"Pretty sure this is illegal," Tonks told her mum.

This wasn't a good idea; she was sure of it. Her mum didn't seem to think so but she certainly did. And wasn't that a one eighty for how things usually happened around here but Tonks was too busy stressing out to revel in the irony of this. Which was a shame because how many times was it that her mum was responsible for something, well, something irresponsible? Very few. Very, very few. And here was one of those times happening and she couldn't even enjoy it.

"This is not illegal, Nymphadora," Andromeda said rolling her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"It is not and come on, don't dawdle."

"I'm not dawdling, I can help that I'm short!"

"You are making this more difficult than it needs to be.

"You're a solicitor, mum, I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't be doing illegal things."

"I have told you that there is nothing illegal about what we are doing, Nymphadora," Andromeda said in exasperation. "And will you refrain from repeating that word anymore? Honestly, do you not know the meaning of being subtle? Or, better yet, keeping that mouth of yours shut?"

"I wouldn't have to if we weren't doing something wrong!"

"And I have told you countless times that we are not doing anything wrong."

"I'm pretty sure that you need a license to teach Apparition."

"You do."

Tonks gaped at her mother. How did she say that so calmly?

"So, we are doing something wrong."

"We are not."

Seriously, who was this and what had she done with her mother? She was straitlaced. She was a solicitor. She abided by rules. Thijs was not something she should be condoning! But here she was, the mastermind behind all of this!

"How is teaching me to apparate without you having a license to do so not wrong?"

Seriously, you did have to have a license to teach someone how to apparate. It was dangerous otherwise.

"I am not teaching You anything. You already know how to apparate. All I am doing is providing a safe place for you to practice."

"That's a loophole."

"Something every good solicitor knows how to exploit."

Because that made her feel better. Not.

"Now, come on," Andromeda said impatiently.

Tonks looked around and flung her arms out.

"Just what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?

They were in an alleyway, by the way. Her mother had dragged her into an alley, of all places. She scrunched up her nose, a rather smelly one at that despite nothing being down here. Which was bad in itself. Sure, there was some graffiti on the wall over there but even that was all faded, half of whatever the word had been wasn't even there. There wasn't even any rubbish, it was weird. She supposed that was why her mother brought her here, a seemingly abandoned area.

"Apparating, of course!"


"This is a bad idea," she muttered, looking all around.

Seriously, what was with her parents and apparating her into alleys recently? It was weird and kind of creepy. Especially since it was never a bright and wide alley that she was apparated to, it was always a dark and dingy one. The sort of alley you'd expect someone to jump out at you with a knife. The type the no sensible person would want to even risk going down. Which she supposed was the point of apparating here. No one would see them. But still! It didn't make it any less creepy feeling. She eyed the rather large crate suspiciously. Someone could definitely be hiding behind that. Apparently, her mum thought so too and sent a quick charm to check.

"Nothing," Andromeda said when Tonks looked to her for the results. "There's no one there."

"Huh."

She still didn't trust that crate, mind you. It was just all shadowy and weird and suspicious. But she did tear her gaze away from it and looked at her mum incredulously.

"This is really not a good idea. Really."

"It is," Andromeda dismissed her.

"What if I splinch myself, huh? What if that happens?"

"Then I contact St Mungo's for a Medi-Witch or Wizard." Why was her mum saying all of this so calmly? Then, noting her daughter's concern, she continued, "However you are not going to need one."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because you have managed it in Hogwarts so you will manage it here."

"But that's because after weeks and weeks I could picture right down to the grains in the wood where I was supposed to go!"

"Well, come over here then," Andromeda took a few steps and beckoned her over.

"What?"

Andromeda pointed down and Tonks raised an eyebrow.

"That's the ground, mum."

"Yes. And you are too become well acquainted with it."

"What?"

It was official, her mum had gone mad. Absolutely mad.

"This is where you will be apparating to first. Take a good look at it."

She did as she was told and looked down. It was a bit of pavement. Nothing special.

"Can you picture it?"

"I guess."

"Nymphadora! You need to be specific about this! I'm not going to have you splinched across multiple alleys!"

She looked down again and this time noticed that there were shards of brick making a rough triangle outline. Okay, that's what she would aim for since there was no circle for her to apparate into.

"Okay," she said, sounding more confident that she felt. "I know what it looks like."

"Let's get started then, shall we?"


"I did it!"

"Of course, you did," Andromeda said with an eye roll. "You were the one who said you already knew how."

But she looked proud of her, which was nice. Normally her mum was giving her a look of exasperation.

"This is different!"

They were away from school. Away from the Great Hall that she knew like the back of her hand. There were car noises and all sorts of other distractions in the background and she still did it! She got from one end of the alley to the other! That was a far cry from the spot in the ground her mum had made her apparate to first. She hadn't even walked the length of the alley never mind see exactly where her feet where to arrive and she still did it! She did it!

All there was now was the test. The test. With a tester and other students and - Tonks chewed on her lip nervously.

"You are going to be fine," Andromeda told her.

Told her, not reassured her. Like it was a fact. She was going to be fine. That was a fact. Her mum was that confidant in her. Which did make her feel a bit better, her mum wouldn't lie to her.

"Maybe for the test, get rid of the pink hair," she advised, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Tonks gave her a confused look. "What? My hair? Why?"

"It's a formal sort of test, you ought to be serious."

"It's one apparition test, I hardly need to look a certain way. Anyway, I had pink hair for my NEWTs."

"Oh, Nymphadora, you didn't."

"I did. Why does it even matter?"

Andromeda didn't answer her but rolled her eyes. Seriously, what was wrong with it? Surely all that mattered that she showed up for her exams? There was no harm in it. One of the practical examiners had even grinned when he saw it.

"It brought me luck!"

"If you say so."

"My results will show you."

"I hope they do. Just like your Apparition, you will do perfectly well on your NEWTs."

"Now you've mase me nervous for both of those things!" Tonks complained.

"Let's get your mind off them and see you go back to the house," Andromeda said with smirk and apparated away with a small 'crack' before giving her a chance to even think!

"That's cheating!" Tonks said to nothingness.

Someone poked their head down the alleyway with a confused look on their face.

"I'm fine!" Tonks called to them, giving them a wave.

The woman gave her an uncertain look but apparently unwillingly to engage with the crazy person with bright pink hair shouting to herself and promptly left. Fantastic. Right, she better get out of here before someone called the police or something, that was the last thing she needed before she entered the Academy. They might not even let her in!

Taking a deep breath, she carefully visualised her front door and... she was away!