Disclaimer: Kindly note the name of the website. Thank you. Now, all I own here is Aweina, the phrase "Dumbledore's Army, Doofus Amigos," and the plot. Oh yeah, also Aweina's friends and Persephone!
Muse responsible: Rrissa!
Aweina's thoughts and "-0o0-" will denote the beginning and end of a dream or flashback.
And before someone asks, it's just strange coincidence that all Aweina's sibling's names so far start with A. You'll find out about Allen and Andrew this chapter, but I swear I didn't mean to make their names start with A! So…live with it!
Oh, and I have Quidditch Through the Ages, which is where all the random Quidditch trivia came from.
Luckily, the incident with the Leglimens spell-which caused Severus to give occasional odd looks at Potter at mealtimes, the only part of the day when Aweina saw the two in the same room-was glossed over and forgotten. However, the rumors about what Aweina's scarf hid had gotten more horrific and more ridiculous.
Rather than feeling ashamed about it anymore-Aweina had gotten over that years before, after all-she was annoyed by it now. It had been mildly fun to turn her face towards students who didn't think she could see them and nod at them, but now they stopped in the halls to peer at her, in case her scarf had slipped, and mealtimes were irritating unless Aweina remembered to keep her eyes off the students.
She solved the problem in her classes, at least, by pushing her students hard, so they couldn't concentrate on her face lest they fall behind. Thursday-not the next DA meeting, that was Saturday-rolled around with the third years just before lunch. This lot-Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws-whispered amongst themselves less than other classes, perhaps, but they all peered curiously at her when they thought Aweina wasn't looking.
It was a very sunny day, but Aweina ignored the beauty outside as she called on a student who was staring at her. "Incantations for…Disarming charm, basic Shield Spell, and the Jelly-legs hex," Aweina said, pointing to the student in question, who jumped-Aweina had pointed right at her without turning her head.
She rattled off the three with barely any thought, though, and Aweina nodded in approval, awarding her house-Hufflepuff-with two points. She was about to call on another student when she cut off mid-word to swivel both eyes outside.
There was a flying class out there-first years, by the look of them, but one of them was rising off the ground to shouts from Madam Hooch. Aweina rushed to the window, and it became plain the broom was out of control-
"Accio broom!" she shouted, whirling her wand to point into her office. Her Cleansweep shot towards her, and Aweina leapt on without apparently looking at it as she flung open the windows. Tucking her wand inside her robes, Aweina shot from the class-the students, by then, had come to the windows as well-and aimed her broom towards the wayward student, who was yelling in fright and barely holding onto his own broom.
The boy was very high off the ground, and the broom suddenly accelerated as one of his feet inadvertently kicked it forward. Aweina bent low over her own broom, a slight remembered thrill of being one of the Ravenclaw Chasers shooting through her, replaced quickly by the intense concentration aerial dueling had always instilled.
She swerved to avoid an owl and streaked closer to the student-
Who slipped from his broom.
Without hesitation, Aweina shot into a dive, reacting with vaguely-remembered Quidditch strategies and more recent Auror training upon seeing a falling person. She flew towards the ground, calculating the angle-
And she caught him as he landed in front of her on her broom. The boy whimpered in pain-he had hit Aweina's broom with his legs open-but Aweina wrapped an arm around him and pulled out of the dive.
She landed heavier than usual and let the first-year fall gently to the ground. Taking her wand, Aweina pointed at the wayward broomstick and Summoned it back.
"Thank you, Aweina," said Madam Hooch as she rushed to the boy.
"No problem," replied Aweina vaguely, turning and kicking off the ground again.
She flew in through her window, and the Defense class resumed as soon as she landed near her desk.
Class continued, and the rest of the day-and the week-passed with no further incident. Aweina began to look forward to the DA meeting on Saturday-there were no further incidents, and while that was good, the constant peering at her got on her nerves.
