Disclaimer: See the name of the site? Fan. Fiction. I am a fan. This is not canon. I own only Aweina, the plot,and random students I may or may not make up. If you take Aweina ormy plot,I will beat you over the head with a mallet until you give it or her back. Thank you.

Muse responsible: Rrissa!

Aweina's thoughts

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Aweina got out of bed the next morning as sun streamed in the window. Dressing in her regular black robes, she tied a black scarf around her eyes and headed down to breakfast, whistling idly.

There was a schedule for her neatly sitting on her plate. Aweina picked it up and focused both eyes on it. First class Gryffindor and Slytherin sixth years… she read, silently, Double for them. Right. Then first years till lunch, then third years, then break until dinner. Can do. Folding the parchment, Aweina stuffed it in one of her several pockets and poured herself some tea.

After breakfast, she went back up to her classroom. Turning to the board, she wrote the words "Professor Aquila" on the board and hastily stuffed the parchment and quills on her desk into drawers. Summoning her homework plan, she set it on her desk and found "Sixth year."

Nothing caught her attention, so Aweina decided to let the sixth years off homework today, unless, of course,something occurred to her mid-lesson.

That done, Aweina sat on her desk and set one eyeball to watching the hall outside her door. It wasn't long before the students arrived, lining up and chatting quietly in the hall.

"Door's open," she called, rather amused.

The sixth years took this as permission to enter, which it was. Slowly, they filed in and took seats around the room. Aweina waited. There were still whispered conversations going on, and more than once she caught, "blind" and "scarf."

So they think I'm blind? They're going to get a surprise… she thought to herself as she counted heads. The number of sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins tallied with the number she had counted on her roll list.

At last, one of the students said, "But she's blind!" slightly louder than he had probably intended. The class hushed as every head turned to look at Aweina.

Let's go for the puzzling but humorous approach, Aweina thought to herself. "Yes, I am blind," she said, mildly, "But I can read lips."

There was hasty nodding among the sixth years, but it slowed as they tried to work out what she had actually said. At last, a bushy-haired brunette raised her hand. Aweina pointed at her and said, "You. Miss?…"

"Hermione Granger, Professor Aquila," said the girl, putting her hand down. "Um…what?"

Aweina smiled very slightly and turned her head in Hermione's direction, watching her. "Yes?" she asked, after a long silence. "What, what?"

She was at Headquarters this summer, she thought, Though apparently, she hasn't ever noticed me. Well…I am rather shorter than everyone else… Aweina brought her attention back to Hermione.

The girl blinked. "If you're blind, how can you read lips?" she asked, clarifying.

"Ah," said Aweina, "You go right for the personal questions, don't you?" She continued watching Hermione. Ronald Weasley, who she recognized from several Order meetings-not that he had been there, but she had seen him in the halls-and Harry Potter were also looking at her, apparently amused. "You had Alastor Moody as a professor several years ago, did you not?" asked Aweina, at last.

There was a chorus of yeses and nods around the room.

"Remember his eye?"

Another round of yeses and nods.

Aweina shifted her weight. "Two years before You-Know-Who fell, I was a part of a select team of Aurors. We were summoned one night to a place where Death Eaters were launching an attack on Muggles. As soon as I Apparated there with the rest of my team, I was hit in the eyes six times in a row with a Lashing Curse. That's a Dark spell that rips away flesh as if struck with a whip."

Most of the class winced. "So I was down, and fairly soon it became obvious that there were too many Death Eaters for us to handle. The rest of my team was either down or separated from Alastor and I, and Alastor, who was my mentor at the time, covered me while we waited for the mediwizards to get there. Alastor fought off four, maybe more-I couldn't see, obviously-Death Eaters single-handedly in his guardianship of my life for quite some time before mediwizards came and got me away from there."

Aweina paused for a moment. Eyes had widened around the room, and a few were muttering to each other. "Those curses cost me my sight. After intense rehabilitation of the tissue around my eyes, Alastor made me two eyes similar to his own, which I wear now. I thank him every time I see him for my regained sight." Aweina finished her story and waited again for the inevitable question about the scarf.

Sure enough, someone else raised their hand. Aweina pointed. "You. Mr…"

"Neville Longbottom, Professor," said the boy, nervously, "Um…if you don't mind my asking, why do you wear a scarf around your eyes?"

Aweina raised her eyebrows before she realized this had little to no effect. Ten years and more and I still try to use useless facial expressions, she thought ruefully, before answering, "My eyes can see through multiple layers of stone and wood. Do you truly think a single barrier of cloth hinders my sight?"

Before anyone answered, she stood and walked briskly to the center of the room. "We have delayed our lesson too long."

Allowing her eyes to travel over the students, Aweina said, "Who here is considering a career as an Auror?"

