Chapter 4: So much for Constant Vigilance

1994 June

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic hereby name Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks, an official employee of the Auror Office…"

Tonks resisted the urge to fidget under the stares of so many people as Scrimgeour read out his lines, as he always did, to present new Aurors their Auror badge and to officially name them part of the Auror office, the elites of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

She'd receive the news of being accepted into being an Auror from Mad-Eye Moody, her mentor, himself. After lecturing her about the importance of constant vigilance as she'd neglected her anti-apparition charm around her flat and he'd apparated right in the middle of it, Mad-Eye delivered the news with the usual smirk, never a smile but Tonks's grin with enough for the both of them.

After receiving that news, she'd squealed, screamed and even tripped over in excitement as she threw her arms around her old mentor, much to his reluctance but Tonks figured he'd give in for her sake; after all, she had been known for the ability not just to morph but to radiate contagious happiness.

Her parents beamed in pride as they watched her receive her Auror Badge from Scrimgeour.

The better part of the morning for when she was due to accept her badge; Tonks'd spent it arguing with her mum over breakfast about what colour her hair should be. In the end, Tonks's stubborn attitude won over and she wore her hair blue, short and spiky to Andromeda's annoyance.

Tonks watched Scrimgeour grimaced at her hair as she entered the venue stated to her by Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye himself, who led her in, hardly took a second glance at her bright blue spiky hair. See? All it takes is for one to get use to it! Tonks glanced at her mother to see if she noticed Mad-Eye's indifference but Andromeda was too busy wringing her fingers in excitement.

She was surprised to find out she was the only candidate getting the badge. Moody mumbled that the rest were either found not suitable or unable to make the expectations for the tests. Tonks didn't miss the hint of pride as he said this. He winked as he took a seat on the stands to watch.

Tonks took deliberate steps to Scrimgeour to receive her badge, determined not to trip for such an occasion. As she held the badge in her hand, there were claps in the stands but Tonks hadn't miss the looks of distaste of some of the senior Aurors as they watched. She turned away, facing where her parents sat, glowing. Mad-Eye nodded to her.

Sirius…I made it…Tonks smiled, wishing her favorite cousin could be here. If she'd closed her eyes there, she could've imagined him teasing her about it but Tonks didn't want to dwell in the past anymore, it was time for her to make a difference in the future.

"Tonks!"

Tonks spun around from chatting up her new colleague, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was in-charged of Sirius's case. As the saying her dad told her before: Stay close to your friends but closer to your enemy. Tonks was already plotting to get closer to him, wanting to know as much about her cousin as she could.

Charlie Weasley broke into a sudden but firm embrace on her.

"I did it Charlie!" Tonks grinned.

"Yeah, Dad told me, that's why I'm here," Charlie beamed.

"Congratulations Nymphadora," Arthur approached.

"Tonks," Both Charlie and Tonks corrected at once, chuckling.

"And thanks," Tonks smiled.

"Maybe you could join us for dinner tonight-" Molly started but was abruptly interrupted.

"Sorry Molly," Mad-Eye spoke from behind her, "Not tonight, Nymphadora's occupied,"

Tonks scowled darkly at him about that name before growling in objection, "I am not!"

"You are now," Mad-Eye turned to her, snapping. Tonks snorted, turning away in indignation, not caring if that made her look childish.

She heard a few people, who overheard this bickering, chuckled but that didn't bother her.

"Nymphadora, that was rude of you." Andromeda approached, chiding her.

"Won't be the first time," Tonks muttered, making sure her mother couldn't hear that. She glanced over at Mad-Eye, surprised to see him smirking at her. Tilting her face towards her mentor and away from her mother, as Andromeda ranted of in a lecture again, she smiled.

Afterwards, to Tonks's surprise, Mad-Eye actually went back to her parents' house with her to talk. He rejected Andromeda's invitation to dinner, politely for the surly Alastor Moody and talked to Tonks in the privacy of her room which she occupied before.

"You're not going to train me, are you?" Tonks's hands twitched, ready to launch for her wand if it deemed necessary. Sometimes, she thought she received more wounds from Mad-eye than she ever will from any death eater.

