It's Monday, and that means it's time for another chapter. This time, we find out that the wrong end of a Nosebleed Nougat can have unintended consequences…for everyone.

Thank you to those of you who have read, and even more to those of you who have reviewed:

NaginiFay – (((Esdras cheers loudly and holds a sign that reads "Go NaginiFay!")))

KRP – This chapter will explain some of the special coolness that Katie gets as a result of her dual citizenship. And as for Snape if he had to choose between dining with the Marauders or Umbridge, I think he'd prefer the Marauders. At least then he could be himself… (Oh, and the song was from the third movie, but the line is originally from Shakespeare's Macbeth.)

Buffalo1 – Oh, my friend, this is only the beginning of the toad's torment. Just you wait…

Sin Piedad – Thank you for your nice words. Please enjoy a fresh new chapter about our fine floating friends.

Those of y'all who haven't reviewed should. I'd appreciate the input. It's always good to hear what other people think, and it helps me be a better writer.

And as usual, the notes. Text in italics is in Azkabaaner, and I don't own HP.

Chapter 6 – First Hogsmeade

Esdras was furious, and it showed in the violent rippling of his cloak as he glided down the hall. So much did his fury show that his fellow students were clearing a path for him as he made his way to the Hospital Wing. He had just turned the corner to glide down the last hallway when he ran into the two people he most wanted to see. Fred and George Weasley paled as the Dementor approached. Fred held his hands out and tried to make an appeal. "Esdras, be reasonable now. We didn't mean…"

In his natural form, the Dementor's arms shot forth and he grabbed the two mortals by the head, lifting them up off the ground and slamming them into the wall. He roared at them. "Katie. Bleeding. Explain!"

George was clawing at the hand squeezing his face. His voice was muffled as he screamed his response. "It was a mistake! It was a mistake! I'm sorry!"

Fred was putting up a similar struggle. "We confused the ends of the candy. She got the wrong one. I'm sorry!"

The story he had heard from Hermione had been something along the same lines. Apparently Ron had hit Katie in the face with the Quaffle and the twins had attempted to staunch the bleeding with one of their new joke products. The effects of their little experiment, however, were less than stellar. Katie was in the Hospital Wing, having come very close to passing out due to blood loss. He had been forced to rely on Hermione's word because Ron had hidden himself away somewhere in the Gryffindor common room, partially out of shame due to a lackluster practice, and partially fearing the Dementor's wrath because of his own involvement.

Esdras squeezed their skulls tighter, feeling the pair's thrashing increase before he released them. They collapsed into twin piles at his feet. He pulled back his hood and crouched down to look them in the eye. Their gaze never deviated from his empty black eye sockets as he spoke. "I don't care what you two do, or how you test your products for your little Wizarding Wheezes line, but know this. If any harm comes to Katie from anything that you two do, your mother will cry when she sees what I have done to you. Do you understand me?"

The twins were pale as a sheet and nodded violently. They spoke as one with a barely audible whisper. "We understand."

Esdras took mortal form and smiled brightly. "Great, I'm glad we had this little talk. I hope those things work out because goodness knows I'd use them. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see how Katie is."

He floated calmly down the hallway and into the Hospital Wing. A few beds down the line, Katie was gathering up her cloak. She was still dressed in her Quidditch robes and Esdras grinned. There was something about Katie in Quidditch robes that he found simply irresistible. He silently came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Katie, however, brushed him away. "Sound carries well in that hallway, Esdras."

The Dementor froze. "Well, you know…I just didn't want them getting any ideas." Katie turned to give him a withering gaze and Esdras was momentarily distracted by the dried blood soaking the front of her robes. "I mean, I thought I should just warn them…" She narrowed her eyes and finally the Dementor relented. "I'll apologize to them at dinner."

Katie sighed and dragged him out of the Hospital Wing by his cloak. "You'll apologize to them now. Those two are absolute geniuses when it comes to the joke market. It's like you said, if they can get these things to work, everyone in the school will be using them, especially in Umbridge's class."

Esdras nodded. The applications of newly christened Skiving Snackbox were almost limitless. He floated along behind her as she dragged him by the cloak. "Fine, I will apologize now, but tell me that you're feeling alright first."

The mortal sighed. "Of course I'm feeling fine; I've had worse injuries than this. Madame Pomfrey wouldn't have let me out if I weren't in perfect health." She turned to look behind her, and the look in her eye was unmistakable. "However, if you wanted to give me a thorough check up, I wouldn't be opposed."

The Dementor sat at the Ravenclaw table, drinking is mint tea and reading the Daily Prophet, which had quickly become the bearer of bad news. First were the stories defaming Harry, now was news of the most recent insult to the student body. Esdras read over the title again. "Hogwarts High Inquisitor, that sounds so friendly."

