"Nymphadora!"

Her mum immediately engulfed her in a hug as soon as she walked through the door. Which was only a problem because her mother was frustratingly taller than her (why couldn't she have gotten those Black genes?) and a bear hug from her meant that Tonks couldn't see or breath.

"Help!" she gasped out, arms flailing.

The angle Andromeda had got her at meant that she couldn't even return the hug!

This was an interesting start to her coming back home for the day. It was Sunday and she was here, just like she promised. And had kind of been looking forward to. She needed someone to gush about her first week of actual Auror training and then moan about all the theory work they were just doing. Sure, she and her fellow trainees had complained heartily about theory together but they couldn't very well gush about them actually being there to each other now, could they? That would just be more than a bit cringey. No. She needed her parents for that. And maybe her friends from Hogwarts. She really had to write to them or something.

"Dad?" She gasped out, looking for Ted.

Not that she could move her head that much. Normally he was the one to stop her mum. But not this time because she felt him come up from behind her and join the hug.

"Ah!"

Ted laughed and released her, much to her relief. Now just for mum...

"Annie?" He tried.

"You are going to let me hug my daughter, Edward Tonks."

He put his hands up in the air in his defence.

"Okay, okay," he gave Tonks a sympathetic look. "Sorry, Dora."

Yeah, yeah. But sorry didn't get Andromeda off her. Even if it was kind of nice but this was going on embarrassingly long. Like, come on! It had only been a week!

"Mum, I went to Hogwarts for months at a time and you never greeted me like this."

Except for that first Christmas of first year. Now, that had been a big hug. She had been lifted off her feet. By both her mum and dad. Thankfully, she wasn't that short anymore. She didn't think her parents could do that to her anymore though the force of this hug from her mum may make her rethink that.

"It's not the same," Andromeda said, pulling back and giving her a look up and down. "At least when you came back from Hogwarts you were here to stay for the entire holiday. Not anymore, we just get you for today. You're all grown up now."

That made her feel both pleased and awkward at the same time. She shuffled on her feet. She didn't feel that grown up. Just like she was pretending or something and someone was going to show up and ask her what on earth she was doing. It was weird. She knew that she was over seventeen and all that, she had a job, a career now and she would be paying bills at the end of this month. But somehow, a of that didn't make her an adult. That's what she felt like anyway.

"Come on," Ted urged, leading them away from the door, which had been stupidly left open all this time.

Tonks made sure to close it behind her.

"Well, how did it go? Are you doing well? Have you been eating? What about sleep?"

She didn't even give Tonks a chance to take a breath never mind answer all those questions! Even while Andromeda was firing off those questions, Tonks was being ushered into the living room and pushed unceremoniously onto the sofa. Literally pushed. She fell onto the damn thing. At least it was a soft landing.

She shooed Ted over to his armchair and she sat in hers. It felt like this was going to be like an interrogation or something.

"Andromeda, let her talk," Ted said in amusement as Tonks reorganised herself into an actually sitting position.

"Did you bring your washing with you?" Andromeda asked, looking behind her like she had hefted a bag of it with her or something and she was now hiding it behind one of these cushions.

"No."

"And why not?" She even had her hands on her hips and everything.

"One, I'm pretty sure I can figure it out myself and two, I still have plenty of clothes to wear. I don't need to do washing quite yet."

The look that her mother gave her said otherwise. But Tonks was pretty sure she had a good point here. There was no need to worry about her washing just yet. Why do something like that when you didn't have to?

"Do you want to hear about my week or not?" She asked in exasperation, trying to get away from her lack of organisational skills.

That shut her mother up pretty quick. It was pretty funny too, not that she would ever, ever say that to her.

"Of course, we do," Andromeda said in an imperious tone, one that always made Tonks giggle. "If you would just talk, Nymphadora instead of all this stalling."

"I wasn't stalling, you were asking me too many questions!"

"None of which you answered, if you must know. Except for that inane one about your washing."

"You asked!"

"I also asked other questions."

"Well, I-"

"-should really take a deep breath and tell us all about your week when you're ready," Ted interjected before further arguing could happen.

"But-" Andromeda started but her husband gave her a look and she sighed. "Oh, alright. When you're good and ready, Nymphadora."

"Thank you," Tonks said with a sniff. "Let me grab a drink first."

"There's a fresh carton of orange juice in the fridge," Ted said called after her as she went into the kitchen.

"Great."

And so, there was. And one without bits! Perfect. She poured herself a glass and returned to the living room without incident, surprisingly. She took a long, refreshing gulp of it. Ah, that hit the spot.

Andromeda gave her an impatient look, like she thought she was stalling on purpose, just for the fun of it. Which, she sort of was but being that impatient couldn't be good for her mum.

"Oh, ask away," Tonks said with an eye roll, correctly interpreting the look on Andromeda's face.

"Have you made any friends yet?"

Tonks rolled her eyes again. Why did mothers always worry about their children having friends? She was like this when she first went to Hogwarts as well. Like, she got what her mother meant, no one wanted to be alone and her mum was worried that she would be. But still, she was a grown woman. Her mum didn't need to worry about her ability to make friends anymore.

"They're an alright lot," she said with a shrug.

She wasn't sure she could call any of them friends yet, it had only been a week and they hadn't really got to know each other that well. Though, she was sure Cavendish thought that they were all friends- she was just that type of person.

"That's it?"

"Let me speak!"

Andromeda sat back and raised an eyebrow. "Then speak!"

Tonks gave her an annoyed look but opened her mouth and began to recount her first week.