"Listen," He grunted as he waved her wand to set up imperturbable charms around the room, "I won't be at the Auror Office much longer."

Tonks gaped, incredously, even though she hadn't forgot the warning Mad-Eye had given her after her test, "What? You got sacked?"

Moody didn't reply her.

"When?" She growled, thinking of the things she would do to Scrimgeour for this…

"I had it coming, lass." His magical eye surveyed the environment before he placed a large hand on her shoulder, "You, have a long road ahead of you."

"But-"

"I don't want to receive complaints about you, Nymphadora!" He snapped, using her first name. It efficiently shut off her objections but she glared at him, the roots of her blue spiky hair turning red, "No nonsense about avenging my sacking, or tripping over-"

"That's in my nature!" Tonks protested indignantly.

"Suppose it's time for some change," Mad-Eye muttered.

"Oh I'm changing, all the time," She grumbled, turning away and promptly morphing her blue spiky hair into long, red and wavy.

Behind her, she heard Mad-Eye growl in something akin to frustration but let her demonstrate her childish tantrum for a while.

"I will be away for some time," She heard her Mentor started up again, in the same gruff but less harsh manner.

"Where are you going?" Tonks let her curiosity win over her simmering anger.

"That's strictly confidential." Mad-Eye replied, much to her frustration, and here we go again, he still doesn't trust me!

Tonks resisted urge to jump around and stomp on the wooden flooring.

"In the meantime, I want no less than constant vigilance from you. There is nothing more dangerous than being an Auror."

She sighed, nodding her head as he lectured.

"And try to be smarter; don't let the ministry push you around."

Tonks raised an eyebrow, that was new…

"Mad-Eye," Tonks started, puzzled, "Really, where are you going?"

He glared at her, shutting her up as his magical eye disappeared in it's socket, probably looking behind him, "I better be going now,"

Tonks watched as he clonked nosily out of her room, releasing the charms he'd place on the door. She followed him downstairs, still puzzled but she understood enough.

Tonks stood quietly, waiting to send her old mentor out as her mum and dad said their thanks to him and farewells. She snickered, finding Mad-Eye's attempts to respond amusing.

She sent him to the door before he turned at the threshold, "Remember-"

"Constant Vigilance," Tonks finished in unison with him. He grunted in approval.

"Jeez, you want to be my granddad?" Tonks teased. Moody ignored it, patting her on her cheek with his free hand before clonking away from the house to apparate.

Well…time flies, so someday, she'll definitely see her old surly mentor. Tonks smiled at the thought.

~:~:~

1995 May

"Merlin's beard Tonks!" Dawlish cried out as she tripped over the small step at the lift entrance, dropping the pile of documents she was carrying and showering it all over Dawlish who was unfortunately, in the lift.

"Sorry…" Tonks muttered, already on her knees and gathering the documents. Dawlish had never hid his hate for her since the first day she started work. He felt she wasn't worthy of being an Auror, having only seen her demonstrate her clumsiness to him. Furthermore, Tonks had been told, he did have some objections with females even having a place in the Auror Office.

Dawlish picked up the documents at his feet and passed them to her as she gathered the rest by herself.

"Down?" He asked curtly to which Tonks gave a nod, "Heard you took the pain to help Shacklebolt with the selection this year of practically no recruits." Dawlish said.

"You heard right…" Tonks replied warily.

"The number of capable applicants is dwindling," Dawlish started casually. Tonks narrowed her eyes at him as the elevator gates open, "Haven't had a decent one since Tucker." Dawlish left without another word.

Tonks stepped out, seething in anger. Tucker was another Auror who qualified just a year ahead of her, the drumstrang student.

"Tonks,"

A fleeting greeting from Kingsley Shacklebolt as he entered the lift she vacated, distracted her from hexing Dawlish.

"Wotcher…" She muttered, well aware her hair would probably be deep red by now. Tonks trudged grudgingly to the floo network, idly entertained by the thought of Mad-Eye blasting Dawlish's eye out. But then again…why couldn't I be doing that? She demanded as she flooed away.

The sight of her messy and disorganized flat didn't help her temper. She kicked aside some books as she stumbled to the table to put her documents.

Looks like another sleepless night for me…Tonks sighed as she slumped down into the chair and started on the top most.