Cho sighed and continued to read over his shoulder. "God awful is what it is. I was seriously hoping that you were just overacting on the first day of school. Now, I'm beginning to think you weren't reacting enough."

Esdras sighed and closed the paper and turned to his breakfast, taking an entire plate of French toast from in front of a disappointed looking first year. "I'll tell you what I'm worried about. No one's getting any Defense instruction that's worth a damn this year. That'll bad for everyone, fifth years taking their OWLs, seventh years taking their NEWTs, everyone facing Voldemort…"

The mortal looked up from the paper, which she had picked up. "Oh, you didn't hear?" At her companion's confused look, she leaned in conspiratorially and whispered into his ear. "Harry is planning to teach Defense to anyone who wants to learn. There's going to be a meeting during the first Hogsmeade weekend. I'm surprised Katie hasn't said anything to you about it yet."

The Dementor shrugged. "She'll get around to it. Hogsmeade weekends are usually pretty freeform for us. It's not like a meeting would interrupt any plans." He pushed away his now empty plate and looked around. "I guess that's all the French toast. I'm going to go check on the Azkaban Green Mint seedlings in the greenhouse."

Cho barely looked up from the paper. "Okay, see you in Arithmancy."

Esdras waved casually and floated down the aisle. Before he reached the door to the Entrance Hall, he was intercepted by Hermione. The mortal smiled brightly and walked quickly along side him. "Esdras, I was just wondering, do you and Katie have any big plans for the coming Hogsmeade weekend?"

The Dementor smirked, knowing where this was going. "None at all, except of course some sort of meeting with the resident insurrection force, just to see what's going on, you know."

Hermione laughed softly. "I'd hardly call us an insurrection force. Has Katie already told you about the meeting?"

Esdras shook his head. "No, but I heard something from Cho."

The mortal smiled. "Well, it's at the Hog's Head at noon. Be there and be careful who else you invite. We don't want word of this to get around to…well, you know."

Smirking slightly, the Dementor nodded. "Oh, I know."

Hermione grinned and walked off, and right before Esdras turned to head out towards the greenhouses, he was tackled by a fast moving mortal. The light form on his back whispered softly in his ear as they glided along the floor. "Did Hermione already tell you?"

Esdras sighed and glided them into an upright position. "Hermione and Cho, both. You've got old information, darling."

Katie pouted playfully. "I'm sorry, I would have been down to tell you sooner, but it took me a while to get into this." She took his hand and slipped it between the buttons of her shirt, Esdras' eyes went wide as he felt the smooth dragon leather of the corset. The mortal winked. "I really do like this, you know."

The Dementor simply nodded, not trusting his ability to speak.

Normally, Hogsmeade visits were a relaxing affair, but not today. Katie huffed angrily as Esdras again looked over his shoulder, his green eyes glowing intensely. The mortal stared at her immortal boyfriend and thumped him on his shoulder. "What's with you today? I can't get you to pay attention to anything and you're always looking over your shoulder like you're being followed."

The Dementor smoothly dislocated his neck and turned his head one hundred eighty degrees, looking directly behind him. Satisfied, he turned his head back around. A dull silver glow surrounded his neck as he healed the injury. "Sorry, Katie, but old military habits die hard. Besides, today of all days it would be best to make sure that we really aren't being followed. Especially with what's going to be going on."

The mortal groaned. "You're just paranoid, that's all."

Esdras sighed softly. "Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not after us." At her irritated huff, the Dementor changed the subject. "Oh, and your passport came in today."

Katie looked curiously to her companion. "My passport?"

From the folds of his cloak, Esdras pulled out a small black booklet that bore the crest of the royal house of Demnin on the front cover. Katie took it and opened it up, revealing an identification page containing all her information and a nice picture of her. Esdras grinned. "You're an Azkaban citizen, so you get an Azkaban passport."

Grinning happily at the document, Katie leaned against Esdras and gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you, I feel very Azkabaaner now."

Esdras nodded. "But wait, there's more. As an Azkaban citizen, under Section 53 of the Treaty of Edinburgh, you are allowed unrestricted and unquestioned use of the Unforgivable Curses. You essentially have a license to kill. If Voldemort wasn't running free across the countryside I would consider restricting you this right, but I trust you and you have to be able to defend yourself should you have to. I will personally train you in how to use them."

The mortal's eyes grew wide at this new information. She paused for a second before finally giving her partner a grim nod. "I won't let you down, my love." After a second, she gave him a sly grin. "I'll be a good little Dementress."

He shook his head and chuckled as they approached the grimy door of the Hog's Head. Esdras stepped inside first and dimmed his eyes and raised his hood, intent on not drawing attention to himself. It was easy to pick out the insurrection force in the dank interior as Hogwarts students were not often seen in this establishment. There were, however, a half a dozen Dementors scattered among the locals, volunteers that Esdras had asked to make sure things were safe enough for the group to meet.

