Tonks tried not to groan too loudly as she flung herself back on her bed. Of course, she completely misjudged it and cracked her head off her headboard which meant that her groan turned into a yelp. That always hurt No matter how many times she did it. Then she realised that she had made a loud noise and held her breath. A few seconds passed and nothing. Phew. She let out a sigh of relief.
Her mother hadn't heard her, thank Merlin. She did not need her right now. She didn't need the fussing or the scolding or any of that. She just wanted to be left alone. You'd think as an only child with both parents working full time that that would be an easy thing but she hadn't realised just how much they all talked with each other in this house. Seriously, there was only three of them why were there always three conversations going at once? Surely there should only be two, max? But no, that's not how they did things. It wasn't usually annoying, it was way better than a house where no one spoke, but sometimes she just wanted peace and quiet. And yes, she was aware of how ironic that was when she was the cause of most of the noise. Today she wasn't. Today, she wanted peace and quiet.
Look, she loved her mother, of course she did, but since she had finally finished with school, she had been driving her round the bend wanting to get things ready and done because that's what her mother was like. She was an organiser. A planner. Tonks could be like that too, when she felt like she needed to and she didn't feel like she needed too right now, not with this sort of urgency anyway. She had two whole months. Well, seven weeks because this first week of summer was basically over but still. September was ages away and she would have things sorted by then. She would.
And she would even have plenty of time to enjoy summer as well. Because you were supposed to enjoy summer. Even when you were an adult. Yes, she was aware she was going to be working summers from now on but she could still enjoy it, right? She would still take holidays. There would still be good weather to enjoy in the evenings. Summers were made for fun of some sort. Or at least relaxation. And she wanted to relax right now so that's what she was going to do. Unfortunately, not outside because it was raining. Typical British weather. She bet that the weather would be amazing when she started the Academy because that just how that would work.
Urgh, work. She didn't want to think about work or anything close to it right now. Relax. She was supposed to be relaxing, not working or organising things.
See, she had decided that she was going to move out before she joined the Academy. It just felt like it was something she should do. Her parents weren't kicking her out or anything, they had told her that they'd be happy to have her live here while she studied, it would let her save a bit of money but Tonks had wanted to move out. Experience London a bit. And yes, that included pubs and clubs and the like; she didn't really want to face her parents when tipsy or anything more than that. What eighteen-year-old did? She was just being realistic here. But she also wanted to experience London in other ways than that as well. As an independent adult. By herself. Because she could.
Her parents had said that she could do that while staying at home and she believed them, she did. But it wasn't going to be the same thing, doing things as an adult while coming back home. No, she wanted a place that was hers. Yes, even though her parents pointed out that the Academy might make it that she barely spent any time outside of it.
Pointing out that she might not even get into the Academy in return didn't help either. All that got her was a lecture on believing in herself and all the hard work she had put into her exams. Which had been a lot. Of course, it had been a lot. She had been the one studying. She had been the one who desperately wanted to pass her exams. But whatever, she got that they were just trying to help and be supportive and all that. Which was great, it really was. And, even if she wasn't going to admit it out loud, it was kind of nice to know that if she wasn't successful in finding a flat that she was still welcome to live at home. She'd heard so many people at school say that their parents expected them to be out of the house before the end of the summer or even before summer ended, it was wild. She definitely preferred her parents take on it. It was all driven by her. Which was good.
Except for the whole actually finding a flat nonsense. There was just so much to think about, it wasn't even funny. Most importantly there were prices of flats and whether or not they would be in her budget. Her small budget because as a Trainee Auror she was definitely not paid well. And then there was area and she wasn't just talking about the shops and pubs and clubs. No, she was talking about avoiding dodgy areas and the like because although she had magic, she wasn't going to be stupid. That and no matter how capable she was she was pretty sure that her parents would put their foot down when it came to dodgy areas. Not that she wanted to live in any sort of dodgy area. What was she even talking about again? Oh yeah, budget for apartments. In decent-ish areas. In London. Why did she feel like that was going to be almost impossible?
No, she couldn't think like that. This sort of thing you had to be positive. And realistic. It didn't mean that either of those things had to cancel each other out. Hopefully.
The worst thing? She hadn't even started looking het. Not properly. No looking in the newspapers for ads or checking out streets for rental signs. All she had been doing was think and try to come up with a plan because surely if she did that then she could avoid a whole lot of bother and wasted time, right? Right? That was definitely the best way to go about it. Have a good plan. There was no point in looking unless she had a plan. She even a piece of parchment that had the heading 'PLAN' at the top in big letters. It didn't have anything under it except 'find a good flat' but it was a start. You had to start somewhere.
Actually, she was going to start right now. Tonks got out of bed and sat at her desk. Yes. She was going to plan everything out. Cracking her knuckles, she grabbed the nearest quill.