"Nymphadora, if would just stop and do one thing at a time you would get this done a whole lot faster," Andromeda told her daughter in exasperation.

Tonks stopped and gave her mother a guilty look. Okay, what she said was true. She had been packing her clothes and then realised that something was in her school Cauldron and the she got distracted by that because it still held her ingredient box and a very grimy stirring rod. The ingredients box was somewhat sticky and smelled suspicious so she had rub downstairs to sort out what ingredients needed binning and what could be kept. The ones that could be kept then could be put into her parents' ingredient cupboard. So that all took up time.

Then she ran back upstairs to do some more packing and then tripped over her aforementioned grimy stirring rod, knocking over a pile of jeans in the process, and remembered that she had to clean it. Which she did in the bathroom, making her realise that she hadn't packing any of her shower gel or anything so she gathered those up as well to dump into her trunk.

She had bumped into Andromeda as she was running back to her room with an armful of toiletries. It had all been a bit of a mess and yes, in the chaos she had somehow managed to stand on the bottle of shampoo and squirt it everywhere. Of course, the opening was at the perfect angle to hit the landing, the bannisters, the stairs and the wall of the stairs with shampoo. Tonks wasn't sure if it was better or not that they had carpet on the landing and stairs. She had decided not to ask her mother this dur to the fact that her left eye had been twitching in a way Tonks was sure wasn't good for her.

She had been promptly ushered into her mess of a room after that and here they were. Andromeda looked around them and shook her head.

"I was getting there," Tonks said defensively.

Andromeda raised an eyebrow. "Where exactly? Definitely not your flat because you haven't packed anything that could be useful for it."

"I've packed some things."

Andromeda peered into her trunk. "Yes, a pair of trainers and a literal bundle of jeans."

"Oh, that's where they went," Tonks said, also looking in. She hadn't seen them since she'd knocked the pile over. "Huh. At least they're where they need to be."

That got her an eye roll from her mother. See? That's who she got it from! But not even her mother scolding her about her inability to pack would faze her today! Because she was starting to move into her flat today. Her flat!

She had managed to get a flat sorted out in London. A tiny, box of a thing but honestly, what else could you expect in London? Her parents helped her out with the first month's rent and the down payment, seeing as she hadn't got her first wages yet. That would be next month. But she was sorted for this one.

Well, there was currently nothing in her flat so that she could live at the moment but at least the rent was paid? All of her stuff was going in over this weekend anyway and soon she'll be in it and then next week she'd be reporting to the Auror Academy for her first day.

Oh, it was only a week away! A week! One week. Seven days. One hundred and sixty-eight hours. She didn't know how many minutes nor did she want to waste time calculating them. Either way, it was so close. So close! Seven days! She could almost squeal with delight. If, you know, she was the type of girl to squeal. Which she wasn't. Didn't stop the feeling though.

"Now, why don't I give you a hand packing?" Andromeda asked, raising her wand.

"Can you show me the spell again?" Tonks asked. "So, I can help?"

She definitely didn't think that she would be as effective as her mum with the packing spell but maybe she could at least move the pile of socks. Hey, it beat packing or shoving everything in by hand.

Andromeda demonstrated the spell and Tonks nodded, frowning in concentration. It was easy enough...

"That should do it," Andromeda said finally after everything had flown into Tonks' trunk, pushing the trunk lid closed. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"For you, maybe," Tonks said disgruntledly, kicking the pile of limp socks on her floor that she had managed to create with her packing spell.

They hadn't even had the decency to roll themselves up in pairs.

"Anyway," Andromeda continued, ignoring her daughter's grumbling. "It's not like you can't simply apparate back home when you need to."

Tonks couldn't help but grin at the word 'apparate'. Because she had only just got her license, her birthday falling too late in the school year to sit the early exam during her Seventh Year.

"I can do that," she said proudly.

"You're coming back for Sunday dinners anyway," her mother said in a tone that meant no arguing.

Apparently, it was the only way that she would be convinced that Tonks would be fed. Which was a bit dramatic. Her flat had a microwave. And she knew how to order takeaway. She wasn't completely useless.

"I know, mum." Tonks finished that off with an eye roll.

Not that she didn't appreciate it or anything but she was pretty sure that this was the seventh time her mother had reminded her in about three days.

"Good."

Andromeda nodded sharply and looked around her bedroom to see if there was something else, she could do. Tonks looked around as well. There wasn't anything else to do from the looks of things. Packing was all she needed to do.

"I really shouldn't be doing this but," Andromeda said with a sigh and raised her wand.

A quick wave later and Tonks' bed was perfectly made. Huh. She had forgotten that she hadn't done it this morning. Whoops.

"Thanks."

Another eye roll.

"That reminds me," Andromeda said as she put her wand away. "Remember to bring your bedding home every now and then for a wash. Don't let it get disgusting."

"I won't," she assured her mother. She was messy but that didn't mean she didn't like things to be clean. Or, at least smelling clean. "I should probably bring more than one sheet then, shouldn't I?"

"Definitely. Grab one from the linen cupboard."

Tonks was already out in the landing and grabbing just that. She even manged to get the correct one without bringing the contents of the cupboard down on top of her.

"Fold it!" Andromeda said as she returned.

A bit of a struggle later (why did bedsheets have to catch on any little breeze?) and it was in safe and sound in her trunk. That was nearly it. Nearly.

"Now, why don't we check to see if your father has shrunk your pot, pan and plates for you?" Andromeda suggested as Tonks placed her sheets away.

Magic was definitely useful when it came to packing.