Warning Signs

Title: Warning Signs
Chapter Title: Close Encounter of the Hermione Kind
Characters: Fem/Fem, Hermione, Severus, Tonks
Genres: Romance, Drama, Fluff
Rating: Innocent(PG)
Warnings: Sexual Content, Adult Language, Major Fluff, Spoilers
Summary: Tonks has a close encounter with Hermione as her cover-up disguise as a student at Hogwarts.

Note: This chapter has been revised and contains more content than before.

I stared at myself in the mirror in the bathroom on the Hogwarts Express train with a frown. I didn’t like this disguise, but I had to wear it in order to keep my identity at Hogwarts a secret. My hair was no longer short, but nearly to my shoulders, layered and wavy, one side tucked behind my ears. My eyes were a beautiful emerald green, my lips a fair size larger (think Angelina Jolie) and my heart-shaped face was now muscled and angular.

I ran my fingers through my hair with a sigh. I looked very young, no older than fifteen or sixteen in this disguise. The worst thing about wearing it was the knowledge that I was a teenager in it and having a sexual relationship with Hermione, in my mind, would be alright because I was her own age.

I finished dressing in the standard Ravenclaw uniform and swung the door open to the bathroom. I was eager to return to my seat to catch a nap before the train arrived to Hogwarts.

As I left the bathroom I nearly ran headfirst into Hermione, who just happened to attempting to open the door at the exact second I swung it open and we ran right into each other. I must have hit her pretty hard, because she started to fall over.

I wrapped my arm securely around her smaller back and pulled her upward. Incidentally, this put us in quite an awkward position. Hermione was tightly pressed against me, her hands on my fairly flat chest, her faces just inches from my own. The feel of her body so tightly pressed against mine left me panting like a dog having a heat stroke. We were staring into each other’s eyes, both of us blushing like bloody hell, our lips mere centimeter’s apart.

“You scared me….” she murmured, breathing as heavily as I was.

We pressed our foreheads together and I smiled, my eyes half-closed. Anyone who was to suddenly barge in on us would think they had just interrupted a heated kiss, but sadly, they would be mistaken. As much as I wanted to kiss Hermione, I still felt uneasy about the age difference. I had watched her grow up and in my eyes she was just a child.

“I’m really sorry about that…” I muttered, wanting so much to pull away, but also wanting to stay put so this could possibly turn into something lusty and passionate.

She was staring into my eyes and then she looked at my lips. A mixture of curiosity and lust could be seen in her eyes. I wondered if she’d ever kissed a girl before, but I highly doubted it.

“You’re in Ravenclaw?” she asked, surprised. Her hands moved to rest comfortably on my shoulders and she stepped back just a bit to examine my robes.

I nodded my head in reply. I didn’t want to have this conversation right now with the one girl on Earth that I wanted more than anything to be mine. What I did want to do was sit down in my empty compartment and stare out the window and feel depressed.

Suddenly I wanted to be by myself, and I certainly didn’t want Hermione to fall in love with me. Even if she fell for the fake mask I was wearing now it would still be illegal in my mind, for this disguise would not last forever. Warring with my emotions was proving to be rather taxing mentally.

I sighed and reluctantly moved out of our tight, lingering embrace. I could have sworn I heard a whimper of displeasure coming from deep within her throat.

“Well, I’ll see you around…” I said, hastily moving around her to walk back to my seat and to freedom.

“Wait!” she called, and I turned to face her. “What’s your name?”

“Shannon Valentine,” I said, wishing I could just tell her the truth. But in doing so I would blow my cover and have to explain everything to her. Why I was here, how long I’ve been watching her… It was too risky, much too risky.

She smiled. “Brilliant. See you at school.” And then she maneuvered around me and disappeared inside the bathroom.

I let out a loud breath, running my fingers through my unnaturally long hair. This was going to be a long year and it hadn’t even begun.

***

The Great Hall was packed by the time I stepped through the doors for the opening feast. I noticed Hermione sitting with Ron and Harry. Our eyes met and when she smiled I quickly looked away, feeling my cheeks flush. I sat by myself at the Ravenclaw table, barely registering the thousand of voices chattering away around me. I stared at my empty plate, wanting nothing more than to be invisible.