Saturday morning rolled around, and Aweina strolled onto the front lawn with her broom over her shoulder after breakfast, whistling tunelessly and not caring. There were a few students out already, most of them already on their brooms. Aweina nodded to herself in satisfaction and mounted her own broom, kicking off from the ground. Rising, she soared a few feet above the students and, sticking her fingers in her mouth, whistled piercingly.
She did a head count, and found everyone there. "We will drill for a while in air-dodges," Aweina announced when their attention was on her, "Then you'll have to use them while I cast spells at you. No hexes, yet-we're going to be cautious about this-but your robes will turn yellow if you don't dodge."
That said, Aweina guided the students into a line and had them fly in a long oval beneath her. At odd intervals, she shouted, "Roll left!" or "Roll right!" or "Sharp turn left!" and so on, keeping a careful eye on their skills. Predictably, it was the Quidditch players who were the best at these maneuvers, though all of them could at least sit on a broom.
Well, they'll only really learn by doing,Aweina thought, and shouted for them to break formation and dodge her spells.
She cast in random directions, over her shoulder sometimes, or above her and below. For a while, Aweina noted that some of the students were clearly thrown when she didn't turn her head to them to cast the spell, earning yellow splatters on their robes. Gradually, they became faster, and a few still had mostly black robes-Harry and Ginny Weasley among them-but others were nearly entirely yellow.
Then Aweina divided the groups into teams, removing the splatters with a wave of her wand, and told them to act in groups. Yet again, the Quidditch players were best at this-notably the ones who were Chasers, since they most often acted in concert, whereas Seekers and Beaters were usually independent. By this time, every student was able to block the minor spells Aweina allowed them to cast, and dodge them if they couldn't get their wands up in time. There were a few dropped wands, but over the course of the morning, the students grew better in keeping hold of them as well.
Aweina let them go at noon, satisfied-she would have gone on training them, but she was hungry, and she had an Order meeting this afternoon.
The Auror's pride in her students lasted through lunch, and she went up to Dumbledore's office-where she would Floo to Grimmauld Place-whistling again, cheerfully mangling a Weird Sisters hit.
"Ice Mice!" she proclaimed at Dumbledore's gargoyle, and stepped onto the staircase.
Minutes later, she stepped out of the fireplace in Grimmauld Place's parlor, brushing the soot from her robes and face. Swiveling an eye around, she spotted Remus, Minerva, and Alastor already in the kitchen. Switching to a hum as tuneless as the whistle, Aweina strolled into the room.
Alastor had apparently spotted her arrival, since he had just poured her a cup of tea. Removing the Itching Jinx from the handle absentmindedly and adding two sugars, Aweina sat down. "What's on the agenda today?" she said, lifting the cup to her lips and sipping.
"Potter's training, Fudge, and an outbreak of Muggle killings in Scotland," said Remus, tiredly. Aweina scanned her fellow Order member carefully-he looked even wearier than usual-then she remembered. "Full moon was a few days ago, wasn't it?" she said, sympathetically. Remus nodded. "Drink tea," advised Aweina, taking another sip from her own, "And eat chocolate!"
Remus smiled at her as Dumbledore, Severus, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill Weasley stepped into the room. "The twins couldn't make it today," said Bill, taking a seat with a sigh and Summoning himself a teacup, "They're apparently on a breakthrough, or something."
Mrs. Weasley sniffed disapprovingly, but didn't comment as Bill passed her a cup. "Arthur's still trying to clear up that mess about those enchanted Muggle post supplies," she said.
"What's this?" said Tonks, who-for once-had not made much noise coming in. "Enchanted post supplies?"
"Apparently the envelopes are attacking people's faces and the stamps are being rude," said Molly, after a sip of tea.
Albus cleared his throat. "Everyone is here who could make it today," he said, "For those who have not heard, we will be discussing Harry's training, Minister Fudge, and the recent outbreak of Muggle killings in Scotland. I would like to start with Harry."
