It's the weekend, and here is another chapter for your enjoyment. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

Special thanks as always to my reviewers, KRP and Estel a Duath. And to Estel, Esdras says "Melon? What kind of melon?"

You can be a reviewer, too. Simply press the button at the bottom of the page to review. I would love to hear from you, whether it be good or bad. Any review helps me grow as a writer.

And as always, text in italics is spoken Azkabaaner, and I don't own HP.

Chapter 4 – Town of Prophecy

Another fortnight saw the construction of the Dementor base begin. What was once merely a hillside a few miles from Hogsmeade and Hogwarts slowly became a small city fit for a Dementor. The engineers of the 778th Engineer Division were hard workers and were making excellent progress. Already, the main shaft of the town had been dug, extending four hundred feet into the bedrock, and radial arms to contain residences and services would be built within the next week. After that, it would simply be a matter of building the individual homes, stores, and offices. So was the report that the master architect, Commander Valerie Rook, gave to the hovering form of Admiral Esdras Demnin.

The admiral nodded. "Then we're on schedule to complete this project within the month allotted?"

The commander was smooth and confident and bowed to the flag officer. "Yes, Lord Admiral, with any luck, we'll finish a few days ahead of schedule."

Esdras narrowed the rim of his hood at the commander. "Rook, I appreciate the sentiment, but please remember that I am no one's lord."

Valerie bowed deeply. "As you will, sir."

The admiral nodded and scanned over the report in his hands. "Excellent. Please keep me apprised of your progress and continue to follow the construction plan as we laid out. Let me know if there are any major deviations."

The commander snapped into a salute. "Yes, sir."

Esdras turned and floated up towards the entranceway to the as yet unnamed Dementor base. Waiting for him at the entry cave was the freshly promoted full Lieutenant Stephanie Trieste. The admiral sighed and brushed some of the dust off of his cloaks. "What's next?"

The secretary consulted the admiral's schedule and tapped at the next event. "You have a meeting with the Hogsmeade Business and Residents Associations. They've expressed concerns about having over three hundred Dementors living within floating distance of their town."

The admiral sighed and rubbed his featureless face. "Nearly one hundred twenty wasn't a concern when Sirius Black was around, now three hundred are when he isn't? I'll never understand the mortal mind." He shrugged. "Well, let's get going. We'll have to make a good first impression on them."

Stephanie bowed a little. "Actually, Lord Admiral, you will have to go on your own. Commander DeCay has agreed to teach me English and we have a lesson in a short while. Captain Reaping will meet you there, so unless the Lord Admiral requires me…?"

Esdras waved her concerns aside. "No, Trieste, go to your lesson. More of us need to know English if we're going to be surrounded by mortals. I can handle this. Besides, last year I was in most of those shops and no one said a word. You are dismissed. I'll meet you at the bunker after the meeting." He returned her salute and watched her float off across the lake towards the bunker before calling out after her. "And don't call me Lord Admiral!"

Taking off as well, and turning to follow the lake towards the town of Hogsmeade, Esdras was joined in midair by Aaron Reaping. The new captain of the Thirteenth Infantry saluted lazily, which Esdras returned just as easily. Aaron glided along with him in silence for a few moments before addressing him in English. "Are you ready for the meeting with the mortals?"

The admiral nodded. "So long as there are no pitchforks and torches, I think we'll be okay."

The captain shook his head slowly and laughed. "I don't think it'll be that bad. We are Dementors after all; they'll need more than pitchforks to get us out." In the comfortable silence, Aaron changed the subject idly. "Malachi is teaching English to Stephanie Trieste."

Esdras nodded, doing a slow barrel roll over the calm waters. "She told me. I wonder if that means anything."

Aaron shrugged. "I don't think so. You know how Malachi is. He swore that he would never settle down and for the last century or so, he's done a pretty good job. He's dated profusely, I got married, and you…"

The admiral began to descend towards the town below him. "And I don't talk about my love life."

The captain chuckled softly. "Yes, sir."

They floated calmly along the High Street until they came to the front of the Three Broomsticks. Esdras sighed and looked around before turning to his friend. "Animagus spell or not?"

Aaron sighed and scratched his hood. "Stick with who you are, that's who they want to talk to."