About having spent a year in the Auror Office, Tonks was still the youngest one there as much as she hated to admit it; Dawlish was right. She'd surveyed the list of applicants and none of them had the requirements of being an Auror. So since there weren't any more new recruits, Tonks was the most 'inexperience' one. Translation: The more experienced Aurors would have the rights to dump all the paperwork on her and go outside to play with the big bad death eaters.

She was hoping some new poor recruits would enter to take over her job with paperwork but nope, her hopes were dashed after the night of being kind and helping Kingsley with his work of sorting out new applications.

She was ticked off that she'd even missed the action at the World Cup last year at about September (even though she'd just qualified then)

Tonks opened the first folder lazily. Her eyes widened as she read the name, cutting short her yawn. Jensen Alex Dane.

Tonks was aware that he'd dropped out of Auror training halfway about 2 years back but she never knew why. Moody had refused to entertain her curiosity, as always. Probably not wanting to give her the thought of going down the same road Dane apparently had took.

She included his name into the list under 'death eaters' and briefly sneaked a peak at his background information. He was about the same age as her, one year older. Tonks read that both his parents were deceased, leaving him with his little sister. Soon, she got bored and threw his file into a pile on the side of the table which she mentally marked as 'completed'

It didn't take long as she slumped forward and was fast asleep with her face on the table.

The next morning, at dawn, was chaos. The Auror Office was more chaotic than Tonks had ever seen. A flurry of blue and red dashed pass her as she attempted to walk, without tripping, to her desk.

"Shacklebolt!" She called as she caught sight of him, "What is going on here?" Kingsley turned to her. They had become fast friends over the year, since she qualified. Kingsley was a cheerful and reliable bloke. Her plans, to get close to the Auror in charge of getting her cousin thrown back into Azkaban, had gone awry only 2 months into that plan. Tonks found herself completely trusting Kingsley and being genuine friends with him. Through Kingsley, she was able to vaguely keep track of Sirius's whereabouts, true or false, she really didn't care.

"Last night, Potter portkeyed back from the third task of the tournament, announcing the return of you-know-who." Kingsley said quickly, "I have to get this to Scrimgeour," He told her before rushing off.

Tonks froze at her cubicle, unable to find the strength to move. She was aware of the ongoing tournament in Hogwarts and of course, she knew Harry Potter had been part of the participants despite the age limits. The Auror Office had been known to have sent a few Aurors to Hogwarts to ensure the smooth flowing of the tournament.

She was aware of one thing though. The return of you-know-who would only signify the return of Bellatrix Lestrange as his most loyal Death Eater. Her mind pulsed with anticipation.

Don't be stupid…She could practically hear Alastor Moody growling at her.

"Alright…I got a grip." Tonks muttered as she sat down, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She grabbed a file from the stack and continued where she had left it last night. However, she couldn't concentrate. All she could think of was the return of you-know-who, and Sirius, and her Aunt…"That's it, I can't just sit here." She told imaginary Mad-Eye Moody as she heard him tell her to stay put.

Tonks grabbed a thick coat and made sure her wand in its place before dashing out of her cubicle, weaving pass the stream of Aurors running up and down the place. She was less than graceful about her departure as she apparated to the platform of Hogwarts Express. She kept her wand in her hand as she walked the rest of the way up to the castle.

Last August, 2 months after she'd qualified as an Auror and after she'd receive no news from him at all, she was told by Kingsley during one of their friendly over-lunch talks that Mad-Eye Moody was now teaching at Hogwarts. She had, more than once, chuckled to herself at the thought of him lecturing First Years about constant vigilance. That would be a fun thing to see…Tonks mused as she trudged up the muddy trail to Hogwarts.

As she'd hope, a senior Auror which she did not recognise was there at the gate, on duty it seems. She idly wondered what they were doing when Harry Potter was facing you-know-who, as he claimed.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Auror Tonks," The Auror interrupted her, his deep voice thundering in the quiet dawn.

"Yeah, I'm paying Mad-" She paused, "Moody, a visit,"

"I'll need to see your badge, nonetheless," He eyed her wand, "y'understand, after…"

"Yeah, sure," Tonks bit her lips, fumbling with her coat as she searched for her Auror Badge with her only free hand. As she prayed she had it on her, her fingers found it, "Here." She flashed it at him, smiling.

