Tonks frowned as Moddy turned away from her to write something on the blackboard. She was concerned treating on him so much that she didn't even flinch at the screeching noise it made. Thank Merlin her ears were fixed or that would be unbearable alongside all of the ringing.

Moody was being really weird today. Like, really weird. And not his normal "Mad-Eye Moody" weird, she was used to that by now. That was basically the norm for her after all. And then there was the whole weirdness around her ears that still hadn't fully stopped but she was, unfortunately, getting used to it. Mainly because he was no longer tiptoeing around her. It was still a bit weird but nothing like before. No, the way he was getting on today was a different type of weird. Again.

Like he was skittish? But Moody didn't get skittish. And yes, skittish was different than being paranoid. It just was.

"Sit down," he grunted, pointing to the desk in his office.

It was technically there for her but she rarely used it. Moody didn't really think theory lessons were that useful. He preferred practical. So did she, when it came down to it. Though it was nice to have written definitions for some things but those got written up later.

So, it was a bit confusing that he now wanted her to sit. She couldn't be in trouble, he didn't care if she was sitting or standing if he was going to scold her, he just got on with it. Was he really going to give a lecture on a topic instead of demonstrating it first? That would be a bit odd but she supposed it was going to have to happen at some point. The problem was that she wasn't exactly prepared for note taking.

"Should I get my quill?"

His frown turned to a confused look and he shook his head.

"No, you don't."

Okay then. Was this something he was just going to expect her to remember? Not too surprising, that was how he did things anyway. He didn't like her taking notes during his teaching. Which meant she had to spend an awful lot of time after time with him quickly writing up notes.

"Some things have come to my attention," he said finally.

She sat up straighter at that. Something being brought to his attention surely wasn't a good thing?

"And what's that?"

He gave her a stern look which made her bob her head apologetically even though she was more curious than sorry.

He took a deep breath and suddenly Tonks got this sense of foreboding.

"That your training will be better served by someone other than myself."

There was no reaction from her. Mainly because she was pretty sure she was getting that ringing noise back in her ears because there was just no way she had heard what she had just heard.

"What are you saying, sir?"

Because this was some sort of test, wasn't it? She was going to have to decipher what he was really trying to say. Right? Right?

"Don't 'sir' me," he grumbled automatically before his face softened a bit. "And you heard what I said, lass."

"I heard you loud and clear but that doesn't mean I understand," she retorted snappishly.

Moody sighed heavily and Tonks didn't know why he was the one doing the sighing! It wasn't him that was getting his world turned on its head, was he? No! So, he had no right to be sighing. What did he mean that someone else would be teaching her? Is that what he meant? Or was he just letting someone else teach her for a subj3ct? She knew that some of the other Mentors did that. Though, she was pretty sure that Moody had turned her nose up at that when someone had mentioned it to him.

"You heard me. You're getting another Mentor."

And then he just turned away from her! Who said something like that and turned away?

"What?"

No response from him.

"But, but why?" She asked.

Another one of those big sighs of his. It actually made the parchment flutter. At least he turned back to her, which was something.

"It doesn't matter why except the fact that it will be better for you."

The tone he used implied that that was a simple fact and didn't require any further explanation. Except it wasn't and it did. But she knew she wasn't going to get an explanation so she didn't bother asking again. Yet, anyway.

"Don't I get a choice in this?"

A bushy eyebrow went up. "What do you think?"

Tonks slumped back and crossed her arms, muttering under her breath. This just wasn't fair at all! Everything was going wrong and she didn't even get a say in it or try and fix whatever needed fixed. Because surely whatever had gone wrong here could be fixed, right?

"But it's not fair! Why can't I stay with you!"

Yes, she sounded like a stupid, whiny baby but it was better than actually being a baby and letting her tears of frustration fall.

He rolled his eyes at her. Probably though she was being dramatic like her whole world hadn't just been yanked out from under her!

"They'll be taking you for about a week for a trial and then we'll go from there."

Tonks perked up at that. "A trial?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Yes, for a week."

But Tonks didn't really care about that bit right now. She'd deal with the length of time later.

"As in, something they could fail?"

"It's not something they can fail."

Tonks gave him a confused look.

"I can fail?"

He snorted at that. "The only way it will fail is if they don't want to teach you."

Her eyes widened at that but she tried to keep the rest of her face under control. It looked like Moody hadn't quite realised what he had said there or else he wouldn't have given her such a blatant out like that. Or would he? Did he or did he not want to teach her? Oh, this was too confusing!

Unfortunately, Moody could read her far too well (or her hair gave her away again - he was getting far too good at figuring out what each colour meant these days) and, again, his eyes narrowed at her.

"This has got absolutely nothing to do with you."

Yeah right. As if she believed that, but she kept her face carefully schooled. Something she had been able to do pretty well ever since Hogwarts. If they can't see that they affected you then they didn't tend to bother you so much. And she didn't want him to see how much this bothered her. He'd probably think that she was even more pathetic than he already thought and she simply couldn't bear that.

He gave her a weird, penetrating sort of look that made her look away. And dammit, tears were welling up in her eyes. No. They weren't going to fall. They weren't. She blinked rapidly.

"Wait!" Tonks said suddenly as she realised Moody was now leaving the room. "Don't I get to know who's taking me?"

But he'd already left. Dammit!