The Order looked at Aweina, who coughed uncomfortably. "Ah-I was giving him some training in dueling the other day, one-on-one, and he caught me with a Leglimens," she said, covering her slight discomfort with a sip of tea.
Those who had not already heard of this had various reactions-Bill choked on his tea, Molly sat straight up, and Alastor, Remus, and Tonks said "What?" in exactly the same tone.
"He caught me with a Leglimens," repeated Aweina. "I-well-it's hard to explain."
"Which is why I brought a Pensieve," said Albus, lifting the silver basin Aweina hadn't noticed until now-perhaps her eyes had been focused through it. "Aweina, would you kindly remove the relevant memories and place them here so we can more accurately judge his strength?"
"Certainly," said Aweina, taking her wand from her robes, "I'll add the DA meetings, including the one from this morning, one or two classes, and…um…"
"If you would add the one-on-one lesson where Potter caught you with a Leglimens, it would be helpful," said Albus, mildly. Aweina hesitated.
"I…the memories he brought forward…" she said, haltingly, "There isn't anything…it's battles, mostly, but-"
Aweina cut herself off and reached up to touch her scarf, absentmindedly. Taking a sip of tea, she tried again. "I relived the battle when I lost my eyes," she said, keeping her face turned towards the table, "I don't mind Alastor-he was there-but…"
"Aweina," said Alastor, gently. "We have to know his strength. It could be vital to-"
Aweina sighed as her mentor trailed off. "I know, I know," she muttered, "I'd rather not, but it's not as if it makes any difference…Albus, pass the Pensieve."
Drawing her wand, Aweina summoned up the memory of the first DA meeting and drew it from her mind, setting the strand into the bowl. Next came the other DA meetings, that morning's DA meeting on the brooms, a Defense class or two where Harry had been involved in the practical side of Aweina's teaching…and at last, the entire one-on-one lesson. Aweina let it drop into the small pool of silver in the bottom of the bowl, and put away her wand. She reached her hand over the bowl, and the other wizards and witches took it as their cue to reach with her, so they would land in the same memory at the same time-
Aweina hooked her fingers through as many others as she could reach, and brought her hand down.
They were in the memory of the first DA meeting. Aweina watched herself, with a slight feeling of disorientation, as she gave directions and climbed onto the table, starting play with a whistle.
The Order stood close together, save Severus, who was off a little on one side, and watched. The Aweina in the memory gathered the players up and sent them off to formulate strategies…
Dimly, Aweina became aware of a conversation behind her. Tonks and Bill were whispering together conspiratorially, and as Aweina rolled an eye back to look at them, Tonks said, "Two Galleons on Harry's team winning."
"You lose, Tonks," said Aweina, startling the younger Auror, "Though they did come damn close."
Soon enough, the memory was over-a chuckling Bill accepted two Galleons from a grumbling Tonks-and the surroundings shifted.
It was the meeting from that morning, so the other wizards looked up, straining to see the figures on the broomsticks. "Potter's on my right," said Aweina, focusing her left eye upwards, "By Ron."
The Order members watched Potter again, muttering amongst themselves. Aweina ignored them, wishing vaguely she'd brought a book to read-traveling in her own memories was, for the most part, rather boring.
The two Defense class memories passed without incident or particular comment, though both Remus and Alastor shot approving looks at Aweina, and Tonks said she would have been glad to have Aweina as a teacher herself. While Aweina flushed slightly in embarrassment and pleasure, the scene changed again-
To the DA meeting with the boggart. This elicited fierce whispering among Remus, Molly, and Minerva, which Aweina ignored, watching her students again.
She noted with some pride that her Patronus had been quite strong, executed flawlessly. Aweina watched as the dementor fell back, and-
Suddenly, it changed, as the students laughed at its new sequined robe, and turned into Alastor's mangled body. Aweina bit her lip sharply and looked at her mentor, who was regarding his own corpse with slight bemusement. It changed again, though, and with a whip-crack…
The Death Eater rose in front of her past self, and Aweina flinched at the memory's expression-terror mingled with nearly incandescent anger.
