Disclaimer: I own Aweina and the plot. You steal Aweina, she'll hex you into oblivion, you steal the plot, she'll hex you into oblivion and I will beat you with a mallet. Yup.

Muse responsible: Rrissa.

Thoughts

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The thing with assigning homework, Aweina found, was that the professor eventually had to correct it. She glared through her scarf at a pile of first-year essays, assigned Wednesday and turned in Thursday. Determining that they weren't going to vanish under her glare, Aweina sighed and dipped her quill in the purple ink she kept for correcting.

Right answer, right, wrong, right…

Aweina, in general, disliked reading. Before she had lost her eyes, she had liked it well enough, but now it was rather difficult for the Auror to read for more than a few minutes before getting a headache.

Sure enough, several times through her correcting Aweina found that one of her eyes was focused on the sheet below the one she was correcting, or that both of her eyes were focused on the one below the one she was correcting, resulting in quiet swearing and much use of the Erasing charm.

After twenty minutes or so of correcting, Aweina put her quill down and pressed her hands against her eye sockets under the scarf. "Ow," she muttered, allowing her eyes to focus on different things and begin to lazily spin, as usual.

I think I have cramps in my eyes, thought Aweina, irritably, I've forgotten how hard it is to keep both focused on one thing for so long.

She stood and left her desk, figuring she would finish grading the three assignments that remained later. Aweina shut the door to her office and wandered down the halls of Hogwarts, rather aimlessly. A few classrooms were occupied, but Aweina happened to be on break until an hour before dinner.

At last, she wandered into the staff room. It was empty, as she had expected, so Aweina sat down with a sigh in one of the chairs.

Allowing her eyes to spin lazily, Aweina glimpsed a fourth-year cutting class and nicking food from the kitchens-she made a note to catch him when he came past the staffroom-Madam Pince shelving books in the library, a Potions class several floors below busily adding powders and liquids to their cauldrons. Aweina watched with one eye for a few minutes interestedly, while the other eye kept a lookout for the errant student.

The fourth-year passed the staffroom, munching on a cookie, and Aweina called into the hall, "Detention and ten points from Hufflepuff, Robinson. Report to Filch on Saturday at four."

Robinson jumped and bolted, and Aweina didn't go after him.

The bells rang for break, and the halls filled with chattering students. Aweina saw Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger heading towards the staffroom.

"Wonder what they want…" she muttered to herself, standing and stretching, slowly.

There was a knock on the doorframe. "Enter," said Aweina, finishing her stretch and wincing at a pop in her left elbow-she had broken it a few years ago in a scuffle with a few Dark wizards, and it still twinged from time to time.

The three Gryffindors came into the room, and Aweina turned to face them. "Yes?" she said, shaking out her left arm. The students looked at each other.

Aweina waited.

"Professor," said Harry, at last, glancing back towards the door, "I talked to Professor Dumbledore earlier this year, and…well…he told me you would be teaching the DA."

"Which would be…what?" said Aweina, keeping her face turned towards Harry, but allowing her eyes to wander.

"The special Defense group we started last year," said Hermione, smoothly. "To practice practical Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"You mean the little group called Dumbledore's Army, then," said Aweina, spinning her eyes to watch their reactions. Ron's eyes widened, Hermione's eyebrows went up and her mouth opened slightly, and Harry blinked several times.

"Uh…yes," said Harry, finally, caught off-balance. Aweina watched their expressions fade and momentarily envied the use of their eyes and eyebrows to convey their emotions.

"I am going to be teaching it," she said, sitting back down and leaning back in her chair, "You were correct. When is the next meeting?"

"Tonight," said Hermione, immediately. "In the Room of Requirement, from seven to eight-thirty."

"I'll be there," said Aweina, "Thank you for letting me know. Though next time, I would appreciate it if you scheduled it with me."

The students took their cue and left the room.

Almost class-time, realized Aweina, I should get back for those fifth years.

She went back to her classroom. The uncorrected sheets were still on her desk, and Aweina sighed in exasperation. Picking up the quill, she managed to correct all of them with a minimum of mistakes before her fifth-year class arrived.

This class was Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fifth years. They sat quietly, waiting for Aweina to finish. The corners of Aweina's mouth twitched as she graded the last assignment. Less than a week, and I'm already developing a reputation, she thought, wryly, before standing and beginning her lesson.

Dinner was meatloaf, one of Aweina's favorites. She noted with amusement that several students still watched her, fascinated at the way she picked things up and set them down without apparently looking at them-though when she turned her face to them and tilted her head quizzically, they tended to return to their own meals rather hastily. Dessert was blueberry cobbler; then came Aweina's first DA meeting.

The Auror tried to arrive early to the class; however, even by entering the room at six forty-five, everyone was already there. "It looks like I'm the one that's late," she quipped as she closed the door behind her. A few laughs met her ears before the room fell silent again.