Esdras nodded and opened the door, floating into the pub with Aaron right behind him. The pub, which usually did a good business, was packed for this meeting. Every table was filled with mortals, either residents or businessmen, and in many cases, both at the same time. The Dementors floated up to the bar, placed an order, and, with firewhiskeys in hand, turned to face their accusers.

Esdras scanned the crowd and nodded slowly. "If we're all here, we can begin. I am Admiral Esdras Demnin and this is Captain Aaron Reaping. We're Dementors. As you all know, we're building a small settlement nearby. It's nothing big, just a place for the families to live while we are on assignment here at Hogsmeade. Family is very important to us Dementors. We're prepared to answer any questions you might have about your new neighbors."

A singularly angry voice was heard from the back of the room, belonging to a wizard with a long brown beard. "We don't want any new neighbors, especially not your kind!"

The hoods of both Dementors rose nervously as they looked at each other. Esdras whispered quietly to Aaron. "Pitchforks." He then turned to his accuser and spoke in plain English. "Believe it or not, Dementors can be a valuable asset to any mortal community. We are a strong protective force and loyal to our friends. We also require goods and services that only mortals can provide, which would increase revenue for your town. Likewise, we have goods and services that are available nowhere else in the world, except Azkaban. It would be a mutually beneficial relationship."

A scared female voice rose up from the murmur of the crowd. "Beneficial if you don't eat our souls."

At this point, Madame Rosemerta spoke up from her position behind the bar. "Now come on all of you. Be reasonable. I can count on one hand the people in this room who haven't been in this very room with Esdras and not said a word. No one said a thing about him when he was in town during the school year."

The angry wizard spoke up again. "I've never met this Dementor in my life."

With a flutter of robes, a teenager with tousled blonde hair and glowing green eyes appeared where the Dementor once stood. Esdras smiled brightly. "You're the quillsmith at Scrivenshaft's, aren't you? You do excellent work."

The wizard sputtered for a second and was saved from a response by the fireplace behind him roaring to life. Rosemerta called over the crowd to the person who stood brushing ash off her pants. "I'm sorry; we're closed for a business meeting. You'll have to come back in an hour or so."

The girl in the fireplace didn't hear a word, and she grinned madly when she saw the Dementors. "Esdras! I wanted to surprise you at the command bunker."

Esdras smiled with barely hidden relief as she weaved her way through the crowd and hugged him tightly. Her lips found his and the room erupted in gasps at the sight of a beautiful mortal girl locked in a kiss with a Dementor. The pair enjoyed causing a commotion but a subtle cough from Aaron finally made Esdras relent. "Hello, Katie. We've got a bit of a meeting going on here. I'm trying to explain why we won't be any trouble to the town."

Katie lifted herself up onto a barstool and smiled, taking it upon herself to address the crowd. "That's easy, Dementors are a wonderful lot. Strong, brave, passionate, friendly, helpful, everything you'd ever want in a friend or neighbor. You really shouldn't put too much stock on those ministry pamphlets; they're really nothing but bollocks."

Aaron had the misfortune of taking a drink of his firewhiskey at this time and, at this comment, sprayed a fine mist of beverage which caught fire in midair. Esdras retook his Dementor form and thumped him hard on the back a few times until he stopped coughing. That crisis taken care of, the admiral cleared his throat and looked out over the mortals again. "Let's begin discussing your fears in a reasonable manner. Hopefully we can prove that Katie's statement is accurate."

The last three weeks on the build project passed without major incident. There were, as always, minor injuries to members of the construction details, a severed limb here, crush wounds from falling rocks there, but nothing out of the ordinary. But now, in the great square of the town, three military divisions, a research division, a medical division, and a secretarial division stood to face an engineering division in the handover ceremony that would formally make the town ready for occupation by civilian Dementors.

It was with great pleasure that, once again, Commander Valerie Rook stood before Admiral Esdras Demnin. Her voice was clear and calm as she made her final report. "Admiral, the last of the finishing crews has cleared the base. All safety checks and tests have been performed. The proper ceremonies to honor the gods have been performed. All is as it must be; all is as it should be. This base…this town…is ready for habitation by any who may wish to call it home. The only thing left to give it is a name."

