a/N: Hello! I'm not dead, y'know... Just been lazy. Way too lazy, for my own taste. This was written in July, for God's sake! anyway, I promise I'll update it this time! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just the plot.


"Why, of course Dumbledore is telling the truth! I don't know what Fudge is trying to do, but he'll probably fail. Anyway, I don't understand why Dumbledore isn't doing anything either! And-" before the talker could complete, she earned a nudge from the woman beside her.

"Tonks, shh!" said the woman who nudged the other one –Tonks- beside her and she nodded towards the open door. Looking there, Tonks suddenly looked alarmed and shut up, going back to work.

She had been talking to her colleague, Caroline, about Dumbledore, and she knew she had to keep her mouth shut about "dangerous" issues, as Caroline put it. It would get her into trouble with Fudge. There were his spies everywhere, ratting out the ones who were on Dumbledore's side. She'd even heard that that Dolores Umbridge was looking for a way to kick Arthur Weasley, Charlie's dad, out just because he was so close to both Harry Potter and Dumbledore. After this last drop she heard, she couldn't contain it anymore. She just had to get it out.

And now it looked like she was going to pay for her recklessness. She had looked towards where Caroline had nodded to, and met eyes with Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had a strange expression on his face. Almost glad. He'd clearly heard what he was saying.

"Of course he'd be glad," Tonks thought as she eyed Caroline carefully, who looked determined about not meeting her eyes. "He can go straight to Fudge now!" She strongly hoped that he hasn't seen who Tonks was talking to. She didn't want Caroline to lose her job along with her. She looked at the paperwork before her, filled with fear of what Shacklebolt might do.

She sighed at the end of the day, when Caroline bolted out of the office without even a single glance towards Tonks. The latter took her Weird Sisters bag absent-mindedly, knocking her pencil case down along the way. She didn't bother to pick it up. She practically ran out of the room- or ran as much as she could, give her clumsy nature.

While she was walking and trying not to bump into anyone in the crowd, she heard her name.

"Tonks! Tonks, hang on!"

Shacklebolt, she realized with annoyance and fear. "Why can't he simply leave me alone?" She then thought bitterly, "Oh, maybe because Fudge finally gave him permission to hand the pink slip to me."

With this thought, she quickened her steps. After saying "Sorry," a few times, she finally reached her fireplace. She usually went home via Apparting, but today she didn't feel in the mood.

The last thing before she got to her small, untidy flat was Shacklebolt's face, just a moment late to talk to her.

The next day she spent most of her time in her office, trying not to be seen much. Obviously Caroline was thinking the same too, for she stayed in her table across the room all day, not looking at Tonks once again.

Throughout the day, she saw Kingsley through the small window on the office door more than once. Every time, he would glance shortly inside, as if he's looking for something, then he would leave.

At five o'clock, she picked her things up, dropped few things and this time, not risking being seen by Kingsley, she apparted straight from office to home.

Two hours later, just when she was thinking about preparing the dinner her mum has sent to her ("You're starved! Merlin, how did I ever let you get an apartment on your own?"), she heard a knock.

"Tonks? Are you in there? I gotta talk to you! Tonks!"

Tonks sighed. Kingsley again. He was most probably there to take her to Fudge, get her yelled at, and then fired.

She didn't want to go. Not after three years of training. What a torture that had been! She stopped moving. She hoped that if she stayed silent, maybe he'd go away.

Minutes ticked by. Tonks just stood there, not even daring to move. Kingsley was turning out to be just as stubborn as Tonks was, he didn't move either. Tonks silently thanked the security spells that her father insisted she had.

after waiting for minutes, doing nothing, a plan started to form in Tonks' head. a plan to postpone her job loss. Then she started to doubt her actions.

"Though maybe he is here for something else... Maybe I should simple open the door... Maybe-"

Her eyes caught a photo on the mantelpiece. It was her graduation photo. With Moody. Her eyes rested on Moody's distorted features for a while, and his voice chimed into her ears. "Constant vigilance!" She shook her head and went on with her now fully-formed plan. No one could be trusted, especially with You-Know-Who back.

So she started to climb the stairs. The stairs were all rug, to cushion her when she fell, so she made little sound.

When she reached her room, she snapped open her wardrobe doors.


a/N: Darn, finally uploading something decent made me feel so good...

melissaeverlasting, thank you! =)