"Oof."

That had been quite the fall this time but she and her face had become quite intimate with the floor this morning that she couldn't even muster up enough energy to yelp at a decent volume anymore.

Tonks didn't even bother getting up right away. What was the point? Moody was only going to make her do the exercise again right away. If she stayed down for a few seconds, that was a few extra seconds for catching her breath. She glanced up and the wall and groaned.

Urgh, it really was still the morning. That sucked. It felt like the whole day had been crammed into the past two and a half hours. Yeah, that's how her day was going. And it looked like it was going to continue going this way. Fan-bloody-tastic. Today was not her day.

And she was going to have to do it again and again and again because Tonks didn't see how she was going to manage this any time soon. The movements felt unnatural and it didn't help that it unbalanced her as well. Not to mention that even if she did perform something the way it was supposed to work Moody made her doing it loads of times. Insisting that it should become a habit and to make sure that first time wasn't a fluke. Which she understood, don't get her wrong, but she was pretty sure that doing it nearly fifty times the right way was excessive. Could you think how many times she was going to do this current move? She hadn't even got the point of getting it right yet!

That was a really depressing thought. Just how many times was she going to have to do this? It just wasn't coming to her today. She didn't see how she was supposed to move differently to get it right, her limbs didn't want to cooperate.

"Get up," Moody grunted at her. "And do it again."

"You want me to fall again?" She said snarkily, still very much lying on the floor.

Hey, she was sore and tired and hungry which meant she wasn't exactly thinking before speaking. That and Tonks had found (by accident) that Moody didn't seem to mind a bit of cheekiness from her. He hadn't called her up for it anyway. Though, the tone she had just used was a bit more than cheeky but he just gave her a warning look. Which, it turned out, was much more effective than a telling off.

"I want you to do it right this time."

"What do you think that I've been trying to do?" She demanded, trying not to make her voice come out as a whine.

It turned out that that was another one of his rules - no whining. Because it got you nowhere and it pissed him off. Even a hint of whining got her laps around that damn running track. So, she was careful not to whine. Running as was something she definitely did not need today - her day was ready crappy enough as it was.

"Make a fool of yourself."

She opened and closed her mouth at that. How on earth was she supposed to respond? Was he even allowed to speak to her like that? Granted, this was Moody so he could probably speak to anyone whatever damn way he pleased never mind a lowly Trainee.

"Get your arse off the floor and try again. Actually, try this time." He ordered.

"I have been trying!"

He snorted at that. "Could have fooled me."

A bolt of anger shot through her but it was also tempered with a feeling of hopelessness.

"It's not my fault you picked a defective Trainee," she pointed out self-deprecatingly. "That's all on you."

He'd been huffing and puffing at her and her feet all day and she was kind of sick of it. He was the one who picked her after watching her for Merlin knows how long. And apparently it had been quite some time from some of the comments he'd made about her incidents with that stupid training dummy. Which was kind of creepy because Tonks swore that she'd never seen him except for those last few days before the Mentors made their selections. But whatever. He had watched her. He had seen her. He knew what she was like. What, did he think that all that falling and tripping was just a show? Something to make all the other trainees laugh? Well, it looked like she disappointed him there. What you saw was what you got.

She was just going to ignore the sting at the thought of disappointing Moody. Because it was stupid for him to be disappointed because, well, he should have known!

She let all that anger and annoyance fuel her as she continued.

"I mean, you watched me for days, maybe even a week, whatever, at the start! You knew what I was like! How stupidly clumsy I am! It's not my fault that I'm with you because you picked me and now, you're surprised that I can't do stuff like this? Oh, just shove it!"

Tears were stinging her eyes but she blinked rapidly to get rid of them. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to cry. Not in front of him. No way. She wasn't going to give him that.

She was going to look him right in the eyes, even that fake one, with her chin up. None of this was her fault.

She met his stare and she almost dropped it again, not expecting to see what she saw in them. There was annoyance, a bit of anger, shock and was that... was that respect that she saw in his eyes. She blinked and it wasn't there anymore. Nah, she had to have been imaging it. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody didn't respect anyone, least of a stupid, piddling first year trainee. Even if he had hand-picked her. For whatever reason.

Tonks was seriously starting to think that the only reason he was the first trainee he had chosen in years was because he was bored and just wanted someone to torture daily and get away with it. Even kick-ass, famous Aurors got bored, after all.

"You're not defective." He said finally and she blinked at him.

What? Tonks shook her head, not sure that she'd hear him correctly. "Weren't you listening to anything I'd been say? Seen what I've been doing? Or not doing, I-"

"Right," he said suddenly, holding out his hand so that she would stop. "That's enough."

She blinked at him, breathing hard and feeling confused. She hadn't got it yet, what was he talking about? Wasn't she supposed to keep on doing this until she had got it? That was the whole point of learning something, wasn't it? And Moody was not the sort to let you off.

"Sir?" And then winced as he glared at her, she'd forgot. "I mean, Auror Moody?"

In her defence, she was very confused about this turn of events. One minute he was pushing her and telling her off and now he wanted her to stop? What was going on?

"You are going to take a break."

"A break?" She asked, like the word was foreign to her.

And, let's be honest, with the day she'd been having it may as well have been.

"Yes, a break," he nodded like it was the most obvious thing for her to do. "And you're going to come back after that hour break - yes, an hour - with your sense back in your head."

She stood there, staring at him.

"Go!" He barked.

That made her jump and all but scuttle out the door.

"And go at get something to eat," he barked at her, walking away. "Damn stomach of yours has been distracting me all morning."