Esdras looked around the massive structure, carved from the living rock and illuminated with fire emeralds imported from the island. It looked exactly like an Azkaban town. "I waive my right to name this place. You and your division have done exceptional work. I believe that the naming of this settlement should fall to the master architect. What will you name this place, Valerie?"

The commander gasped and looked behind her to her division. They stood at rigid attention before the admiral, but it was obvious that they were pleased that their commanding officer had been given such a grand gift. When the engineer again turned to face the admiral, it was obvious that she had made up her mind. "My Lord, I name this town New Demnin."

Esdras tensed at this and looked with surprise at the young engineer. "Why on earth do you want to name this town New Demnin?"

Valerie looked into his hood and Esdras gasped. Hidden in the darkness of her hood, of the hoods of her entire division, and in the hoods of all the Dementors in that artificially created cave, was an emotion that scared him: utter, total loyalty. The commander slowly lowered herself to kneel and was followed by every other Dementor. "I name this town New Demnin to honor my Lord Admiral. A thousand blessings upon the royal house."

The statement was repeated by the remaining one hundred eighty Dementors. Esdras spun slowly about, taking in the sight of rank upon rank of kneeling figures surrounding him. His voice was a whisper when he spoke. "And a thousand blessings be upon these loyal houses." He rose into the air, his voice shaky. "The name of this town is thusly settled, we are the first residents of New Demnin. You are all dismissed. Reaping, with me, now."

The assembled forces rose and snapped to attention as their commanding officer rocketed up to the exit of the cave followed at a short distance by Aaron. The captain followed the admiral up until they were high in the air, coming to rest behind a cumulus cloud. Aaron waited for a moment for his friend to speak. When nothing was forthcoming, he spoke softly. "The Lord Admiral wished to see me, sir?"

Esdras whipped around and glared at Aaron. "What the hell just happened down there? Do they not get it? I am not a god, I am not a lord. I am just an admiral!"

Aaron's voice remained soft and calm. "No, my friend, to them you are so much more. Now more than ever, you are. You know the prophecy of the Oracle as well as anyone else, probably better. You have to admit that you are doing a fairly good job of fulfilling it."

Shaking his head, Esdras sighed and spoke in a disdainful voice. "Is that what all this is about? Some stupid prophecy made a thousand years ago? If it hasn't been fulfilled by now, it's not going to be fulfilled!"

"But Esdras, the probability of it being fulfilled rises every day that it isn't."

The admiral growled. "Damned it, Aaron, whose side are you on?"

The captain bowed. "I am loyal to my Lord Esdras of the royal house of Demnin, and no one else."

"That's not what I asked, and you know it."

Aaron rose up and sighed. "Esdras, recite the prophecy."

Esdras sputtered for a second, looked at his friend angrily, but finally relented. "In the time to pass, when the children of Azkaban have lost their hope, a savior will emerge, born from the house of the fallen king. And beside the mortals, this god of death will lead us to stand, an army and a town to his name. This shall be a sign unto you, heed it well. For at the bounds of life and death, the god of death gains power, a boundary he shall only find in mortal's darkest hour."

Aaron took his shoulders and looked him in the hood. "You are born from the house of the fallen king. With the way things are going you will soon have us standing beside the mortals. You have an army, and now a town, to your name. To all those Dementors down there, to the Dementors stationed on Azkaban and abroad, you are their savior. My gods, man, even the house of Sanguis believes. That incident with Tarquin last year steeled their faith."

Esdras sighed and turned to face the horizon. "And no member of the house of Sanguis has expressed any sort of faith in the gods of the ancients in over five hundred years, I know." He growled again and rounded on his friend. "But I didn't ask for this, Aaron."

Aaron put a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed tight. "No, you didn't. And there is no telling if you are the one or not. You are still my friend, and that will never change. But you need to realize that like it or not, you've become more to our people than just an admiral." He brought his hand down and sighed. "You'll be leaving tomorrow for Katie's?"

Esdras nodded, his mood quickly improving. "Yes, tomorrow evening; and I'll be back the next night."

The captain shook his head slowly. "May I suggest that the Lord Admiral take a week to spend with his beloved before the start of the term? We can handle the influx of families just fine without you, and no one will blame you for wanting to be with your loved one, either."

The admiral laughed and put an arm over his friend's shoulder as they descended through the cloud cover. "You know, right now that doesn't sound like a bad idea."