I barely heard Dumbledore’s opening speech. I wasn’t concentrating on anything but how it had felt to be pressed up against Hermione so intimately. She hadn’t seemed to mind it… then again, neither had I. I just wanted to feel her body again, feel the warmth of it so close to mine. But there was still a voice inside of my head shouting at me for thinking such thoughts. It was wrong, wasn’t it, to love someone so young?

And then she was in front of me. “How come I never noticed you before?” she asked, sitting down across the table.

I shrugged. “I blend into crowds easily.”

She chuckled. “Do you want to come eat with me and my friends? They’d like to meet you, if you’re willing.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Hermione, I really appreciate it… But I’d rather just stay here by myself.”

She looked disappointed and it was difficult for me to say no to that face. But I had to. “Well, if that’s what you want. I hope to see you later some time.”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, you too. Cheers.”

Food appeared on everyone’s plates. I wasn’t hungry in the slightest. I got up and left the Great Hall, headed towards the exit of the castle. I wanted to go to Hogsmeade, but at the moment it would be difficult for me to leave the grounds. I walked all the way to the fountain in the center of the courtyard, stretching my legs. Two hours on a train without moving made me sore and stiff.

I sat down and stared at the sky. It was a beautiful night. The stars were out and the air was fresh, with a hint of a cool breeze. Once again, I found myself retreating to the moment on the train with Hermione, but this time what I wanted to happen did, and in my daydream we were wrapped up in one another’s arms, heatedly kissing and heading into the bathroom for more privacy.

“My, my, if it isn’t Nymphadora Tonks,” a deep voice said, forcing me to retreat from my arousing thoughts, which wasn’t such a bad thing.

I turned my head to see Severus Snape standing there staring at me with a sneer on his face. Never have I trusted the old prat and never will I. In fact, I despised him. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. He always said that his intentions were for the Order of the Phoenix, but I couldn’t help but feel otherwise. The Dark Lord is stronger than ten Auror’s put together, there’s no denying that, and Snape was a man that lusted for power. It was rumored that he fancied the dark arts with a deep obsession that went beyond rational thought.

“Wotcher, Severus,” I said, folding my arms over my chest and watching his sneer widen. How we loathed one another, we always had.

“Cheery and spunky as usual, Nymphadora,” he snapped, clearly displeased that his presence hardly phased me.

I couldn’t help but cringe at the mention of my first name. He said it with that ugly smirk on his face and I had the urge to wipe it off with a swift backhand, but I had to keep myself in check. “Did you expect any less?” I asked, my tone nonchalant. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me squirm.

“Of course not. Aren’t you supposed to be watching Hermione Granger?” he asked, looking me up and down as if calculating my worth in his mind.

I snorted. What an arrogant git standing there telling me what to do when I was more of a professional than he will ever be. “She’s at the feast with Harry and Ron, there’s not much watching to do right now.”

“But that is your job, is it not?” he asked, his thick voice making me feel sick.

I stood up, having had enough of him already. “Yes, Severus, that is my job. If you’ll excuse me…”

I could feel his eyes bearing into my back all the way to the castle. Somehow I felt he knew something that he wasn’t telling the Order. I just hoped it wasn’t serious, but knowing Lord Voldemort, it was. It was always dangerous when it came to the Dark Lord. I wondered what he was planning and what Severus’ part was in the plan. I was positive he was double-timing the Order, but I needed proof before I could accuse him.

I sighed, watching the back of Hermione’s head from the double doors of the Great Hall. With the light shining down on her hair, she looked like an angel. I couldn’t help but want to know what Voldemort was planning but Snape would never tell me the truth and I wasn’t about to flat-out ask him. There was no way of getting it out of him, besides Occlumency, but I was never good at that. I was trained in it, yes, but that didn’t necessarily mean I was an expert. I managed to invade people’s minds occasionally to get the truth, and I had saved myself a few scrapes in the past by keeping enemies from invading my own with it.

I’ve heard that Snape is highly trained in Occlumency and I wasn’t surprised at all. Anyone double-timing the Dark Lord would have to use Occlumency to shut him out of his or her mind, which I imagined was a great feat. Voldemort was the most powerful wizard on the Earth, even more so than Dumbledore, I imagined.

I folded my arms over my chest. I would do everything in my power to thwart Voldemort’s plans. So far we had managed, but Sirius was dead now because of him. I wanted revenge, I wanted to make Voldemort pay for what he had done. And I swear I would… some day.