Chapter Thirty Seven - In Which Tonks Is A Tiger

Tonks tapped her foot nervously on the ground as she waited to be called in for her defence against the dark arts practical. It was her first exam and suddenly Tonks was beginning to feel the pressure.

One by one she watched her classmates being called into the room and she couldn't do anything but wait.

Tonks chewed her lip, tapped her foot, ran her hands through her hair and began to pace in circles. She had so much nervous energy that she felt as if she could run a marathon.

Looking up, Tonks observed Professor Lupin and even though he wasn't sitting the exam, he looked just as nervous, if not more than the students.

Tonks took a deep breath in…

'You'll be fine' she told herself.

'In…out…in…out…in…out…' she felt like she was about to hyperventilate at any moment. She hatted having panic attacks; they didn't usually end well.

She sat down and concentrated on her breathing.

Professor Lupin sensed her anxiety and made his way over to her. He felt as if he would do anything in the world to take away that feeling from her. Patting her on the back he tried to calm her down and surprisingly Tonks felt herself relax a bit more.

Then the door opened, a kind lady in a white lab coat stepped out.

"Nymphadora Tonks" she called out.

Tonks froze. Her feet stuck to the ground and her muscles shaking.

"Nymphadora Tonks" she repeated looking around.

Professor Lupin helped her up and whispered in her ear so that only she could hear, "go get em' tiger".

Giving her a slight push forward, suddenly it was as if Tonks had all the courage in the universe. His encouragement gave her confidence and now it wasn't just about her, she was going to do well 'for him' though Tonks; she was going to do his teaching justice or die trying.

Tonks took in a deep breath, drew herself up to full height and followed the lady through the door, only giving one shy glance back at him.

The room was empty except for one long table at the end, sitting there were three people. The young smiling lady who had brought her in, an older sterner looking witch and a middle aged gentleman.

Tonks tried to smile, but felt her resolve slipping. Handing over her wand they checked her I.D. and moments later the exam began.

After successfully demonstrating a non-verbal disarming spell, she showed her knowledge of memory charms and shield charms, and after effectively demonstrating the correct way to remove a manticore, Tonks couldn't help but smile. She knew she had done well.

"You're free to go" smiled the kind lady, the man looked at Tonks quizzically but pleasantly.

"Unless of course you'd care to produce a patronus for us?"

Tonks gulped, she knew that she had to produce one to receive an Outstanding and she couldn't help but think that her whole career depended on this charm.

It wasn't exactly easy to produce a patronus, even on the best of days let alone in the middle of an exam. Tonks nodded accepting the challenge. Trying to ignore her nervousness, she thought of the thing that made her the most happiest in the world. She thought only of him, his chocolate brown hair, his gentle touch and his loving smile.

Tonks raised her wand, "Expecto- Patronum"

She sighed in relief as her brilliant werewolf burst forth from her wand, it was almost as if he was right there with her.

So as Tonks left the room, she couldn't help but smile, she was pretty sure that she had just received her first Outstanding of the year…

Authors Note – Hope you liked this chapter, it reminds me of doing my year 12 French oral which was soooo terrifying! I had to go first too so it didn't help the nerves! Sorry it's late I've been really busy lately. Anyway thank you all for your faithful reviews!

Sparkle Shine (Delphinia sounds cool – it's so different!),

JessAndFriend (Merope is nice so is Maia, I actually wrote a story once about a girl named Myra which is kinda similar, thanks for the review :))

JellyBeaan007 (Aurora is nice, reminds me of a pretty sunset!)

Letswilhelm (Ahh! Can't believe I forgot to mention Colin Firth! He is so good in Pride and Prejudice love him :) wow you have four surnames! That's a lot! That's a good idea how you look up names in phone books :) sometimes I look through baby books but they only have the popular ones which sucks. Anyway thanks for your review, your so encouraging and you write so much that your reviews always make me smile :) ),

HP JamesBond (Love the name Felicity too – I was actually thinking about saying that one!)

and Random Person With No Name (Naomi is nice!),

I've just started co-authoring another story called A Race For Love and I'm writing it with my best friend FanFicFan909, it's quite a light-hearted story about the love lives of Mario and Lugi, anyway, your question for today:

What's your faveourite movies?

I love Harry Potter (obviously), Narnia, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Inception, A Beautiful Mind, Tomorrow When The War Began, Soul Surfer, Tron, Star Wars and The Great Gatsby! I love heaps of more of course, but I don't want to bore you, I want to know what you like! So Please Review :)

And Thanks for Reading,

PrincessDreamGirl