Harry managed to push his way through the gathering to stand in front of Aweina. "I taught this group last year, Professor," he said, "Stunners, hexes, shield charms, disarming charms, and we had just started the Patronus Charm when we were…interrupted."

"I see," said Aweina. "Have you worked in teams, or have you been concentrating on solitary defense?"

"Uh…solitary defense," said Harry, blinking. "I didn't really think about teams…"

"That's where we'll start, then," replied Aweina, crisply. "We'll get to the Patronus after I see where your initial levels are."

Looking over the group, Aweina stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled, in just the way her cousins had taught her all those summers ago. The piercing tone silenced any remaining chatterers.

"Harry tells me you're up to speed on solitary defense," she said, "And you had just started the Patronus Charm."

Nods, mutters of agreement. "Do we get to keep working on it?" asked Ron.

"Eventually," replied Aweina, and waited for the sighs of disappointment. "We are going to do something I did in Auror training-dividing into teams. I'd like to try this today, if you wouldn't mind."

The group looked to Harry, who nodded. Aweina held back a smile. "Very well then. We shall be in two groups today."

The students began to move, but Aweina shook her head. "I'll choose," she said, knowing that they would gather into groups of friends, which wasn't the point she was trying to make. Aweina pointed to various students and indicated what side of the room they should go to. "Weasley, there, Granger, there, Chang, there, Finch-Fletchley, right? Yes, over there." After a few minutes, the group was completely divided.

Aweina thought for a moment. It wouldn't exactly do to run around the school hexing each other, but…

She had forgotten about the Room of Requirement. Somehow, it expanded and shifted, until it was a maze of bookshelves and tables. Aweina stared in amazement. "Right," she managed, after a few moments. "We need to be able to tell the groups apart-"

"How about these?" said Ginny Weasley, holding up several colored scarves from somewhere. Aweina nodded. "Those will work very well. You-" she pointed to one group-"Will be the Orange team. You will be the Purple team," she added, pointing to the other. "Tie the scarves on your right upper arms."

"What are you, Professor?" asked Harry, politely. "You're wearing a blue scarf." His eyes flickered to look at the band around her eyes. Aweina turned her face towards him.

"Because I will be watching," she retorted, blandly. "Now. Accio!" she said, pointing her wand at the remaining two scarves.

They flew to her, and Aweina caught them. "How many of you have ever played the Muggle game Capture the Flag?" she asked, separating the scarves until she held one in each hand.

A few Muggle-borns raised their hands. Most people looked blank. Aweina set to explaining the game. "My first teacher when I began Auror training-not Alastor-was a Muggle-born," she said, "This was one of our main team exercises. Capture the Flag is a game where each time tries to steal the other team's flag-in this case, scarf." She held up the scarves. "The first team that captures the other flag wins. However, there are rules you need to follow. Firstly, each team has a 'side,' which-oh." Aweina stared at a line that had suddenly drawn itself across the room.

Suppressing a shiver at the uncanny way the room read her thoughts, Aweina said, "The Room has kindly taken care of this. This side-" she pointed-"is the Orange side. The other side is the Purple side. If you cross to the other side, you may be hexed. When you are hexed, you are 'wounded' and must remain at the place where you were hexed-that is, if the hex in question allows you to stay-until another of your team crosses and counter-hexes you. You cannot counter-hex from your side of the line-you must be at least three feet from the 'wounded' wizard in question."

Aweina thought for a moment. "You may not Summon the opposing team's scarf, move it from where it is hidden, or charm it in any way. If you are guarding the flag, it's all very well, but guards may be hexed even on their own side. In fact, I'm going to change a rule. No matter what side you are on, you may be hexed by a member of the opposite team. Questions?"

No questions. Aweina handed the scarves to a member of each team and said, "Hide these on your sides. I will be up there-" she looked around and found a table with a chair on it which had a good view of the entire playing field-"And if any one of you disobeys the rules, I will call a foul and hex the offender. And be warned-" Aweina smiled, "Bookshelves and tables are no barrier to me. Right. Hide your flags, decide on a strategy if you so desire, and we will begin when I whistle."

The students dispersed, and Aweina clambered onto the table and sat down in the chair. After a few minutes, both teams seemed ready.

Aweina whistled, and the game began.

Nothing happened for the first few minutes, which was usual for Capture the Flag. Aweina immediately noted that the Purple team had spread out, hiding behind tables and shelves in the "corridors", obviously intending to hex anyone who came in their way. The Orange team had guards as well, but there was a small group off to the far side of the room which Aweina was watching…

Orange team crossed the line, five people in an arrow. So someone remembered my class, thought Aweina, remembering how she had told the sixth-years to advance in a V.