The memory changed again, and as the rest of the Order went closer to the DA to listen to what the past Aweina was saying, Alastor limped over to the other one. "That was different," her mentor said, mildly, "Isn't it normally Lucy who appears first?"
Aweina snorted in spite of herself-the comment was so purely ridiculous, she couldn't help beginning to chuckle. "That was before the Triwizard Tournament," she said, sobering slightly, "In training, I feared for my teammates, but since then…you've been there as well."
She didn't need to voice the thought that it had been hard to learn, absurd as it was, that Alastor was human and could be defeated, which, though she had known it intellectually, had been somehow hard for Aweina to accept.
Aweina brought her mind deliberately away from the topic as the scene changed again-to the one-on-one training session.
Strangely enough, it was amusing to see herself diving behind objects and demonstrating rolls-Aweina winced in sympathy as her past-self crashed into a desk and rubbed her hip surreptitiously-the bruise hadn't gone away yet. As she executed a perfect dive, only to hit her head on the blackboard as she came up, Aweina became aware of snickers behind her-mostly from Bill and Tonks, though Remus definitely looked on the verge of laughter.
"I'm glad I'm entertaining you," she said, dryly, to the chucklers, and turned to Alastor. "And I don't understand how you kept from laughing while you were training us," she added, as an afterthought, "Remember the time Wesley went through one of those barriers you put up?"
Alastor laughed at the memory. "I remember that," he said, grinning, "And Kali's triple somersault when she tripped over the dummy was impressive."
"I'd forgotten about that," mused Aweina.
The reminiscing was brought to a close, however, as Harry and Aweina began exchanging spells. Aweina tensed in anticipation as Harry aimed another spell, as her past-self dodged out, and suddenly-
"Leglimens!" cried Harry, and immediately, the memories began flickering.
Aweina was astonished by the clarity-she had been through only one set of Pensieve memories involving a Leglimens before, and the memories in the memory had been weak, memories within memories, but these were bright and vivid-
Her group darted around an arena as Alastor fired hexes. It flicked to a battle on brooms, but the Order was on the ground-no, she was running through the halls to the library-
Was I ever that short? Aweina thought, distractedly ignoring the fact that she was still that short-
Another battle, grimmer than the first, and another as the Order stood in a Muggle city as wizards swooped overhead on brooms-
Then the one Aweina had been dreading. Watching, holding her breath, Aweina looked at herself as the Death Eater rose in front of her-
Aweina heard herself begin to scream as the first curse hit her, and it was no wonder that teachers and students had come running-the scream was loud and filled with pain and anguish-
As her past-self went down, Aweina watched dazedly as the past-Alastor whirled and blasted the Death Eater that had hurt her, watched as her mentor looked down at her and his face turned furious, watched as he fought four Dark wizards at once-
And the Leglimens ended abruptly, and they were back in the classroom. Aweina watched herself fall to her knees, then sit down slowly as Harry came timidly forward. Gradually, she became aware that the Order wasn't paying attention anymore, watching her instead-
She reached a hand out, and the other wizards took hold of it. Mentally preparing herself, Aweina wrenched them out of the memory-
And they were back around the kitchen table, most of them blinking with the disorientation traveling through a Pensieve always brought. Aweina reached into the basin with her wand and brought the memories out, allowing the silver strands to settle back into her head.
The clock struck-and to her surprise, it was five-thirty in the evening. "We were in there a long time," Aweina said, breaking the silence.
Nods all around. They had indeed been in the Pensieve for a long time.
The awkward silence continued, with the other wizards glancing at Aweina, then away, until Aweina remembered something and leapt to her feet, glad for the excuse to get away. "Oh, Merlin, I promised my mother I'd go out to dinner with her tonight!" she yelped, looking around the room. "Er…can one of you take notes, or something?" she added, sheepishly, picking up a piece of kindling from the box by the stove.
