"What on earth happened at the World Cup?" Her mother demanded as soon as she set foot in the house that evening. It was about a week on after everything happened and it was the first chance she got off, her and her friends having been put on the weekend shift last weekend because all the Senior Aurors 'deserved a break', apparently. Which meant she was off on a Wednesday and Thursday which felt weird but she wasn't about to complain. Time off was time off and Merlin knows, her brain needed a break. Not that her parents were letting it take one.

"Huh?" She asked in confusion.

What were they talking about? Had she walked into the middle of an argument again and now they were expecting her to take sides? Because that had happened once before and although it had been amusing, it had also been annoying and she would really rather not when she was feeling this tired, you know?

"The World Cup, Nymphadora," she said impatiently. "What actually happened? There were Death Eaters?"

Tonks blinked stupidly at her mother while she tried to process what she had just said. She had actually forgotten that this had happened in public and that the news had reported on it. It was hard to remember that when all she saw were internal reports and notes all day and then went straight home because you were too tired and too sore a head to do anything else. Who would have thought that being an Auror required so much reading. They should really put those on the careers leaflets they got given at school.

"Allegedly. Yes."

That got her an inpatient noise.

"What does that mean? What exactly is happening? What is being done?"

That was a lot of questions. Thankfully, she had been told how to answer them, even though she was sure her mother wasn't going to like the answer.

"We aren't actually too involved in that investigation," she said slowly.

Yep. There was a displeased look. Definitely didn't like that.

"And I don't think she would be able to tell us many details even if she was, Annie," Ted said gently although he also looked worried and anxious.

No, she wouldn't, kt turned out. She hadn't thought about that when she became an Auror but she was dealing with sensitive material just like her mum and dad did with being a solicitor and Healer respectively. Scrimgeour herself had made that vert clear to them. His glare wasn't quite as impressive as Moody's but it got his point across. There would be no sharing of details. So, she wasn't going to do that. Something she had thought was going to be easy but seeing her parents like this... well, Tonks bit her lip. She couldn't say anything. She couldn't.

"The Ministry of Magic has ensured that the problems that arose at the end of the World Cup were nothing more than a hoax and the results of an unfortunate level of inebriation. We can assure the public that there is nothing to be concerned about," she recited like she had been told to if a member of the public approached her.

Ignoring the fact that they were still very much investigating this and a lot of the Senior Aurors were very much on edge. Not like how her parents were but more in a ready to fight sort of way. Like her parents, they remembered The Before and all the signs that were originally missed before it became an all-out war. There were signs like this.

"I can't have all this start again, Ted. I just can't."

"It's not going to start up again."

"You can't know that!"

"We would know."

"We didn't know the last time until it was too late!"

"We can't get ahead of ourselves."

"It's always better to be prepared, you know that."

"For what? We don't even know there's anything to get prepared for."

"Edward."

"Andromeda."

Why did it feel like she was intruding in a very private moment? It was making her feel uncomfortable. What was she supposed to say? How were you supposed to make your parents feel better when it was supposed to be the other way around?

Tonks had never felt so helpless before. She didn't like the fact that her parents looked so anxious and scared. It didn't feel right. These were her parents. They shouldn't be able to get scared. This was wrong. They shouldn't be like that. And the World Cup was what did this to them? She didn't know what to do. Was she supposed to comfort them? That felt wrong. How was she supposed to do that when she couldn't fix anything anyway?

"More tea?" She suggested, feeling like that was the only productive thing she could do.

Needless to say, she returned to work the next Monday feeling down in the dumps. She needed to find out what was going on so she could put her parents mind at rest. Things were going to be fine. They had to be. She just had to get proof of that. If the rest of the Auror Department would let her.

Because things couldn't go back to the way it was when she was a child, right? That was all behind them now. Things were fine. Things were good. This was just people being stupid, really stupid. It had to be. Because things couldn't go back to how they were. They just couldn't.

But who was she supposed to asl? She was just a new Auror, still in her damn Probationary period. No one knew her. And those who knew of her didn't exactly like her or approve of her or whatever. Was it even something she should be asking?

"What's up?" Asked Mainwaring, poking his head in her cubicle.

"Huh? What? Nothing. Fine. I'm fine."

His eyebrows went way up.

"Riiiiight. Sure."

"I'm fine."

"Pretty sure no one believes anyone who says it like that."

"Shut up."

"Nah, that's boring."

And, instead of taking a hint, he came in a plopped himself in the random chair that didn't belong to anyone.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she got himself comfortable.

Well, as comfortable as you could make yourself in an office chair.

"I'm bored and I need entertained."

"So, you came to me?"

"Yes. You're always fun to be around."

"Should I be flattered or suspicious?"

"Probably both."

She couldn't help it, she laughed, making him grin.

"Well, I'm bored as well and have no clue what to do," she said with a shrug.

"Well, what were you thinking of before I came in?"

"Nothing. I told you I'm fine."

"Still don't believe you but whatever. Come on, let's think of something to do."

She suddenly had an idea.

"Think we could ever get a look at some of those important files?" She asked as conversationally as she could.

"Trying to get a leg up and impress people?" He teased.

"More like I'm bored and nosey," she laughed off.

"Same but I don't recommend. I tried to take a peek at some left on Matheson's desk and he gave me an earful," he said dolefully rubbing at his ear as he remembered.

"Seriously? You picked Matheson to try and sneak past? You do realise he basically hates all of us thanks to McCabbert?"

"I didn't know that!"

"Uh huh. And him always shouting at us and making annoyed faces at us didn't tell you anything?"

"Nope."

She shook her head at him.

"You're an idiot."

"But enough of an idiot to try it again and try to have a look in those files with you," he said.

"Seriously?"

"Eh, why not? What can happen to us?"

"You can get in a lot of trouble," came a deeper voice from behind them.

They both jumped and Tonks fell off her chair in fright.

"Auror Matheson," they both said, scrambling to their feet.