Seven

we can touch
touch our girl cheeks
and we can hold hands
like paper dolls
we can try
try each other on
we can kiss
kiss goodnight
and we can go home wondering
what would it be like if
if I did not have a boyfriend

This was by far the strangest evening Hermione had spent at the Burrow so far. She was sitting on the floor in the attic with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Fred and George. The only light came from a candle in the centre of their little circle. Fred had said it would make things more 'atmospheric'. She wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that. He probably just thought it sounded cool.

It had been George's idea to go up into the attic. The teenagers were all bored, having to spend much of their time indoors due to the threat of Deatheaters. Someone, probably one of the twins, had suggested that they play 'Truth or Dare'. Hermione hadn't particularly wanted to play, but everyone else had and so she had sighed, put down her book and followed. George thought there was less risk of getting caught doing strange things if they were in the attic. Hermione was thinking about getting her book, which is perhaps why she found herself in a very awkward situation within the space of three minutes.

"Hermione. Truth or Dare?" Fred asked aggressively.

"Dare," Hermione said without thinking. It was unfortunate that she always picked whatever was said last when she hadn't been listening. A dare from Fred was not going to be something she would do willingly.

"I dare you ... to snog Ginny!"

"What?!" yelled Ron, Hermione and George at the same time.

Harry looked amused. Surprisingly, so did Ginny.

"Fred! Kissing dares aren't fair because they have to involve me or Harry!"

"Unless you lot are feeling particularly incestuous this evening?" smirked Harry.

The Weasleys all blanched at this idea. Then Ron opened his mouth. He really shouldn't have.

"And there's no point suggesting dare's you know the person won't do."

"Why do you think I won't do it, Ron?" Hermione said dangerously. Harry backed away a little. Ron didn't.

"Well, you just wouldn't. You're not the type. You'd have to be wasted first, and that's never gonna happen either."

"And what type am I?" she asked softly.

"Erm, well, I ... nevermind," he said backing away.

Hermione got up and crossed the circle to where Ginny was sitting. Ginny stood and smiled at her friend. Hermione touched her cheek and took a step closer. Ginny tucked Hermione's hair behind her ears then leaned in and kissed her. It started out slowly. There were a few inches between the girls' bodies as they kissed tentatively. Ginny relaxed first, moving one arm to Hermione's waist while the other toyed with her soft brown hair. Hermione softened and closed the gap between them, pulling Ginny close against her. Their kiss was more passionate now, and it was fairly obvious to the boys that tongues were involved. Hermione's fingers tangled in Ginny's long red hair while her other hand explored the skin just above the waistband of the younger girl's old jeans.

The boys sat on the floor in a row, mouths open in shock. Harry recovered first and grinned smugly as a thought occurred to him.

"I'm watching two hot girls kissing. You three are watching a hot girl kiss your baby sister."

Ron, Fred and George turned to stare at him. Harry had turned back to watch Hermione and Ginny with a filthy grin on his face. Ron had never seen Harry look so downright lecherous before. And what was with that incest comment earlier? It was almost more of a shock than the behaviour of his other best mate and his sister. This was getting too weird. Then it got worse. The door to the attic burst open.

"Hey guys! Oh ... crap."

Ginny and Hermione leapt apart, both as crimson as Ginny's hair. Tonks was standing in the doorway running her hand through her short blue hair in obvious discomfort.

"Um, Molly said you were up here, but I didn't realise it was just you two, and I didn't know you'd be ... and I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

As she was babbling, Tonks suddenly realised that Hermione and Ginny hadn't been alone. They had an audience of teenage boys. She looked very confused. Hermione was wishing the floor would swallow her. Ginny wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do, but she didn't want to be in the attic.

"Wait! What? I don't understand. Why were you kissing Hermione like that in front of your brothers? And Harry? Have I missed something here?"

By this point Harry was rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically. The expression on Tonks's face combined with the weirdness of the situation in the first place was just too much for him. Soon Fred and George had joined in, followed by Ron. Soon Ginny couldn't control herself either. Hermione wasn't sure what was so funny, but the laughter was contagious. Seeing Harry so incapacitated with laughter was funny by itself.

"You lot are so weird," said Tonks as she backed out of the attic and went back downstairs.