Hey, it's me again!!

Thanks to buffalo1fromSalem for the review!!

This chapter sort of shifts gears and veers away from the trio to focus on one of my favorite couples in the series, Remus and Tonks!! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: If I wrote the HP books, I definitely would have thrown Tonks' parents into the mix in HBP or even OotP!

Picture Perfect

Chapter V:
The Mother, The Daughter, and The Boyfriend

Remus twiddled his thumbs, nervously fidgeting on the doorsteps of a white vinyl house in the middle of Suburbia. Despite his nervousness, however, he could not help but smile secretively at the young lady next to him.

"What?" she asked, nervously running her fingers through her bubblegum pink hair.

"It's just weird to imagine you growing up in such an…ordinary house," he said, chuckling quietly.

"Not so normal, I promise you," Tonks sighed heavily before turning to face him. She brushed off his shoulders and straightened the collar of his navy blue polo shirt before inhaling deeply.

"Ready?"

He smiled a small, reassuring smile.

"Okay, here we go."

She bounced on the balls of her feet, not unlike a swimmer preparing to dive off a diving board, before turning the doorknob and stepping into a tidy foyer. "Mum? I'm home."

"Nymphie?" footfalls pounded down the staircase and a woman with silver streaked auburn hair flew into the foyer. "Oh, Nymphie!" she hugged her tightly before pulling her back, examining her daughter from an arm length's distance. "My, and you're early. I guess having a boyfriend does improve a person!" she added teasingly.

"Mother," Tonks hissed, her eyes widening desperately.

Her mother laughed. "Right, okay, nothing too embarrassing. Gotcha."

Tonks groaned, smiling through gritted teeth at Remus, silently apologizing for the mother's behavior. Remus grinned; he had never seen her so flustered before.

"And you must be Remus," the auburn haired woman finally directed her attention at the boyfriend, smiling and winking at him as though she was sharing a secret with him.

"Hello, Mrs. Tonks, pleased to meet you," he extended his hand.

"Mrs. Tonks," she laughed, giving him a one-armed hug. "Call me Andromeda. Or Andy, even, doesn't matter to me, little Remie."

"Uhh…right, Andromeda," Remus laughed awkwardly at the usage of his old baby name.

Tonks stared at the pair. "Wait. You…you know each other?

"Of course, darling, Sirius always brought Jimmy and Remie to the family reunions every summer when we were little. It was the deal that he struck up with his parents so that he wouldn't have to put up with the mad Blacks all by himself."

Tonks stared at Remus. "And I thought this was going to be awkward," she murmured under her breath.

"Have a seat, have a seat," Andromeda motioned at a squishy black couch. "Would you like anything to drink? Water? Butterbeer?"

"Butterbeer's fine," Tonks and Remus chorused.

"Three Butterbeers it is," she hurred out to the kitchen

"You already knew her and you didn't say anything? And here I was, worried out of my senses that she would hate you or whatever and you didn't say anything?"

"I didn't think that she would remember," he said sheepishly. "I mean, there were a lot of people at those parties. I probably didn't meet but twice, maybe."

"Trust me, if you were with Sirius, she would remember. She loved him like a brother."

"Butterbeers all around!" Andromeda sang gaily as she reentered the room, three bottles floating before her and a camera swinging from her neck. "Why are you still standing? Sit, sit!"

"Mum, why…why do you have a camera?" Tonks asked slowly, as though anticipating and dreading the answer.

"To document this auspicious occasion, of course!"

"Oh, Mum, no!"

"My little Nymphie, all grown up!"

"Mum, please, you're embarrassing me!"

"Just one picture," Andromeda said earnestly, gazing hungrily from her daughter to Remus, who had taken a seat on the squashy couch. Tonks sighed heavily as Remus chortled quietly. She flopped down next to him, her lips slightly pursed.

"Take the picture, already!"

Andromeda Tonks pulled the camera to her face, focused the lens but pulled the instrument away from her face, saying thoughtfully, "This isn't quite the same, though…maybe later." She released the camera and say in the armchair across from the couple, quietly serving them their beverages. They made small talk about the weather, Tonks' work, and other topics before Andromeda dropped into the conversation that she needed groceries for dinner that night but, oh, she was so tied down by the work the head of her department had assigned that she hadn't gone out to the store all week and would Tonks and Remus please run down to the grocery store and pick up a few things?

Tonks jumped at the occasion, desperate to get away from her mother who had gone into uber embarrassing parent mode. Andromeda hurried off to the kitchen and handed a list to her daughter along with some Muggle money and Tonks flew out the door, practically dragging Remus on the sidewalk as she made her escape. She did not stop until they had a few streets' distance behind them.

"I am so sorry," she panted, running a hand through her windswept hair. "I didn't think she would act so…weird."

Remus laughed, pecking her on the cheek before the pair set off again, this time at a much more leisurely pace, Tonks reading over the list.

"Eggs, flour, ginger, cucumber…" she looked up. "These are all household staples that we never not have," she furrowed her eyebrows worriedly. "She's up to something."

"It's the old tree!" Tonks handed Remus her bag of groceries before nimbly climbing up a gnarled and knotted oak tree, swinging up the low limbs.

The pair were in the deserted park, taking the detour that Tonks insisted on (Remus suspected that she wanted to prolong "meeting the parents, part two" for as long as possible). The gnarled tree was on one side of the clearing, evidently a popular attraction based on the neglected toys strewn around the wrinkled trunk. Remus looked up at her, then at the carton of eggs in his arms. He quickly Charmed the perishables so that they would keep in the unusually warm mid-October weather before following her up at a slower, more uncertain pace.

"We used to play in this tree when we were little," Tonks reminisced aloud as he scooted next to her on a particularly thick branch. "Mainly, you know, Make Believe stuff like pirates and wizards and dragons…

"Anyway, once, I accidentally changed my hair to be like a wizard's—one of the boys, Tim Garthgan, said that girls couldn't be wizards because wizards have beards and girls can't grow beards—and that was when my mum—she's one of the head of the Oblivaters—had to erase the kids' memories. Tim's never been the same…"

Remus wasn't sure whether he should laugh or wince sympathetically. In the end, he compromised by nodding thoughtfully to express that he was listening but had no strong feelings on the matter.

"Yoo-hoo!"

He glanced up.

"Smile!"

Flash!

"Mum!"

Remus blinked hard, trying to blink away the red stars in his vision.

"See you two at home!" Andromeda Tonks called cheerily before vanishing into thin air.

"She has no idea how lucky she is for pulling that trick on me instead of Moody," Remus remarked as the pair clamored out of the branches.

Tonks couldn't help it. She laughed.

Whoops, I went a little overboard with Andromeda. I really hope she makes an appearance in Deathly Hallows—she's definitely my favorite character that we haven't seen, sticking it to her parents and everything by marrying Ted Tonks!

So…any thoughts?? Anything at all?!?!? Drop them in a review, please!!

With anticipation,
Chikin Wang