They got fairly far before a defender jumped out from behind a corner and Petrified two of the team. Two of the remaining three leapt in front of the third and shouted hexes themselves as the last un-hexed the Petrified students. They grinned at each other as the Purple fell, elated with success.

"Stupid," muttered Aweina, "Keep a rear-guard-ah."

Another Purple had crept up behind and, instead of shouting hexes, whispered them, picking off three of the five before the Oranges noticed. They whirled in surprise, but the Purple had the advantage and Stunned both of them.

Several Purples were now on the Orange side, working in pairs rather than in larger groups. The pairs were spread out evenly, searching for the flag.

And that was when someone tried to break one of the rules. An Orange was hiding in a niche between shelves on the Purple side and was trying to un-hex his fallen teammates. Aweina raised her wand and Petrified him. The boy looked rather startled as he fell over.

Meanwhile, the Purples had met duels of their own. The pairs were apparently working, but one pair had run into a group of four and were hexed. One was Stunned, the other had been hit with a Tickling Charm and was rolling on the floor with laughter. But…

The giggling Purple had managed to snatch up her wand and wave it around enough so some sparks shot out of the end. They hovered above her, rising up several feet to form a thin column.

Alerted, some other Purples came to their aid and rescued them.

Aweina spotted a student tucked into a corner, whispering charms and pointing her wand at the scarf around her arm-apparently trying to change the color. Aweina rolled her eyes-and no one could quite roll eyes like her, since they went spinning around her head-and Stunned her.

The game progressed, neither side really gaining an advantage. Aweina had to hex three more students before they got the idea and stopped breaking rules; after that, the game was rather dull.

Neither side had an actual strategy-it mostly seemed to be running into the other territory in groups and getting hexed. Neither team even got near the other flags.

After a while, Aweina whistled again. The groups gathered-unhexing those in their path-near where she sat.

"That," said Aweina turning her face to stare from student to student, "Was terrible. Neither team had a defined strategy-it seemed to be simply little groups rushing into the other team's territory and getting hexed. Neither of you got even near the other team's flag."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" retorted a Ravenclaw. Aweina turned her face to the speaker and "stared" at her for several seconds. When the one in question shifted uncomfortably, Aweina continued. "We have about an hour left. Go back to your teams, formulate a strategy, and use it for the rest of the game. I will give you five minutes. Go."

The Purples and Oranges divided into huddles, whispering fiercely. Occasionally a head would pop up and look around, before diving back in.

After a few minutes, the Oranges dispersed and scattered. The Purples remained for a few minutes more, and scattered as well. Aweina whistled.

The strategies immediately came into play. Orange pressed an attack, sending about half their group into Purple territory. They overcame by force of numbers, and as they pressed deeper, a few lingerers on the edges darted away and farther into Purple territory-obviously scouting for the flag.

Purple retaliated by sending their numbers behind the Oranges, cutting them off from their own side. Shouted hexes and Stunners flew all over.

Meanwhile, several Purples slipped into Orange territory. They scattered, clearly intending to use stealth rather than numbers as they penetrated deeper. Orange managed to cut off most of them, but two of them got around-

And a Purple laid hands on the Orange flag. Grabbing the flag, the Purple fled, continuously renewing a Shield Charm around herself.

An Orange had the Purple flag as well. Now most of the Purples were in a dilemma-if they went and chased the flag-bearer, they left the main force of Oranges unattended.

But they couldn't lose the flag.

Several Purples detached themselves from the Oranges and ran to block the flag-stealer, as those who had been guarding the flag came to hex the remaining Oranges. Meanwhile, the Purples on the Orange side had gathered around their flag-bearer, and were guarding her by hexing everyone in her path. One misplaced Stunner knocked down the Orange flag-bearer-

And the Purple ran across the line, winning the game to cheers from her teammates.

Instantly, the Room of Requirement reverted to having the bookshelves and tables at the walls of the room with the hexed on the ground, waiting to be returned to normal. Aweina spared a few moments to Ennervate several Stunned students, and soon all of them were back on their feet.

"Now, that was a good game," said Aweina, "Wonderful strategy from both teams." She proceeded with more compliments, then began to point out flaws in each strategy and how to correct them.

The end of their time came, and Aweina dismissed them with, "Now get to your dormitories, or I'll have to put you in detention. And leave the scarves."

The students left, and Aweina closed the door behind herself. She stood in the hall for a moment, staring at nothing in particular. Or, rather, one eye was staring at one of the walls, and the other was looking down a floor or two at Peeves busy rigging something to a nearby suit of armor.

"That was incredible…if the Auror staff heard about this, they'd snap the DA up the moment they set foot out of Hogwarts after graduation…" she muttered, stunned by the level of skill they had shown. "That was incredible."

At last returning to herself, Aweina set off to her own rooms, intending to hang a few pictures before going to bed.

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-Fireblade K'Chona