He glanced at it for only a second before waving his wand and the smaller gate opened noiselessly on the hinge.

Tonks stepped into the familiar corridors before it occurred to her that she had no idea where Mad-Eye's office was. She was momentarily distracted by a Hufflepuff girl sitting by the sides, apparently crying.

She took a step forward and the small blond girl, probably a first year, looked up with red puffy eyes.

"Wotcher," Tonks forced her most gentle smile, most definitely not wanting to scare her.

The girl dipped her head and looked down, sniffing.

"Are y'alright?" Tonks cringed. She was not good at this. She wasn't even certain why she bothered.

"Yeah…" The girl sniffed.

"Why are you crying?" Yes, that's tactful Tonks…She berated herself.

"It's stupid really," The girl hurriedly wiped off her tears with her sleeves, "I'm just…Cedric was such a nice…" Her voice trailed off and she burst into a stream of tears.

Cedric Diggory. She knew him. He was in first year when Tonks was in her seventh. She vaguely remembered Diggory was good at Quidditch…and cute. Tonks had heard he was the one chosen by the Triwizard cup to represent Hogwarts. So, there were casualties after all.

"Nymphadora?"

Tonks rolled her eyes at the mention of her name as she turned around. Minerva McGonagall stood there, already dressed in her normal black robes.

"Professor-"

"Minerva," She cut in.

"Erm, yeah, ok. I'm here to see Mad-Eye?" Tonks probed, standing up, "If you could tell me where to find him?"

"He's in the hospital wing," Minerva replied as if that was the most normal thing in the world.

Tonks blinked, "What?" She blurted stupidly.

"You haven't heard?" Minerva frowned, "Well, maybe you can visit him; he'll tell you all you need to know." Tonks watched as the Head of Gryffindor shuffled pass her and placed a hand on the young Hufflepuff's shoulder.

"Alright…Thanks," Tonks smiled politely before dashing off. She could find the hospital wing with her eyes closed and in return, Madam Pomfrey was familiar enough with Tonks to have reserved stocks of potions for her.

As expected, Tonks visited the Hospital Wing often; apparently, trouble always found her and her clumsiness didn't help, even if she was the cause of that trouble.

She burst into Hospital Wing, already visualizing a heroic Mad-Eye who dashed in to protect everyone from the hoard of Death Eaters which caused him to land in the hospital wing.

"Tonks!" Madam Pomfrey didn't hide her surprise as she burst in. she was treating an unfamiliar veela whose bed was surrounded by an unnaturally tall women and another younger girl.

"Wotcher…" Tonks smiled sheepishly, it was weird not coming in here to have her falls tended to, "I'm here for Mad-Eye…"

Madam Pomfrey nodded, pointing to the bed at the farthest end, the curtains pulled in for privacy. Tonks stowed away her wand as the tall woman shot her a look of disapproval. Gingerly prying aside the curtains to slide in, Tonks braced herself for what she was about to see.

Her old mentor lay on the bed, asleep. His magical eye was out of its socket and whirling aimlessly at his side table in a cup of water. His graying hair looked disheveled around his battered and scarred face that was grumpy even as he slept. He had a thin blanket covering his lower half, underneath it was an empty space where one of legs was missing, as usual.

Tonks sighed noiselessly as she slumped down into the chair after she conjured one.

"What happened?" She murmured, "And you were one to tell me constant vigilance…" Tonks reached out, still muttering grudgingly.

She slipped her smaller and colder hand into his larger and surprisingly warm hand. Tonks took comfort that he was still alive, knowing without a doubt that whatever he been through was bad. After all, it surely takes more than a few spells to get Mad-Eye unconscious and in a hospital.

"What are you doing here?" She jumped as Mad-Eye grunted roughly although his voice sounded weak.

"I was visiting," She withdrew her hand, replying defensively.

"Supposed to be working…" He muttered.

"Well, I couldn't sit on my butt when I heard about what happened in Hogwarts," Tonks replied, a little guiltily, "What happened to you?"