Harry raised his hand instantly, as did Ron. Hermione half-raised her hand, and a few other hands rose into the air.

"How many of all of you think you have any idea of what being an Auror actually means?" Aweina asked, next.

Harry kept his hand up, but most of everyone else put them down.

Time for the fireworks… thought Aweina, Let's see…I have that resistance for Stunning after training-if I dodge, I should only get hit once or twice, and anything else I should be able to handle. If I can't…well, I'll recover. Dumbledore said some of them fought off Death Eaters…so I should be careful.

Aweina went to the desk closest to the door and began walking along them. "You, come out to center floor," she said, pointing to a Gryffindor girl. "And you, and you," she added, passing over Harry and choosing Ron and Neville. "You two, too," she said at last, choosing a Slytherin girl and another Slytherin boy. "Names."

"Lavender Brown," said the Gryffindor girl.

"Ron Weasley, and he's Neville Longbottom," said Ron, pointing at Neville.

"Pansy Parkinson," said the Slytherin girl, eyeing Aweina up and down.

"Blaise Zabini," said the boy at last.

"Very well," said Aweina, "I want you to get into a V formation and attack me with your wands."

Aweina was treated to the entire class looking either shocked or blank. "Now," she said in a clipped tone, which sent the students scrambling into a formation. "I am going to try and show you a taste of what being an Auror is like, though it will be rather scaled down. You," she said, waving at the five students she had chosen, "Are Dark Wizards. I am a lone Auror. You advance in formation, then do whatever you wish-split up, clump together, whatever. Now."

Ron was the first one to fire off a curse-"Stupefy!" he shouted, pointing his wand at Aweina.

Alastor's Auror training instantly took over. Aweina dropped and rolled as the Stunning spell shot over her, coming up on her feet as the Slytherins shot two curses at her in unison-a Jelly-legs curse, which she blocked, and another Stunning spell, which clipped her. Aweina staggered for a moment, then recovered. Blaise looked shocked. "Sorry!" he said, stepping out of formation, "I-"

Aweina ducked another curse and shouted, "Be original! You're one sad lot of Dark Wizards, asking an Auror-your enemy-if she's all right!"

Neville shouted "Furnunculus!" which rebounded at Aweina's quickly fired Shield spell.

"Petrificus Totalis!" she called, pointing her wand at Pansy. The girl's body went rigid as she fell.

"Come on!" Aweina yelled again. "I'm limited to the Body-Bind, but you are making this easy!"

"Expecto Patronum!" shouted Neville, wildly. His wisp of a Patronus shot over Aweina's head. "What was that supposed to do?" Aweina barked as she blocked another spell and Petrified Ron Weasley.

Her left eye, rolling behind her, gave her a hint of warning slightly too late. A Jelly-Legs hex hit Aweina squarely, dropping her to the ground. Aweina muttered a few choice words too quietly for the students to hear-luckily-and put up another Shield spell as she unhexed herself. It wasn't easy, working magic on yourself, but-well, if you didn't get good at it on the battlefield, you were pretty much doomed.

Standing again, she got Neville Body-Bound before having to roll and dodge another hex from Lavender Brown. "This is more like it," she called approvingly, at last nabbing Blaise. "But you're down to just you now," she finished, standing and advancing on Lavender.

The student aimed a Stunner at Aweina, but not before the Auror Petrified her.

"The exercise is over," she said, going around and freeing the trapped students, who stood and went back to their desks. "Now, replace all those Jelly-leg hexes and Body-binds with Dark and Unforgivable curses, as well as far stronger Defense spells."

The class was silent as they thought this over. "An Auror has to be trained enough to withstand and win a battle like that," said Aweina, quietly. "Notice that with five against me, and hexes and jinxes flying all over the place, I only got hit once and clipped by a Stunner."

The class was still quiet. Aweina cleared her throat and went to the board, picking up a piece of chalk. "But I'm not here to teach you about being an Auror, unless you want private tutoring," she said, giving Harry a brief "glance," or rather the turning of her face towards him momentarily, though her eyes were spinning over the class. "I'm here to teach you how to defend yourself against Dark curses."

Turning to the blackboard, Aweina began her lesson, writing a list of spells down the board, making a list of categories, and calling up students one by one to categorize them. Some had nothing to do with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Some were names of Dark curses. Others were counterjinxes. The lesson went on as they finished categorizing and moved on to practicing Shield Charms and other useful defense spells.

At the end of the class, Aweina decided to give some homework anyway and called out, "Sixteen inches on alternative Shield charms to be turned in on Thursday!"

There were good-natured grumbles and a few true moans as the students left the room. Once they were gone, Aweina dropped into the chair behind her desk and rubbed her temples. Why did I think teaching would be easy?

But as the next set of students entered, Aweina shook the thought from her head and stood again, to continue her teaching.

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-Fireblade K'Chona