Tonks opened the door to number 12 Grimmauld Place with great caution, then took a small step forward, as to not disturb anyone-or anything, for that matter, especially that blasted-

CRASH!

"Bloody umbrella stand!" Tonks said, as she got up, using some choice words as she did so.

"Begone, you fil-" Mrs. Black started to yell, and started to wake up the rest of the paintings.

As Tonks started stunning the pictures, a very familiar figure came forward. The familiar figure started to stun other paintings as well, and before the portrait of Mrs. Black could start to wake the entire house, he closed the curtains rather forcefully, and the yelling died down gradually.

"Merry Christmas, Remus!" Tonks said, cheerily, making him sigh and shake his head in amusement.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Nymphadora." he said, and Tonks started to glow with rage; her hair turning a fiery shade of red that rivaled any Weasley's.

"For the last time, Remus: Don't. Call. Me. Nymphadora! Ever!" she said, almost shouting.

"Alright, alright! Tonks, then." Remus said, chuckling as they walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry about the noise, but it was that blasted troll's leg umbrella stand again! I couldn't help it! You know I'm not the most coordinated person ever." Tonks said, making Remus laugh genuinely, if not tiredly.

"By the way, why did you come to visit us?" Remus asked, while pouring some tea for the both of them.

"Nothing special, just stopping by for a quick 'Merry Christmas' before I go to my parent's house."

Tonks said, seating herself at the table while Remus joined her in waiting for the tea.

Suddenly, rapid footsteps could be heard coming down the staircase, and they both turned around with their wands bared defensively by habit. Fred and George whirled around the corner, but backed off with their hands up for a few steps before saying,

"Didn't interrupt anything, did we?" Fred asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively (for what was probably the umpteenth time).

"Terribly sorry, we just thought we heard someone come in!" George said, nudging his brother to keep the inuendos to the minimum,

"Nah, we knew we heard something, we just thought we'd come help stun the paintings! It's terribly fun!" Fred said, crossing his fingers behind his back and thinking of their plan. Only Tonks could make that much noise when coming in.

"Sorry! You lot can go back to sleep now, we got the paintings." Remus said, as he put his wand away. Tonks lowered her wand also.

"Nah, presents!" Fred and George chorused, and sped back up the stairs...or so it seemed.

The twins prank had been set up perfectly. The magic mistletoe was up, and now that two people were in the same room, they decided to have a bit of fun. As they tiptoed back down the steps (avoiding the creaky ones, because they knew this staircase well after sneaking around so much) and heard the kettle come to a boil. Quickly, it was turned off, and they heard muffled conversation as the tea was being poured. Fred jerked his head towards the door, and George walked towards it and almost opened it, but Fred stopped him.

After placing a quick silencing charm on the door, Fred turned to George and asked, "Have you gone mad?"

"I just thought the look meant: 'open the door, George, let's have a look!'" George hissed, and Fred scowled at him.

"That's it! I'm revoking your T.N.V.L. lisence tommorrow!" Fred said, and turned back to the door while undoing the silencing charm. Luckily for them, this door had plenty of holes in it, just like their favorite broom cupboard back at Hogwarts.

"-work going well?" Remus asked, and Tonks shrugged.

"A bit on and off, honestly. never thought I'd have problems with working for the ministry, but it turns out I do!" Tonks said, and laughed humorlessly into her (untouched) cup of tea.

"Don't worry, we'll pull through somehow." Remus said, pouring himself some more tea because he drank it all.

"How can you drink this stuff anyways? Yuck, I think it's actually Earl Grey! Who in the world drinks Earl Grey?" Tonks asked, and Remus looked amused.

"I do. And I drink it twice daily, at least." Remus said, making her look at him with a disgusted expression.

"Don't you have anything remotely EDIBLE, perhaps? Such as Lemon Zinger?" Tonks asked, pleadingly.

Fred, who was now very tired of this, moved the mistletoe directly above the seated adults and wiggled it pointedly for a bit before he let it become stationart once more. Remus looked up, rather surprised, and nudged Tonks, who had continued rambling on about teas and their edibility. Tonks, who looked affronted for a moment, took the hint and looked up as well. She just shrugged and started snogging Remus passionately, effectively knocking over their cups of tea.

Tonks's P.O.V.

About bloody time...I was getting tired of "tripping" over things just to fall into him.

Remus's P.O.V.

I mustn't get involved with a girl who has too much life left in her, I'd suck it out of her! But...how can I when I love her so much? Mmm, snog now, ponder basis of relationship later.

No one's P.O.V.

Snap!

Fred let the camera go limp in his hands and closed the door softly, sniggering silently while congratulating himself on the development on how to turn the flash off on the camera. George shook his head while grinning like a maniac, because this time, they hadn't gotten caught. Both the twins decided unanimously (through T.N.V.L., though correctly used this time) to leave the couple alone and to go open presents. Suddenly, they noticed their mother opening a package from the mail she had just gotten, oblivious to their project. Fred looked closer and saw what looked like...yes it was! Percy's jumper! Oh, it was going to be fun comforting mum on THIS one!