Tonks blew a pink bang out of her eyes. "Boo-ring," she muttered, rocking in her chair. It was a slow day for the Order, and Tonks was, as she said, bored. Leaning back even further, she stretched, her Weird Sisters shirt pulling up, showing the metamorphagus' lean belly. "Afternoon Tonks," someone voiced, opening the kitchen door, banging on her chair. With the force of the door, the chair tipped wildly. Tonks threw out her arms in order to stabilize her balance, when a pair of hands steadied the chair back.
"Sorry about that Tonks," a velvety voice apologized. Tonks turned around and smiled at the old werewolf. "Not a problem Lupin," she said, smiling. Lupin returned her smile, with his own brief one before sitting at the table.
When Tonks yawned and stretched again, making her chair wobble, Lupin chuckled lightly. "Long day?" he asked. At this Tonks rolled her eyes. "Like you wouldn't believe. I managed to escape in here; Molly is upstairs trying to find more stuff to clean." The pink haired woman said this with a smile, showing her appreciation for the mother of the Weasley clan. Suddenly the door flew open, and a red-haired blur came running in.
"Tonks! Look what dad brought!" Ginny said, showing what she was carrying. In her arms was a variety of muggle toys. At this Tonks' eyes glittered. Being half-muggle herself, she knew about each toy. She plucked one from Ginny's grip, opening the case and pulling the mysterious substance out.
"Oh, so that was what that was…" Ginny said, dumping the rest of the items on the table. Lupin picked through the toys, wondering what they were for. "This was one of my favorites when I was little," Tonks said, fingering the sticky gum-like goop. "This is silly putty, one of the greatest muggle toys ever, in my opinion.
Ginny looked very confused. "But what is it used for?" Tonks just shook her head and laughed. "Oi, Lupin, pass the Prophet, would you? Tonks asked, stretching the pink putty in her hands. Lupin blinked and did as she said. The two muggle-impaired watched on, as Tonks spread the putty on the paper, pressed down, and pulled it up. "See?" she said, showing the print on the putty, except backwards. Lupin smiled while Ginny shook her head. "And that's entertainment? What about this?" she asked, pulling out a handful of balls and star-shaped objects. At this Lupin smiled.
"I know what this is. My mum taught me how to play. This is a game called Jacks." The werewolf showed Ginny how to play, by bouncing the ball and scooping up the jacks in his large hand. "That looks easy," Ginny said, trying the muggle game, but found out it was a lot trickier than it looked. Tonks smiled. "Looks like your hands are too small," she said giggling. Ginny just pouted. "I don't see why they don't just levitate the ball." Lupin just patted her shoulder. "Then it wouldn't be much fun now would it."
The afternoon passed quickly with the trio playing a multitude of muggle games. The funniest part, agreed upon by Ginny and Tonks, was when Lupin tried to hoola-hoop. Of course, Tonks wasn't that good either. Ginny had them both bested with a record of three minutes. Nearing the end of the afternoon, all that was left in the pile of toys was a package of balloons.
"Let me guess," Ginny said, "Muggles blow these up by mouth, don't they?" Tonks nodded and pulled one out of the bag. She put it to her lips, and blew air into the balloon until it seemed it would burst. She quickly tied it off and popped it into the air with her finger tips. She looked at the two expectantly. "Go on, blow one up."
Ginny did so enthusiastically, making her face turn as red as her hair. Lupin followed suit, but not as energetically as Ginny had, and when he went to tie it off, it slipped from his fingers and flew around the room. Lupin turned red at his 'inadequacy' at blowing up balloons, while Tonks and Ginny howled with laughter. After finally getting a balloon of his own, Tonks spoke up. "You know, whenever I was angry, I always drew pictures of people on the balloons that I was mad at, and then popped them." She glanced at her companions, embarrassed by her silly ritual.
"It's stupid, I know, but –"Tonks started, but Lupin shook his head. "It's better than fighting or doing something more harmful," he said, agreeing. "I know who I want on my balloon!" Ginny said loudly, before occupying herself with drawing a face on the balloon. "Me too," Tonks said, drawing as well. Lupin sighed. "I suppose I should too, huh?" The two girls nodded, before continuing. Lupin picked up a marker, before he too, started drawing.
"I'm done," Ginny said, showing off her balloon. On it was a male with very bad teeth with a gorilla like face. Tonks nearly died laughing. "This is Marcus Flint, a Slytherin from school. He's mean to us Gryffindors." Tonks held hers up, which was a crude drawing of a young male about her age with a sly smile. "This is Mason, a guy at the Ministry. The smarmy git won't leave me alone, always asking for a date," Tonks explained, showing her distaste for the male. Lupin silently finished his, and showed it to the girls. On it was a simple picture of a full moon.
"I couldn't rightly think of a person I disliked, but this was high on my list," he said. The two girls nodded. "Alright now, time to pop'em!" Placing hers on the floor, and motioning for the others to do the same, the trio then stepped on their balloons, making them explode with a loud banging.
"Ginny!" a voice called from upstairs. "What is that noise down there! I need help dusting the mantle in the main room!" Ginny grimaced jokingly. "Mother calls," she said, leaving the two Aurors in the kitchen. Tonks busied herself with 'her' silly putty and Lupin looked on. Looking up and seeing his warm brown eyes watching her, she blushed. "Here," she said, offering half of the putty for Lupin to play with, before looking back down at the putty in her hands. "Thank you," he said softly, following the example Tonks had shown earlier, and used the Daily Prophet to make ink pictures.
Tonks looked up and was amused to see a few ink smudges on Lupin's face, courtesy of the newspaper. Standing up, she went to the sink, and wet a rag, before returning to the table, sitting in the unoccupied seat next to Lupin. He looked up at the beautiful Metamorphagus, sitting in such close proximity to him. "You have ink… on your face," she explained, before gently wiping the handsome Aurors' face. Lupin closed his eyes at the contact, feeling the soft cloth touch his skin. Goosebumps raised on his arms, when Tonks' fingers brushed against his lips, and he opened his eyes quickly. Tonks' blushed, and stood up.
"I had a wonderful time Lupin, but I should probably help Molly." She began to leave the room when his hand stopped her. She looked down to see his warm chocolate eyes. "Thank you, Nymphadora," he said smoothly, trying to conceal his blush. At this Tonks had to smile. She leaned down and kissed his cheek. "You're welcome Remus," she replied softly in his ear, before straightening and leaving the kitchen.
Sirius was on his way to the kitchen when he saw his Nymphy leave, with a strange smile on her face. Her step was light and graceful, and she didn't even knock over the umbrella stand as she entered the hallway. With a confused look on his face, he entered to see his best friend Remus with an identical smile on his face. Stopping, he looked at Remus, then at the door where his cousin left, back at Remus, and then again at the door.
A sly smile crept onto his face. Walking up to his dear friend, he punched him in the shoulder lightly; bringing Remus out of his stupor. "You old werewolf, you still got it!" Sirius said, laughing. Remus' cheeks tinged again with color, before succumbing to Sirius' infection laugh.