"Expelliarmus!"
Tonks gave a little shriek of surprise as the wand swirled towards her and landed a few inches away from her feet with a loud clonk. She dodged it just in time when it came whizzing back to its owner, a dummy with dusty, worn-out clothes resembling those of a medieval peasant.
"Very good," it said with a rusty, metallic voice. "Now, prepare for the next round!"
A knock on her bedroom door distracted Tonks for a split second, and before she knew it, she was hit by a stunning spell square in her chest.
"Nymphadora, we are lea— "
"STUPEFY!"
Andromeda deflected the spell with ease and turned to her daughter, who was sitting on the floor, rubbing her head profusely.
"I thought I had told you to get rid of that thing," she said, gesturing towards the dummy, her face contorted into a grimace of disapproval. "It's not safe, and you could get seriously injured!"
She then wrinkled her nose upon noticing the pitiful state of her daughter's room. There were scattered books and papers everywhere, a couple of nearly dried ink stains on the floor, and the bed was buried beneath piles of unfolded laundry. Nymphadora's Quidditch uniform lay on the desk, along with a sewing kit, and there were some suspicious dark red spots on the cape.
"How often have I told you— "
"I'm sorry," cried Tonks, her ears ringing and black spots dancing before her eyes as she tried to get up, her legs wobbly as pudding.
"Wow, she must still be woozy from the blow," Andromeda muttered to herself after hearing Dora apologise. "I don't understand your constant desire to manoeuvre yourself into dangerous situations," she said loud enough for her daughter to hear, and with a flick of her wand, she made the dummy vanish into thin air, leaving solely a small trail of smoke behind.
"Mother!" Tonks shouted, her hair turning a violent shade of red. "Do you know how long it took me to charm— I need to practise for my N.E.W.T.s this year!" Stumbling over her own feet, Tonks landed back on her buttocks with a groan of pain.
Andromeda's features softened. She knelt down next to the girl and cupped her face with one hand, whilst the other attempted to tuck a strand of the now bubble-gum-pink hair behind her ear.
"Dora, love."
Tonks flinched at the unexpected display of affection (her mother was one to use terms of endearment scarcely), but soon relaxed into her mother's touch.
"My love," Andromeda started again, and this time, Tonks didn't flinch. "Your father and I could not be prouder of you, regardless of how you perform in any test. You could not possibly disappoint us, ever. Do you hear me?"
Tonks nodded and sniffled loudly. "But mum," she protested, "You know I won't be accepted into Auror training with an A, and I almost flunked DADA last year!"
Andromeda sighed, a deep frown forming on her face, her chest constricting painfully as if she too had been hit by a stunning spell earlier.
"An Auror, sweetie?" she whispered softly. "Are you aware of the dang—"
"Of course!" Tonks exclaimed, her chest swelling with pride. "That's one of the reasons I want to apply! I would go bonkers sitting behind a desk all day."
"Let's discuss this some other time, shall we? Your father is waiting downstairs, and you wouldn't want to miss the train on your last year."
"Oh, dang it, mum! I haven't even packed yet!" Tonks squealed. "I was so busy duelling I completely forgot! Oh, there's no way I can fit all of this into one suitcase!" She threw up her hands in exasperation.
"You are forgetting I'm quite handy when it comes to household spells," Andromeda replied with a wink.
Five minutes later, both the suitcase and Tonks were loaded into Ted's car, and Andromeda blew her daughter a kiss from the front porch of their house.
"Take care of yourself, Dora," she mumbled with a frog in her throat. "Take care…"