Katie slid up behind him and pushed him along towards the table occupied by a surprisingly large number of Hogwarts students. They were warmly greeted and the Dementor leaned against the wall opposite from where Harry and Hermione had taken seats around a round table. The bushy haired mortal smiled brightly. "Well, I think we're all here. So I'd like to begin by saying that the reason we are all here is that…"

Esdras coughed slightly. "I think we all know why we're here, Hermione. It's best that we not say anything about our intentions. I don't trust this place."

Katie thumped Esdras on the arm. "You're being paranoid again. Besides, where would you have us meet? The Three Broomsticks?"

The Dementor nodded. "It would be tactically advantageous. More people, less chance of being overheard; more students, we'd blend in better."

The mortal sighed and tugged the hood down over the Dementor's face. "You're such a soldier. Keep going, Hermione. We're here because we don't like the way Defense is going."

Hermione smirked at the pair and continued on. "Exactly, and Harry is willing to pick up where Umbridge leaves off with the more practical applications of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry, would you like to say anything?"

Never comfortable being put on the spot, the scarred mortal looked around slowly. "I don't know whether or not you believe me when I say that Voldemort is back, but he is and I've seen him. So believe me when I tell you that this training is vitally important. We need practical experience in the things that we are being taught or we're as good as gone when it comes time to fight."

Zacharias Smith spoke up from his place near the back of the standing crowd. "There's still been no proof given that You Know Who has returned. The Ministry has said that their official position is that they have no reason to believe you're telling the truth."

Esdras spoke up, his voice echoing with his Azkaban accent. "And the official position of Azkaban is that we have no reason to believe that he's lying. What's your point?"

The mortal and the Dementor locked eyes for a moment, but finally Zacharias looked away. Silence reigned for a moment until Cho spoke up; her voice was unusually gentle in the rough surroundings. "What will you be teaching us, Harry?"

Harry puffed up a little and Esdras nudged Katie, who simple smirked. He turned to face the Ravenclaw and smiled. "I was thinking we'd start out with simple things, Expelliarmus, then maybe some shield charms, and if Esdras is okay with it, the Patronus charm."

Here, the Dementor nodded. Casting his eyes about the bar, he noticed that the other Dementors had turned their attention to the table at the mention of a free meal. "That's an excellent idea. The Patronus will repel an attacking Dementor as much as it will feed a neutral or friendly Dementor. And if you feed a Dementor, you've pretty much just made yourself a very powerful friend."

Hermione nodded and pulled out a sheet of parchment. "Well, it's settled then. If everyone will sign up, we'll find a time to meet when everyone is available and we can hold meetings."

It took a few minutes for all the mortals to sign, and finally only one person was left. All eyes fell to the Dementor. Katie looked curiously at him. "Esdras, are you going to sign?"

The Dementor shook his head. "No, I'm not, but not because I don't want to be a part of this." He turned his attention towards Harry. "I want you to consider this. Both of us are high priority targets under Umbridge's scrutiny. Putting both of us in the same room would be a very bad idea if she gets around to following us because she'll be twice as likely to find out about all this. Add that to the fact that I don't need any instruction because of my training and immortal nature, and you come to the conclusion that it would be best for everyone if I were not on that paper. Now, I'm not saying that I won't help you all out in any way that I can, and the resources of my fleet are at your disposal, but I can't sign."

Harry regarded the hooded figure for a moment before nodding. "Alright, Esdras. I'm willing to believe you if you think this is best for us all. And I thank you for whatever support you can give in the future."

As the discussion about the group dynamics continued, Katie leaned against Esdras and whispered softly to him. "You're really that worried about this?"

The Dementor nodded and kept his voice down. "More than you realize, and far more than they realize. What they're talking about is a direct affront to Umbridge and all that she stands for, and if she gets word of it, she will do everything in her power to make sure that this fails. And I can assure you, the punishment for you all will be far worse than writing lines."

Katie shivered and unconsciously clutched her hand as the memory of her first detention overtook her. She leaned her head gently against Esdras' chest and was comforted by the gloriously rare sound of a single heartbeat. "I only hope that you are overreacting about all this."

Esdras nodded. "I hope so, too."

Out of the corner of his eye, Esdras noticed one of the mortal patrons of the bar get up and quickly walk out the door. The admiral nodded to the closest one of his soldiers, who easily glided out of his booth and followed the mortal out into the street. However, by the time the lieutenant had cleared the door, the unknown mortal had already Disapparated. Returning back into the bar, the Dementor looked over to Esdras and shook his head gravely. The admiral set his jaw and nodded to his soldier. It was certainly not a good omen.