"Blasted Barty Crouch…" Mad-Eye growled, "Junior." He added as Tonks's eyes widened, "Caught me off guard."

Tonks snorted and he shot her a look, "What'd he do?"

"Some dark magical tricks and he's a Mad-Eye Moody," Moody grunted grudgingly.

"I should've been there." Tonks muttered, forcing back the tears which are welling up.

"You were where you were supposed to be," Mad-Eye replied, struggling to sit up.

Tonks stood; hesitantly helping him set the pillows as he did. He eyed her with his good eye with uncomfortable intensity.

"And, you would not've been a match for him,"

"You underestimate me!" She objected, battling the urge to whip out her wand to show her old mentor some tricks of her own.

"You overestimate yourself." Moody reached out to his magical eye and popped it back into place, "Someday, it'll get you killed."

Tonks smiled, recognizing concern when she hear it from Moody, "You'll be there to make sure I grow up to take over you as the grumpy old Auror."

"Don't count on that." He muttered, his magical eye surveying the environment as his normal one looked down at his leg.

"What's wrong?" Tonks frowned, following his gaze.

"This missing leg," He brought out a large hand, patting overly hard on the stump, "is like your overconfidence. It'll get me killed."

"Then I'll watch your back," Tonks grinned cheekily.

"Don't count on that either." Mad-Eye growled, "Constant vigilance for yourself."

"You too," She told him, her voice coming out as a croak.

Moody watched her for a moment, both eyes trained on her face before he reached out to her. It was until he caught her tears and wiped them off with his thumb less than gently before she realized she was crying.

"Pull it together lass, you'd think after a year of being an Auror, you'll grow up." Mad-Eye told her, pulling back his hand as she brought up her own to wipe her tears.

"I am tougher." She scowled weakly, pouting as she looked away.

"Auror robes looks good on you."

Tonks turned back to face him, her surprise chasing away her momentary anger. She blinked, looking down at the blue Auror robes which she wore. Smiling, she stood up, "I forgot, you haven't got a chance to see me in them…before you leave…" Her voice trailed off uncomfortably as she mentioned the last part but all the more, she twirled around once to show him full on how actually she did look. Unfortunately, her boots caught on the leg of the chair, causing her to stumble forward on the end of his bed.

"Alright, I don't need a fashion show." Moody grunted as she smiled sheepishly at him, pulling herself up to sit on the bed.

Tonks glanced angrily at the chair before vanishing it, "Aren't you going to ask me what's happening at the Auror Office?" She asked, waiting expectantly but Moody just turned away nonchalantly, pouring himself a glass of water. She scowled but started nonetheless, "Anyway, Dawlish, he…"

She ranted off about everyone in the Auror Office, from the highest up to the lowest, chatting freely about what she thought about them. As Tonks was moving on to complain about having to do paperwork instead of getting the action, Madam Pomfrey pushed aside the curtains.

"Alright Tonks, I think that's enough storytelling for today," Madam Pomfrey said and Tonks flushed, "Let someone else take their potion in peace." She waved her wand and brought a bottle and a glass.

She made the bottle pour a quarter cup of potion for Mad-Eye and gave him the cup. Tonks watched as Mad-Eye downed the lot in one gulp.

"Visiting time is over, dear." Madam Pomfrey took the cup back, turning to Tonks.

"I won't be any trouble-" Tonks started to object but stopped as she felt Mad-Eye pat her arm.

"Go, before Shacklebolt get his knickers in a knot looking for you." Mad-Eye growled.

Tonks grinned, happy he was paying enough attention to her story to know the friendship between Kingsley and her, "I'll come back to visit soon!" She turned and practically bounded to the door.

"That won't be necessary." He grunted as he lay back into bed grumpily, she turned just in time to see his head hit the pillow. Tonks shut the door to the Hospital Wing, wandering down the corridors of Hogwarts for a while before deciding it's time to leave. You-know-who is back and there'll be plenty of paperwork for her to do…no time to feel nostalgic…she sighed.

To be continued…

Happy Christmas to all my readers!

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Thanks to those who read and review my last chapter:

Hope06: Hey Thanks! Glad it was in character, I was a little worried there would an OOC for Molly there!

Auraxi: Thanks! Here's your Christmas update!