"I'll take them," said Remus, conjuring up a piece of paper and a quill, "Don't keep your mother waiting."
"Thank you!" replied Aweina, and darted out of the room, heading towards the dining room. Pausing only to take some Floo powder, Aweina called, "Defense Against the Dark Arts office!" and leapt into the flames.
Stepping out of the fire on the other side, Aweina pulled out her wand and tapped the piece of kindling. It turned into a long, white cane-such as blind Muggles used.
That was awkward, thought Aweina, recalling the meeting, But I really am late.
Hurrying into her room, Aweina doffed her robes and pulled on some Muggle ones-jeans, a t-shirt, and a light coat. Thanks to Lucy, the clothes were "the height of Muggle fashion!" as she called it, and Aweina needed only to brush the soot off herself and slip her wand into an inside pocket of the coat to look like an ordinary Muggle woman.
Returning to her office, Aweina picked up the cane and slid the loop of cord around her wrist. Checking herself in the mirror absently, Aweina straightened her scarf-blue, today-and left the room.
Walking down to the gates took only ten minutes, today, and as soon as she had stepped off Hogwarts grounds, Aweina Apparated to the Muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron.
Immediately, Aweina fell into her blind Muggle act. Several weeks after she had gained her new eyes-and shortly after she had started using a scarf-Paul had suggested Aweina observe blind Muggles in case she ever had to go undercover. Aweina had followed his suggestion, since she had still been on the wounded list and wouldn't be able to go back on duty for some time, not to mention that she couldn't read for long periods of time and she had been bored.
She had observed that blind Muggles used two main methods to find their ways around-white canes that they constantly swept the ground before them with, and dogs in a special harness. Aweina didn't like dogs, particularly-she couldn't stand the way they constantly licked hands and faces, and much preferred cats-so she used a white cane whenever she had to venture into the Muggle world.
Aweina spotted her mother standing at the end of the block, and began sweeping the cane in front of her, walking slowly towards her mother. At last, Riana Aquila turned and saw her daughter. Aweina's mother called her name and came towards her, smiling.
Aweina smiled back at her mother, and clasped the other woman's hands in her own-Aweina's strong fingers contrasting with her mother's slender, almost frail ones. Instead of the wedding ring on her left hand, Riana bore a gold band with a black stone-the custom of the Aquila women when they lost a husband. Aweina's father had died of a heart attack several years before, but Riana lived on in the Aquila manor, along with several of Aweina's cousins, her brother, and several nieces and nephews.
"It's wonderful to see you," said Riana, warmly, and Aweina smiled in pleasure.
"I'm sorry I'm late," she apologized, "I got held up a bit."
"It's fine," said Riana, taking Aweina's free hand and placing it on her right forearm as if escorting her-for the benefit of a few watching Muggles-and began to "guide" Aweina forward.
"Where are we going?" said Aweina, sweeping her cane over the ground.
"It's a relatively new place," said Riana, "Apparently, it's a Chinese restaurant."
"Lucy was going on about all the Chinese restaurants in America in her last letter," said Aweina, musingly, "She's in…Washington State now, I think, but she'll be back for Christmas."
Riana nodded and turned a corner, walking down another street. "It isn't far," she reassured, "Your brother was taken to lunch there by one of his Muggle friends, and he highly recommended it. And best of all, it isn't too far from the pub."
By "the pub," Riana of course meant the Leaky Cauldron. Aweina nodded. "It sounds good," she said, "Lucy dragged me to a Chinese place once, last time I was in America."
"When were you in America?" queried Riana, casting Aweina a quizzical look.
"Four years ago, actually," said Aweina, "New York City. Lucy, Paul, and I were…er…on the trail of someone. Turned out he was hiding in New Jersey, but it was quite a good restaurant. Though the border situation did get a little sticky."
