she and Tonks had ridden this whirly funfair ride three times (only throwing up once), made nuisances of themselves at a splash park, got told off in three separate museums and Tonks basically knew her whole life story. She wasn't exaggerating when she said whole. From her growing up in Surrey to her changing primary schools three times for "being too exuberant for the classroom" to going to secondary school and blowing up a science room. Something about Bunsen burners and gas taps. Tonks had just nodded along like she knew what she had been talking about. Clemmie hadn't seemed to mind, she just kept talking and talking.

Tonks was pretty sure that she had only said about six sentences in the past two days of knowing her, Clemmie had done all the other talking. She never seemed to stop! Tonks tried to keep up, she really did, because there was sometimes a question thrown in there that left her scrambling to answer and that was just awkward if she zoned out while Clemmie was talking. Which had happened. Three times. Maybe more. It was embarrassing.

So, that was what she was doing right now, trying her hardest to follow Clemmie's stream of thoughts. She had found that watching her lips really helped her focus so that's what she was doing and so far, today it was working. She hadn't missed a quickfire question yet! And she knew that she was talking about seashells and how she wanted to find one of those massive, pointy ones. Tonks was pretty sure you couldn't get them on this beach but Clemmie was apparently living in hope.

It was nice to walk along the each anyway. It was one of those gorgeous days where the sea looked too blue to be true and the beach looked like it was straight out of a travel magazine. It even had wavy lines of those smooth stones that looked perfect for skipping. Clemmie said she was no good at it and Tonks said that if she got it into the sea then she was already better than her. She didn't exactly have the best hand eye coordination. She told Clemmie of the time she nearly took someone's eye out with a ball which made her laugh. It was a nice laugh. Of course, the ball was actually a quaffle but that was an unnecessary detail.

And before she knew it, Clemmie had just up and kissed her! Right on the lips! Not that Tonks was complaining. In fact, she was returning the favour. But still, it wasn't exactly something you expected someone to do. Not when you were just talking to them!

Clemmie seemed to belatedly realise just how surprising her actions had been and had promptly started apologising. Then Tonks tried to stop her and they were talking over each other, neither of them really being able to make out what the other was saying.

Eventually they both realised how stupid they both sounded and had burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"That was nice," Tonks said in an attempt to reassure her.

It did lessen the horrified look a little bit but she still apologised. Tonks waved it off and said she'd like to try it again but then woman called over to Clemmie.

It turned out she had had to return to her family for this tour they had prebooked but had asked Tonks to go out somewhere together later. "To make up for me being extremely rude" as Clemmie put it. Tonks had told her not to be ridiculous (she had kissed her back, after all) but Clemmie insisted that "it was rude to kiss someone before you got them a meal". So, they were going to do that. Tonks had basically skipped back over to her parents. Except not really, obviously, she wasn't that stupid. She didn't want any broken limbs while on holiday. Or to make a fool of herself at the beach. But still, there was definitely a skip in her step as she walked back.

"Did I just see you kiss that girl, Nymphadora?" Andromeda said immediately when she returned to their deckchairs.

"Were you spying on me?"

"You kissed her right by the lifeguard station, of course I saw you. The whole beach probably saw you."

"Then you did see me kiss her," Tonks said, feeling very pleased with herself and then got defensive. "She's nice."

"She was very polite earlier."

"So, what's the problem then?"

Was kt the whole kissing in public thing? As affectionate as her parents were in private, they weren't in public. Something her mother couldn't quite shake off from her upbringing. Apparently, it was uncouth or something. Whatever. She didn't think like that. If someone wanted to kiss her, she was going to let them kiss her. Who cared where they were? It was nobody else's business.

"That young man from the other evening?" Andromeda said pointedly.

Tonks gave her a blank look. Yesterday evening? She hadn't been talking to any "young man" yesterday evening. What was her mum talking about?

Andromeda gave a sigh of exasperation.

"Marcus, that was his name, wasn't it?"

Marcus? Oh. Marcus.

"Crap."

How had she forgotten about Marcus? Crap. Crap. Crap. He had been so nice too. She had liked him. He had been fun to be around. And he was technically a better kisser than Clemmie. Gah! How could she have forgotten? She was a horrible person. The worst.

"I am an awful human being," she groaned.

"No, you're a teenager," Andromeda said with a sigh. "You're designed to do stupid things."

That didn't make her feel any better.

"I can sort this out. Yeah, everything is going to be fine."

"If you say so, Dora," Ted chuckled as Andromeda looked om disapprovingly

Okay, everything was not going to be fine. Both Clemmie and Marcus were in a huff with her and not speaking to her.

Not that she could blame them because she had basically been going out with them at the same time. Which was a horrible thing to do. Argh! Why had she done it? Why had she been so stupid? Was it because they were different genders that she thought it didn't count or anything? Because that would be a pretty stupid excuse.

She hadn't even thought of Clemmie like that until she kissed her! And she had definitely liked it and not pushed her away or anything. But it had been just a kiss. They hadn't gone out on a date

or anything, not like she had with Marcus.

But that didn't matter, did it? Because it was still basically cheating. Marcus had certainly Thought so anyway. And had said so, very loudly. Oh, that had been embarrassing. And he was right in a way, she supposed. Or was he? Had they even been dating? All they had done was hang out with each embarrassing other. And kissed. Can't forget about the kissing. They didn't exactly call each other girlfriend and boyfriend. But maybe the kissing implied that? Oh, why were people so confusing?