Word Count: 788 on Word
Prompt(s): Ted Tonks, [Action] Hiding
For the Houses Competition
I'm a Hufflepuff
"One… two… three…"
Hide-and-seek was one of Ted Tonks' favorite games to play with his daughter. When they first started out, Nymphadora would hide in the more obvious places such as the cupboard, the wardrobe, and occasionally the laundry basket.
As she got older and more mischievous, they decided to up the stakes a little bit in a new game they fondly called: Booby Trap Hide-and-Seek.
The way Booby Trap Hide-and-Seek worked was that Ted would sit in the middle of their living room, cover his eyes, and count to sixty. During this time, Tonks would activate various pranks/traps around the house and hide. Once he found her it was her turn to count and he would set booby traps for her.
Now, Ted had picked a non-magic career as a weatherman while his wife, Andromeda worked in the Ministry, a desk job in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Their daughter had her heart set on becoming an Auror ever since their friend, Pamela Proudfoot, came by for dinner and told young Nymphadora stories of being a dark wizard catcher. Ever since then, all Nymphadora could talk about was how she was going to be Head of the Auror Department.
Enter Booby Trap Hide-and-Seek. If his little girl was going to be an Auror one day then she would need to work on skills like problem-solving, quick-thinking, and being light on her feet. The more they played the more Nymphadora got good at… two of these things. She was a bit of a klutz if Ted were speaking delicately. He could hear her stomping around the house and could always find her when they used to play normal hide-and-seek. One time she knocked over a plant and he followed the dirt trail all the way to the laundry basket full of clean sheets.
But back to the game.
"Fifty-six… fifty-seven… fifty-eight… fifty-nine… Sixty! Ready or not," he called uncovering his eyes. "Here I come!"
Ted studied the living room to decide where Nymphadora went first. She changed up her game every time they played. Sometimes she would set up pranks and be at the end of them. Sometimes she would set them up and hide where there weren't any pranks around. He was looking forward to seeing how she would change it up today.
A heavy thud sounded from upstairs. Ted grinned knowing where to go first.
Surprisingly, Nymphadora's traps were a little subpar this time around. He almost lost his toe to a rat trap (Fool him twice) and everything else was reminiscent of the first time they ever played. Double-sided tape on the stairs, air horn strapped to the back of the open closet door.
Ted stepped towards his ajar bedroom door and paused when a sound alerted him from above. He turned to Nymphadora's window and saw it was open. Grinning, he sneaked over, carefully avoiding the toys strewn about the pink carpet. Looking out the window, he could see the shadow of a little girl perched on the roof.
Carefully shimmying his way up the drain-pipe, Ted climbed onto the roof of their house and found his daughter sitting on top, her back to him.
"Gotcha!" He shouted, wrapping his arms around her so she wouldn't fall off.
"Aww," she groaned. "How'd you find me?"
"You need to work on your stealth, Dora," he said.
"Daddy, how many times do I have to tell you?" she whined. "My name isn't Nymphadora it's Tonks. Just Tonks. Nobody is going to be afraid of Nymphadora the Auror!"
"Oh, come now," said Ted. "Dora the Auror rhymes!"
"Dora the Auror sounds like a children's story!"
"Wouldn't you like to have stories named after you?"
"Not if they're cutesy! It's Tonks, Daddy. Just Tonks."
"Alright, fine," he said. "Now, I win, so it's time for you to clean up your pranks and your room."
"Can't you help me?" she asked.
"No, that's our deal," he said. "Whoever loses has to clean the mess."
"Okay," she grumbled. "Can you at least help me take the one down from your bedroom door?"
"Teddy!" Andromeda called. "Dora, I'm home. This mess had better be cleaned up before I start dinner!"
"Mummy, don't!" Nymphadora shouted, scrambling to the edge of the roof.
Ted heard a clunk and a scream.
"What was that?"
"NYMPHADORA AND EDWARD TONKS YOU COME OUT OF HIDING RIGHT NOW!"
"I… I put a bucket of jelly on top of your door," said Nymphadora sheepishly.
"Oh." Ted swallowed hard and braced himself to face the wrath of his wife. "I'll help you clean up, sweetheart. I think this may be the end of Booby Trap Hide-and-Seek."
"YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO SHOW YOURSELVES," Andromeda bellowed. "ONE… TWO… THREE…"