"Here we are," said Riana, foregoing any comment on Aweina's job and opening the door for her daughter. Immediately, a smiling waitress stepped up to them. "Table?" she said, politely.
"For two," said Riana, and the waitress took a menu, hesitated, and then took another menu. Turning, the woman led Riana and Aweina down the bar, around a corner, and to a table by the window. Aweina slid in and propped up her cane beside her, and the waitress shoved one of the menus into her hands.
I really hate it when they assume I need things put into my hands, thought Aweina, with a purely internal sigh as she nodded politely in the waitress's general direction and opened the menu, At least I didn't get a papercut this time. Oh, lucky me, Braille.
"Lovely to see that this place has Braille," said Riana, cheerfully, "And it's new, too! Rather unusual, actually, isn't it?"
Aweina sighed out loud this time, with irritation as she placed a finger on the menu and began to run over it. "Kindly flip your menu and read the drinks list," she said, patiently, to her mother.
Riana obliged good-naturedly, and Aweina focused an eye through the Braille menu to read her mother's. "Tea, I think," she said, scanning the entrees, "For drinks, that is. Uh…spring rolls sound good…"
"Rice, of course," said Aweina's mother, still scanning the back of the menu.
"I think I'll have the sweet and sour chicken," said Aweina, stopping her finger on the menu and folding it. Riana flipped her menu back over and read over it.
"Stir fry and Mongolian beef sound good," she said, thoughtfully. "I'll get both. We can split the stir fry."
Aweina noted-with slight amusement mingled with exasperation-that the waitress was watching them. More specifically, Aweina. Aweina raised her hand and waved it, turning her face towards the waitress-making the woman jump.
They placed their orders, and the tea arrived quickly. Aweina just barely remembered to put on her act as the waitress carried the pot towards them, running her hands lightly over the table, hitting the sugar and salt, making sure she knew which one was salt and which pepper, and so on. The waitress shoved the cup into Aweina's hands, presumably so the "blind woman" wouldn't have to feel for it, but Aweina hadn't been expecting it and nearly dropped it.
With another internal sigh, Aweina motioned for her mother to pour the tea.
The meal was excellent, and Aweina ignored the waitress's slightly patronizing tone as she asked whether she wanted a fork, but took almost vindictive pleasure in taking a pair of chopsticks and clicking them together. Lucy had been astonished at how quickly Aweina had picked up the chopsticks in America, and Aweina still didn't know why she had been able to use them with little effort, but nevertheless, it worked for her.
Luckily enough, the restaurant became rather busy, so Aweina and her mother could chat-and eat-without being watched by the waitress, who now had other customers to attend to. "How's the new job, by the way?" said Riana, waving her fork absently.
Aweina swallowed her bite of rice and nodded. "It's quite a lot of fun, teaching," she said, "I'm drawing on my job training for the practical side-and I do a lot of practical, since I can't write on the board for long." Riana nodded sympathetically. "Mostly, I write down spell names or incantations, and have them come up and write it themselves. I tend to limit it to the first ten minutes of class, then practical, unless I have a lecture to give."
"Are you going to give them the 'dangers-of-being-an-Auror' speech?" said Riana, thoughtfully, "You know, the one Alastor spouts off to the new trainees each year?"
Aweina remembered her first day well…apprehensive, knowing that barely half the students ever got through training…and then Alastor had come through the door and rattled off the speech to the new ones, long before they had ever come close to training groups. It had frightened Aweina, but stiffened her resolve at the same time…though she had noticed at the next drill several faces had been missing, and had never returned.
"That may be a good idea," Aweina answered, slowly, "I'll probably revise it, though…tone it down a little, and I may only give it to the special group." Aweina turned her face up towards her mother. "You know, the one Fudge made a big stink about last year."
Riana made a face. Aweina's eldest brother, Allen-who lived at the Aquila manor with his mother and several other relatives-worked in the Ministry, heading the Accidental Magical Reversal Squads, of which the number was always changing. He was several steps below the Minister, but Allen preferred to keep his station quiet, going out with his squad-officially called First Squad, but nicknamed Al's Ducks for some reason-whenever possible, rather than throwing his rank about. His stories of the amusing predicaments wizards found themselves in were the highlight of family parties.
Allen had been present when Fudge came back raging about Dumbledore-the Minister had called a meeting soon after Albus had left Hogwarts, and Allen, the highest ranked in his department, had attended and witnessed the Minister's rage.
"More tea?" said the waitress, appearing at their table. Aweina checked the level inside their pot without thinking and said, "Yes, it's almost empty."
The waitress gave Aweina an odd look, but took the pot anyway. "Enough about me," said Aweina, "How's the family?"
"Allen's good, but busy," said Riana, "Oh, yes! Andrew's visiting!" She named Aweina's youngest brother. "So are Violet and Lucia," Riana added, also naming Andrew's wife and daughter. "She was eight months old yesterday."
Aweina smiled at the thought of her youngest niece-Lucia was absolutely adorable right now, and was sure to turn into a beauty when she grew up, with Andrew's deep hazel eyes and Violet's luxuriant dark hair. She was showing magical tendencies early, as well-Andrew had been indecently proud of his first child when she had turned some of his hair bright green, contrasting dreadfully with her father's light brown hair. Andrew had worn the green proudly for weeks, until Violet-exasperated with her husband-had insisted he get a haircut.
"I'll have to drop by sometime and visit!" Aweina said, affection in her voice. "How's Evan?"
That was Allen's oldest child, a five-year old boy. "He's gone Quidditch-mad," said Riana, "He insists on riding his toy broomstick all around the house, and can't decide which team he likes best-the Kenmare Kestrels, or the Montrose Magpies."
"I'm a Puddlemere United fan, myself," said Aweina, shaking her head slightly in amusement, "Why don't you steer him towards the oldest team in the league?"
Riana fixed Aweina with a wry glare. "What Auror isn't a fan of Puddlemere United?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I can't imagine what you mean, Mother," said Aweina, innocently, "Just because we go around singing, 'Beat Back those Bludgers, Boys-'"
Riana prodded her daughter with a chopstick before Aweina could finish, and both burst out laughing at the looks on one another's faces.
The rest of the dinner was spent swapping stories-Aweina related the broomstick incident with the first year boy, and Riana, not to be outdone, rattled off the recent exploits of Aweina's youngest cousin, four years out of Hogwarts and now working in Zonko's as a product tester-resulting in dozens of amusing incidents. Aweina laughed hopelessly at the account of her cousin running afoul of an enchanted Sugar Quill and sprouting goat horns, not to mention a duck's beak, a lizard's tail, and pig ears.
Most parts had worn off in a few minutes, but the duck's bill had stayed for hours, causing every word to come out in a quack.
The fortune cookies came at last, along with the bill. Riana picked up the check as Aweina took a cookie, breaking it open and, remembering her disguise, setting the fortune down. Her mother read her own fortune first. "You love Chinese food."
Aweina snorted. "What kind of fortune is that? Though judging by the way you devoured that meal…"
Riana smiled and picked up Aweina's fortune. "Winter brings many surprises," she said, looking over the slip of paper. Aweina nodded.
"Hopefully Lucy will get back from America for Christmas," she said, with a smile, "Or my group will be one short for our party."
Riana nodded and left exact change in Muggle money. "Well, I'm off home," she said, leading Aweina from the restaurant and giving her a hug, "We're starting Christmas preparations already!"
"Love you, Mother," said Aweina, returning the hug. Riana smiled at her daughter a last time, stepped into an alleyway, and Disapparated.
Aweina turned and began sweeping the cane across the sidewalk. Finding an alleyway for herself, she stepped in, checked for Muggles, and left for Hogsmeade.
Uber-long chapter! It was fun to write, hope you enjoyed! Now…reward all my hard work with reviews! -grin-
Fireblade K'Chona